The direction the tracker left wasn't towards Kiana Kaslana or Bronya Zaychik. It seemed they had given up the pursuit.
But just because they gave up didn't mean Shu and the others would let such readily available intel slip away.
"Shu, Shu, need my help?" Kiana's eager voice came through the comms channel. Shu could tell she still had something in her mouth.
"No need..." Shu's eye twitched. "Neither you nor I are good at tracking. This kind of thing is better left to Bronya."
Bronya was still the most combat-proficient member of their small team. The reputation of the Ural Silver Wolf was forged in the snowy fields of Siberia.
"Bronya acknowledges (Homu homu—)" Bronya's reply was firm, though it would have been better without the Homu sounds in the background.
The Ural Silver Wolf has fallen. Even heroes succumb to soft comforts, sigh.
Meanwhile, Bronya, surrounded by a large group of Homus, glanced at the communicator on her wrist. Shu had sent several multi-angle photos.
The target wore a large cloak and stood in a very concealed corner, observing Shu in front of the cake shop via the reflection in a nearby shop window.
This position... Bronya had to admit the target was skilled. At the very least, her first instinct identified it as an excellent vantage point.
If the target had used similar positions throughout the tracking, Bronya conceded she would have had a hard time spotting them.
Unfortunately for the tracker, their chosen target was Shu – Shu, who was cautious enough to perform a wide-range scan of his surroundings every few minutes.
How wide was this range?
Only about a kilometer radius.
Bronya didn't think she could tail Shu undetected, not even during his downtime, let alone now in an unfamiliar environment.
If it weren't for the target's equally exceptional counter-surveillance capabilities, Shu could probably already report how many hairs were on their forehead and what they had for dinner last night.
But those counter-surveillance abilities...
"I'll be behind you, Bronya," Shu's voice came again, dispelling Bronya's hesitation.
Right, she wasn't alone. She was just used to thinking from a solo perspective.
The target possessed such advanced counter-surveillance, capable of interfering with thermal imaging, sonar feedback, even basic light information and Honkai energy. This made Bronya wary.
What if their capabilities extended beyond counter-surveillance to include advanced weaponry?
That was Shu's concern as well.
But now, since Shu said he'd be behind Bronya, it meant he was fully committed to guarding against the appearance of high-spec weapons. Bronya only needed to focus on tracking; Shu would handle the danger.
Kiana and Mei were already far enough from Bronya. Shu worried about protecting multiple people simultaneously, but at this distance, he felt confident.
Even if the target was carrying a nuclear bomb under their cloak... okay, maybe not that, that was a bit risky. There was maybe a 10% chance Shu couldn't protect everyone...
Could they really hide a nuke under that cloak?!
Bronya finished processing the information Shu sent and rose from the midst of the Homus.
The Homus didn't follow, instead bidding her farewell warmly before scattering to their own devices, not hindering Bronya's departure at all.
Bronya quickly calculated the target's likely escape route, intercepted them, and began tailing from behind.
Far behind Bronya, on a rooftop, Shu stood holding the cake box, facing the wind, eyes closed, quietly sensing Bronya's every move.
In the distance, Kiana and Mei had also left the bakery district, heading further away.
Shu's attention was now fully focused on Bronya, constantly monitoring her surroundings.
Why the rooftop?
The city's buildings were distinctly medieval in style, not particularly tall on average. Moving across the rooftops was almost unobstructed for Shu.
If anything changed near Bronya, he could reach her instantly.
As for the tracking itself, Shu trusted Bronya to deliver a perfect result.
However, Bronya, who held Shu's high confidence, was currently facing a problem.
She couldn't clearly follow the tracker's movements!
One second the target was on the street, the next they would vanish from Bronya's sight, only to reappear a few steps away after Bronya searched again.
This repeated every few seconds of tracking.
"Shu, there's a problem..." After two or three repetitions, Bronya confirmed it wasn't her own lack of focus. She decisively contacted Shu.
"Report." Shu spoke a single word, eyes still closed as he leaped from one rooftop to another.
"The target's movements are erratic. It seems capable of diverting my attention elsewhere," Bronya said, relocating to a new hiding spot.
"Bronya, do you really like Homus that much?" Kiana's voice piped up through the comms, followed by the sound of Kiana being muffled and Mei apologizing.
Shu took two steps along the roof edge, then stopped.
He frowned, eyes still shut.
Bronya wouldn't make excuses in a situation like this. Even her earlier undignified pounce on the Homu was a calculated move to attach a micro-tracker.
So, there had to be a reason Bronya was reporting this.
Diverting attention... Is that possible?
Considering the target's ability to interfere with Honkai energy scans, could this be a Herrscher power? Was the target the Herrscher?
But if this was their power... wasn't it a bit underwhelming?
A Herrscher capable of creating such a vast city, potentially even the areas beyond it, could only resort to such tricks to evade pursuit?
Was it like the white fog, their power usage heavily restricted, only capable of this much? Or was it because...
The target wasn't the Herrscher?
Shu recalled the information Otto had given him previously.
A technology from Future City—
"Shu, I suspect the target possesses [Mosquito's Breath]," Bronya's heavy voice came through.
Shu's heart sank.
"[Mosquito's Breath]?" Kiana's surprised voice echoed in the comms. "I know that! My stinky old Dad used to prank me with it all the time! It's like a big mosquito; even if you stare right at it, you still lose track!"
"This technology is banned for export by Future City... It wasn't even circulated on the former [Spider Web]..." Bronya said grimly. "The target..."
"Is from Future City?" Shu opened his eyes, finishing her sentence.