Colorful Jade Waist (6)
Zhuang Mingyue bent her fingers and gently tapped the floating car door.
"Purple Lanterns can be used as medicine. Regularly inhaling their pollen will significantly improve the physical fitness of ordinary people, and they will be no less powerful than those with mimicry abilities. However, the upper limit of this improvement is unknown."
"For people with special abilities, the same effect occurs, but addiction is easy, and once you become addicted, it's very difficult to quit."
"We only recently discovered that this flower is being sold on the underground black market on Nan Teng Star. It's hard to say whether it has been on the market before. Over a hundred purple lanterns have been sold on the black market in the past two weeks."
Over a hundred years ago, the fall of Ziqiong Star made Ziqiong Lanterns contraband in the Federation. All Ziqiong Lantern seeds and specimens that had flowed out of Ziqiong Star were destroyed. Anyone found in private possession would be charged with treason. During that time, the entire Federation was in a state of panic.
After a thorough investigation, the Ziqiong Lantern disappeared, the great changes on Ziqiong Star never happened again, and the Seven-Colored Jade Waist gradually faded from people's sight.
Zhuang Mingyue never expected that the Ziqiong Lantern, which had long been extinct and officially determined to be impossible to grow outside of Ziqiong Star, would one day appear again.
After listening to Zhuang Mingyue's words, Shi Jianxia carefully recalled Wen Qiuqiu's performance in the dormitory.
When she sat at her desk, she would move the purple lantern closer, and when she went to sleep, she would place the purple lantern at the head of the bed, and occasionally she would smell the fragrance of the flowers.
At that time, Shi Jianxia just thought that she liked the little flower very much and was quite romantic, but now it seems that she might be absorbing pollen.
When Shi Jianxia moved into the dormitory, the Purple Qiong Lantern had already been released on the black market. Wen Qiuqiu, knowing the Purple Qiong Lantern's miraculous effects, couldn't resist the temptation to buy one to improve her physical strength, or...
"Do you know if anyone bought a Ziqiong lantern?" Shi Jianxia asked cautiously.
Zhuang Mingyue: "We've only uncovered a portion of the information. The black market is extremely confidential with regard to the buyers' information, and transactions are generally anonymous. Perhaps even they themselves don't know who the buyers are. We can't alert them, and we've encountered many obstacles during the investigation."
"However, I have already contacted the interstellar port and have strictly checked all items entering and leaving the port. Purple Lanterns will not be allowed to leave."
Despite this, Zhuang Mingyue still had a headache.
The reappearance of the long-extinct Purple Lantern itself sends a danger signal.
Purple Lanterns are essential for the reproduction of Colorful Jade Waist.
The Zerg Investigation Office still hasn't figured out why the Colorful Jade Waist appeared on Ziqiong Star. Now that the Ziqiong Lantern has appeared, no one knows whether the Colorful Jade Waist will wreak havoc on the Federation again.
The appearance of the Purple Lantern alarmed the Zerg Investigation Bureau headquarters, and many people were dispatched to Nan Teng Star. Zhuang Mingyue also received an order to find out the source of the Purple Lantern and how to cultivate it.
To be honest, Zhuang Mingyue didn't like such a big move. The members of Higanbana were spread all over the federation, and making too much noise would easily alert the enemy.
Fortunately, the special operations team she formed is directly responsible to the head of state and has the right to act independently. Otherwise, it would be easily constrained and unable to perform its duties.
After thinking for a while, Shi Jianxia described Wen Qiuqiu's situation in detail.
Zhuang Mingyue immediately frowned, her expression becoming more serious. "You said her mimicry is a purple lantern?"
"I'm not sure. I only saw her fighting with the Mimic fusion at the time. I didn't see what the Mimic looked like in person."
"After the fusion battle, a flower that looked very similar to the Purple Lantern appeared between her eyebrows. Just now, when I heard you say that Xia Jianye had seen the Purple Lantern in the laboratory, I suddenly felt that she fit Xia Jianye's description of the escaped experimental subject."
