Chapter 42

Xia Ran had already booked his flight back to Star City for the next morning, along with a ticket for the spatial vehicle.

He wasn't one to indefinitely prolong matters. If he craved a limited edition summer ice cream coffee in winter, he would make sure to have it; if, during a break, he desired a custom gift box from a shop near his school, he would spend half an afternoon on public transportation, braving the winter winds, to find it, searching all over the city if necessary.

One might call it capricious or persistent, but in all his years, there had been only one thing that had caused him years of hesitation and indecision: Fu Luoyin.

The night before his departure, he checked through everything he needed to bring to Star City. Xia Mom hovered around him, reminding him repeatedly. If she didn't have business to attend to here, she would have accompanied him on the flight back, ensuring his every need was taken care of.

Worried sick, Xia Mom fretted, "I can't bear to leave you alone. We don't have any close friends or relatives there. In the end, we had to ask the Dong family for help, letting you stay with them temporarily. As soon as your dad and I settle our recent business here, we'll join you right away, okay?"

Xia Ran replied, "I can manage on my own. It's fine."

"How can that be?!" Xia Mom frowned. "Can you take good care of yourself alone? Hiring servants or a butler won't do. You always worry that strangers might not do their job properly after taking your money. Familiar faces are best."

She continued her concerns, but Xia Ran listened with one ear and let it out the other. Once he confirmed that everything was packed, he excused himself to bed with a yawn, locking the door behind him.

Lowering his head to look at his phone, Xia Ran took a deep breath before finally opening the contact page he had viewed countless times.

He tapped to send a message: "I'll be on a spatial vehicle back to Star City at 8 am tomorrow. I'm thinking of returning to study for postgraduate exams. Would you have time to meet up with everyone?"

When Fu Luoyin received this message, he had just stepped out of the research base, with Unit 7's car waiting to pick him up.

Seeing the message, he froze for a moment.

Dong Shuoye had actually informed him earlier that with Ou Qian's return to Star City, Xia Ran might follow sooner or later. It was something he had expected.

But when the day finally arrived, it still didn't feel real to him.

His fingers paused for a while. Before he could type a response, Dong Shuoye's call came in: "Hey, Negative Two, are you there?"

Fu Luoyin hummed in acknowledgment and rubbed his temples wearily. "Just left the base." Lately, he had been sorting through data, preparing for a meeting with He Muya to propose some revisions and case examples regarding the recent academic regulations.

"D'you have time tomorrow morning? I can drive over to see you?" Dong Shuoye offered.

"Why are you looking for me?" Fu Luoyin asked.

"Don't tell me you don't know. Xia Ran is back. We'll go pick him up."

"I'm no longer involved with him, and I have no right to be at the airport," Fu Luoyin interrupted straightforwardly.

Dong Shuoye seemed to have anticipated this reaction and chuckled. "It's just picking someone up from the airport. Even if we're not lovers now, we were classmates many years ago. We've grown up together, so it wouldn't be right not to go. So it's settled then, I'll call you tomorrow morning."

He hung up the phone.

The mention of "Xia Ran" had triggered Fu Luoyin's stomachache. Clutching his abdomen, he took a while to recover. Reaching into his pocket, he fumbled for medication, swallowing it with the mineral water provided in the car.

The driver asked, "Mr. Fu, which side are we heading to this time?"

The road was deserted at night, and the vehicle moved steadily forward, casting long shadows from the streetlamps, cold and eerie.

"To...my parents' place," Fu Luoyin said after a prolonged silence, as if he had just come back to his senses. "Dad really wants me to spend the night there. I'll...visit Mom today."

He picked up his phone, instinctively checking his messages.

For some reason, Lin Shuicheng was the first person he thought of at that moment.

This substitute lover hadn't called or texted to ask what he wanted for dinner tonight.

He had mentioned earlier that day that he would be busy for a few days, flying off to a research base. Presumably, Lin Shuicheng hadn't waited for him and would obediently wash up and go to bed.

The ache in his stomach persisted, causing Fu Luoyin to put down his phone with a weary expression.

It was already late. When Fu Luoyin returned home, Chu Jingshu had already gone to bed. Fu Kai, as usual, was on a business trip and not at home.

Entering his room, Fu Luoyin washed up before climbing into bed.

He usually slept soundly and rarely experienced insomnia. Perhaps it was due to the new environment that he found himself struggling to fall asleep tonight.

