Chapter 23.1
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In the vice principal’s office, Caroline instructed the household robot to pour several cups of tea.
The decor in Caroline’s office was a stark contrast to the principal’s. The principal’s office had a decidedly vintage feel, with a fireplace and bookshelves lining the walls. Caroline’s office was simple and modern, with a strong geometric design and a clean color scheme.
The men settled onto the light-colored sofa.
The personnel from Division Five of the Alliance Security Bureau didn’t touch the tea cups on the table. Instead, they directly showed their badges to Caroline and said, “We’re from Division Five, conducting an investigation. Please cooperate.”
The implication was, “You invited us to your office, and we are giving you face by coming. In return, we expect the same courtesy when we conduct official business.”
“Soro?” Caroline spoke calmly, “Inspector Soro, originally, this matter should have been handled by the principal. However, he left for a week-long academic conference in the Kepler Region. He’s currently on a starship and unreachable, so I’m here in his place.”
Soro, with brown hair and dark eyes, saw through Caroline’s intentions. “You want to protect him?”
He glanced to the side, where Qi Yan was drinking tea with his eyes downcast. The person was so pretty, he looked more like he belonged on a movie screen than in a research lab in Turan.
Soro had never liked people with good looks. In his experience, most spies were attractive.
Caroline answered without hesitation, “Yes.”
“Do you even know what your precious pupil has done to warrant your protection?” Soro deliberately emphasized the word “precious,” his tone dripping with unmistakable sarcasm.
Unruffled, Caroline replied, “The principal and I trust Qi Yan’s character completely. He’s not capable of wrongdoing.”
It seemed that this Qi Yan was quite the persuasive charmer.
Soro pointed at Qi Yan, stating bluntly, “I’m taking him back today. By tomorrow, he’ll be convicted of stealing and trafficking Alliance secrets, betraying the Alliance, colluding with the enemy, posing a severe threat to Alliance security, and perhaps even espionage.”
He looked at Caroline with a smirk that bordered on amusement. “Your attitude makes me wonder if Turan itself is clean.”
This was precisely why Caroline didn’t particularly enjoy interacting with personnel from Division Five. Every word they uttered seemed laden with additional meaning, their gaze filled with scrutiny and suspicion, as if they were trying to see right through you and catch hold of any hidden weaknesses.
Caroline didn’t fall into Soro’s verbal trap. “Even if it’s an investigation by Division Five, sufficient evidence is required. Otherwise, I won’t allow any Turan Academy student to be taken away.”
Soro chuckled. “Evidence? Parri and I didn’t just wake up this morning with a sudden urge to arrest someone. Of course, we have evidence, and plenty of it.”
He loosened his grip, revealing a light storage device lying in his palm. “This is what we found on someone codenamed ‘Mantis’. He’d been living in Leto undercover, providing the rebels with classified information. Inside this storage device are research data classified as level B, closely linked to a military project classified as level S.”
He glanced sidelong at Qi Yan, his implication clear. “I wonder if Mr. Qi Yan finds this light storage device familiar?”
Meanwhile, in the school forum of Turan Academy.
“—Qi Yan has been taken away by personnel from Division Five of the Security Bureau!!!”
“—Qi Yan? The AI genius? The architect of the R9-03 Accelerator I’m currently using?”
“—Is it true? Did the personnel from Division Five come themselves?”
“—The laboratory of the second-year research group is in Building D-77. Many people saw Qi Yan being taken away, and even the vice principal was there. What did he do? Did he leak project data like the others who withdrew from the group before?”
“—Leaking data? Probably more than that. Think about what Division Five does. Usually, only Alliance traitors would warrant their personal involvement. There’s no doubt, you won’t see Qi Yan around Turan anymore.”
“—Alliance traitor? Did he leak data to the rebels? Or perhaps, he’s simply a spy for the rebels? It seems both the PVC93 and the Accelerator had issues before. Maybe it was the rebels behind it, using him to infiltrate Turan. Many people used to think he was a genius, praising him in the forum every day. Feeling sick now?”
“—Rebels infiltrating Turan? Professor Fu took him to the space fortress! It’s fortunate he’s been caught now. If he had remained in Turan, who knows how much classified information would have been leaked!”
In the office, Soro clenched his fingers and asked Qi Yan, “So, shall we start by discussing where your light storage device is?”
Qi Yan sat on the sofa, his gaze devoid of any panic or evasion. He returned the teacup on the table calmly and replied, “When I left the lab yesterday, I left it on the table. When I went to the lab today, I found my light storage device missing.”
“Ohhh, so it’s missing.” Soro intentionally dragged out his tone, his eyes filled with obvious disdain—such a poor excuse.
He continued, “Where were you from eleven thirteen to eleven seventeen yesterday?”
“I was at home.”
“At home? Is there any footage to prove that? From surveillance cameras or household robots, anything will do.”
