The transparent and colorless water remained stubbornly high in the cup. Since no one was drinking it, it refused to drop. However, there were a lot more cigarette butts in the ashtray. The burnt and twisted cigarette butts formed a weird mess. In the smoke-filled room, two people silently read the relevant information they had and then raised their heads almost at the same time.
This kind of scene was not strange to Xu Le and Shi Qinghai. A few years ago, when Senator Macklin kidnapped countless people of the Federation under the banner of morality, one of them stayed in the grotesque modern society and watched coldly like a stone, preparing to smash the enemy. The other one hid in the dark and followed the clues of the past indifferently. They rarely contacted each other and did not cooperate, but they were very close to each other and welcomed the day of the final general attack.
Today's scene was like the reincarnation preached by some religion in Bermuda, or maybe it was just a simple repetition. For people like Xu Le and Shi Qinghai, their personalities determined their choices. Therefore, when the whole Federation was about to forget the assassination plot and the Ancient Bell that had turned into fireworks, they were still looking for the truth and asking for answers.
"In Linhai State Gymnasium, the Second Military Region assassinated Tai Zhiyuan. Yang Jingsong committed suicide. Many people from the Second Military Region died. At that time, I followed the gray sweater and found Macklin. However, there was another middleman behind this assassination."
Shi Qinghai pursed his thin lips and took a deep puff. The cigarette suddenly lit up. The smoke was so dazzling that he had to squint his eyes. One could faintly see that his peach blossom eyes were bloodshot due to tiredness.
"I've told you about this before. The middleman is an active military officer, at least a major. He has a head of reddish-brown hair. The force he represents is a senator."
"Regarding the assassination of the little princess of the Zhong family in Wood Valley Manor, after the government stopped the investigation, I entered the Federation Investigation Bureau and found some relevant information. The powerful gunman you stopped was not related to the Second Military Region. Now, I'm investigating this friend surnamed Chen. Before he was expelled from the Military Academy, before he carried out the government's secret mission, I want to know who he was in close contact with."
"The most important thing is that the Ancient Bell was attacked … During the year you were in the Empire, I've been secretly investigating. Now, I can confirm that the seed of the Empire who died outside the military prison was indeed from the Empire. However, he did not have the opportunity to access this level of military secrets, let alone guide the Empire's fleet to the brilliant shadow in space."
"There's something very strange. The wreckage of the Ancient Bell was not allowed to drift in space as a memorial to the soldiers as usual. Instead, it was dragged back to the surface for further investigation. The problem is that the relevant departments did not drag it back to the West Woods. Instead, they dragged it back to the 23rd Research Institute of S2. Then, it was quickly melted down."
Shi Qinghai took out the cigarette and licked his bitter lips. He put out the cigarette and said with a smile, "But before it was melted down, I found a chance to take a look. I found that … the escape system of the Ancient Bell had been tampered with beforehand."
"This also means that even if the Clock Commander did not choose to die in battle but chose to escape, there was no hope for him to survive."
As the most outstanding intelligence officer of the Green Dragon Mountain anti-government army in recent years, Xu Le wouldn't doubt Young Master Shi's judgment. For a person who had the qualifications to enter the Trinity Association, in addition to the fact that that place was S2, even if he did something even more outrageous, it wouldn't be shocking.
"I don't have too many people on my list, but I suspect that they are all involved in this matter." Xu Le gently bit the cigarette with his front teeth and leaned back on the soft sofa. He felt a little tired and continued, "The assassination of Tai Zhiyuan, the assassination of Little Watermelon, the assassination of Commander Zhong, if it was a series of actions as you speculated, then … how long did these people prepare?"
The bloody battle in the Linhai State Gymnasium that Xu Le would remember for the rest of his life was something that happened years ago. At that time, he thought that after the suicide of Deputy Minister Yang Jingsong and the arrest of more than ten officers of the Second Military Region, the militants in the military had been wiped out. However, what happened later proved that the forces had been hiding deeper than people thought and had been preparing for a longer time.
As for how terrifying the strength of those people were, Xu Le did not express any feelings or doubts. No matter how strong or weak the enemy was, as long as they were the enemy, they would have to fight.
"I checked the list of all the members of the Management Committee of the Federation at that time and sorted them according to the suitable conditions. Together with the information from my sources, I made a list … and in this list, there are not many people who have the ability to influence the military."
Shi Qinghai pointed to the first name on Xu Le's list and said, "Vice President Byron is undoubtedly the most suspicious one. At that time, before he partnered with Pabre, he was a member of the Federation's Management Committee's Military Budget Director. In earlier years, he had served as the head of the General Staff Department of the Third Military Region of the Federation, a major general."
"Very few major generals in the military would take off their military uniform and enter the political world, and be successful, but Mr. Vice President has done it."
"The Third Military Region?" Xu Le thought of the famous general of the Federation who came from the Third Military Region and couldn't help but frown deeply. After a moment of silence, he lit another cigarette and said with a hoarse voice, "I have never heard of Commander Shaoqing having any private contact with the Vice President. Also, there was a time difference. When Byron was the head of the General Staff Department, he shouldn't have been able to influence the Iron Seven Division."
