Chapter 162: Lone Soldier’s Secret
Chapter 162: Lone Soldier’s Secret
The helicopter landed on the rooftop of a building over thirty stories tall in Qing Harbor Main City.
Amidst the dense cluster of indicator lights lining the building’s edge, before the rotors even stopped spinning, Chen Jing, clutching a Silver Suitcase, emerged from the cockpit. She bent low as she walked onto a platform connected to the rooftop, where armed personnel clad in thick protective suits were already waiting for her.
The group descended the stairs, arriving at an office on the thirty-third floor that radiated a cold, industrial, high-tech feel. Chen Jing passed through a complex scanning instrument, then proceeded down the corridor to a spacious Conference Room at the end, where people were already waiting for her.
Apart from several technicians in white protective suits, only three people in civilian clothes were in this Conference Room.
Professor Bai, Minister Shen, and Mr. Su.
Though dressed casually, all three wore specialized Protective Visors over their heads.
Judging by their expressions and the quietly expectant way they sat in the office, they seemed to have been waiting for Chen Jing for quite some time.
“This is what Lone Soldier took back from the Knights Order.”
Chen Jing placed the Silver Suitcase on the meeting table. Someone approached to unlock her Handcuffs. She looked at the three figures before her and said, “On the way here, I conducted a thorough inspection. It’s a specially designed case; without the code, the only way to open it is by forcibly damaging the lock mechanism. The case shows no signs of tampering, so we can infer that Lone Soldier likely never opened it.”
“After he retrieved the case, he didn’t attempt to conceal anything. He handed it over to us quite naturally.”
“…”
Chen Jing emphasized this last point before continuing, “Based on Professor Bai’s previous assessment, we can reasonably speculate that inside this case should be that painting of mysterious origin depicting the Crimson Moon, the data on the Spiritual Contamination bomb, and the documentation concerning…”
Minister Shen, expressionless, finished her sentence: “…the Escaped Laboratory?”
Chen Jing nodded, pushing the case to the center of the table between the four of them.
Her voice lowered slightly and trembled faintly: “Lone Soldier’s secret… might be inside this case!”
The atmosphere in the Conference Room grew slightly oppressive.
Minister Shen tapped the tabletop firmly: “Open it!”
Staff who had been waiting nearby immediately swarmed around the case. First, they deployed a layer of high-strength blast-resistant glass shielding, then began meticulously examining the case with various precision instruments. They checked for concealed explosive mechanisms and searched for unlocking points, among other things.
Meanwhile, Chen Jing sat down on the other side of the meeting table, her expression cool and grave.
“I need to know…”
She couldn’t help but look up at Professor Bai and ask, “…if he truly is connected to the Laboratory, what will we do?”
Professor Bai smiled faintly: “No need to rush. We don’t know yet what clues are inside here.”
Chen Jing frowned: “But if there are?”
Minister Shen stated flatly, “Regardless of what’s found, standard procedures must be followed!”
Chen Jing frowned deeply, her gaze fixed on the Silver Suitcase now surrounded by sophisticated equipment.
…
…
“I made quite a bit this time…”
At this moment, back in Satellite City No.2, Lu Xin had just finished hearing Han Bing’s account. A fountain of joy welled up inside him. Although he didn’t laugh out loud, the smile on his face was irrepressible. It hadn’t seemed like much at first, but the calculations revealed a very substantial payment…
“Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have known I could earn so much…”
Lu Xin couldn’t help but sincerely express his gratitude to Han Bing.
“Mr. Lone Soldier, you really don’t need to be so polite. As I’ve said before, I’m on your side…”
Han Bing’s voice sounded very cheerful too.
“I still want to thank you…”
Lu Xin quickly added, “Also, besides this, there are some other matters I need to trouble you with.”
“No trouble at all, no trouble.”
Han Bing responded promptly, “Anything concerning you, big or small, you can tell me about it.”
“Mmm, thank you, thank you…”
Lu Xin, his mood improving even more, didn’t hold back: “Your accounting was really thorough. You managed to claim every bit of compensation I was eligible for from before leaving the city. But besides those payments, the ones for the mission after leaving the city might also need your help. This time, I neutralized three abilities of that Knights Order, retrieved the painting they stole, and I also uncovered the secret of Happy Town…”
“Aiya, that’s truly amazing…”
Han Bing exclaimed in admiration: “Mr. Lone Soldier, you are truly incredible…”
Lu Xin flushed slightly at the praise: “It was nothing, just convenient. Those tasks…”
“Don’t worry about it at all, Mr. Lone Soldier!”
