Top edge chapter 28
The Nightingale leader
Shen Siwei had long been used to klet chasing him away.
But this time was different, he couldn’t get close to Klet anymore.
The two of them used to watch cartoons together and fight desert wolves together, setting aside their positions to enjoy each other’s company. If it weren’t for the mission at hand, Shen Siwei wouldn’t mind being friends with Klet.
But now there was definitely no chance, Klet obviously didn’t want to bother with him.
Fortunately, Klet hadn’t restricted Shen Siwei’s freedom of movement, he just asked him to leave voluntarily. Of course, Shen Siwei was well aware that Klet did this only because he knew that he couldn’t restrict Shen Siwei’s abilities.
When Klet returned from meeting Nightingale, if he found that Shen Siwei hadn’t left yet, he might forcefully make him leave or personally guard the power station.
Thinking it over, this was probably Shen Siwei’s last chance to investigate the power station while Klet was away.
After parting ways with Klet, Shen Siwei walked alone on the street. The surrounding area gradually filled with refugees, but he didn’t care about their gazes.
His clothes had a few tears on the side, but they weren’t too exposed. Although he lost two buttons at the collar, it only revealed his collarbone, so it wasn’t a big deal.
Actually, when Shen Siwei bought clothes before, he didn’t just buy this set, but the rest of his clothes were left at Klet’s house, and he didn’t really feel like going there now.
Klet fought the desert wolves so intensely, covered in sweat and wounds, he would definitely go home to take a shower and change clothes.
They had just had such an unpleasant argument, and now Shen Siwei going to Klet’s house felt awkward to him.
How strange, why did he feel guilty?
Wasn’t it only natural for him to deceive Klet in order to carry out the mission?
But why… did he feel a suffocating feeling that he couldn’t describe?
Suddenly, Shen Siwei thought of the stubble-faced man he met at the bar. He said Klet didn’t need to be responsible to anyone and could abandon refugees at any time. But when the Tree of Life was in real danger, he was the first to step forward, leaving Shen Siwei unsure how to define him.
Perhaps it was because most of the missions he had carried out before were black and white, where right was right and wrong was wrong. Shen Siwei had never encountered a target like Klet, who made things ambiguous.
Wait, there was one before, the little boy.
Thinking of this, Shen Siwei put his hands in his pockets and kicked a stone irritably with his feet. “What a useless mission.”
The small stone hit the charging pile on the side of the street, causing an explosion. The refugees who had just come to the street were scared and quickly retreated.
The patrol around the power station had been restored, but it was clearly understaffed. Previously, there were two or three people guarding each level, but now there were less than ten people in total.
Daytime was when the refugees were relaxed, and coupled with the recent expulsion of the desert wolves, most of the refugees guarding the power station didn’t have the intention to patrol seriously.
Shen Siwei crouched nearby for a while and found an opportunity. He quietly sneaked into the power station.
He had already explored the upper floors once, and the problem wasn’t there, so there was no need to explore them again. He followed the electronic map and went straight to the basement level. Unexpectedly, there were still people guarding the stairs.
It seemed that the problem was indeed in the basement level.
He knocked out the two guards at the stairs, then followed the electronic map and found the central power receiving pipeline that he had damaged.
The pipeline hadn’t been repaired, indicating that it wasn’t important.
The pipelines in the basement level were complex, and Shen Siwei couldn’t check each one to see if they had power or not.
Thinking that there must be a magnetic field where the electric current flows, he simply took out the high-precision magnetic field detector from his mini computer and followed the pointer. Eventually, he arrived at… the entrance to the abandoned basement level.
“No way?”
There was still a central receiving pipeline in the basement level, leading to the core power station in the deep sea.
But that power station had been destroyed by sea monsters fifty years ago, so how could it still be supplying power?
He opened the tightly closed iron door by hand, and the even more complex pipelines appeared before his eyes.
Only, the central pipeline that should have been abandoned emitted a gentle pale blue light, like an ocean that embraced everything, providing nourishment to each pipe.
—The Deep Sea Core Power Station was still operational?
No, Shen Siwei immediately dismissed that thought. It was simply impossible.
But what was happening before his eyes?
After coming out of the power station, Shen Siwei found a secluded alley and dialed Moran’s communication ID.
He thought that his understanding of the Tree of Life had fallen behind by twenty years, and perhaps many significant changes had occurred during this period that Moran forgot to tell him.
But Moran’s reaction was exactly the same as his.
“The deep sea? Impossible,” Moran said firmly, “It’s impossible for someone to repair the deep-sea power station.”
Shen Siwei also had the same idea, but some situations couldn’t be explained.
“I rebooted the control system, and the power station didn’t respond,” he said, “Only the power supplied by the deep sea could be unaffected by the system’s control.”
At the beginning of the establishment of the Tree of Life, the regional power stations weren’t installed with control systems. It was only after the deep-sea power station was destroyed that the Marg people installed this system to save on energy supply.
The system could control the entire regional power station, except for the long-abandoned deep-sea section.
