Chapter 162: The Silver Case

The helicopter touched down on the rooftop of a towering building, over thirty stories high, in Qinggang’s Main City.

Amidst the dense array of indicator lights lining the building’s edge, even before the rotors stopped spinning, Chen Jing emerged from the cabin carrying the silver case. Ducking low, she walked onto a platform connected to the roof, where armed personnel clad in thick protective suits were already waiting.

The group descended the stairs, arriving before an office on the thirty-third floor that exuded a cold, high-tech feel. Chen Jing passed through a complex scanning instrument before entering a spacious meeting room at the end of the corridor, where people were already waiting for her.

Aside from several technicians in white protective suits, only three people in civilian clothes were in the meeting room.

Professor Bai, Minister Shen, and Mr. Su.

Although the three wore civilian clothes, they all had specialized protective masks covering their heads.

Judging by their expressions and the quiet way they sat in the office, it seemed they had been waiting for Chen Jing for quite some time.

“This is what the Mr. Lone Soldier retrieved from the Knight Orders.”

Chen Jing placed the silver handcase on the conference table. Someone came over to unlock her handcuffs as she looked at the three people before her, saying, “I examined it carefully on the way here. It’s a special kind of combination case. Without the code, the only way in is brute force. There isn’t a single mark on the case, so we can assume the Mr. Lone Soldier didn’t open it.”

“After retrieving the case, he didn’t try to hide anything and handed it over to us quite naturally.”

…

Chen Jing emphasized her last sentence before continuing, “Based on Professor Bai’s earlier assessment, it’s reasonable to speculate that this case should contain that mysterious Red Moon painting, the data on the Mental Pollution Bomb, and that…”

Minister Shen finished her sentence expressionlessly: “Information related to the Escaped Lab?”

Chen Jing nodded, pushing the case to the center of the table.

Her voice dropped slightly, even trembling a little, “The Mr. Lone Soldier’s secret might be in this case!”

The atmosphere in the meeting room grew tense.

Minister Shen tapped the table. “Open it!”

Staff who had been waiting nearby immediately gathered around. They first set up a layer of high-strength explosion-proof glass, then began examining the case with various precision instruments, checking for hidden explosive devices, searching for the lock mechanism, and so on.

Meanwhile, Chen Jing sat down on the other side of the conference table, her expression calm and serious.

“I want to know…”

She couldn’t help but look up at Professor Bai. “If he really is connected to the Lab, what will we do?”

Professor Bai offered a slight smile. “No need to rush. We don’t know what clues are inside yet.”

Chen Jing frowned slightly. “But what if there are?”

Minister Shen stated coldly, “Regardless, we follow regulations!”

Chen Jing’s frown deepened as she looked towards the silver handcase, now surrounded by various precision instruments.

…

…

“Wow, I really earned a lot this time…”

Back in the Second Satellite City, Lu Xin had just finished listening to Han Bing’s explanation. A fountain of joy bubbled up inside him. Though he didn’t laugh out loud, the smile on his face was unstoppable. He hadn’t realized it before, but calculating it now, the payment was quite substantial…

“Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have known I could earn so much…”

Lu Xin couldn’t help but thank Han Bing sincerely.

“Mr. Lone Soldier, you really don’t need to be so polite. I’ve told you before, I’m on your side…”

Han Bing sounded very happy as well.

“Still, thank you…”

Lu Xin quickly added, “Besides these, there are other things I need your help with.”

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome.”

Han Bing quickly replied, “Anything concerning you, big or small, you can tell me.”

“Mhm, mhm, thank you, thank you…”

Lu Xin’s mood improved even further, and he didn’t hold back. “You’re really good with accounts, applying for every bit of compensation I was due. But besides the payment from before leaving the city, I might need your help with the earnings from after I left. This time, I dealt with three ability users from that Knight Order, recovered the painting they stole, and also uncovered the secrets of Happy Town…”

“Wow, that’s really amazing…”

Han Bing exclaimed in surprise, “Mr. Lone Soldier, you’re incredible…”

Lu Xin blushed slightly at her praise. “It was nothing, just handled it along the way. These few tasks…”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Lone Soldier!”

