Chapter 60 Just Partners 05
Agab.
The fourth-magnitude star only has a number in the Alliance's register, not a name. "Agabu" was the name given to this planet by early space travelers; it is said that the syllable means "devil's lair" in that traveler's native language. Whether it's true or a legend added later, using it to describe this fourth-magnitude star is not wrong.
Although Agab is located on the edge of the Alliance and is an off-the-beaten-path planet that is not even connected to the Alliance's star network in most places, it is not desolate. In some places, its luxury is comparable to that of the central planets of several star systems.
The planet's structure is somewhat peculiar, consisting of numerous landmasses surrounding an ocean. In the very center of that ocean, an ancient, castle-like building rises from the water, resplendent in gold, like the palace of a sea god. The people entering and leaving this castle are all dressed in distinctive styles, but they all share one common characteristic: "expensive." If you only looked at this place, you might think you had stumbled upon a high-class tourist planet.
It's in the castle on the sea.
Inside the room, a young man with short, silver-gray hair whistled as he listened to the audio playing from the monitor.
However, the panicked whimpers and the rustling of the fabric did not last long. After a "snap," it quickly turned into a piercing crackling sound of electricity.
The silver-haired youth blinked, then sighed with apparent regret, "What a pity, I thought I'd get to hear a live version."
The other person next to him, who was already frowning because the listening session had been interrupted, frowned even more when he heard this.
He glanced coldly at the person next to him, making no attempt to hide his disgust. "Want it? Go find someone to take care of it yourself."
The silver-haired youth chuckled. "You don't understand, this is called romance."
He licked his lower lip, leaving a wet mark, and pressed his slightly pointed canine teeth excitedly against his lips.
“His voice suited me well; it would have been even better if he could have cried.” As he said this, his expression became even more regretful, and he sighed again, “What a pity, if I had continued listening, I might have heard something.”
The man next to him had turned completely pale, and he said in a deep voice, "Lando!"
Lando sensed the other person's patience was running out from the tone, and quickly raised his hands in surrender, "Alright, alright, whatever you say, Risel. Brother—"
The last term of address was deliberately drawn out and spoken with a teasing tone by the owner, as if silently complaining, "Well, what can you do when you're born so early?"
It turns out these two people are brothers.
If you look closely, you can still find similarities in their facial features. However, their completely different expressions and behaviors make it difficult to connect them.
The black-haired youth, Risel, finally managed to steer his younger brother's ramblings back on track, and the two began discussing whether the listening device had been accidentally dropped or intentionally.
Compared to Risel, Lando still had that somewhat unserious look. He said in a relaxed tone, "So what if they're from the Alliance? You can never have too many people... Spending too much time with the boss has made you more timid."
Under Riesel's cold, indifferent gaze, Lando finally reluctantly changed his tune, "Okay, it's 'caution'."
He chuckled, as if he didn't see any difference between the two descriptions. After a very brief silence, as if thinking of something, Lando suddenly blinked and his tone became more enthusiastic, "Should I go to the scene and take a look? Maybe I can 'save' that poor thing."
As if he thought the suggestion was excellent, he braced himself with his arm to the side and sprang up from the soft sofa, almost impatiently heading out.
This brilliant suggestion was ultimately rejected by Risel, who reasoned, "Don't go out and cause trouble."
Lando scoffed at this claim.
Does someone as "low-key" as him seem like the type to cause trouble?!
Zhou Kai has now returned to the Alliance's mole in Agab.
After being checked by specialized equipment and finding no extra small items on his body, he used the communication system to report the intelligence he had obtained that day. After completing this series of tasks, Zhou Kai visibly became depressed.
The contact was a middle-aged man who was a bit balding. He wasn't particularly good-looking and had the same intimidating aura as most people in Agab. However, he was surprisingly kind-hearted. He had just heard Zhou Kai's report and knew why the other man was in a bad mood. He comforted him with a colleaguely tone, "They were just eavesdropping. They didn't take action on the spot, which means you're only suspected and haven't been exposed yet. Isn't that good?"
With an expression that said, "I didn't expect you to be so capable," he patted Zhou Kai's shoulder heavily and said with deep emotion, "I was thinking that if you didn't come back by today, I would contact your superiors to report your 'merit'."
If you don't get any intelligence back, what merit can you possibly have?
Of course, it was a "heroic" achievement.
Zhou Kai choked, his face twitched a couple of times, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I really thank you."
The contact person waved his hand politely, "No problem, no problem, we're all family, no need to be so polite."
Zhou Kai "..."
Bullshit! Who said we're family?! I'm not even part of this system!
The system fragment Ren Yi was looking for was not on this fourth-magnitude star, but on a blocked star in a nearby star system.
A "blocked planet" is a planet occupied by alien species and unsuitable for human habitation.
To be honest, this situation is very strange.
It's understandable that the smaller mech was lost in space years ago, and the Alliance organized several attempts to retrieve it without success. It's also plausible that it's still adrift in space. However, it's highly improbable that it's on a planet. Keep in mind that Rode, the planet where the fragment is located, was inhabited before becoming a sealed-off planet, although not entirely habitable. The smaller mech, "Star River," is well-known throughout the Alliance. If it had truly landed on an inhabited planet, it's impossible that it would have remained completely silent. Therefore, "Star River" must have arrived on Rode after the planet became a sealed-off planet.
That makes it even more impossible.
