Chapter 64 Orbital Breakpoint (6)

Chapter 64: Orbital Breakpoint (Part Six)

Shi Wu put away his makeshift "temporary tools" and slipped nimbly through the door crack.

As soon as he entered, a familiar gravity pulled him sharply back to the floor.

"Feels good to be back on solid ground."

His feet landed steadily on the soft carpet, finally banishing the annoying floating feeling brought by weightlessness once again.

The place before him was the Tantalus's captain's quarters.

Perhaps because the physical locks and independent life support systems activated immediately when the accident occurred, the scene inside wasn't as devastated as the areas outside. Most items remained relatively intact.

A large desk made of black walnut sat askew in the center of the room. The system screen on the desk was cracked with a web of fine lines, and various paper documents and data pads lay scattered across the floor.

The chair beside it had toppled over, its backrest shattered into pieces.

The row of tall bookshelves facing the desk, however, showed no major damage. Only a few of their glass doors had swung open, and the heavy books, now free, had tumbled to the floor, piling up everywhere.

Shi Wu wasn't in a hurry to start rummaging. Instead, he first circled the room, trying to glean some information about the room's owner from the chaos.

An entire wall was covered with photos, medals, and portraits or group photos of unfamiliar people, but nothing particularly noteworthy.

His gaze then fell upon the desk, which was strewn with the most documents.

A closer look, however, revealed that most of those documents were reports he couldn't understand—about the ship's engine parameters, energy distribution, and so on. There were also crew quarterly evaluations and personnel transfer files, all of it incredibly dull.

Just as he was about to lose patience, an ordinarily covered but unusually thick book caught his attention.

["Tantalus" Voyage Log]

Shi Wu's eyes lit up, and he immediately opened the book.

*"Stellar Calendar Year, July 9th. Course calibration complete. Ross's computational ability remains as precise as ever. He predicted this dust belt three days in advance, saving us a significant amount of energy."*

*"Stellar Calendar Year, July 12th. The crew in P-1 Sector is complaining about the food again. Had Ross re-optimize the nutritional ratios based on their health data. Hope those guys will be satisfied."*

*"Stellar Calendar Year, July 15th. Had a video call with the little one today. He said his ship model won first place again. Ross helped me take a screenshot of his smiling face from the video and set it as my data desktop. He's getting better and better at making connections. Sometimes, I even feel he understands me better than I do myself."*

......

"Ross," "Ross," "Ross."

The entire log was filled with the captain's praise and reliance on this person named "Ross."

Shi Wu's brow furrowed slightly. Who exactly was this "Ross"?

From the log's descriptions, he seemed capable of anything, handling everything from route planning down to the crew's dietary ratios, even becoming a confidant for the captain's personal feelings.

A captain at the top of this system, yet mentioning the same person so frequently in every single voyage log entry.

This wasn't normal. There must be some secret hidden here.

Shi Wu memorized the name and the lingering sense of strangeness.

Afterward, he didn't delve deeper. Instead, he gently closed the thick log and placed it back among the scattered documents.

His intuition told him the answer probably wasn't here.

His eyes swept across the room once more, finally settling beside the toppled bookshelf.

There was a square-shaped object that had been knocked loose by the falling shelf, now lying alone on the floor. The heavy circular dial on its door gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the light from Shi Wu's flashlight.

Shi Wu's eyes instantly brightened.

Because this was an old-fashioned, purely mechanical combination safe. This meant one thing—whatever was inside must be something extremely important.

He walked over to the safe, crouched down, and pulled out that alloy wire he had acquired from who-knows-where.

"Old relic, let's see what treasures you're hiding in your belly."

Shi Wu calmed his mind, focusing all his attention on the wire in his fingertips.

In the absolute quiet, he could even feel the minute vibrations transmitted through the wire from each tiny collision with the metal tumblers inside the lock.

Time passed second by second.

Just as he was about to pinpoint the position of the final tumbler—

He saw, in a reflection on the safe's smooth metal door, a blurry, wavering shadow flash by.

Shi Wu's heart skipped a beat, but the movement of his fingertips didn't falter in the slightest.

An illusion? Or...

Shi Wu didn't turn around, only slightly lowered his center of gravity.

*Click!*

With a crisp *click*, the lock finally gave.

Success!

A faint smile curled at the corner of Shi Wu's mouth. His fingers found the safe door's handle, ready to pull it open.

Suddenly, a heavy force pressed down on his shoulder.

Shi Wu's eyes instantly darkened. He threw his weight backward, slamming the back of his helmet hard into the person behind him!

Simultaneously, he pushed off with his hands, propelling his entire body backward in an instant.

The person behind him clearly hadn't expected such a swift counterattack, stumbling back from the forceful impact.

Shi Wu seized this opening. Using the strength of his core, he executed a clean, decisive shoulder throw, slamming the "uninvited guest" hard onto the floor.

The entire sequence flowed seamlessly. Then, Shi Wu pinned the other person down with his knee, one hand twisting their arm behind their back, the other hand gripping the alloy wire and pressing it against the chest of the person beneath him.

At that moment, a cry filled with pain and panic came through the comms channel:

"Hey! Ouch! Brother Bo Yan! Let go! Let go! We're on the same side! We're on the same side!"

