Volume 12: Yaguna Kotor Chapter 569: Intelligence Worth 100 Million
"No... We didn't find any traces at the scene." The commander's secretary said, "Dr. Renee's blood disappeared after leaving the wreckage of the transport plane. We have expanded the search area to the entire area within a radius of 30 kilometers centered on the crash site. A mixed force composed of the Security Bureau and the Marines is conducting a carpet search in the area."
"Is this what the fleet commander is doing?" Ke Lan asked.
"Yes... Due to the lack of manpower, a group of fleet crew members have been transferred to join the search force. The fleet is currently under the temporary control of the fleet adjutant Colonel Yevgeny. If you need, I can transfer you to the colonel."
"Not for now. By the way, have the higher-ups been informed of this matter?... You should know what I mean by higher-ups, right?" Ke Lan lowered his voice slightly. Although he was not sure whether the beautiful secretary knew about the existence of the Undead Crew Council, since the fleet commander was personally appointed by the Crew Council, then as a secretary who needed to help the commander deal with a large amount of official business, there was no reason why she should not have the right to know.
Sure enough, after hearing Ke Lan mention the word "above", the secretary immediately said: "The crew will already know."
"That's fine." Since the Undead Crew already knew about this, Ke Lan didn't need to worry about it. "Oh, by the way, there's something I almost forgot. The virtual immersion cabin sent by the Ark had a very serious security problem. In order to prevent leaks, Cheng Dong, the leader of the Security Bureau's 11th Field Team, and several other insiders were locked up in the No. 1 medical room of the New Dawn by me... But now this matter is not so important, you go and release them. After being locked up for so many days, I hope the emergency food on the ship doesn't taste too bad."
"Uh..." The secretary was obviously stunned for a moment, "There is no emergency food on the New Dawn... yet..."
"What did you say? According to the Ark Fleet's management regulations, not all rooms on the ship must be equipped with emergency safes. They must be regularly checked and updated with personal survival items. Things like medicines and food should be prepared!"
"It's like this... The New Dawn is a newly built 'Gangfeng-class' aircraft carrier battleship. According to the original arrangement, it will not be commissioned until four months later. It will most likely be added to the First Cruise Fleet as a substitute flagship. The Zero Fleet is a new fleet established temporarily. All work, including the mobilization of ships and personnel, was completed in just a few days. This batch of emergency supplies on the ship has a lower priority, so it has been placed at the back of the schedule. If this batch of supplies can be delivered on time, it will be a week later." The secretary explained to Ke Lan in great detail.
"Fortunately, he is locked up in the infirmary. There should be enough glucose nutrient solution so he won't starve to death..." Ke Lan said with a guilty conscience. He had drunk medical glucose before, and the taste could only be described as "very sweet", which was completely different from the "sugar water" he imagined.
After finishing the call with the secretary, Ke Lan thought for a moment, put Sofia down from her arms, stood up and walked to the window, lifted the curtain with one finger and looked out.
"What's wrong?" Sofia turned around and asked.
"I always feel like I'm being watched," Ke Lan said.
Sofia's face suddenly flushed, and after hesitating for a few seconds, she said, "Then just now..."
"There is no surveillance device in this room. I scanned it when I just came in." Ke Lan shook the watch-like thing on his wrist. After the Morgan Consortium's voyeuristic filming incident, he got such a special "watch" - the technical content of this "watch" is not too high, but it is still very useful for detecting hidden eavesdropping devices, cameras and other such gadgets.
"I suspect that my whereabouts are being monitored, and..." Ke Lan did not continue the second half of the sentence. If they were being monitored, then the undead crew would definitely have been monitoring me, there is no doubt about that. But with the ability of the intelligence dealer, could he really do this?
The news of Dr. Renee's defection is definitely top secret within Fleet Zero. No one on the Ark should know about this except the Undead Crew and a few high-ranking members of the Security Bureau. So where did he get the news?
Moreover, that surveillance video is not something that ordinary people can get their hands on.
Ke Lan thought about it and sent a message to the other party:
"Where did you get this news?"
The other party was obviously in an invisible online state. When he saw Ke Lan's reply, his gray avatar immediately turned into color.
“Dude, you know the rules of this business, don’t you? We don’t ask where the information comes from when we buy it. If everyone does it the way you do, we won’t be able to continue in this business.” At the end, the guy added a grinning expression.
"Don't talk nonsense. Now that you know my identity, you should know that this information was leaked from my hands. Isn't it a bit too sarcastic for you to send this video to me?" Ke Lan replied in a bad tone.
"But when I sent you this information, you didn't know about it, right? Then this information is meaningful. I didn't ask you for money because you are an old customer."
"Let me ask you again, where did you get this video? Not many people can get this now. Do you have a deal with the top brass at the Security Bureau?"
"You really like to joke. How can I be so high up as to associate with those big shots... For someone like me to deal with them, isn't it just like a thief selling stolen goods to the police (defense) (and) the director (harmony)? Isn't it like looking for a lantern in a pit?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Apart from the top officials of the Security Bureau, no one else has any way to get this information."
