On the balcony, the night wind was a bit cool.
Bai Cha was reclining on a hanging chair, clicking through short videos sent by the leaders of the Savior Squad, swiping them away one by one.
These were videos from their meeting summaries, similar to Bai Cha's situation, or rather, everyone's situation was about the same. It was just that Athena and Oudemubrador had said a few words.
These two were the best-tempered, only grumbling privately. Bai Cha hadn't said a word, while Jupiter had directly smashed a cup and gotten angry.
“Will disaster not strike if we don't turn hostile? Where did this unexpected calamity come from? We made every concession, did they ever give us peace of mind? Now Brahma is dead, Apollo has met with misfortune, and even Cang Liu from Bai Cha’s side has…”
Athena was clearly angry. Bai Cha could hear the slight tremor and excitement in her voice even through the screen. Their subordinates didn't refute her, but their eyes lacked firm conviction.
Never mind, it was unnecessary for her to let everyone record videos and have a meeting to upset herself.
"As a girl, always being the first to climb over walls in the middle of the night isn't very appropriate," Bai Cha lazily turned off her phone and stretched. "Is this the new trend?"
A shadow flashed, and Athena and Jupiter appeared on Bai Cha's balcony. If Bai Cha hadn't known them, she might have thought they were thieves.
"Sit down and chat. I just asked Lucifer to make some tea." Bai Cha gestured to the small table in front of her, seemingly having calmed down, looking lazy and even a bit careless.
Athena led the way and sat down, cradling her teacup without a word. It was clear that they were all restless. They had even overlooked how Bai Cha had anticipated their arrival and prepared tea.
"What are you looking for? I can't brainwash your people. I haven't even sorted out my own side yet," Bai Cha picked up her teacup and took a sip, looking somewhat absent-minded. "Why has everyone started defaulting to me as the backbone now?"
"Sigh…" Athena sighed, her fair face making her dark circles even more prominent. She collapsed onto the lounge chair Bai Cha had prepared, unsure of what to say for a moment.
As soon as she lay down, Athena froze. The lounge chair swayed like a large cradle, covered with soft cushions that made Athena not want to get up.
She really wanted to roll around on it.
Athena blinked, struggled for a moment, then gave up, feeling even a little sleepy.
Come to think of it, she hadn't had a good rest in days.
"Hmph, if you're tired, don't push yourself. Constant pressure will make your brain freeze," Bai Cha said lazily, lying in the hanging chair and looking with amusement at the group who no longer wanted to think after lying down.
Frankly, everyone loved comfort, but they had to carry everything and keep moving forward. Seeing these people looking dazed and comfortable didn't make her regret preparing the six-star top-grade soft cushions.
Athena used to be the "big sister" everyone confided in, but now Athena had her own troubles, and these people had come to her for comfort.
Did she look like someone who comforted others? Lucifer had even teased her about her low emotional intelligence before.
Bai Cha shrugged and continued tapping away on her computer and tablet. After an unknown amount of time, the balcony curtains were pulled open a crack, and a slender hand gently knocked on the balcony door.
Bai Cha raised an eyebrow, got up slowly, glanced at the drowsy group, tiptoed into the room, and casually closed the glass door to the balcony.
"What's wrong?" Bai Cha asked in confusion. She had already used her authority to check surveillance and thermal imaging for a long time, written many reports and plans, and was a bit tired herself.
Moreover, Bai Cha guessed that these young leaders would push themselves. After all, young people were passionate and had a strong sense of responsibility. Bai Cha estimated that these people were exhausted these days, hence she had prepared calming herbal tea and lounge chairs for them to rest.
She had originally instructed Lucifer not to disturb her. She wondered what else had happened.
"Two pieces of bad news, my master." Lucifer's expression was solemn yet tinged with strangeness, causing Bai Cha's heart to tighten again.
More bad news? What bad news had occurred?
In a single second, Bai Cha ran through all the plans and schemes she had made recently, calculating where a problem might have arisen or which part she hadn't anticipated.
"The first is that Gu Mingze is missing. The second..." Lucifer hesitated, glancing outside the door, and whispered, "Major General Gong is here with a large group..."
Bai Cha: "?"
Gong Yuechen? What was he doing?
Bai Cha frowned and quickly sent a few messages in the Shadow group, casually putting on a long black trench coat and hurrying to open the door.
As soon as she opened the door, Gong Yuechen was indeed waiting on the sofa in the living room. Not only Gong Yuechen, but several high-ranking officials from the neutral faction whom Bai Cha knew were also present.
Bai Cha: "...What are you guys doing?"
"Hey, Bai Cha, don't be so inhospitable. We're here to support you." Gong Yuechen clenched his fist, his eyes wide. "We won't disappoint you again. We, we want to express that we are firmly on your side."
Gong Yuechen was speaking a bit haltingly. This young major general might be doing something driven by passion for the first time; he was completely excited.
"That's right, that's right. We're here specifically to support Miss Bai." Someone in the crowd immediately agreed.
"Leave the diplomacy and social matters to us. We can ignore all those messy rules."
A group of people spoke with great passion, almost to the point of wearing their loyalty on their sleeves.
