Chapter 72
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Chapter 72: Disciplinary Action of the Execution Team
In the quiet private room of the Blue Night Bar, the group discussed the afternoon’s review. Listening to the three complain, saying the same things had been explained at least five or six times, Zhu Long shook her head with a smile. "Many of our tasks here really need improvements in the workflow."
She then inquired about the situation from thirty thousand years ago. However, the three girls, just like in the afternoon’s review, cautiously replied only part of the information. Zhu Long noticed they seemed to be holding something back but didn’t press further, saying it was getting late and that they should rest early, as the Bureau Office would issue documents tomorrow.
After finishing their conversation, Luo Yu and her two companions, along with Hu Jiao, left through the same route they came. Outside, the scene was still filled with dazzling lights and a clamor of voices. They navigated through the crowd and exited the bar from the back door, where their vehicle was already waiting for them.
Hu Jiao took the wheel and drove the three of them back to the review building. At that moment, the Space Administration base was silent, with only the searchlights from the administrative building and a group of duty personnel working tirelessly.
The hover vehicle stopped gently behind the review building, and Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao climbed through the windows back into their respective rooms. Luo Yu turned to Hu Jiao and said, "I need to give you something. Is it convenient to go in and get it now?"
Hu Jiao glanced outside, knowing that the duty team at the review building had already been informed and that the night patrol wouldn’t come by this way at this time. She then activated the stealth mode on the vehicle, turned off the engine, and climbed into Luo Yu’s room with her.
The lights in the room had been left on. After entering, Luo Yu led Hu Jiao into the inner room and took out a small vial of pills that she had kept with her for the past few days. She handed it to Hu Jiao. "This is the medicine for Hai Kui. Can you apply for a temporary leave in the next couple of days?"
"Sure, I know you have something to send. I’ve already mentioned it to Zhu Long; I’ll be off tomorrow morning to leave the base and return the day after," Hu Jiao replied seriously as she examined the vial. "Is this all? How do you take it?"
"One pill after each meal. This is a seven-day dose for recovery. I was planning to let them leave Liujin City only after they were completely healed, but since my conversation with Zhu Long went well tonight, let’s have them leave as soon as possible," Luo Yu said. "I’m unsure if I can video call my family tomorrow. If I can’t, I’ll need you to pass this message to my mom: once I finish my tasks here, I’ll go to the Neutral Continent to find them."
Hu Jiao understood that Luo Yu’s family originally lived in the Neutral Continent. However, due to Hai Kui’s illness last year, requiring Luo Yu to provide monthly blood transfusions, her mother brought Hai Kui to Liujin City for nearby treatment. Now that Luo Yu had this vial that could cure her, it was unnecessary for her family to stay here anymore. Hu Jiao nodded solemnly. "I’ll make sure to pass on your message."
After saying this, Hu Jiao felt a bit melancholic. "You just got back and now you’re leaving again. If that’s the case, I might as well quit and leave with you."
"No, you have to stay," Luo Yu said firmly. "I feel secure only with you taking over the Execution Team of the Shan Hai Jing."
"But the Shan Hai Jing is practically obsolete…" Hu Jiao trailed off, unsure.
Luo Yu smiled lightly, "It can be repaired. I’m not asking you to pilot a broken time capsule for missions." After saying this, she shared everything about the fall that happened thirty thousand years ago: the world from that time and the cycle of time.
Hu Jiao stood in shock for a long time. "Is that true? That sounds so magical, I need some time to digest this…"
Luo Yu glanced outside the window, where it was dark but it was clear it was already past midnight. "It’s getting late; hurry and process this. I still have other things to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Is it true that the former Strategic Commander was killed in the explosion, and that it was your doing?"
Hu Jiao gasped in shock. "How did you know?"
Luo Yu looked at her with amusement. "I didn’t know. I just wanted to trick you a bit."
Hu Jiao sighed in relief. "I thought some evidence had fallen into the wrong hands."
"Zhu Long made you do it, right?"
