From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 66 - 61: People’s Hearts are Fickle
「An hour later.」
"Gu Xiaoxi, are you okay?" Qi Xiang came out of another room and hurried to catch up with Gu Xi, who was walking ahead. She glanced at the short-haired woman beside them and asked in a low voice, "Did they give you a hard time?"
"I’m fine." Gu Xi subtly pressed the back of her hand and put some distance between them. This wasn’t the time to talk.
’Who knew how many eyes were watching them from behind these cameras.’
Li Ming once said that people in intelligence work were often devious and perceptive.
’And right now, the situation was unclear... She was missing a lot of key intelligence and couldn’t make an accurate analysis. She could only rely on guesswork. If she said a single wrong word, who knew what she would face?’
’Even though her ability told her that the short-haired young woman beside them meant her no harm, Gu Xi didn’t dare let her guard down for a second.’
As her gaze inadvertently swept over the cameras on both sides of the hallway, Gu Xi lowered her eyes slightly. ’Looks like I’ll have to be even more cautious from now on.’
...
"They kept asking me about what happened that day at the South City Restaurant... They also asked if I knew that wanted criminal."
The moment she was out of the facility, Qi Xiang started complaining, "I already told them I didn’t, but they still hooked me up to a monitor..."
"A monitor?" Gu Xi’s heart skipped a beat. She looked up and asked, "What did it look like?"
Qi Xiang looked up at her, a little surprised. "They didn’t use one on you?" ’Or... was the monitor they put on Gu Xi different from hers?’
Thinking of this, Qi Xiang opened her personal terminal and pulled up a picture for Gu Xi to see. "This is it."
Nearby, Wei Heng, who was the last to be brought back, also leaned in, tilting his head to take a look. "That’s right. Mine was the same."
Gu Xi glanced at it. ’Sure enough, it was different.’
’Good thing I prepared in advance. With Shen Yue handling the medical data from the experimental field, there won’t be any problems. But half a year ago, when I was first brought back to Camp No. 9527, Ye Lin did give me a basic check-up.’
’Although the temporary camp had just been established back then and the conditions were primitive, they could only do the most basic tests, and the raw data they kept was very limited. But those people... they’re too perceptive.’
’There’s no telling what conclusions they might be able to deduce from that limited raw data.’
’So, my body can’t seem too healthy, and the X content within me can’t be too high.’
’Everything has to seem completely normal.’
Nearby, Wei Heng and Qi Xiang were comparing the details of their respective interrogations.
When Gu Xi heard that Qi Xiang had been repeatedly probed about whether she knew the three wanted criminals, it caught her attention.
’Neither she nor Wei Heng had gone through that line of questioning. Only Qi Xiang...’
’Why specifically Qi Xiang?’
’Was it because during the fight that day, the wanted criminal had lunged at Qi Xiang and bumped into her?’
’Or was it because... Qi Xiang is Dr. Qi’s adopted daughter?’
Gu Xi almost subconsciously connected this to what Yang Chi had said last night—that little rumor...
’—If those three wanted criminals really did escape from a secret lab in the Abnormal Ability Research Institute, then Dr. Qi, as a powerful figure within the Institute, most likely knew them.’
’And as the adopted daughter he has kept by his side for many years, it would be logical for the base to target her and repeatedly ask if she personally knew the three criminals.’
’What’s more, the arrest warrant for those three men was originally issued directly by the Abnormal Ability Research Institute.’
Gu Xi lowered her eyes slightly, nonchalantly fiddling with the small green sprout twined around her fingertip while carefully listening to Wei Heng and Qi Xiang’s conversation.
Her mind raced.
’If the base was repeatedly probing Qi Xiang just because that man bumped into her that day...’
’...then that would mean the base likely already knows that the three wanted criminals were carrying something on them at the South City Restaurant.’
’But now, that something is missing.’
’That’s why they focused their interrogation on Qi Xiang, who had physical contact with that man...’
’But that day at the South City Restaurant, after the incident, the base’s garrison troops only verified their identities and asked a few simple questions before letting them go.’
’They didn’t conduct a body search.’
’This indicates that, at the time, the base didn’t know about this. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let them go so easily that day.’
’So, that raises the question:’
’When and how did the base find this out?’
’Two possibilities: either they have another source, or... the three wanted criminals they captured talked.’
Considering the riot at No. 176 last night... Gu Xi was almost certain that the three men had talked.
’That’s why everyone at No. 176 was silenced afterward.’
’Because someone didn’t want this information to get out.’
Gu Xi guessed that very few people currently knew about the existence of the Crystal Core Fragment. At the very least, the people who came to investigate them today didn’t know.
’Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let Qi Xiang go so easily.’
’Of course, there was another possibility—that they were asking Qi Xiang these questions simply because she is Dr. Qi’s adopted daughter...’
’But that, too, would indirectly prove that there must be some connection between the three wanted criminals and Dr. Qi.’
’At least, that’s what the base believed.’
’Add to that the rumor from Yang Chi...’
After integrating and analyzing all this, Gu Xi came to a logical conclusion—it was highly likely that her Crystal Core Fragment was the very thing those three men had stolen from a secret lab.
’That’s why those three men became wanted criminals that the Abnormal Ability Research Institute had to capture by bypassing the base and high-level military officials.’
’So, how did my Crystal Core Fragment end up in that secret lab?’
’Was it sent there by someone?’
’Or... had I spent my thirty missing years in that very place?’
Gu Xi thought again of the drink from all those years ago... and the person who had handed it to her.
It was a childhood friend. They had fought side by side, entrusting their lives to one another. They were her most trusted friend and comrade-in-arms.
Gu Xi lowered her gaze. She was unwilling to suspect any of her teammates, because they had already proven themselves countless times with their lives on the battlefield.
’But this time... I was truly taken down by that drink.’
She recalled again what Li Ming had once said: human nature is complex, and people’s hearts are fickle...
Gu Xi sighed. She was missing too much key intelligence right now to make an accurate analysis, so for the time being, she could only set aside the question of the drink.
Reaching up to poke the tender leaf at the tip of the little green sprout, Gu Xi made a bold hypothesis:
’What if I really was sent to that secret lab back then, and then someone tampered with my ability...’
’Then how did I leave that secret lab afterward?’
’First possibility: I escaped on my own.’
’But during the escape, there was an accident. I suffered brain damage, causing me to forget what happened during those thirty years...’
’The second possibility is that the person who tampered with my ability ran into huge trouble. After all, my Yabao has always been domineering; my ability isn’t so easily taken.’
’So that person had no choice but to use a special method to seal my memories and release me, letting my ability recover naturally in order to solve their own problem.’
’If that’s the case, then right now, that person must be hiding in the shadows, silently watching me.’
Gu Xi carefully replayed the events that had occurred since she woke up...
’Of course, there’s one last scenario: I was rescued.’
’But if that’s the case, how did I end up in the middle of nowhere, only to be found by Wei Heng?’
’Either Wei Heng was planted by that person from the very beginning—and he might or might not know it himself.’
’Or, an accident happened during the rescue, and I was left behind, either unintentionally or deliberately...’
Gu Xi poked the tender tip of the little green sprout, her brow furrowing slightly.
It was the same conclusion as before: the situation was too complex, and she was missing too much key intelligence to make an accurate analysis. Everything was just guesswork.
’I can only take it one step at a time.’
But the appearance of those three wanted criminals had undoubtedly given her a direction...
