"Coincidentally exposed?
"Is it because Shadow would never do such a thing?" Lucifer asked. He knew Bai Cha's trust in her people, but if Bai Cha was truly too trusting of her own, wouldn't that mean Bai Cha would be biased? Wouldn't it be unfair?
"Not exactly. We must have evidence for everything," Bai Cha denied. "This leads to two inferences: one, that someone from Shadow actually did something, and two, that someone is framing them. Pushing both scenarios forward makes it easy to reach a conclusion."
Bai Cha pushed over a report. It indicated a pointer towards Shadow, an arrow pointing to a young girl with a ponytail. Lucifer had a slight impression of this girl; her name seemed to be Hu Tao.
"Although that little girl Hu Tao is mischievous and unreliable, she's very strong. After I transferred Su Qing away, she was supposed to take Su Qing's place and guard and scout C City," Bai Cha said, showing Lucifer a map.
The map clearly showed G City, where Hu Tao had initially stayed, circled and directly pointing to C City. At this point, Lucifer understood immediately.
Even for Bai Cha, flying directly from G City to C City would take about a day. Hu Tao, being playful and mischievous, used to pester Bai Cha when she was with Shadow.
Although Bai Cha had transferred Su Qing away, the order to Hu Tao wasn't urgent. This was because after Su Qing left, Gong Yuechen was scheduled to patrol that area. Although Gong Yuechen was an ordinary person, who would dare to charge at a Major General and throw their life away? At least for those two days, everyone would surely behave themselves.
Hu Tao, who already loved to play, might not even go straight to C City but stop for snacks and drinks along the way, even if she flew there urgently. What's more, Bai Cha had told Hu Tao not to rush.
"Furthermore, let's assume Hu Tao is the mole. Knowing that she couldn't possibly move me in this situation, she still executed her mission at the fastest speed, taking a day and a half without eating or drinking to reach C City," Bai Cha said, drawing a cross on Y City in the middle of the map and shrugging. "Even then, she wouldn't have had the time to be in Y City to meet them the next day."
Y City was behind C City. The distance from G to Y was even greater, making it impossible for her to arrive.
"So, when Y City was in trouble, Hu Tao should have been in D City," Lucifer stated, understanding. "Miss Hu Tao doesn't hide anything; on the contrary, she's very outgoing, so there would be many people to vouch for her."
"Su Qing was temporarily transferred by me, and Hu Tao also received the notification temporarily. Shadow always notifies its members privately and last minute for missions or role changes, so the timeline doesn't match up," Bai Cha said. "Conversely, if we take the assumption that Hu Tao is the mole as a precedent, then later calculations will still lead back to the scenario of someone framing them."
Lucifer flipped through the files, his understanding growing clearer. These people seemed to have no connection to each other, yet they shared a common trait: their families or they themselves had met people from the Light Faction during this period.
Collecting this information was extremely difficult. It was evident that there were still people in the Neutral Faction who supported Bai Cha, and they had put in considerable effort for her.
"And regarding the laboratory, I've checked the recent research topics and projects of the Light's three major laboratories, as well as surveillance footage from various locations," Bai Cha said. "Some individuals were found to have significantly shorter actual experimental times for their projects, and many were even slacking off."
"If they were slacking off, it's more likely they were playing on their phones while at their workstations. However, some surveillance footage from corners actually captured their presence," Bai Cha shrugged. "Having worked in the laboratory for so many years, they know every corner like the back of their hand. If they were caught by their superiors, they'd be reprimanded, and no one would seek trouble. This surveillance only captured shadows in specific instances, meaning the surveillance systems themselves were tampered with."
"So, we need to stop them from researching?" Lucifer asked.
"No, we'll stir up trouble directly from within. If we discover anything amiss, we'll deal with it then and there," Bai Cha said, waving her hand decisively. "Cang Liu warned me that an accident would happen, so I'll nip them in the bud beforehand and see what happens."
Bai Cha disliked procrastination. Once she locked onto a target, she would act immediately. Investigating for too long could easily alert them and make them suspicious; there was no such thing as completely covert investigation.
"How is the situation with Mo Ziye?"
"His last confirmed appearance was yesterday at lunch. No anomalies were detected."
By evening, Bai Cha's action notification was approved. Bai Cha bypassed the usual hierarchy and reported directly to the higher-ups. The higher-ups didn't say much and readily agreed, which improved Bai Cha's mood considerably.
She hadn't returned to the Bai family in a long time, having spent most of her life in Jun Yao. Time passed quickly, and she was about to enter her second year. However, she likely wouldn't be able to participate in the second carnival.
In the evening, the setting sun gradually dimmed, and the stars began to ascend into the night sky. In the courtyard, a large flowerbed maze shifted its position every so often. The various flowers in the maze presented a touch of poignant beauty in the night.
This maze was not only for aesthetic purposes but also to deter intruders. Besides robots, only those familiar with the Bai family could navigate this maze without getting lost.
The movement of the maze followed a pattern; if it were random, it would be rather awkward to trap the owner inside.
The center of the maze was the only area that remained stationary. Six walls of pure white Yu Mi formed a hexagon. Modern technology was indeed advanced; even though it wasn't the season for Yu Mi flowers, they bloomed profusely.
Under the lights, Bai Cha was dressed in a white dress. It was custom-made by her parents. Both the tailoring and design were generous and elegant, proper yet comfortable. It looked a bit like a simple wedding dress, slightly luxurious but not hindering movement at all. It was a gift from Ye Feng and Bai Qingyuan for Bai Cha's eighteenth birthday.
