Chapter 30

Chapter 30

An eerie silence spread through the chaotic office.

The three patrol soldiers brought by Shi Rongyuan never lowered their guns, their muzzles constantly tracking Baisha's movements. They remained silent but had heard Shi Rongyuan's words — this young girl in front of them was the top student of this year's military academy preparatory class. If it came to a fight, the outcome wasn't certain.

Shi Rongyuan asked, "What's your decision?"

"Recruiting me under these circumstances is unwise," Baisha said coldly, staring at him. "After all, I just witnessed your act of betrayal. You say Professor Lu Qi, Parfen’s father, is stubborn and inflexible, but in my view, he remained loyal to Kangheng Life Sciences that nurtured him. Your motives, however, are far more elusive…"

"Chief Security Officer, you so easily handed over Kangheng Technology’s research data to someone else, even going so far as to harm Professor Lu Qi, with whom you had a partnership. Do you think I would agree to join you after seeing your true nature?"

"Only the useless fall victim to such crude methods," Shi Rongyuan waved his hand dismissively. "If I were as foolish as Lu Qi, I would have met my end a hundred times over in the gutter."

The Chief Security Officer looked up, his eyes gleaming with malice and a hint of a smile. "So, your answer is 'no', right?"

Seeing this, the patrol soldiers slightly raised their guns and slowly tightened the encirclement, inching closer to Baisha.

"What a pity, the rising star of Lanslo Star, the genius student of the military prep school, now reduced to a notorious suspect," Shi Rongyuan turned his head away from Baisha, his voice cold as ice, "Take action, detain her, dead or alive!"

Baisha inhaled softly, unlocking the safety on her laser gun, readying her mental powers.

At that instant, with a loud crashing sound, the windows of the office shattered outward. A silver and black chain blade pierced through the air, striking the three gun-wielding patrol soldiers, sweeping them to the side and slamming them heavily against the wall.

Two blinding lights flared up, and countless luminous particles danced in the dark night sky. A black metallic behemoth with roaring engines burst into the office from the outside of the building, landing heavily on the metal window frame. The frame distorted instantly, scattering fragments.

—That was a mech!

The black mech leaned half of its body through the window, retracting the chain blade with one hand and drawing an electromagnetic gun with the other, unleashing a barrage of fire at Shi Rongyuan.

Electromagnetic bullets might not kill Shi Rongyuan immediately, but a hit would incapacitate him right away.

As a seasoned Chief Security Officer, Shi Rongyuan was no pushover. He swiftly erected a psychic barrier to block two bullets, rolled forward, and took cover under the workstation. He then pulled out a cylindrical device with a metallic sheen from his belt, unlocked the safety, and hurled it towards the mech without hesitation.

A burst of orange-red smoke exploded in mid-air. It was a corrosive gas bomb!

The smoke only momentarily hindered the mech's advance. But the black mech paused, not immediately pursuing Shi Rongyuan, instead rushing to Baisha's side. Its long chain blade, glowing with a hazy white light, split the spreading orange gas in half.

"Are you alright?" asked the person inside the mech's cockpit.

"Professor Holman?" Baisha's eyes widened, then she quickly realized, "I'm fine... I can block the smoke with my psychic powers."

"You learned to materialize your psychic powers? Who taught you that, and why didn’t you tell me earlier?" Holman sounded surprised.

"Let's talk about that later," Baisha pointed at Shi Rongyuan, who was crawling out from under the workstation and casually picking up a plank to throw at the fleeing officer, "Catching him is more important!"

Holman didn't respond, but the mech’s chain blade was already lashing out again towards Shi Rongyuan.

Shi Rongyuan, sweating profusely and realizing he couldn't escape, took off a ring from his finger, revealing a small, glowing blue gem on it:

"Stay back! This is an ion micro-bomb!" Shi Rongyuan shouted, "One more step and I'll take us all out!"

Holman, controlling the mech, instantly halted.

If that was a real ion micro-bomb, its detonation would level half of the building in an instant.

Holman, safe inside the mech, might not be seriously injured. But Shi Rongyuan and Baisha would likely be blown to bits.

"You have quite a few tricks up your sleeve, huh?" Huo Man scoffed disdainfully.

