Hunting Game [Interstellar]

Half a month later, the black market town in the desert.

It was close to six o'clock in the evening, and the hot sand that had been scorched for a whole day was shining brightly. The setting sun turned into a huge fireball that gradually sank into the distant horizon, and the afterglow dipped in the deep night was slanted over. There was a thick layer of hot blood, which was scalding to the eyeballs.

The sleeping town woke up, and various shops on the bright side began to open one after another.

This dead city under the day will not come back to life until night, like a scorched snake, one second it is still weak and lingering, and the next second it opens its nictitating membrane, revealing its cunning and treacherous The pupils are frankly and blatantly spying on the prey, watching the thousands of skins that come and go every night.

On the second floor of a certain small hotel, Cang Xingyun leaned against the white wall behind him with arms folded, slightly tilted his head, his eyes fell through the gap in the blinds to a peddler who was doing business across the street.

It was a somewhat scruffy middle-aged man with a five or six-year-old boy who looked like a father and son.Usually when business comes, there is little interaction between the two. The man will be busy entertaining guests, while the child will squat in the corner and play with a docile green iguana.Their mobile booth has simple facilities, with dozens of large and small glass boxes containing poison, various extraction instruments, and a row of thumb-sized crystal bottles in the front.

It's a stall selling venom, Cang Xingyun thought casually, if you look around for a while, you should be able to wait for many colleagues.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glanced at the vendor again, thinking, maybe he was a colleague.

It has been almost a week since the two of them arrived in this small town. This itinerary was scheduled by Su Shichuan, and the hotel was also chosen by him. From the window of the room, you can clearly observe the Green-tailed Lizard Tavern where the two met last time. There is also a casino with a moderate business and this vendor who comes to set up stalls every night.Even though Su Xingchuan still hasn't mentioned the purpose of this trip, but since knowing that man, Cang Xingyun thinks that he understands his behavior better, so he will naturally pay more attention to the people and things he sees. point.

He didn't ask much out of habit, but that didn't mean he wasn't curious.

On the other side of the room, Su Shichuan changed into a robe and boots with strong local characteristics, and was covering his face with a scarf.Through the rusty full-length mirror, he noticed that Xingyun seemed to be distracted, so he asked without looking back: "Has McGregor been in touch?"

His voice is not loud, and it is even very inconspicuous under the sound of bargaining outside the window.

Cang Xingyun instantly recovered from his aimless guessing, his expression remained unchanged, and he pretended to look up calmly.

The eyes of the two met in the mirror image, most of Su Shichuan's face was covered by the long moon-white veil, only a pair of smiling eyes were exposed, staring at Cang Xingyun for a while, apparently for a while .His eyes didn't hide the slightest bit, and he didn't show much interest, but it gave people a very clear feeling of being seen through at a glance, as if he was asking maliciously, what are you thinking?

Cang Xingyun frowned slightly, shielding off the uncomfortable feeling of being overwhelmed by others, and replied lightly: "I got in touch."

"Where do we meet?" Su Shichuan asked.

"It's just opposite the casino diagonally, next door to the tavern we've been to." Cang Xingyun said, "There's a supporting small bar on the first floor of the casino. According to him, he invited someone to discuss business there. Tonight We will be able to negotiate, and then come to join us."

Su Shichuan was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, and turned to look at him: "Where did you decide?"

"That's not true," Cang Xingyun replied truthfully, "It seems that they had made an appointment to meet there at night. After hearing that I was here, McGregor asked the partner what he meant, and said that he would not mind his friend coming over." After finishing, he suddenly realized something, and hurriedly asked, "What's the problem?"

"It's nothing." Su Shichuan smiled thoughtfully, "I just think it's a bit of a coincidence."

Cang Xingyun was not disturbed by the casual smile on the other party's face at all, but said very sensitively: "What do you mean?"

Su Shichuan was quiet for a while, and said: "This town is not too big, but it is not too small. I am going out tonight, you should be able to tell, and you should be able to guess where I am going."

