First Interstellar Guide Chapter 54: Cousin’s Truth

Chapter 54: Cousin’s Truth

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Rong Yingying hailed a cab and took Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan to the central square of the White Tower. She smiled and bid farewell to Yu Ran, “Ranran, I’ll head back now. Goodbye.”

Yu Ran waved back to her, “Goodbye, cousin.”

Lu Zexuan watched her car disappear into the distance before turning around and taking Yu Ran back to the White Tower dormitory. Yu Ran noticed that the man kept holding his hand without letting go. He initially thought Lu Zexuan was overly engrossed in acting and voluntarily withdrew his hand, using mental tendrils to connect with Lu Zexuan and saying in his mind, “It’s alright now, I’ve handled it.”

Lu Zexuan looked at him, his eyes filled with concern. “Are you okay? Did they trouble you?”

Yu Ran replied, “I’m fine. I had two S-rank healing guides check my mental landscape to see if I was lying. I managed to deceive them successfully using the invisibility ability of the nine-tailed fox.”

Lu Zexuan frowned, “They?”

“It’s the siblings, Adeline.” Seeing Lu Zexuan’s surprised eyes, Yu Ran added, “Adeline’s brother never actually died. His spirit body, Orchid Mantis, can turn invisible. He’s been hiding behind the scenes all these years, selling famous paintings and jewels on the black market to launder money. I suspect all the money they’ve earned is being used as funds for the organization.”

Lu Zexuan furrowed his brows. He had thought Mrs. Adeline was a gentle and kind guide, always concerned about impoverished children in remote areas, raising funds for them. However, tearing off this layer of hypocrisy revealed that the siblings were actually insatiable, heartless, cunning merchants, even becoming the strongest aid to the underworld organization.

As the president of the Southern Chamber of Commerce, since she had sided with the underworld organization, many wealthy people in the business world probably had joined or been controlled by them.

Lu Zexuan took a deep breath and asked, “Their superiors, have you met them?”

Yu Ran shook his head, “The superiors I met today were still wearing masks and didn’t reveal any identity information. They don’t trust me enough yet. Perhaps, after I bring you back to the organization, I’ll be able to contact their true leaders.”

Lu Zexuan nodded, “Alright, I’ll cooperate with you to complete the mission.”

Yu Ran remained silent for a moment before whispering, “Lu Zexuan, thank you for being willing to help me. You should know, what we’re doing is very risky. A slight mistake could cost us our lives.”

Lu Zexuan looked at him, his gaze firm yet gentle, “Let go and do it. Death is not scary; what’s scary is living without a soul.”

Yu Ran hesitated for a moment before nodding at Lu Zexuan. Yes, living like Rong Yingying, without a soul… Was she still considered alive?

If one day, the underworld organization controlled the entire federation, making all sentinels puppets, such a world would be meaningless even if one were alive. Yu Ran was glad that Lu Zexuan could understand this point and stand on the same front with him.

Over the years, he had infiltrated the underworld organization alone, every step fraught with danger, and in emergencies, he had no one to consult with. But now it was different. He had a sentinel willing to walk beside him, support him, cooperate with him, and help him.

They would face everything together.

***

On Sunday night at 10 o’clock, Lu Zexuan secretly returned to the vacant villa in the suburbs.

The members of Eagle Legion Special Forces One were already waiting here. Lu Zexuan scanned the crowd and said, “How’s the investigation going? Report to me one by one.”

The female guide with waist-length hair handed a data chip to Lu Zexuan first, “Here is the information you requested.”

Lu Zexuan opened it with his personal terminal. Inside were detailed family backgrounds and life experiences of all members of the Eagle Special Forces, even down to which classmates they had in elementary school.

Working in the Federal Information Department made it convenient to access such information. Lu Zexuan first looked at Mohr’s information since he had always considered Mohr his best friend.

Mohr’s parents were ordinary workers. His awakening as a guide was similar to the story concocted by Yu Ran—his parents died in a traffic accident, greatly traumatizing Mohr’s mental state, causing him to awaken as an A-rank guide at the age of 16. After burying his parents, he came to the capital star to register with the Guide Association and then went to the Guide Academy for study.

Due to entering school relatively late, his comprehension far exceeded that of students his age, and he completed the courses of the Guide Academy and graduated in just one year, entering the Federal First Military Academy with the highest score at the age of 17, majoring in field emergency medicine.

His mentor was… Jiao Shuo. He was actually a student of his mother?

