First Interstellar Guide Chapter 52: Controlled

Chapter 52: Controlled

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

After Lu Zexuan dropped Yu Ran back at the White Tower, he made an excuse to meet a friend and left alone. Yu Ran couldn’t follow, so he had to wait for him in the dormitory.

As the night grew darker, Lu Zexuan’s hovercar circled the streets of the capital star several times. With his sharp S-class sentinel hearing, he carefully listened to the surroundings while White Eagle patrolled the skies to ensure no one was following. Then, he quietly drove towards the suburbs.

Lu Zexuan stopped his car in front of a spacious villa and walked inside. He took out the special token his father had given him, entered a complex ten-digit password, and pressed the summoning command.

Recently, the Investigation Division had blocked the signal network of the capital star, so sending messages might be intercepted. Therefore, Lu Zexuan decided to personally summon these agents to give them instructions and get to know these elite members face to face.

The Eagle Corps’ Special Operations Group was personally formed by Lu Zexuan’s great-grandfather a hundred years ago after he quelled a sentinel rebellion. All members of the team were surnamed Lu, passed down through generations, and were the loyal confidants of the Lu family. These people had received special training since childhood, and their loyalty was unquestionable.

After activating the summoning mode, the positions of several agents would automatically appear on a few agents’ communicators.

Lu Zexuan patiently waited, and sure enough, people started arriving.

The first to enter was a very beautiful female guide who came by car, her spirit body being a transparent dragonfly. Her appearance was deceptive, with waist-length hair and wearing a white dress, giving off a gentle smile. She was most favored by most sentinels as the “gentle healing type guide”. After entering, she smiled and asked, “General, is there an important mission for the sudden summons?” After realizing it was Lu Zexuan, the girl hesitated for a moment and quickly corrected herself, “Major General?”

She was 27 years old, the Deputy Minister of the Federal Information Security Department.

Lu Zexuan nodded towards her and said, “Let’s wait until everyone’s here.”

Soon after, a sentinel with a wolf spirit body came in. Wolves were a common spirit body, but this sentinel’s wolf was slightly different from others—it was entirely white with emerald green eyes, and its combat power was extremely fierce. This person currently worked in the Investigation Division under Zhu Tianyi.

Not long after, a female sentinel with a gecko spirit body gracefully climbed down from the roof. She wasn’t as tall as other female sentinels, but she was extremely agile and light-footed, with climbing abilities evolved to the extreme. She currently worked in the Federal Parliament’s Defense Department.

One sentinel and guide after another arrived using various methods. Some came by hovercar, some by flying motorcycles, and some by jumping and climbing all the way. In less than half an hour, there were over a dozen people standing there, all elite agents with A+ spirit bodies.

Seeing that the one summoning them was the young Lu Zexuan, everyone exchanged glances with each other, their expressions complex.

Lu Zexuan swept his gaze over them and said calmly, “General Lu has entrusted me with the management authority of the Special Operations Group. Although I haven’t officially taken over as the Corps Commander, since my father has granted me this authority, I represent the highest command of the Eagle Corps—from now on, each one of you must obey my orders. Do you all understand?”

Everyone responded in unison, “Understood!”

Obeying orders was a soldier’s duty. They were the loyal troops cultivated by the Eagle Corps from childhood, and as long as the Corps Commander was from the Lu family, they must swear to follow and protect him to the death.

Lu Zexuan continued, “I have obtained your information and know where you all work. Continue to remain undercover and don’t let anyone discover your identities. In case of emergencies, I will press the summoning command. Except for those who are unable to leave due to ongoing missions, everyone else must arrive at the designated location as quickly as possible.”

Everyone nodded in understanding.

Lu Zexuan paused and said, “This time, besides getting to know each other, there’s another task I need to assign.” He looked at the gentle-looking girl and said, “Dragonfly, you are responsible for investigating the backgrounds of all the members of the Eagle Special Forces, including their family backgrounds and all their experiences from childhood to the present. I need a detailed report within two days.”

Dragonfly was surprised and asked, “Are you investigating your own team?”

