410: The four behind-the-scenes masterminds

Just now in the conference room, the Investigation Team Leader's sudden change in attitude after taking the call was too abrupt; anyone could see there was something suspicious.

The Investigation Team Leader paused, turned his face to look at them, his face still showing a lingering shock, and his voice dropped even lower.

"It was Speaker Jiao."

"Speaker Jiao?!"

Several people exclaimed in unison, nearly stumbling in surprise.

Speaker Jiao—that was the highest Person in Charge of the Virgo Supercluster Administrative Center, the highest leader of their entire Investigation Team; they rarely even saw him in person.

"What... what did he say?"

The Deputy Investigation Team Leader's voice even trembled slightly.

The Investigation Team Leader took a deep breath and said slowly.

"The Speaker only said one thing: for us to follow Secretary Li's directives throughout and do everything according to his arrangements. Tell me, do I dare not listen to him?"

Everyone instantly fell silent, their shock solidifying into disbelief.

Even Speaker Jiao personally spoke, this Secretary Li's influence was far more unfathomable than they had imagined.

Originally, they still harbored some obsession with merit, but now only a heavy feeling remained in their hearts—how could they, mere mortals, fathom a figure so highly regarded by the highest leader of the Virgo Supercluster?

"Then... then what do we do now?"

A young Team Member asked hesitantly.

The Investigation Team Leader glanced at him, his tone regaining some calmness, but with an undeniable seriousness.

"What else can we do? Follow the Speaker's instructions. First, go through the motions at the incident site, make a superficial record, and then return tomorrow morning. Remember, from now on, speak less and listen more."

The group said no more and quickly walked towards the starship parked at the spaceport, but in each person's steps, there was an inexplicable sense of gravity... Just as Li Yang and the Investigation Team were busily discussing countermeasures in a private conference room, in another hidden conference room at the Administrative Center, four figures were seated around a long table, and the air was filled with oppressive silence.

The man at the head of the table held a burning energy cigarette between his fingers, its eerie blue light reflecting on his stern face. He slowly spoke, his voice low like sandpaper rubbing against metal.

"The Investigation Team from above has landed. The site on Kolos Planet... has it all been cleaned up?"

The man to his left immediately leaned forward slightly, his tone carrying a hint of fawning certainty.

"You can rest assured, everything has been handled properly according to the plan. The equipment wreckage that needed to be prepared, the records that needed to be tampered with, the approval backups that needed to be 'lost'... not a single superfluous trace was left. Even if they go to the site to investigate, they will only see a scene of wreckage consistent with an 'accidental explosion'."

The man at the head of the table nodded slightly and continued to ask.

"What about Dongyuan Company?"

"Hmph, those idiots were 'lucky' indeed."

The man who replied sneered, his tone full of disdain.

"When the Kolos Star exploded, the core management of their company happened to be holding a meeting on it; not even ashes were left."

"That's for the best."

The man at the head of the table exhaled a smoke ring, which slowly dispersed in the air.

"It saves us the trouble and reduces a layer of risk. No witnesses, the cleanest."

At the end of the long table, the only woman frowned, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the tabletop, breaking the brief calm.

"But there's something strange—after the Investigation Team landed, they didn't follow the usual procedure of convening all department Persons in Charge for a full briefing. Instead, they went directly into a small conference room with Ou Ben and Li Yang. This isn't according to regulations. What exactly are they trying to do?"

Her voice carried a hint of imperceptible tension as her gaze swept over the other three—normally, when an Investigation Team arrived, they should first listen to reports from various departments. Why would they immediately engage in "small-scale secret talks"? This abnormal behavior was like a fine thorn, pricking at everyone's heart.

"Who knows?"

The last man leaned back in his chair, a nonchalant smile on his face, twirling a metal pen on the table with his fingers.

"Anyway, the site is cleaned up, and most of the clues that needed to be erased are gone. In the end, this matter can only be classified as an accident."

"Hmph, you still have the nerve to say that?"

The woman glared at him, her disdain almost overflowing.

"You insisted on choosing that Dongyuan Company back then, a rogue company that couldn't even produce proper qualifications. How dare you let them take on a project of this level? Now that there's a mess, you speak so lightly."

"Now you're being unreasonable."

The man immediately sat up straight, his nonchalance turning into indignation, and his voice also rose a few octaves.