"Yeah. I’ve done quite a bit of under-the-table work for her this month," Hu Jiao said, counting on her fingers as she listed the black-market jobs she had done for Zhu Long, aside from the task involving the former Strategic Commander, she also dealt with Fuxi’s faction in the Time Bureau, and she became increasingly nostalgic about it. "Doing this kind of work is really thrilling. I might as well switch careers to become an agent."
Luo Yu smiled and nodded. "That sounds great; it shows you’re multi-talented. Zhu Long might be a bit ruthless, but her stance is solid, and you won’t suffer following her."
Upon hearing this, Hu Jiao straightened up. "Last time, I wanted to ask you, what is her background?"
Luo Yu raised a finger. "She used to work in the Alliance’s Intelligence Office."
Hu Jiao instantly understood and made a gesture. "Got it. That explains why she always speaks and acts with that peculiar sense of justice. Alright, then I’ll focus on my work here. Although I have to work overtime frequently, overall the leadership is decent."
Then they chatted for a long time about the reconstruction of the laboratory on the Neutral Continent until three in the morning. Luo Yu saw it was really late and walked Hu Jiao to the window, watching her climb out and drive the hover vehicle away before returning to the bathroom to freshen up.
The next morning, Luo Yu opened her eyes in the darkness. She had closed the curtains the night before, and now noticed a beam of light seeping in at the bottom of the curtains, indicating it was getting late. She lay on the bed for a moment before sitting up and leaning back, realizing that this bed was nowhere near as comfortable as the cozy nest she had grown used to recently.
She sat there for a moment, closed her eyes to organize her thoughts, then got up, went to the bathroom to wash up and change clothes. Once she finished, she went to the window and opened the curtains, the bright sunlight made her squint.
Looking out the window, she could see the base square in the distance, where many people were hurrying along, heading from the base apartments and dining hall to the administrative building. Under the blazing sun, those people appeared to be quite listless.
Luo Yu frowned, wondering if she too had walked around like a zombie during her own work days. After taking a trip to the Ponsuo Tribe, she felt as if she had suddenly come back to life. Returning made her realize just how much her past life felt like that of livestock, like a machine, and definitely not like a human.
She stood by the window for a while, gently shaking her head before turning and walking to the dining counter to see what food was available.
Yesterday, when they arrived, they had seen the daily arrangements here. The temporary residence in the review building only provided lunch and dinner, with breakfast consisting solely of packaged food in the rooms.
Luo Yu looked into the cabinet and saw a row of protein drinks along with some bread and cereals. She grabbed a bottle of fruit-flavored protein drink, two bags of bread, and a bag of instant cereal. After taking a sip of the protein drink, she grimaced as the artificial taste overwhelmed her. She was becoming unaccustomed to the food in this world.
After managing to eat a few bites, she noticed the clock on the table showed it was nine o’clock. The inauguration ceremony for the new Strategic Commander was about to begin. When the staff in the review building had brought them to their rooms yesterday, they mentioned this inauguration ceremony, stating that the television in the room could broadcast the live coverage. So, holding the bread, she walked over to turn on the TV, sat down on the couch, and watched while eating.
The venue for today’s inauguration ceremony was set on the ninety-ninth floor of the Space Administration’s administrative building, and the atmosphere was quite grand. Many media outlets were present, and all the high-level members of the Bureau Office were present as well, all dressed in dark gray and blue formal attire, sitting solemnly in the conference hall.
At the forefront, the spokesperson from the Bureau Office delivered a speech for today’s inauguration ceremony, first expressing solemn condolences for the deceased former Strategic Commander. Then he spoke a series of grandiloquent remarks before introducing the theme of the day, presenting the new Strategic Commander and two new Federal directive officers, inviting Jacob Euyun to the stage to speak.
The camera panned across the seating area of the Bureau Office, where several directive officers were seated at the front, followed by two rows of deputy officers. In a sweeping shot, Luo Yu saw Zhu Long sitting in the second row, toward the right side. She was still dressed in black, her expression stern, the faint purple glow in her right eye contrasting sharply with her relaxed demeanor from the previous night at the bar.
On that row of seats, besides Zhu Long, there were only a few women leaders scattered among a sea of overweight or bald older men, prompting Luo Yu to frown once again.
