Volume 9: Fate of Destiny Chapter 69: The old leader has no children, so it should be okay for his inheritance to be inherited by reliable subordinates, right?
Arriving in a strange world for the first time, without a map, having to avoid being tracked by a powerful organization and finding a new grave of an old friend as quickly as possible, this sounds like a mission from hell.
But it is not difficult for a pioneer master like Mason.
Gathering information is the basic skill of their line of work, and as long as the means of information collection are advanced enough, it will only take a few minutes to find a powerful dead person in the world.
"Snap"
The back door lock of the grassroots administrative agency in a small city near the landing coast was easily opened. Mason took back the dwarf saber in his hand for unlocking the door, pushed the door open, walked in, and turned back to whistle.
Harley and Quinn, who were keeping watch for him outside, immediately changed their positions. The cuties, who had changed into ordinary people's clothes, strolled on the street with their dogs, guarding the evacuation route for Mr. K who was preparing for a stealth operation. The invisibility cloak that had not appeared for a long time was put on, allowing Mason to hide when he sneaked into the administrative agency.
Speaking of invisibility cloaks...
This thing is the equipment obtained in the first adventure, but its practicality is still not inferior even in this late stage.
Especially after the inscriber and enchanter added new enchants and inscriptions to the cloak, greatly weakening the unstable effect of active invisibility and strengthening its breath shielding and magic defense, Mason can wear the cloak and wander around again.
He walked quietly into the Municipal Administration Bureau of this small city, which was obviously the grassroots ruling node of the Council in this world.
As soon as you sneak in, you'll see a large council logo printed on the wall. The staff, dressed in formal attire, are not much different from the daily work of official structures in other worlds.
But perhaps because the situation is not stable enough, guards are deployed in important areas here. But it is totally unrealistic to expect these fighters who have only been enhanced at the primary level to stop the captain.
He slipped into the communications room very easily, added something to the coffee of the attendant on duty so that the latter quickly fell asleep, and then used his fingerprint and authority to enter the office network of the council.
It only took him a few tens of seconds to obtain information including the official headquarters address of the Council, contact information, the organizational structure of this world, and standing defense forces. However, this was not enough, he still needed to dig deeper.
The next step is to hack into the Council's database to look for more information.
Although he is not a hacker, with Barbara's guidance and words and deeds, Mason has acquired certain technical skills in this area, and he doesn't need to do such small things himself.
The captain pulled a data cable from his watch and connected it to the main network node. When the data transfer module was activated, he said:
"Mobius, help me."
"Invasion begins, please wait."
The electronic sound of the mechanical chair was maintained at a whisper level. As the light on the watch flickered, the data terminal in front of him projected the progress of the intrusion and the important decrypted files.
But soon, the mechanical chair gave a warning:
"The Council's important databases have all been equipped with security protocols. Judging from the data signals, they should be connected to the Skynet hub. Under the principles of covert operations, we cannot dig out too much information through such low-authority nodes, otherwise it will alert the patrol program."
“As expected.”
Mason nodded and said:
"Then don't dig into the database, connect to the arbitration tribunal's network in the main network and look for the monitoring program.
From what I know about Fury, he would definitely secretly monitor senior members within the Council, and I don't think he would hand over this kind of data to his artificial intelligence for preservation.
This is how spies operate. People who don't trust anyone but want to be in control of the situation will always have paranoia."
Following Mason's instructions, Mobius immediately switched to search mode. After waiting for thirty seconds, it replied:
"Found it! A collection program hidden in the main network information duct. As you expected, this data network is directly connected to the arbitration tribunal. It is listed separately and is not subject to Skynet's data protection. However, a lot of information has been deleted, and the last time it was activated was seven days ago."
"Copy the data."
Mason glanced at the time and said:
"Take it back and analyze it slowly. By the way, help me and the little cuties register official identities on the main network so that they won't be suspected. Book a private jet and fly directly to the city where the council's headquarters is in 20 minutes."
"Please wait a moment."
Mobius hummed, and ten seconds later it responded:
"Your special plane is already waiting at the local airport. Your Excellency Marlene Frost , will go to the Council Headquarters with your two wives to attend the World Regular Meeting tomorrow. Your accommodation will be arranged at the Special Envoy Residence three blocks away from the headquarters."
"Thank you, Your Excellency, Assistant Special Envoy."
