188: Chapter 188 We’re Finally Ho 188: Chapter 188 We’re Finally Ho “Have we just moved from one prison to another?”
Li Mumu had just jumped off the vehicle when she heard Wendy complaining below.
Back again.
Looking at the familiar buildings around her, she felt as if she were in a different era.
It indeed felt like a different era (literally).
The last ti she had been here was the ti before.
The scene overlapped completely with her mories; she could even sll the familiar scent of disinfectant from the hospital building next door and clearly rembered which bed had a patient with severe injuries.
There was also steam rising from the entrance of the cafeteria, blending with the slls of various breakfast items, tantalizing the appetite.
It seed as if she had just left not too long ago.
She did not know the final outco of the Olympus because, before that, she and Wendy had been sent back to the present world.
Under the escort of warships, the Cosmos safely arrived at Edo Port—the passengers on board were quarantined under the pretext of an outbreak of a contagious disease, delaying the journey for nearly a month before they could set off again.
The food standards in Edo were really not that great; they didn’t even prepare pork cutlet rice, serving only miso soup and pickled radish with white rice for all three als.
Li Mumu was quite depressed while eating.
Eating white rice might seem luxurious to so, but in this era of flourishing Pacific Rim trade, the price of rice was actually not expensive at all.
Even decades ago, there was a joke about a certain Federation noble who hoarded cheap rice until bankruptcy.
Thanks to the booming international trade, the price of rice in Tiann City was even cheaper than local sorghum and millet.
Of course, if you were willing to spend money, you could still taste Edo’s local specialty of raw fish sashimi cuisine.
Li Mumu was afraid of parasites and dared not try it.
Wendy was quite interested but was strictly stopped by her.
In the end, the two sneaked out a few tis and bought so wagashi from the stores at the port.
The confectionary in Edo and the Guozi in Tiann are pronounced differently but generally an the sa thing—dessert.
The more famous ones are pancakes and yokan.
But the pancakes in Edo and those in Tiann are not the sa species.
Edo’s pancakes are more like a type of biscuit.
Finally, after the quarantine ended, they took a ship and arrived in Tiann.
Most of the passengers received entry permission and were free to leave, but a small group of passengers, including Li Mumu’s family, were surrounded by fully ard soldiers and directly escorted to the Special Service Bureau.
The atmosphere was tense and oppressive as everyone was anxious during the journey.
Only Li Mumu was cheerful.
I have connections up high, after all!
It was just unclear how many in the Special Service Bureau retained their mories from before the ti-space retrospection.
After getting off the vehicle, while no one was paying attention, she quickly grabbed a man in a grey military uniform and whispered, “Big brother, could you help contact Sister Gu Yuzhi from the General Affairs Departnt?
I’d like to et with her.”
Actually, Li Mumu was more familiar with the doctor who had taken her to get her wounds stitched, but he had been too busy at the ti, and she hadn’t managed to ask his na.
Moreover, since everyone was wearing masks, she hadn’t seen their faces clearly.
However, seeing how the doctor was giving orders, he had to be at least a director-level bigwig.
As long as she heard his voice, Li Mumu would be able to find him.
The man in the grey military uniform hesitated for a mont, then silently nodded.
The group was all escorted into the internal guesthouse of the Special Service Bureau.
……
Mu Yuming entered the office and saw a young man wearing a military coat and glasses sitting behind the desk, reading a file.
His gaze swept imperceptibly over the green Panlong Jade Pendant on the desk.
“Sit.”
Qiao Hongyi gestured with his hand.
Once Mu Yuming had sat down, Qiao Hongyi slid the jade pendant across the desk to him.
“Mr.
Mu Yuming, right?
Let introduce myself.
I’m Qiao Hongyi, director of the Intelligence Departnt at the Tiann City Special Service Bureau, and…
the person in charge of receiving the docunts from the Brocade-Clothed Guard of the forr dynasty.”
“You should know that after the Emperor of the forr dynasty abdicated, a peaceful transition was made with the new governnt.
After the dissolution of the Yan of the Brocade-Clothed Guard, the original docunts were not destroyed but transferred to several other relevant departnts.
Among them, the personnel files of the Brocade-Clothed Guard, especially those sent overseas, were received by our Special Service Bureau.
In other words, I am now your direct superior.”
Mu Yuming helplessly said, “The Imperial Court is no more.
Why talk about these matters with ?
Those were my father’s generation’s issues; he never told anything, and I know nothing about it.”
Qiao Hongyi ignored his excuse and directly stated, “Sun, moon, and stars, the spinning Constellation.”
“Seasons pass, from all corners of the world.”
After these words, Mu Yuming’s entire deanor suddenly changed, and the eyes hidden behind the gold-rimd glasses beca as sharp as knives.
The token was correct.
The passphrase was correct.
Qiao Hongyi reached out his hand and smiled, “Welco ho, Comrade Jiansui.”
Their hands clasped together and then parted.
“We didn’t use the term comrade back then; just call by my real na.”
Mu Yuming removed his gold-rimd glasses, folded them, and placed them in the pocket over his chest, looking earnestly at Qiao Hongyi: “What do you need to do?”
Qiao Hongyi nodded and said, “First, report to your true intention for returning this ti.
According to the original plan, you were supposed to stay undercover overseas for a long ti, so why suddenly decide to return to the country?”
Mu Yuming said with a smile, “You might not believe it, but I was tasked by Young Master Huang, the thirteenth director of the elder’s board of the Four Seas Comrce Guild, to return to the country as a business spy and gather dostic intelligence.”
“Young Master Huang?
Huang Shisan?”
Qiao Hongyi frowned, “How did she co to notice you?”
Mu Yuming shrugged, “A distant relative of King Mu’s Mansion, remnants of the forr dynasty, middle-class, with a family and property, honest in nature, weak and easy to bully—doesn’t this kind of profile make one most noticeable, most easy to control, trained to be a spy?”
That made perfect sense.
Qiao Hongyi no longer dwelled on that question and continued to inquire, “What information did she want you to gather?”
“Mainly, the various policies being implented by the new governnt and the specific progress of their implentation,” Mu Yuming said earnestly.
“The situation overseas has been very unstable these past few years, with three major spaceti disturbances happening just in North Arica alone, turning the historical tiline into a complete ss.
Aside from Saifu City, where the Overseas Netherworld’s anchor sowhat stabilizes the situation, other places are essentially what you’d call the Mortal World version of Hell.”
“You can feel your way across the river by touching the stones; the Four Seas Comrce Guild can only feel their way through using dostic waters.
It’s ironic—many have already realized the severity of the situation.
This ti when I ca back, quite a few people, both overtly and covertly, insisted strongly that I probe for intelligence for them.”
“If I were willing, I could collect four different salaries.”
“Also…”
Mu Yuming looked up at Qiao Hongyi with a aningful expression, “Commander Qiao, you’ve been sowhat careless.
Before talking to , you should have first verified my identity to confirm whether I am really the person I claim to be or if my thoughts and words truly belong to .
Perhaps I have truly pledged allegiance to the Four Seas Comrce Guild, and everything I just said was to gain your trust.”
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