The Overworked Beta and the Paranoid Alpha 18

Chapter 18: Hey, I’m Talking to You

Claire sat in front of the screen, her fingertips tapping on the projected keyboard on the desktop, entering a URL into the computer.
According to the Interstellar Federation Empire’s laws regarding electronic networks, every legal webpage’s URL must end with a .pdf suffix.
However, the URL Claire entered did not have this.
“If you ever decide to take down this website, please don’t reveal that I was the one who told you, okay?” Claire looked at Della, then at RV, and said.
“We will protect the privacy of our informants,” Della said.
“I hope so,” Claire took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, thinking, I really believe your bullshit.
She quickly entered her account information and pressed the enter key.
The words “Login Successful” appeared on the screen, but there was no joy of success on Claire’s face.
She clicked on an anonymous user and sent a request for a second transaction. Soon, the user replied: [Why?]
Claire: [Because the gem you have is a fake. We were also deceived. Now we have found the real Vulcan gem. To compensate for our oversight, we hope to trade with you again. Of course, we will not charge any fees for this transaction.]
The anonymous user did not reply.
Perhaps he’s busy making afternoon tea, or maybe he went to the restroom? Claire didn’t know. She only knew that her heart was about to jump out of her chest. Damn it, she had never been this nervous in her life.
Fortunately, the anonymous user did not keep her waiting for long. A few minutes later, he replied: [Okay.]
Then, the client sent a string of addresses, saying: [The time is three days from now at twelve midnight. This is the transaction location.]
“Phew~”
Claire finally breathed a sigh of relief and replied: [Thank you for your cooperation. I wish you a happy life~]
The anonymous person was very cold this time and did not give her any reply.
“So, is there anything else you need me to do?” Claire smiled and looked at RV, then her gaze shifted to Wen En, and finally landed on Della’s face.
Della’s expression did not change. It was very cold, which suited her character.
“Not for now,” Della said. “Could you please get up? I need to use the computer.”
“Alright,” Claire stood up, smiled, and said, “Just let me know if you need anything else.” With that, she stood next to Romeo.
Della sat down in her place. She first checked the transaction address sent by the anonymous client. The address was in a residential building near the river in the lower district, just a street away from the Beka Hotel at 87 Green Avenue, second floor, where the first Vulcan transaction had taken place years ago.
“I’m going to check the IP address of this anonymous trader now,” Della said again.
“Can you even check an anonymous address?” Wen En asked doubtfully.
“Of course, it’s just a little troublesome,” Della said.
With the help of technology, it wasn’t that troublesome.
Two years ago, when Della was still in school, she had created an automatic IP tracking program in her spare time. All she had to do was convert the information she needed to track into a link, input it into the program, and the program could quickly analyze and track it back to the original IP.
She had originally intended to use this program to find citations for her thesis, but unexpectedly, she had accidentally found the IP address of F.I.A.D.’s headquarters, which was located in a remote mountainous area and surrounded by anti-detection devices.
This had attracted the attention of F.I.A.D. They thought Della was a rare talent and immediately sent her an internship invitation.
During her two years as an intern, Della continuously improved the program, expanding its tracking range, making its targets more precise, and increasing its search speed. Eventually, the program was adopted by F.I.A.D.’s research department and incorporated into the Spiderweb system of F.I.A.D.’s internal network, improving the accuracy of the Spiderweb.
Della also received a formal offer to join F.I.A.D. because of this.
Della opened the Spiderweb and clicked on the automatic search function. The address information on the screen flashed back and forth before finally settling on one location.
—Lower District, Beka Hotel, 87 Green Avenue, second floor.

Beka Hotel? Isn’t that the location of the first transaction?
The Beka Hotel was just an ordinary, dilapidated, cheap hotel located on a street corner. It usually had two or three floors and not many rooms. Such hotels were common in the lower district, with one on almost every street, nothing special.
Similarly, because they were inconspicuous and cheap, the regular customers of such hotels were people engaged in illegal transactions, such as the low-level Omegas who sold their bodies for money, and it was also a place for drug deals.
“There’s something I’ve been wondering about for a long time,” Wen En said, looking at Romeo. “For such a large transaction, the location is a dilapidated hotel. Don’t you think there’s something wrong with that?”
“Well,” Romeo scratched his head and said, “Our principle is to exchange money for goods. As long as we get the money and deliver the goods, we don’t care about much else.”
“Exactly. Why care so much? It’s not like we’ll get more money for it,” Claire said.
Wen En: …
These two are really… hard to evaluate.
Sometimes they were very sharp, and sometimes he marveled at how incredibly smooth their brains were, as dumb and slow as pigs. Wen En held back for a long time, finally resisting the urge to slice open their heads with a long knife and inspect their brain structure.
Forget it. Wen En couldn’t be bothered to argue with them anymore.
“Tonight, I’ll go to the Beka Hotel to check out the situation,” Wen En said.
RV nodded in agreement. Della said, “I’ll be in charge of technical support.” She looked at Claire, then at Romeo. “And I’ll keep an eye on them.”
“You just need to keep an eye on Claire,” Wen En said, pointing at Romeo. “He’s coming with me.”
“Me?” Romeo pointed at his own chin, puzzled.
“That’s right, I’m talking about you,” Wen En said.
“Ah, Wen En, you want me to go with you? Are you serious? Aren’t you afraid I’ll hold you back?” Romeo’s eyebrows were about to fall to his cheekbones.
Romeo looked at Claire, who was gloating, and was so angry that he immediately tried to shift the topic to her:
“If you ask me, you’d be better off taking Claire with you. She can provide technical support on the spot.”
The moment he finished speaking, Romeo took a step back, dodging a punch from Claire.
“Don’t talk so much nonsense. If I tell you to go, you go,” Wen En said, showing no interest in his suggestion and firmly refusing.
“Oh, alright,” Romeo said, looking disappointed.
Seeing that Romeo’s little trick had failed, Claire sneered and rolled her eyes from the side.

Wen En was a man of action. Having made his decision, he began to stand in front of the weapon cabinet, picking out a suitable weapon.
“This one’s not bad,” Wen En said, picking up a folding knife and examining it as if he were shopping in a mall. He casually placed the folding knife in Romeo’s hand.
He seemed very confident that Romeo wouldn’t stab him in the back. In fact, Romeo currently didn’t have the guts to do so.
—Even if Romeo took the opportunity to stab Wen En now, Wen En’s good colleagues RV and Della would cut him into a prime steak.
What about Claire? Romeo couldn’t count on her to help him fight back. In fact, it would be a blessing if Claire didn’t turn against him and help RV and Della stab him.
RV took a black backpack and handed it to Romeo. “Hold this for him.”
…Can I refuse? Romeo thought silently, but his actions were very obedient. He carefully placed the folding knife into the backpack.
Wen En pulled open a drawer in the weapon cabinet. Inside lay a black laser submachine gun. Just as Wen En was about to take it, he suddenly heard RV say, “You should know that you’re just going to investigate the situation, not to carry out an assassination.”
Wen En’s movement paused for a moment. “You’re right, but the public security in the lower district is no different from a free-for-all between cockroaches and rats in the sewer. We have to bring some heavy firepower to show them who’s boss, otherwise they’ll get cocky.”
“Wen En, I have to remind you that the Beka Hotel is, after all, just an ordinary hotel. There are many civilians inside who are not involved in this operation. If this gun accidentally injures an innocent civilian, the organization will not let us off easy,” RV said.
Wen En looked at RV. After a few seconds, he made a decision. He picked up the submachine gun and put it in the backpack Romeo was holding. He said:
“I’m not a rookie on my first mission. I know my limits.”