Shi Wu's movements paused.

He looked down and saw the person he had pinned down—it was that tall, lanky player, Feng Sui.

The current Feng Sui bore no resemblance to his earlier self. His face was contorted with pain, and he was grimacing and struggling.

Only then did Shi Wu release his hold and stand up, a hint of disdain in his eyes.

"You dare touch someone from behind in a place like this?"

"Who knew you'd react like that..." Feng Sui grimaced as he pushed himself up, forcing a smile. "Haha, I just saw you were so focused and wanted to say hello..."

Say hello?

Shi Wu glanced at Feng Sui and sneered inwardly. A friendly greeting? Yeah, right. The real plan was to catch him off guard, see what goodies were in the safe, and size him up.

He was just about to say something when he spotted two familiar figures at the doorway of the captain's cabin.

It was Lin, the other player, with Bai Su following behind her.

Lin was her usual calm, composed self. She glanced at Feng Sui, who had been sent sprawling, then at Shi Wu, who remained unharmed and not even slightly out of breath. A shadow crossed her beautiful eyes.

Bai Su, on the other hand, looked worried, as if still shaken by the sudden commotion.

"It seems we came at a bad time," Lin spoke, her voice cool. "We've interrupted Brother Bo Yan's 'private exploration'."

Though she said "interrupted," there wasn't a hint of apology in her tone. Instead, it sounded more like an accusation.

The phrase "private exploration" was particularly laced with subtle hostility, implying he was acting alone.

"Hardly an interruption." Shi Wu dusted off his gloves and slouched lazily against the collapsed bookshelf, his posture relaxed but his gaze sharp as he looked at the watchful woman before him.

"After all, this ship is so big. Someone has to do the work; we can't all just rely on others, right?"

His words were both a retort to Lin's veiled sarcasm and a pointed reminder to Feng Sui, who was still rubbing his back.

Feng Sui's expression stiffened slightly, and he immediately let out a dry chuckle to smooth things over. "Yes, yes, Brother Bo Yan is right! I just saw you putting in the work alone and wanted to ask if there was anything I could help with. Did you... find something?"

As he spoke, he casually shifted his gaze toward the safe Shi Wu had been about to open.

Watching his obvious attempt to change the subject, Shi Wu found it more and more amusing.

He didn't answer immediately, instead assessing the current situation and the clues he had gathered.

This logbook's contents were bizarre. Studying it alone might not lead to quick answers.

And as for this safe... with three people watching, trying to open it alone was no longer an option.

In that case, it was better to toss out some bait and see their reactions.

"Nothing major." Shi Wu's tone was offhand as he pointed to the thick logbook on the desk. "Just found the captain's bedtime reading. It keeps mentioning someone named 'Ross' over and over. No idea who that is. Seems a bit... delusional."

The moment his words fell, Lin and Feng Sui almost simultaneously rushed toward the logbook.

However, Lin's movements were ultimately faster.

Just as Feng Sui's fingers were about to touch it, Lin's slender, bony hand had already snatched it firmly.

Feng Sui's hand froze mid-air.

The urgency on his face hadn't fully faded, but in an instant, it was perfectly masked by a stiff smile.

"Sister Lin's got a sharp eye, spotting the key item at a glance!" He withdrew his hand, giving Lin a thumbs-up, his tone filled with exaggerated admiration. "I knew it! Following Sister Lin, we're bound to find clues!"

Shi Wu quietly observed this scene.

This man named Feng Sui was not cut from the same cloth as Lin and Big Strong at all.

Judging by how he and Lin had almost simultaneously rushed for the logbook, there was almost no trust between them. In fact, there seemed to be a hint of rivalry.

The reason Feng Sui stuck with them was simply because, at the time, he had judged Lin and Big Strong's duo to be stronger, and he was temporarily hitching his wagon to the stronger team.

A smart way to survive, no doubt.

Meanwhile, after obtaining the logbook, Lin didn't even bother to give Feng Sui a glance. She simply flipped through it rapidly on her own, acting like he wasn't there.

Hmm?

Shi Wu pondered. He usually read people well. Lin didn't seem like the type to act all high and mighty.

From what he could see now, the relationship between these two was probably even colder and more fragile than that of mere "stranger players."

But soon, Shi Wu understood why Lin treated Feng Sui with such disdain.

Feng Sui, having been ignored, showed no sign of embarrassment. His smile remained unchanged as he very naturally turned and walked over to Shi Wu with a grin.

"Brother Bo Yan, you're really something. With one move, you subdued my amateur moves completely."

He gave a self-deprecating chuckle, then smoothly shifted the topic, his gaze subtly sweeping toward Lin. "Not like us. Following Sister Lin, we can only find some old news anyone could find. You, on the other hand, quietly went straight for the real 'treasure chest.'"

His words were impeccably crafted.

He used self-deprecation to diffuse the earlier awkwardness, subtly elevated Shi Wu's status, and cleverly implied that the "logbook" Lin found was merely "old news," creating a fissure in the perceived value of information between the two.

Shi Wu looked Feng Sui up and down. He finally understood why Lin couldn't stand him.

Because this Feng Sui was a classic, loyalty-free opportunist. Who knows, he might even stab you in the back at some point.