At the corner of the corridor, I bumped into a staff member in black.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," the man said quickly, bowing his head.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, Xu Jintang reached out and grabbed him, staring intently at his face. "I've run into a problem. Can you help me?"
The man in black paused, slowly raised his head, and forced a smile. "I have some urgent business to attend to. Would you mind calling someone else?"
"There's no time to find anyone else, so you'll have to do it." Xu Jintang turned around and pulled him back.
The man's smile gradually faded, and he lowered his head, pursing his lips, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
After making several turns, Xu Jintang led the man to a corner of a corridor where there was no satellite surveillance.
The man sensed something was wrong and asked warily, "Where are you taking me, ma'am?"
Xu Jintang suddenly released him, turned around, crossed her arms in front of her, and looked him up and down with a smile, "If I remember correctly, you're the one who caused trouble at the underground black market Mirage last time, right?"
The smile on the man's face vanished instantly.
The next second, he activated his supernatural power and swiftly attacked Xu Jintang.
"Bang--"
The damage from the supernatural attack was blocked by a pair of enormous green wings.
"Hmph, foolish human, you dare to lay a hand on me." The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx, arriving just in time, had already transformed into human form. Its sharp claws gripped the man's neck, pinning him against the opposite wall.
As soon as she found the man, Xu Jintang immediately notified him to come over through her contract with the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx.
The man's throat was being choked, and he couldn't utter a sound. He could only struggle in terror, but the power of the Peak Eighth Tier Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx was far beyond his ability to resist. Any further resistance was futile.
Xu Jintang walked up to the man with a cold face, raised her hand and patted his cheek, "Are you a member of the Reform Society? Nod if you are, shake your head if you aren't."
The man nodded frantically.
Xu Jintang narrowed her eyes slightly, raised her hand to touch the man's waist, and quickly pulled a badge from his pocket.
It's exactly the same as the Reform Society badge I saw last time.
Xu Jintang held the badge in her palm, weighed it a few times, and continued to scrutinize the man. "Are all the people in your Reform Society this stupid? Coming out to do bad things, you actually carry badges with you? Aren't you afraid of accidentally losing them and being recognized?"
The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx pinched the man hard, making his face turn red.
He quickly shook his head, trying to make it clear that he wanted to speak and explain.
Xu Jintang waved to the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx, his gaze remaining fixed on the man. "Don't make any noise. If you attract outsiders, you'll be responsible for the consequences."
With the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx present, Xu Jintang's threat was clearly very strong.
The man nodded obediently.
The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx snorted coldly and loosened its grip on the man's neck slightly.
The man breathed a sigh of relief, swallowed hard, and nervously looked at Xu Jintang to explain, "I... that's what our leader instructed us to do. He said that no matter what we do while traveling, we must not forget our identity as members of the Reform Society."
Xu Jintang raised his right arm, pressing the ruby-embellished hidden dart against the man's neck, and threatened, "Everyone in the interstellar space knows the Reform Society is anti-Party. Has your leader lost his mind, letting you wander around with these badges? Now tell the truth!"
The cold arrow touched the man's skin, making him shudder immediately.
His whole body tensed, and fear showed in his eyes. "I... I'm not a member of the Reform Society."
Xu Jintang narrowed his eyes, "Then why are you wandering around wearing the Reform Society's badge?"
"I..." The man hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure where to begin.
Just then, a hidden arrow shot out with a "whoosh," landing right next to the man.
This arrow snapped him out of his nervousness.
Before the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx and Xu Jintang could react, he quickly took out a Teleportation Inscription from his storage space and crushed it.
The man's figure vanished in an instant.
The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx didn't even react. "Damn it, this kid has accomplices. Should we go and capture them?"
"No need, you'll be exposed even if I keep chasing you."
Xu Jintang looked down at the Reform Society badge in his hand.
In his panic, the man just revealed that he wasn't a member of the Reform Society Reform Society. Does this mean he deliberately impersonated a member to frame someone?
"Whoosh--"
Several more arrows shot in from around the corner of the corridor.
The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx immediately blocked Xu Jintang's path, spreading its wings.
The sharp arrows were all deflected, making a crisp "clinking" sound.
"Someone's coming, I'm leaving now." The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx quickly gave the order and swiftly returned to its pet space.
Within seconds, the security team at the recording site arrived. "What's going on? We heard fighting sounds coming from over here."
Xu Jintang looked up and said, "I just spotted someone acting very strangely, and then I found this badge on him."
After saying that, she tossed the Reform Society badge in her hand to the captain of the guard.
