SCOM - Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Ji Yuezhi leaned against the bed, his expression calm except for the lingering redness at the corners of his eyes. He looked at Zuo Luohuan. "Someone deliberately concealed the presence of silver-green in the mine…" His voice was still hoarse.
"I'll handle it. We'll talk tomorrow," Zuo Luohuan interrupted, her gaze falling on the cup in Ji Yuezhi's hand. "Rest early," she said somewhat stiffly.
"The silver-green is a serious matter. There might be others involved behind the scenes. We can't delay. You need to contact…" Ji Yuezhi spoke urgently, his vocal cords irritated, and he coughed a few times.
Zuo Luohuan quickly walked over to Ji Yuezhi, took the cup from his hand, and brought the water to his lips, feeding him.
Ji Yuezhi subconsciously tilted his head back, lowered his eyes, and parted his lips, allowing her to feed him the water.
Zuo Luohuan's movements were careful. She watched as Ji Yuezhi swallowed slowly, his slightly protruding Adam's apple bobbing up and down. She raised the cup in time.
After drinking half the cup, Ji Yuezhi wanted to turn his head away, but Zuo Luohuan was still holding the cup. He opened his eyes and looked at her. His beautiful, slightly misty eyes seemed to have hooks, instantly capturing Zuo Luohuan's heart.
"Finished?" Zuo Luohuan asked after a moment, moving the cup away.
"Mm-hmm."
Hearing his voice clear up a bit, Zuo Luohuan put down the cup. "Zhang Yongzhen had Gen 2 Robot Dogs, which implicates the Gashro Empire. This also involves the Capital City Garrison."
If the Gashro Empire had infiltrated the Capital City, it wouldn't be surprising to find them on Xijiang Exile Star. But Zuo Luohuan's latter statement…
"In the Hong family's basement, I saw a batch of brand new light guns. The packaging was the type commonly used by the Capital City Garrison," Zuo Luohuan continued. "Zhang Yongzhen also had light guns today."
Light guns were exclusive to the Garrison. Most of those circulating on the black market were imitations or damaged ones that had been repaired and resold. Brand new, intact light guns were unheard of.
Ji Yuezhi looked up at her. "The test report is gone. Those people must be panicking."
Clearly, someone on Xijiang Exile Star was hiding the truth about the mine, not wanting the Federation to know. Now, with Zhang Yongzhen dead and the report missing, they would be worried about what would happen next, who stole the report, and whether the Federation would find out.
"I've already sent the information to my father," Zuo Luohuan said coolly. "Now, let's see how many people on Xijiang Exile Star surface."
The mixed pheromones in the room had been mostly purified and absorbed. Ji Yuezhi gradually returned 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 was gentle and soothing.
Ji Yuezhi glanced at the listening device and gave a soft "Mm-hmm." He lay down on the bed, listening to the sound of her footsteps as she left, and then the room fell into darkness.
…
Because of the commotion in the lobby, the Star Lord came to see Zuo Luohuan and the others the next day, bringing various gifts to apologize. Hong Tongdao came with him. He also had a stake in the hotel, so his reason for apologizing 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 busy, I would have sent Secretary Zhang to personally attend to you." He unconsciously mentioned Secretary Zhang, and his face fell. "I don't know who dared to murder Secretary Zhang, but I will not let them get away with it."
"What happened to Secretary Zhang?" Ji Yuezhi asked.
"Secretary Zhang offended someone and was brutally murdered," Hong Tongdao spoke first.
His gaze fell on Ji Yuezhi. Although the West District generally had a pleasant temperature, Xijiang Exile Star was close to the North District, and the temperature had already dropped this month. Ji Yuezhi was wearing a high-collared shirt, completely covering the back of his neck. Hong Tongdao naturally couldn't see any bite marks from an Alpha on Ji Yuezhi's scent gland.
"Is the order on your Xijiang Exile Star so chaotic?" Luo Shaoyuan frowned. "Even the Star Lord's secretary can be murdered?"
"Rest assured, I've arranged for extra security at the hotel. Your safety will not be an issue," the Star Lord said quickly.
"We should head back soon," Jiang Hong yawned. "We've done everything we wanted to do here."
"I'm afraid that's not possible right now," the Star Lord shook his head.
Ji Yuezhi looked up at the Star Lord. "What do you mean?"
"It's not just Secretary Zhang," the Star Lord sighed. "Last night, our port's docking area was destroyed. If you want to leave, you'll have to wait at least a week."
"In that case, we'll stay for another two weeks," Zuo Luohuan, who was standing behind Ji Yuezhi, finally spoke. She gently wrapped her arm around Ji Yuezhi's waist, even giving it an ambiguous squeeze.
Jiang Hong and Luo Shaoyuan, who had their backs to them, didn't notice this small gesture. Only the Star Lord and Hong Tongdao, who were facing them, could see it.
"Then please bear with us. We're already working hard on the repairs," the Star Lord said, relieved, and then left with his entourage.
After they left, the four returned to their rooms.
Ji Yuezhi: They destroyed the docking area after discovering Zhang Yongzhen's death, probably to prevent us from leaving. If anything goes wrong, they'll use us as bargaining chips.