Soon the camera shifted to the podium, where a middle-aged man walked up. He was short and thin, with black hair and pale skin, a thick brow, sunken eyes, and a hooked nose. His gait as he approached the podium had a somewhat crude quality about it. Sure enough, when he reached the podium and began to speak, his speech was stammering. Although he managed to recite the speech quite fluently and exuded confidence, it was still quite uncomfortable and resulted in sensory pollution.
Luo Yu turned her gaze outside, pondering how it seemed the Euyun family truly had nobody left.
She half-listened to the three-hour long inauguration ceremony, which featured speeches from the three new directive officers as well as representatives from the Bureau Office. Most of it was filled with pompous platitudes, lacking any substantial information.
There was supposed to be a dinner and fireworks in the evening, but those were reserved for the upper echelons, and even if they weren’t confined in the review building, they wouldn’t have the qualifications to attend.
The ceremony concluded exactly at noon, and right after it ended, there was a knock on Luo Yu’s room door from the staff delivering the working meals.
Today they weren’t scheduled for any questioning; all the materials had been submitted to the Inspection Department. Until results came out, they could only remain here. Luo Yu wasn’t too anxious, as she had already entrusted the medicine for Hai Kui to Hu Jiao, so she contented herself with resting in her room to regain her strength for the days ahead.
They rested for a whole day, and by the next afternoon, Hu Jiao, disguised as a staff member delivering meals in the review building, came back with news for Luo Yu: the medicine had been delivered, and she had seen Luo Yu’s mother. She asked Hu Jiao to convey that she would be leaving Liujin City with Hai Kui for the Neutral Continent that night.
Seeing that this significant matter was handled, Luo Yu let out a sigh of relief. Hu Jiao then mentioned that the Inspection Department’s investigation had yielded results, and documents would be issued in the afternoon.
Sure enough, at three o’clock in the afternoon, the Inspection Department announced the results of the investigation into the Shan Hai Jing and the personnel actions. The apprentice of the Execution Team, designated as 015, had acted under instructions, causing the time capsule to crash into the historical time period thirty thousand years ago. This incident originated with 015, while the other team members were unaware, however, the team leader Luo Yu and deputy team leader Zhu Huai were held accountable for oversight, so both were dismissed. Meanwhile, the accompanying consulting scientist, Ying Zhao, remained unaffected, continuing her role in the research group at the Time Bureau, helping lead other scientists in studying the historical time period discovered during this accident. Hu Jiao took over the role of team leader for the Shan Hai Jing.
After the Inspection Department released the documents, they were publicized for a day. The following afternoon, staff came to have Luo Yu and the others sign the documents before escorting them out of the review building. They had stayed in that building for three whole days, and it could be considered enough time to rest, relieving some of the exhaustion from continuous questioning during the return journey and after arriving back.
After exiting the review building, Luo Yu, Zhu Huai, and Ying Zhao returned to the office of the Time Bureau. At this point, the personal supplies of Luo Yu and Zhu Huai had already been packed up for them. They exchanged a few simple words with the members of the Execution Team, bid farewell, and then together took their belongings to leave the building.
That evening, a government plane landed at the airport of the Bureau, quietly taking Luo Yu and Zhu Huai away, heading toward the Neutral Continent.
Zhu Huai leaned back against a long sofa and chatted with Luo Yu, who sat opposite her, about how, before boarding, Ying Zhao had whispered to them that the recovery device of the Shan Hai Jing had already been delivered to the recovery center. The edited video regarding the Ponsuo Tribe had been classified as the highest level of secrecy by the Time Bureau, as the Bureau Office believed its contents were too far removed from reality and could potentially lead to negative guidance.
Zhu Huai propped her feet up, looking out the window. "Negative guidance? Ha! I’ve edited it quite subtly, okay? They’re just being too fragile about it. Luckily, I have a backup plan. We must give everyone a little shock from thirty thousand years ago, let them feel a direct hit from their ancestors." After saying that, she glanced at the time inside the cabin. "Perfect timing, it should be about time."
No sooner had she spoken than a giant projection screen appeared in the air below the plane, displaying images of the Ponsuo Tribe from thirty thousand years ago.
