Chapter 32

Saturday was a sunny and cloudless day.

After a quick breakfast, Feng Ran and Chen Shiqian went out. They sat side by side in the hovercar, which had been repaired and reinforced with airbags, very close to each other.

Today's itinerary was arranged by Shen Shiqian. After all, he was a celebrity in the empire, and it would always cause trouble if he went into crowded public places. In order to avoid unnecessary noise, he needed to make arrangements in advance. Feng Ran understood this, but was thinking about the best place and time for the kidnapping.

Even Shen Shiqian's dating arrangements were just as unoriginal as those of ordinary people. They went to Charan Amusement Park, which Feng Ran had mentioned before. Shen Shiqian wore a hat that interfered with cognition and led Feng Ran through a special passage.

So Feng Ran had to pretend to be enthusiastic and familiar with the amusement park, and took the initiative to take Shen Shiqian to play a few rides. However, the two of them sat on the thrilling rides without changing their expressions, which made Feng Ran feel a little bored for a moment.

After all, when she used to go out with Basil, the young master would happily ride a carousel, completely immersed in the atmosphere of the amusement park, and his laughter was very infectious, never making anyone feel disappointed.

Fortunately, Feng Ran was very tolerant of today's itinerary. She got off the flying chair that was constantly tumbling in the air, her face pale from the wind. She pretended to be a little unwell and gently pulled Chen Shiqian to a public bench that wasn't crowded.

"Ranran, are you alright?"

Feng Ran looked pitiful: "When I was turned upside down just now, it put a little pressure on my stomach, and I feel a bit nauseous." She bit her lip hard. "Sir, I want to drink some water."

The vending machine was right next to the signboard not far away, near the corner of the road. Shen Shiqian walked straight over and said, "It's okay, wait for me a moment."

The diagonal distance created a slight blind spot due to the presence of the indicator board, but this was only from Shen Shiqian's perspective. Feng Ran could clearly see Shen Shiqian's back as he stood in front of the vending machine, watching him open the terminal and then hesitate to press any further options on the vending machine.

The show is about to begin.

Shen Shiqian received a report that Hilde and a group of space pirates had escaped from prison. The security system of the central prison had been compromised, and the space pirates' accomplices had broken in. For some reason, they were familiar with the rotation and deployment, so they knocked out the guards. Even though they couldn't open the keys to the prisoners' shackles, they didn't give up. They pried off all the shackles and took them with them as they escaped.

The key contained a tracking device, but the space pirates somehow managed to disable it. As a result, the Imperial Police were on high alert and frantically searched the entire city.

It appeared to be a premeditated prison break, all within a mere half hour. Yet, the surveillance footage only showed them disappearing into the crowd and swaggering away, as if the entire group had vanished into thin air.

Since Bai Sha was imprisoned, the central prison has been under martial law again for a long time. However, Hilde has refused to give a detailed confession. Recently, they planned to transfer them to a more secure exile prison, which is a life imprisonment sentence for heinous criminals. The court was about to announce the verdict, but the internal news came much earlier. The transfer preparations required more manpower, so it was inevitable that the martial law would be relaxed for a while. But how did the other side know?

This was undoubtedly a slap in the face to the Empire. The current Minister of Imperial Security is Li Zhun, the younger brother of Li Er, the commander of the First Legion of the Military Department. Because of this relationship, he is relatively close to the Military Department, so he did not directly go to the Military Department to beg for help when Bai Sha was arrested last time.

With Hilde's escape being such a major event, Li Zhun was the first to suffer. However, it had only been half an hour. It would take at least two hours for the space pirates to leave Qilia. During this time, the port of the spaceships would be sealed off, passage would be restricted, and a full-scale manhunt would be launched within the main planet to bring them back. Only then would there be a chance to make amends. Therefore, he undoubtedly turned to Shen Shiqian for help again.

Even if they manage to bring him back, given his close ties with the military, Parliament will eventually remove him from his ministerial position. After all, in the eyes of those in Parliament, the military poses a greater threat than the royal family and nobility.

Bai Sha's successful escape must have involved the help of other forces. After all, most of their cadres were already imprisoned and were at their limit. But at this time, the forces that could help them and the people who could break through the prison's defenses were beyond Shen Shiqian's ability to think of anyone other than Feng Ran.

He turned around and didn't see Feng Ran, and for a moment he felt a little panicked. After he regained his senses, he took a few steps back and crossed the signboard before he saw the figure on the bench. Feng Ran's hand was still pressed against his chest, and his face was getting paler. He looked up and saw Shen Shiqian, got up from the chair, covered his mouth and went to the public restroom on the other side of the signboard.

Shen Shiqian didn't reply to Li Zhun's message for a moment. He quickly bought a bottle of water from the vending machine and hurriedly followed. After waiting for a while at the bathroom door, Feng Ran came out with unsteady steps, quickly shook the water off his wet fingertips, and hesitantly walked up to Shen Shiqian.

"What's wrong? You seem unhappy."