Lu Zexuan replied, “That’s correct. I suspect there’s more to Major General Lu Cheng’an’s death than meets the eye.” He found a reasonable excuse and then handed a list to the gecko in front of him, saying, “These are photos of the members of the Eagle Special Forces who may go out. Tomorrow morning at 7 o’clock, after the White Tower opens, each of you will pick one person to follow. Remember, maintain a safe distance and don’t let them notice you. Two days later, at 10 o’clock in the evening, come back here and report everything you observed to me.”

The agents quickly assigned themselves to track their targets.

Lu Zexuan turned around and said, “Alright, everyone can go now. Remember to stay hidden.”

Watching Lu Zexuan drive away, several agents exchanged glances, their emotions complex. They didn’t expect that despite his young age, he was so straightforward in assigning tasks. They didn’t understand why Lu Zexuan suddenly doubted his cousin’s cause of death, but since he had given the orders, everyone had to obey.

As the Captain, Lu Zexuan couldn’t investigate personally because everyone in the team knew him, and they would definitely be on guard against him. Sending undercover agents to investigate the team he led would be more likely to uncover any issues.

Within 5 minutes, the villa in the suburbs was empty, as if nothing had happened.

Lu Zexuan drove back to the White Tower. Whether there was any problem with his cousin’s death was just a suspicion. More importantly, he wanted to expose the mole within the Eagle Special Forces. Of course, he didn’t need to let these agents know the detailed plan. The more people who knew, the more risk Yu Ran would face.

After returning to the White Tower, Lu Zexuan convened a meeting with the members of the Eagle Special Forces and said, “This mission was a close call for everyone. I know you’re not in the best spirits, so I specifically applied for a two-day vacation from the higher-ups to allow everyone to rest and recover.”

The people showed joy on their faces, and someone asked, “Can I go home to see my parents?”

Lu Zexuan said, “Of course. Be back at the White Tower at 8 a.m. sharp next Monday. The White Tower will continue to assign us new tasks. During the weekend, if you want to visit your family or go out for a stroll, feel free to arrange it yourselves.”

Everyone cheered, “That’s great!” 

“It’s rare to have a holiday, I’m going out for some fresh air.” 

“I want to go out for a hotpot, anyone wants to join?”

Hummingbird asked enthusiastically, “Major Lu, what are you planning to do this weekend?”

Lu Zexuan glanced at Yu Ran and said, “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll take Ranran around for a walk.”

Everyone showed expressions of understanding.

After the meeting dispersed, it was already 11 p.m., and the White Tower had restrictions on leaving without special circumstances. Everyone went back to rest, planning to go out and relax in the next two days.

Yu Ran followed Lu Zexuan back to the dormitory and asked through lip reading, “Did you intentionally give everyone a day off?”

Lu Zexuan nodded, “I have my arrangements.”

The two exchanged glances, and Yu Ran didn’t say anything more, turning to sleep, while Lu Zexuan continued to sleep on the sofa.

The next day, Lu Zexuan took Yu Ran out early in the morning, pretending to go to the park for a “date”—only when he left, would the mole relax their vigilance. The process of this mission was quite thrilling, and Lu Zexuan almost sacrificed himself. The mole would definitely find a way to contact their handler to pass on information, right?

Lu Zexuan told everyone they would have a mission on Monday, so the weekend was deliberately created as an “opportunity” for the other side.

Sentinels patrolled around the central square near the White Tower. At 9 a.m., Xiong Kai left in his hovercar, unaware that a female sentinel with a gecko spirit body had been silently tracking him. At 10 a.m., Mohr also left, unaware that a tall sentinel was following him from a distance, heading in the same direction.

When Lin Fengyao left, she happened to bump into a girl with long hair. The girl was knocked down, and Lin Fengyao paused, saying, “Are you okay? Sorry, I was distracted and didn’t see you.”

The girl smiled as she got up and said, “It’s okay, don’t worry.”

Her voice was very gentle, probably a guide? The two passed each other, and Lin Fengyao didn’t notice that a completely transparent dragonfly had unknowingly stuck to her back.

One by one, the members of the Eagle Special Forces went out, each followed by someone they didn’t know. The special agents trained by the Lu family’s Military Intelligence Department had top-notch anti-surveillance abilities trained since childhood. When they tracked people, they could do so without being noticed.

