In the main control room, Baicheng Star was close enough to seem within reach.
As the political and administrative center of the Alliance, Baicheng Star had an extremely high level of security and defense. The nearby star system was home to the Alliance’s largest fortress, “Aegis,” where the Alliance military’s most advanced cutting-edge technology and 40% of its military forces were concentrated.
As the capital star, Baicheng Star was also surrounded by a defensive system called the “Pearl Ring,” which consisted of sixteen artificial satellites.
Anyone entering Baicheng Star had to undergo strict identity verification. Cheng Weilu held the status of a free citizen, which, strictly speaking, did not make her an Alliance citizen.
This identity was very useful when traveling through outer space, but entering the capital star required going through layer upon layer of verification, which was troublesome. Thus, she had not been to Baicheng Star even once in the past ten years.
The rendezvous point arranged with the military was on one of Baicheng Star’s satellites, codenamed “Gray Dove.”
It was a planet that had been dead for hundreds of millions of years. Ninety percent of its surface was covered in pale gray rocks and soil, and the temperature difference between day and night was extreme. Other than the military bases stationed there, there was nothing else.
The Gray Dove bases were not particularly large. Their buildings were generally circular, with three concentric rings surrounding a huge platform in the central area. The silvery-white buildings against the gray backdrop of the entire planet gave the place an utterly lifeless, desolate feeling.
There were more than a hundred bases like this on Gray Dove. From a star map, they looked like gray-white ring-shaped colonies scattered across the planet’s surface.
Cheng Weilu used a mechanical arm to pull the small reconnaissance vessel out of the rear cargo hold in advance. After landing it on the military platform, she waited for the military’s equipment engineer to arrive and inspect it.
Ever since their conversation, Li Xu had disappeared without a trace. Cheng Weilu was certain he was still on the ship, and Robert was probably following him around eagerly as well, so she did not bother asking Xiao Wei about his exact whereabouts.
Cheng Weilu stepped out of the ship wearing a black one-piece spacesuit. This was standard equipment for space salvagers, suitable for 80% of the general environments found within the currently known star systems.
After verifying their identity information with the other party, Cheng Weilu watched as the engineer, dressed in the silver-white uniform of the base, activated a scanning device and conducted a comprehensive inspection of the reconnaissance vessel.
The process usually did not take long. The handover could generally be completed within ten minutes. Once she dropped Li Xu off at the public platform near G103, her job would be completely finished, and the payment for the salvage contract would normally reach her account within three days.
Cheng Weilu was thinking about her 800,000 star coins and the route she would take when leaving when the engineer shut off the scanner and turned slightly to make a gesture. The mechanical probe that had been silently following behind him, barely noticeable, immediately turned around and pointed toward Cheng Weilu.
Cheng Weilu keenly sensed that something was wrong. “Is there a problem?”
“Ms. Cheng.” The engineer’s head was completely covered by a metal helmet, but his voice coming through the communication channel was fairly friendly and gentle. “Has anyone else accessed this ship?”
“No,” Cheng Weilu said. “I brought it here immediately after completing the salvage. I was on the road for the past seven days without any delays.”
“The machine core of this reconnaissance vessel is missing,” the engineer said. “The machine core is very important. I believe you know that, Ms. Cheng.”
The machine core recorded all the data accumulated throughout a ship’s operational lifespan and was the most important core component of a spacecraft, especially a reconnaissance vessel. With the machine core missing, the reconnaissance vessel was essentially useless.
Cheng Weilu took a step back.
She did not have permission to access the military’s equipment at a deeper data level. After salvaging the reconnaissance vessel, she had only checked its basic equipment information. Once she had filed the report, she had not touched it again. How could she possibly have known there was a problem with the machine core?
“The salvage contract only required me to retrieve this ship. I’ve already delivered it to you. Besides, I don’t have permission to open the machine core at all. Its disappearance has absolutely nothing to do with me.”
The engineer nodded, but it seemed as though he had not heard a word she said. He raised a hand, and two fully armed Alliance soldiers immediately appeared on the platform behind him and walked toward them.
