Volume 1, Chapter 23: Catch Him

In the midnight workshop, the lingering warmth of the celebration had long since dissipated. The air still held traces of champagne and sweat, but was dominated by the cold, metallic breath of hydraulic fluid. Most of the workers had returned to rest, leaving only a core group to make final preparations for tomorrow’s taxi test.

Du Yuze did not leave. He sat alone in the cockpit, toying with a crude "fault detector." The soft green glow of the screen illuminated his face, indicating that all data was normal. Yet, in his heart, a persistent sense of unease remained.

It was too smooth. From the resolution of the grounding issue to the full restoration of the system, everything had proceeded with the perfection of a theoretical model.

At the other end of the workshop, Shen Qingyun was checking the final process list with several team leaders. His excitement had not yet faded, and his voice was louder than usual.

"Old Li, check the landing gear hydraulic system again; the pressure values must be precise to two decimal places!"

"Liu Chuang, take the crew and clear the runway of debris; I don't want to see so much as a single pebble!"

Li "Ghost Hand" nodded, a cigarette dangling unlit from his lips, and led two apprentices toward the belly of the aircraft. Liu Chuang acknowledged the order and went to gather his team.

Amidst the vast silence, the workshop maintained a state of methodical tension.

Pang Qingquan, a veteran and now the head of security, disliked this stillness. His battlefield experience told him that silence was often the precursor to a lethal strike. Holding a high-intensity flashlight, he patrolled the shadows of the massive fuselage like a silent hound. His steps were light; his rubber-soled tactical boots barely made a sound against the concrete.

When he circled to the underside of the nose, he stopped.

A shadow flickered past the cockpit ladder.

It was not one of the workshop staff he recognized. The movement was furtive, swift, and possessed a sense of purpose that did not belong here.

Pang Qingquan did not call out immediately. He turned off his flashlight, blending into the deeper darkness, his muscles tensed. He watched the shadow expertly climb the ladder and slip into the cockpit that had just regained its peace.

Inside the cockpit, Du Yuze was preparing to leave. He had just stood up when he felt a draft behind him.

He whirled around.

A shadow, wearing a peaked cap and a surgical mask, was crouching beneath the pilot's seat, holding a tool and twisting something at the base of the control stick.

At almost the same moment, a roar erupted from the bottom of the ladder.

"Stop! Who goes there!"

It was Pang Qingquan!

The shadow shuddered, and the tool in his hand clattered to the floor. Like a startled wildcat, he sprang up, ignoring Du Yuze, and lunged toward the ladder.

"Trying to run?" Du Yuze’s reaction was faster than that of a typical engineer. He lunged forward, reaching for the intruder’s collar.

The shadow was incredibly cunning; he coiled his body, sliding away like an eel, and scrambled down the ladder.

"Catch him!" Pang Qingquan had already reached the foot of the ladder, arms outstretched to intercept.

But the intruder was lightning-fast. Upon hitting the ground, he rolled, evaded Pang’s grasp, and sprinted toward a remote side door without looking back.

"Damn it!" Pang Qingquan gave chase.

The entire sequence lasted only a few seconds.

The workshop staff were startled by the sudden commotion. Shen Qingyun, Li, and the others rushed out from various corners.

"What's going on?"

"Who is Old Pang chasing?"

Du Yuze did not join the chase. He stood in the cockpit, slowly crouching down to pick up the metal tool left on the floor.

It was a custom-made ratchet wrench, small, with a ground-down head, clearly intended for use in a tight angle. His mind raced. The position of that shadow... the base of the control stick...

Du Yuze’s heart sank.

He reached under the control stick, feeling for the critical bolt connecting the hydraulic transmission system.

His fingertip touched the nut.

It was loose.

Not merely loose, but nearly unscrewed. A high-speed run on the runway and the resulting vibrations would have been enough to shake this nut off completely. At that moment, the control stick would have lost all connection to the control surfaces. The pilot would be left holding a useless metal rod, watching as the hundred-ton steel beast turned into an out-of-control coffin, veering off the runway to crash and perish.

A chill ran from the base of Du Yuze’s spine to the top of his head.

This was not a malfunction; this was murder.

Pang Qingquan returned, breathless, and slammed his fist against the wall. "He escaped through the fire exit! The lock had been broken beforehand!"

Shen Qingyun, Li, and Liu gathered around, their faces etched with shock and lingering fear.

"What happened, Engineer Du?" Shen asked urgently.

Du Yuze said nothing. He stood up and laid the nut, which he had been able to unscrew with a single finger, alongside the custom wrench in his palm.

"The control linkage nut," he said, enunciating every word.

