The news that Chu Huai had been poisoned into unconsciousness by Lin Xiaohe quickly caused an uproar among the upper echelons of the Federation.
Even though Chu Huai’s mental strength had collapsed and he had stepped down from his position as Federation Marshal, he had already become a symbol of the Federation’s military and enjoyed tremendous popularity among the public.
The fact that someone had actually managed to poison Chu Huai within the First Star Ring undoubtedly made many high-ranking officials extremely wary.
If someone could poison Chu Huai today, could they be next tomorrow?
High-level officials from all sides, both openly and covertly, put pressure on the garrison troops on Satellite No. 3. The message was clear: it was better to execute the innocent by mistake than to let a single guilty person go free!
The leader of the Iron Meteor Raiding Group was called in for a talk by his backers in the Federation. He swore an oath to the heavens, “This really has absolutely nothing to do with us, Iron Meteor! Thunder Brother and Lao Hei took this job on their own privately.”
The Iron Meteor Group didn’t prohibit its members from taking private jobs, mainly because forbidding it wouldn’t do any good anyway.
If the profit was high enough, they wouldn’t hesitate to sell him, the group leader, down the river.
On the other end of the call, a deep, raspy voice said, “Iron Meteor is to suspend all activities until this matter is resolved.”
“What about the Empire side?”
“Cancel the cooperation for now.”
Undercurrents surged within the Federation’s First, Second, and Third Star Rings. Many well-informed people knew that something major had happened. But what exactly that major thing was, no one could find out.
“Councilman Dong, this is not something you can inquire about.”
Brother Dong hit another dead end. He put on a smile, thanked the person, and hung up the phone.
His brows were deeply furrowed, and the worry in his eyes couldn’t hide his troubled state of mind.
After his younger brother arrived at Satellite No. 3, he had sent him a video call via the Starnet. His every word and action had been full of excitement and showing off.
But for the past few days, he hadn’t been able to reach his younger brother or Lin Xiaohe at all!
Brother Dong stood up irritably. It felt like a giant boulder had sunk into his heart.
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.
Three people were standing at the entrance: “Councilman Dong, we are an investigative team from the Security Department. Please cooperate with our investigation.”
Brother Dong’s pupils contracted. So something really had happened!
Meanwhile, back on Satellite No. 3, Thunder Brother and Lao Hei were both being interrogated separately.
“Who was the client? How did they get in touch with you?”
Thunder Brother’s eyes were unfocused. He had been injected with a nerve-paralyzing interrogation drug.
The main components of this drug were sodium thiopental and midazolam. They could lower the brain’s arousal function, putting the person into a relaxed, drowsy state, while also reducing anxiety and lowering psychological defenses.
However, the side effects were severe. In mild cases, it caused confusion and memory disruption. In severe cases, it could be life-threatening.
The “Federation Convention Against Torture” clearly stipulated that the forced use of psychoactive drugs for obtaining evidence was prohibited.
But it was quite obvious that the members of the Security Department didn’t care much about this convention.
Thunder Brother’s pupils were dilated, and he spoke very slowly: “I only know the person came from the Dark Domain. He was wearing a mask and sitting in a wheelchair.”
Security Department: “What was their relationship with Lin Xiaohe?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did they want to do?”
“I don’t know.”
The Security Department used various interrogation techniques, but they couldn’t get any useful information from Thunder Brother or Lao Hei.
The white-haired old man held a rose, carefully admiring it. “So all we know is that the client came from the Dark Domain?”
“Yes. After the Rebel Army went through the Great Escape and Annihilation, a very small number of them fled to the edges of the Dark Domain. Could it be them?”
The white-haired old man nodded and encouraged him, “Go on.”
The subordinate spoke excitedly, “Furthermore, sir, we have a new discovery. After further analyzing the video of Lin Xiaohe at the Wasteland Star Grand Theater, we found someone who looks a lot like Lucas.”
He opened his smart brain and pulled up a photo. It showed a masked man holding a megaphone, standing at the entrance of the Grand Theater.