“I already provided you with the records of the entire salvage process at the beginning. They can prove that I wasn’t lying.” Cheng Weilu spoke as she was about to step back, but the soldiers immediately aimed their photon rifles at her.
“We need to detain you and your ship temporarily for inspection. Please cooperate, Ms. Cheng.”
Cheng Weilu lowered her eyes to the point of light at her chest and obediently raised her hands.
The Alliance military’s photon rifles were three times as powerful as the photon rifles commonly available on the market. One shot would burn a huge hole through her entire upper body. Even if she survived, she would need a new heart.
“I’ll cooperate.”
The mechanical probe behind her moved, emitting red rays that drew a circle roughly two meters in diameter on the ground around Cheng Weilu. The lens rose, drawing another circle of the same size above her head. Dozens of rays connected the two rings, trapping Cheng Weilu inside.
The military’s ray cage was powerful enough to burn through spacesuits and ordinary metal. Once someone was trapped inside one, all they could do was stay put.
Cheng Weilu watched helplessly as the equipment engineer and the two soldiers walked to her ship and took out a standard military command key, inserting it into the interface beside the hatch.
The military’s standard command key could open ordinary conventional combat aircraft. Except for special cases, civilian spaceships had a security level two grades lower than military vessels, so a standard command key was more than sufficient.
But Cheng Weilu’s ship was different.
“Unauthorized intrusion. Remove it immediately. Unauthorized intrusion…” The ship began issuing Xiao Wei’s system warning.
The two soldiers paused, seemingly completely unprepared for the fact that the military command key could not open an ordinary civilian spaceship.
The engineer behind them glanced sideways at Cheng Weilu, reached out, and pulled the command key from the hatch. The system warning stopped. He then took the photon rifle from one of the soldiers and began firing at the edge of the hatch, intending to cut the door off.
Seeing her entire fortune about to be destroyed by force, Cheng Weilu immediately spoke up. “Wait. My ship is a little different. I added an additional command lock, which is why you can’t open it. Let me do it.”
At the engineer’s signal, the mechanical probe emitted blue rays, and Cheng Weilu’s ray cage dissipated. She walked to the hatch and, under the engineer’s watchful gaze, entered the command. Then she connected to the ship through the mental-strength network built into her spacesuit helmet and opened the hatch.
Cheng Weilu was about to step inside when the engineer stopped her with his photon rifle. She could only remain at the entrance and call out, “Xiao Wei.”
The cabin was extremely quiet, exactly as it had been when she had just left. But Xiao Wei did not answer. Cheng Weilu frowned and called again, “Xiao Wei!”
After a faint burst of mechanical static, Xiao Wei’s voice sounded inside the cabin. “A Luo, welcome back.”
“Please cooperate with the Alliance military’s investigation.” Cheng Weilu gave the instruction, then, under the threat of the soldiers’ photon rifles, returned to her original position and was once again confined within the ray cage.
“All right. Everyone, please come in.” Xiao Wei’s voice was calm and mechanical.
Cheng Weilu watched as the three of them entered the ship and the hatch closed.
The platform at Gray Dove Base was divided into several large square sections. Once the soundproofing and visual-blocking fields were activated, people in the other sections could not know what was happening here.
Cheng Weilu sat cross-legged on the ground, silently thinking about how she would explain to the military that she had salvaged Li Xu alive without reporting him after he was discovered.
Whether she claimed that the situation had been urgent and she had saved him first, or that she had respected the person’s wishes, neither explanation was convincing enough. The space salvager principle clearly stipulated that any military equipment or biological personnel belonging to the Alliance military had to be reported to the Alliance military.
Cheng Weilu had a bit of a headache. She tapped her fingers against the ground, still wearing her spacesuit gloves.
This trip had really been plagued by bad luck. The reconnaissance vessel she had gone to all that trouble to salvage was missing its machine core, and the person she had casually rescued would probably earn her a military warning for failing to report him. The Space Salvagers’ Association would also issue her a warning.
