Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Several hours later, the airship landed on a desolate landscape.
Lia Star was remote, with flights only running every three days. This meant that if they wanted to return to the Imperial First Military Academy, they would have to wait at least three days.
Although searching for the Source Crystal didn’t sound particularly dangerous, it was estimated to be quite time-consuming. Even with seventy or eighty people, they might not find any clues within three days.
The students followed the flow of people out of the airship. Looking at the unfamiliar city, they all fell into deep thought.
“Lia Star,” the bearded man stammered, scratching his head, “How are we supposed to find anything in such a huge place!”
Because they had worked together during the preliminary assessment, the other three naturally gathered around Bai Yue.
Cao Xun: “The mission details list the possible areas. But even so, the area is too vast.”
Bai Yue looked at his phone, on which was a map of Lia Star that he had downloaded beforehand.
He had been studying it on the airship.
Combining the characteristics of the Source Crystal with the information given in the mission details, they could roughly divide the area into several regions.
And the intersection of all these regions was located in the same city.
K City.
“Let’s go check out K City first,” he said.
After Bai Yue said this, no one else objected.
Cao Xun hurriedly said, “I’ll check the transportation, let’s leave immediately.”
The city where the airship landed was the capital of Lia Star, quite a distance from K City. Although they had just experienced a long interstellar journey, in order to complete the mission as soon as possible, no one suggested taking a break.
The other three went to flag down a car.
Bai Yue noticed that Mu Sihan beside him was also about to walk forward, and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Mu Sihan stopped and looked back, his face expressionless.
“When K City was mentioned earlier, you seemed a little strange,” Bai Yue smiled. “Going there is just one possibility, do you have other ideas?”
Mu Sihan: “…”
He turned his head away: “It has nothing to do with this matter.”
Nothing to do with it?
Although it was a little strange, the other party didn’t seem to want to talk about it in detail, so Bai Yue didn’t press further.
Half an hour later, they boarded a hovercar. They sped straight towards K City from the direction of the capital.
Since this mission was to be completed as members of the disciplinary team, cooperation was required. Therefore, Bai Yue shared the information he had discovered in the group.
Besides K City, there was another suspicious place. Therefore, the students split into two groups and headed towards their respective destinations.
Several hours later, the sun set. The sky gradually darkened, becoming gloomy and murky.
First by airship, then by hovercar. After a day’s journey, the students finally arrived in K City.
But as soon as they got off, they were stunned by the desolate and dilapidated scene before them.
This was hardly a city; it was a slum.
The buildings had no design whatsoever— either thick brick walls or haphazardly erected awnings.
There were few pedestrians on the streets, and everyone wore a headscarf, completely covering their faces, revealing only their eyes.
When they saw dozens of students in uniform approaching, they scurried away in panic to a corner.
Occasionally, a few drunkards would appear, lying haphazardly on the ground. But the pedestrians seemed accustomed to it, indifferent.
There was no management, no order; it was as if they had simply found a place that could barely shelter them from the wind and rain, struggling to survive.
This was almost a scene that shouldn’t exist in this era. It was as if they had been transported back hundreds of years, to a time when the Empire and the Federation were still embroiled in war.
While the capital of Lia Star wasn’t exactly prosperous, it was within a normal range. But this other city, thousands of kilometers away, presented a completely different scene.
This made the Imperial First Military Academy students particularly conspicuous. As soon as they entered, they attracted frequent glances from passersby.
Identical uniforms, each accompanied by a black, unidentified object.
Their large numbers made them even more noticeable. After a brief discussion, they decided to stick to their previous group formation. If they gathered any clues, they would contact each other by phone.
Soon, only Bai Yue and his group of four remained.
“Wait, four people?” The bearded man counted from left to right. He paused, then counted again. Finally, he realized something was wrong.
“Where did Mu Sihan go?”
Cao Xun sighed, “Do you have to count numbers under 5 so many times?”
Xu Chengdong said, “He left alone just now. I called him, but he ignored me.”
The bearded man grumbled, “Why is he still so unsociable? It’s dangerous for him to wander around in unfamiliar places alone.”
Bai Yue was the one who had interacted with Mu Sihan the most among them.
But even after sharing a dorm room for over a month, he still didn’t really understand the man. But at least one thing was certain: everything the man did was to achieve his goal.
However, K City seemed to have a bad reputation for security. It was indeed a bit dangerous for him to act alone.
Bai Yue said, “I’ll contact him later and tell him about the next arrangements.”
It was getting late, and to avoid the tragedy of sleeping on the streets, they needed to find a place to stay first. The others continued to gather information.
For safety and efficiency, they would act in pairs.
The bearded man and Cao Xun were in one group, and Bai Yue and Xu Chengdong were in another.
The others had no objections, but Cao Xun was a little dissatisfied. He preferred to be in a group with Bai Yue. But before he could raise his objection, the bearded man grabbed his shoulder.
“From now on, we’re all in this together! Let’s go find a hotel!”
Cao Xun’s fighting strength was really weak, and he was dragged away like that.
