Ryan had no idea that while he used his past life's memories to win a bet on John Stryker's match, he was unaware of the Stryker Group's influence behind the Starport City Training Center. John Stryker was a standout in the Stryker Group and a potential future leader. Ryan's unintentional display of vision and composure had already caught the attention of the Stryker family, especially John Stryker and his father.
When Ryan arrived at the Seahorse dock's assembly point, he found everyone else already there. The eight members of the security team, except for Ryan, were all carrying large bags, looking like they had returned with a haul.
Team leader Carlos was no exception. Seeing Ryan still traveling light, with empty hands, Carlos glanced at Maughan. Maughan, reeking of alcohol, had a few lipstick marks on his face.
Maughan quickly waved his hands and shook his head, explaining, "It's not my fault. I tried to persuade him, but he insisted on going to the training center. I had to go on my own."
Carlos was momentarily speechless. The others exchanged glances, sizing up Ryan.
"Starport City, huh," Kazemi said in an exaggerated tone, "You might not get to come here for months, and you just let it slip by?"
Carlos shook his head, "Forget it. It's no big deal. When you have certain needs, I'll give you a spot next time."
With that, he signaled everyone to board the Seahorse. Carlos had booked the entire ship, showing his generosity.
During the journey, everyone couldn't help but show off their purchases. Kazemi had spent 500,000 on a commemorative Silver Star flask. It was said to be made of a special material that could automatically cool liquids to minus ten degrees without freezing.
Gabriel had bought a set of "Bio-Stimulant Injections." These were emergency injectors used when bio-energy was nearly depleted. One shot could quickly awaken one's bio-energy and restore it to peak condition within minutes.
Carlos and Ryan were both impressed by Gabriel's new gear. Carlos nodded appreciatively, understanding that Gabriel's previous encounter with space pirates had given him a strong sense of crisis, prompting him to buy the Bio-Stimulant Injections from Starport City.
Ryan, however, felt a bit regretful. He had forgotten to buy such equipment. These Bio-Stimulant Injections were cheap and almost equivalent to a "revival armor" for those below D-level, a "little artifact" he had completely forgotten about.
Jane had bought a set of tactical theory books, clearly hoping to improve her combat skills through study.
Amidst the chatter and laughter, they transferred to the spacecraft returning to the base. The flight duration was forty-eight hours. To keep everyone entertained during the journey, the spacecraft was equipped with a game room and a movie room.
Unsurprisingly, Ryan chose to return to his Bluebird to continue training—his Bluebird still held the four Lacertoclaweus pancreases he had stored. When his Muscle Strength and Muscle Reflex Flexibility reached 13.9, the boost from one pancreas became negligible. Even two pancreases only increased his physical attributes by 0.1 each.
By the time they piloted their Bluebirds off the spacecraft, Ryan's physical attributes had both reached 14, officially entering H9 level, surpassing Torres.
When the group returned to the base, everything seemed normal. Torres, Iron Bear, and Karim had already heard about TerraNova3's encounter with space pirates and knew that TerraNova3 had narrowly escaped danger, with Carlos and his team earning another merit.
"Welcome back, Team Leader Edward!" Torres offered the warmest congratulations as they entered the atmosphere.
But Carlos ignored Torres. His pent-up anger from the past few days erupted at that moment:
"Attention, all security personnel!" Carlos's voice was loud, clearly indicating something important to announce.
"According to the intelligence intercepted from the space pirates' black box on TerraNova3, the space pirates received an email with detailed information on all security personnel ten minutes after our escort team boarded TerraNova3!" Carlos's voice echoed in the security department, revealing seriousness and anger, "I have reason to suspect that there is a spy for the space pirates within our security department! All security team members, gather in the security department immediately!"
Carlos Edward had a good personal relationship with Vicente Rojo Lluch. With a spy in the base, he felt an inescapable responsibility. If he hadn't been involved and successfully taken down the space pirates' main ship, earning an unexpected reward, his position as the security team leader would have been in jeopardy. But the issue of the internal spy had to be resolved personally.
In the security department, the atmosphere was tense. Everyone instinctively looked at Torres, the deputy team leader in the monitoring center. Torres felt many people subtly distancing themselves from him, his face turning grim. In this situation, he became the prime suspect for betraying the security team leader.
Carlos stormed back to the security department, his heavy and urgent footsteps making all the assembled security team members uneasy.
"Who's still not back?" Carlos asked as he entered the monitoring center, immediately noticing the missing personnel.
Torres replied, "Someone needs to monitor the crater area. Iron Bear and Karim stayed there."
The reason sounded plausible, and Carlos nodded in understanding. He then signaled to Maughan and Kazemi, "Everyone, upload all your records from the day of the escort mission, including communications and movement data. Submit everything without a single second or frame missing, or face the consequences."
Everyone quickly followed Carlos's orders. Torres was no exception, outwardly complying but feeling uneasy inside.
Carlos then ordered Gabriel, "Retrieve and analyze all internal surveillance footage from the day of the escort mission."
"Yes!" Gabriel responded promptly.
Carlos then turned to the others, "David, Ryan, go to C25 and find Iron Bear and Karim. Have them submit all their communication data honestly…"
Ryan and David immediately set off. Torres frowned slightly; Carlos's actions were decisive and forceful. Such measures would undoubtedly shake his subordinates. The charge of colluding with space pirates was serious, but Torres felt powerless.
Carlos's triumphant return and the feat of destroying the space pirates' main ship gave him an undeniable iron-blooded aura, leaving no room for dissent, including from Torres.
However, Torres didn't appear flustered.
The situation changed when Ryan and David reached C25 and met Iron Bear and Karim. Ryan, quicker than David, said to Iron Bear and Karim, "Upload all your communication, footage, and movement data from the past five days since the escort mission began…"
David, still in his Bluebird, was stunned. According to Carlos's instructions, only one day's data was needed. But Ryan asked for five days' worth. David realized that Ryan might be trying to extract information from Iron Bear and Karim.