Lu Zexuan continued reading with a furrowed brow. During his school years, Mohr studied diligently and won scholarships every year. He also participated in several well-known papers published by Jiao Shuo’s research group on “Guide Psychology.” He graduated early from the Guide Medical College at the age of 20 with the highest honors and joined the Eagle Special Forces, serving in the field team for eight years. He was currently 28 years old.

Although Mohr was an A-rank guide, due to his diligence, Jiao Shuo liked him very much and gave him many opportunities during his school years. Later, when he joined the Eagle Legion, it was also personally recommended by Jiao Shuo.

Lu Zexuan didn’t know much about his mother’s students, and Yu Ran knew even less. Perhaps because Mohr had served for eight full years but refused to retire, and since Mohr was a guide and the underworld organization was mainly composed of guides, Ranran suspected him. But now, it seemed that Mohr’s entire academic process was very straightforward, with Jiao Shuo being the person he interacted with the most.

Unless Jiao Shuo was also with the underworld organization.

Lu Zexuan believed that his mother would not be such a lunatic. His mother had always believed that guides and sentinels complemented each other, and the ideas she instilled in the students at the Military Medical College were about guiding them to use their talents to help humanity. Besides, his father had been investigating that organization in secret. If there was something wrong with his close associate, with Lu Tingyu’s vigilance, he wouldn’t be unaware.

As long as Jiao Shuo was fine, Mohr, who had rarely interacted with other high-level guides, probably wouldn’t have a problem. But why did he insist on staying in the team? Even though it was time for retirement?

Remembering his cousin’s words about “taking care of Mohr,” Lu Zexuan couldn’t help but feel a pang of worry. He looked at the sentinel tracking Mohr and asked in a low voice, “Has Mohr shown any unusual behavior these past few days?”

“He left on Saturday morning at 10 o’clock, bought a bouquet of flowers at 10:30, arrived at the suburban cemetery at 11:00 to pay respects to Major General Lu Cheng’an. He stayed in the cemetery all afternoon, returned to the White Tower by car at 5:00 in the evening, and didn’t go out all day Sunday.”

As he listened to the report, Lu Zexuan’s doubts grew stronger… Going to pay respects to his cousin alone? It’s unlikely that Mohr and his cousin had romantic feelings for each other, right? They developed feelings for each other during their time in the Eagle Special Forces, but before they could confess, his cousin sacrificed himself? So, has Mohr stayed in the Eagle Special Forces all these years simply because he still has lingering attachments to this place?

A-grade guides are actually quite easy to find partners for, and with Mohr’s gentle personality, he’s quite popular among sentinels. Many people have pursued him, and Mrs. Joseph has introduced him to many outstanding candidates, but he has never shown any intention of dating… It’s not that he’s working as an undercover agent for the underworld organization, but because there’s already someone in his heart?

Thinking back to the scene of his cousin’s sacrifice, Lu Zexuan’s heart ached unbearably.

Mohr was a very reserved and gentle person, while his cousin was sunny and enthusiastic. Thinking about it carefully, the two of them were actually quite compatible. If it weren’t for his own lack of experience back then, and if he hadn’t been surrounded by monsters accidentally, his cousin wouldn’t have sacrificed himself to save him…

Lu Zexuan clenched his fists tightly. “What about the others? Have they shown any unusual behavior?”

A sentinel reported, “Lü Xiaolong went out shopping and bought a large bag of snacks.”

“Lin Fengyao has been practicing combat at the boxing gym all weekend.”

“Xiong Kai drove to a hotel. He has a strong counter-surveillance awareness and drove around the streets for an hour, almost losing me. I also accidentally saw that a familiar person also went to the hotel on Saturday.” Snow Wolf, who worked in the Investigation Division, spoke in a low voice. “It’s the deputy director of our Investigation Division, Qi An. Her bees can monitor a large area, and to avoid being discovered by her, I didn’t continue to follow.”

“Which hotel?” Lu Zexuan asked.

“It’s the Field Hot Springs Hotel in the outskirts of the capital star.”

“…Hot springs hotel?” Xiong Kai doesn’t seem like the type to go to a hot spring alone. Lu Zexuan looked down at the information. Xiong Kai’s family members were all dug up by the Information Department—father Xiong Xingyan, mother Qi Ruoyun, sister Qi An. A family of four, could they all have been bought by the underworld organization? It seems that Ranran’s guesses and analyses were correct; this Xiong Kai has a big problem.

“By the way, General, you mentioned suspicions about Major General Lu Cheng’an’s cause of death. I specifically looked through the files and investigation results from that year. That Lü Xiaolong, he reported to the Eagle Special Forces a week before Major General Lu Cheng’an’s accident. Before reporting, he also bought a large bag of snacks.”

