The last tube was completely empty!
Damn pheromones, you brought this on yourself. Don't blame him if you're craving something but can't have it!
There was a vase of flowers on the bedside table, and Ruan Mingchu casually picked one and counted the petals.
"Angry, not angry, angry..."
"Angry, angry, not angry."
"Very good, Mu Yu won't be angry!"
When Mu Yu arrived at the ward, the flowers in the vase had been completely plucked, and the petals were crying in the trash can.
Mu Yu's lips twitched, and he walked over to ask, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Ruan Mingchu's eyes instantly reddened: "My neck hurts."
Please don't be angry, considering how pitiful he is.
"Oh, this," Mu Yu said, somewhat at a loss, "I'll call a doctor for you—"
"No need, no need," Ruan Mingchu stopped Mu Yu from pressing the bell. "It's nothing serious, the pain will go away in a while."
Mu Yu hummed in agreement and handed the medical kit he was holding to Ruan Mingchu.
Ruan Mingchu asked in confusion, "What is this?"
Mu Yu pursed his lips, his earlobes turning red, "My...my pheromones."
The conversation flowed smoothly from there: "These are specially made low-temperature tubes from the hospital, specifically designed to store pheromones. They're better than your test tubes."
Ruan Mingchu was overjoyed, "Mu Yu, you're so kind!"
While praising the person, he quickly opened the medical kit and saw rows of cryogenic tubes. He smiled and counted them; there were at least ten tubes.
Mu Yu seemed to say something again, but his voice was very soft. Overjoyed, Ruan Mingchu didn't hear him clearly and just mumbled "uh-huh" in response.
When this topic came up in casual conversation later, Ruan Mingchu almost cried in the bathroom. Mu Yu said, "You can bite me later."
Once Ruan Mingchu was alright, the two of them went to the guard post and told him about Ye Lele's invitation to the equipment room.
After leaving, Ruan Mingchu told Mu Yu about his guesses about Ye Lele, and Mu Yu said he understood.
Mu Yu: "I'll have someone investigate. Go back and prepare your things; the truth will come out when we get back."
Ruan Mingchu hummed in agreement. In this galaxy, there was probably nothing that Mu Yu's father couldn't find out.
Planet 188 is a planet that has only been developed for a little over a decade. It is rich in mineral resources and has a global population of over three billion, most of whom are miners.
The first to go missing was an old miner named Liu San. His son was of marriageable age, and the family needed money. He was the first to go down into the mine and the last to come out every day, and sometimes he would even sleep in the mine all night.
Liu San hadn't returned home for two days, and his family assumed he was sleeping in the mine. It wasn't until the mine supervisor came to their house to ask why Liu San hadn't been home that they realized he was missing.
The entire mine has been searched, but no one has been found, neither alive nor dead.
This was only the first case. The second and third cases were discovered a week later, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth cases appeared one after another in the following two weeks.
The missing persons did not come from the same mining area, were unrelated, and had no common characteristics. The only thing they had in common was that they were all from the planet 188.
Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu, a group of six, arrived at Mine Star 188 in the evening.
They were received by the local garrison, and because of Mu Yu's influence, they were treated to a good meal and drinks, and the latest case details were presented to them.
The next morning, Jiang You, the supervisor of the 12th mining area where the first miners went missing, came to the military headquarters. In the following days, he assisted Ruan Mingchu and others in investigating the case.
Although he appeared respectful on the surface, all six of them could sense the deep distrust in his eyes, especially when they saw Ruan Mingchu, the Omega, and Hao Youyou and Xiao Ziyang, the Betas. His disdain was practically overflowing.
Clearly, this is an Alpha who respects A and elders, and only regards assisting Ruan Mingchu and others as a task that must be done, like accompanying his boss's child on an outing.
Ruan Mingchu didn't care about his attitude, as long as he did what needed to be done and didn't cause trouble.
After discussion, the six decided to go and check on the work and family environment of the first missing person, Liu San, to compare the actual visits with the information they obtained.
Jiang You was very unhappy about this, but he still took the six men on a tour of the mine where Liu San used to work, and then took them to Liu San's house. The day was over.
In the evening, the six of them gathered together to review what they had learned throughout the day.
Liu San's family is small, consisting of only Liu San, his son, and his wife. The group chatted separately with Liu San's son, wife, and their neighbor.
Liu San's son said that his relationship with his father was so-so, and he didn't usually have time to communicate with him. Liu San's wife either cried about her miserable life or asked if there was any compensation.
The neighbors' impression of him was only that he was "worked like a madman", "taciturn", and "often scolded by his wife for being useless". They had no interaction with Liu San on a daily basis.
Hao Youyou clicked her tongue. "He's a complete failure as a man."
However, Liu San's colleagues liked him quite a bit. Liu San was generous and hardworking, and they were always happy to help him with anything.
Ruan Mingchu: "He is an outstanding employee in the mining area and the pillar of his family. The Liu family's income depends entirely on him. He is not someone with a weak presence who would be difficult to find if he disappeared."
Murderers typically target low-profile groups such as the homeless and unemployed, making them less likely to be discovered afterward.
Hao Youyou muttered softly, "Could it be that he couldn't stand it and ran away from home?"
"W-Why are you all looking at me?" Hao Youyou looked up and saw five pairs of eyes staring at her, which startled her.
Ruan Mingchu smiled and said, "You're so smart."
Hao Youyou's mouth dropped open: "Huh?"
Thinking back to what she had said earlier, Hao Youyou retorted, "But Liu San's son and wife both said that he didn't show any abnormalities before he disappeared. There must be some doubts about whether he ran away from home."
