After slipping away from Luo Kaiyuan, the man left the Eastern Continent diaspora district and quickly exited the city, dropping a pre-written ciphered letter into an old mailbox.
Glancing left and right to ensure no one was watching, he moved along. As he walked, the implants across his body and face began shifting. By the time he turned the corner, he had transformed from a man of Eastern Continent descent into a Federation citizen with a prominent nose and deep-set eyes.
Barely half an hour after his departure, a Federation postal worker arrived on a bicycle. He unlocked the mailbox, retrieved the contents, and flicked through them with a subtle movement of his fingers, swiftly picking out the marked sealed envelope before making a quick departure.
Two hours later, a scrawny man navigated the northern sewer passage and arrived at the place the journalist Chailai had visited before.
The neatly dressed young man was still standing beside the desk, an open book filled with bizarre symbols resting beside his hand. He was currently cross-referencing it against a map spread across the tabletop, seemingly looking something up.
Yet absorbed as he was, the sound of approaching footsteps in the distance made him raise his head with vigilant caution. Only after recognizing the familiar rhythm did he lower his gaze again.
The footsteps stopped outside the door, followed by a voice: "Captain?"
"Come in," the young man replied.
The door swung open, and the scrawny man stepped inside. The young man asked, "Was it delivered?"
"Delivered," the scrawny man said. "Brother Che handed it over to Comrade Luo Qiming's younger brother. He should take it back."
He sighed in admiration. "I read the note. Comrade Qiming's brother is quite formidable. If Brother Che hadn't made arrangements in advance, there's no telling if he could have escaped him."
"Is Old Che all right?" the young man asked.
"He's fine. Old Che is as sly as they come."
The young man nodded. "Young Luo comes from Wuyi Academy and was valued enough by a martial artist to join the delegation. Such a showing is hardly surprising. Well, as long as the material reached the delegation smoothly, that's what matters."
The scrawny man hesitated. "Captain, we're both resistance organizations. Doing this behind their backs—"
Disgust surfaced in the young man's expression. "Do those thugs under Diego even deserve to call themselves a resistance organization? They have no bottom line when it comes to achieving their ends. They claim it's for a great cause, yet they use that slogan as an excuse to brazenly attack and butcher civilians. Calling a gang like that scumbag rioters would be an understatement anywhere. A group like that shouldn't exist in this world at all—the sooner they're wiped out, the better for everyone."
The scrawny man nodded silently. He detested their conduct just as much. Furthermore, most of those people were mixed Federation and West Continent stock; attacking the Great Shun autonomous district naturally provoked revulsion and resistance in people of Eastern Continent descent like them.
Still, he said with some worry, "But Captain, leaking their operational intelligence could expose us as well."
Reluctant as he was to admit it, both were resistance organizations, nominally operating under the leadership of the Resistance Front.
Even though those doing the legwork on the ground thoroughly despised these 'rioters,' the newly assigned supervisor from above believed such distinctions didn't matter. For that reason, the two groups had maintained regular communication and intelligence exchanges.
In this attack especially, the other side had originally wanted them to collaborate. Now that the intelligence had been handed over, Diego's people would undoubtedly suspect the leak came from their camp. Those cutthroats were vicious, and retaliatory action was highly likely.
The young man shook his head. "You think they haven't done the same?"
"What?" The scrawny man started.
The young man looked up. "They've leaked our intelligence multiple times. Not out of ideological betrayal, but simply because selling our intel fetches good money from certain intelligence agencies. If our security protocols hadn't been solid and we hadn't had informants inside their ranks giving us timely warnings, many of our comrades would already be behind bars."
Anger flared across the scrawny man's face, his fists clenching tightly. What little lingering guilt he had felt vanished without a trace.
"Their invitation to join this operation was driven by malicious intent as well. Fortunately, the supervisor didn't insist on it this time."
The young man waved his hand. "Enough of that. Let's just focus on doing our own duty."
The scrawny man thought for a moment, then added, "Captain, we provided this intelligence to the delegation hoping it would help build trust through Young Luo. But from what Brother Che told us, Young Luo might not appreciate the sentiment at all. Instead, he might report the whole encounter to the delegation. That might make Great Shun scrutinize him even more closely, making it hard to ever recruit him into our ranks."
The young man considered this. "This was something we had to do. We don't know the others, nor can we trust them; going through him was our only viable channel. He doesn't know enough about us right now, so naturally we can't expect him to join us so easily. If he did, we'd have to be suspicious instead. We'll look for another opportunity later on."
"Understood."
The young man cautioned him, "Don't go anywhere over the next few days. Stay ready to receive orders at a moment's notice."
