Read, Waiting for Your Return

Tang Yinmeng and Lan Muzi returned quickly.

Tang Yinmeng was carrying a grayish-white wooden box containing a Level 5 energy battery.

The battery isn't large, but it's quite heavy, and it even has a serial number sticker on its surface.

Lan Muzi was carrying the old printer when he tripped on the threshold as he entered the room. Tang Yinmeng reached out to support his arm, preventing the printer from falling to the ground.

They placed the items next to the metal box. The blue light from the "Seven Percent Sugar" light flashed and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Please place the battery on top of the box, right in the center. Connect the printer's data cable to the second square opening on the left."

Lan Muzi squatted down and connected the wires as instructed.

After the battery was placed on the box, the blue light on the surface of the box brightened noticeably, and even the printer emitted a very faint hum.

A few seconds later, a blank sheet of paper slid out of the paper output slot. The paper had only one line of very small text printed on it. "Link normal, waiting to receive."

"It's done?" Zhuo Shi leaned closer to take a look.

"That's enough."

"I have a stable power supply now, and the printer works," said Seven Percent Sugar. "If the owner sends information back via satellite, I'll print it out directly. But he should still be moving right now."

Seven Percent Sugar drink paused for a moment. "Until then, I'll maintain low power consumption. If you have any new messages, please let me know now."

Ya Li nodded gently after hearing this.

She walked back to the long table and sat down, but didn't ask any more questions.

She knew she had already conveyed some of her words to the child, and any further instructions now were no match for waiting for that piece of paper to slowly slide out of the printer.

Lan Muzi was still squatting beside the box, as if looking at something rare and precious.

He stared at it for a while, then suddenly whispered, "The Half-Sweet Coffee' is the second one, and you're the third. So what was the first AI called?"

Seven Percent Sugar did not answer immediately.

Its blue light flickered very faintly, like someone hesitating.

After a while, it said, "This question is outside my authorized response scope. I can only tell you that it is not currently authorized to participate in this operation. It was not designed for information transmission."

Lan Muzi was stunned and looked up at Yun Ming.

Yun Ming's face remained expressionless as he stared at the box.

Clearly, he didn't know the answer either.

"That's all my master has ever told me."

Seven Percent Sugar said, "If he wants you to know, he will tell you himself. I don't recommend asking further. In our line of work, we can't always undermine our employers."

His words, spoken in a languid manner, eased the tense atmosphere in the room slightly.

Zhuo Shi clicked his tongue. "Even an iron box has learned to protect its owner."

Tang Yinmeng was tidying up the wads of old paper that had been brought out when she got the device, and asked in a low voice, "Should we move it to the inner room tonight? There are people coming and going outside, we're afraid it might get damaged."

"Need not."

Yun Ming said, "Leave it here. Chang Kong, leave two people to guard outside. Lan Muzi, go and inform the people on duty that no unauthorized personnel are allowed in or out of the Council Hall tonight."

"Okay." Lan Muzi stood up, dusted off her knees, and turned to leave.

Wu Zhangkong had already gotten up and followed him to the door, where he whispered a few instructions to those outside.

After everyone left, Long Yeyue looked at Yun Ming and asked, "You believe in it?"

"Letter."

Yun Ming said in a very calm tone, "What he does won't harm his own people."

Seven Percent Sugar remained silent, as if it were pre-arranged.

A faint blue light shone slowly and steadily in the darkness.

The printer stood quietly to the side, waiting for night to fall.

The next day, a group of people gathered around the table, their faces showing displeasure.

The paper slid out of the printer just before dawn.

No one spoke.

The printer made a "shushing" sound for a while.

Once the last line of text was finished, Tang Yinmeng had already cut the paper into three pieces and placed them one by one on the long table.

Yun Ming, Zhuo Shi, Long Yeyue, Cai Yue'er, Ya Li, Feng Wuyu, and the few others who were summoned late at night stood in a circle around the table.

The characters on the paper were very small and densely packed, which was Yun Jingheng's style.

There was no heading, no signature, just several paragraphs.

