If it weren't for the shrewish wife in Liu San's family, he would have suspected that Liu San and that old woman were having an affair.
When Gong Zhushen told Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu these words, he felt embarrassed. It was obvious that the miner was unlucky and jealous.
But they didn't get anything else all morning, so this is all they can talk about.
Ruan Mingchu asked, "Have you looked into the cook who serves the food?"
Gong Zhushen nodded firmly: "I looked into it. She is the mother of the supervisor, Jiang You. She was here before the 188 Mine Star was fully developed."
It was lunchtime, so Ruan Mingchu suggested that they try the food here and take the opportunity to observe Manager Jiang's mother.
Everyone took a bowl and lined up to get their food. As soon as Jiang's mother saw the bowl, she looked up and immediately picked up her spoon, precisely scooping out the meat with each spoonful.
After everyone finished getting their food, they gathered together and started picking at the meat in their bowls.
Gong Zhushen's expression was complicated: "There really isn't a single piece of meat."
Ruan Mingchu: "A piece of meat that is both fat and lean."
Mu Yu: "The same."
Hao Youyou: "I have a piece of fatty meat here."
Xiao Ziyang: "Fat meat +1".
Dong Junhao scratched his head: "I was lucky, I got two pieces of lean meat."
Then he was glared at by everyone.
Gong Zhushen: "In that case, Liu San's bowl is full of meat, which must be related to Jiang's mother."
Hao Youyou: "It's also possible that Jiang's mother liked Liu San."
Ruan Mingchu made the decision: "After we finish eating, let's go check on Jiang's mother."
After a difficult lunch, Ruan Mingchu and his group of six approached Jiang You, expressing their desire to learn more about his mother.
Jiang You: ? ? ?
"Don't push your luck!" Jiang You roared angrily. In his view, these people were just looking for trouble, retaliating against him for his bad attitude. His mother was over a hundred years old; could she really kill someone?
Ruan Mingchu was about to say something when Mu Yu interrupted her: "Let them investigate, let's go."
Jiang You scoffed. After all, he had been here since the mining area was established, and could barely be considered a local bigwig. He wasn't afraid of these young masters from outside.
The military acted swiftly. After the search and arrest procedures were completed, Jiang You was notified via terminal, and he had to lead his soldiers to search his own home.
Jiang You: So angry he turned into a pufferfish
When the soldiers actually found a bunch of contraband items in his youngest son's room, Jiang You was completely dumbfounded.
The three-year-old son naturally couldn't have these things; they must have been placed here by his grandmother who was taking care of him.
Jiang You hadn't expected that his mother actually had a problem. He couldn't help but regret refusing Ruan Mingchu and the others; if it had just been those little brats, he could have discovered it earlier and destroyed these things sooner.
Now it's all over.
Jiang You and his entire family were arrested.
However, the old lady was very stubborn and pretended to be stupid whenever she was interrogated, so the matter made no progress for a long time.
Ruan Mingchu came up with a solution: the miners would report on each other, and whoever had more meat in their lunch might be the one with the problem.
I was just trying it out casually, but I didn't expect to actually find two accomplices.
Ruan Mingchu was astonished; this old lady really knew how to separate "public" and "private" matters.
The two miners were recruited by the old woman and confessed everything during the first trial, but unfortunately, not many people knew the truth.
They pretended to be members of a church that could change one's fate, but in reality, they were trafficking people to some organization. The six people who recently disappeared were four of those who were killed by Jiang's mother and her gang, and the other two were killed independently with other of Jiang's mother's henchmen.
The mission was assigned by Jiang's mother; they were simply following orders. The method was to first ingratiate themselves with the target through conversation, developing common ground. Once familiar, they would make grand promises, share personal experiences, and so on—basically, rely on talk. Once the target began to believe them, they would have the target make requests, which their backers would then fulfill, thus ensuring the target's complete trust.
They used to target people who were close to death but didn't want to die, tricking them into believing they could live forever, then faking their deaths so no one would investigate. Neither of them understood why Jiang's mother would target someone with such a strong presence.
