Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

July 14, in the morning.

Bi Fang didn’t participate in the live streaming of the hunting season, his reason was the same as before.

He was resting in town, and needed to wait until the fourth day to return to the forest to live stream.

Inside the live stream room, a large number of viewers who saw the leave notice howled in dismay. The barrage of comments stormed in wave after wave, like a tide erupting.

The deep resentment contained within made anyone who saw it afraid, especially with the mix of multiple languages, it seemed even more terrifying.

[Damn, another leave?]

[Old Fang really isn’t worried about others surpassing him, huh?]

[Laziness, oh laziness, you’re too lax!]

[Lord Fang, give us something, I’m having withdrawals. It’s unbearable day by day. Without something to watch, my heart feels like it’s stuffed with a cat, gasping and scratching, I can’t sleep at night and end up scratching all the good skin off my body]

[Just quit, it’s hopeless.]

[I know I should quit, but I really can’t take it. Lord Fang, I know you’re soft-hearted, a great kind person, give us something to get through this period, I promise I’ll quit next time, Lord Fang—oops, Lord Fang]

Ever since there were comments, Bi Fang gave the viewers’ comments a thumbs up.

Bi Fang put the tablet filled with comments aside, picked up his backpack, and walked out of the hotel openly and aboveboard—this was how he was different from Richard and the others.

When Bi Fang went out, nobody tailed him, unless it was a fan, and fans were easy to shake off. To start with, the fan would have to follow a top-special forces soldier; that fan must also have some sort of system.

The backpack was stuffed to the brim. Bi Fang held a map in his hand, walked towards the location indicated by the red circles, then set his backpack down, took out the camera equipment, climbed a big tree, and secured it at a high vantage point with an open view.

Sitting on a tree branch, Bi Fang looked at the distant bay and squeezed the earpiece, shouting, "How’s the angle? Can you see clearly?"

"Move up a bit, there’s a branch in the way." With a computer on his lap, Jerret was remotely directing Bi Fang through the screen.

Bi Fang readjusted the camera position, "OK, how about now?"

"Too high now, lower it a bit, yes, that’s right, now that position is good, you can fix it in place."

Bi Fang circled around the branch, got behind the tree, tightened the securing bolts, and firmly clamped it onto the trunk. Then he slid down the tree trunk all the way to the ground.

Apart from Dolphin Bay, there were many more places where Bi Fang needed to set things up.

Dolphin Bay was just the most bloody and notorious slaughter spot; every year during the dolphin hunting season, the water here was blood red.

And this was without any exaggeration.

Literally blood red.

From satellite images, the entire Dolphin Bay looked like a sea of blood.

In his past life, when Bi Fang saw it for the first time, he truly understood that expressions like "rivers of blood" and "blood flowing into a stream" were not just idioms on paper, but scenes that existed in reality.

"Phew, another one dealt with."

Bi Fang wiped the sweat from his forehead. The weather was really hot today. It was a bit better in the forest with no urban heat island effect and plenty of cool places, but Bi Fang was not idle and, to avoid scratches, he couldn’t wear shorts or short sleeves.

"Was anyone following you today?"

After installing another camera, Bi Fang sat on a stone, took a sip of water to rest, and pressed the earpiece to ask.

Since Bi Fang was operating under the cover of darkness, he naturally needed someone to draw the locals’ attention in the open. The more Richard and the others resisted, the more attention they could draw.

By contrast, Bi Fang’s operations were much safer and more covert.

However, things couldn’t get too intense. Richard’s car had been blown up, and that scene was still vividly etched in everyone’s minds. Everyone was trembling with fear, as if walking on a tightrope, carefully measuring every step.

Exposing everything here is everyone’s wish, but that doesn’t mean everyone is ready to make that sacrifice.

Whether it’s pickpocketing, other petty crimes, or serious crimes or acts of terrorism, almost all criminals will surveil their targets to some extent before they strike.

They focus on observing every move of their targets, but in fact, during this period, the criminals themselves are highly susceptible to exposure—especially if their targets are always vigilant and extremely sensitive to their surroundings.

Richard’s team, upon setting foot in Japan for the second time, couldn’t be clearer about this, knowing how unwelcome they were in Taiji Town.