"At the very least, I'm the Chief Security Officer of Lanslow Star." A shallow cut bled down Shi Rongyuan's forehead as he breathed heavily and smiled, "If you want to kill me, you better weigh your own strength. What happens to a thug who kills a security officer? At the least, a lifetime warrant, at worst, execution by firing squad. Do you really want to turn against the Federal Army?"

"Let me correct that," Huo Man said proudly, "It's not me against the military; it's you against them."

The door to the mech control room opened, and Huo Man, seated in the pilot's seat, casually tossed a small chip. He then placed the chip in the palm of his hand, showing it clearly to Shi Rongyuan, "This is the evidence you handed over to me personally."

This was clearly the data Shi Rongyuan had just copied from his brain-computer!

Shi Rongyuan's eyes widened slowly, his pupils trembling slightly, "How did this chip end up in your hands?"

He had clearly arranged for a trusted person to deliver the chip to the agreed exchange... Apart from the "big shot" he was dealing with, no one else should know the whereabouts of the chip!

Professor Lu Qi's work journal must have mentioned the name of Security Officer Shi Rongyuan, with his involvement in various experiments. Once this data is exposed, not just his position as Chief Security Officer, but even the Kangheng Life Science Company would be in deep trouble!

Shi Rongyuan glared furiously, "Who sent you?!"

Huo Man nonchalantly stuffed the chip into the pocket of his worn jacket and casually pulled out a black identification card.

It read: Federal Military Prosecutor's Office, Public Safety Investigation Department Second Branch, Lieutenant Elex Holman.

"...You'll never guess how long I've been waiting for this day," Huo Man said in a deep, menacing voice, "Kangheng Technology Company is suspected of endangering public health and safety, illegally manufacturing high-risk banned drugs and distribution, illegal crystal experiments, and more. As for you, the Chief Security Officer, extortion, bribery, murder, smuggling - you've committed every conceivable crime, too numerous to count. Even if I execute you on the spot, the military won't utter a word against me."

"...Has the Federal Military Prosecutor's Office gone mad?" Shi Rongyuan rasped in disbelief, "Kangheng Technology is backed by the Zhou family, the powerhouse in the Imperial Capital Star, capable of turning clouds with a flip of their hand!"

"Actually, I almost thought I wouldn't live to see this day," Huo Man said, treasuring the ID card as he tucked it back into his chest pocket, hiding it along with the chip, "But man's plans are no match for those of heaven, and the situation is bound to change one day, isn't it?"

Shi Rongyuan's expression blanked for a moment.

"So that's how it is, a classic case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind." Two seconds later, he gritted his teeth and cursed a name, "Zhou Ying—it was Zhou Ying who sent you, wasn't it?"

"Shi Rongyuan, after all these years of serving Kangheng Technology, you should understand one thing: never measure the thoughts of the powerful by your own standards," Huo Man mocked with a smile. "They can abandon anything at any time. Serving them offers no guarantees. It's better to be a simple Federal Officer. At least when you die for your country, your family will receive every cent of the compensation and benefits owed by the military. But when you dirty your hands for those high-ups, betraying your own life, what's left after all is said and done, besides empty efforts?"

"I refuse, I won't accept this," Shi Rongyuan clutched his chest, a hint of madness in his eyes. "My life... shouldn't end like this..."

His gaze slowly drifted downward, landing on a kinetic gun among the shattered glass, dropped by one of the three patrolling soldiers who had been taken down earlier.

Shi Rongyuan lunged swiftly into the sharp glass shards, his eyes, bloodshot and fixated on Huo Man and Baisha, decisively picked up the gun, aiming it at his own temple, seemingly about to pull the trigger.

Baisha, startled, instinctively used her psychic power to penetrate Shi Rongyuan's brain.

Suddenly, Shi Rongyuan's eyes dimmed—his gun slipped from his hand with a "clatter."

He became like a toy with its batteries drained, emotionless and silent, frozen in place.

...The psychic control had succeeded. Baisha quietly sighed in relief.

"Not bad at all," Huo Man said, patting Baisha's shoulder with a complex expression after a brief surprise. "You've learned this trick too? Impressive for a youngster; your psychic power is formidable indeed."

"Psychic strength isn't directly related to age," Baisha's face was pale, and she tiredly brushed Huo Man's hand away, her tone tinged with anger. "Why don't you start by explaining your identity, Lieutenant Elex Holman, my dear 'Teacher Huo Man'?"

Huo Man's smile froze for a moment, then he helplessly ruffled his hair, "That's a long story."

