Chen Gu was, of course, familiar with this notorious place. Crime ran rampant here, and morality was in ruins. Its inhabitants were the dregs of society, and the city government, unwilling to intervene, let them fend for themselves as long as they didn’t cause trouble in other districts.
Chen Gu looked at a door at the mouth of a small alley. Inside lived their mission target, a woman named Mona.
Chen Gu had joined the mission at the last minute, so only now did he have time to open the mission dossier Marcus had sent.
"It’s actually related to True Knowledge Sin!" Chen Gu exclaimed in surprise. He was a man who had once been cellmates with the Prophet of True Knowledge Sin.
According to the dossier, the activities of True Knowledge Sin on Empire River Star, particularly in Wuzhaoyin City, were on the rise. Analysts from the internal affairs strategy team judged that they must have a specific target.
This woman named Mona had recently moved to Wuzhaoyin City. Though she had adopted an almost flawless false identity, the Bureau of Mystic Security still uncovered that three years ago, she was a follower of True Knowledge Sin. Following the "True God’s Embrace" incident, an event that shocked the entire Confederation, she had left True Knowledge Sin. She seemed to have started anew, keeping a low profile until now.
The "True God’s Embrace" incident had occurred in Hexiao Phoenix City on Tianmo Star, and Mona had been there at the time.
At the time, over nine thousand True Knowledge Sin followers, attempting to use an illicitly manufactured superweapon, planned to obliterate the entire Hexiao Phoenix City to achieve the "embrace of the true god."
After their plot was thwarted by the Bureau of Mystic Security, the over nine thousand True Knowledge Sin followers frantically attacked every living creature in sight before committing mass suicide.
This horrifying atrocity led nations like Star State and other major star nations to launch severe attacks on the Confederation.
On the surface, it seemed that Mona had a change of heart because of that tragedy and left True Knowledge Sin. However, various subtle clues suggested that this Mona was not so simple.
The latter part of the dossier detailed Mona’s life in Wuzhaoyin City. She had a sixteen-year-old daughter who wasn’t attending school and worked at a pizza shop in Gods’ Poison. Mona herself worked at a convenience store in the bustling 54th District.
At nine o’clock, Mona returned home exhausted. She prepared a simple meal and then waited until midnight. Then, she put on a bulletproof vest, shouldered an old rifle, and left the house.
After walking through three streets, she arrived at the pizza shop to pick up her daughter from work.
Upon meeting, the first thing Mona did was take off her bulletproof vest and put it on her daughter.
Chen Gu and Joseph had been watching from their car all night. By five o’clock in the morning, Mona had already left for work. Her daughter was still sound asleep, with the breakfast Mona had made for her left on the table.
There was a small incident at two in the morning when a group of gang members discovered Chen Gu’s car. They came over, laughing and jeering, preparing to rob them. Joseph acted swiftly, cleanly dispatching everyone without alerting any of the neighbors.
Both were professionals who remained alert despite being awake all night. When Mona left for work, Chen Gu contacted Marcus. "What should we do now? Should we split up and keep surveillance on the mother and daughter separately?"
Marcus vetoed the idea. "Stay where you are. Other team members are watching Mona’s workplace."
The two continued their watch until eleven in the morning, when the daughter finally woke up. At four in the afternoon, the daughter left for work.
Chen Gu and Joseph received orders from Marcus to withdraw. Melincha and Charles took over for them.
Charles had a sour look on his face. When Chen Gu greeted him, Charles responded indifferently, leaving Chen Gu to wonder, What on earth did I do to offend this guy?
Surveillance missions are actually a tough, lengthy, and dull task. If there’s some payoff in the end, one can be allocated a substantial amount of merit points.
But if it all comes to nothing after expending a great deal of time, there might only be a consolation prize of ten merit points.
The entire weekend passed in such monotonous duty. By Monday, Chen Gu silently cheered; he could finally leave this grueling task behind.
Joining in the cheering was the little demoness Selena.
During the first break in the morning, Darkray hurried over. "Bro Chen, Mao Yisheng got set up! He’s locked up in the detention center now..."
Chen Gu was surprised. "What? What happened exactly?"
"It was those bastards from Zhaolin High School!"
Darkray spoke at breakneck speed, but the class bell rang halfway through his explanation. Chen Gu, very worried, was somewhat preoccupied during the following class. As soon as it was over, he rushed out but was stopped by Teacher Dai at the door. "Don’t hurry; Teacher Ouyang has already gone to deal with it."
Zhaolin High School was an ordinary high school, just a few kilometers from Lubei. Of course, it was suppressed at every turn by Lubei, one of the "Big Six."
However, Zhaolin High School’s military students were outstanding and had always been able to stand up against Lubei’s.
The military students were very united. When a group of physically strong young people got together, they were naturally prone to impulsiveness. The military students from Lubei and Zhaolin had always been at odds, overtly and covertly competing.
Over the weekend, Darkray, Mao Yisheng, and their group made plans to go singing. Mao Yisheng boasted that he had just mastered Man Suling’s new hit single, "Wild Release," and wanted to show his friends.
At the KTV, while they were singing, a few girls from Zhaolin High School came in. They repeatedly praised Mao Yisheng’s singing, and Darkray’s group of rough-and-tumble guys immediately hit it off with them.
Half an hour later, law enforcement officers raided the KTV. In Mao Yisheng’s backpack, tucked into his textbooks, they found several "Flying Leaves."
This was a type of hallucinogenic drug, strictly prohibited by Confederation law!
After listening to Darkray’s account, Chen Gu glared angrily at the military students. "Are you all breeding pigs? Casually mingling with people of unknown origin like that?"
"Do you really think you’re Man Suling? That a single song could make girls swoon over you?"
The military students felt ashamed and were very deferential towards Chen Gu. After being scolded, they could only hang their heads and listen. If anyone else had berated them like that, they would have definitely jumped up, ready to fight.
Chen Gu pointed at Darkray. "How are you so sure it was Zhaolin High School’s people?"
Darkray gritted his teeth. "This morning, on my way to school, I ran into Bai Mao Liu from Zhaolin High School at the school gate. He hinted that if I give up my spot as a publicly selected student, someone among those girls will come forward and admit they framed Mao Yisheng."
Publicly selected students are directly admitted to a decent university. Of course, it’s not comparable to the Tiangong Military Division or even a top-tier university, but for many military students, this is already the best possible outcome.
Their academic grades are too poor for them to get into good schools.