After Tang Ce returned to his room, he did not take a nap, but instead thought about the details he had just observed.
Sentinels are combative by nature. There was an exciting and fierce battle on the field. Most people's attention was on the two opposing teams. Yu Ran quietly left to pour water. Those who diverted attention to Yu Ran must have a problem.
Moore, Lin Fengyao and Xiong Kai are the most suspicious. Chameleon was nowhere to be found at the time, which was also very suspicious.
Among them, Moore's attention to Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan was open and aboveboard. He turned his head to look at them with a smile on his face without any concealment.
Of course, this alone cannot directly rule out Moore's suspicion. After all, he is a high-level guide who has been in the Falcon Special Forces for so many years and even became a close friend of Lu Zexuan. If he is a traitor, he really doesn't need to hide it, because no one would doubt that there is anything wrong with him paying attention to Captain Lu and Yu Ran.
The hummingbird was still secretly observing Yu Ran. It looked like it wanted to get closer, but was too embarrassed to do so
Xiong Kai's attention was the least obvious. He was standing outside the fighting field, cheering and clapping when the two sentinels were fighting, behaving like everyone else. If Tang Ce hadn't paid special attention, it would have been almost impossible to notice that Xiong Kai was watching Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan with his peripheral vision.
The upright Morel, the sneaky Bird Lady, the calm Big Bear, and the chameleon that disappears from time to time...
More evidence needs to be found.
Tang Ce lay on the bed, put his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and took a short nap.
He woke up after only half an hour of sleep. He wanted to go out and walk around to see if he could find anything. As soon as he went out, he heard a very light noise coming from the end of the corridor.
Tang Ce immediately turned the lizard into the color of the wall, climbed onto the roof with a light leap, and followed silently.
He came to the end of the corridor and looked towards the warehouse—only to see a "transparent man" slowly crawling on the wall in the storage warehouse.
Although the chameleon's invisibility can deceive most human eyes, Tang Ce, who is also a color-changing spiritual being, knows very well how to distinguish the sentinels that blend into the environment, especially the invisible sentinels that are moving slowly.
Tang Ce stood motionless at the door and observed the other party. He saw Lu Xiaolong slowly crawling to the depths of the warehouse, then stretched out a hand, opened the cabinet, quickly took out two cans of beef, and stuffed the cans into his arms.
The ability of the chameleon spirit is like covering the owner with a layer of "environmental color coat". The things put into this "coat" will also blend with the environment. Therefore, the two cans flashed past Tang Ce's eyes and disappeared.
Tang Ce: “…”
You keep disappearing to steal food?!
Tang Ce couldn't help laughing when he saw this. He didn't expect that the Chameleon brother was a foodie. He used his invisibility ability to steal cans instead of lurking and eavesdropping? You're really wasting your talent!
Lu Xiaolong quietly crawled forward along the wall. When he reached the door, he suddenly felt the breath of a human being next to him, and that breath just sprayed on his face. He was stunned for a moment and subconsciously wanted to run, but Tang Ce grabbed his arm and said, "Brother Long, is that you? You scared me!"
Lu Xiaolong's face changed, and he whispered: "Xiao, Xiao Tang? Why are you here?"
Tang Ce said, "I woke up from a nap and felt hungry. I wanted to eat something, but it was not meal time in the restaurant, so I came to the warehouse to see if there was anything to eat."
Lu Xiaolong excitedly held his hand and said, "We are a kindred spirit! I also have a big appetite and get hungry all the time. However, the team has a fixed meal time, and I am embarrassed to ask Moore to allocate food to me individually, so I came to the warehouse to steal... to find some canned food, ahem."
As he spoke, he gave a can of food to Tang Ce: "Come on, let's share the blessing."
Tang Ce took the can with a helpless look on his face: "Thank you, Brother Long!"
The two invisible sentinels pressed their bodies against the wall, almost blending in with it. Passersby could not see them clearly, but they could see two cans suspended in the air and hear the slurping sounds of eating.
Moore got up to check the warehouse and was shocked to see the cans floating in the air. After realizing what was going on, he adjusted his glasses and said, "Can you please stop being invisible when you're eating? I thought we saw a ghost."
