When Ye Qi finished showering and went out, he noticed a warm light coming from the study on the second floor. He dried his hair and went over, only to see Shao Qingge sitting at his desk, looking at the data on the optical computer with an extremely serious expression on his face.
In Ye Qi's memory, Shao Qingge was always a bit frivolous, often squinting and teasing others, a typical "carefree" rich kid. He rarely saw Shao Qingge with such a serious expression. Perhaps, CEO Shao was like this at work too? A man who gets serious is much more pleasing to the eye.
Ye Qi walked into the room and asked softly, " CEO Shao, have you found any clues?"
The next moment, Shao Qingge's serious expression vanished, replaced by a familiar smile. He raised an eyebrow at Ye Qi: "What did you call me?"
Ye Qi was taken aback: " CEO Shao?"
Shao Qingge stood up, took a few long strides to Ye Qi, lifted the boy's chin with his slender fingers, and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Think carefully, what should you call me?"
Ye Qi snapped out of her daze, her ears turning slightly red: "Dad?"
Shao Qingge chuckled lightly: "So you finally remember that I'm your adoptive father?"
Ye Qi's ears quickly turned red, and even her cheeks began to flush. She muttered to herself, "There's no need to be so concerned about how you address someone in private, is there? This was all arranged by the Guardian. Calling you 'Dad' just feels weird..."
He thought Shao Qingge was joking, but the man suddenly gripped Ye Qi's chin, narrowed his eyes, and lingered thoughtfully on Ye Qi's features. That scrutinizing gaze made Ye Qi's heart race. The two were so close that he could almost feel Shao Qingge's warm breath.
Ye Qi's tongue twisted uncontrollably: "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face...?"
Shao Qingge's voice was deep: " Guardian made arbitrary arrangements? No, they never assign identities arbitrarily. Why would I be your father?"
Ye Qi's mind was in a mess, and he blurted out, "Didn't you adopt me?"
Shao Qingge continued to stare at Ye Qi's face: "Why should I adopt you?"
Ye Qi: "..."
He was exasperated by Shao Qingge's barrage of questions, but suddenly, a thought flashed through Ye Qi's mind, and he stared wide-eyed at Shao Qingge: "Could it be that my background is not so simple?"
Shao Qingge finally released Ye Qi's chin. He crossed his arms and paced back and forth in the study, recalling in a low voice: "According to my memory, I adopted you more than ten years ago when I went to an orphanage to do charity work. You were only five years old at the time, and your parents had both sacrificed their lives in the battle on the front lines... Did they really sacrifice their lives?"
Ye Qi felt increasingly uneasy: "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Shao Qingge stopped and turned to look at Ye Qi: "I am the sole heir of the Shao family, young and unmarried. Would I adopt a five-year-old child for no reason? Unless you have a special status, I will not adopt you."
He flipped the optical computer's LCD screen over to show Ye Qi, saying, "When I was reviewing the Shao family's investment records over the years, I discovered that the Noahs Ark Project from twenty years ago wasn't the first genetic research project, but rather a 'reboot of the plan.' This means that the first research was much earlier than we thought. In the list of signatures on this proposal, I saw a person surnamed Ye, and after looking him up... he looks a lot like you."
Ye Qi stared in disbelief at the photo displayed on the optical computer: "Am I a clone too?"
"The timing doesn't match up, and you and him only look similar, unlike Xiao Lou and Clone who are completely indistinguishable." Shao Qingge paused and looked at Ye Qi. "This man named Ye Wenbo should be your biological father. I checked his information, and he was once a high-ranking officer in the Southern Military Region."
Ye Qi asked in confusion, "But didn't my father sacrifice himself on the front lines?"
A sharp glint flashed in Shao Qingge's eyes: "It's also possible that he was'sacrificed'."
There is a fundamental difference between "sacrifice" and "being sacrificed"; the former is accidental, while the latter is man-made.