"Green-tailed Lizard Tavern, you have an appointment." Cang Xingyun replied calmly, "I guess most of the people you want to meet are from the Empire." He paused, then pointed out more specifically, "It should be The agent who was disguised as a businessman with you?"

"Yes." Su Shichuan did not hide anything, "Now all the agents of the infiltration plan are in place. He is the one with the most free identity and strong flexibility. He is responsible for traveling between here and other planets, and carrying out the information we have collected. This is This is the first meeting since the start of the plan, and the location must have been prepared in advance, absolutely safe."

Cang Xingyun was inconspicuously startled, and said in amazement: "That tavern belongs to you?"

Su Shichuan gave a "hmm" and said, "It doesn't look like there is any change, but the person under the lady boss's skin has changed." While talking, he walked to the side of Cang Xingyun, stretched out his hand and gently pushed open the shutter leaves, "They're right next door, and the partner doesn't mind meeting you, isn't it a coincidence?"

"En." Cang Xingyun hesitated, "But McGregor's vigilance shouldn't be that bad."

"You have to know the identity of the businesswoman 'Vera'. We have been in business for ten years, and there have been no mistakes during this period. Besides, our Mr. Star Thief doesn't know that I will be next door tonight, and he can't even Completely connect several of my identities." Su Shichuan hooked the corners of his lips not very obviously, "and the most important point is that he is a businessman, he is omnipotent, as long as he can make money, I don't think he would mind sitting on it. What is the purpose of the person across the table."

"You're right."

"Pay attention, and contact me anytime if you have any questions."

"understood."

Su Shichuan raised his wrist to check the time on the communicator, then turned his head to look at him: "I have an appointment with that person at seven o'clock, how about you?"

"One hour later," Cang Xingyun said, "I want to discuss business, I don't want to go there too early to disturb."

"Then you can do whatever you want," Su Shichuan smiled, "I'll go first."

"Be careful." Cang Xingyun said.

Su Shichuan didn't say any more, turned around and left the guest room, and walked out through a side door at the back of the hotel without making a sound.

Summer is coming, and the temperature difference between day and night in the desert is obvious. Although the sun has already set in the west, the frightening high temperature has not dropped much.The first batch of merchant ships arriving at night passed through the air port and landed on the simple helipad outside the town, bringing smuggled goods that could be traded all night.

The streets were crowded with people, and the costumes of the people participating in the transaction were very different, and alien languages ​​with various accents were mixed together, making it very lively.

The hot wind swept over with sand, and the exposed skin seemed to have been polished by sandpaper. Su Zhanchuan lowered his veil, walked quickly through pairs of bargaining vendors and customers, and came to the The main entrance of the Greentail Tavern.Before entering the door, he glanced at the casino next door. It was still early, and it was still mainly about transactions, and recreational activities would not become popular until after midnight, so the two shops were more or less deserted. , In stark contrast to the enthusiasm of the vendors.

McGregor didn't know he was next door, so if the location wasn't a coincidence, could it be that the other party knew?

This idea came up so abruptly that Su Shichuan himself was taken aback for a moment, but when he thought about it carefully, there was no flaw, and it was completely reasonable to combine the current situation.

Strange... He retracted his gaze, grabbed the doorknob with his palm and pushed hard.

The old wooden door made a trembling "squeak", and the copper bell above his head made a "jingling" sound. Su Shichuan calmed down and walked in the door slowly, and walked to the bar.The glamorous proprietress was still dressed exactly the same as last time, but her eyes lit up very indistinctly when she saw Su Shichuan this time, and she was no longer listless.

The tavern has not officially opened yet, and the entire Santai area is deserted, not to mention that the customers and the waiters have not started to work.

At this time, there was no question of revealing her identity, so the proprietress simply stood up and bowed symbolically to Su Shichuan: "You are here."

"Yeah." Su Shichuan said lightly, "What about others?"