The two men immediately revealed themselves, embarrassed.
Lu Xiaolong scratched his head, laughed dryly and asked, "Dr. Moore, you got up so soon?"
"I didn't sleep. I'm not like you sentinels who love fighting, so I don't need to sleep to replenish my energy." Moore came over, observing Tang Ce and Lu Xiaolong with a half-smile, and said, "I was wondering, there are always a few cans missing from the warehouse when we count them. It turns out you two stole them."
Tang Ce: “…”
I am so wronged, it's all the chameleon's fault!
Moore raised his eyebrows and said seriously, "I will punish you to organize the warehouse and sort out all the canned food and milk. Also, if you want to eat something in the future, just tell me directly. There is no need to sneak around and steal. There is no shortage of supplies on the starship. How can you act like a thief?"
Lu Xiaolong ran away in shame, and Tang Ce had no choice but to follow him to the warehouse.
The two worked swiftly, placing the different types of food in different categories. Perhaps because they had experienced "hardships together", Lu Xiaolong's attitude towards Tang Ce became much warmer, and he took the initiative to talk to Tang Ce: "I'm sorry, I've caused you trouble this time."
"Brother Long, that's too polite!" Tang Ce complained in a low voice while tidying up, "This More is so fierce."
Lu Xiaolong said: "No, he is actually very gentle."
Tang Ce pretended to be curious and asked, "Really? How gentle is that?"
Lv Xiaolong said: "He joined the army earlier and was older than us. He always took good care of us and was always worried about our mental state. You don't know, he was actually quite pitiful. It is said that he lost his parents at the age of 16."
Tang Ce immediately grasped the key point: "Is he an orphan?"
Lu Xiaolong said, "Yes, he had nowhere to go during the holidays, so he spent it all alone in the White Tower. He is an A-level guide, and the Josephs have tried to match him with sentinels above A-level many times, but he refused. He could have retired, but because he was worried about us, he stayed in the team to help... Well, he could have found a good partner, returned to the capital, married and had children, and lived a stable life without having to follow us around on adventures."
Tang Ce: “…”
Why does it seem more and more wrong the more I listen
Is Moore really willing to devote his youth to the army, or does he have reasons to stay here
"It seems that I misunderstood him. He turned out to be such a gentle and loyal person." Tang Ce paused and asked casually: "By the way, what kind of person is Deputy Captain Xiong? I saw that he didn't talk much and didn't participate in the fight in the morning."
It was normal for new recruits to ask old soldiers about other people in the team, and Lu Xiaolong did not doubt it.
When he heard Tang Ce asking about Deputy Captain Xiong, he suddenly lowered his voice and leaned close to Tang Ce's ear and said, "Deputy Captain Xiong's background is not simple. Once, I got up at three in the middle of the night to eat, and passed by his room, and heard him talking to his family. His father seemed to be a leader, a very powerful one, and he told him that he had already arranged the relationship and let him work for another two years, and then he would return to Congress to serve."
Tang Ce suddenly realized: "Is that so! It seems his family is not simple, we can't afford to offend them."
Lu Xiaolong nodded in agreement: "That's right, it's best not to offend people with such backgrounds."
Tang Ce asked Lv Xiaolong about the situation in the team, but he was thinking quickly in his mind. Xiong Kai didn't talk to his family until three o'clock in the morning, which was not right. His father had already arranged the relationship? Lv Xiaolong, you stole something in the middle of the night and heard such crucial information - Congress!
Tang Ce knew nothing about Congress, but he believed that Yu Ran should know the inside story. The guide's memory was much better than that of the sentinel. If he told Yu Ran this key information, maybe he could analyze something.
***
At two o'clock in the afternoon, all the sentries woke up, and Yu Ran also came to the command hall. Tang Ce was worried that if he had too much contact with Yu Ran, it would arouse the suspicion of the inner ghost, so he just chatted with Chameleon and ignored Yu Ran at all.
Lu Zexuan glanced at everyone: "Are you all awake? Have you recovered your strength?"