Being about the same age as her, and coincidentally possessing the mimicry of the Purple Lantern, he really looks like a test subject who awakened mimicry through experiments.
The Zerg Investigation Department has been tracking the whereabouts of the experimental subjects for some time now, but the other party seems to have disappeared without a trace and no trace can be found at all. The surveillance cameras near the Chamber of Commerce Building did not capture anyone who meets the criteria.
Zhuang Mingyue suspected that Xia Jianye was lying, but she did not expect to get such a valuable clue from Shi Jianxia.
"I'll have someone verify her identity right away." Zhuang Mingyue immediately launched her intelligent brain and sent a message, simultaneously asking, "Where is she now? Is she at the Nan Teng Military Academy?"
Shi Jianxia shook her head. "When I woke up around six in the afternoon, she had already left the school. She said she had something to do and wouldn't be back until classes started. I'm not that familiar with her, so I don't know her specific situation or what she was going to do."
"Something to do?" Zhuang Mingyue repeated her words, then thought of something and said, "There's an anonymous trade fair on the black market today where purple lanterns will be sold. If she's a test subject or someone addicted to purple lantern pollen, she'll definitely go."
Shi Jianxia: "Anonymous trade fair?"
"This is where you are going today. Originally, I wanted you to disguise yourself as an experimental subject and buy the Purple Lantern, revealing some flaws at the same time. If the person selling the Purple Lantern is really related to the Red Spider Lily, he will definitely notice you." Zhuang Mingyue said.
She learned from Xia Jianye that there were Purple Lanterns in the underground laboratory. In addition, the long-extinct Purple Lanterns suddenly appeared on Nan Teng Star, so she guessed that the experimental subject might be related to the Purple Lanterns.
It is very likely that Higanbana knows some of the situation of the experimental subject, so it is using the purple lantern to fish, hoping to catch the experimental subject.
"What should we do now?" Shi Jianxia frowned.
Thinking of the withered purple lantern on Wen Qiuqiu's desk when she returned to the dormitory at noon, she was basically certain that Wen Qiuqiu would go to the anonymous trade fair.
"We can't let them capture the real experimental subject, but we also can't let Higanbana realize that the Zerg Investigation Office is involved and thus raise its vigilance." Zhuang Mingyue lowered her eyes and thought.
The appearance of Wen Qiuqiu made it impossible to continue with the original plan, and she had to come up with a plan in a short period of time to deal with the emergency, otherwise she would miss this excellent opportunity.
"I think Higanbana may be unaware that their actions will be noticed by the Zerg Investigation Department." Shi Jianxia said.
Zhuang Mingyue gestured for her to continue.
Shi Jianxia: "Higanbana must know that Xia Jianye has fallen into the hands of the Investigation Bureau. She also knows that under torture he will probably reveal a lot about the underground laboratory, including the experimental subjects and the Purple Lantern."
"If I were their leader, I would choose to remain silent for a while and wait for the storm to die down before taking action. But they chose to create the Purple Lantern at this critical juncture. Aren't they afraid that the Zerg Investigation Department will follow their clues and wipe out their lair?"
Zhuang Mingyue said decisively: "It's to capture the experimental subjects."
Shi Jianxia continued, "According to Xia Jianye, the underground research institute in the Chamber of Commerce Building is not of a high level within the Higanbana. The experimental subjects being studied there shouldn't be captured at the risk of being caught, unless—"
"Unless they have a reason to capture the experimental subject, such as this experimental subject is irreplaceable in their organization." Zhuang Mingyue raised her eyebrows slightly, and looked at Shi Jianxia with admiration.
The little girl reacted quickly enough.
When Zhuang Mingyue put it away, she saw the photo Xia handed back. "If that's the case, we must take the experimental subject away first."
"Not only are you going, but you're also going to take the opportunity to confuse everyone. I'll have our people look for Wen Qiuqiu and find a chance to take her away."
As the two were talking, the hovercraft sped along and soon entered a private community.