The scrawny man perked up, asking excitedly, "Is high command preparing to make a move?"
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't be asking. Head back for now."
"Yes, Captain!"
After the man left, the young man folded his arms and stared down at the map, his eyes grave with grim intensity.
Regarding this upcoming operation, he knew the higher-ups had dispatched at least five elite squads to Vea State's Center City.
High command attached immense importance to this matter. If it succeeded, it would provide tremendous momentum to their resistance cause—elevating it to a whole new level would hardly be an exaggeration.
It was just that the supervisor...
He sighed. That individual was decisive, ruthless, and exceptionally cold-hearted. Every operation carried out under that leadership in the past had come at the cost of immense sacrifice. There was no telling how many comrades would fall in this operation.
Back at the hotel, Chen Chuan received the paper cylinder Feng Xiaoqi handed over. After inquiring about every detail of what had transpired, he immediately summoned two technicians inside.
When the technicians unsealed it, they found rolls of paper documents inside, alongside numerous film rolls and photographs.
The technicians reviewed the contents. Laid out within were detailed dossiers on the attackers and an outline of their operational plan. It appeared to have been leaked by an insider—and not just an ordinary operative, but one of the ringleaders.
After inspecting it himself, Chen Chuan had his active conscious entity cross-check the data. The verification ruled out a deliberate disinformation trap; the intelligence itself was genuine.
If they had access to Vea State's official platform, they could have already initiated arrest operations based on the exposed personnel identities.
Yet they were not local law enforcers and obviously could not do so. Even so, with this material in hand, they could clearly formulate a revised plan tailored to this intelligence.
He summoned the squad captains, quickly arranged the deployment, and once the assignments were distributed, kept Luo Kaiyuan behind alone.
"Kaiyuan, did they say they know your brother?"
Luo Kaiyuan replied, "Yes, but my brother and I haven't been in contact for a long time. I don't know anything about his connections in the Federation."
Chen Chuan nodded. "If they contact you again, maintain communication, but don't actively probe into what they're doing."
Luo Kaiyuan answered earnestly, "Understood, sir."
Chen Chuan gave an affirmative sound. "Go back and get ready. Be careful tomorrow."
Luo Kaiyuan nodded, saluted him, and left the room.
Chen Chuan pondered. It was quite likely that Luo Kaiyuan's brother had joined some underground organization. However, this was on Federation soil; unless it involved affairs of the other world, he had no interest in solving the Federation's troubles for them.
Another day passed. By the afternoon of the following day, across the ocean, Great Shun was ushering in the New Year.
As fireworks shot high into the sky, his side received New Year greetings from the Great Shun government, along with a one-grade pay increase for every member of the delegation.
Delegation Leader Xie also wired New Year greetings via telegram, mentioning that they might have to remain in Kawatua for several more days and that everyone would need to wait a little longer.
Telegrams of celebration arrived from both his family and the families of delegation members. Due to operational constraints, he had logistics personnel forward greetings on their behalf and report that all was well.
Beyond these, there was even an unexpected telegram sent from the Throat of the Star Spirit, likewise wishing them a happy New Year.
In contrast, Kawatua had made no gesture whatsoever. Delegation Leader Xie was right there, so Kawatua could not possibly be ignorant of their presence; the absence of any telegram was telling.
He figured Kawatua acted this way likely because they had learned of his past actions and feared that contacting him might offend the Federation. That line of reasoning aligned perfectly with the course Kawatua was currently steering.
They had long been beaten into submission by the Federation, leaving them desperate to seek acceptance by any means; even building up their strength was merely resistance born of desperation.
Whoosh—bang!
Another burst of fireworks detonated in the sky above.
He glanced outside, then checked his wristwatch. Based on yesterday's intelligence, the round-up of the saboteurs should be underway by now.
In the Great Shun diaspora district, dozens of militants slipped inside along prearranged routes, linking up with the contacts stationed there.
Over seventy percent of them were immigrants of Tawatinian descent—mostly of mixed Yono and First People heritage—along with a small number of people from the Outer Ocean.
Their ringleader, Diego, personally led a team to the rooftop of a high-rise. According to the plan, they would set off explosions at several locations to sow chaos, then storm the celebration plaza to strike at the settlement's leadership and the executives of Great Shun corporations who had gathered for the festivities.
Yet when they triggered the detonators, the anticipated roar of explosions never came. Several militants exchanged bewildered glances. Diego suddenly jerked his head up, eyes sweeping the surroundings as he barked in a low voice, "Something's wrong. Everyone, fall back!"
Chapter 1121