Still, Li Xu was a fighter pilot and therefore a high-ranking military officer. She had saved his life, so if he pleaded with the military on her behalf, the warning should be able to be withdrawn.
After all, she was a five-star salvager. Cheng Weilu did not want this to affect her ability to accept jobs and make money in the future.
But that depended on Li Xu being a living person the military wanted. If Li Xu was a dead man the military wanted, then the matter would go from a missing machine core to something far more troublesome…
After waiting for more than half an hour, the hatch opened, and the engineer and the soldiers walked out.
Cheng Weilu heard Xiao Wei’s mechanical voice through the communication channel. “Inspection completed. No abnormalities detected.”
Before the hatch closed, Cheng Weilu even heard the familiar robot’s voice. “Take care on your way out! Please watch your step when exiting the cabin, make sure your protective suit is compatible with the external environment, and you’re welcome to visit again!”
The soldier at the rear lagged slightly behind the other two. He turned to glance into the cabin. Just as Cheng Weilu was worrying about whether Robert would get his head blown off by a photon rifle for talking too much, the soldier merely gave a slight nod before leaving.
The engineer released Cheng Weilu from the ray cage and deactivated the soundproofing and visual-blocking fields in the section, then led her toward the circular building. Cheng Weilu glanced back and saw only the two fully covered soldiers in combat suits behind her.
The inspection was complete, and there were no abnormalities. Then where was Li Xu?
The engineer walked ahead, with the two soldiers at Cheng Weilu’s sides, escorting her through a long circular corridor. Everything within sight was gray-white. One or two people in silver-white uniforms occasionally passed through the empty, cold, silent building, without sparing them a single glance.
According to official Alliance data, the number of troops stationed at Gray Dove Base exceeded one million, with at least ten thousand personnel allocated to each individual base. Strangely, however, Cheng Weilu had seen fewer than ten other people so far.
The engineer stopped in front of a slightly recessed section of wall. A small opening appeared in the wall, and a green light swept across his iris. A faint mechanical sound followed, and a door opened in the wall. Cheng Weilu realized that it was a transport pod embedded within the wall.
A door opened not far away, and someone stepped out. The engineer was about to lead them inside when the soldier on Cheng Weilu’s left looked ahead and paused, remaining where he was.
The equipment engineer walking in front immediately stopped as well. Cheng Weilu raised her eyes and saw a very tall man walking toward them. He wore the silver-white uniform of the Gray Dove Base, his silver hair combed back, and his collar fastened impeccably. Cheng Weilu glanced at his insignia and realized that his rank in the military was not low.
“Commander.” The engineer lowered his head in greeting.
Commander.
Cheng Weilu immediately lowered her head, alarm bells ringing in her mind. This was the commander of Gray Dove Base, Arvid Parker.
“Who is she?” The man looked down at Cheng Weilu in her black spacesuit.
“A space salvager,” the engineer replied. “She salvaged a military reconnaissance vessel, but something is missing. I’m taking her to the interrogation room to assist with the investigation.”
“A reconnaissance vessel?” The man’s interest seemed to be piqued. “What reconnaissance vessel?”
The engineer brought up the data report recorded by the scanner and projected it in front of the man.
“A reconnaissance vessel involved in the investigation of the Dawn’s Light fortress incident, batch UMSA119, serial number 0913. It is currently the only reconnaissance vessel from this batch that has been found. The machine core is currently missing…”
His gaze swept rapidly across the report, stopping for a moment when he saw the words “Dawn’s Light.” The engineer did not dare meet his eyes. He bent forward and was about to ask for his instructions when the man waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to withdraw.
The two soldiers stepped back several paces, saluted the man, and tapped their left wrists. Their figures disappeared from where they stood.
Only then did Cheng Weilu realize that there were not actually few people inside the base. Rather, most of the soldiers were invisible under optical camouflage and would not be seen unless necessary.
Over there, the man lifted his eyelids, his dark-blue eyes fixed on Cheng Weilu.
“I’ll interrogate her personally.”
…
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