Wang Zhuo frowned slightly in surprise and asked, "When was the last time he powered on? And where?"

Siyuan quickly pulled up the data, referencing the satellite map, and analyzed, "He last powered on yesterday afternoon at three-thirty, used the internet on GR for ten minutes, and then shut down. At that time, his location was about two hundred and seventy kilometers away from where we are now."

Lu Weimin interjected, "How long was he at that location yesterday?"

"Let me check..." Siyuan queried, then stated, "He was at the previous location for over seven days. That spot was covered by two signal base stations simultaneously, so we can pinpoint it to roughly half a street."

Everyone understood this. The coverage area of each base station was circular, and to achieve seamless mobile signal coverage, these circles often overlapped. Therefore, many areas could receive signals from two or even three base stations at once. Ji Guang's location a few days ago happened to be precisely in the overlapping area between two stations; locating this meant they had a good idea of where he was.

The driver suddenly spoke up, "If it's less than sixty kilometers, then he shouldn't be in Shu'an City anymore, right?"

Wang Zhuo was momentarily stunned, and sure enough, Siyuan quickly reported, "Correct. He's currently in a place called Tianlu County, right in the center of the county seat!"

"Tianlu County?" The driver immediately eased off the gas and slowed the car, turning back toward Wang Zhuo with a wry smile, "Tianlu County isn't under the jurisdiction of Shu'an City or Zuo'an City. That territory belongs to Qing'an City."

Before leaving, Wang Zhuo had specifically asked the leaders from the copper mine to contact their counterparts in Zuo'an and Shu'an cities. Ji Guang had initially been involved in a pyramid scheme in Zuo'an City, and after escaping in Shu'an, for whatever reason, he never left the area. Thus, for convenience, Wang Zhuo had contacted both city governments. Now, however, the situation had suddenly changed, and the kid Ji Guang had jumped over to Qing'an City's turf!

This back-and-forth annoyed Wang Zhuo. Repeatedly leveraging the influence of high-ranking copper mine officials, only for the target to move—wouldn't that make him look unreliable?

He snorted through his nose and waved his hand, saying, "Never mind that, let's go to Qing'an City first and find the person!"

"Master, drive toward this location." Siyuan adjusted her tablet to navigation mode and handed it to the driver.

A distance of just over fifty kilometers was quite close. After a little over half an hour, the commercial van drove into the county seat of Tianlu County. It was a small county town with only a population of a little over a hundred thousand. Two intersecting main streets formed the primary traffic arteries, dividing the town into four neatly planned, easily surveyed quadrants.

"Should I give him a call?" Fu Xinran asked Wang Zhuo for his opinion.

"Don't!" the driver and Lu Weimin forbade in unison.

Lu Weimin said with a bitter smile, "Let's not alert him. If we scare him off, won't we have made this trip for nothing?"

The driver nodded in agreement. Wang Zhuo considered it for a moment and then said, "Let's call, but just casually, say something else. If we can hear any ambient sounds on the line, it might help us analyze the specific location."

In the 1993 American film The Fugitive, the detective enhanced the male protagonist's recorded phone call and analyzed background noises to pinpoint the location of the payphone he used, leading to his capture. This scene had amazed many viewers.

That was precisely Wang Zhuo's plan. For instance, if Ji Guang answered, sounds like a nearby vendor's cries, a bus announcement, or a street shop's promotional loudspeaker could all serve as references.

Upon hearing this suggestion, Siyuan immediately clapped her hands in delight, "That's a great idea!"

Siyuan, who specialized in network cracking and intrusion, was intimately familiar with similar techniques. Wang Zhuo's impromptu suggestion seemed to open a door in her mind, connecting network intrusion with real-world application.

While it might seem trivial on the surface, for her, it was like a sudden enlightenment—profoundly significant and far-reaching, even if she couldn't fully capitalize on it right away!

Fu Xinran excitedly took out her phone and dialed Ji Guang. Siyuan simultaneously monitored the data changes on her computer.

The phone emitted a ringing tone on speaker mode. Siyuan quietly nudged Wang Zhuo, signaling him to look at Ji Guang's phone data, which now displayed an incoming call.

A moment later, the display changed to "Call Missed," and then rapidly switched to "Powered Off!"

"He didn't pick up. I'll call again," Fu Xinran insisted, unwilling to give up.

"No need to call; he's already powered down," Wang Zhuo said with a wry smile, pointing to the data log on the computer screen for her to see.

"Could his battery be dead?" Lu Weimin asked.

"No, this isn't the first or second time he's done this," Siyuan explained as she pulled up the data from previous days and pointed it out on the screen.

The driver quietly glanced at Fu Xinran with sympathy and asked Wang Zhuo, "What now?"

Wang Zhuo snorted coldly and commanded, "Drive on. We'll circle this small county town. We'll note down any suspicious spots we see and search them out slowly later!"

"Got it—" The car started up and sped forward.

