Chapter 95

There are basically only two possibilities now: either the Doctor stole the supply crate, or the Doctor was stuffed into the supply crate and someone took him out.

This is unlikely to be an isolated case.

"What if Dr. Mei returns in a few days?" Theresa stood up and asked in return.

'She really is a mascot.' Redhead didn't want to look down on Theresa, but he still couldn't bring himself to think highly of her Redhead!

It's one thing for you to Schicksal child laborers, but to hire a naive little fool at that.

Does your conscience, Schicksal, never hurt?

"Let me put it this way," the Redhead explained, "The doctor is a civilian employee, so the place she's going to should be a place where Honkai frequently occurs! The materials she collects should also be Honkai- related materials."

"Honkai is infectious, and if there are still Honkai Beast remaining, shouldn't the Valkyrie protect them?"

"So here's the question," the Redhead said, "Did the Doctor take any protective gear with her when she left? Did she apply for it? Is she herself Valkyrie?"

"Can she handle those Honkai Beasts? Where is she going? How can we contact her? When can we contact her?"

"If the PhD student encounters danger, how do we recruit more personnel and ensure the PhD student's personal safety?"

Have you considered all of these things?

There really isn't one...

Theresa was overwhelmed by the barrage of questions from the Redhead; this was the first time she had to consider and handle such matters on her own. Previously, Otto had arranged everything, and she only needed to stamp or execute the orders.

It wasn't until I took over that I realized there were real problems.

She suddenly realized it.

There are things I seem to have overlooked...

Too many!

"We must bring the doctor back safely!"

Theresa answered without hesitation, "Check!"

"This matter must be investigated!"

Chapter 124 Investigating to the End

"Please wait a moment!"

Redhead barely stepped out of Theresa's office when Himeko chased after him, calling out, "Liaison officer, please wait a moment."

Redhead didn't want to stand still.

Because his intuition told him that this was unlikely to be a good thing.

The Redhead Himeko didn't think Himeko had anything good in stopping him during their discussion, especially since she had been so argumentative. But he stopped anyway.

Redhead knew very well that whether Himeko was too much of a frenemy or not didn't really matter to him.

At present, Himeko's actions can only be considered as testing his bottom line, and have not yet really crossed the line to the point of a complete falling out.

Whatever Himeko says now, all I need to do is listen and be a loyal listener.

"Is there something you need?" The Redhead stopped and asked politely, "Major Himeko."

"It's about this matter." After thinking for a long time, Himeko finally decided to speak up, "I still want to talk to you about this issue."

"I know that what I just did is called 'arguing for the sake of arguing' in your Chinese terms."

"That's what they say, but I'd like to know something."

Do you really believe Dr. Mei was the one who stole the supply crates?

'This question again.' Redhead sighed. To be honest, Himeko's question was a little difficult to answer. Redhead guy could sense that to some extent.

It could just be her imagination; Himeko was reluctant to believe that someone she worked with would steal.

Especially the theft of supply crates.

This is not embezzlement or misappropriation of supplies.

If that's the case, it's manageable; her actions constitute embezzlement and greed, and ultimately, it's still an internal conflict. However, the addition of things like stealing and smuggling out without returning could very well escalate into a conflict between enemies.

No one wants to face the fact that their former teammate, who once stood shoulder to shoulder with them as a supporter, is actually a spy.

"Logically speaking," the Redhead pondered for a moment, and he was able to find a reasonable answer for Himeko.

"I don't think that's possible. Although I've never met the Doctor, I don't believe he would steal this supply crate."

"From a realistic point of view," Redhead added, "She had no motive."

"Motive?" Himeko retorted. "You sound like the kind of people from the Metropolitan Police Department would say that."

"Although I'm neither a police officer nor from the Ministry of State Security," the Redhead man said, spreading his hands. "As a soldier, I'm not completely ignorant about things like counter-espionage, interrogation, and psychology."

"Let me put it this way," Redhead explained, "Suppose I were a police officer or a counterintelligence agent, and I need to investigate Dr. Mei."

"So Dr. Mei can have direct contact with the Valkyrie and also serve as your support staff."

"In theory, she can improve the quality of your armor or directly manufacture armor."

"If she's a spy..."

"I don't think any organization would send such a high-level researcher over as a spy," the Redhead said, pointing to his head. "Unless the organization she belongs to is a bit mentally unstable."

"Secondly," Redhead continued, "Assuming you are a spy, what kind of thing would be worth exposing at your level?"

"This..." Himeko was genuinely at a loss for words; she hadn't thought about it. But since the Redhead had asked, she'd think about it some more.

Himeko thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "I can't think of anything that would require me to risk exposing myself."

"But I think I would never do that for a supply crate."