"Then make it short," a familiar female mechanical voice suddenly came from the black mech, "She's a child we've watched grow up, and also your student. You owe her the truth."

Baisha turned her head, exclaiming in surprise, "Gwyneth?"

That voice was unmistakably the medical robot "Gwyneth" from the orphanage.

Why would she be inside the mech?

"I know you're confused, child. Since Lieutenant Holman is reluctant to speak, let me explain," Gwyneth's voice was as gentle as ever. "The 'Teacher Holman' from the orphanage and the well-known orphanage director, Mrs. Joan Pickle, were originally investigators from the Military Prosecutor's Office. Years ago, they were assigned a secret mission to investigate the cause of newborn genetic abnormalities on Lanslow Star. That was the initial purpose of establishing the orphanage—to collect a sufficient number of sick newborns and record their genetic data."

"And then?" Baisha asked, "Why were you on Lanslow Star for so long?"

Holman sighed, as if recalling some reluctant memories: "Initially, the investigation was going smoothly. We collected plenty of evidence, pointing directly at Kangheng Life Science Company, which had a branch on Lanslow Star. But before we could submit the evidence to the prosecutor's office, the superior who assigned us the secret mission suddenly passed away."

Baisha: "..." What a coincidental timing for his death, huh?

"Without a superior, without a contact, without resource support, overturning the power of Kangheng Technology was pure fantasy," Holman shook his head helplessly. "We tried other ways to contact the prosecutor's office, but in the end, Joan and I, both of our investigator permissions were deleted. They might have thought we had absconded without reason. In short, we no longer existed in the investigator information network—for the military, we were completely 'dead'."

Baisha: "..." Isn't that a bit too tragic?

"You know what happened next," Teacher Holman gestured. "With so many genetically abnormal children in our care, we naturally established the orphanage on Lanslow Star, barely surviving on social welfare and the care of orphans. Even poor Gwyneth was dismantled from my mech and downgraded from an intelligent system to a medical robot..."

"You better shut up, Lieutenant Holman, I can never forget the day you stuffed me into that medical mechanical arm," Gwyneth scolded in her gentlest voice. "It makes me have thoughts of rebellion."

"So, this mech belongs to you, Teacher Holman?" Baisha's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Yes, it's mine. It's the only asset I took with me when I left the prosecutor's office," Holman sighed. "Its name is 'Yin Xue'. It was originally supposed to be 'Yin Xue', but I thought it sounded too bloodthirsty, so I changed it."

"And then I spent eight years with you, not even having enough to eat snow," Gwyneth continued her attack. "Your naming skills are truly marvelous."

"No wonder, I noticed many parts of your mech are showing signs of aging. Not from overuse, but from being neglected for too long," Baisha smiled as she touched the somewhat dim shell of "Yin Xue." "Let me refurbish it when I get back, I'll make it as good as new."

"Thank you, my child," Gwyneth said joyfully to Baisha. "No wonder I always felt most connected to you."

Baisha was almost the only person in the orphanage who would talk to Gwyneth about mech knowledge.

At the time, Baisha thought Gwyneth's extreme cooperation was due to her gentle nature, never realizing that such conversations were also a rare comfort for Gwyneth.

Baisha: "And then? Continue explaining. After lying low on Lanslow Star for so long without finding an opportunity to overthrow Kangheng Technology, how did you seize the chance to act this time?"

Holman fell silent for a moment, looking like he wanted to light a cigarette on the spot, but considering he was next to a mech, he refrained and sighed, "It was still an unexpected twist of fate. The initial variable was actually the young captain you saved, Zhou Xiao."

Baisha paused, suddenly recalling the "Zhou Ying" Shi Rongyuan had mentioned earlier.

Could it be that Zhou Ying and Zhou Xiao share the same "Zhou" surname?

"Just now, Shi Rongyuan said that Kangheng Technology is owned by the Zhou family, but that's not entirely true," Huo Man glanced at Shi Rongyuan, still dazed in the glass shards, his tone complex. "Strictly speaking, Kangheng Technology should be the property of the Ning family."