"Don't worry so much. Let's first finalize the list and then adjust the direction." Shi Qinghai messed up his black hair, but he didn't know that he exposed a few strands of white hair behind his head. He said in a deep voice, "Vice President Byron, Assistant Director Cui Judong of the Bureau of Proclamation, the head of the relevant department of the Military Research Institute, the former vice president who died of illness, the mechanical army of the Second Military Region, Du Shaoqing and his Iron Seven Division …"
Hearing this, Xu Le raised his right hand and interrupted, "I don't have any evidence to support my suspicion of Du Shaoqing. Although he and Tiger have always been enemies, I always thought that this person wouldn't shoot someone in the back."
"Do you have evidence for the rest of the people on the list?" Shi Qinghai stared into his eyes and said, "If you had evidence to prove that the Vice President of the Federation is suspected of murdering the frontline commander-in-chief, then you wouldn't be sitting here. You would be in the president's residence."
"I don't have any judicial evidence for the names on this list, but I do have evidence that leads me to believe that they are involved in this matter."
This sentence was a bit of a mouthful, because it involved the backtracking of the Federal Central Computer's database, Xu Le couldn't explain it too clearly.
"Okay."
Shi Qinghai spread his hands and said, "I don't have evidence for Du Shaoqing and his Iron Seven Division, but I do have … intuition."
"Let's not talk about this for now." Xu Le's expression was a bit worried. He asked, "You've been investigating for so long. Have you found out that those big families are involved in this matter?"
"I don't know if I should say it's lucky or unlucky. There's no sign of this at the moment." Shi Qinghai said calmly, "But this is very easy to understand. For the sake of benefits, the seven big families can cooperate with any power. I even suspect that in the future, they can treat the Emperor of the Empire as a reliable trading partner. But they definitely won't cooperate with the radicals in the army."
He looked at Xu Le and said softly, "When the politicians who control the administrative power of the Federation gain the loyalty of the radicals in the army, or even more frightening, when the radicals in the army gain the power of the Federation, this is the situation that the seven big families fear the most, because this will shake the foundation of these families' survival."
"The only thing that can completely destroy the entangled interests and relationships that these families have spent tens of thousands of years to build, and those seemingly unshakable cornerstones, is violence. Absolute violence, violence that goes out of control."
"Then from this point of view, your Green Dragon Mountain should praise these radicals?" Xu Le said with a bit of sarcasm.
"Different paths lead to the same destination, but because of the different paths chosen, perhaps when people reach that destination, it will not be in the same season, and the color of the flowers on the mountainside will be very different."
"You are a spy, not a poet."
"In this type of exciting and impassioned turning point in history, the blood of violence, the despicable schemes, it is very easy to stir up the poetic feeling within everyone's heart."
Xu Le didn't pay him any attention. He just stared blankly at that list of names, counting from top to bottom. He thought about the power these names represented, and he suddenly felt his body become somewhat cold. He subconsciously said in a low voice,
"The Federation … from top to bottom is about to rot."
"The Federation government from top to bottom has long rotted away."
Shi Qinghai looked at him with ridicule, the cigarette between his fingers. "This is something that Green Dragon Mountain has always been trying to tell people, but no one is willing to believe it."
Xu Le was silent. Suddenly, he looked at him very seriously and said, "This time is different from the Macklin matter. This is an internal problem of the Federation government, and it doesn't have much to do with you. I know that your current situation isn't good. Green Dragon Mountain's committee seems to have completely forgotten about you, this liaison officer, and they haven't given you any support. You should not take any more risks and continue investigating. "
"An outstanding intelligence officer should and can only get used to working alone." Shi Qinghai seemed to have thought of something. His expression became somewhat desolate, and he said in a low voice, "This is what that guy said … I heard that he's about to die of illness. In a few days, I have to make a trip back to S2. If you have time, come with me."
"Okay." Xu Le replied very quickly. Then, he didn't forget what he was most worried about. He continued to stare into his eyes and said with a serious expression, "Although I'm not a professional, it's more appropriate for me to investigate this matter. It's also safer. You have to promise me that you won't get involved in this matter."
Shi Qinghai was silent for a moment. Then, he revealed a smile. Hidden within that smile was a trace of a strange emotion.
He stared into Xu Le's eyes and asked with an incomparable seriousness, "I indeed always believed that there was no one more professional than me, but I spent over a year to find these things. You … you've only just returned from the Empire a few days ago, and you've already come up with such a list. It truly makes me feel incomparably shocked."
"Unless you're a candidate for the head of the Bureau of Proclamation, it really is difficult to explain all of this."
Xu Le was silent. He didn't know what to say. Right at this time, his phone rang. There was no number displayed on the screen.
Director Breen's emotionless voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Colonel Xu Le, Mr. President wants to see you."
…
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