The other five people: ...
Ruan Mingchu sighed and patted Hao Youyou's head: "Liu San's wife and son don't care about him, how could they possibly notice that something was wrong with Liu San?"
Hao Youyou was completely oblivious to the disdain others had for his intelligence; instead, she clapped excitedly, "Brother Ruan, you're amazing!"
Over the next two days, Nguyen Minh Thu and his entourage visited the families, neighbors, and colleagues of the other missing persons.
The second missing person was a teenager, good-looking and academically gifted. His family always gave him the best of everything, and he was praised by his parents, teachers, and classmates. However, in reality, he was a tool for his parents to show off to others, the main basis for his teachers' bonuses and promotions, and the answer key for his classmates' homework and exams.
The third was a hardworking and studious young man in his early twenties. His family was already looking for a wife for him, but he suddenly disappeared. He could have left the mining planet and had a different life after getting into university, but his father wanted a promotion, so he had to stay and work in the mines. He broke up with the girl he liked because she was an orphan and was mistreated by her mother.
...
By peeling back the veil of mystery surrounding the missing persons, one can arrive at the conclusion that they were all people dissatisfied with the status quo but unable to change it.
Ruan Mingchu concluded, "They were most likely scammed, possibly by smuggling, illegal human research organizations, or other such groups. Their disappearance must have been orchestrated by someone close to them."
Mu Yu hummed in agreement. "I need a team to start the investigation from the twelfth mining area where Liu San is located, checking each person one by one."
“I’d like to go back to the mine where Liu San works,” Ruan Mingchu asked. “Want to come along?”
Mu Yu nodded.
The two were talking to each other, while Gong Zhushen, Hao Youyou, Xiao Ziyang and Dong Junhao whispered among themselves.
"Brother Ruan and Brother Mu are so amazing. It feels like we're just here to make up the numbers."
"No, we can also do odd jobs."
"What? I was the one who first suggested running away from home!"
"Let's go help with the investigation tomorrow. I feel like we'll just get in the way if we go into the mine."
+1
+1
+1
Jiang You, the supervisor of the 12th mining area, was very dissatisfied. He ordered a shutdown after checking each mine, but there was no output and no compensation from above!
Therefore, when he met Ruan Mingchu and others who proposed to investigate each person individually, his attitude was very bad. Not to mention leading the way or helping, it was only by glaring at them and leaving that Jiang You was able to restrain himself.
Since Liu San disappeared, no one has come down to the mine where he used to stay, for fear that he would be taken away by some kind of "monster".
They had already been here once before, but found nothing. However, Ruan Mingchu felt that they had overlooked something, so he wanted to come and take another look.
The person who accompanied the two down into the cave was considered Liu San's apprentice, although Liu San denied it. When Zhang Guo first started working, he knew nothing; it was Liu San who helped him meet his quota and taught him how to identify and mine minerals.
The mine was very clean. Mine tunnels are usually dusty, but this one remained clean even after a month of no one coming to visit.
Ruan Mingchu asked, "Does Liu San have obsessive-compulsive disorder?"
Zhang shook his head: "It's just that Engineer Liu's throat was sore a while ago, so it'll feel better if it's clean."
Where are his mining tools?
"I don't know, people usually take them home."
That's strange. Liu San's family doesn't have any mining tools, and neither do they here. Could he have taken them with him?
Ruan Mingchu asked, "Is there any place around here that few people go to, but Liu San knows about?"
"Let me think... Five years ago, Engineer Liu went there to smoke, but he hasn't done it since."
"Then take us to see it."
Ruan Mingchu took a few steps and found that Mu Yu was still looking at the stone wall. He called out to Mu Yu twice but Mu Yu did not respond, so he went over and patted him on the shoulder: "What's wrong?"
Mu Yu shook his head and asked Zhang Guo, "What kind of minerals are found here?"
"Qingkuang manufactures civilian machinery."
“Okay, let’s go over there,” Mu Yu said.
Ruan Mingchu noticed that Mu Yu had an extra stone in his hand, but he didn't ask. He followed Zhang Guo to the place where Liu San used to smoke five years ago.
No one cleans this place; if you look carefully, you can even see rotten cigarette butts under the withered grass.
“Here,” Ruan Mingchu drew a circle with his toes, “the soil is different from the surrounding soil; it has been disturbed recently.”
Zhang Guo took the initiative to dig in the soil and unearthed a set of mining tools and other miscellaneous small items.
“It belongs to Engineer Liu; his things all have the character ‘Liu’ on them.”
It's certain that Liu San left voluntarily, burying the past. It has to be said that Liu San was quite artistic.
Among the pile of things, Ruan Mingchu found a piece of paper with a mermaid pattern that could be seen in the sunlight. It was a letter that Liu San had written to him.
It was another mermaid. Ruan Mingchu showed the letter to Mu Yu. The two looked at each other and both marveled at how lucky they had been when they stole the mermaid, managing to steal it without much effort.
Mu Yu gave Zhang Guo some star coins as a reward, and Zhang Guo hesitated for a moment before accepting them.
We've made some progress here, and our efforts over there weren't wasted either.
One of the miners spoke of what he felt was unusual about Liu San before his disappearance. The miners' lunches were provided by the mining area, and he and Liu San ate lunch around the same time. He noticed that in the days leading up to Liu San's disappearance, the old woman responsible for serving them always gave Liu San a lot of meat, while her own bowl only contained fatty meat or nothing at all.