Chapter 76
It was snowing heavily, and the snow on the road was up to people's knees, but the automatic suspension system of the flying car controlled it to always be three or four inches above the ground. No matter how thick the snow was, it had no effect on the driving of the flying car.
A speeding car stopped by the roadside. Rong Yuan got out of the car, looked at the flat snow in front of him, sighed, leaned over and scooped out a pale, frozen little girl by the scruff of the neck from the snow.
This girl had participated in the assassination attempt on him on Baiqi Star. At that time, in order to successfully kill Rong Yuan, those people were going to kill her as bait. When Rong Yuan was transferred from space to escape the killing situation, he took her with him. At that time, the girl was seriously injured and her life was in danger. Rong Yuan's own condition was not very good, so he put the girl in the hibernation chamber and froze her. Later, she sank under the ice field with the spacecraft. After Wandou woke up, the "Book of Merits" was reactivated. Rong Yuan's injuries improved, so he went back to the place where the spacecraft was buried, took out the hibernation chamber, and sent the girl to Groni, the doctor he had helped in the past. Obviously, after the girl woke up, she found herself in a strange place, surrounded by strangers, and she decisively escaped when she found an opportunity.
Rong Yuan looked the girl up and down and saw that her wounds that had once nearly killed her had basically been healed. All that was left was a matter of recuperation. Groni had replaced her shattered mechanical arms and legs with new ones, and even sprayed them with a silver-pink coating that little girls liked. However, when the girl escaped from the hospital, she obviously underestimated the severity of the outside environment and was frozen stiff before she ran far. However, the environment of the prison planet where she was born was not mild either. Coupled with long-term and systematic training , the child had a strong physique and the frostbite was not very serious. It only needed to be cured with a general treatment device, and there was no need to send her to Groni specifically.
The car turned lightly in the air, then whizzed through the middle of the street, and in just over ten minutes, it sent Rong Yuan and the other person back to the flower shop. Then Alpha let the car return to its owner, erasing all traces of the trip that night, as if nothing had happened.
When the party was in the third dance, Serinda, who had just recovered a little but was still weak, left first. Lance helped her rest, and then arranged various tasks at the observation deck. Then, a former noble who was lucky enough to get an invitation letter from the lower class had a conflict with an official from an alien planet. The waiters were unable to handle it, so they quickly called for Lance. In the middle of the night, a distinguished royal family member suddenly fell ill in a private room, and the doctor happened to be away for other things. After the doctor was finally found and the royal family member's condition stabilized, several young people in the party got jealous and fought. Troublesome things happened one after another. When Lance finally had time to go back to his room to rest after dealing with all the troubles, the sky was already slightly bright.
A maid in the corridor was wiping the stains on the wall that were accidentally left. When she saw Lance coming over, she stood up and saluted, saying with a smile, "This year's Holy Light Ceremony seems to be particularly busy! You've worked really hard tonight, Lord Lance."
Lance was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "You too, have worked hard. Leave these tasks to the cleaning robot and go back to rest early!"
In a technologically advanced country like the Landia Empire, most jobs can actually be done by machines. The extremely high social welfare ensures that ordinary people can live well even if they don't work for their entire lives. But for many people, they can rest for a few months or even a few years, but it is terrible to do nothing for their entire lives. Work is not only to create social value, but also to meet one's own needs. Therefore, many Landia people, despite their comfortable or even wealthy lives, still choose to go out and find a job, even if it is just washing dishes in a restaurant or sweeping fallen leaves on the street.
Therefore, although the Landians have different types of work, most of them do not have a clear distinction between superiors and subordinates. They salute or use honorifics more out of respect and courtesy rather than because of their humble status.
After hearing what Lance said, the maid shook her head and said, "This is my job, I must do it well. Lord Lance has been tired this evening. He has not had a good rest in the past few days because of preparing for the Holy Light Ceremony. Now that it is finally over, please have a good sleep. Get enough rest so that when the sun comes out, you will have the energy to face the next work!"
"That's true." Lance was silent for a moment and said, "Then I'll go back and rest first... and, happy holidays."
"Happy holidays, Lord Lance."
The maid bowed, lifted her skirt, and continued to squat down to wipe the stains on the wall.
After returning the gift, Lance did not stop and continued to walk towards his room, but his focus had become slightly distracted.
——Yeah, why didn’t I notice it before? This year seems to be…extraordinarily busy.
Why? Because it was the Queen's coronation, and many people were attending the Holy Light Ceremony for the first time? No, that was not the reason. Newcomers usually followed the rules and regulations in such occasions, fearing that they would make mistakes and show their cowardice. Even if there were one or two young people who were not brave enough, they would be restrained by the people around them before they did anything.