The sentinels responded in unison: "Recovered!"
Moore looked at Lu Zexuan and took the initiative to suggest: "Captain Lu, we will reach the target planet in two hours. To be on the safe side, I will check everyone's mental state again to eliminate unfavorable factors. In addition, the danger of this mission is unknown. I want to give everyone an artificial guide element injection. When necessary, give yourself an injection to calm down quickly."
Lu Zexuan nodded: "Okay, let's do as you say."
The two guides sat in the treatment room, and all the sentries, except Lu Zexuan, lined up to go in for examination.
The hummingbird was very active and was the first to sit over and be examined.
Yu Ran had just extended her thought tentacles into her picture when she heard the cheerful chirping of birds in the woods: "He's so cute, even cuter up close! Especially his two eyes, which are different colors, so pretty! The little fox is so soft, woo woo woo, so fluffy, can I touch it..."
Yu Ran: “?”
Lin Fengyao didn't expect Yu Ran to enter her mental picture with Moore. She blushed immediately and said in the mental world: "No, sorry, I love to talk nonsense. Please don't mind it, please don't mind it."
Yu Ran: “… ”
Moore suppressed his laughter and said, "You, please restrain yourself a little."
Lin Fengyao immediately became quiet, and the spirit bird also hid away because it felt embarrassed.
Yu Ran was very helpless. This sister had been secretly observing him. It turned out that she thought he was very cute and wanted to make friends with him and touch his little fox, but she was too embarrassed to do so, so she secretly observed him... causing Tang Ce to think that she was a spy.
One by one, the sentries came to the medical room for examination.
Finally it was Tang Ce's turn. Tang Ce sat obediently opposite and closed his eyes.
This time, Mor and Yu Ran were checking together. If Yu Ran wanted to talk to Tang Ce, he had to hide it from Mor.
Yu Ran appeared to be checking Tang Ce's bushes with his green tentacles, but secretly he was imitating the last time the marshal had talked to him. Deep in the swamp, he quietly isolated an invisible area and used the nine-tailed fox's invisibility ability to talk to Tang Ce.
"So, what did you find?"
"When you were delivering water to Lu Zexuan, Moer, Lin Fengyao, and Xiong Kai were all observing you, and Chameleon was nowhere to be found. I have investigated and found that Chameleon disappears from time to time, but he only goes to the warehouse to steal food. He is a foodie, so he can be ruled out as a suspect."
"The hummingbird secretly observed me because it wanted to make friends with me." Yu Ran asked, "Where are Moore and Xiong Kai?"
"Both are suspects, but I prefer Xiong Kai. Xiong Kai was very calm when he was observing you, and it was difficult for others to notice that he was paying attention to you. His father's identity is not simple, and it seems that he is related to Congress. I don't know much about Congress. Do you have any relevant information?"
"Yes." In order to carry out his undercover mission, Yu Ran once spent a week memorizing the detailed information of all federal government officials, senior military officials, and business celebrities.
He quickly searched his memory. The surname "Xiong" was not uncommon in the Federation. Many sentinel guides of the spiritual bodies of brown bears, black bears, white bears, and raccoons also had the surname Xiong. Therefore, at first, they did not suspect anything because of Xiong Kai's surname.
However, the official surnamed Xiong who is related to Congress...
Yu Ran immediately captured the information in his mind and said clearly: "Xiong Xingyan, a member of the Federal Congress, his spirit body is a black bear, and he is a Sentinel A; his wife Qi Ruolan is a professor at the Federal Central Academy of Sciences, and her spirit body is a queen bee, and she is a Guide A; they have a son and a daughter. However, the information of their children has always been kept confidential, which is also a regulation of the federal government. The information of the descendants of important officials needs to be kept confidential in order to protect their safety."
"Assuming that Xiong Kai is their son, then Xiong Kai should have a sister." Yu Ran paused and asked Tang Ce, "Do you know any girls with the surname Xiong whose spirit bodies are related to bears or bees?"
