Chapter 101: Who Was the Murderer?
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The follower’s rank as an officer made the interrogation tricky. Heinrich told Arnold to gauge the situation carefully and try to extract as much information as possible to report back to him. For now, Heinrich accompanied Lin Xu to the Perser Estate.
During the trip, Lin Xu sent a message asking Chen Jinshan why he wanted to meet. The reply came: he had something to give Lin Xu and hoped to discuss it in person.
Lin Xu felt something was off. The Chen Jinshan he remembered was not the type to speak so evasively. Moreover, the Perser Estate had been vacant for a long time, and Lin Xu had only been there once before.
The Perser Estate was located in the East City. From the height of their flying vehicle, the cold, crowded clusters of urban buildings sharply contrasted with the rolling green hills below. The gently undulating mounds were covered in grass, dotted here and there with groves of trees, bushes, and small lakes.
The estate itself was surrounded by a ring of trees. Countless deep blue cylindrical columns of varying heights stood together as the estate’s main architectural body. In the sunlight, they reflected a fine sheen. Only up close could one see that the outer surfaces of the columns were thick steel bars woven and twisted around each other, with glimpses of glass visible through the gaps.
The previous generations of the Perseus Group heirs had designed and built this estate, which boasted a distinctly contemporary technocratic aesthetic. The main building, called “The Flute’s Song,” had an interior space almost as large as a high-end library.
Marianna disliked the style and the empty, lonely rooms. After getting married, she and Chen Jinshan had lived in a high-rise apartment near Capital Star University in the West City for convenience.
The estate’s landing pad sat atop a medium-height cylinder. After Heinrich piloted their craft into the estate’s airspace, the AI promptly broadcast a landing announcement over the radio. He eased the control stick, lowered the vehicle’s altitude, and landed steadily on the terrace atop the cylinder.
As they stepped out, an adjacent column opened its door for them. The AI’s voice was polite and refined: “Welcome, guests. Mr. Chen awaits you at Building A, Room 1031. Please follow my directions. Estimated distance: 897 meters.”
The building’s internal structure was maddeningly complex. Lin Xu and Heinrich took three different elevators and passed through countless corridors before finally arriving at Building A, Room 1031. Just as their footsteps neared the door, a soft “click” sounded as the dark gray door unlocked. Controlled by the smart system, it slowly swung open to welcome the visitors.
A figure dressed in the deep brown uniform of the Third Legion stood with his hands behind his back at the window, his presence as imposing as a mountain. He seemed lost in thought. The silhouette was backlit, shrouded in shadow. Hearing the door open, Chen Jinshan turned around. His gaze paused briefly when it met Heinrich’s — as if surprised to see him there. Chen Jinshan first greeted Lin Xu, then raised his hand in salute toward Heinrich. “Marshal Chu.”
“Hello, Colonel Chen,” Heinrich replied calmly.
“Mr. Chen,” Lin Xu addressed him directly, “what did you want to discuss with me?”
Lin Xu cut straight to the point without pretense or small talk. Chen Jinshan was used to his cold demeanor and didn’t mind; instead, he glanced at Heinrich twice. He had vaguely heard rumors about Lin Xu and Heinrich’s relationship. Since Heinrich accompanied Lin Xu to the Perser Estate today, perhaps those rumors were not entirely baseless.
“Marshal Chu, I’d like to speak with Xiao Xu alone. Could you wait outside for a while?” Chen Jinshan asked. Heinrich did not insist on staying. Chen Jinshan smiled politely. “There’s a lounge next door. The AI will escort you. If you get bored, you can also tour ‘The Flute’s Song.’ No one else is here.”
After Heinrich turned and left, the room door automatically closed. Chen Jinshan came around from behind the desk and invited Lin Xu to sit on the sofa in the room’s center. He took a seat opposite. Chen Jinshan seemed to try to appear gentle, but his spine was tense and unrelaxed as ever.
“Xiao Xu, have you been to Marianna’s Zero Vault today?”
Lin Xu nodded.
“Looking for something?”
Lin Xu furrowed his brow, studying Chen Jinshan’s face. He only saw determination — and beneath it, faint exhaustion. Chen Jinshan took a paper-bound notebook from a bag by the desk and handed it to Lin Xu.
“Is this what you were looking for?”
The notebook had a red cover. Lin Xu flipped to the title page and frowned deeper at a half-torn Russian poem:
If life deceives you…
Chen Jinshan’s actions and words showed he knew of its existence and significance.
“This is the ‘Red-Covered Book’?”
“Yes.”
But Lin Xu’s fingers stroked the smooth paper, and his doubts deepened.
“It shouldn’t look this new.”
Too new for an artifact that could be anywhere from six hundred to three thousand years old.
“This is a copy. The original is stored somewhere else.”
“When did you get it?”
“After Marianna died… before I went to the Michael Line.”
That was right… entering the Zero Vault required multiple layers of verification. The security system was so advanced that even Ika needed time to hack it. It was nearly impossible for anyone to slip in quietly and steal the Red-Covered Book.
When they reached the thirtieth underground level, Mandan and Patterson hadn’t mentioned any emergencies in the Zero Vault. Lin Xu had even wondered if there was a mole among them. Now the truth was clear—there was no mole. Chen Jinshan was also one of Marianna’s heirs and had full legal rights to access the vault.
