Era 2137, Germany, Walthem Sector, Second Space Station, Keon City
When Burgrade woke up, he was already lying in a hospital bed. He struggled to sit up. Judy immediately brought him a glass of milk, but Burgrade ignored her. He forced himself upright, his movements looking as comical as a frog, causing Judy to chuckle involuntarily. Burgrade picked up the glass of milk and placed it on the bedside table. Just as he was about to leave, a sharp pain shot through his arm, reminding him that there was still an IV tube inserted there.
Joseph walked in at that moment. He had only suffered minor scratches and had woken up quickly. Burgrade, however, was different; he had been hit by five pieces of shrapnel in the waist. At the time, Joseph had only seen flesh and blood flying in Burgrade's direction and thought Burgrade was a lost cause before fainting himself. But unexpectedly, Burgrade was tough; Edward had forcibly dragged him back from the hands of the Grim Reaper. However, the shrapnel impact had caused irreversible consequences to his waist.
Joseph sat down, looking "attentively" at his partners around him, then spoke to them unhurriedly. "So, everyone, have you ever considered why the Seventh Base provided us with such detailed information?"
"The Seventh Base? We don't even know where that research base is right now. How could we know so quickly? What exactly do they want to do?" Edward walked in at this point, smiled at Burgrade, and then the calmed-down Joseph explained his thoughts.
"Right, we should figure out the Plasma Crystal issue first. After all, the Seventh Base is also under the strict control of the Solar System Federal Committee; they are unlikely to be bad guys," Judy chimed in from the side.
"Of course I know that, but think about it. Those damned Nazis have already collapsed, so where did the resistance come from? Where did those damned militants come from? Only a fool would be that naive!"
"Alright, alright. Since we can't flush out where those militants came from right now anyway, let's just look little by little. Based on the current clues, we can only go look for the Plasma Gems. Otherwise, what else can we do?" Burgrade finally spoke up to smooth things over.
Joseph sighed lightly and walked toward the door.
"Ankalia, come here for a moment. I have something to discuss with you." Joseph signaled for the voluptuous beauty in front of him to come over. Ankalia looked at Joseph with confusion. She knew Burgrade needed care right now, but she couldn't disobey the order of Captain Joseph, so she eventually walked over.
Joseph looked out the window. After ensuring no one was eavesdropping, he took out a signal jammer and said to Ankalia, "The data on the Plasma Gems was a greeting gift from the Tomorrow Party to the Solar System Federal Committee; it must be extremely precious. Furthermore, according to the data we have now, these Plasma Gems were left behind by the Nazi remnants who fled from Germany to Antarctica. We don't know specifically how the Nazis synthesized and processed these Plasma Crystals. Moreover, after this data passed through the hands of the Seventh Base, we are even less able to confirm if it is the original data given by the Tomorrow Party to the Solar System Federal Committee. Based on my understanding of the Seventh Base's secrecy, they definitely altered the data."
Joseph continued, "According to the Tomorrow Party, they are a resistance force from within the remnant Nazi forces. Their leader, Ernst von Gnad, betrayed the Nazis, led them to establish the Tomorrow Party, and successfully defeated those damned Nazis. But we cannot confirm if these words are true, nor can we confirm the authenticity of the Plasma Crystals. Therefore, I need you to help me get a detector identical to the particle wave detector possessed by the Seventh Base."
Although Ankalia was extremely shocked, she pretended to be calm and nodded to Joseph. She understood that Joseph's theory was built on the premise that he completely disbelieved the data they had received. She understood very well that Joseph simply did not trust the Solar System Federal Committee. Simultaneously, according to Joseph's deduction process, their most capable helper, the Seventh Base, would also become the biggest obstacle in their operation. Yet, the others in this team had become completely reliant on the data sent to them by the Seventh Base—and Joseph's argument was well-founded.
In the shadows, those sharp, hawk-like eyes stared at Joseph once again. His hands pressed down on the detonator switch.
"Boom!"