Zhuang Mingyue got out of the car first. "Come with me. You need to make some preparations before going to the anonymous trade fair."
Shi Jianxia followed her obediently and walked into the villa.
There were many devices placed in the living room. A dozen investigators in plain clothes were either busy or chatting. Nan Chiqing sat on the sofa and looked at the virtual screen with a very serious expression. As she had said before, she was also involved in this operation.
When the sound of the door opening was heard, everyone turned around and called out "Director Zhuang" in unison, and looked at Shi Jianxia who was walking beside her.
Jiang Yingdu propped his head up with one hand, met Shi Jianxia's gaze, raised his hand and greeted, "Long time no see, ability user number 1314007, Shi Jianxia."
Shi Jianxia: "..."
Is this numbered meme going to get out of hand?
She wrinkled her nose and said, "Long time no see."
When he turned his head again, he saw Gongye Jiwang lying on the sofa on the other side. There was a book covering his face, and he was most likely sleeping.
Aren't Ruoshui Military Academy and Xingqiong Military Academy already open? How come these two guys still have time to go to Nanteng Star to carry out the mission?
"Oh my~ Is this the classmate Shi who has over 800 second-level mimics? Our Seventh Sister really loves you~"
A clear young voice was heard, and Mu Shaoqi ran down from upstairs, circled around Shi Jianxia, and came in front of her, blinking his big gray-brown eyes.
Shi Jianxia: “?”
She didn't seem to recognize this familiar person.
Mu Shaoqi seemed to realize this as well. He straightened his back and coughed lightly, saying, "Hello, my name is Mu Shaoqi, and I'm a sophomore in the Operations Department at Fengyan Military Academy. Our Seventh Sister is Bai Qiqi, the head of the Tactics Department at Fengyan Military Academy. She's very curious about your mimicry."
Shi Jianxia: ...I don’t know him and haven’t heard of him, but I don’t really want to be curious about him.
"Okay, just stay aside and don't scare the little sister." Zhuang Mingyue waved her hand.
Mu Shaoqi is also an investigator under her, and happened to be on Nan Teng Star recently. Zhuang Mingyue thought that his mimicry might come in handy, so she simply called him over to join the team.
Except for Nan Chiqing, Gongye Jiwang, Jiang Yingdu and Mu Shaoqi, the rest are staff members of the special operations team, cooperating with this operation.
Zhuang Mingyue gave Shi Jianxia a piece of information and asked her to read it carefully and remember what was mentioned in it. Then she took out a suitcase.
"This is the bionic mask I customized for you. Once you put it on, even the most advanced equipment won't be able to detect your original appearance unless you tear it off." Zhuang Mingyue took out a transparent box from the suitcase and handed it to Shi Jianxia.
"It's very easy to wear. Just stick it on your face and it will automatically fit your face. It's fireproof and waterproof."
Zhuang Mingyue took out two more pairs of gloves. "These are biological gloves. Once you put them on, they will generate palm prints and fingerprints according to your needs."
The suitcase was full of disguise items. Shi Jianxia wrote down the usage instructions one by one, and Zhuang Mingyue signaled her to put on all the items.
Ten minutes later, Shi Jianxia looked at herself in the mirror and could hardly find her original features.
The oval face became an apple face, and the shape of the eyes and eyebrows were only slightly adjusted, but the whole person's temperament changed greatly.
She came out of the locker room and happened to hear Jiang Yingdu say, "We can't find Wen Qiuqiu's location. The intelligent brain positioning is blocked. She must have been prepared."
Shi Jianxia's eyes flickered slightly.
Another staff member also said: "After she came out of Nan Teng Military Academy, she entered a shopping mall and disappeared in a blind spot of the surveillance."
The more Zhuang Mingyue listened, the deeper her brows furrowed.
The same thing happened when we were investigating the traces of the experimental subject on Shuiyuan Star. It was as if a living person disappeared out of thin air, and all the surveillance cameras ignored the person who should have existed.