Ye Qi didn't have much feeling for the man in the photo. He was sent to an orphanage when he was very young, and was adopted by Shao Qingge when he was five years old. The only person he was closest to in this world was Shao Qingge. He had no memory of his biological father or mother.
Since Shao Qingge found Ye Qi's biological father's name in the project proposal from twenty years ago, it proves that Ye Qi's father was also involved in this project, and his death may not have been a simple sacrifice.
Realizing this, Ye Qi immediately said, "We need to tell Professor Xiao about this important clue as soon as possible."
Shao Qingge said, "Yes, I've already sent a message to Captain Yu. We'll go to the bank first thing tomorrow morning and open the safe my father left behind."
...
Inside the royal palace at this moment.
Xiao Lou's neck was being choked, but his expression remained calm.
Logically speaking, most people would be terrified and scared if they were choked and had a gun pointed at their backs... but Xiao Lou didn't react agitated at all except for a slight stiffening of his back for two seconds at the beginning.
His face remained calm and composed, and even his breathing was perfectly steady.
Xiao Lou stood there steadily, without even frowning.
The assassin noticed his calmness and said coldly, "Your Highness, aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"
Xiao Lou chuckled: "Can you?"
The cold fingers gripping his neck tightened slightly, making it increasingly difficult for Xiao Lou to breathe, but he still didn't flinch.
He was flustered for two reasons. First, he was connected to Yu Hanjiang via Telepathic Connection, and Yu Hanjiang was waiting in the bathroom next door, ready to strike. He believed that this man would not let him die at the hands of an assassin. Second, he did not think that the assassin would kill him immediately.
Xiao Lou calmly said, "You've been hiding in my bedroom for a long time, haven't you? I don't know what special ability you used to make yourself invisible; I was completely unaware of your presence. You have a gun. If you came to kill me, you had countless opportunities to strike me and kill me with one shot. Instead of waiting until Yu Hanjiang went into the bathroom before suddenly coming out to attack me."
Xiao Lou stood motionless, his voice completely calm: "Just now, if you had wanted to kill me, you could have easily pulled the trigger when you held the gun to my back. I would already be a corpse. But you didn't. That means I'm still alive and have some value to you, right?"
The assassin paused for a moment before saying in a hoarse voice, "You are indeed clever."
Xiao Lou asked, "Who sent you? What exactly do you want?"
Just as the assassin was about to speak, a gust of wind suddenly swept over the back of his head. Before he could react, a sharp pain shot through his arm—a cracking sound, the sound of his wrist bone being snapped!
Yu Hanjiang's eyes were filled with ferocity. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had already quietly circled around to the assassin's back.
The man acted swiftly and decisively, as fast as lightning!
With a swift and precise grab, he seized the wrist that the assassin was using to control Xiao Lou, twisted it in the opposite direction, and snapped the wrist bone with sheer force.
With his other hand, he swiftly snatched the gun from the assassin's hand, and at the same time, he kicked the man's vulnerable groin with his right foot, knocking him to the ground. He then twisted the man's hands behind his back and held him down, pressing his gun against the man's head.
Yu Hanjiang's voice was deep and dangerous: "Don't move."
Xiao Lou noticed his neck loosen and immediately moved behind Yu Hanjiang.
He knew Yu Hanjiang would come to rescue him, so he deliberately chatted with the assassin to buy time.
Yu Hanjiang, as expected of someone who had received professional training, was able to clearly identify the assassin's location even though the assassin's body was invisible. The cold fingers that Xiao Lou felt on his neck and the gun pressed against his lower back clearly revealed the assassin's position at the time.
The assassin was clearly somewhat careless and underestimated his opponent. With Yu Hanjiang holding a gun to his head, his body stiffened slightly. Yu Hanjiang pushed the gun forward with his right hand and continued to exert force fiercely with his left hand. A piercing pain came from the assassin's broken wrist, as if his flesh had been forcibly torn apart!
He gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound; his teeth were almost crushed.
Yu Hanjiang's voice was icy: "Who sent you? Didn't you hear His Highness asking you a question?"
Although the assassin's form was invisible after he became stealthed, the dark barrel of the gun pressed against Xiao Lou's back pinpointed his hand. Xiao Lou's bathroom actually had another exit; Yu Hanjiang, working with Xiao Lou, sneaked in and subdued the assassin.
He can subdue a person in just three seconds.
It was so fast that the assassin had no time to react.
The assassin sneered, "No wonder the old emperor entrusted the prince to your protection. Captain Yu is indeed skilled; you even managed to catch me when I was invisible."
Yu Hanjiang frowned: "Stop talking nonsense. Who sent you? I don't want to ask a third time."
The assassin said, "My master asked me to pass on a few words to His Highness."
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance. Xiao Lou said, "Go ahead, I'm listening."
The assassin chuckled softly: "My master said that if necessary, Your Highness should protect yourself and leave Capital Star as soon as possible —remember, only those who survive to the end are the winners."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Hanjiang felt his hand suddenly loosen.
The arms he had been tightly controlling just moments before felt like human arms, but now, they suddenly slipped from his grasp as if they had lost all their flesh and bone. It felt as if he had grabbed... a slippery loach.
Yu Hanjiang paused, wanting to give chase, but then saw a dark figure leap out of the window and disappear in the blink of an eye.
The room returned to silence.
Yu Hanjiang frowned, staring at his hands. Human arms have bones and flesh, but when that man deformed, he really did look like a lump of cartilage?
Xiao Lou asked worriedly, "Who exactly is he? And who is his so-called master?"
Yu Hanjiang paused for a moment: "If he were Hunter, he would have attacked us long ago. Perhaps he was sent by some force in this world to warn you... Also, he is probably not human."
Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang in confusion: "Not human?"
Yu Hanjiang pondered: "A secret room with an interstellar setting should contain alien creatures, right? So, this assassin's invisibility might not come from the card, but from the talent of this alien creature? When he escaped just now, my hand felt like it had touched a slippery eel."
Xiao Lou felt a chill run down his spine: "Alien creatures...like the Zerg we encountered in Spade 8?"
Just then, several messages popped up on Yu Hanjiang's phone.
The first two messages were from Lu Jiuchuan: " Xiao Tang's legs have been healed, and even his toes have grown back! I'm so happy, I can't sleep tonight. I won't say thank you, I'll remember this kindness!"
"By the way, when Ye Qi used the Bug King Card to treat Xiao Tang just now, Xiao Tang and I simultaneously recalled some fragments. We must have seen the Zerg in this world. I've decided to go to Hilt No Mans Land to investigate, but the military will definitely not approve my application. I'm currently the commander of Arrow Legion and can't leave Capital Star at will. Let's discuss the specifics tomorrow."
Then
It was posted by Shao Qingge: "The investment records from 20 years ago have been found. This is a photo of the proposal, with some signatures on it. These people all participated in the Noah's Ark restart plan back then, and we need to focus on investigating them. What puzzles me is that Ye Bowen is very likely Ye Qi's biological father. I suspect that his death was not simple. Ye Qi's orphan status was not set up arbitrarily by the Guardian, but is an important clue."
"My father left me a ring that can open the safe deposit box that the Shao family keeps in the bank. I'll go to the bank to retrieve the safe deposit box first thing tomorrow morning. I'll let you know if I find any clues."
Finally, Qu Wanyue posted: "We are still in contact with Ms. Lin. I have arranged to have afternoon tea with her tomorrow to talk about dance. After afternoon tea, I will use my Chameleon Card to sneak into her house. I will report back on any progress."
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were very pleased that their teammates were working so hard.
However, Xiao Lou was still somewhat uneasy. Liu Qiao and the other three were still missing. Where were they?
******