Chapter 70: Meeting the Masked Man Again
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Outside the White Tower, Rong Yingying waved at Yu Ran with a smile, “Ranran!”
Her smile was as bright as ever. If Yu Ran didn’t already know that she was being controlled like a puppet, to outsiders, she would seem like a caring older cousin visiting her younger cousin.
Yu Ran cooperatively smiled back at her and walked over, saying, “Cousin.”
Concerned, Rong Yingying asked, “I heard about the incident with the Eagle Special Forces. Are you okay?”
Yu Ran dutifully played along, “I’m fine, it’s just my comrades… 51 of them died.” He lowered his head and whispered, “Cousin, haven’t you eaten yet? Let’s talk over a meal.”
“Yeah, I’ve already booked a restaurant. Let’s go,” Rong Yingying said, leading the two into the car. She sat in the driver’s seat, activated the automatic navigation system, and then handed Yu Ran two thin needles, obviously containing sedatives. She even pointed out to Yu Ran that the second one was for Lu Zexuan.
In his mind, Lu Zexuan thought, “Every time you meet with people from the organization, they have to knock you out?”
“Yes, they’re worried I’ll remember the route and know their location,” Yu Ran said. “The people behind the scenes are very cautious, so only a few top-level members of the entire Dark Night Organization know his true identity. I’m not qualified to see his real face.”
“Alright, let’s cooperate then, to avoid arousing suspicion.”
Yu Ran picked up the needle and sedated Lu Zexuan, then promptly sedated himself.
Rong Yingying, still smiling, drove around the streets of the capital for several laps before heading to a restaurant. Immediately, a waiter came out and helped the unconscious Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan into the elevator.
***
When Lu Zexuan woke up, he found himself in a sealed space, dimly lit, with someone sitting close by wearing a bronze mask. The mask looked grotesque, with faint traces of dried blood. Waking up suddenly in the darkness and seeing such a sinister face would startle most people.
However, Lu Zexuan was mentally prepared. Almost the moment he woke up, he adjusted his expression. The handsome sentinel stared blankly ahead, looking soulless.
The masked person spoke, “Aren’t you afraid of me?”
His voice was mechanized, with a strange hoarseness to it. Lu Zexuan didn’t react, continuing to stare blankly at the person.
The masked person asked, “Who are you?”
Lu Zexuan replied mechanically, like a robot, “I am Captain of the Federal Eagle Special Forces, Major General Lu Zexuan.”
The masked person said, “What happened at the Dorado Constellation?”
Lu Zexuan replied emotionlessly, “We encountered a group of monsters capable of aerial attacks at the Dorado Constellation. All airships were destroyed, 51 comrades sacrificed. Only Yu Ran, Lu Xiaolu, and I survived.”
The masked person pondered for a moment, then waved his hand. Immediately, the twins, Adeline and Andrei, walked into the room together, with two identical mantises following behind their master.
The masked person said, “It seems he is indeed controlled by Yu Ran. Check his mental landscape.”
The two looked at each other, and the mantises immediately rushed towards Lu Zexuan.
Theoretically, if Lu Zexuan was indeed controlled by Yu Ran, then his mental landscape would have already been destroyed by Yu Ran, with no defense barriers whatsoever— and that was indeed the case. The two mantises broke into the mental landscape of the S-rank sentinel smoothly, encountering no resistance whatsoever. However, once they entered the mental landscape, Adeline and Andrei were stunned.
This was the most horrifying mental landscape they had ever seen. As far as the eye could see, there was only desolation and ruin. The land resembled a drought-stricken wasteland, with cracks everywhere, and many areas were burnt to ashes by the mental energy of the Nine-Tails Flame Fox, leaving behind clusters of blackened traces.
A giant White Eagle stood on the barren land, dazed, occasionally flapping its wings, indicating that it was still alive. Its eyes were vacant. Clearly, it was the mighty S-rank spirit body, the King of the Sky Eagle, yet its current appearance was that of a pitiful bird without a home. Even Adeline couldn’t help but feel a hint of pity for it.