"Ha, you missed a bunch of key people."
"You mean the soldiers of Fleet Zero? Are there your informants among them?"
"The person who provided the information cannot be considered 'my informant'. The transaction between him and me was simply a monetary transaction." The other party shrugged again.
"Then name a price and give me that person's information." Ke Lan said.
"That won't do. If I do that, I won't be able to get along in this circle anymore... You know, there are more than one or two people who want to buy your information from me, and the price they offer is not low. I have never sold you out once."
Who knows whether you have sold me or not... Ke Lan muttered to himself, but since the other party had said so much, he couldn't ask any more questions: "Then I asked you to say this, you are quite trustworthy?"
"Of course. Don't you know what kind of person I am?"
"I don't even know your real name, do you think I can trust you?" Ke Lan sent a blank expression - before his identity was exposed, he and the other party didn't know each other's true identity, and they could still conduct transactions normally. But now, Ke Lan is in the open while the other party is still hiding in the dark, and he feels a little uncomfortable dealing with this information dealer.
"That's not important. What's important is what I can provide you..." The other party immediately replied with a series of smiling faces. "By the way, there are actually quite a few people in Fleet Zero who make a living by selling intelligence. Otherwise, how did those forces who are jealous of the new S-class ruins get so much of the latest intelligence?"
"In other words, those big financial groups also know about this matter?"
"Nine out of ten," the intelligence dealer said. "Think about it. If even the captain of a battleship could be a mole, do you think what happened in this fleet can still be called a secret? You know, the scene of the transport plane being shot down was seen by tens of thousands of eyes on the ship... You should know better than me that the so-called 'news blockade' by the people above is actually only for ordinary people."
"Then what's the point of sending this video to me?" Ke Lan asked, "You are an intelligence dealer, not a philanthropist. There shouldn't be such a good thing as giving away intelligence for free, right?"
"Of course! This video is just the fruit plate that comes with the main course. The fruit plate is free, but the main course does require payment~"
"What's the main course?"
"You should have called the fleet just now, right?"
"I did." Ke Lan knew that there was no need to hide such a thing - just from the time difference between receiving the email and sending the message, she could guess that she was calling to verify the authenticity of the video.
"Then you should also know that the people from Fleet Zero did not find the missing Dr. Renee, right?" As if to deliberately whet Ke Lan's appetite, the other party divided the complete sentence into many segments and sent them out one by one.
"You mean... you know the whereabouts of Dr. Renee?"
"Shh, I told you, you have to pay for the main course."
"How can I believe that you would know her whereabouts when even Fleet Zero couldn't find her?"
"Whether you believe it or not is up to you. Whether you are willing to buy my information is also up to you."
"How much?"
"Not expensive, 100 million credit points." The other party's answer made Ke Lan breathe a sigh of relief - although 100 million is not a small sum, but considering the importance of this information, the other party is not asking for too much. As long as the information he provided is useful, the money is worth it.
If a problem can be solved with money, then it is not a problem. What Ke Lan fears most is that the other party will make some "special requests" that he cannot fulfill.
But this guy has never done this before... It seems that the only thing he is interested in is money. This is like a game that sells stats directly. As long as you can pay, even the owner of a prop store that can destroy the world will sell it to you.
Ke Lan checked the financial account of the God Hunting Group. The part of the reward for the previous exploration of the ruins, plus the "advertising sponsorship" that had just arrived, added up to just over 100 million. Considering that the equipment expenses for the next exploration of "Yaguna Kotor" have been promised to be fully covered by the wealthy Ye family, the hunting group really has no need for money recently.
Ke Lan withdrew 100 million from his account and transferred the money to the other party.
"Wow wow wow... there really is a hundred million! Tell me, if I block you right now and run away, will you go crazy?"
"Stop talking nonsense and get down to business."
"Why are you becoming more and more boring? You can't even make a joke?" The other party made a disdainful expression and then said, "The one who took Dr. Renee away was a prophet from a heretical sect."
"How did you know?" Ke Lan couldn't help but ask again.
"Didn't we agree not to ask about the source? Even if you paid 100 million points, you only bought the information itself. As for other services, I don't have them."
"Okay, go on."
"As far as I know, the search team of Fleet Zero is currently searching within a 30-kilometer radius of the crash site. However, Dr. Renee was taken by the prophet to an exile settlement 680 kilometers away from the crash site four hours ago."
As he spoke, the other party had already sent a coordinate, along with a photo with extremely blurry pixels.
In the photo, there was a tall, thin figure wearing a sand-colored cloak, carrying a plump woman in The woman's white coat had many burn marks and bloodstains on it.
"The clues end here. As for whether they are still here, I can't guarantee it."
"knew."
Ke Lan ended the conversation, turned to Zofia and said, "I have to return to Fleet Zero right now - as for the training personnel, you can just contact Hound and the others directly!"
