Walking a Tightrope

A small transport ship lifted directly from the surface, accelerating at full speed out of the atmosphere and heading towards the military defense identification zone.

Yang Ming was very relaxed now.

Even though he was handcuffed, with two Laser Guns pointed at his head.

"Send his watch over."

The Major's voice came from a loudspeaker in the corner.

A soldier immediately stepped forward.

Yang Ming placed his hands under the table and said firmly, "This is my privacy!"

"Military Intelligence Management," the soldier said in a stiff tone, "Take off your watch, sir, I don't want you to become undignified."

"Then come and get it," a hint of amusement flickered in Yang Ming's eyes.

The soldier's nostrils twitched slightly, and he suddenly lunged at Yang Ming.

Yang Ming immediately raised his hands: "Oh! If you want to take it, just take it! Don't touch me! Get your damn big hands off me!"

"This isn't your territory, you'd better behave."

The soldier sneered. He removed Yang Ming's watch with great roughness.

Yang Ming squinted and smiled, showing no anger, and said gently, "Sergeant, I can guarantee that you'll have to put it back on for me later."

The soldier merely curled his lip dismissively and turned to leave.

His expression just now seemed to say that Yang Ming would absolutely not survive the night in the Ilanduo Time Zone.

The compartment where Yang Ming was held became quiet. The two soldiers guarding the place also seemed a bit distracted.

Yang Ming scratched his chin.

He was sure his watch wouldn't leak any secrets. Xiao Lü would handle these troubles and even give them a little surprise.

But a slightly crazy thought kept popping into his mind.

This environment—this familiar, cramped interior of the spaceship, like an isolated island once it left the surface—was too perfect for him to act.

He didn't even need to bother breaking into the ship; they had already brought him here.

Yang Ming had already rehearsed it in his mind several times.

First, Lü would launch an electronic attack, hacking into the spaceship's control system. Within a very short time, it could cut off all external communication and wipe out the surveillance.

He just needed to create a little disturbance to attract the attention of the guards behind him. When they came closer, he could break free from these shoddy handcuffs and then use his own hands to press down on the opponent's neck, which was as soft as a sponge, and squeeze hard!

CRASH!

Yang Ming suddenly slammed the metal tabletop in front of him.

The two guards didn't raise their guns. Instead, they rushed forward and reached out to grab Yang Ming's neck.

"Hey! Hey!"

Yang Ming raised his hands high and shouted, "I'm not looking for trouble! Just venting some stress! Have your Major come talk to me!"

The two soldiers stopped, frowning as they looked at Yang Ming, who was obediently holding his hands up. Then they exchanged glances and said something into their earpieces.

Yang Ming lowered his head and rubbed his eyes.

What was wrong with him?

He had suddenly become a bit manic, as if he couldn't feel comfortable without some bloodshed.

He had also been taking gene stabilization potions regularly, and their ingredients and effects had been verified by Xiao Lü.

Was it because the surrounding environment was too harsh, causing him too much stress?

As Yang Ming was thinking this, the Major appeared outside the cabin door, holding Yang Ming's Network Terminal—the watch Kolev had given him.

The Major's expression was somewhat grim.

They had first attempted to 'crack' the high-end projection watch normally, but there was no substantial gain. At most, there were some photos of beautiful women, some normal transfer records, and some paid content in the web browsing history.

Then, they used what they considered an advanced decryption key to read the hidden information within the watch.

What truly made the Major's expression serious was this hidden information; there was something, something that felt quite unexpected.

The Major sat down opposite Yang Ming, turned on Yang Ming's watch projector, and then gestured to the two soldiers.

The two soldiers turned around in unison.

"Mr. Yang Ming..."

The Major leaned forward, a hint of apprehension in his eyes, and said in a low voice, "Please forgive my presumption, but this watch is indeed yours, isn't it? I just want to confirm."

Yang Ming frowned and pouted, "Where did you take it off?"

"From your left wrist," the Major couldn't help but use a respectful tone.

"Uh-huh."

"My question was rather childish, I apologize."

The Major seemed somewhat restless.

He returned the watch to Yang Ming, and with a secret key the size of a fingernail, he swiped it across Yang Ming's handcuffs. With a click, the handcuffs came off on their own.

Yang Ming flexed his wrists, showing no intention of putting the watch back on. He merely smiled at the Major.

Who knew what Xiao Lü had shown them.

But at this moment, Yang Ming had to get a handle on this Major in front of him, and then approach the Luofeng military big shot behind the Major.

Yang Ming felt that if he had to fight the Luofeng Empire's military, holding a General hostage would be more advantageous than holding a Major.

"Aren't you going to put it on?" the Major asked softly.

Yang Ming pursed his lips slightly.

The Major understood. He stood up, lowered his head, and cupped the expensive, mechanical-looking Network Terminal in his hands.

Yang Ming merely moved his left hand away and rubbed his wrist.

The Major pondered for a moment, then turned and called out a name.

Soon, the soldier who had previously removed the watch from Yang Ming's wrist ran over.

"Put this on for this gentleman," the Major said in a low voice.

The soldier frowned and looked at the Major. "Sir?"

"Obey the order," the Major's gaze was somewhat stern.

The soldier pursed his lips tightly. "Sir, I cannot accept..."

"Obey the order!"

"Yes, sir!"

The soldier saluted, then lowered his head, trying his best not to look at Yang Ming's expression. He quickly fastened the watch strap onto Yang Ming's wrist.

Yang Ming chuckled happily.

The Major immediately said, "Sir, why don't we go to the Bridge and talk?"

Yang Ming stood up and gently patted the soldier's face, saying with a smile, "You should be glad, young man, that my strategy today is friendly negotiation."

The soldier's face turned the color of liver.