Lu Zexuan’s pupils suddenly contracted.

Snacks? A scene forgotten in his memory suddenly appeared vividly in his mind.

“Does anyone want some cookies? I bought cookies, all kinds of flavors.” A new recruit who had just arrived at the team enthusiastically distributed snacks to everyone.

Lu Cheng’an patted him on the shoulder with a smile. “Oh, I didn’t expect you to be a foodie. Still eating snacks at your age?”

Lü Xiaolong scratched his head and handed him a pack of cookies. “Captain, try these lemon-flavored cookies, they’re really delicious!”

Lu Cheng’an took them and tore open the packaging… there seemed to be some white powder inside the cookies. Sandwich cookies were common, and after tasting a few bites, Lu Cheng’an seemed to find them delicious and started eating them heartily.

Lu Zexuan stepped forward. “Let me try.”

As Lu Cheng’an was about to share some with him, Lü Xiaolong hurriedly came over and handed him a new pack. “Captain, try these! I have more here!”

So, Lu Zexuan took another new pack of cookies and ate them.

“… “

The clear image replayed in his mind, at the time, he didn’t notice anything wrong. It was just a new soldier sharing snacks with everyone, and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the packaging of the snacks. But now, upon careful consideration, why did Lü Xiaolong stop Lu Zexuan from eating his cousin’s cookies? Was it because something was added to them, and he was afraid that two S-level sentinels eating together would cause the situation to spiral out of control?

Lu Zexuan’s face darkened, and he looked down at Lü Xiaolong’s information.

Both parents deceased, entered the sentinel academy at 13 for education, graduated at 15, entered the Military Reconnaissance College of the Federal First Military Academy at 16—these were all normal experiences for a sentinel. However, from the age of 17 to 18, he had to take a year off from school due to health reasons, and after returning, he continued his studies. After graduating from the military academy at 21, he joined the Eagle Special Forces.

On the surface, there was nothing wrong with this information. But when Lu Zexuan connected the dots, he couldn’t help but feel that things weren’t so simple.

Lü Xiaolong’s identity was probably fabricated.

Being a foodie was the best cover, using the seemingly unsuspicious method of “sharing snacks” to drug Lu Cheng’an. Perhaps, when he joined the Eagle Special Forces back then, he was sent by the underworld organization to conduct experiments.

Lu Cheng’an was the first target of the underworld organization. Thinking of his cousin’s sudden berserk scene back then, Lu Zexuan wished he could personally grab those scumbags and kneel before his brother’s grave to kowtow.

Seeing General Lu’s face turn ashen, the several operatives exchanged glances and dared not speak for a while.

After a long while, Lu Zexuan closed his eyes to calm himself down and whispered, “Thank you all for your hard work. Continue to return to your positions and stay undercover. When there’s an emergency, I’ll gather you again… Remember, take care of yourselves.”

Everyone responded in unison, “Yes!”

The operatives quickly disappeared, leaving Lu Zexuan standing in the empty villa, looking at the information in his hand. It seems that there’s not just one undercover agent in the Eagle Special Forces.

Xiong Kai has a problem, and so does Lü Xiaolong.

Although General Lu of the Eagle Legion was gentle in temperament, he was a very upright person. He never accepted bribes and rarely interacts with government officials. It would be too difficult to corrupt him. Therefore, the underworld organization targeted the younger generation of the Lu family.

Lu Cheng’an’s father passed away at an early age, and he was fostered by his uncle. It was his uncle, Lu Tingyu, who raised him single-handedly. Lu Tingyu treated him like his own child, and Lu Cheng’an, leading the Eagle Special Forces to victories in the north and south, was bound to be promoted to the new commander of the Eagle Legion in a few years.

The underworld organization wanted to threaten Lu Tingyu by controlling Lu Cheng’an. However, due to the immature state of drug research at the time and an unexpected encounter with fierce creatures during a mission, Lu Zexuan was besieged. Lu Cheng’an rushed into the group of beasts to save his cousin, leading to a sudden berserk, and he was completely engulfed by the beasts…

So, they turned their sights on Lu Zexuan again.

The suburban villa was extremely desolate, with Lu Zexuan standing alone in the empty hall, his tall figure looking incredibly lonely. He vaguely remembered playing with his cousin here when he was young. With their parents busy working and often not at home, he grew up with his brother, Lu Cheng’an, who was his closest family. The person he respected the most died to save him…

It was a pain he could never let go of. Lu Zexuan’s fists clenched tightly in his palms. Those sneaky rats hiding behind the scenes, one day, he would personally kill them, offering their blood to his cousin’s lost soul.