Andrei urged the mantises to approach it, deliberately poking its face and wings with its limbs, but it showed no reaction. Both of them vividly remembered that the last time they checked Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape, they saw magnificent snow-capped mountains. They hadn’t expected that after some time had passed, Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape would be destroyed into such a state—
Yu Ran was indeed ruthless, and his mental energy was strong enough to actually control an S-rank sentinel! The siblings exchanged glances, and they made the mantises retreat from Lu Zexuan’s scenery.
The next moment, Lu Zexuan asked, “Where’s Ranran?”
The masked person replied, “Why are you looking for him?”
Lu Zexuan said, “RanRan told me to find him, to protect him at all times, because I’m his sentinel.”
The three of them exchanged glances—was this an order given by Yu Ran to Lu Zexuan? Did Lu Zexuan really obey it?
At this moment, Yu Ran had just woken up.
The Dark Night Organization intentionally adjusted the dosage of the sedatives in the two syringes differently, causing Lu Zexuan to wake up first and Yu Ran later—this was a suggestion from the paranoid Andrei, who said that with this “time difference,” they could independently examine Lu Zexuan while Yu Ran was still unconscious, probing Lu Zexuan’s reactions more accurately.
When Lu Zexuan woke up and couldn’t feel Yu Ran’s mental fluctuations, he was indeed somewhat worried. But the two had already developed a tacit understanding; even if Yu Ran was “offline,” he still had to play the role of “loyal puppet to Yu Ran” well.
Lu Zexuan acted very convincingly, and at least these three didn’t see through his act at all.
After Yu Ran woke up and sensed what Lu Zexuan was doing, he immediately asked in his mind, “Are they interrogating you alone?”
Lu Zexuan replied, “Yes, there’s a masked person, along with Adeline and Andrei.”
Yu Ran asked, “Did the masked person personally probe you with mental tendrils?”
“No, he just sat there watching me and had the twins check.” Lu Zexuan said.
“The masked person is not a high-ranking member of the organization at all. He isn’t even a guide.” Yu Ran quickly concluded, “I suspect he’s also a controlled puppet, a stand-in sent by the highest leader of the organization. There should be surveillance cameras on him, through which the leader can observe our every move. I have a masked person in front of me as well, who also speaks in a mechanical voice, and he is clearly under surveillance.”
Listening to his analysis, Lu Zexuan said, “This big fish is really hidden deep.”
The two of them had been communicating mentally; their conversation in the mental world was unknown to anyone else.
The masked person heard Lu Zexuan asking for Ranran and waved his hand, saying, “Take him to see Yu Ran.”
Adeline opened the door. “Let’s go. The Ranran you’re looking for is ahead.”
Lu Zexuan obediently followed. He walked through a long, pitch-black corridor and entered another sealed room, where he saw Yu Ran sitting there, with another person wearing a bronze mask in front of him.
A hint of joy finally appeared on Lu Zexuan’s dull face. “Ranran.”
Yu Ran waved at him. “Come here, darling.”
Lu Zexuan hurried over and obediently bent down in front of Yu Ran. Yu Ran petted his head lightly, like petting a well-behaved pet, and Lu Zexuan, like a pet trying to please its owner, rubbed against Yu Ran’s palm.
Adeline and Andrei were speechless. This scene was simply unbelievable. The calm, proud, sharp, and powerful S-rank sentinel Lu Zexuan, the youngest three-star major general in the Federation, the only son of General Lu, the proud heir of the Eagle Legion, had actually turned into a puppet without any self-awareness?! He obeyed the guide without question, had no self-respect in front of Yu Ran, and willingly became Yu Ran’s dog?
If General Lu knew about this, he would probably be so angry he’d spit blood.
Yu Ran seemed to find Lu Zexuan’s head very pleasing to touch. After patting him several times, he withdrew his hand and looked at Adeline. “How about it? Are you satisfied with the puppet I’ve tamed?”
The siblings exchanged glances. Andrei frowned. “According to the rules, we also need to check your mental landscape.”
Yu Ran smiled. “Sure, go ahead. It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”
Two white mental tendrils stretched out simultaneously, and the two mantises appeared again in Yu Ran’s mental landscape— There wasn’t much difference from the last time they checked; Yu Ran’s mental landscape was still a vast primitive forest, with lush trees and vibrant flowers everywhere, sunlight pouring into the forest, presenting a thriving scene, in stark contrast to Lu Zexuan’s desolate wasteland.
