The Deep Pit Grand Hotel

High Engineer had used the "Planetary Annihilation Weapon" to eliminate Xie Egui. Outsiders might not know about it, but there was no one among the higher-ups of the Six Departments who didn't.

So, when Motoko Yagami left the Six Departments' meeting and called Tong, Collider, and Chappie into her office with an ashen expression, all three felt that something was terribly wrong.

"Captain, hear me out," Collider said, bracing himself. "We really didn't know anything about the 'Planetary Annihilation Weapon.'"

"When did I say I wanted to discuss the 'Planetary Annihilation Weapon' with you?" Motoko Yagami asked coldly.

"Er..."

"Listen, Captain. That person from the Xie family brought it on himself. Who told him to keep stealing other people's wives?" Tong said indignantly. He had met Du Zhaodi once and had taken quite a liking to her.

"Do you really think this was simply an incident of male-species hormone secretion? Du Zhaodi and Xie Egui, Du High-Tech and the Immortality Conglomerate—do you think these two things have nothing to do with each other?"

"Er, there might be a little connection."

Tong also sensed that things were going badly. In the corporate wars between enterprises, the Six Departments had always upheld the principle of neutrality. That was one of the reasons they could remain above the fray. But it seemed that on this matter, they might have done something wrong.

Motoko Yagami's violet eyes turned toward the last person, Chappie.

Chappie forced a smile. "This really has nothing to do with me, Captain. I don't even know what the Planetary Annihilation Weapon is. I'm not some old veteran of the department—"

Motoko Yagami's fair fingers suddenly struck the desktop. Her icy expression made the three of them wilt like cats with their tails between their legs.

"The other five department heads