"I don't know anyone with the last name Xiong. But, it's possible that the daughter will take her mother's last name, right?" Tang Ce suddenly thought of a name. "If she takes her mother's last name, then the last name Qi is Qi An! Her spirit body is a bee. She graduated from the First Military Academy of the Federation, the Reconnaissance Academy. She was also a well-known figure in the school. So, I should call her senior sister. She is two years older than me."
"The queen bee that can summon bees? Could she be the deputy chief of the investigation department?" Yu Ran followed Tang Ce's train of thought and suddenly thought of this person.
"Did she go to the Investigation Department? So, if Xiong Kai is the traitor, and the couple you found are his parents, then their whole family may have been bribed by the Dark Night Organization!" Tang Ce said in disbelief, "Congressman, professor of the Federal Chinese Academy of Sciences, deputy chief of the Investigation Department... these are not low positions!"
This result is even more terrifying than if Moore was an undercover agent.
After all, Moore was weak and could not stir up any storm. If Xiong Kai's family were all members of the Dark Night Organization, it meant that the Dark Night Organization had been planning for many years and had already infiltrated all areas of the Federation.
Yu Ran thought of the sudden attack by the Investigation Department at the Gemini Palace banquet last time—
Zhu Tianyi took the deputy section chief and used the bees' ability to monitor a large area to control the situation. At that time, Yu Ran did not reveal any flaws and successfully escaped. But now thinking back, if he and Adeline were caught at that time... The Dark Night Organization also had a backup plan!
There is someone from the Dark Night Organization in the Investigation Department, and he is the deputy section chief, right next to Zhu Tianyi!
In other words, when Zhu Tianyi suddenly launched the "wait-and-see action", the deputy section chief happened to show up, not to help Zhu Tianyi catch people, but to provide cover for the friendly side!
No wonder, when Yu Ran was investigating the data theft case at Sentinel Academy, he had never seen this mysterious deputy section chief. But at that important banquet, she suddenly appeared with a swarm of bees.
At that time, Yu Ran didn't know her name. But now that he analyzed it, he realized that her spirit body was a swarm attack bee, inherited from her mother, and her name was also hers. Her father was a congressman, and she had a younger brother, Xiong Kai, who was an undercover agent in the Falcon Special Forces.
A family of four, if you pull out the radish, you will bring out the mud.
If Yu Ran's speculation is true, it means that Qi An discovered that Section Chief Zhu was going to raid the dinner party, and reported it to the organization in a hurry. The Dark Night Organization asked her to go with Section Chief Zhu to help Adeline and Yu Ran escape danger!
The more Yu Ran thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was very high!
It is impossible for the organization to let Yu Ran alone pass on such important information to Adeline. If something went wrong during the handover at the dinner, another undercover agent, Qi An, the deputy chief of the investigation department, would find a way to steal the information, providing double insurance.
On the special forces side, the Dark Night Organization probably wants to control the Falcon Corps through Lu Zexuan. Sending only one undercover to monitor Lu Zexuan is not very useful. Bribing an entire family and planting their own spies in various fields is more like the style of the Dark Night Organization.
The marshal said that he didn't even know to what extent the organization had infiltrated. He even suspected that there were enemies around him, so he didn't dare to take in Tang Ce and kept in contact with Yu Ran. He also reminded Yu Ran that although the Investigation Department was the president's people and was very powerful, and was also investigating the Dark Night Organization - however, the inside of the Investigation Department was not necessarily clean and could not be trusted!
If the deputy section chief is a traitor, then it is indeed difficult to prevent a traitor from within. No matter how much Zhu Tianyi investigates, it is difficult to make any progress.
The enemy's terror and strength were far beyond our expectations. We must be more careful next time.
Yu Ran quickly calmed down and said, "Major Tang, we should try to reduce our contact with Xiong Kai and pretend that we didn't find anything, otherwise we will alert him. If he gets into danger, we have to save him - make sure he's alive so that we can make better use of him."
Tang Ce thought the same and said immediately, "I understand. He is the person in charge of the remaining starship. If we are in danger, I am afraid that he will abandon everyone and drive the starship away in order to protect himself. So, you must be careful on your side as well."
Yu Ran said: "Don't worry, I will keep an eye on him."
(End of this chapter)