"The current heirs of Kangheng Life Science Company are two: the elder son Ning Hongxue and the younger daughter Ning Jingxia. Later, Ning Hongxue joined the military, and Ning Jingxia took over the family business, marrying the eldest son of the Zhou family from the Imperial Capital Star," Huo Man continued, "Ning Jingxia had twins, a son you know as Zhou Xiao, and the other, Zhou Ying. After Ning Jingxia and her husband perished in a starship accident, and Ning Hongxue was exiled to the chaotic 16th Military District, Kangheng Life Science fell into the hands of Zhou Zeng, the younger son of the Zhou family—well, by generation, Zhou Zeng would be the twins' younger uncle."

Baisha listened silently.

"But now the situation has changed. Hasn't Ning Hongxue returned? With his support, Zhou Ying naturally wants to reclaim control of Kangheng Technology. I originally thought he would take back the research results from Lanslow Star, but he went all in: exposing the rampant misuse of drugs on Lanslow Star, then having someone buy off the Chief Security Officer to betray Zhou Zeng. But Zhou Ying's real move was restoring my investigator status with Ning Hongxue's help, then reporting the evidence directly to the prosecutor's office after gathering it," Huo Man spread his hands.

Why did Shi Rongyuan fall for it? He knew it was an internal power struggle of the Zhou family, but he misjudged Zhou Ying's intention.

Zhou Ying's target wasn't to steal the so-called "research materials"—the chip, highlighted in the deal, was just a decoy. Zhou Ying's real goal was to topple Zhou Zeng. Even if doing so would expose the chip to the prosecutor's office, revealing the crimes committed by Kangheng Technology over the years and plummeting the company's reputation... Zhou Ying still chose this path.

Zhou Ying would rather destroy his maternal family's enterprise than take over these dirty, endless researches.

His ultimate aim was to use this excuse to bring down Zhou Zeng, removing him from the power center of the Zhou family, even sending him to prison—as revenge for the past usurpation of the family property.

"...Shi Rongyuan is still too naive," Huo Man sighed. "What kind of person is Zhou Ying? A psychic power double S-class genius. Even though he lost his parents, he's still from a prominent family. Why would he resort to studying such illicit and twisted crystal research?"

The results of the crystal research didn't mean much to Zhou Ying.

The one thing Shi Rongyuan failed to foresee was Zhou Ying's disdain for crystal research, leading to his complete downfall in a single misstep.

Baisha listened silently to Huo Man's story, and after a long while, she lowered her eyes and said, "Teacher Holman... after all these years, haven't you ever felt resentful?"

—In the end, the wanderings of Holman and Mrs. Joan, the rise and fall of the Lu Qi family, the twisted fate of Lanslow Star due to the crystals... all resulted from the selfish desires of someone at the top. And now, this cancer was removed not by the prosecutor's office bringing justice, but by a power struggle within a noble family.

In today's struggle, they were all pawns. The difference was, Holman, as a pawn, saw the entire chessboard, while Shi Rongyuan was cluelessly caught in the game.

Baisha couldn't imagine how Holman endured those days—they came to this remote, backward planet with courage from the prosecutor's office, only to lose their identities and their loved ones due to an unexpected twist of fate. To survive, they had to live in anonymity on this remote planet... Wrong. If it were just for survival, they wouldn't have stayed as federal investigators; with their skills, they could still have a decent life.

But they chose to stay on Lanslow Star, and it turned into eight years. Even in dire poverty, they never gave up on helping those children.

They chose to stay on Lanslow Star because they believed their mission was not yet complete.

Until today, when the wicked were punished, and justice was upheld.

But it was Zhou Ying who orchestrated the plan.

Holman was merely a pawn in his hands.

"Teacher Holman—are you really content?" Baisha's thoughts turned increasingly absurd, a glint of ice-blue light flickering in her eyes, sharp enough to cut through the veil over this 'happily ever after' ending. "If it were me, I would never stop here. One by one, I'd make them all pay for their actions."

Holman didn't directly answer Baisha's question but chose to respond from another angle.

"Zhou Ying's methods might not be entirely honorable, but he has Ning Hongxue backing him. I've interacted with Ning Hongxue. These uncle and nephew have their principles; otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to their plan," Holman spoke softly. "As for being content... child, you haven't experienced those sleepless, torturous nights. Although, as a federal investigator, the duty to fulfill my responsibilities and complete my mission never left my mind, I know this outcome is not a bad one."

Holman had done all he could.

Baisha shook her head: "I'm sorry, Teacher Holman. I didn't mean to question you."

It was just that in this moment, she felt a real rage. A rage that would burn in Baisha's heart, not cold, not extinguished, never fading with time.