They even felt that every person who sneaked a glance their way was a resident tasked with tailing them, or a member of the Japanese Organization, ready to pull out a switchblade from their pocket and use it on them at any moment.

No police would come to their aid, and even after death, the perpetrator could not be found.

Being stabbed over twenty times in the back and then ruled as a suicide, such a ludicrous thing was indeed possible.

"How could there not be any," Jerret said with a wry smile, pressing down slightly on his computer and opening the car window.

Alongside the road, a man dressed in all black and wearing sunglasses held a video camera, squatting on the ground, blatantly turning his head to follow Richard and the others as they drove past.

As they passed by each other, the man with the rolled-down window gave Richard and the others the middle finger.

The provocation was quite blatant.

Looking in the rearview mirror, Richard saw today’s third vehicle that was closely following them, "Just from the license plates, we’ve noted down seven or eight numbers."

"When we first arrived, we didn’t know who was tracking us."

A few days ago, Richard and his team only knew that they were being watched and followed, but had no idea who was behind it.

Whether it was whalers or the Japanese Organization, they had no clue.

It wasn’t until this morning that Bi Fang taught Mandy how to locate their tail, and they pinpointed a particular individual.

Bi Fang told Mandy that, to ascertain who was following them, they needed to act on multiple fronts while following the TEDD principle.

The so-called TEDD principle stands for Time, Environment, Distance, Demeanor.

Time: Have you seen the same person or a group of people repeatedly in different environments?

To confirm whether this is true, you should pay attention to time the entire day.

Environment: Have you noticed people whose dress or body language clashes with the surrounding environment?

Distance: Does the same group of people appear at two locations far apart from each other?

For example, is this person the same one wearing sunglasses that you saw at the neighborhood convenience store 10 minutes ago, perhaps less suspicious in appearance, or was he there two hours earlier?

Behavior: In the field of surveillance, "behavior" refers to conduct and appearance. Look for those whose clothing or behavior doesn’t blend in with the environment.

Frequently change your daily routine or routes to confirm if you’re being followed.

According to these guidelines, look for "coincidences" that repeat themselves at different times and places.

Meanwhile, be extra cautious in your actions—make the criminals believe that they have merely lost sight of their target by accident, rather than the target intentionally evading them.

The simplest way to do so is to go to a far-off supermarket to shop, eliminating the chance of coincidence, to confirm whether you’re under surveillance—then head to another area to do some errands, to test your hypothesis.

Keeping these rules in mind, Mandy successfully locked onto an individual.

They happened to encounter an English-speaking Japanese tourist and asked if he knew the guy standing by the roadside, or if not, could he please ask for them.

The tourist wasn’t highly alert and was quite willing to assist Richard and the others.

The eventual answer was.

That guy was the Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.

"The ones tracking us aren’t from the Organization, nor are they whalers; they’re police," Richard stroked his chin, "They consider us criminals now."

"Is there any way to shake these guys off? Old Fang? Any tips? They’re as annoying as rats!" Jerret snatched the communicator channel and yelled frantically.

He couldn’t stand the atmosphere anymore, there were eyes on him wherever he went.

Jerret suspected that even when he was using the bathroom, his photo was taken, possibly to threaten them to leave Japan.

Bi Fang pondered for a moment, "There is a way, but it’s not guaranteed to work if you guys do it, and with the police mobilized, their people are everywhere. Even if you shake them off, if you’re not planning to go into hiding, they’ll find you again very quickly."

"I don’t care, I need to shake them off now, give them a run for their money!"

Bi Fang nodded, understanding what Jerret meant.

Such actions were too stifling, everyone had a fire in their belly, even if they would be caught up with quickly, they wanted to give these guys a hard time.

"Then turn off all your cell phones," Bi Fang instructed through the earpiece.

Everyone in the car did as they were told.

"Set the radio to a frequency that’s outside the receiving range."

Mandy twisted the knob, and soon the car radio was hissing without picking up any signals.

"How about it? Besides the hissing sound, do you hear any ticking? Listen carefully," Bi Fang turned off the earpiece, temporarily cutting off contact with Richard and the others.

After a while, the earpiece reconnected.

Richard’s somber voice rang out, "Yes."

"What does this mean?" Mandy exclaimed, convinced that Bi Fang wasn’t making unfounded claims; the ticking sound had to mean something.

Bi Fang sighed.