Shen Shiqian unscrewed the bottle cap and handed it over. He watched Feng Ran take a few sips from the bottle before speaking: "We encountered a bit of an unexpected incident."

A hint of disappointment flashed across the girl's face as she crumpled the plastic label on the bottle, not even noticing a little spill that landed on her collar.

Feng Ran was exceptionally understanding: "Is it an urgent matter that's very important at work? It's okay, let's go home, I've had enough fun."

This made Shen Shiqian feel somewhat guilty, and he also reprimanded himself for having doubted her earlier: "I'm sorry."

His terminal popped up another emergency contact request, this time from Li Er, the commander of the First Legion. He had a headache. Feng Ran stood beside him and observed silently for a while, then got up and took a few steps back.

"Is it work-related? I'll go to the souvenir shop to buy some gifts for a friend first. You can take care of things here."

"Okay, wait for me at the entrance of the souvenir shop in a bit."

Feng Ran smiled and nodded, then walked away.

The amusement park is divided into outdoor and indoor areas, and the souvenir shop is located indoors near the main entrance. The indoor area has a larger flow of people than the outdoor area, so Shen Shiqian will not come to the indoor area before finishing his work. Even with cognitive interference props, the risk of exposure will increase in the crowded indoor area.

As soon as they entered the indoor area, someone jumped out from beside Feng Ran and asked hesitantly, "Are you really going to harm Shen Shiqian?"

Cognitive interference can only affect a person's subconscious impressions. Jiang Lan had already formed the perception that the person was Shen Shiqian from the beginning, so the interference tools had no effect on him. He followed them from a distance all the way, but he was still somewhat suspicious when he saw the two of them interacting intimately.

Feng Ran straightened his collar, threw the water he had barely drunk into a roadside trash can, and turned in a different direction at the intersection: "If you have this kind of thinking, why don't you tell me what you think Shen Shiqian would choose?"

Seeing the rumored ruthless Marshal Shen Shiqian on a sweet date with an underage high school girl at an amusement park was already shocking enough, but public and private matters are separate. Jiang Lan still felt that Shen Shiqian was not the kind of person who would bend the law for personal gain.

Aren't you afraid of losing the bet?

Shen Shiqian may like Feng Ran, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll betray the empire because of this rare affection. What will they do if they're rejected? Kill the hostage? It feels like Shen Shiqian will relentlessly pursue them to the death... Although Feng Ran didn't go into details about the aftermath of the kidnapping, it's easy to imagine that there will be many troubles and hidden dangers in dealing with it.

Feng Ran's demeanor was vastly different from when she was with Shen Shiqian. Her unusually reserved expression even resembled that of her fiancé. She opened her terminal to check on the project's progress and gave Jiang Lan a cold look: "Are you worried about me?"

"Don't take my calculations so lightly. First of all, even if Shen Shiqian accepts the Security Department's request to send the military to join the pursuit and search, it won't change anything. After all, although Qilia seems to have a vast net, there are many loopholes in it."

She passed through the security gate at the park's main entrance without changing her expression. Her identity information was intercepted before the machine system could identify and capture it. The gate's rotation was categorized as a minor gear error and was quickly corrected by the data.

"Moreover, I don't recall putting any weight on him. On the contrary, for Shen Shiqian, the price of betraying a relationship is much higher than that of betraying the empire."

The hovercar stopped in front of them, and Jiang Lan silently followed Feng Ran into the car.

After the hovercar left the park, Feng Ran deleted the park's surveillance footage and then handed Jiang Lan a dagger.

"If you want to fool Shen Shiqian, you have to fool yourself first. When Bai Sha was in the Xuxi Star District, didn't he pull off a big heist? He kidnapped all the kids from wealthy families on Jotun Star, extorted over seven million, and then tore up half of the ransom notes. I don't think I need to teach you this kind of thing, do I?"

Hearing Feng Ran mention what they had done in the past, Jiang Lan felt a slight unease. Although they had a notorious reputation for committing all sorts of evil deeds, they were not murderers after all. The incident in Xuxi Star District was simply because one of those people happened to be Cheng Fei's enemy, and another hostage, Da Congming, thought he could only leave one alive, so he started playing a battle royale against the other hostages.

Jiang Lan sighed, picked up the dagger, and felt a great deal of pressure as it weighed heavily in his hand. Feng Ran, on the other hand, seemed to be more familiar with the process than him, and took out a can of sleeping potion spray and sprayed it on himself.

The medication was taking effect rather slowly. Feeling dizzy, she took off her terminal and tossed it to Jiang Lan, half-opening her eyes as she instructed, "Try to wake me up at 11 o'clock and make a video call to Shen Shiqian on time."

Jiang Lan watched her slowly recline in her chair, feeling somewhat helpless: "You really trust me, don't you? Aren't you afraid I might suddenly break the contract and take action against you now?"

Feng Ran closed his eyes and frowned for a moment. He struggled to speak, his voice very soft, but the hovercar was quiet, and Jiang Lan still heard him clearly:

"Then... I'll just pretend I lost the bet..."

What a strange person.