"This is information I confirmed from the North Suburb Quarry of Heaven Dou City and near the East City Grain Depot. There are members of the Holy Spirit Cult in Heaven Dou City, but the number is currently unknown. They communicate with the inner city using a shortwave encrypted signal, on the same frequency band as the old military channel used by the Federation, but with a different encryption method. The antenna is set up at the old mine entrance on the west side of the quarry. It appears to be an abandoned mining area, but people actually go in and out regularly."

"Most of these people were wearing old Federation work clothes or caravan short-sleeved shirts. They'd been transporting something recently; I couldn't see what it was, but Half-Day Coffee told me the energy readings inside were still quite high. They carried it out of the underground warehouse at the quarry, loaded it onto trucks, and then took a small road in the northern suburbs into the city. The final destination was a grain store in the east of the city. There was space underneath the grain store; the trucks went into the back alleys, and the goods didn't get off—they went directly underground. I followed the tire tracks; the return trip was lighter than the outward one. In other words, the goods had already been left at the grain store."

"I suspect that the warehouse beneath the grain store isn't an ordinary storage facility. The Holy Spirit Cult wouldn't erect an antenna specifically for a few boxes of Soul Tool. That location connects to the interior of Heaven Dou City and must have existed for more than a year. They used the Federation's trade route system as cover, transporting goods from the North Suburb Quarry, passing through the East City Grain Depot, and then underground. This route must have at least used the official passage permission of the Eastern Frontier Trade Route Inspection Bureau; otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible to continue operating despite Heaven Dou City's road closures and increased patrols."

"There are people in the Eastern Frontier Trade Route Inspection Bureau, who have likely been completely bribed by the Holy Spirit Cult. Their rank must be quite high, otherwise they wouldn't be able to mobilize the patrol team, nor would they know when and how Tang Wulin left the city. Tang Wulin's departure was a last-minute decision by Zhen Hua and Mu Ye. The Federation pursuers immediately followed his route. The Holy Spirit Cult members didn't go south, but instead stayed in Heaven Dou City to keep an eye on the Association. There's only one explanation: they knew Tang Wulin was bait, and they knew the real target was still in the city."

"This indicates there's a mole within the Federation's high command or the Heaven Dou City's defense system, and that they have direct communication with the Holy Spirit Cult. I haven't yet found out who it is. These people are very cautious; by the time I got close, the communication had already stopped. But the antenna is still working, meaning they haven't realized they've been located. I'll return to the quarry at dawn and search again. If I don't send another message, don't send anyone over, and don't show your face. This game isn't over yet."

The writing on the paper stopped abruptly here, and the last few lines were slightly crooked, suggesting it was written extremely quickly.

"The plan remains unchanged. I will allow the people outside to continue to show themselves, but you should not move. The more chaotic Heaven Dou City becomes, the safer you will be. Xing Lan has gone to the Ye Family; I will meet up with her. By the way, Zhen Hua and I bought some useful metals. I didn't have enough money, so I made an IOU. If Seven Percent Sugar is still able to move, send a text message: 'Message read, no need to reply.'"

The area around the long table was deathly quiet.

Zhuo Shi gripped the edge of the paper, looking at those three words over and over again, his beard trembling.

Long Yeyue sat in the chair, her hand supporting her forehead, without moving for a long time.

Cai Yue'er turned one of the papers over to the back to confirm that there were no other words written on it.

Yun Ming pressed his hand on the edge of the table, his knuckles slowly tightening, as if trying to nail himself to the spot.

"He knew all along."

Yun Ming said in a low voice, "He guessed it earlier than we did."

"That's why he refused to let outsiders send messages in the first place."

Lan Muzi stood to the side, her face pale. "If the message is intercepted, it won't just be him who suffers the loss."

"So what do we do now?" Tang Yinmeng asked.

Her voice was dry, as if she hadn't slept all night.

Yun Ming did not answer immediately.

He stared at the words "No need to reply," his chest heaving, and after a long while said, "Reply. Just write 'Read. Shrek Academy awaits your return.'"

Seven Percent Sugar was not recommended.

The printer beeped softly a few moments later, then printed out a line of small print: Delivered to Half-Sweet Coffee.