Bai Cha: "..."
Do the higher-ups know you guys are this foolish?
Bai Cha almost laughed out of speechlessness.
She really didn't understand why the national leadership could still have such a group of idiots. How could they act without thinking? Although her resistance was a bit intense due to anger, and her disappointment was expressed too obviously, they shouldn't have done this, should they?
Were they messing around? You are high-ranking officials, and you'll just leave when you want? If ordinary people knew about this, they would definitely scold you.
"Did you guys get a screw loose, or are you crazy?" Bai Cha covered her face, unsure of what to say. "You're coming here in such large numbers. Aren't you afraid of attracting attention? Aren't you afraid they'll directly seize power?"
Everyone: "..."
The scene suddenly fell silent. The group exchanged glances, somewhat at a loss. They thought Bai Cha would at least be moved, but instead, she immediately spoke like that.
"Uh, it wouldn't go that far, would it? Seizing power is a bit too extreme," Gong Yuechen swallowed, as if suddenly waking up, a fine layer of cold sweat breaking out on his back. "They suppress you because you're too powerful and occupy too many interests. Directly seizing power from the neutral faction would be a bit excessive, wouldn't it?"
"Too strong? Are you serious?" Bai Cha glanced at Gong Yuechen. "Shadow was almost wiped out by Light. After finally finding some territory, they became strong?"
The group was choked into silence.
Perhaps because Bai Cha's style was too eye-catching, her reminder made them realize they had only focused on what was happening now and had forgotten the lessons of the past.
"Besides, they're allowed to do excessive things to us, but it's impossible for them to do it to you? They're not your dogs. Get it straight, we're the watchdogs," Bai Cha shrugged. "And what's the use of you supporting me now? I'm planning to turn hostile. Even if you support me more, you can't stop my steps to turn hostile."
Gong Yuechen: "..."
Comparing themselves to watchdogs was quite something. Although this analogy was somewhat fitting, it made them feel like people who had betrayed their dogs, not even as good as dogs.
A person named Zhou Ruitong beside him raised his hand, his heart trembling as he voiced his opinion: "They hold major experimental projects, famous worldwide. If we turn hostile now, wouldn't that be burning bridges?"
"Don't make excuses, you simply don't want to," Bai Cha scoffed dismissively. "Our Shadow faction has been fighting for you since the founding of Z country. Let alone the neutral faction, haven't you, the Light faction, also burned bridges with us?"
Bai Cha's words were always sharp. Despite her young age, she had been interacting with these people for several years. Her words, while not unpleasant, hit the nail on the head, leaving the group speechless.
In fact, they had nothing much to do recently. Before, Bai Cha had been the one busy with everything, and they only needed to do the follow-up. Now that Shadow wasn't working, many messy situations didn't fall to them for the time being.
After all, chaos was a gradual process. When the people below couldn't handle it, they would be swamped. So, they still had free time. Moreover, they did lean towards Bai Cha, so they came over casually. However, they hadn't expected Bai Cha to not only not be moved but to retort them back with just a few words.
What's more, Bai Cha's points were very reasonable. From the first sentence, they had no room to retort.
"I'll have a plane send you back now," Bai Cha said resolutely. "You came by charter flight, didn't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have all arrived so quickly and uniformly."
Everyone lowered their heads and silently agreed.
They came gloriously and left shamefacedly. Even Gong Yuechen felt awkward this time.
A group of middle-aged men were scolded by Bai Cha into silence, like sheepdogs herding sheep, obediently driven into the plane by Bai Cha.
"If you really want to help me, you don't need to rush here to declare your stance. Just relay the necessary information to me," Bai Cha sighed, looking at the dejected group like frostbitten eggplants, and offered a few words of comfort that weren't exactly comforting. "As long as you do your part, I'll be the happiest."
Why did that sound like coaxing a child?
A group of men in their fifties and sixties blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed, but they didn't know how to retort, so they could only nod their heads apologetically and board the plane.
Although in the era of rapid development of information and science and technology, various aircraft and jump pods had been conveniently used by the powerful and wealthy, this operation involved quite a few people. For so many people, using those small single-seater aircraft was a bit inconvenient. They still chartered a luxury passenger plane.
And from an angle invisible to these people, Bai Cha sat cross-legged on the outer casing of the plane's head, creating a protective layer around herself. Lucifer knelt beside Bai Cha, opening his tablet for her.
"Master, spatial cutters were found in five locations on the plane, matching the thirteenth possibility you predicted." Even though the plane was flying at high speed with strong wind pressure, Lucifer's voice entered Bai Cha's ears clearly and steadily. "Should I go and track these signal sources next?"
"No, you go stop Mo Ziye. Keep an eye on him and his father. Don't cause trouble for me," Bai Cha tapped on her tablet and snorted. "So I don't have to deal with his saintly demeanor coming to me again when I'm looking for evidence."
It would be something like:
How could this be? How could they do this? They wouldn't do this, so why did they?
Utterly meaningless.
"Yes, my master." Lucifer stood up, bowed slightly, performed a backflip, and jumped off the plane cleanly, quickly becoming a small black dot.