Chapter 89 Taicheng-3 ***…
***
Western Federation, Smith Estate.
In the spacious but dimly lit study, a middle-aged man with blond hair and golden eyes sat in his office chair, turning his head to look out the window.
A fireplace was burning in the room, only one of the three windows was open, and outside, a thick fog hung in the air, with pure white snowflakes slowly drifting down.
February is fast approaching, but the foggy city is still in the midst of a cold winter.
A virtual screen suddenly popped up in front of the middle-aged man, and at the same time, a gentle electronic male voice sounded: "Your Majesty, Angus has come to visit."
Hans turned his gaze away from the window and looked at the virtual screen in front of him. A middle-aged man in military uniform was going upstairs, carrying a black briefcase.
"...What is it that requires him to come to me in person?" Hans waved his hand at the screen in the air and said to his AI, "Let him in."
Angus, who was walking up the stairs, immediately obtained entry permission from his personal AI. After reaching the third floor, he knocked twice on the door before turning the handle and entering the room.
Hans sat behind a spacious desk, his handsome face calmly looking at him.
“Your Excellency, here is a document that you need to review.” Angus walked up to Hans, opened the briefcase in his hand, and placed the stack of printed papers in front of him.
"Ah—!" A man's extremely painful roar suddenly came from inside the castle, followed by the sound of things being smashed.
Angus looked up at the fourth floor, in the direction the sound came from—the infirmary.
"Aaaaaah!" the man screamed in pain again, and the sound of smashing things grew louder.
"...What's wrong with Young Master Luther again?" Angus asked his superior.
“Ethan miscarried,” Hans said coldly, reaching for the file in front of him.
Angus understood. He stopped looking up at the upper floor and stood quietly in front of Hans, waiting.
This "guarantee statement" was drafted by Angus in an emergency meeting with personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice within three hours. It is now 1 p.m., and he needs to get Hans to stamp it and upload it to the federal website as soon as possible.
Of course, it also needs to be sent to the Eastern Federation.
Hans was initially surprised, but quickly regained his indifferent expression. He only glanced at the first two pages of the statement before calling out to his AI: "Give me Tang Bufan's information."
The virtual screen popped up in front of Hans again, and Tang Bufan's wanted poster appeared on the screen.
Looking at the handsome but haggard young man on the screen, Hans gave a soft, ambiguous hum.
“He’s better in person than in the photos.” Angus spoke up for Tang Bufan, while telling Hans, “The Cyber Information Department conducted a full-scale search for him online, but there is very little information about him. He was born in the slums of the East District Underground City and was an insignificant elementary school teacher before his arrest. This is all that the East District Underground City has released. We don’t know any other information.”
Therefore, they did not know Tang Bufan's specific family situation, nor did they know whether he had ever had a lover.
Hans looked up: "You've already seen him?"
“I’ve seen them.” Angus confessed to him: “Young Master Louis contacted me this morning. They were traveling in an armored vehicle from the Northern Federation.”
"A car from the Northern Federation?" Hans's golden eyes deepened. "I thought he was only interested in the Eastern Federation, but I didn't expect him to get involved with the Northern Federation first... Do you know what they're doing?"
Angus shook his head: "Young Master Louis didn't tell me."
Lu Yi's relationship with Hans was distant, even less intimate than with Angus. Lu Yi didn't want Hans to know his whereabouts, so after leaving home, he cut off contact with everyone, only having two brief video calls with Angus.
Seeing that Angus was also unsure, Hans then looked at Tang Bufan's wanted poster, his gaze falling on the words "unorganized".
"That Rebooters organization, the one that appeared last year, right?" Hans said. Because of the mutated poisoners, the three orc federations have been paying attention to this organization recently.
Angus understood what he was thinking, because he had the same doubts.
But the middle-aged general with silver hair and silver eyes smiled gently and said calmly, "Yes, but no matter who Tang Bufan is or what his identity is, it cannot change the fact that Young Master Louis's heart already belongs to him."
Hans hummed softly again and reached for the pen on the table.
