Chapter 139: Reverse Tracking

There was no time to overthink. Time was running out. He needed to gather as much information as possible and leave the analysis and organization for later.

Xiao Cheng pulled out the file of the last child. With just a single glance, he froze in utter disbelief!

Yang Liushan!

Yang Liushan, female, born on July 13, 1991...

Did the switchman swap just one, or had he replaced the birth records of all the newborns from that year?

There were seven infants in the nursery—one boy and six girls. Three doses of the experimental serum: one for the deceased female infant, one for himself, and one more. Who had that final dose been injected into? If that mysterious person had swapped the records of every single baby in the nursery that day, it would be difficult to trace who that girl was. No one knew where the original files had been hidden. However, if he had only swapped his own file...

Then the other child who received the injection was among these five!

Wu Mengmeng, Chen Yuming, Wang Ziyi, Jiang Ya... and—Yang Liushan!

There was no time to marvel at the coincidence that they might have been born in the same hospital and had already laid eyes on each other when they were merely three days old. Nor did it matter whether any of these girls had been injected with the serum like him. One thing, however, was certain: if Fu Chenyi had drawn the attention of the experimenters, then these five girls were undoubtedly under some form of surveillance as well!

In other words, Yang Liushan was in danger!

......

"Xiao Cheng! Xiao Cheng!"

Just as Xiao Cheng was lost in deep thought, Wang Yang, standing guard at the door, suddenly signaled him. Startled, Xiao Cheng cast one last glance at Yang Liushan's personal information, quickly snapped the folder shut, returned all the retrieved files to their original places, and briefly erased any traces of their presence before stepping out of the archives room.

At the entrance, Wang Yang wore a tense expression.

"What is it? Did someone come by?"

"No, someone was secretly following us! Just a moment ago, right over there, and then they vanished in a flash!" Wang Yang pointed toward the brick wall where Yun Shisan had been squatting just moments before. "It was so dark I couldn't see a thing, but then a gust of wind blew, the tree branches swayed, and a sliver of moonlight broke through. That's when I realized someone was staring at us!"

Wang Yang was quite nervous. Normally, he wouldn't be afraid even if the police showed up, but the fact that someone had managed to play the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of theoriole behind, left him thoroughly unsettled! Judging by the fluid movements, that person's martial prowess in footwork might even surpass his own!

Xiao Cheng gritted his teeth. They had grown careless after all!

The hospital archives room was likely a high-priority surveillance target. If he could think of coming here to investigate his origins through the records, the "experimenters" could certainly think of it too. They could easily monitor this place to find out who had truly been injected with the serum back then!

Xiao Cheng's mind spun at lightning speed, running deductions in his head, a bold idea refusing to be dismissed.

"Wen Xiaodao, I remember you saying that when I am completely rational, I am invincible, right? The IQs of Newton and Einstein were around 200, yet they changed the world. My IQ should be no less than theirs. Why should I be so terrified of this mysterious organization? Is it simply because my high intelligence was manufactured by them?"

Something manufactured was not necessarily under control!

Could this mysterious organization withstand the wrath of a monstrous intellect with an IQ of over 300?

"My fear of them stems merely from ignorance, or perhaps from an instinct buried deep within my memories. Back then, I was just a helpless infant who knew nothing, yet two insignificant underlings under their command were terrifying enough. That needle pierced my brain, and my life and death were entirely in their hands. Therefore, subconsciously, I believe they are invincible—but that might not be true!"

"They have no idea how powerful I am. A perfect score in an Olympiad? Recalling events from my own birth? Those are merely fractional exhibitions of my brain!"

Wen Xiaodao applauded. "Well said! Whether it's correct or not, at least you have conquered your fear."

Whether it was correct or not, it seemed it probably wasn't.

"Fear is unnecessary, but your confidence is somewhat blind. After all, you are currently just a junior high school student; you are still far too weak. They may not be as formidable as you imagine, but they aren't entities you can fight against either. Life is fragile, and a single gun is enough to end it. When a bullet leaves the barrel, it doesn't care who its target is. No matter how high your IQ is—even over 300—you ultimately cannot dodge a bullet, can you?"

He hadn't tried yet, so he might just be able to dodge it.

Unwilling to admit defeat, Xiao Cheng retorted, "They experimented with this mysterious serum surely not to create high-IQ prodigies just to eat them like some immortal deity's flesh! They want to use me, not kill me. Perhaps once discovered, I will be studied by them and used for data collection, but a living me is ultimately more useful. My awakening is full of contingency and might even be uncopiable. As long as I have utility, I won't die. And as long as I don't die, there's a chance!"

"Are you being this reckless because Yang Liushan might be in danger?"

Xiao Cheng was momentarily struck dumb. Perhaps that factor played a part, yes.

Wen Xiaodao shook his head helplessly. "Fine. I can't guarantee that my advice is completely foolproof either. You just want to investigate, and I won't stop you. Go ahead."

The intruder had already left long ago and certainly couldn't be caught now, but minor traces were bound to be left behind. Thinking of this, Xiao Cheng turned back to close the door of the archives room, struggling once more to fasten the rusted bronze padlock. Then, pulling Wang Yang along, he walked over to the wall where Yun Shisan had squatted earlier. With Wang Yang's background in the underworld arts, he could easily pass for a master in the world of parkour; with a slight push off the tree trunk, he vaulted over. Xiao Cheng's mastery over his body and control of his strength had also reached perfection; with a single press of his hands, he leaped gracefully onto the top of the wall.

No obvious marks were left on the wall. Squatting there, Xiao Cheng swept his flashlight across the ground below. It was bare earth, and anyone jumping down from above would inevitably leave footprints. Searching the landing zone, he quickly spotted a footprint.

With a light leap, Xiao Cheng landed not far from that footprint. It seemed the intruder had panicked slightly upon being discovered, or simply did not care about being tracked in reverse, and thus had made no effort to clear away the traces.

Dropping from the exact same height, the intruder's footprint was slightly deeper than his own, indicating a heavier body weight. Judging by the depth, the weight should be around 80 kilograms. The shoes were also a size larger than his, implying the person was taller than him.

A rough estimation placed the intruder's height at 182-185 centimeters, and weight between 80-90 kilograms.

Xiao Cheng stood once more in the exact spot where Yun Shisan had landed, assessed the surrounding environment, and continued running deductions in his mind.

His landing spot was a narrow alley outside the hospital—a one-way street barely wide enough for two cars to pass side by side. Bordering the hospital wall was a dirt path over two meters wide, serving as a makeshift sidewalk. Regardless of which direction one approached from on the road, climbing the wall from here to observe the archives room was a poor vantage point. The only logical possibility was the small alley at the T-junction diagonally across!

Reconstructing the intruder's approach in his mind: the person had cut diagonally across from the T-junction, knowing that the target was near the archives room. Utilizing the cover of the tree branches, the intruder had stepped onto the courtyard wall for leverage and then vaulted up—a movement almost identical to the one Wang Yang had just executed. Turning back to check, sure enough, corresponding trampled marks were visible in that exact spot.

The person had come from the T-junction. "Let's go take a look!"

...

At that moment, sitting inside the car, Yun Shisan checked the GPS tracking on his phone and gasped, "Holy shit, this guy is heading straight for me!"

---

One boy and five girls. Xiao Cheng could proudly say that once upon a time, he had slept in the same room with five girls... As for that other girl who had been injected with the serum, who on earth was she?