Chapter 112: Crisis
Once the goods arrived at the starport, they could finally be handed over. Most of the people coming to collect them were not permitted to enter the Empire itself.
So they could only wait here. Of course, this was also the safest place. What danger could there possibly be at the starport of the Empire's Capital Star? The entire surrounding area was filled with military personnel.
Because of this transaction, Yu Lanfeng had specially arranged for numerous military patrols to conduct twenty-four-hour surveillance throughout the surrounding star systems. The moment anything unusual was discovered, they were to strike immediately without wasting time on negotiations.
Naturally, the most likely problems would not occur now, but after the buyers took possession of the goods and left.
The Empire could guarantee the safety of these machines while they remained here, but whether the buyers themselves could keep them safe afterward was another matter entirely.
Yu Lanfeng was personally stationed in a concealed location within the starport. The moment anything abnormal happened, he would intervene immediately. This transaction absolutely could not go wrong.
At the very least, nothing could happen during the transaction itself. As for what happened after the buyers paid and left—if they lost the goods because they were incompetent, that had nothing to do with the Empire.
That was right. The vast majority of those who had obtained purchasing qualifications were not citizens of the Empire at all. Many were influential figures from black-market or gray-market industries.
Some of them even maintained bases on the Empire's remote fringe planets.
Naturally, the Empire prohibited such organizations from existing, but everything had to be handled in moderation.
As the saying went, "Leave room for future dealings." As long as they did not cause trouble on planets where normal law enforcement operated, allowing them a few abandoned worlds that mainstream society had discarded was not a serious issue.
Those planets had no resources, no talented population, nothing except garbage and darkness. They were also unsuitable as military bases, so the Empire had carefully considered the matter.
Yu Lanfeng never appeared throughout the transaction.
The person overseeing the entire process was Crown Prince Yuan Qiyang.
Although he was still young, as the Crown Prince he naturally had to begin learning many of the Empire's hidden secrets. Otherwise, when the time came, he would know nothing, which would be far too embarrassing.
This assignment had been completely forced upon Yuan Qiyang.
He had never dealt with anything like this before. If Yu Lanfeng had not temporarily assigned his own adjutant to accompany him and explain everything, he probably would have made mistake after mistake.
Some gray-market industries were understandable—after all, everyone needed a little gray income.
But the Empire actually allowing completely black-market organizations to exist within its borders?
Yuan Qiyang simply could not understand it.
Shouldn't they all be wiped out?
He found it impossible to accept.
Even so, he never revealed his dissatisfaction in front of outsiders.
From beginning to end, he maintained a pleasant smile while presiding over the transaction.
After it ended and everyone had taken the goods they had purchased, Yuan Qiyang came to Yu Lanfeng's office.
His face was filled with confusion and disbelief.
"Uncle! Can you explain something to me? Why..."
Yu Lanfeng glanced at him.
"The reason is simple. Since this thing exists, it has a reason to exist."
"Rather than banning everything outright and allowing these black-market industries to quietly flourish where the Empire can't see them, it's better to give them a place where they operate right under our noses."
"Which of those two options do you think is better?"
Yuan Qiyang immediately fell silent.
He wanted to say that total prohibition was enough.
But the illegal drug organization he had recently learned about had managed to infiltrate layer after layer into the Empire despite the Empire's comprehensive crackdown.
That alone demonstrated just how terrifying that organization was.
If something exists, there must be a reason.
For the first time, Yuan Qiyang found those words incredibly ironic.
Because he couldn't refute them.
Everything existed for a reason.
Take the black-market industries he had always despised.
Why did they exist?
Because there was demand.
And who created that demand?
Their base inside the Empire was located on a planet officially designated as abandoned.
Which meant that the people creating that demand... were citizens of the Empire themselves.
The corner of Yuan Qiyang's mouth twitched.
"You're right, Uncle. No matter what, as long as people exist, these things will continue to exist. Even if they're wiped out once or twice, new ones will always appear."
"Instead of letting them slowly grow in places we can't see, it's better to keep them under surveillance. At least this way they'll show the Empire some respect and won't target our citizens."
Yu Lanfeng nodded.
"Exactly. The Empire is too vast. Even a god couldn't keep watch over every single place. If they committed atrocities on remote planets, we might never receive even the slightest news."
Afterward, Yu Lanfeng shared a classified document with him.
Yuan Qiyang read it for a while.
His expression gradually changed from curiosity to shock.
Finally, it became indescribably grim.
"This is... about the Alliance? How could this happen?"
