Chapter 41
The southern suburbs of Star City No. 44.
Ning Peng and his men left the blockade of the abandoned building and flew back to the starship.
His hands were on the steering wheel, his eyes staring blankly at the survival barrier outside which was gradually switching to daylight mode.
According to the on-site investigation, while the secret room holding the garbage citizens showed signs of mecha fighting, the parking deck beneath the room showed no signs of this. Tang Zhishang died in the parking deck, his unrecognizable, mutated corpse covered in scars from the bite of pollutants.
He recalled Yuan Xu's confession.
Could it really be another coincidence?
"Major General, the branch office has approved a reward application."
Ning Peng didn't hear clearly and looked at his subordinates.
"It's a reward application for this kidnapping case," the subordinate said. "The kidnappers were intercepted by a woman named Ji Mingshu. She rescued all the victims in Sector 29. The local police station applied for her reward. It's for... the starship the kidnappers left behind."
There was not a single word about this incident in Yuan Xu's confession.
Ning Peng said in a deep voice: "Go and take a look."
-
It turns out that controlling the subconscious mind is so mentally exhausting. Xiyue had a rare good night's sleep. When she woke up, she and Shi Han were the only ones left in the room.
The little boy lay on his side beside her, looking at her quietly.
It would be fine if he was just an innocent child, but that was not the look a child should have.
Xiyue felt very uncomfortable. She got up, straightened her clothes, and walked towards the door.
She heard the noise outside and put on her signature smile before opening the door.
Many residents lined up outside, signing leases one by one with Xipo, who was sitting behind the desk. There was no noise and everything was orderly.
There was also a table at the end of the team. Xi Yao, Li Kangwen and others distributed a small cup of water and a piece of compressed food to the newly arrived residents as breakfast.
Xiyue smiled silently, she seemed to have a strong sense of service.
But... this is clearly their home ground, is it necessary?
"Big sister!" Xi Yao greeted her excitedly when she saw her. The little girl had already escaped from the shadow of the murderer.
Many residents gave Xiyue a mixture of awe and flattery smiles.
Xipo said "wait a moment" to the resident in front of him, went to get a glass of water and a piece of compressed food, and walked to Xiyue.
He went to bed later than Xiyue, but there was no sign of fatigue on his face, and the excitement between his brows had not completely dissipated. He went from being gloomy to being heroic.
Xi Yue: "So many people?"
"Word spread quickly," Xipo said with a smile, "because my eldest sister saved those people from kidnappers."
Xiyue understood that making money was only one of the most important things for a "trash citizen." For many people, going out to work odd jobs every day meant they had to be prepared for the possibility of not being able to return.
"According to the contracts confirmed by my eldest sister, 123 have already been signed. Once all are signed, there should be 200 people."
Xi Yue asked Chen Yu, there are less than 600 registered citizens in the 29th star zone. Including those who have died but not reported and those who are alive but not registered, there should be exactly 600.
She followed Xihai's rent-free policy, where each person could apply for a maximum of 100 square meters of farmland, so she designed her survival barrier based on a 60,000-square-meter scale. Although only one-third of the area had been solved, it was already a good start.
As for the rest, either hire someone else to farm the land or bring in garbage citizens from other places. There is always a solution.
"Sister, come here?" Xipo pointed to the empty seat behind the table.
Xi Yue shook her head: "Come on, I believe in your ability."
She had originally planned to bring Xipo with her whenever she went out, but now that she had mastered more ways to use the Pure Space and had Shi Hanyi with her, she no longer needed to do so. It was a good opportunity for Xipo to stay home and take charge.
Xiyue quickly finished her breakfast and retrieved her backpack from the house. Just by looking at the shape of the bag, Xipo knew that it contained the mecha box that her elder sister had brought back from the 44th star zone.
It is said to belong to Tang Zhishang.
Shi Hanyi also wanted to follow, but Xiyue held him back inside the door: "Be good, wait here for me to come back."
"Mom..." There was pleading in the boy's dark eyes.
Xiyue: "Be obedient, I'll be back soon."
She was going to see Lao Wei. Although she already had a lot of money, even the smallest thing was still money. Besides, she also needed to buy another mecha box for Xipo.