But Chen Jinshan’s speed was too fast. Lin Xu couldn’t help but suspect, “Mr. Chen, you knew from the beginning that the Red-Covered Book was connected to Marianna’s death, didn’t you?”
When Lin Xu lifted his eyes, the ice-cold sharpness in his gray gaze startled Chen Jinshan. He had never seen Lin Xu so keen and intense. In Chen Jinshan’s impression, Lin Xu had always been a quiet young man who avoided socializing. He seemed to bristle with thorns whenever disturbed by outsiders, but was actually smart and docile—which was why Marianna had loved him so much. Lin Xu’s change made Chen Jinshan’s throat tighten as if a huge stone pressed down on it.
“Yes,” Chen Jinshan said. He had known from the start. That was why, when the shadow of the assassination vortex loomed, he tried to persuade Lin Xu to give up his Ancient Earth research and buy a small, beautiful planet—to live a peaceful, undisturbed life.
But Lin Xu seemed… different from what he expected. Chen Jinshan still remembered the message he received before their visit: the men he sent out had been knocked out cold by Lin Xu’s single punch.
“You always knew who killed Marianna?” Lin Xu leaned forward, eyes locked on Chen Jinshan’s, his voice nearly accusatory. “Who was it?”
Chen Jinshan opened his mouth but froze. He had rehearsed countless times before Lin Xu arrived, yet at this moment, his mind shattered into blankness. He didn’t know where to start.
His hand on his knee clenched tightly. After a few deep breaths, he said, “Xiao Xu, I have a few names now, but… it’s too complicated. One or two names can’t cover it all. Many people are involved. You… why don’t you look through the Red-Covered Book first?”
Many people… of course there would be many. From smuggled assassins and weapons to the cover-up by the Crown Prince after the assassination, and media manipulation—the lies formed a massive web woven by countless hands, hiding life and truth beneath it.
Lin Xu closed his eyes, feeling blood rush fiercely to his brain and chest. His heart involuntarily sped up, as if about to explode at any moment. When he opened his eyes again, he didn’t look at Chen Jinshan but lowered his head and flipped open the Red-Covered Book. On the title page was a fragmented poem. Further in was a diary written by a Russian speaker.
The first diary entry was dated December 25, 2077—
“The Ark Fleet will set sail on New Year’s Day. I hope everything goes smoothly…
Sometimes I feel like a deserter, but humanity can no longer survive on Earth. We have to find a new home.
Alfred Noberson says the Ark Fleet will be the new torch of human civilization… I hope so.”
Flipping forward, the diary’s owner left no words on January 1, 2078. It wasn’t until January 13 that a new entry appeared:
“Humans! The most terrifying creatures on the planet!”
January 18:
“We left the Earth-Moon system. Everything on the fleet has finally settled. Earth is now a tiny blue dot in my vision; the destroyed moon is no longer visible.”
Destroyed moon? Lin Xu recalled the abnormal radiation from the moon rocks and focused harder on reading.
“According to fleet broadcasts, Alfred said that at launch, the regional bases and the moon base fired missiles at the fleet’s ships, trying to bring Earth down with us, forcing the Ark Fleet to retaliate with nuclear strikes.
But who really knows the truth? Alfred is crazy. I suspect he hated the people at the bases and tried to destroy them all as he left Earth.
But maybe the bases really wanted to shoot us down—after all, Alfred took so many scientists, weapons, technology, and food. Those left behind must have gone mad with despair… I don’t know. All I know is, we no longer have a moon.”
The Ark Fleet was Alfred’s plan?! That familiar name flashed in Lin Xu’s gray eyes. For a moment, the barrier between reality and history shattered with a deafening roar in his mind.
He quickly flipped through the diary. Its author was a soldier with special abilities who had been assigned patrol duties aboard the Ark Fleet. As the fleet moved farther from Earth, their powers waned due to a lack of crystal core energy.
Since these abilities couldn’t be passed down through reproduction and the special apocalyptic environment to trigger powers no longer existed, fleet scientists believed future humans would no longer have such powers.
The fleet’s freshwater and food supplies steadily decreased. The long interstellar journey forced fleet leaders to put members into hibernation batches to conserve resources and extend the lives of the first generation. The diary’s owner was in the third batch of hibernation.
“Interstellar travel made me tired and bored. I saw a psychologist, who said many suffered from ‘space travel syndrome’—it could only be relieved, not cured. To escape it, you had to hibernate… so I signed up for the third batch.”
“May 8, 2199.
I woke from hibernation. I thought after more than a hundred years asleep, the Ark Fleet would have found a habitable planet. But they hadn’t! Instead, while fiddling with jump technology, they got trapped in the Zerg Hole! My God, save foolish humanity!”
“June 3, 2199.
The new generation of humans developed ABO new genders due to cosmic radiation. Their bodies and minds became stronger. Normally, if it’s estrus, alphas and omegas are like idiots.”
“July 8, 2202.
We encountered… I don’t know what to call it. Anyway, it’s called the Spiritual Monarch. It has a beautiful human face, but scientists think it might be a higher civilization, or maybe a god. I can’t say. It seems harmless.
Scientists say they are learning the jump technology taught by the Spiritual Monarch. The fleet might soon escape the Zerg Hole.”
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