The Alliance, as its name suggested, was a coalition formed by numerous small nations so they would not be bullied by stronger countries.
Although they had united under one alliance, each nation still governed itself independently and never allowed outsiders to interfere in its domestic affairs.
Aside from that, however, exchanges in other areas became increasingly frequent—economic cooperation, trade, technological exchange, and so on.
Over time, the Alliance gradually grew powerful enough to rival the major nations.
Perhaps because they had witnessed their own rise, they believed they no longer needed to live at the mercy of stronger countries.
So the conference formed by the leaders of the member nations openly placed several issues on the table.
The very first issue was the black-market industries they had neglected during their early years while they were weak or focused solely on development.
Human trafficking.
Organ trafficking.
And many others.
Because enforcement had been lax for so long, these criminal organizations had become astonishingly brazen.
There had even been incidents where people were kidnapped off the street, dragged into dark alleys nearby, and had their organs harvested while still alive.
After the issue was raised, every member nation unanimously agreed.
Not a single country opposed it.
So the purge began.
They started with the Capital Stars of each nation.
It had to be said that these criminal organizations had grown accustomed to the Alliance's lax governance.
Many locations had virtually no defenses.
As a result, they were completely caught off guard.
The cleanup operations on the Capital Stars took only a few days.
Almost every criminal involved with black-market activities was executed on the spot.
None were given any opportunity to beg for mercy.
That overwhelming success made the Alliance underestimate their enemies even further.
Which eventually led to a series of tragedies.
The greatest reason behind those tragedies... was one man.
All of the black-market organizations throughout the Alliance's member nations were actually controlled by a single mastermind.
Only a few days after the Alliance made its decision, every one of his subordinates on the various Capital Stars had been killed.
While the Alliance celebrated its first victory...
They had no idea that the mastermind's only son in several hundred years had happened to visit the Capital Star of one of those small nations just a few days earlier.
He was killed during the purge.
The mastermind was already extremely old.
That meant he could never have another child.
Even gene cultivation was impossible.
His own genes were defective.
Only through natural conception with women could he produce offspring, and only with women possessing specific genetic traits capable of compensating for his defective genes.
But how easy could that be?
Naturally born life always carried infinite possibilities.
Over several centuries...
Only one healthy child had ever been born.
He had grown up healthy, just like any ordinary person.
Although he was ordinary physically, he possessed exceptional intelligence.
The mastermind had raised him as his successor.
Everything changed the moment his son was killed.
Yuan Qiyang asked with a trembling voice,
"So... because of that, he destroyed more than ten planets within the Alliance? Even though each planet had an average population of around one billion people?"
Yu Lanfeng answered calmly,
"What do you think? He's the leader of a black-market organization. Humanity is something he discarded long ago. Do you think he'd value the lives of ordinary people?"
"But that still isn't a reason to let them run rampant inside our Empire!"
Yu Lanfeng looked at him.
"Then tell me."
"What exactly have they done inside our Empire?"
"Or rather..."
"What are they capable of doing?"
"What would they dare to do?"
Yuan Qiyang froze.
He wanted to answer...
Yet no words came.
Because after thinking carefully, throughout all these years he had never heard of large-scale human trafficking or horrifying atrocities taking place within the Empire.
"So..."
Yu Lanfeng looked at him.
"You still don't understand?"
Yuan Qiyang slowly nodded.
"This method is also intended to confine their sphere of activity."
"And?"
Yu Lanfeng continued.
"One day you'll inherit your father's position."
"So you need to understand how to deal with things you utterly despise in the most rational way while achieving the results you actually want."
Yuan Qiyang replied,
"Prevent them from harming Imperial citizens."
"And?"
"Prevent them from operating anywhere outside the areas the Empire has designated. Once discovered elsewhere, kill them immediately without negotiation."
Yu Lanfeng continued watching him, signaling him to go on.
Yuan Qiyang said,
"Whatever transactions take place within the territory assigned to them, the Empire won't interfere."
"But once those customers leave that area, if the Empire catches them, they will face the Empire's laws and nothing else."
After that disaster, the Alliance had suffered devastating losses.
Now, faced with a mastermind who had completely lost his sanity, the leaders of every small nation kept their heads down simply trying to survive.
As a result, that organization launched an overwhelming counterattack throughout the Alliance.
By now, the national leaders barely had any authority left.
The entire Alliance had practically become that mastermind's personal territory.
His position was almost equivalent to the Emperor of the Empire.
In fact, his authority carried even greater weight.