And to everyone's surprise, the biggest loophole was that the old woman gave out a lot of meat, which caught the attention of her colleagues.
Based on the confessions of these two individuals, the perpetrators of the other two disappearances were also arrested.
The next step is to get them to talk and find the missing people. After all, the assessment task requires Ruan Mingchu and his team to find the missing persons, whether they are alive or dead.
The interrogation was temporarily left to military professionals, and Nguyen Minh Thu told everyone to make their own arrangements and wait for the interrogation results.
Gong Zhushen and Hao Youyou, without prior arrangement, each took Dong Junhao and Xiao Ziyang to experience military life, leaving Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu alone.
By the time Mu Yu realized everyone was gone, he had been planning to have them all go back to the mine. But since they were already gone, Mu Yu didn't bother asking them if they wanted to go; it didn't matter whether they were there or not.
Mu Yu asked Ruan Mingchu, "Something seems off about the mine. I'd like to go take another look. Do you want to come?"
Ruan Mingchu agreed.
On the way, Mu Yu explained to Ruan Mingchu what he had noticed was wrong.
His pheromones were a bit excited while he was in the mine, so he took a piece of ore. After testing, it was found that the ore was indeed blue ore, but not ordinary blue ore. Instead, it contained precious mithril, which is used to manufacture mech cores.
Mithril has always been in short supply in the Warren Empire, classified as a military resource, and only the military can mine and use it. If there really is a mithril deposit here, then Planet 188 will become a key military location.
As the Crown Prince of the Empire, Ruan Mingchu naturally knew the importance of mithril. But after listening to Mu Yu's explanation, Ruan Mingchu's first thought was whether Liu San's disappearance was related to the mithril-containing ore in the mine.
He told Mu Yu about his question, and Mu Yu had also thought of that. He took a deep breath and said, "Let's not go to the mine yet. Let's go check on the other missing people's homes."
Ruan Mingchu said, "It would be better if we went quietly."
Mu Yu: "Hmm."
If the other five missing people... no, if even one more person is connected to the Mythic Gold, then we should suspect that they were targeted because they discovered the Mythic Gold.
The fact that an organization that usually targets the dying suddenly attacked six highly visible individuals raises serious questions about their true motives.
Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu disguised themselves and slipped into the bedroom of the second missing person.
As a student, his bedroom contained not only essential living items, but also books, test papers, and other study materials.
But when Ruan Mingchu opened his drawer, he saw a drawer full of beautiful stones. Several of the stones had very smooth surfaces, clearly indicating that they were frequently handled and played with.
Clearly, this student has a hobby of collecting and playing with stones.
Mu Yu brought with him an instrument to detect the secret gold. The two of them tested the stones one by one, and indeed one of them contained a trace amount of secret gold.
Ruan Mingchu picked up the stone and examined it: "If he knew that this little thing was the cause of his death, do you think he would still like stones?"
Mu Yu stared intently at the stone. Sometimes, without strength, even the most ordinary action could lead to death.
After a long silence, he said, "You still need to have the strength."
The two did not go to verify whether the other four had any ore containing mithril. In any case, they had to make a big show of testing the mineral deposits of the entire mineral planet.
The most likely reason for the disappearance of the six people is that they unintentionally, or even without their knowledge, came into contact with the Mythic Gold, and the organization that was stealing the Mythic Gold took precautions and decided to "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free."
Ruan Mingchu said, "The 188 mining planet has been developed for more than ten years without discovering the secret gold. There must be a mole inside."
Mu Yu nodded: "I have already contacted my father and asked him to send troops. They should arrive by noon tomorrow."
Once Marshal Mu's men arrive, the matter of the secret gold will probably have nothing to do with them anymore.
Mu Yu said, "We've investigated this far, are you really willing to just complete an assessment task?"
If they can find out who is stealing the secret gold before Marshal Mu's men arrive, and even arrest them, they can at least get a third-class merit.
For ordinary military academy students, receiving a third-class merit citation not only allows them to graduate early but may also earn them the appreciation of high-ranking military officials.