"Could it be that someone is here to pick her up?" Mu Shaoqi guessed reasonably.
Zhuang Mingyue denied it, "Not likely."
"The Shuiyuanxing Association has sent her information over." Jiang Yingdu said.
"The information shows that she is a native of Shuiyuan Star. Her family situation is average. Two years ago, the neighborhood she lived in was invaded by a Zerg swarm. Her parents died in the attack. Her younger brother was already infected by the parasite when the rescue team arrived. Although the larvae were removed in time through surgery, he has become a semi-parasite."
"Not long after, Wen Qiuqiu disappeared. To be more precise, she hasn't appeared in public since. However, her account still deposits money into the hospital where her brother works every month."
"On the day the parasitic incident at the Chamber of Commerce Building occurred, she registered with the Mimic Association as a user with special abilities, and her registered mimicry was Purple Violet Flower."
Purple magnolia and purple magnolia lantern look very similar, the biggest difference is that purple magnolia does not emit a faint glow at night, and the fragrance it emits is difficult to attract butterflies.
"Where is her brother?" Zhuang Mingyue asked immediately.
Jiang Yingdu immediately searched for information and frowned after just one glance. "She went to the hospital around five in the afternoon, but the hospital told her that her brother had been taken away by her half an hour ago."
Obviously, it couldn't be Wen Qiuqiu who took her brother away, but someone pretended to be her and took him away using her relative status.
"After that, she left the hospital and registered as a person with special abilities at the Mikko Association."
Shi Jianxia sorted out his thoughts.
According to the information available now, Wen Qiuqiu encountered an accident two years ago. Because she could not afford her brother's medical expenses, she contacted the underground research institute through unknown channels, cooperated with them, and volunteered to become an experimental subject.
The experiment was successful. She didn't want to be controlled by the red spider lily, so she escaped. She rushed to the hospital to pick up her brother as soon as possible, but she was still one step too late.
As a last resort, she chose to register as a mimicry ability user, but for some reason she came to Nandou Star and enrolled in Nandou Military Academy.
Most of the experiments she came into contact with were related to Purple Lanterns, which awakened her mimicry and made her dependent on Purple Lanterns pollen during the experiments.
Wen Qiuqiu learned through some channels that purple lanterns were being sold on the black market on Nan Teng Star, and bought one anonymously.
She may not know that the Purple Lantern is a trap set by Higanbana to capture her, or perhaps she knows, but has to go.
Tonight, if she goes to the anonymous trade fair again, she will definitely face a dragnet.
Zhuang Mingyue frowned. The situation at this moment was beyond her expectations. If the red spider lily had been prepared, the action would have become very difficult.
The living room was silent for a full five minutes, and suddenly there was a clang and something fell to the ground.
When Shi Jianxia looked up, he saw Gongye Jiwang raising his hand to pick up the book that had fallen on the ground.
His hair was still messy from sleeping for a long time, but his eyes were very clear, not at all like he had just woken up. The lazy temperament that Shi Jianxia had seen him in the previous few times was completely gone.
"You guys are so noisy." He complained in a low voice. He looked like he was woken up by the noise, and there was a hint of grievance in the corners of his eyebrows and eyes.
If that gluttonous 朏朏 were here, he would have pounced on her impatiently by now.
After hearing what he said, Zhuang Mingyue not only did not scold him for sleeping while on a mission, but her frown also relaxed.
Jiang Yingdu had a bad feeling in his heart.
As expected, Zhuang Mingyue said to Gongye Jiwang, "You come with us on tonight's operation."
Jiang Yingdu's eyelids twitched, "I think—"
Zhuang Mingyue looked over.
Jiang Yingdu shut up.
The employees think it is useless, but the boss thinks it is useful.
Gongye Jiwang was a little hesitant, "Are you sure?"
In a short period of time, Zhuang Mingyue could not make a better arrangement. She was not comfortable using the people transferred from the Zerg Investigation Department of Nan Teng Star, and they might not be reliable.
