SCOM - Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Ji Yuezhi leaned against the side of the bed, his expression having returned to calm, with only a lingering trace of red at the corners of his eyes that refused to fade. He looked up at Zuo Luohuan and said, “Someone deliberately concealed the fact that the mine has Silver-Blue…”
His voice was still hoarse.
“I’ll handle these matters. We can talk about it tomorrow,” Zuo Luohuan interrupted him. Her gaze fell on the cup in Ji Yuezhi’s hand, and she said somewhat stiffly, “Get some rest.”
“The matter of the Silver-Blue is no small thing. There might be others involved behind the scenes. We can’t delay. You need to contact…” Ji Yuezhi spoke urgently, irritating his vocal cords and causing him to cough a few times.
Zuo Luohuan moved quickly, walking over to Ji Yuezhi. She took the cup from his hand and personally brought the water to his lips, feeding it to him.
Ji Yuezhi subconsciously tilted his head back, lowered his gaze, and parted his lips, allowing her to give him the water.
Zuo Luohuan’s movements were careful. She watched Ji Yuezhi swallow slowly, his slightly prominent Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, and she timely raised the hand holding the cup.
Ji Yuezhi drank half a cup and then wanted to turn his head away, but Zuo Luohuan was still holding the cup. He opened his eyes and looked at her. His beautiful, misty eyes seemed to have hooks that instantly floated into Zuo Luohuan’s heart.
“Finished drinking?” Zuo Luohuan asked after a moment of daze, finally moving the cup away.
“Mm.”
Hearing that his voice was a little clearer, Zuo Luohuan put down the cup. “Zhang Yongzhen had a second-generation robot dog, which means the Gashiro people had a hand in it. It also involves army groups from the capital.”
If Gashiro people could be planted in the capital, it wasn’t surprising that they were on Xijiang Exile Star as well. But Zuo Luohuan’s last sentence…
“Back in the basement of the Hong family home, I saw a batch of brand-new light guns. The outer crates were in the style commonly used by several army groups from the capital,” Zuo Luohuan continued. “Zhang Yongzhen also had a light gun today.”
Light guns were something only army groups possessed. Most of those circulating on the black market were imitations, or they were old, damaged ones that had flowed into the black market and been repaired by capable people for resale. There were never brand-new, complete light guns.
Ji Yuezhi looked up at her. “The test report is missing. Those people must be in a panic.”
It was clear that someone on Xijiang Exile Star was hiding the truth about what was under the mine, not wanting the Federation to know. And now that Zhang Yongzhen had been killed at the research institute and the test report was gone, they would surely worry about what would happen next. Who stole the report, and whether the Federation would find out, were all concerns for those people.
“I’ve already sent the information to my father,” Zuo Luohuan said coolly. “Now we just have to see how many people on Xijiang Exile Star will expose themselves.”
The mixed pheromones in the room had been mostly purified and absorbed. Ji Yuezhi was gradually returning to normal. Zuo Luohuan reached out and turned off the program. “Go to sleep. See you tomorrow. I’ll turn off the lights for you.”
Her voice carried a gentle, soothing quality.
Ji Yuezhi glanced toward the listening device, gave a soft ‘mm,’ and lay down on the bed. He listened to the sound of her walking out, and then the room fell into darkness.
Because of the great commotion they had caused in the first-floor lobby, the Star Lord naturally came to see Zuo Luohuan and the others the next day. He brought various gifts to apologize to them.
Accompanying the Star Lord was Hong Tongdao. He owned a stake in this hotel, so his reason for coming to apologize was perfectly legitimate.
“Zhou Li is unreliable,” the Star Lord said, looking as if he hadn't slept all night. “If I weren’t so swamped with work, I would have had Secretary Zhang personally host you all.”
At the subconscious mention of Secretary Zhang, the Star Lord’s face fell. “I don’t know who would dare to murder Secretary Zhang. I will not let the person behind this go.”
“What happened to Secretary Zhang?” Ji Yuezhi asked.
“It’s unknown who Secretary Zhang offended, but he was brutally murdered,” Hong Tongdao was the first to speak.