Half-awake, half-asleep, he gradually realized the reason—there were no cats here, and Lin Shuicheng was absent, leaving his arms empty and unsettling.

Understanding this, he couldn't help but laugh bitterly. He had spoiled Lin Shuicheng too much; his own habits had unknowingly been influenced by the little feline.

Regaining some clarity, he turned over and saw that it was already three in the morning.

Something seemed off about Lin Shuicheng tonight. In the past, he would share his activities with Fu Luoyin at any time—albeit rather randomly, sending a text when he thought of it. But now, it was almost midnight, and there was still no word from him.

The last update Fu Luoyin received was a text from Lin Shuicheng yesterday afternoon at 3:30 PM, saying, "I'm heading to school." Since then, there had been silence.

After much deliberation, Fu Luoyin sent a message to Lin Shuicheng: "Are you asleep?"

He didn't expect Lin Shuicheng to reply at this hour anyway. In any case, it was part of his one-sided interaction with his pet cat.

Just as Fu Luoyin was about to resume his sleep, an urgent call interrupted him, leaving him momentarily stunned.

Like all members of such institutions, Fu Luoyin's phone notifications were tiered. He usually set ordinary calls on silent, but only the Seventh Bureau's office and the highest level of emergency alerts would trigger a unique ringtone on his phone. Whenever that tone sounded, it typically signaled a major mission.

As Fu Luoyin answered the call and got up to put on a robe, the guard outside knocked on the door, asking, "Mr. Fu, are you awake? There's an important notification."

Fu Luoyin replied, "Yes, I'm awake."

On the other end of the line was Xiao Jue's voice, laced with an unusual sense of tension and solemnity. "Little Fu, come to the Seventh Bureau's office right away. Something significant has happened."

Fu Luoyin said, "I'll be there as soon as possible. Give me ten minutes."

The night in Star City was deserted and tranquil. Fu Luoyin drove himself, speeding towards the Seventh Bureau.

The moment he pushed open the conference room door, Fu Luoyin sensed something amiss: apart from Seventh Bureau personnel, there were also representatives from the Ninth Bureau, the State Security Department, the Chief of Police, and even individuals who had never interfaced with the Seventh Bureau before, or even held grudges against them – people from his father's side.

In another adjacent meeting room, Fu Luoyin spotted Dong Shuoye, who nodded in greeting.

"What's going on?" Fu Luoyin asked with a frown.

"National security is under threat," Xiao Jue replied. "It happened this afternoon, and after a night of discussion, we've decided to elevate the situation to this level, which is why we called this emergency meeting. Many of you may not have heard of the criminal organization called random, but after tonight, that will change."

"The members of the random group attacked a professor who was alone at the Star City Alliance University. The professor was found without any signs of life, and this happened right inside the campus, in broad daylight."

"At the same time, all quantum computers across the alliance were subjected to intense quantum interference attacks, specifically targeted, causing irreparable malfunctions." Xiao Jue turned his gaze to the back, where a young man approached with a printed paper, holding it up for everyone to see. "General He Muya also received an anonymous email tonight at seven, containing two identical oil paintings and a slogan in bold."

Sitting down, Fu Luoyin, like all the attendees, saw the image displayed on the table: two oil paintings side by side, identical to the one from the previous famous painting authentication case. The image had an artistic touch, with the two paintings aligned, and below them, a large caption read: How will you solve this now? The answer is — AT RANDOM!!!

Beside it was a mocking smiley face and the acronym QC crossed out in bright red.

QC stood for Quantum Computer.

"This is a brazen act of provocation, marking the first destructive crime publicly executed by the random organization. As the Director of Department Seven, let me explain from a scientific perspective: countless brilliant researchers have devoted their lives to quantum computing theory and practice for over a century, pushing the development from the first generation to the sixth."

Xiao Jue continued, "Now, all that progress has been destroyed. The cost to repair and maintain these quantum computers is incalculable. Recently, the random group stole one of General He's paintings and replicated it using high-tech methods. Half a month ago, Star City University decoded the replication technique and used quantum computers to authenticate genuine works. I believe there's a strong connection between this targeted attack on quantum computers and the previous actions of the random organization."

Fu Luoyin responded, "The connection is clear. Was the content of that meeting report leaked?"

Xiao Jue remarked, "And here lies the crux of the matter. From our investigation, there's a possibility that the professor targeted today might have divulged the contents of the report. However, based on our software's counter-tracing methods, the random organization began preparing for this attack seven days ago. This implies that the report's contents were compromised at least seven days prior."