Qi Yan shook his head. “No, there are no surveillance cameras installed at my home, nor do I have household robots.”
Soro’s smirk widened, as if he had heard a joke. “No surveillance cameras I can understand, but no household robots?” His gaze sharpened, “Student, you can come up with such excuses?”
Qi Yan frowned as he listened to Soro’s tone. “It’s the truth.”
After entering the office, Lu Fenghan, who had been standing silently next to Qi Yan, spoke up, “No surveillance cameras or household robots, is that a problem… Inspector Soro? I can testify that he was at home with me last night.”
Soro lifted his gaze, looking at Lu Fenghan.
When he investigated Qi Yan, he had also looked into this bodyguard. His background check came up clean, or rather, it was extremely ordinary. There were countless ordinary people like him in the entire Alliance. But at this moment, Soro sensed a faint but sharp aura from this person.
It was like accidentally intruding into a wolf’s den.
“Qi Yan is your employer. Even if you confirm that he didn’t leave home last night, your testimony holds no actual significance.”
Soro turned back to Qi Yan. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. You can’t produce any footage, but I do have a piece of evidence.”
Leaning back against the sofa, he activated the projection function of his personal terminal and played a short video clip.
The video was narrow in scope, showing someone tossing a square box about the size of a palm into a metal bin.
“This is footage from the drop box. I have to say, you’re very careful. You avoided the surveillance cameras, wore long sleeves, and even wore thick gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints. You didn’t leave any physical evidence behind.”
Soro pressed pause and enlarged a particular frame, highlighting a detail, “However, you overlooked this. Look, the gap between your sleeve cuff and the glove on your right hand, a corner of your personal terminal is peeking out.”
Soro’s gaze leisurely fell upon Qi Yan’s right wrist, where a personal terminal was indeed fitted.
“As is well known, aside from left-handed individuals, most people, for the sake of convenience, place their personal terminals on their left wrists. In your laboratory, you are the only one who wears it on your right wrist.”
Soro savored the moment of tearing apart these wrongdoers, relishing in the prospect of witnessing their psychological breakdown. He continued, “As for your missing light storage device? Of course you can’t find it, because you sent it away last night. Claiming it’s missing is no different from a thief shouting ‘catch the thief’.”
Remembering Qi Yan’s demeanor when he couldn’t find the light storage device, Lu Fenghan’s tone turned somewhat sour. “You’re saying Qi Yan is the only one in the entire laboratory who wears their personal terminal on the right hand. Such an obvious habit, if you could notice it, others in the lab could have noticed it too. This cannot serve as a convincing piece of evidence.”
Soro: “The information embedded in that light storage device belongs to Qi Yan.”
Lu Fenghan sneered, lips pressed tight. “If someone would go to the trouble of configuring their personal terminal to their right wrist to frame others, would that person send their own light storage device? Maybe even the corner of the personal terminal that was exposed was deliberately shown to you.”
Caroline added, “Another question is, how can you be sure that Qi Yan is colluding with the rebels?”
Soro grew somewhat impatient. “As the vice principal, you should be aware that every classified light storage device triggers the sensing system when taken out of Turan. When sent out, it cannot be scanned unless placed inside a black box.
“Black boxes can shield detection, but such devices are an invention of the rebel forces, designed to hinder Alliance investigations. You can ask your precious pupil where he obtained the black box.”
After hearing this, Qi Yan understood the specifics of the situation. He pointed out, “All your speculations are based on the premise that ‘Qi Yan is colluding with the rebels,’ which renders your logic inherently flawed. You should gather enough evidence chains to prove my guilt, rather than first establish my criminal act and then fill in the evidence.”
Lu Fenghan’s eyes turned icy. “If these two pieces of evidence are enough to take Qi Yan away, one cannot help but doubt the capabilities of Division Five.”
“You—” Soro abruptly stood up, taking a half step forward.
Parri, seated beside him, quickly grabbed his arm, whispering in a low voice, “Soro!”
Leaning against the wall, Lu Fenghan smirked mockingly. “Stubborn and reckless. If you can’t even unravel such a trivial matter, next time you jump through a wormhole, you might as well throw your uniform, badge and ID into the wormhole together.”
Qi Yan looked up at Lu Fenghan.
He thought to himself, “That’s a good line. Perhaps it can be useful in the future.”
Soro, with a stern face, returned to his seat. “If you believe it’s a setup, I can investigate everyone in the laboratory. But Qi Yan is currently suspected of leaking vital research data classified as level B, making him the prime suspect. I must take him away.”
Lu Fenghan, however, stood his ground. “Considering Inspector Soro’s professional integrity, would you resort to torture, coercion, or psychological abuse to extract the so-called truth? Investigating the laboratory personnel is a simple task. We can start now.”
He would never allow Qi Yan to be taken away.
Division Five was no good place, and Qi Yan, being delicate and afraid of pain, absolutely must not go.
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