Ronan instinctively turned his head. The direction that piercing, razor-sharp gaze had come from was the very center of the Tactical Intelligence Division's Work Area, where the gray-haired Lady sat high above everyone else.
Yet when the Lady saw Ronan looking over, she stared at him for barely a tenth of a second before turning away to speak with someone beside her. She seemed extremely stern; even from this far away, and through the Double-layered armor, the stiffness and tension of the person speaking with her were plainly visible.
That gray-haired Lady was Field Officer Hong Shuang, the highest-ranking person in this Work Area.
"Lieutenant Ronan?"
"Ah, sorry for the trouble." Ronan turned back and cracked a joke first. "Now I know why the quality of your survey questionnaires hasn't improved... There probably aren't many people who can calmly sit down and fill them out."
Including this time, Meng Xin and Ronan had only met three times. Yet because they had communicated online so often, none of their earlier unfamiliarity remained. Smiling behind her faceplate, she said, "Exactly. That form is far too complicated... Shall we discuss the materials first, or go find Field Officer Hong Shuang first?"
"Huh?"
"The Field Officer just said that once you arrived, I should notify her."
Ronan was still thinking about that sharp look from Field Officer Hong Shuang when Lieutenant Meng Xin tapped the Virtual Work Area beside her and raised a hand.
At that moment, Ronan sensed a subtle shift in the magnetic field within the Work Area. Turning again, he saw the gray-white-haired woman—gaunt-faced, middle-aged, perhaps even elderly—approaching silently from the center of the Work Area in her floating commander's chair.
She wore only Exoskeleton Armor and no helmet. Among the subordinate field officers and lieutenants armed to the teeth against