Director Zhuang looked around at everyone in the living room and gave an order: "Tonight, no one from Bianhua can escape."
Everyone responded in unison.
Shi Jianxia was confused and didn't understand what they were talking about. She quietly approached Nan Chiqing and gave her a questioning look.
Nan Chiqing's expression was somewhat complicated. He whispered in her ear, "Gongye Jiwang's mimicry has some flaws. During the day, he always looks lazy and sleepy. This is a negative effect of the mimicry. But at night, he becomes very energetic and his combat effectiveness is far greater than during the day."
"When he fuses with his mimicry during combat at certain times, he'll go berserk. I'm not entirely sure about the details, but remember, if he uses his mimicry tonight, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, stay away from him."
Nan Chiqing used the word "absolute" three times in a row, showing his fear. Shi Jianxia quickly said "oh" twice, and looked at Gongye Jiwang curiously. The image of him drawing the bow and string when he first met him appeared in his mind unconsciously.
The power of the stars...
-
Zhuang Mingyue was used to seeing many storms and quickly gave specific task arrangements. Everyone performed their duties and stood by at the designated task location.
It was half past ten, and Shi Jianxia, disguised from head to toe, rode alone in a hovercraft to her destination.
No. 36, Baiyun Street, Qingteng Town.
The night market in Qingteng Town is quite famous on Nanteng Star and is very popular among young people. The fruit wine sold there is delicious and is a specialty of Nanteng Star.
The woman that Shi Jianxia disguised herself as was around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. She was wearing very unrecognizable casual clothes and there was nothing memorable about her face. She was the kind of person who would be hard to recognize if thrown into a crowd.
She walked into the fruit wine shop, walked around the shelves, and finally stopped at the third row of shelves. She said to the owner, who was yawning with tears in his eyes, "I want the grape wine made with purple viburnum."
The boss was a slightly plump middle-aged man who hadn't seen Xia Gao yet. He had a protruding belly. Upon hearing this, a gleam of brilliance flashed across his eyes, and he stopped yawning. "How much does the customer want?"
"I want as many as I can." Shi Jianxia said according to the code given by Zhuang Mingyue.
The boss narrowed his eyes and smiled. "The customer wants quite a large quantity. Please follow me inside to discuss the details."
This is what it means to match the code.
The black market is called the black market because most of the items sold there are contraband, which is an illegal operation in the federal government.
But where there is demand, there is a market, and private illegal transactions continue despite repeated bans.
Not everyone can enter the black market. Either they need to be introduced by an acquaintance, that is, get the secret code that Shi Jianxia is talking about now, or the black market will screen target customers and actively send an invitation letter.
Shi Jianxia followed the boss into the backyard of the store and got into a pitch-black hover car under his instructions.
The car door was closed and the windows were sealed. She couldn't see the situation outside clearly. She tried to use her mental power to perceive and found that the material used to make the hover car could isolate mental power.
Those who do shady business are indeed cautious.
The hover car sped along, and after about ten minutes, it finally stopped.
The car door opened, and what appeared in front of Shi Jianxia was an open parking lot. The parking lot was empty except for the hover car she was riding in, and there were no other identifying objects.
The handsome young man bowed slightly, offered his slender white hand, lowered his eyebrows and eyes, and spoke gently, "Hello, VIP No. 277, I am your exclusive waiter."
Shi Jianxia had lived two lifetimes, but this was the first time he had enjoyed such treatment. He put his hand on it openly and walked down from the hovercraft.
The boy had a delicate fragrance, a pleasant one. He asked, "Do you need to wear a mask and a cloak?"
Most people who come to the black market hide their true appearance, but they still wear masks and cloaks to blur their features.
Shi Jianxia nodded, and under the boy's guidance, he picked out a butterfly mask and put on a black cloak.
The young man brought her to an extremely spacious garden. The garden was brightly lit, with sentries every five steps and guards every ten steps, and bodyguards in black everywhere.