The guard captain initially paid no attention, but when he caught the badge and saw the design clearly, his expression changed instantly. "They're from the Reform Society!"
He immediately ordered his men, "Report this matter to the Administration Bureau immediately."
"Young lady," the guard captain approached Xu Jintang, "This matter involves the Reform Society, and the impact could be quite serious. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to come with me to the Administration Bureau later."
Xu Jintang nodded, "No problem."
At this time, the recording was still being broadcast live.
The interview has now reached Xue Zhongqi.
The host smiled and read out the last question.
Xue Zhongqi straightened his back and was about to answer when a terrifying explosion erupted from the recording studio.
A violent tremor spread throughout the scene.
All the staff were stunned and turned to look in the direction from which the explosion came.
"What happened? Something exploded?"
"Immediately notify the security team!"
"Oh no! Someone discovered that members of the Reform Society have infiltrated the filming location!"
This shout immediately plunged the scene into panic.
The staff jumped to their feet and fled in panic. "How could someone from the Reform Society have infiltrated? Could they have been the ones who made that explosion just now?"
The host was also stunned.
She glanced at the still-live-streaming camera, quickly stood up to interrupt the broadcast, and said, "Let's insert a commercial break and go ask the director what's going on."
Yan Yuting and Song Tianqi exchanged a strange look.
"What's going on? Are the Reform Society people causing trouble here again?" Yan Yuting asked, sounding somewhat exasperated.
I finally got to be on a TV show, and then this kind of mess happened.
Xue Zhongqi fell into deep thought, "Could it be that the class monitor suddenly left because he discovered the Reform Society members?"
"Possibly," Jiang Shiyi replied, then stood up from the sofa. "Everyone, be on guard. The explosion we just heard wasn't far from here; there's a good chance a bomb has been planted at the site as well."
No sooner had she finished speaking than a loud explosion rang out at the recording site.
Thick smoke billowed throughout the venue.
Screams and cries of panic rang out.
"Help! Help me, my leg is trapped!"
"Don't panic, everyone calm down! I'm the captain of the security team. There are already members of the Reform Society infiltrated the scene. We've just requested backup from the Administration Bureau, and they'll be there shortly. Don't panic!"
Jiang Shiyi and the other three stood back to back in a circle, adopting a defensive posture, their eyes warily scanning their surroundings.
Then Xu Jintang's voice rang out. "Are you alright? I'm back."
Xu Jintang's figure emerged slowly from the thick smoke, appearing before the four people.
Yan Yuting immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked, "Squad leader, what's going on? Are there more members of the Reform Society causing trouble again?"
Xu Jintang pursed his lips. "Someone is using the Reform Society's name to cause trouble."
"What do you mean?" Song Tianqi looked over, puzzled.
"Let's wait for the Administration Bureau to review it," Xu Jintang said, without elaborating further.
She had a feeling that things weren't so simple.
Chapter 124
The sudden explosion forced the filming of the program to be suspended.
However, because the live stream was cut off too slowly, the sound of the explosion still rang out.
The live stream started playing advertisements on a loop.
[Holy crap! Was that an explosion? Was the show being attacked?]
[Was it that exciting? Was it just for show, or were they really attacked?]
[To dare cause trouble on such a popular show... this must have been done by those people from the Reform Society. Only they have the guts.]
[You know what, the Reform Society has been popping up everywhere lately. I think they were behind that black market explosion a while back.]
Various speculations subsequently emerged.
In less than half an hour, the Federation Administration Bureau arrived at the scene.
The team leader this time was Song Yuanlang, whom I had met before.
Upon seeing the five members of the Mask Squad again, Song Yuanlang's brows furrowed almost into a deep frown. "What, it's you again?"
Xu Jintang said innocently, "It is quite a coincidence, isn't it?"
" Captain Song, the recording site has been sealed off," a team member reported.
Song Yuanlang withdrew his gaze and continued to instruct, "No one is to be allowed to leave until the matter is thoroughly investigated."
"Yes!"
Since Xu Jintang was the first to discover the Reform Society faction, Song Yuanlang immediately called her away for a private questioning.
"I heard from the guards that you found this badge?" Song Yuanlang took out the Reform Society badge and showed it to Xu Jintang.
Xu Jintang nodded, "Yes. I found it on a staff member."
"What staff member?" Song Yuanlang asked, staring at her.
"He's a staff member at the recording studio. I think I've seen him before at the underground black market; he seemed familiar, so I went to talk to him."