Chapter 26

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Chapter 26: There is a Traitor in the Cabin

“I didn’t see this coming with the old man,” Zhu Huai leaned back hard against the soft cushions, starting to recall carefully. However, after thinking for a while, she couldn’t figure out what was off about the director.

Fuxi was nearing retirement. Three years ago, when the Time Bureau was established, he had said he was only temporarily in charge, assigning important matters to the then Deputy Director and Zhu Long. Last year, he invited everyone from the Bureau to his little estate to celebrate his birthday, and this year he had been taking vacations every few days, delegating his duties significantly, as if he was already waiting to retire and return to a life of poetry and farming.

But due to the stalled investigation into the source of the cross-time live streams, and now the emergence of highly targeted broadcast content, the Space Administration had made several adjustments to missions and personnel in the Time Bureau. They removed the former Deputy Director, transferred Zhu Long out of the Time Bureau, and brought in several new personnel from the Administration under the pretense of assisting Fuxi, which everyone recognized as a form of surveillance.

If the organization behind the live screen was truly connected to Fuxi, then the Space Administration might have been keeping an eye on him for a while, waiting for the right moment to act, as the situation remained unclear.

“But if he directly names us to come, if there’s really a traitor involved, that’s too obvious,” Ying Zhao shook her head, feeling that Fuxi should not be so reckless as to place himself at the center of scrutiny.

Luo Yu glanced down at her tablet showing the streams, “I hadn’t considered him until now, but the involvement of the Special Operations Department, along with the latest technological enlightenment streams, clearly shows that the organization behind them has significant goals. An organization with such an aim and the capability to implement it wouldn’t bother with minor players. Especially since I heard from Hu Jiao today that the Deputy Director of the Special Operations Department came personally to collect materials; this matter can’t be trivial. As for directly naming us, it might not be foolishness but the simplest method to achieve the goal given the urgency, as the more convoluted the plan, the more variables there are.”

Zhu Huai pondered, “That makes sense. You used to be in the air defense forces; you know the work style of the Special Operations Department better than we do. No wonder you could suspect it reaches the top.”

“Yeah. The direct tampering with the Shan Hai Jing must involve high-level permissions; otherwise, it couldn’t have been done,” Luo Yu continued.

Zhu Huai nodded deeply in agreement. After inspecting everything, she realized that the abnormal changes in the time capsule were not something an ordinary maintenance worker could operate. For instance, the communication device required three levels of permission for access; just one or two traitors couldn’t accomplish that.

“Of course, I might be wrong,” Luo Yu added with a smirk at Zhu Huai, “It’s also possible the issue truly lies with the maintenance team. Perhaps a certain chief engineer personally made the changes and then took the co-pilot seat with us to ensure the plan went smoothly…”

Zhu Huai raised a hand, “Stop right there! Am I crazy enough to dig my own grave?”

Ying Zhao, sitting between them, chuckled softly and then looked at Zhu Huai, “That’s hard to say. But if it were you, we probably wouldn’t have a chance to crash land here, so there shouldn’t be a traitor in the cabin.”

Speaking of crash landing, Zhu Huai scratched her head, thinking it was good that she hadn’t impulsively pulled the ejection handle back then; otherwise, jumping into the Yellow River wouldn’t clear her name. Wait, if she had successfully ejected, they would have undoubtedly been stuck here, which wouldn’t be too bad, right?

Thinking this made Zhu Huai regret it again. Had she known, she would have rather pulled the ejection handle, settled in the Ponsuo Tribe, and not have to worry about all these troublesome matters.

The two beside her were unaware of her inner thoughts and continued discussing the traitor.

“Either there’s no traitor, or…” Luo Yu looked back and forth between the two, “Or the traitor happened to faint at the time.”

At this, Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao squinted their eyes; those two trainee team members assigned to them right before the mission suddenly became suspicious.

Zhu Huai waved her hand, “Wait a minute. If all this is true, then why did Zhu Long tell us to destroy the recovery panel? Did she also participate in the live screen incident?” Now, Zhu Huai began to feel that anyone could be suspicious.

Luo Yu shook her head lightly, “Zhu Long isn’t from Fuxi’s side. By instructing us to destroy the recovery panel and nullify the live screen’s efficacy, she is likely preparing to send someone else to take over the screens for investigation by the Special Operations Department.”

Ying Zhao agreed with her view, “If the Special Operations Department suspects us, the organization behind the live screen must also be looking for chances to eliminate us. So if we return directly, we could either get killed midway and frame Fuxi or get taken away by the Special Operations Department upon landing.”

Zhu Huai stroked her short hair, “So Zhu Long is looking out for us. I think we should listen to her. This place is nice; I’ve said it before, why not just stay here and avoid the dangerous and worrying work?”

Luo Yu didn’t respond to her comment but stared blankly at the warm light of the round table until the sound of the housekeeping robot delivering food echoed from outside. She stood up to open the door and said to the two, “Regardless of whether we stay or return, we must clarify these matters first.”

Seeing that she no longer insisted on returning, Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao stopped discussing it. The three of them finished dinner in the lounge, each lost in their own thoughts, before heading back to their rooms to rest.

After taking a shower, Luo Yu leaned against the head of her cozy nest, with soft moonlight from the LED strip gently spilling at her feet.

She held the backup stream tablet and started with the first live stream from the second year of the Yuan Shou era during Emperor Wu’s reign. This first broadcast launched at the beginning of the year discussed the Battle of Hexi and the establishment of the four counties in Liangzhou but was shut down and recovered shortly after it started.

The second live stream from the Han Dynasty was the one that had gone out of control a few days ago, also set in the second year of Yuan Shou, but positioned after the establishment of the four counties in Hexi, adding significant credibility to the live screen’s "prophecies." However, this stream was also forcibly shut down ten minutes after it started; the host had only briefly introduced the positioning technology and hadn’t had time to explain modern firearms. It was likely that those in the parallel time’s court only saw the beginning and must have been anxious.

She chuckled lightly, turning off the Han Dynasty broadcast and opening the Tang Dynasty stream, which hadn’t yet commenced its second broadcast. The previously closed session focused on “When Cultural Export Applications Were in the Tang Dynasty,” aired in the fifteenth year of the Zhen Guan era, detailing strategic plans to enhance national soft power before emissaries returned from Tibet and Goryeo.

After watching these streams, she recalled the matters of the Special Operations Department and Zhu Long’s words earlier. She set the tablet aside, closed her eyes, and fell into deep thought.

The next morning, Luo Yu lay on the soft cushions, having not sensed the usual morning sunlight, only faintly hearing some pattering sounds. Slightly opening her eyes, she realized it was raining outside. Lost in thought for a while, she lazily crawled out of the cozy nest and stretched.

When Luo Yu exited her suite, she saw Ying Zhao sitting on the soft cushions, eating breakfast and looking out at the waterfall as usual. Hearing the door open, she turned and smiled, “Good morning, Fish Jie!”

Luo Yu smiled back and greeted her, then turned to look out the window. The rain wasn’t heavy, but the wind had picked up, causing the waterfall outside to curl the water curtain. A thick mist surrounded the entire waterfall, making the nearby trees nearly invisible.

Luo Yu walked over and sat beside Ying Zhao, noticing she had just finished eating and was sipping a cup of vegetable and fruit juice. Luo Yu asked what she had eaten, and she replied that she was waiting for Zhu Huai to come out so they could order together. Then, she casually inquired about Ying Zhao’s visit to the particle collision laboratory.

Upon hearing this, Ying Zhao became animated, her face glowing with excitement as she shared everything with enthusiasm. “With such experimental equipment, if we weren’t so tightly budgeted back home, we could actually develop it ourselves! So many projects have been halted over the years because of a lack of funds. If we can’t bring real benefits to the big shots, research becomes incredibly difficult. Sigh! Talking about it just makes me want to cry.”

Luo Yu listened to the scientist lament about the lack of money and gently shook her head in agreement, “In our world, it seems that success and failure both hinge on money.”

Ying Zhao gazed out at the waterfall. “That’s right. Sometimes when I think back to that frustrating world, it really is better to stay here.”

This was the first time Ying Zhao had so openly expressed her desire to stay in front of her, and Luo Yu didn’t argue with her but turned to silently watch the scenery outside with her.

At that moment, Zhu Huai’s suite door opened, and the housekeeping robot entered to tidy up Ying Zhao’s table. Seeing Zhu Huai come out, Luo Yu asked the housekeeping robot to prepare two breakfast servings for them.

After they finished breakfast, the wind gradually calmed down outside, and the rain stopped. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the clouds, casting sparkles on the waterfall.

Since it was still early, the three decided to visit the hangar first. Lei Ming had also arrived early that day, and they briefly encountered each other at the hangar entrance.

Lei Ming, who had taken a break yesterday, was unaware of the contents of those two phone calls. Seeing the engineering assistant robot making progress on assembling the engine, she mentioned that she would stay there today to supervise and ensure the final engine was assembled correctly so they could focus on the communication tasks.

Luo Yu and the others didn’t elaborate much on yesterday’s events, just mentioning that the communication had been tentatively established but was still unstable and needed further examination today.

After staying in the operation room for a while, Ti Ran sent a message saying that the person coming to pick them up was on the way and would arrive shortly.

They returned to the same research room at the communication station where Ti Ran and two communication experts were already present. They greeted each other as she walked in.

Approaching the workbench, they noticed that the communication device had changed. Two additional transparent covers had been added on top of what they had seen yesterday. One of the experts explained that it was intended to stabilize the satellite connection.

Zhu Huai stepped forward to take a closer look around and then discussed it once again with the two experts before turning to Luo Yu and nodding.

The two timelines were currently in sync, with the same date and almost no time difference. Luo Yu checked the time and found it was similar to yesterday, so she nodded back at Zhu Huai.

Using the same string of numbers as yesterday, Zhu Huai entered it with an inexplicable feeling of nervousness. After sending it, they waited a few minutes until a sneaky voice came from the communication device, “Sister?”

Luo Yu frowned, “Hu Jiao, how are things on your end?”

“Today, people from the Special Operations Department came again, so I can’t stay in this room for long. Last night, Zhu Long also contacted me, asking me to persuade you…” Hu Jiao paused, “Don’t come back yet, and don’t contact the space station.”

Luo Yu didn’t press for reasons, “First, let’s put that aside. I want to ask you, before we left, did anyone go to my office during the time the Special Operations Department came?”

“Yes, the secretary went there.” Hu Jiao answered without hesitation, “A small computer room downstairs caught fire a few days ago, so they did an emergency fire inspection and checked everyone’s offices, including yours, Huai’s, and Ying’s. The secretary personally brought people to unlock the doors.”

Luo Yu’s expression darkened as she asked again, “Were there any other personnel changes lately?”

“Yes. The day after you left, the Personnel Department announced a staff reduction and said that no new members would be recruited for the Execution Team within the year. The trainee group was disbanded, and all preparatory reserve members were returned to their original organizations.” As Hu Jiao finished speaking, her tone suddenly became urgent, “Oh no, I have to go. The Special Operations Department is coming to search all the offices on the floor.”

“Okay, you go ahead. I’ll contact you later.” Luo Yu ended the communication, pondered for a moment, and then turned to Ying Zhao, “You stay here. Zhu Huai and I are going to the Biological Research Station.”

Ao Ci wasn’t at the research station today; only her granddaughter, the assistant, was there. Since Ao Ci had instructed that Luo Yu and the others could visit 015 at any time, the assistant didn’t ask many questions upon seeing them and directly led them inside.

On the way, Luo Yu inquired about the research progress and learned that the new round of sampling had been completed, with 015 having free time these days. She then asked if they could place 015 in a room where he could move freely, as she wanted to confirm some things with him in person.

The assistant agreed and asked them to wait for a moment before leading them to a pure oxygen isolation room. Luo Yu and Zhu Huai donned the transparent isolation suits and passed through a sterilization door, finding 015 standing inside.

Once they entered the room, Luo Yu smiled and nodded to the assistant outside, gently closing the door. Upon hearing the “click” of the lock, she turned her face and looked at 015 before suddenly raising her leg and kicking him in the chest.