You can't take a child to the black market to trade, right?
"I'm going out for a while." Xiyue said to Xipo, and suddenly remembered something, "Has the photosynthesis technology not arrived yet?"
"Shanzhuang informed me an hour ago that they had already set off... Maybe there were too many pieces of equipment and it would take time to transport them."
Before he finished speaking, Xipo received a message from the optical brain and his expression changed.
"Sister, they've been detained." He lowered his voice, "They're from the Central Army Corps."
At the same time, a flying motorcycle came speeding over, Chen Yu jumped off it, and walked quickly towards Xi Yue.
"Ms. Ji, the Central Branch is here to investigate a kidnapping case and would like you to give a statement."
"Confession?"
"It's just a formality. After all, the kidnapping and robbery den has been shut down. Miss Ji, would you like to get on the motorcycle first?"
Xiyue thought for a moment, handed the backpack to Xipo, and got on the scooter.
After speeding for a while, the motorcycle suddenly slowed down.
Chen Yu indeed had something to say.
"Miss Ji, I didn't feel comfortable asking yesterday. After all, many people conceal their weapons. But your rank... If Major General Ning asks you how you stopped the kidnapper, what will you say, Miss Ji?"
The question was asked in a somewhat subtle way, but Xiyue understood it: Chen Yu thought that he had used a secret weapon to crash into the kidnappers' starship, and as for the outbreak of pollution, he should have understood it as a coincidence.
There are two problems here.
First, he could find that there was no weapon registration information under Ji Mingshu's name, so it was illegal to possess it.
Secondly, the weapons that can be used by garbage citizens have undoubtedly been modified, and non-psychic weapons are strictly prohibited in the interstellar space because they cannot deal with pollutants, only people.
Xi Yue illegally possessed non-psychic weapons as a garbage citizen, which is an aggravated crime.
"Commander Chen, you've got it all wrong." Xi Yue laughed, "I don't have the ability to destroy a starship. I was just so angry that I was ready to risk my life to stop it."
Chen Yu was stunned: "Then how did you..."
"It was Xiang Jia who crashed into the starship. Perhaps the situation was too chaotic at the time, so Commander Chen didn't see it."
“…Oh, that’s it.”
But he clearly remembered that Lieutenant Xiang rushed in after the pollution broke out.
"Then everything makes sense. Miss Ji, just tell the truth."
There was a starship parked outside the security station, and a stranger with a mecha box on his back was standing outside the door. He must be a security soldier from the central branch.
Before Fei Mo stopped, Xi Yue suddenly asked, "Commander Chen, what is Major General Ning's full name?"
"Ning Peng is one of the most powerful figures in the central security system. He usually handles all the major cases at the Asset Management Center. I didn't expect him to personally investigate the kidnapping this time, haha."
"That's understandable. After all, kidnapping and theft are crimes committed for profit."
Xiyue answered casually, repeating the name several times in her mind, and suddenly remembered it.
Isn't he among the creditors on the list?
"Ji Mingshu?" The Central Security Guard checked the identity on the computer and the electric door opened. "Major General Ning will be waiting for you inside."
Chen Yu also stayed outside and let Xi Yue go in alone. There was a long table in the middle of the office. Major General Ning, dressed in uniform, sat at the table with his back to the door. Across the table was a familiar figure, Shan Zhuang.
"Ms. Ji." Shan Zhuang stood up immediately, looking nervous.
Ning Peng slowly turned his head and was stunned when he saw Xi Yue.
Ji Mingshu?
"Go out and wait for me." Xiyue said to Shanzhuang.
Shan Zhuang looked at Ning Peng and, seeing that he had no objection, hurried out. The Central Security Guards who remained outside closed the door.
Xi Yue calmly sat down at Shan Zhuang's seat and looked at Ning Peng: "Commander, are you looking for me?"
Ning Peng came back to his senses, but his eyes were glued to Xi Yue's face: "I'm looking for Ji Mingshu."
"I am..." Xiyue paused.
Ning Peng knows her!
Xiyue immediately grabbed the remote control in her pocket with her hand under the table.