“You’re right.” Hans opened the documents on the table and signed his name on the last page: “He got Louis so quickly. I hope he can be more ambitious and get pregnant with Louis’s child soon.”
"Ahhhhhh!" Another heart-wrenching scream came from upstairs, along with the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.
Angus took the documents and left. The castle was very large, so large that a gray mist filled the air. Several servants hurried upstairs and bowed respectfully to Angus as they passed by.
In the study, Hans slowly leaned back in his large chair. He looked towards the corner of the study, next to the fireplace with its burning fire, where a high-end leather armchair was placed. There, he saw a beautiful blonde woman with green eyes lying on it.
The woman wore an elegant dark green dress and a precious ruby necklace. She held a wine glass filled with red wine in one hand, her face slightly flushed, languid and nonchalant.
“Anna, Louis has a lover. That man, like you, is also from the resistance faction,” Hans said, looking at her.
The woman's red lips curved into a smile, and her emerald green eyes met Hans's gaze.
“Serves you right,” she said.
When she cursed her child, Hans did not scold her; instead, he smiled at her affectionately.
Just then, there was a hurried knock on the study door, and an elderly woman who looked like a housekeeper quickly walked in.
"Hans, things are getting out of control! Come quick!" the old woman said to Hans in a hurry. Facing the old woman who was like a mother to him, Hans slowly stood up from his chair.
"Wasn't Luther given anesthesia?"
"He's had an injection! Ethan's gone mad! Oh my god! He's going to destroy the infirmary!"
The two left the study together, the heavy wooden door closed, the fireplace was still burning, and the sofa next to it was empty.
***
Eastern Federation, Cloud Top Building.
A handsome man in a sharp suit is frowning as he looks at the large screen in front of him, which is showing an old armored vehicle driving along a mountain trail.
This is the Eastern Federation Satellite Control Center. This afternoon, the Federation satellites photographed this armored vehicle from the Northern Federation. However, when they inquired with the Northern Federation, they learned that they had not sent anyone to Taicheng. Currently, only Lermontov is on a mission in the East, but he is currently at the abandoned Penglai base.
The people at the satellite control center immediately reported this to Pei Zhishu.
"Could they be from the Rebooters organization?" the assistant asked his boss nervously.
In recent years, this organization has been appearing more and more frequently in the east, and satellites have frequently captured their traces, but due to the orcs' backward transportation, they have always been unable to catch them.
“No, the Rebooters wouldn’t drive such a dilapidated armored vehicle; they always fly stealth aircraft,” Pei Zhishu said in a deep voice.
At that moment, a woman in a suit strode in and reported loudly, "Minister! We have more news from the Northern Federation! They say that this car was stolen from them a few years ago and is now in Louis Smith's possession!"
"Louis Smith?" The people in the satellite control center whispered among themselves. Of course, they all knew who this man was—the future leader of the Western Federation, predicted by the whole world.
"Him?" Pei Zhishu also looked surprised. "This young master has been missing for a year after running away from home. He actually came to our Eastern Federation?"
"Judging from the direction the car is heading, it's heading towards Taicheng," the female assistant next to her said.
Although he didn't know the young master's purpose, Pei Zhishu reacted quickly and immediately took his two assistants and left.
“You continue monitoring. Chen Lu, contact the Western Federation. Fei Fei, go prepare to welcome the convoy. See which lieutenant general is available today and have him come with us to the city gate. A77, report this to the Führer.”
As the man walked, he gave instructions to everyone in a methodical manner, and everyone immediately sprang into action.
"Minister! We've received a message from the Western Federation!" The female assistant picked up her tablet, tapped it, and a virtual screen quickly appeared in front of Pei Zhishu: "It's a statement from General Angus, saying... Tang Bufan is under the protection of the Western Federation? Hmm? Who is this Tang Bufan?"
"Wow...he's engaged to Louis Smith? Isn't she going to be the future First Lady of the Western Federation?" the male assistant next to him exclaimed in surprise.