Mason replied politely, unplugged the data cable and cleaned up all traces of himself. Before leaving, he patted the communications room staff who was sleeping soundly on the table.
Twenty-five minutes later, on the taking-off private aircraft, Mason, who was sitting by the window, had already begun analyzing the surveillance data he had obtained.
As he expected, that bastard Old A had been monitoring the top brass of the board, but the captain didn't care about the overly personal information.
He simply called up the movement paths of these senior executives over the past few days and outlined them on the electronic map at hand. It only took him a few minutes to find the information he needed.
“This morning, two-thirds of all the people being monitored were in the same location at the same time, which was a cemetery outside the city.
So, it should have been a memorial service for an important person.
This is Old A’s final destination!
Three feet of yellow earth buries all ambitions, and the cold tombstone commemorates a lifetime of honor and disgrace. Alas, may Mother Earth forgive your foolish behavior. "
Mason projected the map in front of his eyes and enlarged it. He clicked on the intersection of the tree roots and set the destination like a navigation system. The Möbius chair sitting under him professionally planned the best route for Mason.
"Are you really going there, sweetheart?"
Harley, who was massaging the little cutie's back behind Mason, said with some concern:
"I suspect those bad guys must have set up various tricks there. Maybe it's a trap, and the evil bastard Doom is waiting for you to fall into it.
I can guess that you, a person with such a strong sense of ritual, would not miss the ceremony to pay respect to Old A."
"If they have the time to prepare traps that are unlikely to be used for outsiders who may show up at any time, then I can only say that these guys have too much free time."
Mason curled his lips, picked up the tea Quinn had brewed, and said:
"In the current situation, all their energy and resources should be used to save themselves, that is, the Final Star Project. Every minute and every second is very important to them.
We'll be fine, trust me.
And confirming whether Old A is really dead is of great significance to me and the other people in the Quint Club. Mobius, is there any news about the search for Doom?"
He took a sip of tea and asked, and the mechanical chair replied:
“No, apart from some unnecessary rumors, no valuable information related to Lord Dumu has been found on the Internet of this world.
Their network here is managed by the Skynet Center, and there is obvious information filtering.
Not only Doom, but also the high-level information about the Council of Hope is very scarce, but this machine has found other information that the First Rider may be interested in, such as this."
The Mobius chair projected some extracted information briefings in front of Mason and Harley, all of which were communications pulled from the Council's internal network.
After taking a few glances, Mason sat up straight, staring at the scrolling information briefing in front of him, stroking his chin and saying:
"There are 'Rebels' here too? And they started to become active on a large scale half a month ago, which was when the Fourth Impact ended. It seems that our integration plan not only inspired those marginal worlds to rebel against the Council, but the news of victory also made the core area of this organization unstable.
Tsk, it seems the rebels here have some skills to be able to do so many things under the nose of the Arbitration Tribunal.
But perhaps it was also because after the fourth impact, all of Old A's attention was drawn to me, which prevented these secretly brewing resistance activities from being suppressed immediately.
This is a good thing.
Mark that, Mobius.
Keep them as a backup plan, maybe we can get some intelligence help from them. By the way, where are my brothers now? "
He asked, and the next moment the projection in front of him switched to world map mode. Nine red dots were marked, almost making Mason spit out the tea in his mouth.
Good job!
It's been less than an hour since we separated, and the furthest collector has already wandered to East Africa? How fast are your legs? Is this the speed you get from collecting herbs and mining every day?
It's so terrifying.
"It seems that sweetheart really doesn't intend to cause a destructive incident in this world. Harley and I even brought a lot of large explosives with us."
Quinn walked up to Mason, took out an alloy shovel from her bag, leaned on it, put her hands on her waist and said:
"So the next step is digging the grave?"
"Be more polite, that's called tomb robbing!"
Harry corrected seriously:
"This is the first time we've done this kind of work. As pioneers of the Star Society, we have to wait until the Star Society is disbanded to do such basic operations as tomb raiding and treasure hunting. Ah, we are really unqualified pioneers."
"Remember to be gentle later."
Mason glanced at his two little cuties and said:
"Although Old A is a bastard, death is the greatest thing after all."
…
"Bang"
The sharp head of the shovel broke through the newly buried soil and hit the coffin. Quinn, who was wielding the shovel, blinked, turned his head and whistled at Mason, who was standing in front of him with his head bowed in mourning.
