Chapter 56: A ray of hope

Nuhra was stunned by Corris's blunt words, and her smile deepened. "Okay, I'm looking forward to it."

Chris didn't respond for a while. After a while, he said to Nuhra in a surprisingly serious tone, "Brother, I miss you so much." He was not choosing nice words to coax anyone, but he couldn't control his emotions and couldn't help but speak the truth.

Hearing this, Nuhra's eyes turned into a tender look. "I know. I miss you too. I've been waiting for you at home."

Chris suddenly felt the urge to cry. He tilted his head slightly, not wanting Nuhra to notice, and whispered, "I'm so tired. Really so tired."

Nuhra's brows furrowed. He noticed that Chris was in a bad mood and leaned closer to the screen. "Chris, can you tell me what happened?"

Chris wiped his face, raised his head and gave Nuhra a forced smile: "It's okay, I just feel very stressed."

Chris could never forget Lauren's look on the verge of collapse, and Tim's desperate eyes... He wanted to do something, but was powerless. However, there were some things he could not say too clearly in front of Nuhra.

"Is this about your friend Lauren?" Nuhra keenly identified the crux of the matter. "Can you tell me what's going on? I'll see if I can help."

"He was probably framed, but we can't find any evidence..." Chris sat down on a chair in the lounge area, unable to hide his fatigue.

"Did the surveillance show anything?" Nuhra asked, and Chris told him all their conclusions and actions.

"There's nothing wrong with the direction of the investigation..." Nuhra affirmed their progress so far, "but what will you do if there's no evidence to prove his innocence?"

"I don't know either. All we have now is Lauren's testimony... but I don't want to believe that there is anything wrong with him." Chris felt uncomfortable whenever he mentioned this matter. It was already becoming a thorn in his heart. On the one hand, he trusted his friend, and on the other hand, he was afraid of being betrayed... Chris couldn't balance his mentality yet.

"This is indeed a bit tricky," Nuhra said, not hastily judging Lauren's status as a good person or a bad person. Instead, she suggested, "However, I think you could try investigating him and your network of relationships. Changing your approach might yield some results."

"If Lauren was really framed, then the person who framed him should be

There's a conflict of interest or emotion," Nuhra patiently analyzed for Chris. "This conflict may not be directly related to him, but it may be indirectly related."

"From what I know about Lauren, this is his first time attending school on the capital planet. There are virtually no other people from his planet at the academy. He has simple interpersonal relationships and a gentle and shy personality," Nuhra continued calmly, while Corris listened intently. "I don't think Lauren would have serious conflicts with others, or even resort to sophisticated and complex frame-up tactics to specifically frame and retaliate against him."

"Of course, the above is purely speculation. The truth of the matter may not be exactly as it appears." Nuhra's few words contained a huge amount of information. "If there is anything I can help you with, please let me know."

"...Well, thank you, brother." Chris answered absentmindedly, his brain thinking deeply along the lines of Nuhra's thoughts just now. Seeing this, Nuhra did not interrupt and waited for him quietly on the other end of the video.

"Margaret, Joan, and I all come from aristocratic backgrounds on the Capital Planet, and Ian is also a native of the Capital Planet... Lauren is the only one of us who has no roots on the Capital Planet. In a sense, he's the weakest link among us." The stuck point in Chris's mind gradually cleared up, and he suddenly said with enlightenment, "No wonder, no wonder it's Lauren..."

Chris's eyes sparkled. Nuhra's reasoning pointed him to a new possibility: "Most of Lauren's connections are connected to the other four of us, and the location where she was framed was specifically chosen to be the training room we all use... The person behind this must have dealt with us before and is familiar with our whereabouts!"

"Do you seem to have a new idea?" Nuhra asked, but her tone was affirmative. "Sometimes, it's okay to make a bold assumption and then carefully verify it."

Corris was very grateful. Nuhra had truly helped him in a thoughtful way, taking care of his feelings and providing valuable advice. "Thank you so much... Brother."

"I'm glad I can help you," Nuhra waved her hand, unconcerned, "I just don't want to see you sad."

"I still have some work to deal with, so let's not talk about it for now." Nuhra held up the documents at hand and said gently.

Corris nodded, and before the call ended, he blew a kiss to Nuhra on the screen, his face full of reluctance: "Love you, brother."

Nuhra was stunned for a moment, and before he could react, Kris hung up the call. He stared at the holographic screen, which had returned to standby mode. The warm expression he had shown Kris slowly faded, replaced by an undeniable rage.

He pressed the call button, and soon Louis was waiting outside the office: "Come in." As soon as Nuhra finished speaking, the system opened the door and Louis walked quickly into the room.

"Admiral." Louis lowered his head slightly, waiting for Nuhra's instructions.

