The holographic projection of a blonde, wavy-haired female singer was singing a ballad to the starry sky.
Yang Ming laid back in the captain’s chair, enjoying the music and browsing the briefings from the past three months.
They were on their way to the Cas Federation.
Yes, Mimili and Kolev had successively become entangled in the quagmire of the Cas Federation.
The only thing that could be confirmed was that both of them were still alive.
The terminal devices around them struggled to transmit their life signals, as Molly worked hard to help her two masters.
Lyu’s realistic projection appeared beside him and hastily approached Yang Ming, wondering, "Boss, you don’t seem very nervous."
"Hmm," Yang Ming calmly nodded, "Is there a need to be nervous? I trust Mimili’s ability and Kolev’s cunning, but... why would they rush headlong into such an obvious trap?"
"The Cas Federation is Kolev’s stronghold, where half of his assets are hidden, and there’s a secret base on the abandoned Resource Star near the Administrative Star."
Lyu softly hummed a few notes:
"Before they left, my avatar, which is essentially me, warned them, because of your absence, I couldn’t arbitrarily use the forces of Wind and Dark Star to assist them; you’d be back soon.
"But they still chose to go there to resolve the trouble.
"They set out for the Cas Federation half a month ago; as per your emphasis on Kolev’s importance, I assigned them a two-hundred-meter-high mobile integrated ship belonging to the Dark Star Guard, and devised a complete plan leveraging local administrative forces to solve problems.
"Yet, they opted to follow the pirate tradition."
Yang Ming wondered, "What’s pirate tradition?"
"Negotiation, intimidation, extortion," Lyu shrugged, "and boarding."
Yang Ming shrugged, "How’s the situation in the Cas Federation now?"
Lyu gestured with her hands, and a projection screen appeared before Yang Ming, showing the Administrative Star he’d once visited.
"Mimili and Kolev arrived on the outskirts of this Administrative Star eleven days ago when everything was still normal.
"At that time, Mimili led several Mechanical Guards, infiltrating the remote areas of this planet aboard a Stealth Ship, heading towards the city of Nongka where Kolev’s estate was located.
"Initially, things went smoothly; they rented a hovercar, the Mechanical Guards were well-disguised as ordinary household robots, and Mimili pretended to be a civilian robot mechanic, arriving at the estate successfully with Molly’s help.
"Then Mimili lost contact.
"Kolev waited about fifteen minutes, then the anxious old pirate rushed in. However, according to Molly’s data, after Kolev reached his estate, he also lost contact with Molly, after which everything started to change dramatically."
Yang Ming wondered, "Change dramatically?"
Lyu’s face briefly manifested a pair of glasses before they disappeared again after she finished adjusting them.
"After Kolev entered the estate, Nongka City’s external network was halted, the transportation system’s power was cut off, and Nongka City became a black zone in the cyberspace, with rumors starting to circulate within the local network.
"The rumor claimed that some kind of doomsday virus had broken out in the city, predicting a third of the population would die in the next month.
"Originally, such rumors wouldn’t have had much impact, but when some politicians echoed the same sentiment, it incited panic, leading many residents to flee overnight in fear, spreading panic to several neighboring cities.
"To maintain order, the Cas Federation dispatched troops... but then, the detained populace assumed the military was there to quarantine them to die, causing severe clashes."
Several video clips appeared in front of Yang Ming.
Men and women, young and old, of all shapes and sizes surged towards the military and police line; high-performance hovercars repeatedly crossed the blockade, streaking across the sky, while smashed police cars lay in the background along the roadside.
Yang Ming muttered, "The folks around here sure are fierce."
"The Cas Federation modeled its government after the New Federation but isn’t as developed; societal order was already quite chaotic," Lyu paused, "which is also why Kolev chose to launder his illicit gains there."
Yang Ming nodded, losing himself in the video for a moment.
Did the puppeteer cause so much chaos with just rumors?
No, the key was those politicians.
"Lyu, investigate whether those outspoken politicians have purchased bionic robots."
"It’s already been investigated, boss," Lyu replied softly, "Such matters are usually kept secret; for now, all we know is that one of them purchased an anti-assassination bionic robot half a year ago."
"Intelligent Mechanical Crisis?"
"Too soon to determine, officially, the Cas Federation is also probing what happened in Nongka City, but the military teams dispatched seem to face heavy resistance, and satellite data have been blocked by Cas Federation’s military," Lyu reported, her voice calm, "Do we have permission to infiltrate the government and military networks of the Cas Federation?"
"Infiltrate, and leave no traces."
"Is Feinan repaired?"
"It’s been fixed and equipped with two additional booster engines; although its maneuverability isn’t at its peak, it still retains an advantage over regular fleets."
Yang Ming pondered, "Have 026 pilot Feinan near the Cas Federation. If necessary, I want to intervene in this chaos using the White Ghost identity."