After all, although the Emperor of the Empire still possessed supreme status, much of the actual power had long since been delegated.
Only then did Yuan Qiyang fully understand the gravity of the situation.
"Uncle... please teach me."
Yu Lanfeng nodded.
"The reason I let you oversee today's transaction was to test you."
"If at any point you had shown hatred or disgust toward those people..."
"If you had ordered them killed on the spot..."
"Or arranged assassinations after they left..."
"You would have failed the test."
"But you didn't."
"So from now on, whenever important matters arise, you may accompany me."
"I'll teach you properly."
That was right.
The black-market organizations operating from those abandoned Imperial planets had originally spread over from the Alliance.
If the Empire had not possessed overwhelming military strength, they certainly would not have behaved so politely.
Every nation already spent enormous sums each year fighting Ability Beasts.
If they provoked that madman because of some unnecessary incident...
No one could predict how enormous the losses would become.
After all, after losing his only son...
The mastermind had become completely insane.
The only way things would ever calm down...
Was when he finally died.
Unfortunately...
Although he was old, he still had several decades left to live.
The Empire would have to tolerate this situation for decades more.
Fortunately, those people still understood their limits.
They never attempted to challenge the Empire's bottom line.
Instead, they remained obediently within those designated territories.
From time to time, Yu Lanfeng even sent people there to recruit promising individuals who still seemed relatively normal.
After all, people who survived in such a world where the strong devoured the weak were almost always exceptional.
In any case...
This transaction had concluded successfully.
After finishing his work and sending away the still deeply shaken Yuan Qiyang, Yu Lanfeng returned to the hospital.
When he reached the upstairs lounge...
Nan Yu wasn't there.
Yu Lanfeng frowned slightly.
They had spoken by communicator while he was still at the starport.
Nan Yu had clearly told him he was in the lounge.
The background during the call had indeed been the lounge as well.
Nan Yu had looked relaxed.
Nothing had seemed wrong.
So...
Where had he gone?
Maybe he had gone downstairs to help?
Yu Lanfeng quickly contacted the hospital director.
"Where's Nan Yu?"
The director blinked.
"Huh? Earlier he went upstairs saying he wanted to rest. Isn't he in the lounge?"
Yu Lanfeng immediately ordered,
"Pull up all surveillance footage immediately."
"Now."
The director still hadn't realized how serious the situation was.
He assumed Nan Yu had simply wandered elsewhere in the hospital to chat with someone.
Still, since Yu Lanfeng had ordered it, he immediately complied.
After giving his instructions, Yu Lanfeng tried contacting Nan Yu again.
Each call disappeared into silence.
No response whatsoever.
Impossible.
Something was wrong.
Who could possibly abduct someone from under the protection of his legion?
Could it really be that organization?
Had they become enraged after Bai Zhouyun had been implicated through the illegal drug investigation and finally decided to strike?
Unable to reach Nan Yu...
The people searching the hospital also returned empty-handed.
Soon, the surveillance footage arrived.
Yu Lanfeng examined it personally.
At the time he had been speaking with Nan Yu...
The hallway outside the lounge had been completely quiet.
After that...
It remained quiet.
Only much later did Yu Lanfeng himself appear on camera.
Which meant...
Nan Yu had spoken with him shortly before seven o'clock that evening.
Yu Lanfeng returned shortly before nine.
Nan Yu had disappeared sometime during those two hours.
If Nan Yu had simply been hiding in the lounge, Yu Lanfeng would definitely have found him.
The problem was...
He was absolutely certain no one was inside.
Every lounge nearby...
In fact, the entire hospital...
Was searched from top to bottom by Yu Lanfeng's men.
There wasn't the slightest trace of Nan Yu.
Now Yu Lanfeng could finally confirm it.
Nan Yu had truly been taken.
As for who had taken him...
Yu Lanfeng's first suspicion was the illegal drug organization.
But the real mystery was...
How had they managed to take Nan Yu away?
"From seven o'clock until I returned, gather every surveillance recording, every person who left this hospital, and everything they carried."
Because it was already evening, very few people had left the hospital.
Those finishing work had mostly departed before seven.
After seven, the night shift began.
Ordinarily, almost nobody went outside.
So why had the kidnappers chosen that particular time?
Yu Lanfeng didn't care.
The last time Nan Yu had been kidnapped, Yu Lanfeng had searched for him purely as part of his duty.
This time...
It was different.
Because Bai Zhouyun had become involved in criminal activity, the Empire had already decided to unilaterally and permanently dissolve his engagement to Nan Yu.
Which meant...