A commercial van bearing a license plate from another city drove slowly along the main streets of the county district. The windows on both sides were rolled down, and people inside were leaning out, looking around. This strange sight quickly drew the attention of those observant enough to notice.

"I found it! That's the signal tower that exchanged signals with Ji Guang's phone!" Siyuan pointed excitedly at an iron tower towering atop a high-rise building.

The driver pulled the van over to the side of the road, and everyone looked up. The building seemed tall, but only relative to this small county town; it was only sixteen stories high, already standing out dramatically among the surrounding seven- or eight-story structures.

Finding the signal tower, however, didn't lift Fu Xinran's spirits. This tower was situated right in the busiest area of the county seat—buildings and traditional houses were packed densely together. Finding Ji Guang from here without police cooperation was not going to be easy.

As she hesitated, she heard the driver laugh, "Finding pyramid scheme dens in a place like this? That's what I'm best at."

Fu Xinran's eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "Then we'll have to trouble you, Master. Shall we get out and search now?"

"Getting out is a no-go," the driver shook his head. "We're outsiders. Wandering around the streets will draw attention. Those running pyramid schemes have sharp noses; it's better if we stay in the car; it draws less notice."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a worn-out white minivan suddenly cut in front of the commercial van, blocking its path forward. Then, the sliding door opened, and three young men emerged from the back seat, followed by a middle-aged man getting out of the front passenger seat. He wore a faded blue short-sleeved uniform with nearly illegible shoulder insignia.

The middle-aged man was clearly the leader. He first examined the commercial van's license plate, then walked over and stood next to the driver's side, speaking with a less-than-respectful tone: "From Nanning? What business do you have in Tianlu?"

The driver was momentarily taken aback. Having rushed here, they hadn't actually discussed how to respond if questioned by locals about their origins. He quickly glanced at the insignia on the middle-aged man's shoulder, then looked back at Wang Zhuo, silently seeking instruction.

Wang Zhuo had already clearly seen the lettering on the man's shoulder insignia. Seeing the unfriendly expressions of the three young men behind him, Wang Zhuo felt a bit strange, wondering why these locals held such immediate hostility toward outsiders.

He rolled down his window and asked the male officer blandly, "Are you police?"

The middle-aged man sized him up and retorted impatiently, "You don't recognize a police uniform?"

"I recognize a police uniform," Wang Zhuo exhaled through his nose and let out a slight chuckle, "but an unnumbered uniform isn't something you see every day."

Outsiders causing trouble? The three young men exchanged a glance and edged closer, their eyes full of provocation and warning.

The middle-aged officer slightly raised his arm, signaling them to stop. Although the commercial van was only a mid-range joint-venture model with out-of-town plates, Wang Zhuo's aura of long-held authority somewhat influenced him. Moreover, his unapologetic demeanor made the officer hesitant about the true situation.

Just then, Lu Weimin opened his door, got out, and stood before the officer, calmly stating, "Officer, we are passing through on our way to Zuo'an. We wanted to service our car here and grab a meal. Do you have any issues?"

Lu Weimin was a veteran discharged from a classified unit who had worked as a bodyguard for many years. Simply standing on the road, his presence was different from that of an ordinary person. He was just shy of six feet tall, considered quite tall in Guangxi, and standing alone before the four men, his imposing nature was in no way inferior. Furthermore, his arms, thick as tree trunks, his broad shoulders, and his solid pectoral muscles immediately signaled that he was not someone to trifle with.

Bodyguards and "persons of interest" are immediately discernible. The male officer hesitated, deciding that it was better to cause less trouble than more. Fulfilling his duty was enough; he didn't want to argue with these outsiders.

"No issues," his tone softened slightly. "The public security situation hasn't been great lately. I just wanted to remind you all to be careful."

He took a step back, but Wang Zhuo wasn't appeased. He chuckled and asked, "Oh? Is the security in Tianlu that bad?"

The officer had been a policeman for twenty years; he'd dealt with all kinds. A casually delivered sentence was enough to smooth things over without leaving any traceable statement: "It's transient criminals from other cities."

"Alright, thanks for the reminder." Wang Zhuo beckoned to Lu Weimin, "Get back in the car, let's find a place to eat!"

The minivan moved aside. Watching the commercial van drive past at an unhurried pace, one of the youths couldn't help but ask the officer, "Brother Zhao, what's with those outsiders acting so tough? We just let them go?"

"You don't know anything," the officer turned and glared at him, huffing, "The heat is on right now; the county leaders issued a strict order. Better to avoid trouble than create it. I don't think they are reporters, so let them act tough for once!"

Saying that, he slapped the driver's seat, "Drive! Follow them."

Another young man asked curiously, "Brother Zhao, you just said they weren't reporters, so why are we still following them?"

"You wouldn't understand!" the officer cursed impatiently, "I'm doing this to show the higher-ups. If we let a car with an out-of-town plate drive around our turf without us tailing them, and the higher-ups find out, they'll chew us out!"