Chapter 45 - Informant (1/2)

As expected, several mainstream media outlets that were in close contact with the Supreme Council began to criticize the remarks Zhong Yan made during the day.

Saying that he could not afford the fines implied that he was prepared to refuse to begin with. For a councilor, this was a rather unusual statement.

Adrian called out to Zhong Yan when he was passing by the living room, ready to go to bed.

“Why did you say that today?”

“What?” Zhong Yan responded casually, “Didn’t I say it? Giant space rabbits are illegal, but normal rabbits aren’t.”

Adrian turned off his terminal screen and looked at him. “You know what I’m talking about. You were busy earlier. I bet you were trying to appease the forces behind you and also using this to test your colleagues, right?”

Zhong Yan did not deny it. He nodded, “This is a good chance to test them. I’ll get to re-examine the cards in my hands and decide which ones can be used, and which ones to discard.

“There’s no turning back once you start,” said Adrian, words laced with intent. “Are you trying to show your sincerity?”

“Naturally, it’s good if this is of any reassurance of you. If I defect after my return to the Capital, and turn towards the AI side in the oncoming changes, you can easily destroy my reputation since you have recordings of me leaking private information during the meeting. There was no turning back for me in the first place. I still haven’t planned to exit the stage of history yet, so you don’t have to be worried about my sincerity.”

“Then why did you decide to choose a road so different from what you chose in the beginning, after so many years?”

“We’ve already discussed this issue.” Zhong Yan evaded the question.

“To protect your seat?” Adrian asked. “I’ve always felt that this wasn’t enough motivation to push you towards gambling everything. I know how you are.”

Zhong Yan opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but he just shook his head in the end. “You can’t ask me to disclose my full plans to you. You’ve never revealed your military secrets to me either, right? Our current demands are the same, so this is enough to achieve a cooperation. There’s no need for us to share everything. That there is the real risk.”

Adrian still felt uneasy, but he managed to overcome his desire to ask—He himself was also clear that he would never ask his partners to reveal their full decks. He did not even care about a secretive organization such as “Specimen”, but it was only because it was Zhong Yan; that brand of betrayal was engraved deep in his heart, so subconsciously, he felt the desire to demand it.

“I don’t trust you,” Adrian said. But he did not have any intentions of asking further.

Zhong Yan could feel a dull throb in his heart. It was not a strong sting, but it was just like Adrian’s tone; it only existed. Without any change in his countenance, he nodded calmly. “As you should. Goodnight.”

……

Three days later. White Aegis.

Intron walked down the gangway and looked curiously around at the legendary planet. The guards led him to the front passenger seat of the car sent over to receive him. After getting in the driver’s seat, the guard looked curiously at the young man from the corner of his eye.

Intron had short, curly brown hair, and he wore a pair of glasses. On the surface, he looked pure and harmless; but the guard knew full well that this young man was not just a simple assistant to a councilor.

And he knew because he was the newly appointed personal guard to Navi’s military commander.

The person this young man was about to meet was the leader of Navi System who had come secretly himself, Adrian Yate.

“Intron Gines?” A third voice suddenly sounded from the back seat of the car.

Intron was startled. He raised his head to look at the rear-view mirror; a man was seated at the back. From the darkness, the view of his face was blurred, but his silver eyes were glowing.

Intron quickly reacted and spoke with great respect. “Greetings, Commander Yate.”

“Hello, Mr. Gines,” Adrian spoke. “Must have been a terribly long trip.”

“No no, it was fine,” Intron responded humbly. Following that, he asked curiously, “Where…are we heading to?”

“Nowhere in particular. You’ve taken a long trip here as Councilor Zhong Yan’s right-hand man, so we’ve arranged for you to have a tour of White Aegis to enjoy the scenery. We’ll bring you back to your ship after we take a look around.”

Intron understood, he intended to talk to him in the car. Indeed, it would be quite suspicious to bring him anywhere at all. The survival of “Specimen” relied on being cautious and low-key. Intron was grateful, “I appreciate your thoughtfulness, this is the best arrangement. In that case, let’s not waste time and get right into it. I have two main purposes for coming here today.”

Adrian responded, “I am listening.”

“Firstly, it is about the information requested by the Navi Military Command half a month ago, regarding ‘Butterfly’s’ changes.” Intron turned on his terminal and pushed up his glasses. “We have verified it urgently with our informant. Regarding the plans with Navi, including next year’s…oh, sorry, it’s this year now. Including the ‘Glory Order’ that was going to be implemented this year, it’s all real. But it’s too difficult to pass information outside of the Navi System. We could not pass on some of the information we collected on the Supreme Council, so I had to come over myself. I’ve already written everything down on paper while I was on my way. I’ll hand it to you personally when we return to my ship.”