Shadows of the Deep Space
Chapter 207 Red Envelope (Additional update for alliance leader Salted Fish Sage) (Third update)

Chapter 207: Chapter 207 Red Envelope (Additional update for alliance leader Salted Fish Sage) (Third update)

"We also saw some confidential documents in the room, which contained data from experiments on biological mecha and such. However, since they weren’t related to our mission, we didn’t look too much—just flipped through them and put them back, given we had limited time and still needed to find our rescue target," Su Ming replied, skillfully dodging the heavy questions with a mix of truth and lies.

Lin Chuyu and An Ruoxue listened to Su Ming’s answer with astonishment but quickly nodded to affirm that what Su Ming said was true.

Galcks kept looking at Su Ming, constantly observing his expressions. Unfortunately, he couldn’t detect any abnormalities, so he replied kindly.

"Mm."

"However, Lord Gakels City Lord, there is something I don’t quite understand," Su Ming said with a puzzled look on his face.

"Go ahead and ask."

Galcks replied as cordially as an elder.

"The documents we saw didn’t seem fake. Why would the Federation Government place such confidential files in the competition? And why choose the Fading Battle as the backdrop for this competition?" Su Ming asked directly. Of course, this was also a question that had been troubling him and he couldn’t figure out.

After hearing Su Ming’s words, Galcks sighed and said.

"Alas, originally this is a matter of secrecy that we shouldn’t disclose to you. But since you’ve asked, I’ll make an exception and tell you—the competition was actually generated by Artificial Intelligence·Celeste autonomously. The Federation didn’t intervene. And Celeste, being capricious, chose the Fading Battle as the background for the competition.

"As for those confidential materials, they are indeed real. They were originally stored in the database of Artificial Intelligence·Celeste and got displayed as a result."

Galcks did not make up some foolish excuse to fob off Su Ming and the others; he skillfully avoided the pressing questions and provided a very plausible explanation.

"I see!"

Su Ming had an epiphany.

At this moment, Galcks sighed and said to the three.

"Actually, the main reason for calling you here today is to ask you to keep the contents of the competition confidential. After all, if the matter of Terra Royal Base were to be made public, it would look bad for the Federation, and those confidential materials should not be leaked!" "The Federation also has its difficulties. The reason it kept this a secret from the public and set up a base in the transit country of Tyboken to develop biological mecha was to counter the Mechanical Clan and protect its citizens. I hope you can understand."

"We understand. Everything the Federation does is for the people."

Su Ming replied, following Galcks’ words.

"Right, I’d like to ask the three of you to sign this non-disclosure agreement. Of course, this document is not just for you to sign; everyone who participated in the competition must sign it."

Galcks was quite satisfied with Su Ming’s answer and then took out three non-disclosure agreements and handed them over to the three.

"Okay."

Su Ming and the others immediately signed their names on the non-disclosure agreements and handed the documents back to Galcks.

After Galcks collected the three documents, he took out three small red envelopes and smiled as he handed them over.

"This is a little greeting gift for you, a token of my congratulations on your excellent performance in the competition."

"Thank you, Lord City Lord."

Su Ming and the others did not decline and each received an envelope.

The three of them weren’t fools. Although Galcks said the red packet was a token of congratulations, it was clear to see that this was hush money.

If they didn’t accept the hush money, they probably wouldn’t feel good about walking out the door.

"There’s no need to be so polite. I have some public affairs to attend to, so I won’t see you out."

Galcks said to Su Ming and the others with a smile.

"Okay, Lord City Lord, we take our leave first."

Su Ming and the others saluted to Galcks and then turned to leave.

After they left, the smile on Galcks’ face gradually faded, replaced by a serious expression.

In fact, he contacted Artificial Intelligence Light Computer·Celeste immediately afterward to request the surveillance footage, but Celeste refused, using the excuse of being hacked and data loss. The reason for this was that Celeste harbored resentment against him; she believed that the death of her parents and the fall of Tyboken Kingdom were his doing.

That’s why he needed to call Su Ming and the others for questioning.

However, judging from the questioning just now, it seemed there were no problems. Su Ming’s expression had revealed nothing unusual when answering.

But the more this was the case, the more Galcks felt something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint the issue.

...

Meanwhile, Su Ming and his companions walked out of the retro building.

"Phew, I never thought we’d actually meet Lord Gakels City Lord in person. It was really nerve-wracking."

Lin Chuyu took a deep breath and said.

"It was indeed tense, but it’s over now. Let’s check out the red packets," An Ruoxue said cheerfully.

"Okay!"

Su Ming was the first to open his red packet to find that it contained a check with an amount of 100 million Federation dollars.

Looking at the check, he couldn’t help but internally praise Galcks for knowing just how much to give—it was just the right amount!

If the hush money had been too meager, the three of them might feel dissatisfied and suspect that such a solemn summons for secrecy was only worth that little bit, potentially indicating a problem.

But if it had been too generous, they might also be led to believe that the secrets they had witnessed were highly significant, full of unspeakable mysteries, prompting them to forcibly recall and scrutinize them.

Yet, 100 million Federation dollars was just perfect—not too much, nor too little.

"So much money," Lin Chuyu exclaimed.

"A red packet from the Lord City is naturally substantial. Let’s head back," Su Ming said to Lin Chuyu with a smile.

"Okay!"

Lin Chuyu and An Ruoxue nodded.

...

Shortly after, Su Ming and his companions arrived at the central courtyard, only to see employees dressed in white shirts facilitating the check exchange for the prize winners, with Rhein and others doing the exchanges.

At that moment, Su Ming’s phone in his pocket vibrated, and upon checking it, he saw two deposits to his account—one for 300,000 Federation dollars and the other for 50,000 Federation dollars.

These amounts must have come from Irelia-senpai and Begfin-senpai; he couldn’t help but admire the broad-mindedness of these seniors.

Despite their high-ranking positions where they seemed to lack nothing, in reality, they were more in need of money than anyone else—the higher one climbs, the greater the expenses.

"Let’s exchange the money and save ourselves another trip to the bank," An Ruoxue suggested with a smile.

"Alright!"

Su Ming and Lin Chuyu responded, and they moved forward to exchange their checks.

Soon enough, Su Ming finished the exchange. He bid a simple farewell to Lin Chuyu and An Ruoxue and joined his classmates.