The place where the transaction took place seemed to be in the center of the garden, with glass display cases placed there.
Guests who arrived early were all wearing cloaks and masks, and were either lingering in front of the glass display cases or sitting at the round table nearby, drinking tea and daydreaming.
The trade fair has not officially started yet, and visitors can only observe the trade items but cannot trade.
Shi Jianxia glanced at everyone present. There were people of all shapes and sizes, tall and short, and he couldn't tell which one could be Wen Qiuqiu.
Zhuang Mingyue can disguise herself as another person, so Wen Qiuqiu can naturally arm herself tightly.
We will have to wait until the trade fair officially starts before we have a chance to look for her.
Shi Jianxia asked the boy for a list of items for auction. After a quick look, she found that she had never heard of many of the items and had no idea what they were, so she simply skipped over the unfamiliar terms.
But even after she finished reading the entire list, she still couldn't find the Ziqiong Lantern.
The information Zhuang Mingyue gave was definitely correct. After a brief thought, Shi Jianxia said without concealing his intentions, "There's nothing here that I want."
The young man tilted his ear, showing a respectful attitude, "Excuse me, what do you need?"
Shi Jianxia handed the auction list back to him and said bluntly, "I heard you sell purple lanterns here. I guess you're not kidding, right?"
The young man's expression remained unchanged. He gestured forward and said, "Please follow me."
Shi Jianxia followed him and found that the young man took her out of the garden and headed towards the villa at the back. Someone in the garden noticed their movements, looked up, then quickly looked away and asked the exclusive waiter where the two were going.
The dedicated waiter just smiled politely and said he didn't know.
It seems that the purple lanterns are the focus of this trade fair and need to be traded at another venue.
Thinking that this trade fair was most likely a trap set by Higanbana to capture experimental subjects, Shi Jianxia became more cautious.
Two burly bodyguards were standing at the door of the villa. The young man gestured to them, and they stepped sideways to open the door.
A magnificent atmosphere filled the air. The warm light from the bright chandelier reflected on the crimson red carpet on the ground. Xia Xu squinted his eyes and saw seven people standing or sitting in the hall.
Like the people outside, they all wore masks and cloaks.
"Oh, there's another competitor." The woman in a red cloak standing by the dining table turned around with a glass of red wine.
She wore a flame mask and had a fantastic figure. Even a cloak couldn't hide her curves. When she spoke, she changed her tune eight hundred times, which made her very recognizable. Even without looking at her face, one could guess that she was a beautiful woman with a charming character.
In a place like this, being recognizable also means being disguised.
As the woman finished speaking, the others more or less turned their heads to look at Shi Jianxia, but it was obvious that they could not tell anything about him except his height, and soon they all looked away again.
Shi Jianxia looked over.
There were three people sitting on the sofa, all with their heads down and their hands hanging down, and their body shapes and heights could not be seen.
There were two people standing in front of the only display case in the hall, carefully looking at the blooming purple lanterns inside. One was tall and the other was thin, the contrast was very obvious.
Shi Jianxia's gaze lingered on the thinner man for two more seconds. This man was the one who best matched Wen Qiuqiu's body type among all the people present.
It fit the bill so well that she felt it was unlikely to be Wen Qiuqiu.
The last person stood in the shadow of the corner with his arms folded, looking as if he was too lazy to talk to anyone.
The man was extremely tall, nearly 1.9 meters, and was wearing a white cloak, which was the most eye-catching besides the woman's red cloak. Because the cloak was not long enough, his white boots with heels were exposed.
The other person seemed to notice her gaze and raised his head slightly, revealing the silver-rimmed mask and thin lips under the cloak.
From Shi Jianxia's perspective, he could only see the outline of the mask covering the bridge of the nose, but could not see the other person's eyes.
When she was about to look away, the man suddenly raised his head and gave her a provocative smile in a condescending manner.
Shi Jianxia's hands hidden in the cloak suddenly tightened.
In a flash, she had a strong premonition in her heart.
This person knew her! He knew her in disguise!
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