Why did he feel that many of them were newcomers who came for the first time? In fact, the proportion of this group of people in the list of people who received the invitation was not high. The reason why he felt this way... was because some familiar faces that he often saw in previous years disappeared. If there were certain people in charge, even if they did not do anything, the guests who felt that their status was not as good as theirs would be obedient and quiet and shrink aside as wallflowers, or gather around a certain person and prick up their ears, treating every word of their conversation as a treasure, and it would never be like tonight, where there was a mess everywhere.
Lance paused.
——Yes, that’s it.
Many people, who should have shown up long ago and been the center of the crowd, did not show up tonight except at the very beginning.
——Damn it!
Tonight he first followed the Queen around and was busy, and then was entangled in various trivial matters. Although he was not too busy, he was indeed focused on those emergencies, so that he did not notice such an obvious fact until now.
At the same time, Lance also noticed that when he paused, the two men who were chatting and laughing on the balcony in the distance almost immediately cast their eyes over to him. Although they looked away almost instantly, Lance still noticed it keenly.
His heart sank.
Maintaining the same expression and pace as before, he walked into his room as planned, closed the door, and immediately pressed a few times on the communication bracelet. He sent out a code word that they had agreed on in the past, and according to the agreement, the other party should respond to him within one minute.
One minute passed... two minutes passed... three minutes... five minutes... ten minutes...
There was no response.
Lance lowered his head, his eyes were calm, like a deep pool.
He took off his bracelet and threw it aside; unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves; unbuttoned the third button on his chest and pulled his collar, revealing his collarbone and a large area of his chest; he rubbed his hair, messing up his meticulous hairstyle, adding a bit of casualness and unruliness. Then he walked to the wine cabinet, poured himself a full glass of strong liquor, drank most of it in one breath, and then let out a long sigh of satisfaction.
Following the Queen's order, Leopold led his men into the room and saw a man leaning on the sofa with slightly disheveled clothes. His long almond-shaped eyes were sparkling with alcohol. He was stunned for a while before he recognized that the man who was shaking the wine glass in his hand and looking at him with a smile was none other than the rigorous, serious and meticulous royal butler Lance in his impression.
Lance put down his glass, crossed his hands and supported his chin, and said in a long voice, as if chanting or sighing, " General Leopold."
Leopold's scalp went numb, and he felt all the bones in his body tremble. The man in front of him made him feel inexplicably dangerous. He waved his hand to stop the soldiers behind him from arresting him, and said, "Wait."
"A wise choice." Lance sighed with regret, "I have laid several lines in front of you. If you take one more step forward, you will all be cut in half."
The soldiers gasped and subconsciously looked in front of them, but saw nothing.
"Nanowires are invisible." Leopold said coldly, "Lance, we have set up a dragnet around here. You can't escape! At this point, what's the point of your struggle?"
"At least you can only stand there and watch now, right?" Lance sighed and said, "How are the people in the organization?"
Leopold said grimly, "They are all dead."
In fact, he was not completely helpless against Lance now. If he shot at Lance now, he would most likely hit him, as the interception range of the nanowires was very limited. However, Her Majesty the Queen wanted to see Lance captured alive, so he could not kill him here, and could only order someone to fetch equipment that could detect and cut the nanowires.
Lance was silent for a long time before he said, "Is that really the case?"
He did not dwell on his grief for too long. In fact, Leopold suspected that he might not even feel grief for his companions' death. His next question was, "I don't understand why you acted so quickly this time? Logically, you don't know who in your team is part of the organization... For an operation of this scale, it is impossible that we didn't receive any news in advance."
He could accept his failure, but he could not accept that until now he didn't know why he failed.
Seeing the genuine and complete confusion in his eyes, which were filled with the persistence and seriousness of a child who just wanted to get the answer, Leopold stared at him. After a moment, he slowly took out a button projector, tapped it and threw it out.
The projector cast a light screen in the air, and a holographic image of a man appeared in it. He said in a serious tone: "The organization was founded... its purpose is... the main members I know are... the main actions in recent years are..."
In just ten minutes, this man revealed almost everything about the organization, including so much darkness that could never see the light of day.
Lance recognized him. He was one of the three leaders of the organization. Regardless of his ability, his loyalty was unquestionable. He was the one who benefited the most from the organization and committed the most serious crimes in the organization's various actions. Therefore, he was more eager to protect the organization than anyone else. At the same time, his identity was also highly confidential. Usually, his two agents were the ones who contacted other people in the organization on his behalf. His hands and reputation were as pure and flawless as the snow in Landia. He should not have been caught red-handed.
As Lance thought about this, his fingers suddenly twitched slightly.
He thought of a name, a man who had repeatedly created miracles, as if he was born to break all kinds of "impossible" things...
Rong Yuan!