"The innermost room in the left-hand corridor on the third floor," said the proprietress. "There will be no guests on that floor, and the room has also been soundproofed."

Su Shichuan nodded to express his understanding, remained silent for a few seconds, and then asked very caringly: "Are you still used to it?"

The female agent who replaced the proprietress of the tavern is also considered a newcomer. Her name is Corona. She was a freshman in the special warfare graduating class of the military academy and was discovered and trained by Su Shichuan.This is the first time she has participated in an actual mission since she became an agent. She is responsible for stationing in the black market for intelligence collection, which is a shallow infiltration category with relatively little danger.

Corona couldn't help being taken aback when she heard this, and after a while, she realized that she hurriedly said "hmm".There are many taboo items during the mission of the agent, she did not dare to say too much rashly, hesitated for a few seconds and replied softly: "Don't worry."

"Don't be too nervous." Su Shichuan smiled at her with gentle eyes, and then turned around and walked up the stairs to the third floor.

The girl couldn't help looking back at him until he disappeared at the turning point, then sat back in the armchair and continued the boring game of pool that the original owner liked.

At the same time, Cang Xingyun walked through the bustling crowd and came to the stall selling venom.

The business at this time is very good, and the stall owner is very busy among several customers who inquire about the price.

Cang Xingyun's hood was drawn deep, and his face was invisible. Just based on the feeling, it would make people think that this person has little interest in buying, and if he only looks at it but doesn't talk about it, he will naturally be slighted.Gradually, he was squeezed into the corner by the buyers who surrounded him, and at his feet was the kid playing with the lizard.Cang Xingyun casually picked up a crystal bottle marked with the word "Viper" and pretended to look at it, but his eyes were slightly lowered, and fell on the back of the little guy.

Wrapped from head to toe in an ill-fitting toga, the little boy looked dirty and was small and thin.When he squatted on the ground, he curled up very badly, like a malnourished gray rabbit, only a bony hand was exposed all over his body, his fingers stretched into the crack of the cage, and poked it one by one as if he had a psychological barrier. Only the green iguana who obviously doesn't like to talk to him.

Cang Xingyun raised his eyebrows slightly, thinking that this child is quite interesting.

At this moment, perhaps sensing that someone was watching, the little boy stopped his hands, his thin back moved slightly, and he raised his head to look at that weird guy.

The sky was completely dark, and the street was brightly lit. The eyes of the two met under the dim light. They were also under the hood, and they were also a pair of blood-soaked red pupils.

Cang Xingyun was stunned suddenly: "You are..."

Before he finished speaking, the stall owner happened to close a deal, looked up while counting the money, and said with a smile: "If you are interested in that bottle of viper venom, you can try the little guy, he is a half shark, and the poison will not kill you." However, it can perfectly show the various reactions of the venom after it acts on the human body, which is very convenient."

Cang Xingyun stared at the wretched middle-aged man for a while, did not respond to the other's suggestion, but looked at the little boy at his feet again, and said in a low voice expressionlessly: "So you are a test subject?"

The little guy's language system doesn't seem to have evolved yet, seeing Cang Xingyun's expression is very dazed, as if he can't understand the language he speaks.

Sure enough, the stall owner said: "The language system of the half shark is no different from that of an animal. He is still young and has not had much contact with humans. He can't understand languages ​​other than shark language. If you need it, just try it. The price is good. Let's discuss." After finishing speaking, he continued to greet those customers who showed their desire to buy.

Cang Xingyun put the bottle of viper venom back to its original place, knelt down on one knee in front of the boy, changed his language, and said in a voice that was only audible to each other: "You are poison, can't you kill him?"

The little boy understood this time, and his eyes widened instantly in surprise.

Cang Xingyun looked at him coldly: "What a waste."

At this time, the communicator rang, Cang Xingyun got up and turned around without hesitation to get into the flow of people coming and going.He felt a tightness in his ankle, but he still didn't have any intention of staying. Instead, he quickened his pace and savagely got rid of the hand that was trying to clasp his boot.