Han Bing assured him with a smile, “Tasks like these require a certain review and verification before payment is issued. So the procedure should be: you submit a work report first, it gets verified and approved by superiors, and then the mission payment is disbursed… I’m very familiar with the process for these things. Whether it’s the initial work report or the subsequent payment application, I’ll help keep an eye on every step.”

“Okay, okay…”

Lu Xin’s mood kept getting better. He added, “But it’s not just that. I also brought back five motorcycles…”

Han Bing chuckled. “Those count as spoils from the mission. There will be corresponding subsidies for them too.”

“Yes, yes, that’s the most important part.”

Lu Xin said with a smile, “Also, it’d be best if you could leave one motorcycle for me. Then I won’t have to take the subway when I go out in the future.”

“No problem, I’ll report it.”

…

“Also, there are the expenses from this mission and the corresponding reimbursements…”

“The expenses were quite significant…”

Lu Xin thought carefully and said seriously, “In Blackwater Town, I was fined three thousand yuan because I fired my gun…”

“When entering Happy Town, I gave someone a hundred yuan to ask for directions…”

“And in Happy Town, to deal with that Knight Order, I fired my gun, using up about ten bullets…”

…

Han Bing noted everything down, smiling. “Okay, I’ve written it all down. I’ll help you apply for reimbursement.”

“That’s great…”

Lu Xin felt a surge of gratitude. “Thank you so much…”

“Don’t mention it, don’t mention it. You’re the one who worked hard…”

“No, no, I should be thanking you…”

“It’s my job to help you handle these small matters…”

“Even so, I should thank you…”

…

After an extended round of pleasantries, Lu Xin hung up the phone in an excellent mood.

Then, with light steps, he walked towards the old apartment building, thinking that even facing his ill-tempered father wouldn’t be a problem now.

What couldn’t be overcome between family members?

He should have a good talk with his family. For instance, the fact that Sister seemed to be hiding something when interrogating that puppet-type ability user, and how Mom got nervous when Qin Ran almost spilled the beans… these things needed to be discussed…

…

…

“Click…”

Meanwhile, in the meeting room on the thirty-third floor of the Main City, a crisp sound echoed as the silver handcase was opened.

After a brief observation confirmed nothing else unusual inside the case, the group of staff in white protective suits carefully unfolded it. Following a quick check, they placed the case on the conference table and retreated from the room with their instruments.

Instantly, only Chen Jing, Minister Shen, Professor Bai, and Mr. Su remained in the large meeting room.

The case wasn’t very spacious inside. It contained only a long tube wrapped in black cloth and three sealed document pouches.

“This should be the painting. They’ve already wrapped it up.”

Under the gaze of the three men, Chen Jing picked up the long tube wrapped in black cloth. Judging by its length, it was easily identifiable as the painting previously brought into the Satellite City by the Xu father and daughter, and later stolen by the Knight Orders on Jiujiang Road.

The importance of this painting was self-evident; everything had started because of it.

But for the moment, the attention in the meeting room wasn’t focused on the painting.

Chen Jing merely showed it to them briefly before placing it in a specially prepared glass case.

Later, she would take this painting to the Research Institute to determine its properties.

Then, Chen Jing picked up the three files. They were marked with printed numbers: “001”, “002”, and “003”.

Chen Jing opened document pouch 001 first and found a file inside, broadly describing a painting titled “Red Moon’s Gaze”. It contained clues about the painting, such as where it was initially discovered, who later acquired it, and so on—clearly information related to the painting.

Chen Jing showed it to Professor Bai and the others, then placed it together with the painting.

The second document pouch was opened, revealing some photos and materials detailing the parameters of a “Crying Little Boy” mental bomb.

Chen Jing frowned slightly, showed them to the others, and then set them aside separately.

At this point, only the third file remained in the case. Chen Jing took a shallow breath, feeling somewhat nervous.

Minister Shen’s expression had also clearly become more solemn.

Professor Bai was pensive, his thoughts unreadable at the moment.

Mr. Su smiled, tapped lightly on the table, and said, “No need to be so tense. Open it!”