"Have you heard recently?" Zheng Qiupei and Wang Wanrou walked side by side, smiling, "Princess Nankang disappeared from the research institute."
"Yeah," Wang Wanrou pondered, "It's indeed quite suspicious. The high-energy particle laboratory was built after the late emperor's southern migration, and only the imperial family was involved in its construction, so it's impossible for outsiders to interfere."
"If there are no hidden passages, it's really unthinkable to quietly take the princess away without being detected by surveillance," Zheng Qiupei said strangely, "Currently, there are three noble families suspected within the aristocratic circle: the Chen family of Xiapi, the Pei family of Hedong, and the Yang family of Hongnong."
The Chen family's "Solar Flare Rays" manipulate light paths, making it possible to distort light and avoid surveillance; the Pei family's "Spatial Movement" allows direct teleportation out of the laboratory; and the Yang family's "Signal Circuit" can easily hack into the surveillance network and tamper with records. These three families have the capability to commit the crime in terms of supernatural abilities.
"But they all have no motive for committing the crime," Wang Wanrou said softly.
Zheng Qiupei naturally understood her meaning.
Princess Nankang is not the crown prince and does not have the right to inherit the throne. So the force behind kidnapping her is unlikely to have political purposes, but it's more likely to be some kind of academic necessity.
For example, she may have knowledge of research results in a specific field, which has attracted the attention of a certain prestigious family.
This High-Energy Particle Research Institute originally studied the confinement effects of high-energy particle flows in ring fields, which is related to multiphase nuclear fusion. If there is any ability related to this topic, the first families that come to mind are the Cui family of Qinghe and the Lu family of Fanyang.
The special ability bloodline of the Cui family of Qinghe is "anti-matter annihilation," producing anti-matter through some means.
However, the control issue has never been solved because these anti-matter substances explode as soon as they are produced... The only feasible solution so far is to contain them in a vacuum-constrained field in the laboratory.
So, could it be that Princess Nankang discovered a method to stably control anti-matter, allowing the Cui family of Qinghe to produce anti-matter outside the laboratory, thus making militarization possible?
The special ability bloodline of the Lu family of Fanyang is pulse confinement. Unlike the Cui family, who manufacture anti-matter, their ability is said to crush atoms using some principle (specifics unknown) and eject high-energy particle pulse beams at around 6% of the speed of light.
As the name suggests, it is also related to high-energy particle beam.
A simple topic unexpectedly entangled so many prestigious families, including the Cui family and the Lu family from the Five Great Families, causing a seismic disturbance in the aristocratic circle. Plus, the emperor's prolonged silence on the matter only exacerbated the uneasy mood among the families.
"However, it's surprising that they targeted the Cheng and Xing families first," sighed Zheng Qiupei.
"Upon reflection, it's not entirely unexpected," smiled Wang Wanrou, her gaze fixed on the figure of Cheng Jinyang ahead, "After all, the Cheng family..."
Before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly looked up in astonishment.
To the left of her head, about 30 centimeters away, a shiny sniper bullet hung in the air, maintaining a high-speed rotation that was difficult to see with the naked eye, as if a drill bit was penetrating hard steel. It emitted a shower of sparks as its rotation gradually slowed down.
"Sniper!" Zheng Qiupei's face turned pale, quickly grabbing Wang Wanrou's arm while her gaze shifted to the right.
Spiritual Impact: Rhino Car!
The Zheng family's Spiritual Impact could transform thoughts into powerful psychokinetic force, making it a versatile ability for offense and defense.
Under the onslaught of the Rhino Car algorithm, a large hole was immediately blasted open in the exterior wall of the shop.
Zheng Qiupei pulled Wang Wanrou and quickly rushed into the shop along the large hole. Several sniper bullets shot towards Wang Wanrou's back again, but were blocked by an invisible force field at about 30 centimeters away.
"Miniaturized adaptive shield?" Taking cover behind the wall, Zheng Qiupei quickly asked.