To prevent any alien species with the ability to survive in space from affecting the surrounding star systems, the Alliance has never relaxed its monitoring of the blockade planet. Such a large piece of "space debris" would have been captured long before it fell onto the planet.
Therefore, "Star River" must have been secretly sent to that sealed star.
But the question now is whether "Star River" was sent there before or after Roddy Star became a blockade star.
Logically speaking, it should be before it becomes a blockade star, but Ren Yi always felt that the situation was not that simple.
One thing that Ren Yi was also concerned about was that before Luo Dai became a sealed-off star, someone discovered energy mines with considerable reserves on it.
Ren Yi had a gut feeling that something was wrong, so he looked up some information.
Of course, given Ren Yi's current status as an ordinary military academy dropout, he wouldn't normally have access to these materials, but his alternate account has the necessary permissions.
Although the alternate accounts have been destroyed and most of their permissions have been frozen, a small portion of them are still usable.
When Ren Yi was checking the information, he even found that this part of the permissions was much more than he had initially expected, and there were even many places where the key to freeze the secondary account was not available.
In any case, this is a good thing for Ren Yi right now.
The data found also confirms Ren Yi's conjecture to some extent. Several of the planets listed as blockade stars in recent years were occupied by alien species shortly after the discovery of energy mines.
Ren Yi suspected it was man-made, but it was just a suspicion; the probability wasn't high enough to warrant detection. Besides, even if it were man-made, how could they mine under alien occupation? Did they have any methods to control the aliens?
Putting aside these doubts, Ren Yi still had to come over, even if it was just for the system fragments.
If it was truly man-made, those people would have needed to establish and blockade the star's transportation channels without informing the Alliance. This couldn't have been a large warp ship; the massive energy fluctuations generated by warp wouldn't be easily concealed. It could only have been a small starship. However, the latter has limited energy capacity and cannot operate in interstellar space for extended periods. Ren Yi surveyed the area around the blockade star and finally identified Agab as the most suitable location.
Any changes on a planet can't be kept secret from the upper echelons of management. In Agab, those upper echelons are the owners of the sea castle. Ren Yi circled around Agab a few times, gathering basic information, before beginning his plan to infiltrate the castle.
The latter is not difficult at all; it mainly depends on looks. The owner of this sea castle has a habit of regularly collecting good-looking young men and women, and Ren Yi just happened to catch the latest wave.
However, just as Ren Yi was about to take action, he encountered fierce opposition from the system.
Ren Yi?
He couldn't understand what was so objectionable about it.
The system stammered, "[I can't contact the bureau right now, so I can't enable the host's control over the system. If... if something really happens, host...] it's going to be ruined!!
Ren Yi understood the system's concerns, but he wasn't really bothered by it, casually replying, "[It's alright.]"
Ren Yi wasn't that concerned about such things; it was just a pseudonym. Moreover, there were many types of "tools," including those who used their bodies to complete tasks. Although the system would carefully disable its control back then, Ren Yi didn't really care about the methods used.
system[! ! ! ]
It was heartbreakingly desperate: [No! Absolutely not!!]
Ren Yi...?
Faced with the system's overly strong and clear opposition, Ren Yi finally had to back down, saying, "[Fine, let's go in first. If things get complicated, I'll find a way to get out.]"
Amidst the system's anxieties, Ren Yi infiltrated the castle with remarkable ease.
Fortunately, after entering, the situation the system had worried about did not occur. The owner of this place was probably very busy lately and had no mood for pleasure. According to the information Ren Yi had inquired about, the castle had not held a banquet for a long time. Instead, many strangers he had never seen before had moved in, and there were also many mercenaries who looked very intimidating coming and going.
Ren Yi was assigned to the greenhouse, where he was responsible for taking care of the precious flowers and trees that the boss had collected from various places.
He doesn't actually need to do anything; with an intelligent system that regulates temperature and humidity and simulates light, it can detect and accurately replenish any deficiencies, whether it's water or trace elements.
Ren Yi's actual task every day is to stand in the greenhouse, and his role is roughly equivalent to that of a vase.
Ren Yi wasn't the only one recruited; there were men and women, tall and short, and their job duties varied, but the core purpose was the same: to be "decorative." Everyone in the castle knew what these "interns" were there to do, and no one forced them to work.
Of course, this place couldn't be so harmonious. Where there are people, there are interests, and where there are interests, there will be struggles, especially since this is in Agab.
They are so secure now because they are still in the "newcomer protection period".
None of these people had ever met the boss, and they didn't know if they would suit his taste. Perhaps one of them would rise to great heights in the future, so most of them kept their distance, preferring not to provoke him.
Of course, there are also those who place bets in advance and secretly curry favor.
Having noticed the preferential treatment he received more than once, Ren Yi wore a thoughtful expression. Those who had worked here long-term should be very familiar with the boss's preferences; since they were being so obsequious…
A system that has sensed its host's increasingly dangerous thoughts!
The system screamed: [Host! No!!!]
Ren Yi, suddenly bombarded with demonic sounds, was speechless.
He rubbed his head, sighing helplessly, "Fine."
This way is obviously faster.
Moreover, he was confident that he could extract the information he wanted before the other party could touch him.
Ren Yi sighed inwardly. Due to his partner's strong opposition, he had no choice but to regretfully abandon his original plan.
However, this did not prevent Ren Yi from using these people's flattery to extract information from them.
only……
—Extremely inefficient.
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