The color drained from everyone’s faces. As frontline engineers and workers, they knew exactly what this meant.

"Goddamn it!" Liu Chuang was the first to curse, his voice trembling. "Who did this? This would have cost all of our lives!"

"A taxi test... if it had disconnected during the run..." a young worker couldn't finish his sentence, his face deathly pale.

Shen Qingyun snatched the nut, his hands shaking. It wasn't fear, but rage—the fury of seeing one’s life’s work so viciously defiled.

"Investigate! I want a full investigation! Check the logs of everyone who entered the workshop tonight! Check the surveillance! Don't let a single person slip through!" he roared at Pang Qingquan.

Li "Ghost Hand" picked up the wrench, holding it to the light. His rough fingers traced the metal surface, his brow furrowed.

"This wrench is custom-made. The head was ground down for a specific angle. Ordinary people wouldn't have a tool like this," he said in a low voice. "Whoever used this knows the structure of this aircraft inside and out. He knew that this bolt was the most hidden and the most fatal point."

These words sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

The enemy was among them. Or, had been among them.

"Who..." Shen murmured. He couldn't fathom who would harbor such hatred that they would destroy the entire project in this manner.

Du Yuze took the wrench back from Li. He didn't look at the head, but at the end of the handle. There, in an inconspicuous spot, was a tiny, faint scratch that looked like a slip of the tool.

He had seen this mark before.

[Memory data index... Project: 'Starlight' Drone... Personnel: Tian Weijun... Tool handover records...]

A name surfaced clearly in his mind.

"I know who it is," Du Yuze said, his tone terrifyingly calm.

Everyone looked at him.

"Who?" Shen Qingyun asked.

"Tian Weijun."

The name hung in the air, followed by a deathly silence.

Liu Chuang was stunned. "Engineer Tian? That’s impossible, right? Didn’t he get transferred to the logistics maintenance center last month? Why would he do this?"

"Yeah, he’s a bit arrogant, but his skills are good. He wouldn't go that far..." another engineer expressed doubt.

Shen Qingyun’s mind raced, trying to find the logic. "What’s the motive? Why would he destroy the 'Dragon Sparrow'? What does he gain from this?"

Du Yuze held up the wrench, showing them the tiny mark.

"This is his habit. All of his personal tools have a mark filed into the exact same spot. He said it was to prevent others from taking them by mistake."

Du Yuze’s thoughts drifted back to the 'Starlight' project two years ago.

"He was part of that project, too. Back then, to claim credit, he took the wind tunnel data I had painstakingly gathered, changed the name, and submitted it as his own. After I exposed him on the spot, he was officially reprimanded and lost his year-end bonus."

Du Yuze paused, then continued, "When he left the project team, he blocked my path and told me that since I had ruined his future, he would definitely settle the score."

Everyone present was stunned. They knew Tian Weijun was a skilled technician with a reclusive personality, but they had no idea about this history.

"Just for that? He wanted everyone on that plane to be buried with him?" Liu Chuang couldn't comprehend it.

"Some people would rather destroy what they cannot have than watch others succeed," Du Yuze said. "He was transferred to logistics, and watching us work here, so close to success, he couldn't stand it."

Shen Qingyun’s fists were clenched tight. He believed it now. He had seen this kind of madness born of jealousy before.

"The bastard!" Shen’s fury erupted. "He’s declaring war on all of us!"

Du Yuze’s face showed no anger, only an icy coldness. It wasn't the calm before the storm, but the absolute zero of Siberian permafrost.

He reinstalled the nut, picked up the wrench, and tightened it to the standard torque until a crisp "click" echoed through the silence.

Then, he looked up and swept his gaze over everyone present.

"Tian Weijun..."

His voice was soft, but it pierced their ears like a poisoned ice pick.

"You are looking for death."

Pang Qingquan immediately took action. "I’m taking my men to seal off the facility now! We’ll pull every piece of footage; he won’t get far!"

"Wait!" Shen Qingyun stopped him, forcing himself to stay calm. "We can't alert him. He’s surely in hiding. What we must do is ensure the aircraft is absolutely secure."

He turned to the group, issuing orders with unprecedented seriousness.

"From this moment on, we are at Level One combat readiness! Cancel all rest! I want this aircraft checked from the first rivet to the last wire! I want to ensure that when the sun rises tomorrow, this is a flawless machine!"

"Yes!"

The crowd dispersed. The shock and fear had been transformed into a unified, vengeful resolve.

The workshop was bathed in light. No one spoke; there was only the dense, determined sound of tools clashing against metal.

Du Yuze stood before the cockpit, looking at the polished fuselage and the re-secured bolt.

He knew the war had begun.