After Yang Ming left with the Major, the soldier grumbled a few curses, but kept his voice very low. He punched a nearby table.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard a faint sound in front of him. The sturdy table, made of Alloy Plates, shattered like broken glass.

The two soldiers holding guns exchanged glances.

"Did you awaken a superpower?"

"I didn't do that."

"Oh, my god, the higher-ups are pocketing too much kickback. What kind of garbage material is this? I'm worried this whole ship might just be an aluminum coffin!"

"Keep your voice down, are you trying to die?"

As Yang Ming left the transport ship, he still had no idea what Xiao Lü had shown the Major.

Although the Major was outwardly respectful, the soldiers 'guarding' Yang Ming had increased from two to six, staring at him from all angles.

It was only when the transport ship entered the large, comprehensive supply ship that there were only two soldiers left behind Yang Ming.

The cabin door had not yet opened.

Yang Ming placed his right hand over the watch face and pressed down gently. A string of text messages quickly scrolled across the screen.

Relevant information was successfully obtained.

This gave Yang Ming a bit more composure and built his confidence in dealing with the complex situation ahead.

Xiao Lü's impromptu strategy was a bit risky, but her execution was quite good.

The hidden information in Yang Ming's watch was planted by Xiao Lü remotely while the other party was trying to crack the watch system.

They had prepared a total of twelve versions of 'spy credentials' – the Luofeng Empire's Military Intelligence Department Twelve, the New Federation's Central Intelligence Agency, the Guer Alliance's Lina's original unit...

Xiao Lü's toolbox had fake credentials from all the more famous spy agencies.

This watch had been remotely controlled by Lü all along, and sensitive data inside would be automatically deleted when it left Yang Ming's wrist.

When the Major found a technician to crack the watch's hidden files, Xiao Lü took it upon herself to present a high-level New Federation agent ID. (It was actually an employee ID from a certain technology department, which was controlled by the New Federation intelligence agency.)

Yang Ming and Xiao Lü had devised many similar small tricks.

Now, in the Major's perception, Yang Ming was suspected to be a covert agent of the 'New Federation'.

There was a lot of thought behind why the New Federation agent ID was chosen.

Although the text information provided by Lü was brief, it consisted of extracted keywords, containing a massive amount of information.

The death of the maid was related to a major military corruption case. A total of thirty-two chips, hidden in a makeup bag, were key evidence in this corruption case.

This case was intricate and complex.

According to the information stolen by Lu, it's roughly this:

[The military is colluding with a group of Military Industrial Enterprises both inside and outside the Luofeng Empire to skim profits. They're all getting rich by selling weapons and equipment at exorbitant prices. These chips were purchased by the military and installed on a Light Frigate. The ship was shot down two years ago during an operation to clear out Pirates. No wreckage should have been left behind, but the debris appeared at a scrap yard in a neighboring country.

The military's quoted price for these chips was three times that of the most advanced similar chips available, yet their performance was only one-tenth of what the military required.

The ship was shot down by the military itself. This not only allowed them to use up a batch of equipment and start building new ships, but also to get rid of a group of 'phantom soldiers' who were on the payroll but didn't exist. ]

Yang Ming was momentarily at a loss for words.

That maid came from the Luofeng Royal Palace, which meant someone in the royal family was dissatisfied with the military and was taking action.

Even more outrageous things were yet to come.

The reason Lu chose the identity of 'Senior Agent of the New Federation' for Yang Ming was because the General Yang Ming was about to meet—Deputy Chief of Staff of Military Intelligence of the Luofeng Empire, Gudunmaha... had been doing business with the New Federation's Military Industrial Enterprises for over a decade.

The diligent Gudunmaha had procured a large batch of 'advanced' Federation weapons for the Luofeng Empire, and had also provided direct assistance several times to agents of the New Federation who were stealing intelligence from the Sherman Empire.

Deputy Chief of Staff Gudunmaha's daughter was married to a Sherman Empire noble.

However, both of his sons were citizens of the New Federation.

And these weren't even secrets; many high-ranking officers and generals had left obvious traces of these dealings during casual conversations.

Not only that, but Lu had also stumbled upon a great bargain.

Gudunmaha had a Network Terminal that he never actively used. It was connected to the civilian encrypted network, and occasionally received instructions from high-ranking New Federation officials.

That terminal had provided Little Lu with many clues, which was how she was able to completely uncover Gudunmaha's background in such a short time.

Acquiring information was only grasping the enemy's weakness and knowing how to deal with them.

Yang Ming was still walking a tightrope.

He was essentially impersonating a Senior Agent of the New Federation. If he could fool them, he would undoubtedly gain a lot of convenience moving forward. But if he made one wrong step...

It would only lead to a river of blood.

At this moment, Yang Ming arrived at the door of Gudunmaha's office.

What do you call a military big shot?

This solid wood door was made of the same material as the wooden doors in Kolev's manor!

When Yang Ming asked Lu to pull up Kolev's property list, the price of these natural wood doors had left a deep impression on him.

Hmm... don't worry about why he pulled up that list, it's not important.

The Major standing beside him tapped on the door made of precious material.

"General, the gentleman has arrived."

"Come in."

A deep voice sounded.

As the wooden door opened, Yang Ming saw the thin old man wearing glasses. The man's sharp gaze was like a sharp dagger, piercing directly into Yang Ming's eyes.

Yang Ming walked over with a smile. The Major was about to follow, but he was stopped by General Gudunmaha's gaze.

The door was closed.

Yang Ming sat behind the desk and chairs, his gaze sweeping across the antique-style office, and murmured, "General, how do you plan to resolve this matter?"

General Gudunmaha squinted and smiled, "Could you please state your CIA identification number? I've dealt with a few CIA officials before. This matter is quite tricky and concerns the honor of my Luofeng Empire. I must investigate it cautiously."