"..." Pei Zhishu stopped in his tracks. He frowned as he looked at the document that had Hans's signature and the seal of the Western Federation. His dark eyes quickly scanned it before he swiped the screen to push the statement aside.
"Forward this document to the Ministry of Justice. A77, give me Tang Bufan's information." Pei Zhishu said as he led two assistants toward the conference hall. "Chen Lu, notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Information to come to the meeting. ...The people from the Ministry of Justice should also come."
"Yes, Minister!" Chen Lu's female assistant immediately stopped and started tapping her tablet. Since the Federation had a limited number of portable AIs, most people still used tablets and computers to handle their affairs.
Pei Zhishu walked into the side hall next to the conference hall. This was a well-soundproofed lounge where he would stay until all the meeting attendees had arrived.
The tall, slender man sat down on the sofa, continued looking at the virtual screen in front of him, and said to his male assistant, "Coffee."
The male assistant immediately left to make him coffee, while Pei Zhishu stared at the wanted poster on the screen, lost in thought.
Soon, the male assistant brought in a warm cup of coffee. Seeing Pei Zhishu staring silently at Tang Bufan's wanted poster, he handed him the coffee and said, "Minister, should we ask about the underground city in the East District? Perhaps they filled in the missing personnel from the escape five years ago."
This is not strange. The peace treaty has been in place for over two hundred years, and human criminals still escape from time to time. If they escape after being escorted to the Beastman Federation, the Federation is responsible for their capture. However, if they escape before even reaching the Federation, the humans are responsible for handling the aftermath.
For those that can't be captured, the human side has to find replacements; there are 100 people every year, no less.
The task of escorting criminals is handled by the peacekeeping faction in the East District Underground City. Five years ago, the chairman of the peacekeeping faction was Old Master Yu, but Old Master Yu has now retired, and the peacekeeping faction is now managed by his grandson Yu Fen.
Pei Zhishu rested his hands on the large sofa, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest. After a moment of thought, he said to his male assistant, "Contact Yu Fen and ask him to give us an explanation."
"Yes," the male assistant replied immediately.
The door to the deputy director's office opened, and an employee walked in: "Minister, everyone is here."
Pei Zhishu let out a deep breath and stood up from the spacious sofa.
***
Meanwhile, Kai was driving his RV slowly through the snow-covered mountains.
"I really can't tell that you, Madam, are from a commoner background!" Wan Bing said exaggeratedly to Tang Bufan, sitting by the window. "You look like you come from a great family! You have such a good temperament and are so beautiful, and you even boss your superiors around so naturally... I just felt... that you must be of noble birth!"
The three of them were still eating and chatting around the table. Tang Bufan felt embarrassed by what Wan Bing said, while Lu Yi smiled slightly.
“Yes, the teacher has a kind of aloof temperament.” Lu Yi happily recalled his first encounter with Tang Bufan: “When I rushed into the car, he was scared, but he still sat in the driver’s seat with a straight face, trying to kick me out. He knew I was a high-level beastman, but he didn’t treat me too much like one.”
Tang Bufan blushed deeply after what the two said and became somewhat flustered: "Where am I being arrogant? You're talking nonsense. Besides, besides... I respect people very much. Look at Brother Wan, I respect him very much..."
"Madam, you don't need to show me respect, we've gone against each other!" Wan Bing quickly waved his hand with a smile, "I'm scared if you show me respect!"
"No, oh dear..." Tang Bufan found the rules of the beastman world too strange, so he put on his teacher's airs again and earnestly explained to the two of them: "Although everyone's status and position are different, the social hierarchy should be one of respecting the elderly and caring for the young..."
“Madam, your views are from the underground city.” Wan Bing felt that Tang Bufan was being too modest. He raised the teacup in front of him: “Come, come, let me toast you!”
"..." Tang Bufan didn't know what to say about Wan Bing for a moment, so he could only smile helplessly and raise his cup to clink tea with him.
Just then, Evelyn's gentle voice suddenly rang out: "Louis, General Angus has sent a document."
Lu Yi immediately put down his fork, and a virtual screen popped up in front of him. It was a guarantee statement sent by Angus.
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