Therefore, all the clues pointed to one fact—the Deep Sea Core Power Station was still operational.
“But how could the deep-sea power station be repaired?” Moran asked, “Any electronic device that goes underwater will be attacked by sea monsters. Even if someone can go to the deep-sea area without relying on electronic devices, the deep-sea power station still has a large number of electronic devices. How could they operate without attracting the attention of the sea monsters?”
“Could it be…” Shen Siwei speculated, “Someone killed all the deep-sea monsters?”
“Are you joking?”
“Maybe.”
The “someone” Shen Siwei referred to could only be Klet because only he knew the truth about the power station.
However, Klet’s combat power was at most on par with Shen Siwei’s. How could he possibly kill all the sea monsters, let alone in their territory underwater?
“How is your investigation of Klet going?” Moran asked.
“He…” Shen Siwei hesitated slightly, “he is very mysterious.”
In reality, Shen Siwei had gathered quite a bit of information about Klet. If he told Moran, the military would have at least a direction to investigate. But when the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back.
In the end, he didn’t want to do anything detrimental to Klet.
This isn’t right, he warned himself.
Although he did feel sorry for deceiving Klet, the stability of the Life Tree was far more important than personal interests.
“Continue the investigation,” Moran said. “Find any possible way to get close to him.”
“It’s not possible,” Shen Siwei breathed a sigh of relief. “He already knows that I’ve been hiding my true strength.”
“How could he know?”
“I helped drive away the desert wolf pack.”
“You…” Moran clearly suppressed his anger. “Darling, you really have a mind of your own.”
Shen Siwei pursed his lips, momentarily tempted to confront Moran about their memories.
But considering that Moran could put him to sleep at any time, he held back.
“There’s one more thing,” Shen Siwei said. “Do you know about the Nightingale organization?”
This matter also concerned the stability of the Life Tree, so Shen Siwei needed to report it.
“A new organization, right?” Moran seemed to know. “There has indeed been a lively organization recently, and I’ve been keeping an eye on them.”
“It’s best to keep a close eye on them. They were the ones who tried to assassinate me.”
“An assassination to provoke a war between the military and the refugees?” Moran wasn’t foolish. “Hmm, they have quite a cunning plan.”
“You’ll stay on standby in the lower levels,” Moran continued. “After I consult with the higher-ups, we’ll decide how to arrange you.”
He can’t even act properly. Shen thought to himself.
He said he missed him, but this was how he treated his “lover”?
Shen Siwei didn’t bother to expose it. He figured Moran was taking advantage of his fuzzy memory, so everything was just a charade.
In any case, the mission was considered complete, half successful and half failed.
In the end, Shen Siwei still couldn’t figure out Klet’s background, only knowing that he had some connection to the deep sea.
Recalling it, the last time Shen Siwei mentioned the concept of the deep sea was regarding that little boy…
Wait a minute.
Shen Siwei’s feet suddenly stopped.
Could Klet be that little boy?!
It’s impossible, impossible, impossible.
He clearly remembered how cute the little boy was, crying and not wanting to be separated from him. How could he possibly grow up to become this ruffian leader named Klet? Apart from anything else, Klet’s rough voice didn’t match at all with the crying little boy.
The thought flashed through Shen Siwei’s mind, but he didn’t dwell on it.
After all, Klet appeared older than him, a young man in his twenties at most.
The military would continue to investigate the underwater power station, and Shen Siwei staying in City Z wouldn’t be of much use.
Next, Moran would probably send someone to pick him up, and he had to find a way to remove Moran’s restrictions on him.
On the outskirts of the city, in the industrial zone.
Klet leaned against a heavy motorcycle, watching several modified racing cars approaching from a distance.
The lead car stopped about ten meters away from Klet, and a man with a half-face covered by a triangular scarf stepped out of the driver’s seat.
The man wore a military green baseball cap on his head, with retro frog-eye glasses resting on his nose. It was a stylish attire, but the cute image of a little yellow bird was printed on the triangular scarf, creating a somewhat weird contrast.
He walked straight to a spot a few meters away from Klet and casually put his hands on his waist, observing the surroundings. “Are you alone?”
His black coat slightly opened as he moved, revealing the leather holster at his waist.
“Alone.” Klet got off the motorcycle and stood up straight. The man wasn’t short either, at least over 1.85 meters.
“What about knock and Avis?” the man asked, taking off his sunglasses.
It was only at this moment that Klet noticed a several-centimeter scar at the corner of the man’s right eye.
“They’re staying at home. Avis is not seriously injured.” Klet said.
When Avis contacted their leader, he must have mentioned the situation so Klet could sense that the man in front of him didn’t have any hostility towards him.
“I’ll send someone to pick them up later.” The man said, finally taking off the bandana from his face.
His features looked sunny, like a boy next door, but the ugly scar added a touch of fierceness to him.
He walked up to Klet and extended his right hand. “Laizhe, leader of the Nightingales.”
Klet also extended his right hand to shake hands. “Klet.”
Laizhe, leader of the Nightingales.
Klet, the rogue boss.