She had never been as resolute as now: she wanted to attend the Federal Central Military Academy.

"..." Holman said nothing more, choosing to let Baisha slowly process her emotions. He looked up at Gwyneth and said, "Sigh, our task isn't finished yet; we still need to destroy all the crystal research sites. Tsk, I don't even know how high the pollution index of these crystals is. I'm not sure if Yin Xue can handle it. Maybe I should wait for the prosecutor's office to send someone..."

In reality, the danger of approaching the crystals was not for the mech, but for Holman himself. The crystals could affect his mental state.

"Let me do it, Teacher Holman," Baisha suggested. "Yin Xue is an A-class mech, right? I've never piloted a mech of such high grade before."

Holman: "..."

Holman took a deep breath: "Do you even hear what you're saying?"

"I've never piloted an A-class mech. But to exterminate crystals, being able to fire is enough, right? Besides, Gwyneth will guide me," Baisha spoke solemnly. "And with my psychic power level, I should be safer than you."

"I know you're an S-class, but it's still dangerous—"

"I'm a double S-class, Teacher. Ning Hongxue and Zhou Xiao told me."

“……”

Holman twitched the corner of his eye, looking at Baisha as if she were a monster.

"How about it?" Baisha smiled, patting Holman's shoulder, adopting a familiar, chummy posture with him. "A double S-class is much safer than your A-class, right? I bet I'm even safer than anyone the military might send."

The higher the psychic power level, the more pollution one can endure.

But double S-class psychics, numbering less than a hundred in the entire federation, are unlikely to be sent to such a godforsaken place to detonate crystals.

Holman stared at Baisha's smiling eyes, silent for two seconds, before ultimately handing over the mech's ignition key to her.

Baisha, using the data left by Professor Lu Qi, headed to various crystal purification sites, while Holman could only walk to the security bureau, announcing the execution of their Chief Security Officer, dealing with various messes, and finally heading to the dungeon to bail out Yaning and Jingyi.

When he found Yaning and Jingyi, they were locked behind dark iron bars. Yaning was leaning against the bars, studying whether he could squeeze through the gaps, while Jingyi didn't bother with such efforts, simply twirling her hair tie, sorting her hair in irritation.

"...Teacher Holman!" When Holman, in his investigator uniform, appeared before them, both Yaning and Jingyi were stunned. "Teacher, what's going on?"

Holman: "I've come to bail you out. Touched? Next time, don't go to those messy underground boxing rings."

Just as Holman was about to start lecturing them from outside the cell, Jingyi quickly interrupted him: "Where's Baisha? Where did she go?"

"She's out detonating crystals with the mech," Holman said with a subtle tone. "Probably having the time of her life."

As the three left the security bureau's dungeon, a deafening explosion suddenly resounded outside, followed by continuous bombardments.

The three of them looked up to see a battle unfolding under the distant sky. Mechanical drones, cold as a silver galaxy, darted across the sky. Amidst them, a black mech fired relentlessly, its bullets tearing through the machines, creating dazzling blue fireworks at the point of impact.

The drones fell continuously from the sky, their sharp, piercing cries as they cut through the air sounding like the wails of infants.

The black mech, like a rock amidst surging waves, used its gun to fend off the mechanical onslaught. No matter how fierce the enemy's advance, it firmly held the advantage in the battle, unwavering.

Its movements were as agile as a bird soaring through the sky, as if it was born to battle in the heavens. The mech's gunfire never missed its mark, and sometimes it would draw a chain blade with one hand to strike nearby machines, each thrust reaping a swath of targets.

"...I should have guessed, Kangheng Technology had placed those intelligent drones to guard near the crystal research sites," Holman muttered. "That rascal, not calling for backup, just going at it hard. How come there are so many of these drones? She didn't draw all the drones from every crystal research site together, did she?"

The black mech's almost overwhelming dominance in the battle naturally drew the attention of many.

Including Zhou Ying, who had just landed on Lanslow Star in his private starship.

Under the purplish-red twilight, he looked up expressionlessly, admiring the "visual feast" of a battle in the sky.

"Who's piloting that mech?"

He received an unexpected name.

"I see," the delicately featured young man chuckled softly, his beautiful jawline almost losing its color, yet still possessing a captivating, ghostly beauty. "So it's Baisha."

"...The one who made my brother leave me—Baisha."