His gaze fell on Ji Yuezhi. Although the Western Region had a pleasant temperature year-round, Xijiang Exile Star was close to the Northern Region, and the temperature had already dropped this month. Ji Yuezhi was wearing a high-collared shirt underneath, which completely covered the back of his neck, making it impossible to see anything.
Naturally, Hong Tongdao couldn't see if there were any marks from an Alpha’s bite on the gland on the back of Ji Yuezhi’s neck.
“Is the order on your Xijiang Exile Star this chaotic?” Luo Shaoyuan frowned immediately. “Even the Star Lord’s secretary can be murdered?”
“Rest assured, everyone. I have already arranged for more personnel at the hotel. Your safety will not be an issue,” the Star Lord said hurriedly.
“We should still go back soon,” Jiang Hong yawned. “We’ve done all the fun things there are to do here.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible right now,” the Star Lord said, shaking his head.
Ji Yuezhi couldn’t help but look up at the Star Lord. “What does the Star Lord mean by that?”
“It’s not just Secretary Zhang,” the Star Lord sighed deeply. “Last night, our Starship Port was destroyed. If you wish to leave, I’m afraid it will be at least a week.”
“In that case, we’ll stay here for another two weeks.” Standing behind Ji Yuezhi, Zuo Luohuan finally spoke. Her hand gently wrapped around Ji Yuezhi’s waist, even giving it an ambiguous squeeze.
This small action went unnoticed by Jiang Hong and Luo Shaoyuan, who had their backs to them. Only the Star Lord and Hong Tongdao, who were facing them, could see it.
“Then I must ask you all to be patient. We are already working at full capacity on the repairs,” the Star Lord said with a sigh of relief before leaving with his people.
After they left, the four returned to their own rooms.
Ji Yuezhi: 【They destroyed the Starship Port after finding Zhang Yongzhen dead. They’re probably trying to stop us from leaving, so they can use us as bargaining chips if things go wrong.】
One was the son of Ji Xixiu, the other the daughter of Zuo Dihong. Capturing them would make for excellent bargaining chips, as they were, after all, the children of the leaders of the Federation’s two major army groups.
Hong Tongdao had to be colluding with the Gashiro people. As for the Star Lord…
Ji Yuezhi lowered his eyes and sent another message to Zuo Luohuan on his optical computer: 【I’m not sure if the Star Lord is also involved.】
Whether it was the fact that Zhang Yongzhen was the Star Lord’s secretary, or that Zhou Li was also one of the Star Lord’s men, combined with the Star Lord’s close association and cooperation with Hong Tongdao, Ji Yuezhi couldn’t be certain if the Star Lord was cooperating with the Gashiro people.
All the clues pointed in that direction too smoothly and obviously.
Zuo Luohuan: 【The Star Lord is out in the open. We just need to be careful; he’s not a major threat. We’ll visit Yan Yan’s parents at the hospital this afternoon.】
Yan Yan’s parents had an accident while mining. Considering the test report now, it was highly likely they were harmed by someone because they insisted on mining the eastern mountain.
Ji Yuezhi: 【Okay.】
After hiding the test report last night, Yan Yan had returned to the hospital to care for his parents. His father’s injuries had mostly healed, but his mother had not yet regained consciousness.
“Little Yan, you stay here and take care of your mom,” Yan Yan’s father said. “I have to go to the mining site. The commander has ordered the entire 377th to assemble.”
Yan Yan remembered the test report he had seen last night. “Are you all leaving Xijiang Exile Star?”
“Even if we wanted to leave, we can’t right now,” Yan Yan’s father said with a helpless smile. “The Starship Port was destroyed last night. It will take at least a week to repair.”
Yan Yan was stunned. “Then why are you all assembling…”
A hint of irrepressible joy appeared on his father’s brow. “Your Uncle Lu took over the mining for us. The research institute was always dragging its feet, so he found someone else to test the rocks and discovered they might contain Silver-Blue. Although the external testing equipment isn’t perfectly accurate, the commander has already decided to test that eastern mine one more time.”
