Chapter 1630: Lucky Misunderstanding
Boom!
A m.u.f.fled thunder-like sound exploded in Xing Bian’s office.
When his right fist hammered heavily on the desk, even the holographic screen suspended in front of him shook for a while before it recovered stability. Xing Bian suddenly stood up from the chair, stared at the man standing in front of the desk, and yelled, “Academician Lu was kidnapped?!”
“It’s not yet certain, but his room was searched.” Seeing the angry expression on the boss’ face, the liaison gulped and said with a trembling tone, “Our intelligence personnel in Tiangong City are collecting information about his whereabouts, but so far, no reliable clues have been obtained.”
After hearing these words, the expression on Xing Bian’s face was a bit ugly.
Lu Zhou’s achievements in the academic world, his status that was comparable to Jesus, and the role he played in the s.p.a.ce elevator project alone were enough to reflect his importance to the Pan-Asian Cooperation.
Without even half a second of hesitation, he ordered, “Immediately notify all intelligence personnel in Tiangong City to investigate the whereabouts of Academician Lu as soon as possible!”
“Yes, sir!”
The liaison officer stood at attention and saluted. He was about to turn around and leave when he was called back by Xing Bian.
“Wait a second.”
Looking back at the boss, the liaison officer quickly asked, “Anything else, sir?”
Xing Bian: “w.a.n.g Peng? I remember that guy is also on Mars.”
The liaison officer had a slightly embarra.s.sed expression on his face. He lowered his head and whispered quickly, “He… seemed to say that he was going to find Academician Lu, then he was gone.”
“This guy…”
Xing Bian’s heart dropped to his stomach.
The situation on Mars was far more complicated than The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.
There had also been an unexpected turn of events regarding the N-177 flight hijacking incident that the bureau had been investigating.
If they were to alert the criminals now, it would lead to very serious consequences.
We can’t do anything impulsive…
After gritting his teeth, Xing Bian couldn’t let go of his worries. After sending the liaison officer away, he reached out and tapped twice on the holographic screen in front of him.
Soon, a video call window appeared in front of him.
The person standing in the video window was wearing a black exoskeleton armor. Judging from the dummy targets behind him, he should be at the training ground.
The man cast his gaze to the Xing Bian on the screen and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Without any small talk, Xing Bian went straight to the point.
“I have a tricky situation here, and I need your help.”
The man replied, “The dispatch of the Aeros.p.a.ce Marine Corps requires the joint authorization of the Congress and the Military Committee.”
Xing Bian continued impatiently, “That is outside the country, not within the country. According to Article 27 of the Special Intelligence Act, the Security Bureau has the right to request support from the aeros.p.a.ce forces without going through the normal authorization procedures when the security of a regional alliance or member country is seriously threatened.”
When the helmet mask was lifted, Li Gaoliang’s face appeared under the shadow of the helmet.
Staring intently at Xing Bian in the holographic window, he said in a serious tone, “What is it you need? If I remember correctly, we helped you just a month ago.”
“Academician Lu has disappeared, and according to the information we collected, it is very likely that he was kidnapped.” Xing Bian continued in the face of the scrutinizing gaze, “He is the only person who has mastered warp speed technology, and he is the chief consultant of the s.p.a.ce elevator, so isn’t this a big problem? Or do you want me to submit an application through the normal procedure?”
“Academician Lu has been kidnapped?”
Li Gaoliang’s face instantly sank.
Without hesitation, he looked back at the soldiers training behind him and yelled loudly, “Training is over!”
The moment he gave the order, the soldiers who were training stopped their movements and quickly gathered together in a line.
Li Gaoliang glanced at Xing Bian in the holographic window and said in a serious tone, “I hope your information is accurate.”
“I can guarantee it with my life.”
Li Gaoliang nodded his head, turned off the holographic screen, turned his gaze to his brothers, and ordered with a sonorous voice, “Everyone board the s.h.i.+p with me.
“Ready to depart!”
…
Tiangong City Hall.
In the mayor’s office.
After hearing the report, Mayor Xiao’s eyes were wide open. After a while, he said in an incredulous tone, “He’s… missing?”
“Yes.” Gao Ruiming nodded and said solemnly, “I was about to talk with him about cooperating, but when I got to his room, he was gone.”
Xiao Hong’s eyes sharpened in an instant, and he had a hint of alertness on his face.
“Could it be that he noticed something?”
“Impossible.” Gao Ruiming shook his head and continued, “His luggage remained in his room, and none of them were taken away. Even the day before, he went to partic.i.p.ate in the Europa project seminar. If he noticed something, he would certainly not be so calm…”
Xiao Hong immediately asked, “What if he pretended to be calm?”
Gao Ruiming: “Then his anti-reconnaissance capabilities are beyond our imagination, but that is obviously impossible! Listen, he is just a scholar, not an agent of the Security Bureau. We all know that he is very smart, but investigative ability depends not on cleverness but on experience!”
“Enough! I don’t care whether he is smart, or he has received special training, or he discovered something by coincidence. The crux of the problem now is that he is gone!” Standing up from the office chair, Xiao Hong walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows while pacing back and forth. He said in an annoyed tone, “Do you know what this means? This means that our plan has been completely disrupted! He may be the only warp speed technology master in the world! If we can’t control him, we will have no chance of winning!”
Gao Ruiming tried to comfort him.
“No need to be so pessimistic. At least we can be sure that he is still on Mars. I propose to notify our customs and other colonial cities immediately to suspend Lu Zhou’s entry and exit pa.s.sport, and once they find his whereabouts, they should immediately inform us.”
Mayor Xiao looked at the prosperous city outside the window and his reflection on the floor-to-ceiling windows. He was silent for a long time, like he was contemplating something.
Restrict Lu Zhou from leaving the country.
If there was no suitable reason, putting a restriction on a big name like this could lead to a direct fight between Tiangong City and the Pan-Asian Cooperation.
Although in their plans, a fight was something that would happen sooner or later, it was still worth thinking about whether their plans should be completely disrupted because of the uncertainty in the warp drive technology.
Seeing Mayor Xue fall into hesitation, Gao Ruiming added.
“There is no time for us to hesitate! Do you think that if we do nothing, the Pan-Asian Cooperation will take their eyes off us? I can guarantee that you will still be the mayor and I will still be your secretary, but our heavenly palace will no longer be the palace of freedom; it will be a special economic zone for the Pan-Asian Cooperation!”
Perhaps he was convinced by the last sentence, but Mayor Xiao finally made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and nodded.
“We’ll do what you said… In addition, use all the resources we can to find his whereabouts in Tiangong City! You are personally responsible for this matter!”
Gao Ruiming nodded solemnly.
“I will do so right now!”