"As if you didn't get any benefits from it? Contracting to those old-established companies, we could at most skim a layer of profit. Giving it to them? We could get four layers! Wouldn't you be happy with that?"

"Money, money, money, all you know is money!"

The woman slammed the table, her eyes sharp as knives.

"Now that the matter has blown up so much, if it's found that that company doesn't even have basic qualifications, do you think that Secretary Li is an idiot? Wouldn't he suspect someone internally is playing tricks?"

"What if they find out?"

The man retorted, sticking out his neck, his tone carrying a gambler-like stubbornness.

"The approval process was all automatically handled by the system, and the records are clean. If it really comes down to it, we can just blame it on a system malfunction. Without proof, how can he, a Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee, convict us out of thin air?"

The two argued more and more fiercely, their spittle almost splashing onto the documents on the table.

The man at the head of the table had been silently smoking, but now he finally frowned deeply, extinguishing his cigarette butt forcefully in the ashtray with a soft 'sizzle'.

"Enough!"

He growled, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable authority.

The arguing stopped abruptly, and the two sullenly shut their mouths, though they still glared at each other.

He glanced at the two, the gloom in his eyes deepening.

"Quiet! Now is not the time to argue. System malfunction? Do you really think Li Yang is that easy to fool? Quickly clean up the remaining loose ends. If anyone messes up, they'll bear the consequences themselves!"

The man at the head of the table sternly admonished, his tone rigid with unquestionable authority.

Though the two who had been arguing still glared at each other indignantly, the fire in their eyes gradually subsided, and they eventually shut their mouths sullenly, just turning their faces away, implying a stalemate.

"But then again... put your minds at ease."

The man tapped his fingertips lightly on the tabletop, making regular soft sounds, as if comforting and also exerting pressure.

"Even if they insist on internal issues, I've already prepared a backup plan. I've already set up a few pawns. When the final moment comes, I'll let them take the fall and shoulder all the responsibility. That should be enough to give Secretary Li an explanation."

"You are truly thorough in your considerations."

The man who had previously argued immediately put on a fawning smile, his tone carrying a hint of flattery.

"Then we'll see if this Investigation Team can uncover anything real. In my opinion, it's mostly just going through the motions."

The woman, however, did not reply. She merely picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip, her gaze falling on the silhouette of a starship passing outside the window, a hint of elusive complexity flashing in her eyes—pawns?

How could there be pawns in this world willing to take the blame? It was probably just a temporary delaying tactic... Early the next morning, the starship carrying the Investigation Team slowly sailed into the docking port of This Galaxy Cluster Administrative Center.

After a day of intense investigation, the Team Members' faces showed undeniable fatigue, yet they still maintained a rigorous demeanor, walking quickly towards the small conference room on the third floor of the administrative building.

Pushing open the door, Li Yang, An Cheng, and Ou Ben were already waiting there, the atmosphere so heavy it could be wrung out.

Li Yang tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, his gaze sweeping over the Investigation Team Members, and asked in a deep voice.

"Have you found anything?"

The Investigation Team Leader rubbed his brow, his voice a little hoarse.

"We conducted a comprehensive investigation of the incident site, from the starship wreckage to every crack in the storage facility. Although time was indeed short, we strived for meticulousness throughout the entire process. Currently, all traces point to an accident—the starship responsible for transporting energy failed to arrive on time, leading to an excessive accumulation of energy in the storage facility. More unfortunately, the on-duty personnel made an operational error during emergency handling, first triggering a series of malfunctions in the power excavation equipment, ultimately detonating the entire storage facility... The subsequent star explosion was merely the final result of this chain reaction."

After hearing this, Li Yang's brows furrowed slightly, his knuckles unconsciously tightening.

He always felt something was off—the chain of this "accident" was too smooth, so smooth it was like someone had deliberately orchestrated a script.

But there was no evidence to support his intuition at the moment, so he could only temporarily suppress his doubts, his fingertips leaving faint white marks on the tabletop.

"What about the Persons in Charge of Dongyuan Company?"

"When the Kolos Star exploded, Dongyuan Company's management was all on the Kolos Star. So, one could say that not a single person from Dongyuan Company was left behind."

"Are there any remnants of the large-scale Kolos Star mining equipment?"

Li Yang's voice suddenly tensed, his fingertips stopping on the tabletop—he knew better than anyone that this type of heavy mining equipment was subject to Imperial authority control and could only be purchased by companies with corresponding qualifications through a three-tier approval process; ordinary organizations didn't even have the right to touch it.

