207: No more hesitation

"So, this powerful vanguard is my man now, hahahaha!"

"It's all due to my personal charm."

Peacock was being very arrogant.

"You didn't see Mayer's cold face when I contacted him via Video Call to ask for the person."

"What, they worked him to death when I hadn't noticed, but as soon as I asked for him, his commander suddenly couldn't bear to let him go?"

The Mayer he spoke of was the adjutant to the Sixth Legion Commander, temporarily responsible for assisting his integration into the Sixth Legion.

"...I see."

Tu Nan said softly.

"He... I mean that... Li, how did he know you were at the front line?"

"Him? He said he saw me on TV, during the Decoration Ceremony. Didn't Your Majesty speak?"

That's right, the Decoration Ceremony. The entire Empire could see it.

It was those Two Children; they had only changed into fancy clothes, so of course those familiar with them could recognize them.

For instance, their biological father, Li.

She couldn't help but overthink it.

This must indeed be the reason—the reason that prompted Li to seek out Kong Jiamu.

What did he want to do? Ask for news of the Children from Kong Jiamu, who was also at the scene?

Or perhaps he wanted to find her again? This "item" he had lost?

Tu Nan stared at Kong Jiamu until he noticed something was wrong.

"Tu Nan, what's wrong?" He noticed she was distracted.

"Do you... discriminate against Chaotic Beasts? Or did you hear me say last time that he committed a crime and went to military court?"

Kong Jiamu tilted his head and educated her earnestly.

"There's no need for that. How should I put it... no matter who they are, if they're willing to give their all on the battlefield, they deserve respect."

"It probably wasn't a serious crime anyway; he seems quite straightforward to me."

Kong Jiamu suddenly became curious. "Maybe I'll go ask him."

"No need!" Tu Nan was startled. Seeing Peacock look over, she gritted her teeth and explained.

"You just said you should respect him, so why ask so many questions?"

"...True. Sigh, dealing with these trivial matters is so tiring. If only Sergeant Song Jie had come with me. I used to dump all these chores on him."

Tu Nan's heart rate hadn't even calmed down before it spiked again.

Sergeant Song Jie! He likely knew her, but he absolutely knew Li, as he was Kong Jiamu's adjutant.

This pit was truly difficult to fill.

Unless Li disappeared completely. Or if his path to promotion was cut off, preventing him from ever appearing before Peacock.

Tu Nan's mind went blank for a moment.

After coming to her senses, she looked at Kong Jiamu and the vast starry sky behind him, speaking calmly.

"You have to handle these things yourself eventually, Jiamu."

She gave a short laugh.

"You'll face many things in the future; you can't just dump everything on your adjutant."

"Ah! Why do you sound just like Your Majesty! Has he been lecturing you like this lately too?" Peacock was shocked.

"Oh, baby, please don't learn to talk like Your Majesty~"

Tu Nan sighed.

Just now, she had corrected her own extreme thoughts.

How could she forget? She shouldn't be afraid of the past now, and her identity was no longer an issue.

Li and she were now from two completely different worlds.

What did he look like? Tu Nan realized that if she didn't think carefully, that person's appearance was beginning to fade from her mind.

He was just scenery on the road she had traveled.

That road had once been covered in vines; they had once carpeted the path and entangled her.

But after she had squeezed through them to run toward the path ahead...

Whether those vines she pushed aside grew thorns or bloomed flowers...

...was no longer something she needed to care about.

That was... Li's own life.

As for Kong Jiamu, even if that day came...

...and he knew everything and resented her, what of it?

If he chose to turn and leave, wouldn't that be the very ending she had initially designated for the story between them?

Therefore, she should no longer concern herself, nor was there any need to intervene.

She already had more important things to do, didn't she?

"It's late, aren't you going to rest?"

Having thought it all through, Tu Nan felt a weight lift off her shoulders.

"I'm going... I can probably catch two hours of shut-eye." Kong Jiamu realized he had dragged Tu Nan into a conversation for so long in the middle of the night.

"Go to sleep quickly. Oh, really, look at me."

"But I don't know if I'll find time to accompany you later. Once we enter the war zone, let alone Video Calls, even basic communication will be restricted."

He complained, but he didn't seem dissatisfied.

"Remember to miss me. Go to sleep."

Peacock gave a dashing wink and hung up the Video Call.

Tu Nan watched him with a smile until his figure completely dissipated in the air.

In every sense, this would be the last time she saw such a carefree Peacock.

It was worth remembering.

***

The more important matter referred to the mission The Emperor had assigned to her.

In the blink of an eye, half of the month had passed, and the fast ship carrying everyone had docked the day before yesterday.

It turned out a fast ship could be that fast!

Looking at it now, the Grand Map was roughly equivalent to an intercontinental cruise ship on Blue Star; all that time on the road was just to create a closed and special entertainment environment.

Tu Nan had made good use of every day of Zhuang Qi's journey.

She showed no mercy in assigning tasks to Zhuang Qi. An executive who was also a shareholder and employee was different; how could he not handle the pressure?

So, before Zhuang Qi even arrived at the Capital City, he had already taken over all the affairs of the Spread Company.

This was, of course, also due to the absolute cooperation of the handover personnel.

"Good Tu Nan, I knew you wouldn't really drive me to death."

Lance had completely lost her dashing appearance; her once neatly styled short hair looked as messy as a bird's nest on the Video Call.

She had been forced into the role and had struggled in an unsuitable position for so long that she had reached her limit.

Gu Lvhai and her two maids weren't doing much better.

While Lance was complaining, the three of them were still working frantically behind her, their hands never stopping as they answered communications.

"Alright, alright. Haven't I solved everyone's problems now?"

"He really is so useful~"

Lance was extremely happy.

As a homebody fish, for the first time, she felt like she needed to go out and get some sun.

"Mm-hmm, he's very capable," Gu Lvhai added in a spare moment, "but he said we still have to do the accounting."

"If it's just accounting, you'll be happy, don't worry."

Tu Nan casually coaxed her.

"Alright, have you all finished packing? Why don't you take a trip to the Capital City?"

Tu Nan smilingly invited everyone.

"It's time for the company headquarters to move. I've picked out a small building; come over and take a look together?"

"It's been a long time since we all met. There are many things... shall we discuss them in detail when we meet?"

For instance, what kind of feedback had been received from the clues sent out along with those unique custom products?

The Foster Mothers she had charmed during this time, those Female Beasts of high or low status, and... those stunningly beautiful dolls.

When Kong Jiamu investigated cases, he focused on striking hard at the black market.

Hain's style of investigation was to seize a few suspicious nobles and expose their secrets.

She was different.

She chose to start from the tiny corners that no one cared about.

First, obtain a massive amount of information, then perform data analysis, and finally identify the problematic parts.

That was inspiration drawn from the Big Data era of Blue Star.

And now... through the efforts of countless branches, that data was being absorbed and aggregated.

She was only waiting to find the most critical clue from within it.