Chapter 34: Night Raid Part 1

When he returned to Lin Wensi’s office again, the environment inside looked like it had been ransacked.

Lin Wensi sat behind a rickety table that could barely hold up, carefully holding the storage card in his palm. Hearing Wei Tingxia enter, Lin Wensi lifted his eyelids, his gaze sharp as a knife’s edge.

“I heard noises from outside,” Wei Tingxia said. “Your soundproofing isn’t great.”

In truth, it wasn’t poor soundproofing; Lin Wensi had been too angry, his movements too forceful, and he had forgotten to hold back.

The room had only one usable chair, which had also been flipped over on the floor. Wei Tingxia casually reached out to right it, then sat down. “It seems you’ve already discovered it.”

He spoke with certainty, and Lin Wensi’s expression darkened further with his words. The code following the distress signal was exclusive to the nobility of Capital Star. Though it was impossible to determine the exact family name, Lin Wensi had not forgotten that Wei Tingxia had also come from Capital Star.

In fact, Wei the Second was currently the biggest noble in the military district.

Lin Wensi asked again, “Where did you get this copy?”

His tone was steady, but there was no relief in his eyes upon learning the truth—instead, they grew heavier. As he looked at Wei Tingxia, there was both probing and wariness. If the two of them failed to communicate properly at this moment, with Lin Wensi’s temperament, he would immediately withdraw and completely distance himself from this muddy water.

Thus, after a brief silence, Wei Tingxia chose to tell the truth. “This is a segment of data I intercepted two years ago. The source came from a stream cleanup on Capital Star.”

Two years ago, Wei Tingxia had already gone missing in the official records.

Lin Wensi’s eyes flickered as he continued, “The Second Prince’s disappearance for three years—is it related to this matter?”

“To be honest,” Wei Tingxia tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile of unclear meaning, “I used to think it wasn’t related. But now… I’m suddenly not so sure.”

He no longer hid it and got straight to the point. “I believe General Lin has many questions in his heart and suspicions about me, but I can clearly tell you here: three years ago, my disappearance was not by my own will. Someone tripped me up from behind, and the reason is right in your hands.”

Wei Tingxia leaned forward slightly, his hands clasped and resting on the edge of the table, his posture relaxed yet carrying an undeniable pressure.

“Regiment Leader Lin, you always think you have many paths ahead, and at worst, you can choose to stay out of it. But look at this.” Wei Tingxia’s finger tapped the desktop, as if striking at one’s heart. “The border hasn’t been as pure and clean as you imagine for a long time. From the day my Father Emperor fell gravely ill, there has been nothing pure in the world.”

Either join the struggle and bring it all to a swift end, or let it drift aimlessly and watch everything grow increasingly filthy.

Lin Wensi had only two paths to choose from; he had to make a decision soon.

Before deciding, Lin Wensi asked his final question.

“Where exactly have you been during these three years of disappearance?”

Wei Tingxia laughed. It was an extremely knowing and sarcastic laugh. In that instant, the alpha traits on him were unmistakably revealed.

A natural leader, a natural schemer.

“I’ve always been here,” he said.

……

……

Deep Blue Base.

Outside the senior archive room.

Yan Xinfeng inserted the key into the slot. The heavy alloy door slid open silently. A fluorescent blue data stream imaged virtually before his eyes in an instant, then dissipated into the air, leaving only the deep, open entrance.

A person’s breathing came from the corner, but Yan Xinfeng ignored it and proceeded directly through the second verification layer into the archive room interior.

The vast majority of materials related to the Blue Nail Ship were sealed here. In the entire Deep Blue Base, fewer than three people could enter.

The bite mark on the back of his neck still radiated a faint stinging pain. Yan Xinfeng temporarily suppressed his guesses about Wei Tingxia and input his personal key.

The system responded, and a soft cold light lit up from below the console.

A holographic projection interface unfolded instantly before him. Countless encrypted archive entries about the Blue Nail Ship floated in the dim space like stars, flickering with tiny lights representing different security levels.

Clearly a star pirate base, yet the archive vault’s setup adhered perfectly to Empire standards—this silently explained many unspoken details and clues.

Yan Xinfeng’s fingers slid rapidly, reviewing countless pieces of information and data. His gaze finally settled on a string of coordinates.

This was the final result inferred by the system big data from subsequently captured information streams—not necessarily accurate, but close enough.

These coordinates bore an incalculable weight.

They heralded a long-accumulated destructive flood capable of thoroughly toppling the Empire’s foundations.

This force lurked behind an invisible door lock, roaring silently and gathering fury enough to incinerate stars. Once that door was opened, a heavenly deluge would sweep in, washing away all existing order, glory, and decay of the Empire, leaving not a single tile behind.

It would be a massive upheaval, enough to be recorded in any history where humans existed.

And at this moment, the key to unlocking the door was in Yan Xinfeng’s hands.

Empire. Imperial family. Wei Tingxia.

These three words linked together became the only silken threads restraining Yan Xinfeng’s actions, making him afraid to act rashly.

