97 Led By The Nose.
After the people lost consciousness, Shi Lang called the security guard and said: “Arrest them all and give them sedatives. Someone from the secret division will arrive to take charge of them.”
The guards didn’t know how to react to such an order, but since this was the army, they had to obey and they did. After lifting five men from the ground, they were all moved to the containment cells and administered strong sedatives to prevent chaos.
Shi Lang deliberately ignored this news to be circulated. Then he called the person responsible for Base Security. This position was independent and only responsible for maintaining order within the Basecamp. After a while, an indifferent old man entered the control room.
Shi Lang didn’t mind his expression and said, “Command the base. There’s one last thing I need to do outside the base. If I don’t come back within six hours, send a search party.”
The man was startled by these words but nodded his head as if nothing had happened anyway. Shiran nodded and left. This time he took a few guards with him. He needed witnesses to make sure the plan was executed as he wished, and Marshall was the only one responsible for this. This was a requirement of his mission.
Neither the Terran army nor the natives should be involved in this issue. Shi Lang, pretending to be an administrator, traveled around the city with two guards. The guards weren’t very strong, but they were still not underestimated. As professional soldiers, their vigilance was at a completely different level. Guards continued to monitor as Shi Lang entered the market and slowly started shopping.
The guards knew nothing about Shi Lang telling the acting commander of the base that he could send a search team if he did not return within six hours. After walking for an hour, Shi Lang took the two guards to an alley and suddenly stopped. A figure wearing a black cloak appeared at the exit of the alley. Shi Lang didn’t say anything, but the guards moved. As soon as they turned, so did Shi Lang and he stabbed them with a fine needle coated with a whispering daisy enzyme.
The cloaked person walked close and asked, “Is that the only way?”
Shi Lang nodded, “Yes.”
The person nodded, prepared a bit. Shi Lang was given two rough rag sacks and a cloak. Shi Lang placed the two unconscious guards inside the big sacks while wrapping himself with the cloak. Many workers carried heavy loads on their shoulders and moved through the market draped in cloaks, so their movements were not very noticeable.
The cloaked figure led to an inconspicuous building. They approached the door and the cloaked person knocked on the door in a rhythmic pattern. The door was shortly opened and they went inside. The space inside was the size of a room with two simulation pods placed there.
These pods were a gift from the Terran government to Xenites. However, the natives didn’t use them because they believed the person who used them would be a traitor. The night Shi Lang went to the council building, he discussed all of this with xenon. All aspects of the strategy were planned and well thought out. For this reason, Xenon agreed to give him the help he needed.
Shi Lang took down the bag and asked the cloaked person, “Lady Samara, can you help me with these two people? I need to set the simulation code. “
The cloaked person was none other than the Knight guard of the Empress. She nodded, and with the help of her subordinates who opened the door, took out the unconscious guards. Meanwhile, Shi Lang sat down in front of the computer and turned it on.
After the screen brightened, his fingers began to fly, filling the room with clicking sounds. Samara was surprised to see his actions. She didn’t expect him to operate these machines so well, and within 10 minutes, Shi Lang was able to program the system to suit his needs.
They put two guards in their chairs and started the system. After another 10 minutes, the simulation was finished. The boy turned to Samara and asked, “Is there a sedative here?”
Samara nodded, and her subordinate brought two vials of emerald liquid. Shi Lang immediately sedated the two guards and said, “They will get up two hours later. Hurry to take them to the destination.”
Samara and her subordinate shifted the two soldiers to the car parked behind the building. Meanwhile, Shi Lang changed his clothes and took off the white uniform. He said to Samara: “Lady Samara, make sure you dressed the corpse correctly.”
The woman nodded and gazed at the man in traditional Xenite dress, “May the moon watch over you. ” and she left.
Shi Lang also left the building and came to the hotel he was lodged in. Without wasting time he called Archie Arkham to correct my travel log and make it real. Wearing his black secret division uniform, he headed to the HQ outpost. His face was now hidden behind a blandly styled black mask.
His movements were calm and balanced. When he arrived at the gates of the base, the guards remained vigilant. Shi Lang declared his credentials and after confirmation, he was allowed to go inside. Shi Lang asked for directions to the control room, where he was met, Bennett Baker, the commander’s deputy security officer at the outpost, also the acting commander.
Shi Lang could be captain and the other being a major, but the former had a higher status as a member of the Secret Division. The latter saluted and said, “Welcome to Celestial Ruby. Please take a seat, sir.”
Shi Lang waved his hand and said, “At ease, Major. Thank you for your hospitality, but I have no time to relax, please lead me to the prisoners.” His voice was calm yet the coldness radiating from it was too much for Major Baker to handle.
The man nodded and personally led Shi Lang to the holding cells. The five people were still sedated. Shi Lang asked, “Where is the Administrator of this planet?”
Major Baker replied, “He went out for an errand and will return soon.”
Shi Lang gazed at him for a few seconds longer and then nodded. He said, “The orders are to publically execute punishment that I deem fit for them. Please arrange a meeting with the native government. I need to set things right before the next administrator takes charge.”
Major Baker nodded and then moved quickly to contact the council of the natives. The process was swift and the natives replied quickly. They also did not seek war, but Administrator Marshall was not a good listener when he was in front of them. Major Baker had told the natives that the authorities have changed.
The natives asked the place of the meeting, Shi Lang asked them if he could visit the council headquarters. The Xenite leadership was shocked by this, after all, they were basically on the verge of war, and in such a tense situation, the Outlander wanted to visit them. Shi Lang even said that he comes bearing gifts.
These gifts made the leaders confused but they all agreed in the end. The meeting was set to be held in the morning. After Baker told Shi Lang about the arrangements and the latter told the people to keep the prisoners in sedation till then.
All this happened within a couple of hours of Shi Lang`s arrival, and just before the deadline given by Marshall was about to end, Major Baker received a distress call from the two guards. He mobilized a team of his deputies and the news shocked everyone, Administrator Marshall committed suicide by reverse circulating his blood and he stated that he wished he could reverse the time and undo the sins he had committed. This was his penance and disgrace. He apologized to the Terran Military and sought forgiveness from the Natives.
The team dispatched by Major Baker investigated the whole scene and found nothing out of ordinary. The time of death was also within an hour. Shi Lang administered some corpse preserving drugs on Marshall to fake it. The corpse was taken back to the base, and, the guards testified to the confession made by Marshal inside the Simulator. The simulation was designed in a way that made them wake up inside the alley, it was like a blink of an eye, and Marshall stood in front of them facing the cloaked figure. “I made my choice, I confess,” he said. The figure wearing the cloak disappeared after a few words.
Marshall took them both into the woods and sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree. He took his own life after confessing most of his sins and saying a lot, including adjusting his cycle to reverse it. Shi Lang heard all this with a faint smile on his masked face.
Reports of his activities had already been submitted to Archie Arkham, and she was shocked to see how well he handled and completed the work. He was brave and foolish enough to enter the Zenit Central Command room, and that alone could have promoted him, but he accomplished his mission without any mistakes. It was commendable work. “Prepare to meet with local leaders,” Shi Lang said while waiting for the testimony to end.