"You see, you know all this," the Redhead man said, shrugging. "Doesn't the Doctor know?"

Himeko was a little speechless, feeling that the Redhead's words were a veiled criticism of her.

It seems there's a tiny bit of that, but Himeko still can't get angry.

She could only nod in agreement.

"That's more like it," Redhead said. "There might be good stuff in the supply crates, but nobody knows what's inside until you open them."

"And usually... um... my senior told me that."

"98% of the stuff in the supply crates is junk."

"Only 2% are likely to be good stuff."

"Although I insist that I have a good face," the Redhead said, "Actually, my face isn't that good. Luck is unpredictable for Asians."

"So I don't think that doctor would risk such a high probability of getting ordinary items by stealing a supply crate."

"This has absolutely no value to her."

"So..." Himeko gradually realized that, putting aside her previous stubborn and opposing attitude, she was still a very intelligent frontline commander.

It's not like they can't even figure this out.

"So," the Redhead said, "There's only one possibility: the Doctor has been kidnapped."

"It was most likely transported away via supply crates."

"Why?" Himeko said, "Are you so sure? Maybe the Doctor will contact us in a couple of days?"

"Well, of course I have to admit that Theresa's work was very poor."

"Maybe the doctor is just using this as an excuse to go out and have fun."

"I don't want to contact anyone."

"That's good." Redhead continued, "Then let's push the question further. As a spy, what kind of thing would make you risk exposing your identity?"

"Or is it that your identity will inevitably be exposed, but you still have no choice but to do it?"

"I'm sorry, I can't answer that." Himeko shook her head and said, "I'm not a spy. You said that as a soldier, one must be truthful."

"Therefore, it is impossible for me to answer your question."

"Then I'll answer that," Redhead said. "It's very simple."

"The most valuable one is probably that PhD."

"Unless there's something better in that supply crate."

"I was fired beforehand."

Which doctor is the most valuable? What is the value of that doctor? Himeko couldn't understand this question. But intuitively, she could sense that Dr. Mei might indeed have considerable value.

But what really intrigued Himeko was the identity of Dr. Mei.

If this hadn't happened, she might have thought it was just a very ordinary thing—applying to leave the ship and go out for some fun. Or maybe she'd be transferred to another post or something.

Himeko couldn't be sure how many guns this Redhead had, or that the doctor had been kidnapped.

However, upon closer examination, his words make a lot of sense.

"How do you plan to find him?" Himeko asked. "That person has been gone from the Hyperion for some time now."

"A goose leaves its feathers as it flies by, and a person leaves their traces as they pass by." Redhead said confidently, "I don't believe there is such a thing as the perfect infiltration in this world. As long as she has been here, the more she does, the easier it is to leave traces."

"Those guys in the police often say," Redhead said, "The more someone wants to destroy evidence, the more they want to destroy it."

"The more you try to destroy evidence, the easier it is to leave behind more evidence."

"Therefore, we will definitely be able to find clues."

"And," the Redhead man said solemnly, as if making a declaration, "We!"

"We will never abandon our comrades!"

Absolutely not!

Previously, there wasn't much clear direction, but now there is. The investigation quickly unfolded in depth; this may be the first time the Hyperion has faced such a major overhaul since its commissioning.

The Hyperion once home to a diverse group of people, representing a variety of factions.

Therefore, it is extremely difficult to manage!

This also leads to many loopholes for those who want to infiltrate the Hyperion, making them relatively difficult to investigate.

Before this, although the Hyperion had various loopholes, nothing major had happened, so everyone just let things slide. Even if someone abused their power to do something minor, people would turn a blind eye if possible.

But this time it won't work!

This time, nobody wants to just get by.

Not only did the ship lose a supply crate, but it also lost a person—the most important Valkyrie unit, which lost a researcher. This was likely the only researcher left on the entire ship at the moment.

Although the researcher didn't come up with anything significant.

But this is a big deal!

A full ship inspection!

It took a long time to figure it out.

"It seems my guess was right." Redhead came into the lab with a thick stack of documents and said, "Based on our current intelligence, this person..."

"She's the one who kidnapped the doctor."

Redhead is right; anyone who comes will leave a trace. Who takes her in, who issues the documents, who provides the information, and who places her on the ship?

So even though the person has left, clues have still been left behind.

"This person's real name isn't very clear," Redhead said. "He only has a code name."

"Raven".

"She infiltrated the ship a long time ago," Redhead said. "And recently she's been trying to find out about Dr. Mei. Her first contact with Dr. Mei was in the public rest area."

"However, according to intelligence, nothing happened between the two of them; it was just Raven observing the Doctor from one side."

"It's only now that it's being implemented in practice."

"The doctor was probably tied up in a supply crate and taken away."

"Specific footage," Redhead said, "Wasn't captured."