The shimmering blue light from the console projected onto the alpha’s face, forming a blurred boundary of half light and half shadow, concealing all his expressions in contemplation, hesitation, and repeated deliberation.

It was three hours later when he left the archive room.

Yan Xinfeng walked out through the second alloy door as per his usual habit, then saw that the person sleeping in the corner had sat up.

[Old Boss.] That person called to him.

Yan Xinfeng paused his steps, beckoned with his hand, and the lights came on, illuminating a dark lump in the room’s corner.

“Call me Leader.”

The person, wrapped in a blanket, nodded repeatedly. [Right, right, right. I’m a bit confused. Leader, Leader.]

His voice sounded very old, but his speech was glib and unreliable.

Yan Xinfeng walked over and casually pulled up a chair to sit. “What’s wrong?”

The person did not answer immediately and kept staring in Yan Xinfeng’s direction, making sniffing motions while saying knowingly, [Reconciled with Madam?]

Yan Xinfeng’s face was expressionless. “No.”

[Hey, why not yet?] The person found it strange. [Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Lovers’ quarrels are soon mended—you two should be in the most intimate honeymoon phase.]

If getting stabbed counted as a new marriage, then Yan Xinfeng had been married many times in his life.

He furrowed his brows and asked, “Have you been infected with a virus?”

[How could I? I’ve been staying here the whole time, without touching the starnet. How could I get a virus?]

Feeling distrusted, the person threw off the blanket covering it, revealing an alloy body. Blue light glowed in eyes made of high-strength crystal, identical to the data stream’s color.

It was not human; it was a string of artificial data loaded into a physical body, the final defense line of this archive room.

Yan Xinfeng ignored its protest, confirmed the archive room’s signal settings to ensure no starnet connection, and then withdrew his hand.

“Your task is to guard the archive room and, if necessary, destroy all data and escape. Loading too many emotion modules into you was my mistake,” Yan Xinfeng said regretfully. “No one would believe you’re a smart butler.”

The smart butler retorted, [But I can still offer you advice.]

Yan Xinfeng did not argue. “Yes, using those trashy novels you read before.”

[……]

The smart butler fell silent for a moment, then said on its own, [You should go find your omega.]

“Why? He left first, and he even stabbed me.”

[Do you care?]

That one sentence left Yan Xinfeng silent.

The smart butler shook its head. [A helpless and frail omega alone in the military district—someone might be eyeing him, waiting for a chance to harm him. You should go protect him and win his heart.]

There were too many problems with that statement; it was clearly eroded by viral novels. Yan Xinfeng’s eye twitched as he wanted to say Wei Tingxia was neither helpless nor frail.

Before he could speak, the smart butler delivered a killing blow: [Are you two getting divorced?]

It did not know Wei Tingxia was the Second Prince, their enemy by status, nor did it know the choices Yan Xinfeng now faced. It merely asked a perfectly normal question from its perspective.

Were you going to separate from Wei Tingxia? Were you deciding to stop loving him from today onward, stop caring, stop considering his life and death, his happiness or not?

Yan Xinfeng pursed his lips and left the archive room.

As soon as he stepped out, he called Scarface over.

“Watch the base and don’t cause trouble,” he said. “I’m going out for a few days.”

In the military district, the adjutant was also discussing that star pirate group called Deep Blue.

“I heard their leader had an accident, and there’s still no news of his survival.” As the adjutant spoke, he picked out the one he needed from a pile of boxes sealed for hundreds of years. Dust flew up when he lifted the box, and Lin Tao, sitting on a small stool nearby, covered her nose and coughed twice.

Wei Tingxia took off his jacket and draped it over the chair back, then directly opened one of the boxes. He pulled out a few sheets from a stack of yellowed paper files and sat down beside them to browse.

This was the Border Military District’s personnel records from the past decade. The digital versions existed, of course, but checking electronic archives privately could leave traces and invite unnecessary trouble. So the group had come directly to sift through these dusty paper archives.

During breaks in browsing, the idle chat continued.

“Actually, I think they’re not bad,” the adjutant said. “They haven’t really killed, robbed, or burned anything. You get it—with the job market so tough now, it’s understandable they can’t find work.”

Lin Tao sighed along. “Yeah, everyone can’t find jobs.”

“So what do they live on?” The adjutant pondered. “Do they farm on their base?”

Not quite.

Lin Tao and Wei Tingxia subconsciously exchanged a glance. Lin Tao spoke up. “They might rob some, but not from the Empire.”

There were countless resource stars outside the Border Military District; it only depended on guts and luck. Yan Xinfeng knew well how to maximize benefits for his team without completely destroying a resource star’s ecology.

They also preyed on their own kind. In recent years, star pirate activity in the Border Military District had improved significantly. On one hand, it was due to Lin Wensi’s proactive patrols and earnest prevention; on the other, because when Yan Xinfeng was short on funds, he would take people to visit other peers.

Wei Tingxia had participated in a few such raids himself. Looking back, it had been quite thrilling.