The Investigation Team Members nodded and brought up a holographic projection. A pile of twisted metal wreckage appeared on the screen, with clear part numbers visible.

"Not just one piece, but the entire set of wreckage was found. You see, from the drill bits to the energy converters, the models are all from this year's latest series. We checked the database, and this batch of equipment was purchased 2 years ago, and the company's name is indeed Dongyuan Company."

Li Yang's gaze swept over the model identification on the projection, and he exchanged a look with Ou Ben and the others, a layer of solemnity appearing in each of their eyes.

A company without qualifications actually had a complete set of this equipment.

"On the surface, it indeed looks like an operational error."

Ou Ben added in a deep voice, his fingertip pointing to the fragments of the operation log in the projection.

"The records show the operator was a novice, on the job for less than a week, and accidentally touched the energy overload button. But on closer thought, it doesn't add up—how could a company without qualifications get the latest equipment? And who was behind exploiting the system approval loophole?"

Li Yang tapped his fingertips on the table, making regular soft sounds.

"The Kolos Star explosion was indeed an accident; they wanted it to happen even less than we did. But behind this 'accident,' what's hidden is probably a complete gray industrial chain. Equipment sources, system tampering, personnel arrangements... all interconnected, it's almost as if someone deliberately set up a trap."

The light of the holographic projection shone on everyone's faces, and their expressions all became somber.

This seemingly accidental star explosion was merely the tip of the iceberg; the undercurrents beneath the surface were far more turbulent than imagined.

An Cheng looked at the equipment wreckage in the projection, his tone carrying a hint of certainty.

"In my opinion, the root cause still lies with that company—they didn't even have the qualifications for large-scale Kolos Star mining, let alone actual operational experience. It's no wonder something went wrong when such novices handled precise equipment."

Ou Ben nodded in agreement beside him, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table.

"Exactly. If it were operated by a company with proper qualifications and extensive experience, with standardized procedures and skilled personnel, these problems simply wouldn't occur. Ultimately, the flaw lies in the qualification review process."

Li Yang raised his hand to interrupt the two, turning his gaze to the Investigation Team, his tone steady.

"All right, let's define the surface cause of the incident in this direction. As for the intricacies behind it, we will follow up and handle it ourselves."

He paused, looking at the Investigation Team Leader.

"Thank you all for this trip. When making the public announcement, write the report as 'operational error leading to an accident.' There's no need to mention anything else."

The Investigation Team Leader had long heard of Li Yang's connections and methods in the Galaxy, so he dared not object, quickly nodding in agreement.

"Understood, understood. We'll go organize the report right away and make sure it's according to your wishes."

As he spoke, his attitude clearly carried a hint of reverence.

An Cheng and Ou Ben exchanged glances, both seeing understanding in the other's eyes—Li Yang intended to suppress the overt matters and secretly conduct a thorough investigation into the gray chain hidden in the shadows.

After all, allowing an unqualified company to obtain the latest equipment and tamper with system approvals must involve a more complex web of interests behind it, which cannot be explained by one or two reports.

A tacit silence permeated the air; everyone knew that the conclusion of this "accident" was merely the beginning of another investigation... The large-scale meeting hosted by Ou Ben was held in the main conference hall of the Administrative Center, with all department Persons in Charge in attendance.

At the meeting, the Investigation Team Leader stood at the podium and publicly read out the final conclusion—the Kolos Star explosion incident was an accident caused by operational error and would be handled according to accidental incident procedures for subsequent accountability and compensation.

As his words fell, a low murmur of discussion rose from the audience, quickly subsiding into silence.

After the meeting, the Investigation Team's starship departed This Galaxy Cluster, flying towards the Virgo Supercluster Administrative Center department.

Watching the starship disappear at the end of the star-trail, the four people who had secretly gathered yesterday once again sat around the table in that hidden conference room.

"Hey, it actually worked!"

The man who had argued with the woman yesterday slapped his thigh, his face beaming with joy, his tone filled with relief.

"The Investigation Team indeed classified it as an accident. It seems our move was correct."

The Person in Charge at the head of the table curved his lips into a smile, his fingertips lightly tracing circles on the tabletop, with a hint of self-satisfaction.

"Things were handled quite smoothly. Judging by this situation, Li Yang and Ou Ben probably didn't notice anything amiss and truly believed it was just an ordinary operational accident."