Four hours later.
The four of them reunited at a small hotel. Tonight’s harvest, apart from finding a place to stay, was nothing.
The bearded man crossed his arms: “This hotel is not bad, cheap and affordable.”
They had been looking for a hotel for more than an hour. It wasn’t because it was difficult to find one, but because there were many unscrupulous hotels. They wanted to rip them off as outsiders. No matter how good-natured the bearded man was, he couldn’t stand it anymore when they found the last one, and directly smashed the front desk, giving the other party a hard time.
Cao Xun was a little speechless and looked at Bai Yue again: “We’ve been to all the places where people gather, but we can’t communicate normally at all. They avoid us like the plague.”
Xu Chengdong: “It’s the same situation here.”
The residents of Lia Star, especially the people in K City, seemed to have a serious xenophobic tendency.
They just wanted to ask if they knew anything about source crystals. But often, after they started to greet them, those people would scatter like birds and beasts, not giving them any chance.
Bai Yue looked down at himself: “Is it because of the clothes?”
The military academy students’ uniforms also incorporated military elements. Were those people rejecting outsiders, or simply rejecting soldiers?
If it was the latter, it was quite meaningful.
Xu Chengdong: “Should we change our uniforms?”
The bearded man strongly objected: “I don’t want to change! I even sleep in them!”
Cao Xun, having spent the night with the bearded man, didn’t want to deal with him anymore and suggested to Bai Yue: “They might genuinely be unaware. Their education level is very low; they might not even know what source crystals are. Why don’t we go find them ourselves?”
“Go find them ourselves?” Xu Chengdong questioned, “Such a large area; are we supposed to dig it out bit by bit with hoes?”
Cao Xun said impatiently: “What else can we do? Asking these people won’t get us any answers; it’s faster to do it ourselves!”
Seeing that another argument was about to break out, the bearded man was truly helpless, feeling that he was a very incompetent captain.
Looking left and right, he finally turned his gaze to Bai Yue.
Bai Yue noticed and tilted his head: “We didn’t get any information; maybe our methods were wrong.”
Hearing this, Xu Chengdong and Cao Xun both looked over.
Firstly, the fact that the military issued this mission and defined the general area proved at least one thing— the military had sufficient evidence to believe that Lia Star contained Source Crystals, but they were unsure of the exact location.
This evidence shouldn’t be solely based on the fact that Lia Star hasn’t been mined. A more likely possibility was that intelligence about the presence of Source Crystals was leaked there and captured by the military.
Hearing this, Cao Xun was slightly taken aback: “You mean… someone has privately possessed Source Crystals without reporting it to the Empire?”
Bai Yue: “It’s just a possibility.”
Source Crystals were related to military supplies and could be used to create extremely powerful weapons.
Therefore, Imperial law strictly prohibited all private possession; once raw stones were mined, they must be handed over.
But this was, after all, a huge source of profit. It could not be ruled out that some people would take the risk of buying and selling Source Crystals.
And these residents of K City, they may not know what Source Crystals were, but they certainly knew who the wealthy people were.
“Oh!” The bearded man didn’t quite understand, but he at least grasped one thing. “So, if we continue our investigation tomorrow, we’ll just ask who the richest person in K City is?”
Xu Chengdong: “But everyone here seems pretty poor. Is it really K City?”
Bai Yue smiled: “Wealth shouldn’t be flaunted.”
Besides, their reason for coming to K City was simply a suspicion that there were source crystals hidden underground nearby. People who made money here wouldn’t necessarily spend it here. However, for the residents of K City who were used to living in poverty, the difference must be very obvious.
Bai Yue: “Anyway, just in case, let’s wear casual clothes and try to get information from them tomorrow.”
The three: “Roger!”
The meeting ended. After his companions left, Bai Yue stood up.
He picked up his phone; Mu Sihan still hadn’t replied.
He had originally planned to meet up with Mu Sihan during the evening investigation. But the other party neither answered the phone nor replied to messages.
Although that person was aloof, he wouldn’t just disappear without a trace.
Something was strange.
The last message he received was a picture of his hotel location.
Bai Yue frowned.
Could something have happened?
Staring at the room full of collapsed people, Mu Sihan remained expressionless.
The room was dimly lit, even his blond hair appeared dull. His icy blue eyes reflected a crimson hue.
Crimson blood dripped from his palms, trickling down his fingers and onto the floor.
He seemed oblivious, turning and pushing open the door.
Looking up, a silver full moon came into view, embedded in the sky. A massive figure filled the narrow alleyway.
The night was still, save for the sound of the scout bug bobbing up and down beside his shoulder.
Mu Sihan turned to look at the scout bug.
The bug seemed to sense fear, trembling as if it were about to be crushed. Fortunately, the figure quickly turned back and continued walking out.
Mu Sihan took out his phone, wanting to check the time. But he saw incoming messages and missed calls, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Because he didn’t want to be disturbed, his phone was always on silent. And the only person who would usually contact him was Bai Yue.
After reading the messages, he didn’t reply and put his phone away.
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