Chapter 210: Chapter 210: Promise

News of Lu Xiao’s arrival quickly spread throughout the First Military Region. Even though most soldiers didn’t get to see her in person, they were all very excited.

Lu Xiao, however, was unaware of this, having returned to her quarters right after breakfast.

Later that morning, Kelan came looking for her in a hurry. The investigation into the message sent by C Luo had yielded results.

The address was on an artificial satellite not far from the Emperor Star.

Years ago, this satellite, named Alpha 3345, was developed as a tourist destination. The project was later shelved, however, because the developer ran into cash flow problems.

In turn, the satellite became just another abandoned project in the Star Sea.

Who would have thought that the Black Tower had, at some point, acquired the satellite and claimed it as their own.

Now that the location had been found, the next problem was how to get there.

Because C Luo had specifically noted at the end of the message that the access key was Lu Xiao’s own biometrics, the goal was clearly to lure her there.

Admiral Clan was firmly against it. He would absolutely refuse to take Lu Xiao there, at least not until an advance team had investigated and reported their findings.

But just as everyone was discussing the matter, Lu Xiao’s terminal received another message from C Luo, also sent from a masked source: “You have three days. After three days, all information and data will be destroyed.—C Luo”

Clearly, they were further pressuring Lu Xiao into going.

The time limit was three days.

Kelan’s expression suddenly darkened. This was a clear threat and a challenge to their authority.

Lu Xiao observed the tense atmosphere in the conference room and spoke up. “Regarding the data that might be at this location… do we absolutely need it?”

She spoke up suddenly, and all eyes turned to her.

From the start of the meeting until now, Lu Xiao had been sitting beside Admiral Clan, not participating in the discussion and merely listening quietly.

No one had even thought to ask for her opinion.

After all, setting aside her status as a female, Lu Xiao’s age was also a factor. She was so young that people tended to overlook her subconsciously.

But now, as Lu Xiao spoke, her tone was remarkably relaxed and natural, as if she were simply voicing a passing thought.

As all eyes remained on her, she continued, “If we don’t rise to the bait, a threat like this is meaningless. Whether the data there is valuable or just a pile of wastepaper is something we don’t know yet. I think the best course of action for now is to ignore it. Whoever went to all this trouble to find me and force me out into the open surely won’t try only once. Why don’t we just wait?”

When Lu Xiao finished, Admiral Clan didn’t respond right away. He seemed to be mulling over the viability of her suggestion.

But someone couldn’t help but interject, “What Miss Lu Xiao says is reasonable, but what if this is our only chance? What if the data there is truly vital to us? Wouldn’t we be wasting a golden opportunity? We’ve been hunting the Black Tower for so many years, and we’ve finally made a breakthrough. I don’t think we should let it go.”

“I, for one, think Miss Lu Xiao is right. Do you really think they went to all this trouble to contact her and force her hand just to gift us a pile of evidence? Knowing the Black Tower, it’s probably not that simple. Therefore, I agree with her. We should ignore it and observe.”

“I agree, too!”

“I still think we shouldn’t miss this opportunity!”

…

For a moment, the conference room was filled with heated debate.

Lu Xiao accepted the warm milk tea from Admiral Clan’s adjutant and sipped it quietly, not taking part in the discussion.

She had merely offered a suggestion; she had no desire to get involved in its actual execution.

Admiral Clan raised a hand and tapped the conference table, signaling for everyone to be quiet.

“Lu Xiao has a point, but that won’t stop our vanguard team from exploring. Now that we have the location, a reconnaissance mission is necessary. As for the three-day deadline, I agree we should ignore it. Why should we let ourselves be threatened by fugitives from the Black Tower? The intelligence we already possess is sufficient to bring them to justice. Having more would be ideal, but its absence won’t significantly impact our position. For now, the decision is made. We will wait for the vanguard team to report back before deciding our next move.”

Admiral Clan had made the final decision. No one else said another word, and there were no objections.

After the meeting was dismissed, Admiral Clan and Lu Xiao left the conference room together.

Lu Xiao spoke, “Father, when is the soonest we’ll hear from the vanguard team?”

“They’re departing today. The soonest we’ll hear back is in about three days. Do you have something else in mind?”

Lu Xiao looked at Admiral Clan and hesitated before finally saying, “Never mind. I doubt you’d agree.”

The moment he heard that, Admiral Clan understood what she was thinking. His brow furrowed slightly. “You’re right, I wouldn’t approve of that idea.”

Seeing that Admiral Clan knew what she was thinking before she even spoke, Lu Xiao felt an urge to laugh. ’What is there to say?’ she thought. ’Are we, father and daughter, so in tune with each other?’

“But don’t you think it’s our most advantageous option right now?”

“It’s too dangerous!” Admiral Clan knew exactly what Lu Xiao was implying. Even if the young woman hadn’t said it aloud, he had known her long enough to understand her personality. ’Lu Xiao wanted to go with the vanguard team. She hadn’t said so in the meeting because she planned to follow them in secret. She wanted to create the illusion that she wasn’t giving in to the threat, while still completing the mission. He couldn’t understand how a young woman like Lu Xiao could be so daring. It was just like back in the Black Tower’s Underground City. Lu Xiao hadn’t been frightened at all; in fact, she’d helped them complete their mission. Any other female would have been scared to death in that situation. Yet Lu Xiao had managed to remain calm and think clearly.’

’But how could he let her take such a great risk?’ “I will never agree to this, Xiao Xiao. This isn’t your responsibility to bear. Besides, those Black Tower people are just trying to force you out into the open. We still don’t know their exact motives, which is all the more reason we can’t take this risk. Think about Ares! If he found out, would he be able to focus on the front lines?”

Hearing Admiral Clan bring up Ares just to dissuade her, Lu Xiao nodded and said obediently, “I understand, Father. I was just making a suggestion. If you don’t approve, then I won’t go. But you can’t tell Ares about this now. I don’t want him to be worried about me while he’s at the front.”

“You’ve been keeping this from him?” Admiral Clan asked, surprised. ’He’d assumed Lu Xiao had already told Ares. He’d even been wondering why he hadn’t heard anything from him, feeling a bit resentful. So it turned out that all along, Lu Xiao hadn’t said a word to him about any of this. That was rather unexpected.’

“I don’t want to distract him. I’ll tell him when he gets back, but you have to keep it a secret until then!” Lu Xiao said, pressing her palms together in a pleading gesture.

How could Admiral Clan refuse?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep