Chapter 38

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Chapter 38: Second Communication

Luo Yu had discussed with everyone in advance. Since she was the only one returning, Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao were not suited to stay here, so today she would communicate with Zhu Long alone.

This communication research room had already been set up in isolation for their conversation. A nearby communication expert used an external control panel to connect the communication link. As they waited for a message from the other side, everyone stood up, preparing to exit.

Before leaving, Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao patted Luo Yu on the shoulder but did not speak. Luo Yu understood their intentions and simply said, "Don’t worry."

After everyone had left, Luo Yu sat in front of the communication device and waited for about five minutes when she heard a familiar voice from the other side, "Luo Yu, how have you been recently?"

"Zhu Long, we experienced some loss in our team, but luckily the time capsule has been repaired and is ready for our return. The Space Administration must be undergoing significant changes lately. How about you?"

Zhu Long chuckled, "Indeed, there have been considerable changes. Hu Jiao can tell you the specifics. I’m just here to inform you that there will be changes in authority regarding the space station soon. Don’t worry, we have regained absolute control of the space station. It will take one more day to finalize the transfer, and by tomorrow, you will be able to send messages to the space station."

"Great, I’ll contact the space station tomorrow," Luo Yu replied, pausing for a moment. "Is there still an accusation against the Shan Hai Jing in the Special Operations Department?"

"Yes," Zhu Long admitted without hiding it. "But the evidence to clear your name is in the recovery panel. So when you return, just present the evidence, and the accusations can be naturally withdrawn."

"What about Fuxi…"

"Fuxi is dead," Zhu Long said casually. "On your way back, you won’t face any more obstacles from that organization behind the heavens."

Before Luo Yu could ask more, Zhu Long added, "I have a call coming in. Alright, let’s leave it at this for now, Luo Yu. We should be able to see each other again soon. I wish you a smooth journey."

As soon as she finished speaking, the communication link closed. Luo Yu pondered for a moment, then got up and invited everyone in. She also asked Zhu Huai to connect her to Hu Jiao’s satellite phone.

The communication device beeped with a connection sound. Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao sat beside Luo Yu, not rushing to ask what Zhu Long had mentioned. They understood Zhu Long’s style; she never revealed everything, only informing Luo Yu whether she could return. It was better to ask Hu Jiao about the specific happenings at the Space Administration.

After waiting for a while, Hu Jiao’s excited voice finally came through, "Sister! The space station has been settled! You can return now! Aren’t you happy? Is the time capsule fixed? Do you have any difficulties? Just let me know, and I’ll help you!"

Hearing her voice eased some of Luo Yu’s worries. "Let’s not rush to solve difficulties just yet. First, tell me what exactly happened at the Bureau."

"That’s a long story; let me think where to start…" Hu Jiao considered for a moment and decided to begin with Fuxi’s death.

Fuxi, the current Executive Director of the Time Bureau at the Space Administration, was discovered dead in his estate three days ago. The police were notified and quickly dispatched officers to investigate. After half a day, they concluded he had suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage, initially ruling out suicide and murder.

Upon learning this, the Space Administration sealed Fuxi’s estate in conjunction with the police, because just the day before, the head of the Inspection Department had been taken away by the International Special Operations Department and mentioned Fuxi in the preliminary investigation. Thus, the timing of Fuxi’s incident seemed too coincidental.

The Special Operations Department originally planned to summon Fuxi after investigating the department head, but the suspect had suddenly fallen ill and died. Therefore, the Special Operations Department quickly took over Fuxi’s estate for further investigation.

According to the progress Hu Jiao found out, the organization behind the celestial dome had been captured. On the day of the capture, materials used to create and deploy the celestial dome, as well as a small time capsule, were confiscated from three of the organization’s bases. Three members had originally planned to use a private rocket the following day to travel through the space station to a parallel time, carrying a large quantity of materials and devices related to technological enlightenment.

After several days of interrogation, the organization’s leader admitted to having connections within the Space Administration, which slowed the investigation into the cross-time celestial dome by the Time Bureau and the Inspection Department. The materials and technology they possessed for constructing time capsules had been traced back to the Time Bureau.

At this point, everyone in the Inspection Department and Time Bureau was placed on the summons list, personally interrogated by the Deputy Director of the Special Operations Department.

If this matter only concerned the Time Bureau and the Inspection Department, it might simply be a case of embezzlement and abuse of power at the department head level. However, yesterday, the Strategic Commander of the Space Administration was killed in an explosion in his office, pushing this case to a new height.

The highest officials within the federation, who held significant influence within the Space Administration, were meeting with two visitors in their office that morning. As soon as the secretary introduced the two visitors, they had barely exited when the four were obliterated in an explosion that shattered the office, shaking both floors above and below.

Staffers on that floor fled to the refuge levels, and fortunately, the 96th floor mainly housed secret conference rooms, entertainment areas, and a few high-ranking offices. There weren’t many people present, so aside from the four in the Strategic Commander’s office, there were no other casualties.

This incident drew special international attention, and the Special Operations Department took over the investigation of this malicious event, simultaneously disclosing some evidence related to the cross-time celestial dome incident. They pointed out that the Inspection Department and Time Bureau had been able to abuse their power so openly due to high-level backing from the Bureau Office. The current evidence pointed precisely towards the recently deceased Strategic Commander and another technical commander from the federation at the Space Administration, making this a major scandal.

Given that the incident involved senior officials from the federation and to ensure that the daily work of the Space Administration was not affected, the Alliance proposed to temporarily take full control of the Bureau and space station until the situation was clarified, after which the federation would send someone else to take over the Bureau Office’s position.

"So, global control of the space station now belongs to us! Although it’s only temporary, it’s enough for your return!" Hu Jiao exclaimed with excitement.

When Luo Yu heard Hu Jiao mention the explosion in the Strategic Commander’s office, she sensed something unusual and immediately concluded that Hu Jiao must have been involved and was likely acting on Zhu Long’s instructions.

However, there were many people in the room, including Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao, so she couldn’t ask Hu Jiao directly. Instead, she inquired, “Who’s currently in charge of the Time Bureau?"

"Zhu Long, who else could it be?"

Luo Yu nodded lightly, “That’s true; who else could it be?” Then she added, “I understand the situation well enough now. I don’t have any difficulties on my end for the moment, and the encrypted network call can’t be too long. Let’s leave it at this for now. I’ll contact the space station tomorrow.”

Hu Jiao answered readily, “Alright! We can reach out anytime if there’s anything!”

After the communication ended, silence fell across the research room. Luo Yu pondered for a moment and then told the group behind her, “The situation is indeed more complex than I thought, but overall, it is manageable. I still need to go back and sort through it. Let’s take the communication device back. The simulator will be finished tomorrow, and we need to reinstall the control panel for the Shan Hai Jing.”

Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao were still in shock from the changes at the high levels of the Space Administration. A nearby communication expert responded, “Sure, your communication device has been modified and is ready for you to take. As for this backup device, we’ll keep it here.”

When they agreed to let Ti Ran help with the modification of the communication device, two communication experts had mentioned in the initial plan that they would create a backup communication device as a testing instrument. Both communication devices had the same functions and could connect through the encrypted network to the ground satellite phone in their world.

“Sounds good,” Luo Yu said, patting Zhu Huai on the shoulder. “Once I leave, if you stay here and miss me, you can use this backup device to give me a call. How convenient!”

Zhu Huai scoffed, “Once the portal transition period is over, we won’t be in the same dimension anymore. How can we make any calls?”

“True,” Luo Yu didn’t mind her tone. “Well, it’s fine. This portal transition period is long. Calculating the time, once I return, we should still have about ten days before it’s over. When the time comes, if you have any inheritance business or matters, I can still help you take care of it.”

After exchanging those words, Ti Ran and the two experts helped them dismantle and pack the communication device. Once everything was packed up, Luo Yu invited them to join her the next day in the hangar of the Shan Hai Jing to take a look at the completed Channel Simulator.

Ti Ran eagerly agreed, and the group stepped outside, enjoying some snacks in the lounge before Ti Ran sent Luo Yu and the others away from the communication station.

They took the communication device back using the same aircraft they arrived in and headed to the operation room first, watching Zhu Huai reinstall the communication device on the control panel. Then, Luo Yu and Zhu Huai together moved the control panel into the Shan Hai Jing, squeezing into the cockpit together as they helped Zhu Huai reinstall it.

“Hu Jiao said today, and I got a bit confused later,” Zhu Huai said, holding a pair of space pliers in her mouth, sounding puzzled. “The organization behind the celestial dome, including Fuxi, is all waving the flag of ‘restoring the old glorious era’ to restore the feudal dynasty. What does that have to do with the federation? Why would the federation’s senior officials support these people? What’s the point?”

“In essence, this is a struggle between the two countries for control over space,” Luo Yu replied, sitting cross-legged at the other end of the control panel, one hand resting on its shell. “The Strategic Commander wants to use this matter to accuse the Alliance of poor personnel decisions, showing that the executive director of the Time Bureau has been abusing his power, which also implicates the Inspection Department. I think this is directed towards the administrative commander seated in the Alliance. If they can use this matter to remove one of the Alliance’s positions, it would tilt the balance of power in the Bureau in favor of the federation, seeking to diminish our voice.”

Ying Zhao pondered for a moment and replied, “That makes sense. The organization behind the celestial dome is a civilian one, unrelated to the official stance. Also, such a plot to overthrow the existing regime could not possibly be carried out by the government, which is why the Special Operations Department is rigorously investigating this matter.”

Luo Yu nodded, “Yes, this time the federation has been caught attempting to steal without success; the Special Operations Department’s timely response has turned the tables, or we wouldn’t be in this position now.”

“Are you still defending the Special Operations Department? If they had really been on the ball, they would have apprehended Fuxi a long time ago instead of giving him a chance to send us out. We almost took the blame for treason; we could have been implicated as his accomplices,” Zhu Huai said with righteous indignation. Suddenly, she felt something was off. “Wait a minute, I misspoke; if the Special Operations Department hadn’t been a bit slow, we wouldn’t have gone on this mission, and we wouldn’t have ended up in such a great place.”

Zhu Huai wiggled the space pliers in her mouth. “Let’s forgive the Special Operations Department and thank them!”

Luo Yu looked at her and shook her head with a smile, while Ying Zhao still seemed worried and said to Luo Yu, “The authority of the space station has just been transferred. I don’t know if there will be further changes. Since there’s still ample time during the portal transition period, once we connect with the space station tomorrow, don’t rush to request a return.”

Luo Yu and Ying Zhao were sitting on the floor, their knees touching. After hearing her, Luo Yu gently patted Ying Zhao’s knee. “I understand. Don’t worry; we’ll wait to see the specific situation tomorrow. We don’t have to rush to return as soon as we make contact.”

Just as she finished speaking, Zhu Huai made a clicking sound, followed by a series of driving function prompts, indicating that the control panel was completely reinstalled, and the Shan Hai Jing was finally fully restored.