"Are you?" Ning Peng narrowed his eyes. "I need to verify Miss Ji's identity. This is a standard procedure for recording a statement. Please cooperate, Miss Ji."
Xiyue casually glanced at his shoulders, which showed the steel shoulder straps of the mecha box and the badge indicating the rank of "Major General".
She thought about it, started the optical computer flying camera, and projected her identity information onto the light screen.
Unexpectedly, Ning Peng also activated the flying camera and pulled out a light screen, on which was Xi Yue's face.
"Major General Ning." Xi Yue frowned.
"Do you recognize me?"
"Commander Chen told me."
Ning Peng remained noncommittal: "The confession needs to be recorded in full, please understand..."
Halfway through his speech, his eyes inadvertently glanced at the physical screen of the optical computer. The face on it changed rapidly and then froze on a photo.
"Facial recognition completed. Target identity: Xiyue."
Ning Peng forced a smile and looked back at Xiyue, only to see that she was also smiling and raising her left hand.
"Major General Ning is a high-ranking sheriff. Since you doubt my identity, you can just be open and aboveboard. Why be so sneaky?"
On the physical screen of her optical computer, there was a picture of Ning Peng quietly activating the facial recognition function.
——She actually used a flying camera to take secret photos!
Ning Peng's smile faded and he stared into Xi Yue's light brown eyes.
Xiyue looked at him without fear.
She had originally thought that if her identity was exposed, she would immediately kill the person to silence him, since he was one of the creditors anyway. But she changed her mind.
This is a good opportunity to see if the creditors are determined to kill her.
If the answer is yes, it doesn't matter, because she is holding the remote control in her right hand anyway.
However, Ning Peng suddenly laughed out loud: "Interesting, Miss Xi has such a smart mind, no wonder she can thrive even in the garbage star zone."
He had no intention of killing.
It seems that her guess was correct. Except for Shi Liheng, other creditors didn't care about her life or death at all.
However, Ning Peng changed his tone and said, "However, impersonating someone else is also a crime. I'm curious, how did Miss Xi do it?"
Xi Yue remained calm: "Isn't Major General Ning here to investigate the kidnapping case?"
"In this world, cases always lead to one another. Pull out the carrot and you'll find the dirt, right?"
"Then Major General Ning should focus on the forces behind the kidnappings."
"Miss Xi was kicked out of her home, started from scratch, and yet she was able to build a survival barrier worth tens of billions in a short period of time. I suspect that Miss Xi and the kidnappers are in cahoots. Doesn't that make sense?"
Xi Yue was amused by his unreasonable words. "If I made money from human trafficking, why would I risk saving victims and giving you the opportunity to wipe out the kidnapping den in Sector 44? If you have this time, you might as well investigate who Tang Zhishang sold his goods to."
"Is this a confession?"
Ning Peng’s words startled Xi Yue.
"The main culprit in this vicious case is Tang Zhishang—this information is strictly confidential. Miss Xi is far away in Sector 29. How did she learn this?"
Ning Peng left his seat and slowly walked over to Xi Yue. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "If General Yuan Xu hadn't told you, then there would only be one possibility left—Miss Xi is Tang Zhishang's accomplice, playing a trick, a traitor eating the traitor."
Xi Yue suddenly realized.
He came for Yuan Xu. No wonder the sheriff, who has always been in charge of economic cases, would intervene in the kidnapping case.
At this moment, Ning Peng took advantage of Xi Yue's unpreparedness and suddenly grabbed her left arm, trying to take off the light computer from her wrist.
"So, let's start our investigation by looking at Miss Xi's disguised identity..."
"Bang!"
The whistling bullet broke through the wall, penetrated into the back of his head, and then exited from his forehead, embedding itself into the wall not far away.
The hot blood splashed all over Xiyue's face.
Xi Yue suddenly turned around and saw a tiny hole on the wall behind her. Above the hole, outside the circular light-transmitting window, was a dark green mecha mask.
Tang Zhishang's mecha.
Xipo!
The gunshot alarmed the people outside the door, and with a click, the electric door lock opened.
Xiyue suddenly pressed the remote control.
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