He swiped right to reveal a photo of the man’s true appearance, restored by technicians through technical comparison.
The subordinate said, “The similarity is as high as 99.8%. There are rumors that Lucas, the third-in-command of the Rebel Army organization, did not die in the big explosion. The one who died was actually his clone.”
Why would Lucas risk being discovered to warn Lin Xiaohe inside the Grand Theater?
Because Lin Xiaohe was someone the Rebel Army had their eye on. The people standing behind her were the Rebel Army!
If, at the very beginning, the Security Department thought this conclusion was purely speculative,
then now, every clue was pointing towards it.
Lin Xiaohe and the Rebel Army had been in contact as far back as the Wasteland Star.
According to the communication logs of the Iron Meteor Raiding Group and the interrogation records of Thunder Brother and Lao Hei, the Phantom Grand Theater incident was a test of Lin Xiaohe by the Rebel Army, and an initial contact with Iron Meteor.
Originally, things shouldn’t have escalated this far. But no one expected Bai Yade to be such a madman, willing to use warships and start a live broadcast over something so minor.
The subordinate’s eyes gleamed. At that moment, his inspiration flowed like a spring.
After sorting through countless messy clues, he assembled them into the most plausible speculation.
This was what they meant by “following the clues to solve the case”!
“Sir, Lin Xiaohe’s third Stardust Mutant Plant – the mutant corn – made its first appearance precisely at the Phantom Grand Theater.”
“We retrieved the detection records of the Special Operations Unit. While chasing the remnants of the Rebel Army, they raided Rebel Army labs many times. After restoring the surviving records from those labs, corn seeds were mentioned six times.”
Back then, the Special Operations Unit and the Security Department both thought the Rebel Army was simply trying to cultivate natural corn to raise operational funds.
Looking at it now, the Rebel Army’s ambitions were much bigger.
The subordinate said confidently, “Once is a coincidence. Multiple coincidences are deliberate!”
“The situation is very clear now. Lin Xiaohe is a member of the Rebel Army. After she managed to control the Stardust Mutant Wheat, she caught the Rebel Army’s attention. The Rebel Army used the Grand Theater incident to test her. During this process, Lin Xiaohe came into contact with Thunder Brother and Lao Hei of the Iron Meteor Group.”
“Bai Yade’s appearance disrupted the Rebel Army’s plan. To rescue Lin Xiaohe, Lucas personally showed up and provided the Stardust Mutant Corn seeds.”
“Lin Xiaohe being accepted into the Central Military Academy was a complete accident. If the special admissions incident hadn’t happened, the Rebel Army would most likely have revealed themselves. Because they had high hopes for Lin Xiaohe!”
“After successfully resolving the Grand Theater crisis, the Rebel Army changed their strategy. They decided to go with the flow and push Lin Xiaohe into the public eye, get her into the Central Military Academy, and make her their deepest embedded agent in the Federation!”
The subordinate held his head high, immensely proud of himself. “Justice has long arms, and evil cannot prevail over good. The accident on Haige Star severely damaged Lin Xiaohe’s mental strength. Even though she successfully entered the Central Military Academy, her future was ruined. She became a discarded pawn!”
The subordinate grinned smugly. “What’s more, the Rebel Army didn’t expect our Security Department to have such sharp eyes, seeing through their conspiracy in one glance. Seeing that Lin Xiaohe was about to be nailed down by us, the Rebel Army decided to go all out. They used Lin Xiaohe’s last bit of value to poison Marshal Chu!”
“They want to damage the Federation’s image in the eyes of our citizens. They might even try to spin the poisoning of Marshal Chu as internal strife within the military, or even a conflict between the Federation government and the military.”
The white-haired old man’s pupils contracted. What a vicious scheme!
“Charge Lin Xiaohe with the crime of treason! Any act of provocation against our Federation must pay a heavy price!”
Lucas: Heh. So it took over 200,000 words for me to finally come out for a little walk?