Amusingly, when Bai Cha's parents learned that their second child was a girl, they excitedly prepared two rooms full of clothes for Bai Cha, from the age of one to eighteen. They had also specifically prepared birthday gifts for each year from one to eighteen.
Although they would still prepare a new gift for Bai Cha's birthday each year, sometimes the clothes didn't fit quite right due to differences in her growth rate.
For instance, this dress was a bit loose, likely because Ye Feng and his wife had overestimated Bai Cha's height and weight.
Bai Cha let her family indulge in their many childish antics, as long as they were happy.
And perhaps they were so rich that money was all they had left. The happiest people when buying things for her were her parents and brother, especially when she mentioned wanting something; they acted more excited than she did, the one receiving the gift.
Today was her birthday, and Bai Cha herself didn't actually remember the exact date of her birthday. However, today marked the sixth anniversary of her being alone. When Bai Cha was twelve, she had decided to treat this day as her birthday.
It was a new beginning, a new loneliness.
Her phone vibrated, but Bai Cha ignored it. It was probably her younger siblings sending her birthday wishes. Since she wasn't with them, they couldn't cause a ruckus and were likely bursting with pent-up energy.
Bai Cha set her phone to silent and placed it by the flowerbed, looking at the slanting flowerbeds that seemed to be pouring their blooms towards her.
Bai Cha looked around. The tallest walls of the tilted flowerbeds enclosed her, high and without daylight. She felt like a canary trapped in a flowerbed, experiencing an exhilarating sense of loneliness.
A canary might envy an eagle exposed to the elements, but would an eagle also, for a moment, desire the warm and comfortable cage of a canary?
Sometimes Bai Cha didn't understand why, despite being close to people, she felt so alone, as if her back was empty. She seemed detached from her emotions, as if her feelings and desires were separated from her by an impenetrable veil.
On an island amidst surging waves, a solitary soul, carrying an exhilarating suppression, bearing responsibilities on bloody feet, aimlessly walked a path whose end was unknown.
The golden sound system in the flowerbed had excellent quality. The clear and gentle notes of the "Funeral March" emanated from the speakers, deep and mournful, without any distortion.
With the sky as her backdrop and the earth as her stage, in a white dress, the young girl danced gracefully amidst the Yu Mi flowers. Her light and graceful waltz followed the rhythm of the music, undulating gently like the waves of the sea. Her dance was beautiful, her steps smooth, elegant, and flowing, like ripples on water, as if she were holding her own funeral.
In reality, Bai Cha had never systematically studied dance. It was merely part of her training; flexibility, agility, and coordination could all be trained through dance. Moreover, Bai Qingyuan had always had a fondness for beautiful things, so she incorporated dance when raising her daughter.
Bai Cha didn't know if she truly liked dancing. She didn't have particularly strong emotions about anything. However, every year on her birthday, she would secretly come here alone. As the scenery changed with her spins, in a daze, it felt as if people from the past were by her side, smiling at her, waiting to applaud her when she finished her dance.
Only at this moment could Bai Cha find the time to reminisce about the past.
With every spin, as the world spun around her, Bai Cha seemed to feel the indelible souls of people from the past by her side, watching her. It felt as though if she stopped and turned around, she would meet their gazes.
Bai Cha spun and leaped as if to vent her frustration. She didn't use any techniques to slow down the dizziness caused by spinning. Exaggerating and forcefully repeating the movements she remembered, it was as if she was silently reprimanding her own inadequacy.
Until a pair of hands from behind her caught hers.
Bai Cha was surprised. She turned her head, and that gentle, handsome face was close at hand. Behind her was the starlight, and he was more beautiful than the moon.
Bai Cha's steps became somewhat disorganized due to Lucifer's intrusion. The two danced under the crystal lampposts. The tempo of the Funeral March was slow and sorrowful, and their dance steps followed suit, slow and elegant, but Bai Cha felt something different.
It was as if the loneliness she had just cultivated was suddenly alleviated. Bai Cha had an illusion; even the poignant Yu Mi flowers under the night seemed to transform into romance and tranquility.
They were so close that Bai Cha could hear Lucifer's strong heartbeat. His gaze was gentle and focused; he lowered his head, matching her movements, as if he were about to kiss her lips.
"Thump, thump."
The night was quiet, the march gentle and classical, but Lucifer felt his heartbeat quicken, making his head feel hot and dizzy, as if it were about to leap out of his throat.
It felt as though someone was urgently knocking, impatiently urging him on.
"Why are you here?"
As the music ended, it was as if the stormy island suddenly experienced calm seas. The hurricane and heavy rain ceased, and sunlight streamed down, warming her with an almost burning intensity.
"I solved the chess game, and then I came," Lucifer murmured, as if afraid of breaking the dense yet fervent silence.
Lucifer didn't know why he had come. He was in his study, and through the floor-to-ceiling window, he could see the center of the maze and a woman in a white dress spinning by.
In just an instant, Lucifer became lost. It was as if his brain had stopped functioning, and the sounds around him faded away. A voice in his heart was urging him on incoherently. By the time he came to his senses, he was already standing behind Bai Cha.
"Master..." His deep and magnetic voice echoed through the flowerbeds. Lucifer clutched his chest, where a voice was urgently urging him on. He hesitated, as if about to blurt something out.
"Master, come back... with me."