Chapter 522: Using the Enemy’s Tracker

"The blue crystal is broadcasting our position."

Everyone turned towards the alien prisoner.

He remained seated near the control panel with Silk’s threads wrapped around his arms and legs.

Little Vine was still resting around his neck.

He looked very uncomfortable, but not uncomfortable enough for Leng Pan.

"What do you mean it is broadcasting our position?" she asked.

The translator repeated her question.

The alien’s eyes moved towards Lu Zhen.

[The purification core is connected to the command network.]

[Its energy can be detected wherever it goes.]

"Even inside a storage space?" Lu Tao asked.

The alien glanced at him.

[Primitive spatial abilities do not block higher-dimensional signals.]

Lu Tao looked offended.

"My brother’s space is not primitive."

Lu Zhen did not correct him.

His storage space might actually be primitive compared to alien technology, but no younger brother would allow someone else to insult his family.

Leng Pan thought about her living space.

If the crystal’s signal could pass through her space, then the aliens’ technology was more advanced than they had believed.

However, something did not feel right.

The aliens had found the village only after the queen sent a distress signal.

If they could track the purification crystal anywhere, they should have known its location from the beginning.

"Why didn’t the aliens come for the core before the queen sent the signal?" she asked.

The alien became silent.

Little Vine tightened.

[The core remained connected to the experiment site.]

"That does not answer my question."

[The Mother’s body concealed part of its energy.]

"Part of it?"

[Enough to prevent long-range detection.]

Leng Pan looked at Lu Zhen.

The alien was not telling the full truth.

Lu Zhen clearly had the same thought.

"When did the command network detect the crystal?" he asked.

The alien hesitated.

[When it entered the aircraft.]

Lu Tao blinked.

"But it did not enter the aircraft."

The crystal was inside Leng Pan’s space. Of course, the alien did not know that.

To everyone else, Lu Zhen had stored it in his spatial ability.

Lu Zhen leaned against the control surface.

"So the aircraft detected the core through my space."

[Yes.]

"And reported it to the command network."

The alien did not answer.

"Did it report the signal before or after we disconnected the aircraft from the network?"

Another silence followed.

Little Vine raised one tendril.

It stroked the alien’s cheek in a way that was far too gentle to be comforting.

His silver markings darkened.

[Before.]

Lu Tao slapped his thigh.

"I knew it!"

Lu Hao looked at him.

"You did not know anything."

"I suspected something."

"You were asking whether the crystal could be used to make the aircraft faster."

"That was a separate issue."

Leng Pan ignored them.

"The command network received our location before we disabled the tracker," she said. "Can it still follow us now?"

The alien looked away.

Little Vine opened the end of one tendril.

[No.]

"So you lied."

[I did not lie.]

"You said the crystal was broadcasting our position."

[It broadcasts inside the aircraft.]

"Which cannot send the information outside anymore."

The alien did not respond.

Leng Pan smiled.

It was not a friendly smile.

"You were hoping we would panic and throw away the crystal."

[The High Command will recover it.]

"That was not what I asked."

The alien stared ahead.

Lu Zhen looked at the navigation display.

The three zombie formations were still moving faster than before, but their routes had not changed again.

"They only know where we were when the network disconnected."

"Then why did the armies split?" Ouyang Jin asked.

"To surround Qinghe Base before we arrive," Leng Pan replied. "The alien commander knows we are trying to warn them."

Vanish studied the map.

"They could also expect us to attack the zombies before they reach the base."

"That would leave us exhausted before the main army deploys," Blaze said.

The aliens were forcing them to choose.

They could protect Qinghe Base and expose more of their strength, or they could preserve their forces and allow more than eighty thousand survivors to face the army alone.

There was no real choice.

They would not ignore the people in danger.

However, they did not have to respond exactly as the aliens expected.

Leng Pan looked at the navigation system.

"Can this aircraft reconnect to the command network?"

The alien’s expression changed slightly.

[Why?]

"I asked whether it could."

[It can.]

"Can the connection be limited to location transmission?"

The alien did not answer.

Little Vine tapped his shoulder.

[Yes.]

Lu Tao moved closer.

"Are you thinking of sending them a false location?"

"Something like that."

Leng Pan enlarged the map.

The three zombie formations were approaching Qinghe Base from the east, southeast, and north.

A wide mountainous region lay west of the base.

Before the apocalypse, a stone quarry operated there.

The quarry had several deep pits and steep rock walls.

"What if the command network receives a new location for the crystal?" Leng Pan asked.

The alien looked at her suspiciously.

[The units assigned to recover it would follow.]

"Would the zombie army follow?"

[The human controllers would decide.]

"Can they refuse a direct recovery order?"

The alien remained quiet for too long.

Leng Pan already had her answer.

"They cannot," she said.

[The core is more important than the human base.]

That was exactly what Leng Pan wanted to hear.

Ouyang Jin understood her plan.

"You want to lure the zombie armies away from Qinghe."

"Not all three," she said. "That would be too obvious. But if we could redirect one or two groups towards the quarry, Qinghe Base would face less pressure."

"What happens when they reach the quarry and don’t find the crystal?" Janna asked.

"We will prepare something for them."

Her expression brightened.

"What kind of something?"

"We have not reached that part of the plan."

"Oh."

Janna looked a little disappointed.

Lu Zhen pointed towards the first zombie formation.

"This group is closest to the quarry. How do we send it the false signal?"

Everyone turned towards the alien prisoner again.

He shook his head.