Chapter 346: Recovery Alliance

Chapter 346: Chapter 346: Recovery Alliance

"Guan Du, if you don’t want that mouth of yours anymore, I can tear it off for you."

Yan Huoshui was never a kind or magnanimous person. Hearing Guan Du’s tone now, on top of Shi Lan’s disappearance, put him in a foul mood. The words that came out of his mouth were laced with killing intent.

Guan Du considered his strength and silently shut his mouth. He changed the subject, asking, "How much? If you want us to work for you, you have to show some sincerity, right?"

The men ranked third and fourth beside him facepalmed. ’Probably only a blockhead like Boss Guan would dare to step on Boss Yan’s landmines at a time like this and talk about money.’

Yan Huoshui’s red lips parted slightly. "Start searching first. One million a day. We’ll discuss a separate payment once you find her."

"Alright, deal!"

Guan Du agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

’After all, they’d get a million even if they couldn’t find her. Only a fool would turn down free money.’

Just then, Number Four seemed to think of something and suddenly said, "Boss Yan, do you think it could be people from that organization?"

"Which one?"

Yan Huoshui didn’t know anything about this. His eyes were fixed on the person on the other side of the screen. He Hanshi and the others beside him also instantly turned their gazes toward him.

Number Four looked at the several men on the other side of the video feed, all dressed in military uniforms with cold expressions, and felt a little intimidated.

After all, they had been caught by the military several times. Their business wasn’t exactly legitimate, so they had an instinctive fear of such uniforms.

After a long moment, he finally spoke. "For the past two years or so, females have been disappearing. Females from different planets have been abducted by unknown parties. An insider once revealed online that this organization is called the Recovery Alliance. Their goal is to restore the era of male supremacy and eliminate more females."

"Miss Shi Lan is the only 3S Female and is admired and loved by many males. It’s possible this organization targeted her, deciding to make an example of the most powerful one."

"The Recovery Alliance?"

Neither Yan Huoshui nor He Hanshi and his group had ever heard of it. Their three years on Black Star had left them with a significant information lag about the outside world.

But this was, at least, a lead.

Yan Huoshui said, "Number Four, you’ve done well. If you get any more information, tell me immediately. Don’t let anything suspicious slip by. If you see any Teleportation Spaceships in space, intercept them for me first. Confirm whether the person I’m looking for is inside before letting them go."

"No problem, no problem."

Number Four agreed readily. After all, this was exactly what Star Thieves like them did. They’d dare to stop not just Teleportation Spaceships, but any spaceship for that matter.

Hearing this, Yan Huoshui wasted no more time and told them to act immediately.

Afterward, the group relayed the information about the ’Recovery Alliance’ to Ye Ming.

Ye Ming knew of this organization; it happened to be the one he was currently investigating in connection with the female kidnappings. He said, "I haven’t identified the mastermind behind it yet, nor have I found their hideout. They’re very secretive. The methods of the people who captured her are similar to this organization’s. We can’t rule out the possibility that Lanlan is really in their hands."

"No matter what, we need to find Lanlan as fast as possible."

***

Shi Lan had no idea how much time had passed when she woke up. She looked around, her brain still groggy from the anesthetic’s side effects. She could vaguely make out a cage in front of her.

After a while, her vision finally focused, and she confirmed that she was, in fact, locked inside a cage. Outside was a cold, laboratory-like space.

Shi Lan didn’t know where she was, but upon waking, she subconsciously tried to activate her chip to see if she could contact He Hanshi and the others.

However, after tapping her wrist several times, the chip didn’t respond.

She felt the spot on her wrist where the chip should have been, unable to believe it was gone.

Shi Lan immediately asked Xiao Du, ’Xiao Du, do you know what happened after I passed out? Why is my chip missing?’

Xiao Du also shook its dizzy head. ’I’m sorry, Master. When you’re unconscious, I fall asleep too.’

So, neither of her two spirit bodies, Xiao Du and Xiao Hei, knew what had happened.

Shi Lan pressed her lips together tightly and worriedly touched her stomach, but she didn’t feel anything unusual.

Ever since becoming pregnant, aside from being a bit more sleepy than usual, it was as if the child in her belly didn’t exist.

Shi Lan touched the edge of the cage. There didn’t seem to be any special devices on it; it looked like a very ordinary cage. ’In that case, I should be able to escape by turning into a little mushroom.’

However, she had just been captured and didn’t yet understand the situation. It wasn’t wise to act rashly.

More importantly, she caught sight of the surveillance camera above the cage out of the corner of her eye. She silently lowered her gaze and continued to stay quiet in the cage.

On the other side of the surveillance camera, a man was sitting in a large, comfortable swivel chair.

He casually glanced at the tall robot beside him, then back at the figure on the monitor, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly.

After a moment, he opened the robot’s memory storage, as he usually did. It played back bits and pieces from Black Star, especially scenes from the Prison Director’s office.

If Shi Lan were here, she would have definitely recognized this robot as the butler robot that had specifically served the Prison Director on Black Star.

Back then, He Hanshi and the others had cautiously dealt with all the robots in the prison but had forgotten about this one in the Prison Director’s office.

However, this robot hadn’t collected any footage of Shi Lan treating them. Most of it was just Shi Lan’s daily life in the Prison Director’s office.

Her kicking off the blankets while she slept, her laughing heartily while watching TV and eating snacks, her meticulously decorating the Prison Director’s office, her chatting and playing with her spirit body, Xiao Du...

Sometimes, after watching for a long time, the viewer would start to see things from the robot’s perspective, feeling immersed, as if he were the robot who had been serving Shi Lan all along, covering her with a blanket, bringing her tea and water.

Unconsciously, the viewer seemed to be captivated by the cute, youthful vitality within the footage, thinking, ’It would be quite nice to keep this little girl by my side.’

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The man paused the robot’s memory playback and said in a deep voice, "Come in."

Donald approached with his back hunched. He didn’t dare to look directly at the seated man, his eyes lowered respectfully as he clutched a bleeding wound on his arm. "Monarch, your subordinate has completed his punishment."

The man’s murky green eyes fell on him from a distance. Donald had just been whipped; clear lash marks covered his arms, chest, and back. At his wrist, where his chip was, crimson blood dripped steadily to the floor from between the fingers he used to clutch the wound.

The Monarch’s lips pursed. His voice was faint. "Mm, you may leave. Keep a close watch on those females."

"Yes."

Donald’s body trembled. He still couldn’t understand why, after carrying out his task so well this time, he was still subjected to corporal punishment by the Monarch—and the whipping had been heaviest on his wrist, right where his chip was.

He had a vague suspicion. Thinking of how the Monarch had taken Shi Lan to a Treatment Pod to heal her wrist wound right after she was brought here, he was struck with fear and lowered his posture even further.

Donald didn’t dare say anything more and silently retreated, a winding, mottled trail of red bloodstains marking his path on the floor.

The smell of blood still lingered in the room. The Monarch frowned and waved his hand. A housekeeping robot in the corner immediately moved forward to clean up.