Nan Yu was now Yu Lanfeng's lover.
The two of them were already effectively together.
They had even begun living together.
They were simply keeping it hidden from most people.
"Have you found anything? Searching between seven and nine shouldn't be difficult."
Only a few minutes later...
They found the only vehicle that had left the hospital during that period.
The director's forehead was drenched in cold sweat.
Yet he didn't even dare wipe it away, afraid Yu Lanfeng might vent his anger on him.
"This is the garbage truck."
"It collects all of the hospital's daily medical waste."
"Normally it leaves around seven o'clock and transports everything to the nearest waste processing facility."
Yu Lanfeng immediately gave his orders.
"Seal the hospital."
"No one is allowed to leave."
"The rest of you come with me."
The surveillance footage showed nothing unusual about the garbage truck.
Its collection schedule...
Its working procedures...
Everything matched its normal routine.
Even its departure time remained within the usual margin of error.
If someone had tampered with it...
Either the driver had already been bribed...
Or the driver himself belonged to that organization...
Or they had manipulated everything without the driver ever realizing it.
Yu Lanfeng immediately led his people out of the hospital.
"Have you contacted the personnel responsible for protecting Nan Yu?"
"Not yet, Marshal."
"They've all lost contact."
Yu Lanfeng silently swore to himself.
If anything happened to Nan Yu...
He would raze the enemy's entire headquarters to the ground.
Fortunately...
Nan Yu's greatest value lay in his mental power.
Anyone targeting Nan Yu would undoubtedly be after that.
Since their objective was Nan Yu himself...
They probably wouldn't harm him immediately.
Yu Lanfeng was frantic with worry.
But he also understood...
At a time like this...
He was the one who absolutely couldn't afford to panic.
Their aircraft gradually left the hospital.
Soon it disappeared from everyone's sight.
Only then did the director finally dare wipe away the cold sweat covering his forehead.
The pressure Yu Lanfeng had radiated moments earlier had been absolutely terrifying.
But what worried him even more...
Was Nan Yu.
Nan Yu had clearly been resting in the lounge.
Now he had vanished.
Only two hours had passed.
Who could have done it?
Where could they possibly have taken him in such a short time?
The director carefully examined everyone present.
Nothing seemed unusual.
But after looking a second...
And then a third time...
He noticed everyone huddled together discussing something.
He walked over.
"What are all of you talking about? Let me hear it too."
The young doctors didn't hide anything.
Since the director wanted to know, they simply explained.
"It's actually nothing major."
"There was a patient making some handcrafted models in his room recently."
"We thought they looked pretty good, so we even helped him a little."
"At the time it didn't seem like anything unusual."
"But now that this has happened..."
"We remembered that some of the assembly pieces were wooden components."
"Back then we didn't think much of it because they were only model-sized parts for things like beds and cabinets."
"But now..."
"The more we think about it..."
"The scarier it feels."
The director's eyes widened.
"Where's that patient?"
The doctors looked at each other.
"He... should still be in his room?"
The director was so furious he nearly had a heart attack.
He began breathing heavily.
"So this is how you monitor your patients?"
"You don't even know whether a patient is still in his room?"
"You don't know whether he can even get out of bed?"
All of them lowered their heads.
Because their mental power wasn't particularly strong, they were still interns while simultaneously attending Ability User training courses.
Now it seemed that someone had bitten off more than they could chew.
Someone had secretly leaked hospital information.
Information specifically related to Nan Yu.
If they found that person...
He would definitely receive a severe lesson before being sent straight to court.
The director led them to the patient's room.
He called out twice.
No one answered.
So he decided to go inside.
It was perfectly normal for a doctor to enter a patient's room.
When he opened the door...
There was only one person lying on the hospital bed.
To be honest...
The director carefully looked the person over.
He appeared frail.
Even walking seemed difficult.
It looked as though a strong gust of wind could knock him over.
But because of that slight movement...
The director finally got a clear look at the person's face.
He was astonishingly handsome.
Exceptionally handsome.
Yet there was one thing that couldn't be ignored.
This patient's appearance...
Was astonishingly similar to how Nan Yu had looked before.
The director pointed toward the man inside.
"Does anyone know who this person is?"
The three students exchanged confused glances.
For a moment...
None of them could even explain who he was...
Where he had come from...
Or how he had ended up in this hospital.
While everyone remained at a standstill...
The patient suddenly staggered toward them...
And collapsed directly in front of them.
The director was completely dumbfounded.
This person was unbelievable.
Was this seriously how someone tried to scam people?!