The son of Ji Xixiu and the daughter of Zuo Dihong would be perfect bargaining chips, as they were the children of the leaders of two major Federation Garrisons.
Hong Tongdao must be colluding with the Gashro Empire. As for the Star Lord…
Ji Yuezhi lowered his eyes and sent another message to Zuo Luohuan: I'm not sure if the Star Lord is involved.
Whether it was Zhang Yongzhen being the Star Lord's secretary, or Zhou Li also being one of his people, coupled with the Star Lord's close relationship and cooperation with Hong Tongdao, Ji Yuezhi couldn't be certain if the Star Lord was collaborating with the Gashro Empire.
Everything seemed too convenient, too obvious.
Zuo Luohuan: The Star Lord is in plain sight. Be careful, but 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 at the mine. Now, combined with the test report, it was highly likely that they were harmed because they insisted on mining the eastern mine.
Ji Yuezhi: Okay.
…
After hiding the test report last night, Yan Yan returned to the hospital to care for his parents. His father's injuries were almost healed, but his mother hadn't regained consciousness.
"Xiao Yan, you stay here and take care of your mother," Yan Yan's father said. "I need to go to the mine. The Commander has called for a full assembly of the 377th."
Yan Yan recalled the test report he saw last night. "Are you leaving Xijiang Exile Star?"
"Even if we wanted to leave, we can't now," Yan Yan's father smiled wryly. "Last night, the port's docking area was destroyed. It'll take at least a week to repair."
Yan Yan was stunned. "Then why the assembly…?"
A hint of uncontainable joy appeared on Yan Yan's father's face. "Your Uncle Lu helped us with the mining. The research institute kept delaying things, so he found someone else to test the rocks. They found that there might be silver-green inside. Although the external testing equipment isn't very accurate, the Commander has decided to test the eastern mine again."
"There will be silver-green," Yan Yan murmured, looking at his father's unconcealed smile.
"I hope so. Then all our years of hard work won't have been in vain," Yan Yan's father said, striding out of the hospital.
…
When Zuo Luohuan and the others arrived at the hospital, they heard about this from Yan Yan.
Ji Yuezhi's expression turned cold. It was too fast. Hong Tongdao, hiding in the shadows, was moving too quickly. He would likely push out a scapegoat, announce the silver-green discovery to the Federation, and then retreat back into hiding.
Sure enough, within a few days, the Star Lord traced Zhang Yongzhen's death back to a professor at the research institute. The professor had concealed the true test results of the eastern mine, planning to sign a contract for the mine after the 377th Army left and cooperate with the Gashro Empire to sell the silver-green to them.
This traitor, upon being exposed, shot himself.
The 377th Army resubmitted the sample they had previously sent to other institutions for testing to the research institute. This time, under the direct supervision of the 377th Commander, they confirmed the presence of silver-green in the eastern mine of Xijiang Exile Star.
The Star Lord of Xijiang Exile Star was shocked and immediately reported the situation to the Federation.
"Before he died, that professor insisted he only falsified the results this one time, and that previous tests on the mine hadn't detected any silver-green," Jiang Hong said, sneering. "Who would believe that?"
"They don't know who stole the test report or who killed Zhang Yongzhen. They can only cut their losses," Ji Yuezhi said, looking at Zuo Luohuan. "Hong Tongdao probably doesn't know you're Shui Bai."
Zuo Luohuan chuckled. Zhang Yongzhen was blindly confident, waiting alone at the research institute for so many days. He definitely 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 docking area was repaired, Xijiang Exile Star welcomed the arrival of the North District's Winter Army. A dark mass, the Winter Army marched into Xijiang Exile Star in orderly silence. Their first act was to detain the Star Lord and Hong Tongdao.
The Star Lord was derelict in his duty and would be investigated to determine if he had any connections to the Gashro Empire.
As for Hong Tongdao, based on Zuo Luohuan's personal report of concealing the truth about the mine and collaborating with the Gashro Empire, he was immediately imprisoned and sent to the Capital City.
Neither of them had a chance to resist. All the assets of the Star Lord's mansion and the Hong family were seized, and everyone was detained separately. The Winter Army was extremely efficient.
"Go back early. Don't bring the Ji family's son out with you again," Zuo Dihong frowned at Zuo Luohuan through the communicator. "If something happens to him, who will be responsible?"
"He's not a child. He knows what he's doing," Zuo Luohuan replied. "Ji Xixiu's son won't let anyone bully him."
Zuo Dihong narrowed his eyes, his stern expression softening slightly. "You're actually speaking up for someone else?"
Zuo Luohuan remained silent.
"Your mother has been nagging about you for days. You're never home, and now you're dragging little Ji around with you," Zuo Dihong said. "Come back soon. I'll find someone to take over Xijiang Exile Star."
"Understood."
…
Yan Yan's mother still hadn't woken up, so they had to take her to the Capital City for treatment.
The four waited at the port for Yan Yan to bring his mother over. Zuo Luohuan sat in the waiting room, twirling a soft blade between her fingers. Suddenly, she looked up and asked, "What if that test report was deliberately placed for us to find, to make us discover the silver-green 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 exchanged glances, seeing the same thought reflected in each other's eyes: everything had been too easy.
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