These things are useless to Mu Yu, whose family background dictates that he will rise to the top as soon as he enters the military. However, if Ruan Mingchu receives a third-class merit, even though he is an Omega, he will be highly regarded in the military.
Ruan Mingchu had no idea that Mu Yu was thinking of him. He just thought Mu Yu was quite cute, being a young man who admired strength and fame. He had a good eye for this kind of energetic and driven young man.
Regardless of their differing opinions, Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu reached a consensus to continue the investigation.
The breakthrough lay with Jiang You's mother. She had been interrogated by professionals, but she hadn't uttered a single word; she was exceptionally stubborn.
Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu first obtained testimonies from Jiang You's family. Jiang You was not a good person, but he genuinely knew nothing about his mother's actions.
The soldier guarding Jiang's mother and the others led Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu away. After walking for a while, he said, "It's inside. Please come back in an hour."
If it weren't for these individuals, they wouldn't have known that such a vile organization was committing atrocities in their territory. Now that the two wanted to talk to Jiang's mother, there was nothing wrong with it.
After thanking the comprehension soldier, Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu went inside.
Jiang's mother is the highest-ranking of the perpetrators who have been apprehended, and this treatment is commensurate with her status.
The entire prison was a technologically advanced, enclosed space. Her wrists and ankles were chained, and she was wearing a collar around her neck. Any movement would result in her immediate death.
At this moment, Jiang's mother sat cross-legged on the bed, her eyelids drooping as she drifted off into thought. Her face was pale and bloodless, and her cloudy eyes were bloodshot, but she was quite calm overall.
There was a feeling of "What can you do with me? There's nothing you can do," as if I wasn't a prisoner.
She was indeed formidable; she remained completely unmoved even under torture.
Jiang's mother just sat there, letting Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu look her over.
A moment later, Ruan Mingchu suddenly spoke up: "You're not the real person, are you?"
Jiang's mother's eyelids twitched, but she still ignored Ruan Mingchu. Ruan Mingchu ignored her and went on to state her conclusion: "Ten years ago, when Old Madam Jiang went on a trip, you must have killed her and taken her place. Your face is well done, your personality and habits are well imitated, and you even took into account her mango allergy."
At this point, Ruan Mingchu stopped, and Jiang's mother opened her eyes, her eyes full of sarcasm.
Ruan Mingchu smiled and said, "But why didn't you even figure out the gender of Jiang's mother?"
Jiang's mother—no, she should be called Feng Rong—was shocked. She then realized that Ruan Mingchu was bluffing her and laughed sarcastically: "You're quite an interesting kid. I don't even know when I changed my gender."
Ruan Mingchu sighed and said to Mu Yu, "Alright, put away your pheromones."
Bathing in Mu Yu's pheromones was really comfortable, and the fruit tea-scented pheromones suited his taste perfectly, but he couldn't use his position for personal gain any longer!
Mu Yu hummed in agreement and completely suppressed his pheromones.
From Jiang You's narration, they learned that Jiang's mother was originally an Omega who underwent gland removal surgery after her husband's early death. Although interstellar high technology allows Omegas who have had their glands removed to remain healthy, they experience unbearable pain upon contact with Alpha pheromones.
Ruan Mingchu suggested that Mu Yu release some pheromones after they came in to test whether this person was Jiang You's mother.
Although at the time I just wanted to use my position for personal gain and get some pheromones, I didn't expect that I would accidentally confirm that this person was not Jiang's mother.
Ruan Mingchu slowly said to Feng Rong, who was dressed as Jiang's mother, "Jiang You's mother is an Omega who has had her glands removed, but you seem to be a pure Beta."
Feng Rong's face turned ugly, but she immediately burst into laughter: "So what if I'm not? What can you do to me? A bunch of good-for-nothings."
Ruan Mingchu shrugged and said cheerfully, "Since you are not a citizen of our country, you no longer enjoy the rights that prisoners of our country should have. You should know about the method of obtaining intelligence by searching the mental sea, right?"
Judging from Feng Rong's reaction, it was clear that she understood this method; she had been calm and composed just moments before, but now her hands were trembling.