Chapter 16

Miao Weizhen's recovery was astonishingly fast, or rather, he forced himself to recover at an astonishing speed. A few days later, he was able to get out of bed and move around briefly. Although his face remained pale and his left shoulder and rib injuries still required immobilization and frequent dressing changes, he had already regained command of the port.

However, the atmosphere between him and Wen Ling became a little different.

Before, it was purely business dealings, filled with tentativeness and calculation. But now, something inexplicable stood between them, casting an unnatural veil over every necessary exchange.

For example, at the daily port reconstruction meetings.

"...The list of repair materials promised by the Federation has been sent back, but the key energy stabilizer model has been replaced with an old one." Miao Weizhen pointed to the data on the light screen, his voice still calm, but when his eyes briefly met Wen Ling sitting opposite him, he would move away quickly and almost imperceptibly, as if the golden color was a little burning.

Wen Ling lowered her eyes slightly, concentrating on the report before her. Her long golden eyelashes hid the emotion in her eyes. She responded in a steady tone, "The old model is inefficient and may not be compatible with our existing system. I will personally raise this issue with the Federal Materials Department in the name of the royal family."

His handling of the situation was appropriate and effective, but his businesslike aloofness formed a subtle contrast with his previous attitude of guarding the bedside.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Miao Weizhen responded formally, his fingertips tapping unconsciously on the table. He found himself somewhat...uncomfortable with Wen Ling's attitude.

For example, when Han Zhong reported that the search for the federal killer was fruitless.

"They cleaned it up very thoroughly, leaving no traceable identification marks." Han Zhong's face was serious. "It seems they did it professionally."

Miao Weizhen's eyes were icy. "Continue the search. Expand the scope to include all recent records of federal ships entering and leaving the port."

He subconsciously wanted to turn around and ask Wen Ling for her opinion, but just as his eyes were about to meet hers, he stopped abruptly and looked at Su Si: "Engineer Su, are there any new findings in the energy residue analysis?"

Susie was munching on an energy bar. When her name was called, she looked up blankly: "Huh? Analysis? Oh, still running data. That thing is quite complicated..."

Wen Ling sat quietly by the side, as if she didn't notice Miao Weizhen's hesitation for a moment.

He simply gently stroked the document in his hand regarding compensation arrangements for the miners who died in the accident, a subtle flash of thought in his green eyes. He knew that Miao Weizhen was avoiding direct communication with him, and this deliberate avoidance itself said something.

The most obvious time was when inspecting the progress of repairs at the port.

A section of metal pipe loosened by the explosion suddenly fell from a height and hit Wen Ling who was directing the workers below.

Miao Weizhen, who was closest to him, almost instinctively rushed over, completely ignoring the injury on his left shoulder, and pushed Wen Ling away.

"Bang!" The metal pipe hit the ground with a loud noise.

Wen Ling staggered a few steps as he pulled her, and her back bumped into Miao Weizhen's arms.

For a moment, both of them froze.

Wen Ling could clearly feel the heartbeat coming from the chest behind him, which was slightly faster than usual, and the tight strength of the other person's arm around his waist.

A mixture of the smell of medicine and Miao Weizhen's unique cold aura penetrated into the nose.

Miao Weizhen felt the body in his arms warm and... soft. Golden hair brushed against his jaw, bringing a slight tingle. He almost immediately loosened his grip and took a step back as if burned. The wound on his left shoulder stung from the violent movement, causing him to groan and turn even paler.

"Thank you." Wen Ling quickly stood up and straightened his messy clothes. His tone remained calm, but his ears couldn't help but turn slightly red.

He didn't look at Miao Weizhen, his eyes fell on the fallen pipe, "It seems that the structure here needs further reinforcement."

"...Yeah." Miao Weizhen replied softly, his eyes sweeping across Wen Ling's reddened ears. He felt his throat go dry. He forced himself to look away, looking at the port engineer who had rushed over after hearing the noise, and pointed out the safety issue in a stern tone.

Since then, the awkward feeling between them has only intensified. While necessary communication continued, they both maintained a distance, avoiding any unnecessary eye contact or physical contact. It was as if something was quietly growing in the shadows, and they both tacitly chose to avoid it.

Even the usually cautious Susie was aware of this subtle change. She whispered to Han Zhong, "Old Han, do you think the Minister and His Highness are acting strangely lately? They seem... extra polite?"

Han Zhong stroked his chin, looking at the two people busying themselves not far away, as if separated by an invisible barrier. A hint of understanding and deep meaning flashed in his eyes, and he whispered, "Some things, the more deliberate they are, the more conspicuous they are."

Thanks to the concerted efforts of everyone involved, the port's basic functions have gradually been restored, and some mines in non-core areas have begun tentatively resuming operations under strict monitoring. Wen Ling has spent considerable time touring these areas, both to oversee safety and to connect with grassroots miners and understand their real challenges.

