New officers bring three fires, and Hanna Gagel, a Level Two Inspector from the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the Apocalypse Defense Group Headquarters, aimed her first fire directly at the "Genuine Fragrance" Combat Flight Squadron, but she did not mention her second and third fires.
Apart from the pilots of "Genuine Fragrance" Squadron coming together to start discussing plan ABC, the other departments fell into panic, the fear stemming from the unknown. They weren't afraid of open confrontation, but rather the sudden burst of covert attacks, leaving them utterly unprepared.
The mechanic crew was quite composed, under the leadership of their boss, Xiao Ming, the work of the mechanics was impeccable.
Manager Hanna Gagel presented a video as an example, which was after the combat alert was sounded, but the work of the mechanic crew was finished before the combat alert, and judging from the flight state of the "Big Mouth Monster" after taking off, the mechanics had not been negligent. All damages were combat-related, with no non-combat losses due to malfunction.
As for the newcomer, Chen Fei, he was even less involved. One moment a mechanic, another a pilot, working a shift at night, jumping back and forth, he was alright.
As long as he continued to study and train according to the original plan and waited to start working formally, those three fires could not touch him no matter what.
The manager's office at Aircrew Base 911.
Hanna Gagel, who had just finished her inaugural speech, stood opposite two men in black suits and black sunglasses, their expressions solemn, holding a folder in their hands.
She had not parachuted into Aircrew Base 911 alone and unprepared to take over the position of executive manager from Morris Morgan; instead, she brought a small but efficient team.
An inspector from the Ministry of Internal Affairs parachuting down to a subordinate unit to take up the post of executive manager was an unusual personnel move.
But involving the recently acquired remains of a Metallic Dragon and the huge profits of hundreds of billions of Star Yuan, any irrationality seemed justified.
One of the men in black suits and black sunglasses had just begun speaking but was cut off abruptly.
"Stop. Please address me as Manager Hanna."
Hanna Gagel frowned, her simple words silencing the two men instantly.
"One-Eye Hanna" was not known in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for being kind, gentle, or approachable. Such a person usually had limited tolerance for subordinates' mistakes, and to avoid an unpleasant end, it was best not to continue testing the limits.
"Manager Hanna, this is the suspect list we've just compiled."
The man in the black suit, holding a folder, respectfully placed it on the large desk and quickly retreated to his original position, standing with his hands at his sides and his expression extremely serious, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
Standard A4-size papers, a total of five pages, with the information and related comments of twenty-five people listed, from different departments and positions at Aircrew Base 911.
Hanna Gagel picked up the file from the desk and flipped through it, then casually marked several names with different symbols—a triangle, a pentagon, and some question marks—before finally saying, "Polygraphs and psychological assessments have already evaluated Pu Aihua. His small business isn't significant and lacks special channels; it's all for show. He can be ruled out as a suspect.
Just keep an eye on his and his family's bank accounts, and remember to report to me promptly if there's any significant financial activity."
"Then there's Chen Fei, born into a standard commoner family, without any special abilities, limited experience. He probably wouldn't even recognize what a Dragon Heart Core looks like. Even if it fell into his hands, with his situation at the time, he was nearly dead; it's impossible that he could have hidden anything."
"Also, Spunk from security, his eyes are color weak, almost unable to distinguish between the Heart Core and regular stones. Confirm his movement tracks and draw a trajectory map. If there's no issue, he can be ruled out as well."
"Keep a close watch on Barut. There's a saying, 'Those not of our kind, their hearts will differ.' He is not only a Neanderthal; he was also a guard for the Supreme Council of the Third Era Civilization. It's difficult to guarantee he won't have some special intentions. This person is dangerous."
Hanna Gagel's pen pressed hard on Barut's name, beside which she had just drawn a pentagon.
The amount of information revealed in her words was substantial.
Despite digging three feet into the ground in the area where the Metallic Dragon had fallen, Apocalypse Defense Group collected all the wreckage they could find, not sparing even pieces the size of rice grains, yet they conspicuously failed to find its Heart Core, not even a fragment the size of a fingernail.
The whereabouts of the Metallic Dragon Bit's Heart Core was unknown, and no one could guarantee whether it had self-destructed or been turned to dust by the KDK-1 suction-type hypersonic smart missile on the spot, as it was the first time the "Dragon Slayer Missile" was used in real combat to kill a Giant Dragon, and there was no precedent before, let alone the result being a Metallic Dragon.
However, according to top-secret information from special channels, once the Heart Core of a Metallic Dragon lineage was damaged, the quality of the remaining wreckage would plummet more than one grade in an instant, diminishing its value greatly.
Still, the quality of the Metallic Dragon's wreckage in the hands of Apocalypse Defense Group remained as good as new, and it could definitely sell for a good price.
This meant... the Heart Core of the Metallic Dragon might still exist, possibly intact.
Apocalypse Defense Group discreetly sealed off the information.
The two men in black suits and sunglasses across the big desk exchanged a look, realizing there were so many omissions in their investigation that they broke out in a cold sweat.
In unison, the two said, "Thank you for the reminder... Manager Hanna."
They almost made a mistake again.
Fortunately, she didn't seem to want to make a scene on the spot, allowing them to quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
"How's the monitoring plan going?"
Hanna Gagel pushed the folder containing information about more than twenty people back onto the desk and slid it forward.
The man in the black suit who had just handed over the documents quickly retrieved the stack of A4 papers from the large desk.
"The security team and the monitoring room have each positioned two people, and specially customized monitoring sensors now cover 90% of the entire base, though the containers might cause some interference..." the other man began, his words trailing off hesitantly.
The standard containers filling up 911 Aircrew Base to the brim were an unforeseen new situation.
The monitoring sensors could detect the remains of the Metallic Dragons within a certain range, but other metal materials could also cause a degree of interference and false alarms.
"No worries, ensure comprehensive coverage first, with no omissions or blind spots, and pay special attention to the main traffic arteries. Report immediately if anything is discovered, understood?"
Hanna Gagel continued, "If the Dragon Heart Core is retrieved, I will personally commend you, and the company won't let you down either."
"Thank you, Manager Hanna!"
The two men in black suits and sunglasses gradually adapted to the changed roles.
"I hope to hear good news soon."
The executive manager's delicate figure seated in the large office chair resembled a throne.
Various departments of the Aircrew Base remained unaware that near them, a small team operating quietly and yet not belonging to any department had increased their numbers.