HPDBC Chapter 74 The Traitor Has Been Spotted
Chapter 74 The Traitor Has Been Spotted
"That's not the most important thing."
Weber continued, "Importantly, their paper used a new theoretical model."
He paused.
"The underlying framework of that model is more than 70% similar to the Tianyan architecture you showed in Chicago."
The fluorescent lights in the corridor hummed.
Lin Yu's eyes slowly narrowed.
They are 70% similar.
Not a coincidence.
It's not just about the amount of information that a whiteboard photo can provide.
Kevin had something else in his hands.
"Professor Weber."
Lin Yu's voice was very soft, "Thank you."
"Mr. Lin, be careful."
Weber's tone carried an uncharacteristic seriousness. "He's not just pursuing you. He's learning from you."
The phone hangs up.
Lin Yu stood in the empty corridor, clutching his phone in his hand.
What else did Kevin have besides that whiteboard photo?
He recalled everyone who had come into contact with the core information of Tianyan during those three months.
Li Jianbin's team. Passed the security review and was ruled out.
Wang Lei. Absolutely loyal, excluded.
Xia Zijin. Impossible, ruled out.
Chen Jiefang. Even less likely.
Who is that?
He took out his phone and dialed a number.
11:12 AM.
Zhou Weiguo answered quickly.
"Director Zhou, the scope of the investigation needs to be expanded."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
How big?
"Everyone in the base who has access to Tianyan's technical documents. Not a single one will be missed."
Zhou Weiguo did not ask why.
"Starting tomorrow."
Lin Yu hung up the phone and stood in the corridor without moving.
The lights were a stark white. The shadows were long.
He remembered what Kevin had said in the hallway earlier that day.
"You always see everyone as an opponent."
no.
He doesn't see everyone as an opponent.
Someone is lurking in the shadows, eyeing him as prey.
And Kevin isn't the only hunter.
Zhou Weiguo took two days.
It's not that the search is slow, it's that the scope of the search is too broad.
There are a total of forty-seven people at the base with access to Tianyan's technical documents. This ranges from core researchers in Li Jianbin's team to clerical staff responsible for document archiving, and external engineers with temporary access.
The communication records, entry and exit times of the base, personal bank statements, and social media activity of the forty-seven individuals over the past three months were all retrieved and compared one by one.
Zhou Weiguo's four team members split up, while he personally kept an eye on the twelve core members.
On the morning of the third day, he knocked on Lin Yu's door.
"Shrink to three people."
Lin Yu was sitting at the counter, a bowl of cold noodles in front of him. He glanced up at Zhou Weiguo, said nothing, and waited.
Zhou Weiguo placed a folder on the table and opened it.
Three photos, three resumes.
"The first one is Zhao Mingyuan, an associate researcher in Li Jianbin's team, who is responsible for classifying and organizing instruction set documents. Three months ago, he registered an account on an overseas online education platform, and the course content was spoken English. He used a VPN to register the IP address."
"The second one is Sun Jie, a technician in the communications security group. Last month, he took five days off to visit his family. But his phone location showed that he was at a five-star hotel in Pudong, Shanghai on one of those days. On the same day, an American academic delegation checked into that hotel."
"The third one," Zhou Weiguo said, pausing for a moment as he pointed to the last photo.
"Qian Huifang. Team leader of the document management center. She has worked at the base for eleven years without ever causing any problems. But her son applied to MIT for graduate studies last year and received a full scholarship this March."
Lin Yu's gaze fell on the third photo.
A woman in her forties, with a round face, short hair, and a kind smile. She looked like the auntie who served food at a school cafeteria.
"Full scholarship?"
"A full scholarship. And it's from the CSAIL lab where Kevin Sterling works."
Lin Yu pushed the bowl of noodles aside.
"What level of documents can the team leader in the records management center access?"
"All archived technical documents."
Zhou Weiguo's voice was flat, "Including the complete design documents of the Tianyan instruction set, meeting minutes, and data reports from all simulation tests."
Lin Yu closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.
After a moment, he opened his eyes.
"We're not going to investigate anymore."
Zhou Weiguo frowned.
"It's her."
"How can you be so sure? The first two are also suspects—"
"Zhao Mingyuan might be learning English simply because he wants to. Sun Jie might be going to Shanghai just to have fun. The suspicious thing about these two is their abnormal behavior, but their motives are insufficient."
Lin Yu stood up and walked to the window.
"Qian Huifang is different. Her son is in Kevin's lab. This is not a coincidence; it's a bargaining chip."
He turned to look at Zhou Weiguo.
"Kevin doesn't try to buy people off with money. He's smarter than that. He uses what a mother cares about most: her child's future."
Zhou Weiguo remained silent for a few seconds.
"If it's her, her records for eleven years are spotless. This means she wasn't recruited for long, at most six months."
That's enough.
Lin Yu said, "Six months is enough to feed out the core framework of Tianyan."
"What should we do?"
Zhou Weiguo was asking this question seriously.
According to regulations, the entire process of taking immediate control, interrogation, transfer, and filing a case was carried out flawlessly.
But Lin Yu's eyes told him that this young man had other ideas.
"Don't touch her."
Zhou Weiguo's brows furrowed even more.
"Let me finish."
Lin Yu walked back to the control panel and sat down. "What can you get by arresting her now? She's been an honest archivist for eleven years; she doesn't have any direct evidence. Kevin's people aren't stupid enough to let her leave any leverage. At most, you can charge her with illegally transmitting information, sentence her to a few years, and then what?"
"Then Kevin was replaced by someone else."
"right."
Lin Yu looked at him and said, "If you cut off a hand, it will grow a new one. But if you keep this hand, you'll know where he's going to touch next."
Zhou Weiguo stood still, motionless.
He served in the military for twenty years, and the thing he hated most was knowingly keeping a mole alive.
But he had to admit it.
Lin Yu is right.
"I have one condition."
"explain."
"From now on, every document Qian Huifang handles must first pass through my hands. I will decide what she can see."
Lin Yu nodded.
"besides,"
Zhou Weiguo lowered his voice by half a octave, "If this matter gets out of control, I will immediately terminate your plan and handle it according to the rules."
"make a deal."
Lin Yu extended his hand.
Zhou Weiguo glanced at it.
"You have chili oil on your hands."
Lin Yu wiped his hands on his pants and then stretched them out again.
Zhou Weiguo shook hands with him.
Wang Lei poked half his head in from outside the door, saw the two shaking hands, and silently withdrew.
He took out his phone and sent a message to Xia Zijing.
[The boss and Zhou Yanwang shook hands again. The second time. Should we create a group chat?]
Xia Zijin did not reply.
Three seconds later, Wang Lei received a system notification.
This user has enabled Do Not Disturb mode.
"..."
That afternoon, Zhou Weiguo did something.