The luxury of the elite of the Onyx Federation was truly beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way. From lavish furniture, glamorous lighting and expensive entertainment systems, it all encompassed the extravagance of the rich.
At a glance, one would mistake it for an expensive hotel but the lights constantly moving outside the large ceiling to floor windows said otherwise.
This was obviously a spacecraft drifting over Saarilia's night sky. The view outside was splendid but no one took the time to appreciate it.
Seated on the couch was a man dressed in an immaculate black uniform with his coiffed hair swept back enhancing his handsome features. He was a very gorgeous man but that face coupled with his dark expression made him look both menacing and terrifying enough to have one breaking out in a cold sweat.
The people in his midst were indeed petrified fearing that he would explode at any minute and make their lives miserable but running away wasn't an option. The marshal had been on vacation with his wife when his son called him letting him know that there was a problem.
This call was just to report to him but Yi Chen didn't expect his father to immediately fly over from planet Rigel ditching his vacation with his wife just to deal with this matter.
His finger impatiently tapped the armrest while staring at his son with a probing gaze. The air around them was so tense and suffocating that the officers behind the marshal were sweating through their suits. They were even afraid to breathe too loud as they stood there staring straight into blank space avoiding making eye contact with Yi Chen.
Yi Chen was also having a hard time. He didn't even know what to say to break the gut-wrenching silence. He had already explained it in detail when they had a video call so what was there to say?
Rubbing his palms nervously his lips moved like he was about to say something only for the sliding door to make a silent whoosh sound as a lieutenant walked in and saluted his father.
"Permission to speak Marshal," said the man standing tall in salute.
Marshal Yi stopped tapping the armrest and said, "Go ahead," but his gaze never left Yi Chen. And why was he looking at Yi Chen like he had committed an act of treason? It was because he knew that this son of his was hiding something.
For the first time ever since he was five years old Yi Chen hadn't disclosed the entire truth.
How did he know? It was because, unlike Yi Chen, Yi Feng had cracked like an egg with just a little pressure.
There was mention of a strange drug mule that didn't exactly fit the bill for a drug courier but when Yi Chen reported the matter he neglected to mention this person let alone mention their fight.
It was for this exact reason that he was staring at his son. He wanted him to come clean but Yi Chen maintained the same demeanour with no guilt or remorse.
If it weren't for the lieutenant walking in Marshal Yi would have escalated things. Talk about perfect timing, right?
"Sir, we found the source of the illegal substance. It was burnt to the ground with no survivors," explained the lieutenant as a holographic screen displayed their findings.
"A total of six charred remains were found. We couldn't even retrieve their brain matter to extract their memories, sir."
Yi Chen who had been blank-faced a second ago finally reacted. It was because when he heard about the charred corpses his mind couldn't help but remember that weird boy with the red and black hoodie.
He knew people involved in such things were basically playing chicken with the grim reaper but he couldn't help but feel regretful. He felt a twinge in his chest but before he could decipher it his father said,
"Is there anything you would like to say regarding this case?" asked Marshal Yi without shifting his gaze.
Yi Chen suddenly realised his emotions were spilling over so he restored his indifferent gaze and said, "No, please carry on."
The lieutenant ignored the tension between the two as he transferred a file to the Marshal's light brain while saying, "We also found this at the scene."
Marshal Yi finally took his gaze off Yi Chen and stared at the image sent to him. With his head tilted to the side, he zoomed in on the image and an imperceptible smile appeared on his face. This was a brand of cigarettes that was so rare in the federation that he knew only one person who smoked such. It's just that he couldn't understand what were the chances of meeting Zi Xingxi on this planet?
Just when he thought things wouldn't get more interesting the lieutenant continued, "Mr Zi's starship, Altair, landed on planet Saarilia two hours before us and this trip wasn't part of his original itinerary. According to our investigation, he left for Saarilia after an amber alert was released when one of the military officers scanned someone's identification near the hotel. As to who that person was we a still working to decrypt the information as the Onyx defence system automatically scrambled their data."
His fingers zooming the display projected by his light brain paused as a minacious smile appeared on his face. "What a coincidence," he said in a low voice but his tone was chilling enough to freeze hell over. Even Yi Chen was a little uneasy when he heard those words.
Why was the marshal pissed off? It was because Zi Feiji despite having resigned and publically announced that he would be disbanding the Bloodgarde after the last of the royal blood died still had access to the federation's entire network be it military or otherwise.
This meant that with his back door access he could still enter the military defence system and deem anyone he wants as a protection target that even he the Marshal would have to jump through hoops to find out that person's identity.
For seventeen years he had fought to strip Zi Feiji's access but the log head prime ministers couldn't agree on a single thing hence delaying this critical problem.