However, Andrei noticed a few more streams in the forest. With Yu Ran’s mental energy, it was normal to create a few more rivers and lakes in the primeval forest. The two didn’t suspect anything and spent a long time scouting along the stream, but they didn’t find anything wrong.
Between guides of the same level, inspecting mental landscapes was akin to physical exhaustion for sentinels of the same level. After a few minutes, fine beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads, and Adeline was the first to retreat. Andrei didn’t linger either and simply retracted the mantises. Everywhere was the same scenery; there was no need to continue. The entire mental world of an S-rank guide couldn’t be explored even in a day and night.
What they didn’t know was that at the moment they left, in the deepest part of the forest, a snow-capped mountain range hidden by the Nine-Tailed Fox gradually emerged—a corner of Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape had already been moved to Yu Ran’s side.
After finishing the inspection, Yu Ran looked at the two and said, “Since the organization doesn’t trust me so much, why do they want me to help you? Don’t you know the principle of not doubting people you use and not using people you doubt? Suspecting me like this all the time, I also feel hurt.” He glanced at Lu Zexuan, signaling, “Zexuan, take action!”
Before the siblings could react, Lu Zexuan suddenly rushed forward, swiftly grabbed the masked person’s neck, and lifted him up like a chicken! The speed of an S-rank sentinel was indeed incomprehensible to ordinary people. All of this happened in just a second. By the time Adeline came to her senses, the masked person had already been lifted up by Lu Zexuan and thrown in front of Yu Ran like a rag doll.
Adeline’s face changed. “Yu Ran, what are you going to do?!”
Yu Ran walked over with a smile, staring into the eyes of the masked person, and slowly said, “This masked big brother is just a stand-in for relaying orders. As I said, within three months, I will bring an obedient Lu Zexuan to see you—and I don’t want to continue to see your stand-ins.”
He stared into the deep eyes of the masked person, where indeed there was a tiny camera.
Yu Ran waved at the camera. “Can you see me?”
Andrei angrily said, “Do you think our master is someone you can easily see?”
Yu Ran raised an eyebrow and said coldly, “I risked my life to complete the task according to your orders, bringing back a precious ace for you. My contribution to the organization should not be small, right? Now that Lu Zexuan has been controlled by me and only listens to me, shouldn’t you also show some sincerity towards me?”
Adeline and Andrei exchanged glances. The latter said, “How much money do you want? Just name it.”
Yu Ran shook his head. “I grew up with star pirates since I was a child. I’ve seen enough money and jewels. I’m not interested in money.”
Adeline asked softly, “Then what do you want?”
Yu Ran thought for a moment and said, “I think it would be fun to be a general. How about granting me a legion after this is done?”
The siblings exchanged glances.
Yu Ran smiled. “Power is more interesting than money. If you can’t make the decision, why not ask your superiors—how about the Eagle Legion? Anyway, since Lu Zexuan is already my puppet, whether he becomes a general or I become a general, there’s not much difference, right?”
A suffocating silence hung in the air for a moment. Clearly, neither of the siblings expected him to make such a bold request. Indeed, as a ruthless star pirate, he was surprisingly audacious and greedy!
The masked person suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice, “Very good, bold and talented, worthy of my attention.”
Adeline immediately turned respectfully and asked, “Do you have any instructions?”
The masked person said, “In three days, let Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan take a private spaceship to the base to meet me.”
Andrei was taken aback. “Do you really want to meet them?”
The masked person replied, “As long as the two pass the final test, then Yu Ran, with the S-rank guide possessing the aggressive spirit body, Nine-Tailed Flame Fox, can indeed become a trusted member of ours. After the matter is settled, I can also fulfill his request.”
The siblings glanced at each other and replied in unison, “Understood.”
In his mind, Yu Ran breathed a sigh of relief. “Did I play my part according to the script? He finally agreed to see me!”
Lu Zexuan cautioned, “Don’t let your guard down. I’m afraid the final test he mentioned might be setting a trap for us.”
Yu Ran said, “I know, but what else can we do?”
Even if they knew it was a trap ahead, they could only jump into it. Because this was their only chance to uncover the truth.
Thanks for the update
nerve wracking