Moreover, the members of the Eagle Special Forces didn’t know these people at all. Even if they occasionally saw them, they would only think of them as irrelevant passersby.

Lu Zexuan handed over the investigation of the team members to the special agent team, and he took Yu Ran to the Bay Park. In May, the plum blossoms in Bay Park had already withered, but there were large patches of peonies blooming, releasing a rich fragrance that attracted butterflies and bees to dance around.

Today was the weekend, and there were quite a few people in Bay Park. Lu Zexuan and Yu Ran walked side by side… After walking for a while, Yu Ran suddenly lightly held Lu Zexuan’s hand. Lu Zexuan’s back stiffened.

This was the first time someone held his hand, and it happened so suddenly that he even felt a little dazed at that moment. Yu Ran’s fingers were slender and beautiful. When he lightly held Lu Zexuan’s hand, the warm temperature was transmitted through the fingertips, as if scratching an itch in his heart.

Lu Zexuan’s heartbeat skipped a beat, but he quickly calmed down and calmly held Yu Ran’s hand back, interlocking their fingers. Yu Ran must have noticed something.

In front of so many passersby, Yu Ran couldn’t use mental tendrils to communicate with Lu Zexuan, as it would raise suspicion. So, he cleverly used the action of “holding hands” to remind Lu Zexuan.

Lu Zexuan immediately entered the role, walking with Yu Ran while holding hands, and said, “Last time we came, we saw plum blossoms blooming, and now it’s peonies. We’re lucky; every time we come to Bay Park, we can enjoy such beautiful scenery.”

Yu Ran smiled and said, “Whether the flowers bloom or not doesn’t matter; what’s important is who’s by my side.”

The two smiled at each other.

Just as they turned the corner, a girl greeted Yu Ran with a smile, “Ranran! What a coincidence, you’re here too?”

Lu Zexuan’s pupils slightly contracted— Rong Yingying, the “cousin” with a broken leg from Planet B73 whom Yu Ran mentioned before. In the past, Lu Zexuan might have thought it was a coincidence if he saw her, thinking that Yu Ran’s cousin happened to come to the capital star. But now that he knew the secrets of the Dark Night Organization, as he looked at the brilliant smile on the girl’s face, he felt more and more uneasy.

—She should be under control, her brain starting to run a program to automatically recognize Yu Ran.

Yu Ran let go of Lu Zexuan’s hand and quickly walked over, “Cousin? What are you doing here?”

Rong Yingying said with a smile, “I heard that the peonies here are blooming, so I came to take a look. By the way, who is this?”

Yu Ran scratched his head embarrassedly and introduced, “This is my boyfriend, Lu Zexuan.”

Lu Zexuan stepped forward and politely greeted, “Hello, we met on Planet B73.”

Rong Yingying exclaimed excitedly, “I remember now, you’re the Major Lu who activated the healing chamber and saved me! Thank you so much; my legs have fully recovered now. Since we met by chance today, why don’t I treat you two to a meal?”

Lu Zexuan looked at Yu Ran, who nodded and said, “Sure, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my cousin. Let’s have a meal together.”

Rong Yingying led the two to the parking lot.

Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan followed behind her, pretending to be intimate and holding hands. Lu Zexuan quickly wrote in Yu Ran’s palm, “Where is she taking you?”

Yu Ran wrote back, “To meet the masked person. She will use drugs to hypnotize me. Pretend you don’t know.”

Lu Zexuan looked at Yu Ran with concern. It was the first time he truly felt the difficulty of Yu Ran’s undercover work. Meeting with high-ranking members of the Dark Night Organization, it was clearly not the first time for Yu Ran. Every time, was he taken away like this under hypnosis?

Alone, getting into the other party’s car, being hypnotized, unable to control life and death. Perhaps this sleep would never wake up again, and he couldn’t resist.

If it weren’t for Yu Ran’s extremely strong psychological resilience, he would probably have been exposed long ago. Seeing Yu Ran being able to act calmly in such a situation, Lu Zexuan couldn’t help but admire him even more. It also strengthened his belief in standing by Yu Ran’s side—

Ranran, you’re not alone anymore.

On this arduous road, I’ll be there with you.