The boy was pushed forward by the irresistible force, and fell to the ground in a panic, knocking over the cage containing the lizard in a panic.

The stall owner who was negotiating the price with the customer heard the movement, his face sank immediately when he saw it, he stepped forward angrily and picked him up, beat him up and down, and then threw him into the corner like throwing garbage, ordering him to No more knocking over anything.

The little shark was beaten so badly that his nose was bruised and his face was swollen and he couldn't speak, so he hugged the lizard and curled up into a ball, crying in pain.

Mr. Assassin, who had already turned into the alley, leaned against the wall and fit into the shadow perfectly. The text message came from Su Shichuan, intending to let him go to the casino to meet McGregor in advance, without explaining the reason.However, the details that Su Shichuan can notice are also fine, so it is not difficult to guess that most of them have something to do with the partner of the Star Pirates - the location coincidentally is next door, and McGregor doesn't know about it, so the other one will naturally appear. More suspicious.

After closing the conversation window, Cang Xingyun sent McGregor a message, explaining that he would arrive earlier than the scheduled time.Ten seconds later, the other party replied, the content was very happy, just ask him to come directly when he arrives.

And at this moment, in the bathroom on the third floor of the Green-tailed Lizard Tavern, Su Shichuan, after explaining to his subordinate, turned off the light screen of the communicator, and pressed down the toilet tank.With the sound of rushing water, he slowly left the bathroom, turned into the corridor on the left according to the prompt of the previous agent, and walked straight into the depths.

There is no lighting on this floor, and the whole corridor only has street light from the window at the end.

Su Shichuan stood still in front of the single room door, and knocked on the door panel.

The person in the room didn't respond immediately, but it sounded like footsteps were coming towards the door.

It wasn't Aning, Su Shichuan made a judgment in his mind almost instantly, did something happen?He immediately recalled Corona's reaction, but no matter how he thought about it, he didn't find any problem.

That girl should be fine, it seems that a guy with a problem was put up...

The footsteps stopped on the other side of the door, and then the lock cylinder turned and the doorknob turned down.

The door opened, and the light poured out from behind a slit.Feng Chen stood in a brightly lit single room in casual clothes, watching Su Shichuan who was wrapped in a long robe in the shadow of the corridor.

"You don't look surprised at all." Finally, Feng Chen spoke first, taking the initiative to take a step back to let the door open, "Did you guess that I would come?"

Su Shichuan pulled down the veil and walked into the cubicle: "I didn't guess it was you, but I thought the person waiting for me should not be Aning." He walked to the window and opened a gap in the curtain, "Where is the other person?" ?”

Feng Chen closed the door and locked it, and replied briefly: "I didn't say anything specific, I just knew that I wanted to see you alone, so I avoided it for the time being."

"Then it seems to be nearby." Su Shichuan looked back at him and smiled meaningfully, "Is it next door?"

Feng Chen frowned slightly, feeling like they hadn't seen each other for ten years, and this long-lost reunion carried such an inexplicable smell of gunpowder: "I really don't know." He said seriously, "In the final analysis, Aning is you If you think he must be present, just call him back."

Su Shichuan stared intently into his eyes, quickly judging the truth and falsehood of this sentence in his mind, and after a few seconds of silence, he smiled suddenly and changed his words: "It's nothing, we can wait for the information transfer." He used an excuse to prevaricate, and then said to Feng Chen, "You can let senior brother come over in person, it seems that you have something urgent to do with me?"

"Then there's no need to ask?" Feng Chen said, "What's the plan of your intelligence department? Don't you know who you are? You let yourself be arrested in the alliance, but you can figure it out. I'm not your intelligence department. , but I also know that there is no such infiltration method for agents to infiltrate, you are too risky!"

Su Shichuan started laughing from the moment he uttered the first word, but he didn't interrupt, but patiently listened to his old friend's whole set of indictments, and then said: "Aren't I standing in front of you?" , and there is no missing arm or broken leg, and he is alive and well."