This kind of individual military protective equipment was developed based on the spiritual impact of their Zheng family, and the cost of each set was astronomical. However, considering Wang Wanrou's status in the Wang family of Taiyuan, it was not surprising.
"Yes." Wang Wanrou glanced at the wristwatch-shaped device, "That kind of attack just now... it can withstand three shots."
"But..." Zheng Qiupei was about to mention that the other party might have other attack methods when she saw a rocket propelled grenade coming in from outside.
Spiritual Impact: Lapis Barrier!
As Zheng Qiupei instantly activated the algorithm, an invisible telekinetic force field was erected between the two of them and the rocket propelled grenade, blocking the explosive fragments and smoke.
"Rocket propelled grenade?" Looking at these sharp metal fragments that were blocked by Zheng Qiupei, but were hovering in the air nearby, Wang Wanrou's expression turned somewhat ugly.
Using rocket launchers in the bustling city center? It seems the attackers behind the scenes are indeed audacious and disregard the Wang family of Taiyuan!
From a distance, the sniper skillfully reloaded the rocket launcher on the rooftop, then swiftly rushed towards the window. She smashed the glass of the high-rise directly, freely falling from a hundred meters high, mid-air turning to aim at the hole Zheng Qiupei had just created, and fired another rocket.
The rocket directly penetrated the room, causing a fierce explosion with the surrounding ammunition, huge flames instantly jet out from all windows of this floor, thick black smoke billowing into the sky, visible even on the west bank of the Qinhuai River 1.7 kilometers away.
Meanwhile, the free-falling sniper accurately landed in the truck parked on the roadside, filled with high-polymer foam cushions, her figure wrapped in combat gear quickly turning transparent and disappearing.
Zhang Fuyuan subway station entrance. At the initial gunshots, people hadn't reacted yet. When the rocket with white smoke came rushing over, all the pedestrians around were caught off guard. Many people rushed into the subway station for temporary shelter, but Cheng Jinyang did not follow them.
Instead, he quickly turned left and rushed into the nearby residential area—what a joke, if it's an indiscriminate attack, the densely populated subway station would definitely be the primary target, right?
After nervously wandering around the residential area for a while and seeing no movement outside, Cheng Jinyang cautiously came out from the other side.
Forget about taking the subway, let's take a cruise on the Qinhuai River! Just in case something happens, it's good to have the option to jump into the river to escape.
As Cheng Jinyang left the residential area, at the same time, near the subway entrance, the scene of the accident in the damaged shops.
Wang Wanrou sat quietly in the corner of the ruins, Zheng Qiupei guarding by her side, the Lapis Barrier algorithm force field never daring to be lifted throughout the process.
It wasn't until a few minutes later that the private soldiers of the Taiyuan Wang family surrounded the shop, swiftly escorting Miss Wang and Miss Zheng onto the blast-proof truck, and then everyone departed in a hurry.
The Jinyiwei(Embroidered Uniform Guards) and the agents of the Six Bureaus quickly sealed off the scene, turning a blind eye to the departing aristocratic team.
In the blast-proof truck speeding down the road, Zheng Qiupei let out a long sigh of relief.
This attack was clearly aimed at Wang Wanrou, but that didn't mean the assailant might not redirect their anger towards her for the failed assassination.
So should she go back to Jiankang University later?
She was slightly uneasy, but suddenly heard Wang Wanrou say:
"It's a warning."
Zheng Qiupei: ???
"The other party didn't intentionally want to kill me. Or rather, they didn't think that a few sniper bullets and a rocket launcher could kill me here."
Wang Wanrou said in a low voice, "This is a warning to me... no, it's a warning to the entire Wang family of Taiyuan."
"Are you implying that someone is deliberately stirring up trouble, making the aristocratic families restless?" Zheng Qiupei tried to follow her line of thought.
"Sister Xiao Pei, let's not talk about it." Wang Wanrou didn't answer, just continued to ponder for a moment before lifting her head and smiling, "I'll take you back to the Zheng family estate."