“There will be Silver-Blue,” Yan Yan said in a low voice, looking at his father’s unconcealable smile.
“I hope so. Then all our years of hard work won’t have been in vain,” Yan Yan’s father said as he strode out of the hospital.
After Zuo Luohuan and the others arrived at the hospital, they heard about this from Yan Yan.
Ji Yuezhi’s eyes instantly turned cold. It was too fast. Hong Tongdao, hiding in the background, was moving too quickly. The next step would probably be to push out a scapegoat, announce the Silver-Blue discovery to the Federation, and then the people hiding in the shadows would retreat again.
Sure enough, a few days later, the Star Lord’s investigation into Zhang Yongzhen’s death led to that professor at the research institute. He had concealed the true test results of the eastern mine, intending to sign for the mine after the 377th Army left and cooperate with the Gashiro people to sell the Silver-Blue to the Gashiro Empire.
This was a man who had betrayed the Federation. After being exposed, he committed suicide by shooting himself.
Meanwhile, the 377th Army resubmitted the sample they had previously sent to another agency back to the research institute for re-testing. This time, under the personal witness of the 377th’s commander, it was confirmed that the eastern mine on Xijiang Exile Star contained Silver-Blue.
The Star Lord of Xijiang Exile Star was greatly shocked and immediately reported the situation to the Federation.
“The professor from the research institute insisted before he died that he had only faked it this one time, and that previous tests really didn’t find any Silver-Blue,” Jiang Hong sneered. “Who would believe that?”
“They don’t know who stole the test report or who killed Zhang Yongzhen, so they had to cut their losses to survive,” Ji Yuezhi said, looking at Zuo Luohuan. “Hong Tongdao probably doesn’t know you’re Shui Bai.”
Zuo Luohuan let out a laugh. Zhang Yongzhen was confident to the point of blindness. He had waited for her alone at the research institute for so many days and surely hadn’t told anyone. Hong Tongdao was probably still wondering why Zhang Yongzhen was at the research institute in the first place.
On the day the Starship Port was repaired, Xijiang Exile Star welcomed the true Winter Army from the Northern Region. A dark, oppressive mass, the Winter Army stepped onto Xijiang Exile Star in silent formation. Their first act was to take both the Star Lord and Hong Tongdao into custody.
The Star Lord was derelict in his duties and needed to await investigation to determine if he had any connection to the Gashiro people.
As for Hong Tongdao, personally reported by Zuo Luohuan for concealing the truth of the mine and collaborating with the Gashiro people, he was directly arrested and sent to the capital.
Neither of them had a chance to resist. The Star Lord’s residence and all of Hong’s businesses were brought under control, and all their people were detained separately. The Winter Army handled matters with extreme efficiency.
“Come back sooner. Don’t be taking the Ji family’s son out and about,” Zuo Dihong said, frowning at Zuo Luohuan through the communication. “If something happens to him, who’s responsible?”
“He’s not a child. He knows what he’s doing,” Zuo Luohuan replied. “Ji Xixiu’s son won’t let himself be bullied.”
Zuo Dihong narrowed his eyes, his stern expression softening slightly. “Since when do you speak up for others?”
Zuo Luohuan remained silent.
“Your mother has been nagging about it for a while now. You’re never home, and now you’re dragging little Ji all over the place,” Zuo Dihong said. “You two should come back soon. I’ll find someone to take over Xijiang Exile Star.”
“I know.”
Yan Yan’s mother had not yet woken up, so in the end, she had to go with them to the capital for treatment.
The four of them were waiting at the port for Yan Yan to bring his mother over. Zuo Luohuan sat in the waiting room, twirling a flexible blade between her fingers, and suddenly asked, “What if the person behind this intentionally let us get that test report, specifically so we would discover the Silver-Blue in the mine… why?”
Luo Shaoyuan and Jiang Hong were stunned. What did she mean?
Ji Yuezhi turned to look at her. “To cover up a bigger secret.”
Zuo Luohuan and Ji Yuezhi met each other’s gaze, and sure enough, they saw the same thought in the other’s eyes: this all went too smoothly.
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