Fong Li’ei had long been notorious for his bullying under the powerful patronage of his uncle, Colonel Kant, a fact well-known throughout the guard detachment. However, as Colonel Kant had no direct heir, he treated Marier as his own son, which kept everyone’s grievances unspoken despite their anger.

As Marier’s colleagues, Major Aid and the red-haired lieutenant were fully aware of Marier’s true character and were certain that he was overwhelmingly at fault in this incident. They decided to handle the matter discreetly, preferring to resolve it on their own turf. This way, if Yang Ying’s party had any dissenting opinions, they could easily be suppressed.

However, once Major Aid was swayed by Yang Ying’s words, his caution vanished completely. He nodded. “Exactly, a word spoken cannot be taken back.” He turned to the few soldiers whose expressions had turned suspicious: “Speak up. Tell me everything you know. Why did Marier want to search the yacht? Explain yourselves thoroughly!”

Those confidants of Marier, who had initially remained silent and feigned ignorance, finally broke under the pressure, revealing one crucial piece of information.

It turned out that Marier had been gambling extravagantly in the casino a few days prior. Not only had he lost his own money, but he had also accumulated a substantial debt to the establishment.

This time, with the terrorist incident providing an opportunity, he had been dispatched to the port by his superiors. Thus, he hatched a plan: to use this pretext to shake down some wealthy individuals and acquire some illicit funds to settle his debts. Yang Ying’s yacht appeared particularly high-end; his eyes had fixated on it, and using the excuse of an inspection, he intended to confiscate some valuable furnishings and extort a sum of money from Yang Ying.

Knowing the full story, the rest of the proceedings became straightforward. Major Aid summoned the military police from the disciplinary department and had those soldiers taken away.

The remaining soldiers, far from defending their colleagues, wore expressions of schadenfreude. It was evident that Marier and his inner circle were not well-liked by the rest of the contingent.

“Since the matter is settled, we can leave now, can’t we?” Yang Ying shrugged, addressing Major Aid.

“Go on, hurry up, and forget everything about this. Don't go gossiping,” Major Aid waved his hand dismissively before turning and swiftly departing with his subordinates.

Yang Ying smiled faintly and prepared to leave with his group.

The red-haired lieutenant suddenly stepped forward, blocking Yang Ying’s path. “Your subordinate is highly capable. I imagine you are no ordinary person yourself. May I ask, who exactly are you?”

“My surname is Zhao. You may call me Mr. Zhao.” Yang Ying had casually fabricated this, picking the first surname from the Bai Jia Xing (Hundred Family Surnames) list, as his subordinate Yang Ying had just been spouting nonsense.

After all, identity management in the Asteroid Belt was incredibly chaotic, and the locals had no custom of verifying credentials. If Yang Ying invented a false identity, the red-haired lieutenant would have no way to confirm or deny it.

“Is that so? Heh heh, Mr. Zhao, I hope you enjoy your time on Bos.” Seeing Yang Ying’s growing impatience, the red-haired lieutenant chuckled dryly and cleared the way.

After Yang Ying left, the red-haired lieutenant frowned. He called over a soldier and commanded, “Take a small squad, change into civilian clothes, and tail these individuals. I have a feeling they aren't ordinary tourists; they might even be here for the conference. Extreme caution is necessary at this juncture.”

“Yes, sir.”

The soldier nodded and immediately followed with three others.

The red-haired lieutenant glanced back at the yacht docked at the berth. Its entrance was now sealed, and it sat silently awaiting orders. The pilot remained aboard, not accompanying Yang Ying?

Unable to discern anything suspicious from the yacht’s exterior, the red-haired lieutenant shook his head and continued his assigned mission with the remaining subordinates.

Yang Ying’s party departed the port area in three driverless taxis.

“Sir, we have tails,” the Ghost Agent sitting in the front seat reported as the vehicles began moving. “The vehicle just started.”

“Are they the same soldiers from before?” Yang Ying asked calmly, without looking back.

“Yes. I saw a face; it was one of the soldiers from that group.”

To memorize vast amounts of intelligence, the Ghost Agents possessed formidable memories. Unless Yang Ying employed his psychic abilities, he couldn't match them.

“Lose them,” Yang Ying stated plainly.

“Affirmative.”

The Ghost Agent flipped up the sleeve of his left arm. Tied around his wrist was a one-jin (approximately 0.5 kg) wrist-mounted computer, about a palm’s width wide, with a touchscreen interface. The core processor chip installed within was produced by the base, nominally listed as a product of the Taran Corporation. Its performance surpassed similar chips, yet it didn’t exceed them by too great a margin, ensuring that observers would merely attribute it to normal technological progress rather than suspecting the Taran Corporation had acquired advanced extraterrestrial technology.

Excessive effort often backfires; when something is too good, it frequently turns into a detriment.

Yang Ying had instructed the Taran Corporation to use technology that was advanced enough for the task, but no more. Exposing overly developed technology without sufficient foundational support in the region would only attract covetous attention.

Yang Ying would never engage in the folly of making himself too conspicuous a target.

The Ghost Agent manipulated the wrist computer, bringing up a city map of Bos, selected a route, and then tapped into the taxi’s driving system, taking control of the vehicle.

Katerina and Yang Ying sat together in the rear seat. She used her comms unit to notify Blais and Brian in the two following cars.

“The traffic light ahead of us will turn red in fifteen seconds. We can use it to shake off the trackers,” the Ghost Agent said after tapping rapidly on his arm panel.

The Bos traffic system was linked to the taxi driving systems, meaning the timing of the signal changes could also be retrieved from the taxi’s driving diagnostics.

Space cities were not like Earth. Major Earth cities were layered with multiple magnetic levitation tracks, allowing magnetic vehicles traveling east-west and north-south to operate at different altitudes, thus eliminating the need for traffic lights.

However, in space cities, only a single layer of passage could typically be provided, as the cost of laying multi-layered aerial mag-tracks was prohibitive for most orbital habitats.

Through the communication network, the three taxis reached a consensus. They gradually accelerated, hurtling toward the intersection, crossing the junction just before the light turned red. The vehicles following them were instantly blocked by the cross-traffic.

The Bos soldiers in the trailing cars slammed their hands on the steering wheels. “The speed of those taxis was abnormal. We’ve definitely been spotted!”

“What do we do?” another soldier asked.

“What else can we do? Report back to the lieutenant.”

“The tail is gone,” the Ghost Agent glanced back.

“Let’s go to the hotel,” Yang Ying mused. “This minor disruption right after arriving on Bos—I wonder what sort of impact it will have on our trip.”

After successfully losing their pursuers, the three taxis circled a few more times before arriving at the hotel address provided by Katerina, where they stopped.

The Ghost Agent accessed and modified the vehicle databases, erasing all traces of their route.

Then, the group disembarked and entered the hotel.

Katerina had already secured rooms for everyone using the alias Qingniao (Bluebird). Yang Ying and the others announced the name Qingniao at the front desk, and an attendant led them to a row of rooms on the tenth floor.

Shortly after Yang Ying and his party checked in, Katerina received word and came to visit. She was heavily disguised in a trench coat, complete with a hood and dark glasses, concealing herself entirely.

Her bodyguard remained at her side.

Sincere requests for support tickets!