“You’re saying that the enemy is always able to dodge their attacks and even launch a counterattack? And that two of Uncle Huo’s men are also injured?” Gu Nianzhi was anxious. “Is Uncle Huo ok? Did you see if he was injured?”
She paced in circles in Yin Shixiong’s room. She muttered to herself, “He shouldn’t be injured. I remember that his head, arms, and legs were all ok. I couldn’t see anything else, but then again he had been sitting the whole time and didn’t stand up once, so were his legs actually injured?!”
“Don’t pace so fast, you’re making me dizzy.” Yin Shixiong smiled wryly as he shook his head. “Don’t worry, there’s not yet anyone in the world that can hurt Mr. Huo. It wasn’t him who was injured, but a few members of our team.”
Gu Nianzhi sighed in deep relief and pressed her palms together to pray in all four directions. She prayed to all the deities for Huo Shaoheng to be free from injury and remain safe.
“Okay, okay, go and chant if you need to. Don’t pray here.” Yin Shixiong had no patience for deities and religion. There were no such thing as heavenly saviours; the only things able to rescue them were they themselves.
Gu Nianzhi snorted. “I just want some peace of mind, so don’t mock me.” She wasn’t in a rush to go and so she sat on Yin Shixiong’s couch, her brows furrowed. “But, what is going on exactly. Do they have any idea?”
“Not yet.” Yin Shixiong patted the desk. “I think however, that we have a traitor!”
“Are you sure?” Gu Nianzhi wasn’t convinced. “If there really was a traitor, and they knew about Uncle Huo’s mission, wouldn’t they have failed in the Czech Republic already?”
“That’s true,” Yin Shixiong pondered this, one arm across his chest and the other yanking at his collar as he also began to pace around. “Why were things fine in the Czech Republic, then suddenly disastrous in Vienna? How did the Whitewater Security Group become so powerful that they had been able to stage a counterattack in just two weeks?”
Gu Nianzhi knew that there must be an important missing link—the cause and effect didn’t match up. She sat in Yin Shixiong’s room for a while before returning to her room. Since a video chat would be a huge security risk for Huo Shaoheng and his men, Gu Nianzhi certainly wouldn’t ask for it again. When she also thought of the danger they took to call them this afternoon, she shuddered in fear. If that call became the reason that Huo Shaoheng was placed at a disadvantage, she would never be able to forgive herself. She went back to her laptop and after scrolling absently for some time her eyes glazed over and she was lost in thought; Her fingers gently held the mouse as she mumbled, “If the enemy was able to know their location firsthand, it’s probably because there’s something wrong with the navigation system?” However, she was aware that the satellite navigation and location system that Huo Shaoheng and his men used had been developed by the Empire itself: the Nandou Global Satellite Navigation System. Theoretically, something like this could never happen. Zhao Liangze and the team had believed this, so they had only considered the possibility of a traitor, but had never thought to test the system. On the other hand, Gu Nianzhi wasn’t reliant on the Nandou system; thus she was able to look at the situation objectively and find the solution. She couldn’t stop thinking about this and so opened a computer programming software to put her theory to the test. She pursed her lips and began writing a formulating a testing software. She had learned this from the computer genius, Zhao Liangze, when she had lived on the Special Ops base with Huo Shaoheng. It was easy to write this program and its main function was to continuously send signals to test the security and stability of the satellite navigation and location system. She knew the frequency of the Nandou Global Satellite Navigation System, thus the software quickly began to run and carry out the assigned commands. This could determine if the system was working properly. Half an hour passed, and the software continued to run smoothly. The signals were transmitted, then returned and received by the program’s receiver on her laptop. The special receiver was Yin Shioxong’s device—it could magnify electromagnetic signals similar to how a TV antenna worked. After midnight, Gu Nianzhi’s program suddenly began to give warning signals. She had been slumped over, asleep on her desk, and jolted awake. She rubbed her eyes and looked at her monitor to see bold red lines on her previously smoothly running software. In her programming language, this denoted the interference by a super strong signal! What was going on?
Gu Nianzhi thought she was dreaming so she rubbed her eyes and viciously pinched herself to make sure she was seeing right. The software indicated that the test signal sent to the Nandou Global Satellite Navigation System had overlapped with an unknown signal.
Gu Nianzhi was shocked. Huh? What was going on?!
They were in America, who other than herself would be able to send signals to the Nandou Global Satellite Navigation System? Could it be Yin Shixiong? Gu Nianzhi frantically ran to his room and pounded on the door. “Brother Xiong! Brother Xiong! What are you doing?!”
Yin Shixiong had been deep asleep when her knocks suddenly woke him up. His hair was sticking out in all directions as he clumsily put on his slippers and stumbled to open the door. “What’s happened? What is it, Nianzhi?”
“You were sleeping?” Gu Nianzhi looked at Yin Shixiong, her gaze moving from his groggy face to his wrinkly pajamas.
“Yeah, you just woke me up.” Yin Shixiong then said, impatiently, “You better have something important to tell me! Otherwise I won’t forgive you for disturbing my sleep, no matter how much I let you off the hook normally!”
Gu Nianzhi snorted. “You just spoil yourself!” If it wasn’t Yin Shixiong, it must be someone else in the States who was continuously transmitting test signals to the Nandou Global Satellite Navigation System. From the boldness of the lines, Gu Nianzhi was certain that the signals originated from somewhere not far from them. She excitedly reached out to drag Yin Shixiong to her room and pointed at the erratic and bold red lines on her screen. She enunciated carefully, “Brother Xiong, you see this? I think the Nandou Global Satellite Navigation System has been hacked.”
“What are you talking about?!” Yin Shixong was completely awake now. “Don’t speak such nonsense! You should already know, that system is the most secure system in our nation! How could it be hacked? Even if it were, how could the enemy not have captured Mr. Huo and the team by now?”
“I don’t think you understand this system either.” Gu Nianzhi shook her head. “Brother Xiong, think of a way to contact Unce Huo. I have something important to say to them.”