"We have the image data of you coming out of the torture room," Feng Chen said with a serious face, "Is the injury serious?"

"Small injury." Su Shichuan said.

Feng Chen didn't even believe a single punctuation mark, but he didn't continue to entangle in this matter. The two sat down on the sofa, Feng Chen poured tea for Su Shichuan himself, and said, "Even if you have friendship with Xifa, How could Rex trust you?"

"He's the kind of person who won't put his belief or disbelief on the surface, but it's because of Xifa's face that he gave me a chance." Su Shichuan said.

"What condition did he put on you?" Feng Chen asked sensitively.

Su Shichuan hesitated for a moment, then said slowly: "He wants me to take down the space station that you and Auman are stationed at."

"You promised?"

"Ah."

Feng Chen found it unbelievable: "You are crazy, don't you know the strategic significance of that space station to the empire? The reason why the alliance has slowed down its expansion over the years is precisely because of the existence of that space station! You want to use one of the empire's Barriers in exchange for Rex's trust, is it worth it?"

"The exchange for that barrier is not Rex's trust, but his life." Su Shichuan corrected, "Do you think it's worth it?"

"I have no right to make this decision," Feng Chen said, "I must ask His Majesty for instructions."

Su Shichuan said: "That's your business, you can choose, but I can't. Rex allowed me to stand in front of him, so he didn't give me a chance to say 'no'."

"So your plan is too impulsive." Feng Chen looked at him sternly, "With Rex's rigor, if he can believe that you will betray the empire for Xifa, it is tantamount to fantasy. Let me take a step back, Even if he really believed it, how do you want Cisse to believe it? With the suspicion of our majesty, do you think he will believe that you have successfully penetrated into the alliance, or will he suspect that you are taking this opportunity to betray the empire? It’s something that can’t be explained at first, but in the end you still want to win the Empire’s space station for Rex!”

When it came to the end, Feng Chen unconsciously raised the volume, and it took him a while to react, he sighed, and said: "Sorry, I didn't mean to accuse you, nor did I want to interfere with your intelligence department's affairs. I know that if everything goes well, you will The plan should be able to usher in a relatively perfect result, but Shi Chuan, we all know Cisse, you should take him into consideration when you make arrangements."

"You have to know that he can safely let you leave White Emperor Star and let you come to this place close to Xifa, just because he thinks he has the capital to threaten you."

Su Shichuan said, "Of course I know."

"And..." Feng Chen looked at Su Shichuan hesitantly, "Tell me, in this plan that is being implemented, your purpose is pure, for the Luo Yin Empire, and does not contain any personal feelings. Everything you do is as an imperial soldier, not Su Shichuan, let alone Sifer Tranze's teacher, or... anything else."

Hearing this, the smile on Su Shichuan's face froze for a moment, but soon he pretended to be surprised as if nothing happened, "So you don't believe me?"

"I believe in you," Feng Chen's voice softened, "but at the same time, no one in this world understands you better than me. You have too many reasons to betray Cisse, but I can't think of why you would He fights."

Su Shichuan raised his eyes to meet his gaze, and said with a half-smile: "Would you believe my 'guarantee'?"

"I'm not asking you in the capacity corresponding to your military rank, and I don't represent the Luo Yin Empire when I raise this question." Feng Chen said, "After so many years, I just want to listen to the truth as a friend." At this point, Feng Chen suddenly laughed, "Anyway, your deceitful methods are so proficient, I can't tell whether it's true or not, anyway, I will believe everything you say today, okay?"

Su Shichuan was startled, then laughed dumbly, and suddenly didn't know how to answer the question.

"I'm for Luo Yin Empire," he finally said, "Achen, you can trust me."

After the voice fell, the communicator on Su Shichuan's wrist vibrated, and he didn't avoid suspicion, and checked the news directly in front of Feng Chen.

Cang Xingyun: [The agent who was supposed to meet you is now sitting opposite our profiteer, so who are you meeting? 】