Entering the era of miniaturization technology, attaching magnetic tracking devices to vehicles had become a piece of cake.

Commercially available tracking devices varied in size, with the smallest being the size of a thumb drive, and were capable of being hidden in various environments, tracking the location of mobile phones and rental vehicles by sending back echo signals.

To prevent loss, all rented vehicles were pre-installed with tracking devices.

However, if the data falls into the hands of those with malicious intent, its use remains unknown.

Tracking devices could be permanently installed inside a vehicle or temporarily attached to the car frame, communicating with satellites, cell towers, and servers.

To avoid openly inspecting the vehicle, what Bi Fang had done was to make Richard and the others pay attention to whether there were any static interference noises.

Bi Fang patiently explained, "If you occasionally hear a ’tick’ on top of the ’hiss,’ it means there’s some kind of mobile device operating within the car."

"This noise comes from the interaction between mobile signals and the radio’s speaker wires and coils. I had you turn off all cell phones and computers to avoid interference."

"These signals can’t penetrate metal, so such devices can’t be hidden under the car frame or metal parts—they can usually be found in specific areas."

Following Bi Fang’s guidance, everyone started to search.

"Between the window and the hood, under the plastic bumper, beneath the insect screen, on the roof, inside the speaker, under the trunk’s felt board, underneath the front and rear seats..."

"I’ve found it!"

Keke, sitting in the back row, fumbled around and grabbed a small electronic device, occasionally flashing with light, in his hand.

Everyone was exhilarated, "What’s next? Toss it away?"

"No!"

Bi Fang narrowed his eyes.

If you’re certain someone has maliciously installed a tracking device against standard protocol, don’t attempt to remove it.

Instead, find an excuse to turnover the vehicle.

"Switch cars."

Find a new rental company, or offer a hefty sum to switch with a resident’s car—as long as the price is right, everything is negotiable.

As for who would cover the expenses, Bi Fang, the richest among them, was the obvious choice.

The power of money could make even the most staunch locals waver in front of this force.

The key to shaking off the surveillance team without escalating the tracking into a full-blown chase was to make the trackers believe they had lost the target, rather than letting them realize they had been exposed.

"To get rid of a car surveillance team, avoid those driving techniques that make it obvious that you’re trying to hide."

Switching to another vehicle, Mandy, who was driving, nodded earnestly and tried to drive as smoothly as possible.

As if it were a normal sightseeing trip.

"Create an accordion effect: Draw the surveillance team to areas with traffic lights or many stop signs to break them up."

A long line of start-and-stop traffic could both scatter the members of the surveillance team and prevent them from becoming suspicious about Richard and the others’ scheme.

Mandy drove onto a congested street which was the main thoroughfare of the town with a high volume of traffic.

Many tourists passed through here, honking incessantly, trying to get the cars in front to move faster.

The vehicles closest to the target clung tightly, but the other members of the surveillance team eventually got caught several red lights back.

"Once there’s no team member to take over, a surveillance operative acting alone will opt to leave to avoid arousing the target’s suspicion."

Mandy looked back and saw the originally conspicuous multitude of cars had seemingly dwindled to the last two.

"Surveillance teams often lose sight of the target when they park or set off, so increase the frequency of stopping."

"Park the car near an exit, make two right turns, then drive out of the parking lot."

Mandy drove into the parking lot, paused for a moment, then set off again.

The surveillant who parked behind Mandy reacted too slowly, only thinking to start the car as Mandy’s taillights were about to vanish.

"There’s one more left."

Richard and the others looked back, from the several license plates they had memorized, now only the last one remained.

"Get out!"

"Get out?" The group was taken aback.

"You’re now very close to a streetcar stop," Bi Fang said calmly, based on the location Richard sent, "I’ve checked the arrival time of the streetcar, you have one minute."

"Dash to the platform the moment the streetcar arrives, and leap into the carriage before the surveillant behind you realizes what’s happening."

Richard and the others, carrying their things, hurriedly left the car and emerged from the alley just in time to see the streetcar already at the platform.

The group rushed over and managed to squeeze into the streetcar just before it started moving.

Bi Fang pressed the earpiece, "Is anyone following you?"

Mandy, gripping the handrail above, involuntarily grinned as he watched the surveillant outside who failed to catch the car.

"No more."