"I asked you to check Tim Jax and Duke Johnson before. Are there any new developments?" Nuhra changed her posture and leaned back in the soft office chair.

"Report, Duke Johnson has been relatively well-behaved recently. As per your request, I have guided others to stop him every time he attempted to commit violent acts. The evidence of his school bullying has also been submitted to the school's supervisory department." Louis reported in a serious tone.

"What happened next?" Nuhra asked Louis casually as she began to look through the documents she hadn't finished reading.

"The Johnson family and several of its branches have put a lot of effort into suppressing this matter. We are still considering our next countermeasures." Louis paused before stating the current situation, which was not optimistic.

Nuhra sneered, her face showing no emotion. "As expected... How about the other person?"

"While tracking Tim, we were obstructed, intentionally or unintentionally, by another group, and lost track several times," Louis said with a calm expression. "But an informant reported that he had recently appeared in the black market."

"Black market?" Nuhra raised an eyebrow, not expecting it to be related to this place. "Why would he go here?"

"I'm sorry, we haven't verified this." Louis bowed his head and admitted his mistake. "Admiral, this is all the information we have at the moment."

Nuhra shook her head, not blaming her subordinates. "Got it. Thank you for your hard work. Continue investigating... Duke won't be causing any trouble anytime soon. Keep a close eye on Tim. Get out of here."

"Yes!" Louis stood up straight, saluted Nuhra, turned around and quickly left the office. The office door opened silently and then slowly closed, completely blocking Nuhra's figure.

After the video call ended, Chris dressed neatly, packed his things and prepared to leave the training hall... He did not forget the restless threat of Said. After leaving the training room, Chris went straight to the elevator, trying to get away from here as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, he was lucky this time and did not encounter the elusive Said. He successfully caught the shuttle bus and returned to the dormitory.

Chris carefully opened the dormitory door. There was no one in the living room, and Lauren's door was still closed as it was when he left.

He remembered that Lauren didn't seem to have classes this morning, so he felt something was wrong and knocked on the door worriedly: "Lauren, are you there?"

A few startling noises rang out in the room, as if something had fallen to the ground. Lauren, with dark circles under his eyes, came and opened the door: "Chris..."

Lauren's weak appearance made Chris hesitate to ask him for some information right away, for fear of irritating him emotionally... It seemed that Lauren did not get enough rest last night.

"Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first?" Corris finally swallowed the question, put on his usual expression, and asked with concern.

Lauren walked over to the open bar and sat down, nodding randomly. Chris then turned and pulled out some ingredients from the refrigerator, instructed the smart butler to prepare a simple meal for one or two people, and then sat back down in front of Lauren.

The cooking machines and robotic arms in the kitchen made regular sounds. Chris was in no hurry to speak, but instead looked down at his terminal, occasionally glancing at Lauren who was sitting opposite him with a dull look.

Soon, two freshly baked simple meals were served to them. Chris had eaten breakfast early and then went to the training room for a high-intensity workout, so his stomach was rumbling with hunger. After reminding Lauren to eat quickly, he started eating on his own.

Lauren put the food into her mouth stiffly, but just as she took a bite, tears burst out of her eyes and fell onto the plate.

Chris took the tissue and silently handed it to him, waiting for Lauren to finish crying and calm down. Perhaps feeling a little embarrassed to cry in front of others, Lauren's tears stopped soon. "Sorry, I made you laugh..."

"It's okay, you'll feel better if you cry." Chris comforted her gently. He understood how much pressure Lauren was under right now. If he put himself in her shoes, he would feel so helpless that he would want to cry if he encountered such a thing.

"Hmm..." Laurent spoke with an obvious tearful tone. To hide his embarrassment, he ate a few mouthfuls of rice and regained some spirit. "I've been thinking about it all night, but I still can't understand who hates me so much, to hurt me like this!"

Chris had been planning to inquire about Lauren's relationships indirectly, but before he could act, Lauren brought up the topic herself. Chris followed up with a question: "Why don't you think about who around you is suspicious? Have you had any conflicts with anyone recently?"

"...No." Lauren recalled very carefully, and finally shook her head solemnly.

Chris guessed that he would get such an answer, but he was not discouraged. Lauren's statement helped him eliminate some useless directions - the mastermind behind the scenes just wanted to use Lauren to break through their internal situation.

"It's okay, I was just asking casually." Seeing Lauren's worried expression, Chris gently put the matter aside.

Now, the clues they have depend on whether Ian can find the anomaly in the surveillance video and the progress of Margaret's investigation in the Student Union.

Chris had an indescribable intuition: they were about to touch upon part of the truth.

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Author has something to say: Let’s move on to the emotional line in the next chapter [Please]