It was now eight hours after they entered this world when night fell.
Although you can come earlier, things like tomb robbing should still be done at night.
Harley is now very professionally pretending to go for a night run with her dog to cover Quinn and Mason's actions, but this little cutie's thinking is really different from ordinary people. Isn't your disguise a bit too bad?
Have you ever seen anyone walking their dog to a cemetery?
Mason jumped into the grave dug by Quinn, reached out and placed two small devices into the nailed coffin. One second after the micro hydraulic press was activated, the ebony coffin was pushed open, revealing Old A lying inside.
His body had obviously been collected.
The skull that was completely ripped open by the bullet was sewn back together. He was wearing the official uniform of the Council and the iconic eye patch on his face, as if he had fallen asleep.
I don’t know who collected his body and put a bouquet of flowers into his clasped hands.
The pistol he used to commit suicide was also placed in a box and fixed next to the body.
"There is no land that does not bury people. Moreover, you finally died in your hometown. You are much happier than many people. Rest in peace."
Mason said as he used an extraction device to take some biological samples from the body, and drew a little blood into different alchemical containers for static analysis.
A few minutes later the result came out: Nick Fury.
Its various bioinformatics characteristics are exactly the same as the samples that Mason secretly collected when he first met Old A at the Next Life Bar.
Moreover, there is no trace of any extracted thoughts in the remaining tissues of his brain, which means that he did not hide in data or virtual space through thought encoding.
He is really dead.
This result made Mason breathe a sigh of relief. A big stone in his heart fell quietly. He took a last look at Old A and said softly:
“Thank you for your help. Although it was only out of consideration for our own benefit, without your protection in the early stage, Team K would not have been able to make it to the end.
We're even, asshole."
Such a farewell made Mason feel like he had accomplished something necessary, and he could finally focus all his energy on the next thing.
But when he was about to jump onto the grave, a blurry face suddenly appeared on the hat on his head, reminding him:
"There's something on him!"
"Um?"
Mason turned around in surprise, and heard the old man say in a low voice:
“All the buttons on his suit are enchanted. It looks like a system for defending against attacks, but it actually has another use.
Gather them together, Mason, and try to combine them."
The captain followed the prompt and took off the buttons on Fury's ceremonial uniform, then closed the coffin. While Quinn was grunting and restoring the grave and covering it with soil again, Mason stood in front of the tombstone and removed the enchantment from the shiny button in his hand.
After the weak magic power dissipated, these metal objects quickly changed their shapes, like the recombination of building blocks. A few minutes later, a combination key appeared in Mason's hand.
He let the key float in his palm, stroking his chin and said:
"So he left some things behind and didn't intend to let others know. This is really strange. It's not surprising that this thoughtful guy has such an arrangement, but the question is who does he want to leave these things to?"
"It seems that he is certain that someone will come to 'open the coffin and perform an autopsy' after his death."
The hat whispered:
"Who among all the people associated with him would have the time to risk being discovered in an absolutely secret operation and open the coffin of an old black man?
This is for you, Mason."
"whispering sound."
The captain curled his lips, reached out and grasped the metal key, and said:
"Okay, that's what's left for me. Now a new question arises. Now that we have the key, where should we use it? A door or a treasure chest."
"Here's the key to your locker, sweetheart."
Harley ran over with the dog, and after staring at the key for several seconds, the little cutie tilted her head and said to Mason with certainty:
"They are the lockers in the old-fashioned stations. I am sure of that. Mr. J used to have many keys like these to hide contraband.
Even in Gotham, that kind of place is the safest, and no one would pay special attention to the lockers in the station that no one would touch for decades.
Look, there is a label on it.
No. 2501.
Didn’t we find information about the Möbius chair before?
The Council's "City of Hope" is built on the site of the old New York City, right? So I guess it should be in a long-abandoned train station or subway station?"
"You are so smart."
Mason leaned over and bit the cutie's face hard. The latter puffed out his chest proudly after being praised, indicating that he was very smart.
The three men and three dogs who had just done something bad quickly left the cemetery under the night sky. An hour later, they returned to the envoy's residence where they were staying, and then Mason took out the things he had gotten from the locker.
A small bag.
There was only one thing inside, a tattered and torn diary.
Mason frowned and picked it up, looking at the crooked handwriting on the cover of the diary. Behind him, Quinn read the meaning of these words:
"Rorschach...diary? What is this?"
