The Command Room's True Secret

"Hey, I think I've found something here."

"What? I have 4 minutes to finish cracking it," Black replied. It couldn't see what was happening in the command room; it could only hear Mu Fan speaking from there.

Mu Fan frowned deeply, his tone quite serious.

"Have you searched for information about the Broken Axe Star Pirate Group in your database?"

"Broken Axe, isn't that the space pirate group that invaded Luoqie Star? They have some connections with the Wen family and the Gador Empire. Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"I see this mark! But this time it's a pattern of a broken axe and a broken sword intersecting."

"This pirate group is called the Sword Axe Star Pirate Group. Could it simply be related to that name?"

"No, I won't forget the mark on this axe."

Mu Fan's eyes were fixed on that scene.

"That's a really interesting question, tsk tsk. I've also discovered some interesting things about the ship's Optical Brain that I'm currently hacking. For example, their central control system isn't the parallel Command Department commonly used by the Federation, but rather a system derived from the Gador Empire's military."

"So it seems there might actually be some problems between the two."

Mu Fan nodded, his left hand unable to leave the control panel, his gaze fixed on the distance.

On the other side of that mark, there is a strange platform.

The console below that platform was also a different color from the rest of the console; it had a more polished look, and the shiny metal looked like it had been added on later.

Then there is a depression in the middle of the platform, and dozens of lines around it connect to that empty depression.

The more Mu Fan looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.

It was a hexagonal metal groove, Mu Fan felt like he had seen it somewhere before.

hexagon...

Um?

Is this it?

Mu Fan suddenly seemed to remember something, took out a metal plate from his pocket, squinted at it, and gestured towards it.

Maybe we could give it a try?

"How much longer until it ends?"

"128 seconds."

So Mu Fan suppressed his curiosity and waited for the black-clad solution to finish.

After a while, all the screens in the room suddenly went dark, and then lit up one by one.

A bright, smiling face appeared on every screen.

"Mu Fan, the intrusion was successful! Now, can you notify Lin Hao and the others, and then proceed with the next step of the plan?"

"No rush." Mu Fan glanced at his watch; there were still nearly ten minutes until his appointment with Lin Hao.

"Now that you've taken over the system, do you know what these metal recesses are for?"

"Metal groove? I didn't find it in the system, wait a minute."

As soon as Hei finished speaking, a hidden door on a mechanical platform next to Mu Fan opened, and a camera extended out, pointing at Mu Fan.

"Now we can see what's inside the command center," Hei said smugly.

Mu Fan looked at the camera, then got up and walked to the metal recess he had just discovered, pointing at it and saying, "Take a look, what's this?"

The camera changed angles several times in succession, and in the end, a hint of doubt appeared in Hei's tone.

"I really don't know; there's no description of this thing in the ship's database. But its shape and structure look more like a control console that requires physical unlocking, and it's completely independent of the ship's systems. I feel like this would be very interesting. Mu Fan, what were you trying to tell me?"

In the darkness, Mu Fan slowly lifted the hexagonal metal plaque. "I feel that this shape matches the plaque in my hand very well."

The rotating camera suddenly froze.

"Can you tell me where this thing came from?"

"It was on that Solomon Pilot from before," Mu Fan said nonchalantly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know what it is, I just thought it was very delicate so I wore it."

"I love luck the most, because all sorts of unreasonable things can always happen."

"Shall I put it down and try?"

"Give it a try."

The black one's complaints didn't continue, because its curiosity had also been piqued.

So, with the camera looking on expectantly, Mu Fan carefully aimed the hexagonal metal plate and then put it down.

Perfect match!

"Why isn't there any response?" Mu Fan muttered.

At that moment, a deep hum sounded, and then a hidden metal door opened on the control panel below, causing the platform to sink down.

The dark red lights began to illuminate once more.

Unlike the surrounding blue and white lights, the lights here appeared rather somber and solemn.

After the metal plaque had completely sunk, a screen slowly rose up.

"Mu Fan, quickly press your wrist on it, I feel this thing is about to transmit a signal!"

Hei suddenly spoke, Mu Fan reacted quickly, pressing his left hand directly onto the control panel.

"The Hunting Beacon Control System has been activated. Permission verification: Soash Lie, insufficient Level 1 permissions, denied... beep, permission granted. Solomon List System master control platform activated."

"This... it's actually Solomon's stuff! Luckily, Mu Fan, you made contact in time. If you hadn't just blocked its signal transmission, this control console would have sent a signal to Solomon's headquarters! That Solomon Pilot didn't have enough permissions to access the main system; he only had level three mission viewing permissions. Heh, but in front of me, this system is utterly pathetic."

Three planets appeared in succession on the holographic screen projected onto the screen.

Mu Fan could recognize that the largest planet was Landu Star, and the two smaller planets next to it should also be nearby.

At this moment, many red dots covered the Landu Star; roughly speaking, there were probably over a hundred.

Mu Fan slid his finger across the planet and found that the most concentrated area of red dots was still in Zhongjing City.

"Mu Fan, you've hit the jackpot! This is the main control platform of Solomon's Hunting Beacon system. The Mechanical Ant you planted when you were being tracked earlier is the so-called Hunting Beacon. You can zoom in to see the Dingchuan Academy section."

As the planetary image zoomed in, Mu Fan was finally able to discern the outline of the surface as Dingchuan Academy.

And a bright red dot of light was flashing continuously.

"This is because I restored the shielding against that Mechanical Ant, allowing you to see its true location," Black explained.

Mu Fan frowned. "How did Solomon's things end up on a pirate ship?"

"Haha, that's why I said you've won the lottery. All the classified information on this ship was stored here. Solomon's contact was this space pirate, and you just cut his throat in the corridor."

A character's portrait appeared, Mu Fan looked at it and realized that it was the second space pirate he had killed with his snake blade.

So he was one of Solomon's men!

"What other classified information is there?"

"Come, let me give you a brief overview. The Gador Empire and Solomon have been secretly cooperating for 17 months, and to some extent, Solomon's military technology has even received covert support from the Gador Empire. Solomon's goal is to use their underworld power to infiltrate key Administrative Star of the Federation, and this Sword Axe Star Pirate Group... is a lackey of the Gador Empire!"

"Most importantly, your previous deduction was correct. The Broken Axe was indeed among them, but starting six months ago, it suddenly broke away from the Sword Axe and began carrying out another covert mission under the separate Broken Axe mark."

"This attack by the sword and axe was not accidental, but rather the result of obtaining a secret, disguised intelligence report. The report was heavily modified, and the space pirates believed it was a genuine smuggling ship. The report even pinpointed the exact time of the Federation's Star-borne Ship's appearance to the minute. And the source of the intelligence... is unknown."

A massive amount of information flooded into my mind in an instant.