That day, he came to a small mine that had just resumed operations.

The miners seemed a little reserved when they saw him. An old engineer who was responsible for maintaining the old ventilation equipment - everyone called him "Lao Ha" - was so flustered that he almost knocked over the tool box.

"Your Highness, this place is dirty and messy, you..." Lao Ha rubbed his hands, looking terrified.

"It's okay, I'm just taking a look." Wen Ling spoke in a gentle tone, his eyes sweeping over the old equipment that were covered with traces of time.

His gaze fell on an inconspicuous corner of the ventilation console, where a non-standard port appeared to be connected to a privately installed, palm-sized data backup device. This kind of unauthorized modification was strictly prohibited in the strictly managed mining area.

Old Ha noticed Wen Ling's gaze and his face turned pale instantly. He knelt down with a plop, "Your Highness, please forgive me! I just... just wanted to back up some equipment operating parameters to facilitate troubleshooting. I have no other intentions!"

Wen Ling frowned. He didn't want to pursue such a trivial matter.

"Get up. This won't happen again." He reached out to help Old Ha up, but his eyes stumbled upon a line of code scrolling across the backup device's screen, which had briefly lit up due to the vibration. The structure and encryption method of the code... looked strangely familiar.

His heart skipped a beat. This was incredibly similar to the low-level command format he'd seen displayed by Lao Chen while he was performing maintenance on the Undercurrent. That was... that was the specific coding style of the Federation Airport's automated maintenance system.

An absurd and cold thought instantly struck him.

"This backup device...where did you get it from?" Wen Ling's voice remained calm, but his eyes had become sharp.

Old Ha was so frightened that his soul almost left his body. He trembled and confessed, "It was... I picked it up from the scrap parts that were sent along with a batch of old equipment that was 'eliminated' from the Federation a few months ago... I thought it could still be used, so... I secretly installed it..."

Old equipment that was eliminated by the Federation... Airport system code...

Wen Ling's heart sank. He asked Lao Ha to remove the backup device and give it to him, and Lao Ha dared not disobey.

Back in his makeshift office, Wen Ling used his hidden computer skills to bypass the simple permission lock and began parsing the data in the backup drive. Most of it contained insignificant device logs, but in a deeply hidden encrypted partition marked "Discarded Test Data," he found a data stream that had been repeatedly overwritten and erased, but due to crude technology, fragments remained.

After painstaking repair and restoration, a clear sequence of instructions appeared before his eyes.

[Target: Berth K7. Trigger Condition: Energy Unit Overload, Stress Monitoring Failure. Execution: Structural Disintegration (Landing Point Coordinates: X-23, Y-89, Coverage: 3-meter Radius)]

The coordinates of the landing point were exactly where he was almost hit by the giant metal structure when he was at the Federal Airport.

This was no accident. It was a carefully planned murder, exploiting a vulnerability in the airport system. The command precisely set his location at the center of the kill range.

All the suspicious points came together at this moment: Miao Weizhen's early change of boat, his familiarity with the unusual evacuation route, and his incredibly fast "rescue"... He didn't foresee the danger; he knew when, where, and how it would occur. He might even have participated in inputting the instructions.

The evidence was like a piece of ice, heavy in Wen Ling's stomach.

It turns out that incident at the airport was not really an accident.

It’s Miao Weizhen.

This realization sent chills down his fingertips, and all his previous vague suspicions became sharp and clear. Those seemingly timely helping hands, those complex looks, actually concealed this truth.

But why did he reach out and give that hand in the end?

Wen Ling walked to the sink and splashed cold water on his face, trying to calm his chaotic thoughts. Water droplets dripped down the ends of his golden hair. He looked at his pale face in the mirror, trying to put himself in Miao Weizhen's perspective.

If the plan was flawless, he could just watch from the sidelines. If he died and the blame was placed on the Federation, wouldn't that be clean for him and the people behind him?

Unless... something goes wrong with the plan.

Wen Ling closed her eyes, trying to recall every detail of the airport. The piercing alarms, the thick white fog, the massive piece of metal whistling down... Its trajectory? Its landing point? Was it more difficult to control than expected? If she hadn't dodged or evaded, and died on the spot, would the subsequent investigation reveal that the "accident" was too precise, thus arousing suspicion?

Or was the situation so chaotic that even Miao Weizhen himself was in danger? Was saving himself an instinct for self-preservation in the midst of chaos, or a necessary performance to maintain his "protector" persona?

He wiped his face dry and looked at himself in the mirror again. The confusion and a hint of undue softness in his deep green eyes disappeared, replaced by a cold clarity.

Wen Ling straightened his collar and suppressed all his emotions deep within his heart. He opened the door and walked out, his face a perfectly composed, slightly weary calm. He was going to meet Miao Weizhen for their next unspoken rivalry.