Han Bing assured him confidently, “Missions like this require verification and review before the payment can be released. So the procedure should be: you first submit your work report, the higher-ups will verify and approve it, and then the mission compensation will be issued… I’m very familiar with these processes. Whether it’s drafting the initial work report or handling the compensation application later, I’ll keep a close eye on every step for you.”
“Okay, okay…”
Lu Xin’s mood got even better. He continued, “But, it’s not just that. I also brought back five Motorcycles…”
Han Bing chuckled: “Those would be considered mission salvage. There should be corresponding subsidies for them too.”
“Yes, yes, that’s really important.”
Lu Xin smiled: “Also, I’d appreciate it if I could keep one of the Motorcycles. That way, I won’t have to take the metro when going out in the future.”
“No problem, I will report it up.”
“…”
“Additionally, there are also the losses from this mission, and the corresponding subsidies…”
“The losses were quite severe…”
Lu Xin carefully recalled and said seriously, “At Blackwater Town, because I fired a gun, I was fined three thousand yuan…”
“When entering Happy Town, in order to ask for directions, I gave someone one hundred yuan…”
“And also in Happy Town, to deal with that Knights Order, I fired my gun, nearly expending ten bullets…”
“…”
Han Bing noted them down one by one and smiled, saying, “Okay, I’ve noted them all down and will apply for a reimbursement for you.”
“That’s great…”
Lu Xin felt a surge of gratitude. “I really thank you…”
“No need to thank, it’s you who worked hard…”
“No no, it’s only right to thank you…”
“It’s only right for me to help you handle these minor matters…”
“Then I should still thank you…”
“…”
After a prolonged version of daily pleasantries among themselves, Lu Xin hung up the phone in an excellent mood.
Then, he walked with light steps towards the aged apartment building, thinking that even facing an unfriendly Father now, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Between family members, could there be anything that couldn’t be moved past?
He ought to have a good talk with his family—about how ever since Little Sister interrogated that Puppet-Type Ability User, some things had been concealed, and how, when Qin Ran nearly blurted it out, it had made even Mother somewhat nervous, such matters really needed to be brought up for discussion…
…
…
At that same moment, in the Conference Room on the thirty-third floor of the Main City, with a crisp sound, the Silver Suitcase was opened.
After briefly observing it and finding nothing else unusual inside the box, the group of workers wearing white Protective Suits then slowly unfolded the suitcase.
After giving it a brief check, they placed the suitcase on the conference table, and carrying the instruments, retreated from that Conference Room.
Inside the vast Conference Room, only four people remained all at once: Chen Jing, Minister Shen, Professor Bai, and Mr. Su.
The space inside the suitcase wasn’t large; there was only a tube bundled in black cloth, along with three sealed document bags.
“This should be the painting they have collected.”
Under the gaze of the three people, Chen Jing picked up the tube wrapped in black cloth, and from its length, it was easy to recognize as the painting previously brought into Satellite City by the Xu Family Father and Daughter, and later stolen by the Knights Order on Jiujiang Road.
The importance of this painting was self-evident, as everything had been triggered by it.
But in the Conference Room, their attention wasn’t fixed on this painting for the time being.
Chen Jing also only showed it to them briefly before placing that painting into a specially prepared glass cabinet that had been readied all along.
Later on, she would take this painting to the Research Institute to determine its properties.
Then, Chen Jing picked up those three files, saw each printed with the characters “001,” “002,” and “003.”
Chen Jing first opened file bag 001 and found inside it a document broadly describing a painting titled “Gaze of the Crimson Moon.”
Some clues about the painting were given, such as where that painting was initially discovered, into whose hands it later fell, and so on, clearly related to that painting’s information.
Chen Jing showed it to Professor Bai and the others, then placed it together with the painting.
When the second file bag was opened, it contained some photos and a document on the coefficient data of the “Crying Little Boy” Psionic Bomb.
Chen Jing frowned slightly, showed it to everyone, and placed it separately.
By that time, only the third file remained in the suitcase, so Chen Jing sighed softly and seemed somewhat nervous.
Minister Shen’s expression also noticeably turned graver.
Professor Bai, on the other hand, looked as if he were deep in thought, as if nothing he considered was visible then.
Mr. Su smiled, lightly tapped the tabletop with his finger, and said, “No need to be so tense. Open it!”