LIGHT NOVEL Chapter 220 - Startled
The army arrived faster than the National Security Bureau had predicted, taking over the entire spaceship without anyone noticing.
In the vacuum of space, whether a spaceship is in motion or stationary is difficult for those inside to discern.
Mai Dongzi, wary of the Wu family father and son discovering that she was a psychic ability user and that she had been using her powers to “see” their activities, kept her abilities active without retracting them. She feared they might have been pretending in order to deceive her.
After interrogating the mercenaries, the father and son returned to the captain’s quarters. Unsure of their true intentions, Mai Dongzi refrained from using her psychic abilities to monitor them further once they were inside their private quarters.
For safety reasons, Mai Dongzi continuously used her psychic powers to “scan” the corridor outside the captain’s quarters as well as the hallway near her newly assigned cabin.
Through her psychic vision, she saw the arrival of the military. She watched as they secured the entrances and exits of the corridor near the cabins, and as a captain, accompanied by twenty soldiers, knocked on the door of the Wu family father and son’s room.
Within Mai Dongzi’s psychic range, all the soldiers, including the captain, were dressed in fully sealed protective suits with transparent protective masks on their faces. This gear ensured that parasitic beasts could not infiltrate their bodies unnoticed.
The captain knocked lightly on the door, and Wu Bo quickly opened it.
When the door to the captain’s quarters opened, Mai Dongzi’s psychic powers “slipped” inside. She saw the Wu father and son sitting in the living room, clearly in a waiting posture.
As the ship’s captain, Wu Youqi had remained in the captain’s quarters since interrogating the mercenary team. However, it was clear that when the military ship appeared suddenly to intercept the vessel and prepared to approach, the captain would have received a notification and likely had some communication with the warship’s commander.
For the military to board silently, they would have needed the captain’s consent.
When the captain arrived, the Wu family father and son showed no signs of surprise.
The officer didn’t exchange pleasantries. Instead, he formally presented them with an action authorization order from the National Security Bureau. Following protocol, he used a device to scan Wu Youqi, Wu Yiding, and Wu Bo.
Mai Dongzi noticed the display lights on the device all glowed green, indicating safety. The officer then instructed his soldiers to scan the entire captain’s quarters using the same device.
Once again, the display lights remained green throughout. Through the captain’s transparent visor, Mai Dongzi “saw” his previously tense expression relax significantly.
Before leaving, the captain saluted Wu Youqi.
During this process, the officer and his soldiers maintained a strictly formal demeanor, neither warm nor friendly. The Wu family members initially appeared somewhat displeased, especially Wu Yiding, who became visibly annoyed when the officer instructed his men to scan them without any explanation.
Wu Youqi, however, noticed something about the device and seemed to understand its significance. His expression shifted dramatically, and he cooperated fully with the scans.
Since the door to the captain’s quarters remained open, Mai Dongzi clearly “saw” Wu Youqi breathe a sigh of relief when the device confirmed everything was safe with its green indicators.
After completing all the scans, the officer advised Wu Youqi and Wu Yiding to remain in the captain’s quarters and not leave. If they needed anything, they were instructed to contact him directly before the officer departed.
Such an obvious power grab didn’t make Wu Youqi angry. Instead, he seemed to calmly accept it and expressed his willingness to cooperate.
Wu Yiding, on the other hand, clearly didn’t know what the device was testing for, but he followed his father’s lead. Though he was visibly displeased throughout, he didn’t utter a single harsh word.
During this whole process, Wu Youqi hadn’t spoken to his son until after the captain left and the door was closed. It was only then that he seemed to collapse into his chair, looking as though he had narrowly escaped a catastrophe.
Wu Youqi’s actions left Wu Yiding even more confused. Unable to hold back, he asked, “Father, what exactly is going on? Why has the military taken control of our ship?”
Wu Youqi’s face darkened, and he replied grimly, “The Du family has gone mad. They actually dared to involve parasitic beasts.”
“What? Parasitic beasts?” Wu Yiding asked in disbelief.
Wu Bo was equally shocked. After glancing at the two masters and seeming to understand something, he finally relaxed and said, “So, it seems the mercenaries we interrogated might be involved. Thankfully, you two are fine.”
When Wu Bo mentioned the mercenaries, Wu Youqi shot him a glance and asked, “Was that girl reluctant to hand over those mercenaries to you?”
“Yes, Miss Mai Dongzi even showed me her credentials as an agent of the National Security Bureau. She tried to use that to pressure us, not allowing us to take custody of the mercenaries.” Wu Bo replied.
“So you mean, that little girl already knew about the parasitic beasts?” Wu Yiding asked, starting to understand.
“Most likely.” Wu Bo confirmed.
“We asked her why she clashed with the mercenaries, and she claimed it was because they were after her beauty. Not a single word of truth.” Wu Yiding said, frustrated.
“Master, this is an important matter. Miss Mai Dongzi is an agent of the National Security Bureau. Without their approval, she wouldn’t have leaked this information to us. That would have been bad for us,” Wu Bo reassured.
“No wonder she reported this to the National Security Bureau, and they quickly dispatched the Third Legion’s star battleship to take control of our ship. If those mercenaries were parasitized by the parasitic beasts, or if they were carrying them and the girl hadn’t discovered it and reported it, just imagine what would happen if this situation escalates. What kind of consequences would we face?” Wu Youqi said with a hint of fear.
Hearing this from the two elders, Wu Yiding’s earlier frustration faded. However, he still couldn’t help but speak with a hint of resentment, “So, we should thank that little girl, then.”
“Check the laws of the Blue-Black Empire regarding citizens who get involved with parasitic beasts,” Wu Youqi said.
Since King Gujia came to power, those who dealt with parasitic beasts had been heavily punished. The Blue-Black Empire hadn’t seen any signs of parasitic beasts for over 20 years.
But the terror of parasitic beasts was still well known by many. There were still many literary works on the star network that depicted their horrors.
Mai Dongzi, in order to understand the interstellar culture, had watched several of these works, one of which involved parasitic beasts.
After confirming that the captain was safe, the captain left the captain’s room and entered the interrogation room.
A few hours earlier, after Wu Youqi and his son interrogated the mercenaries, even the ones who were awake had been knocked out. Then, they had the mercenaries who had been tortured given healing and nutritional agents and locked up in the interrogation room, with no one sent to contact them again.
So when the captain and his soldiers entered, what they saw were the mercenaries lying unconscious on the floor, no longer covered in wounds, but still in a state of unconsciousness.
When Mai Dongzi “saw” the soldiers scanning the first mercenary with the device, the white light on the instrument turned red.
Not only the soldiers but even the captain was startled.