From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 121 - 112: Unreconciled

It was unclear what kept Shen Yue busy, but he didn’t show up until the next morning.

"We have an update on the Flying Bull incident," he said as he pushed open the door, a grim look on his face.

Qi Xiang and Gu Xi both looked up.

Shen Yue poured himself a glass of water. "The Military Department took control of all the keepers in the breeding area... and eventually traced it to a deputy director named Zhang. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, he was already dead."

"Dead?" Qi Xiang frowned. "How did he die?" A sarcastic smile touched her lips. "Don’t tell me he killed himself out of guilt?"

Shen Yue’s expression darkened. "It was suicide out of guilt. Before he died, the man sent an email to his superiors, saying he was just eager to distinguish himself and tampered with the Flying Bulls’ feed, never imagining it would cause such a huge mess..."

So, overwhelmed by shame and feeling he had let down the organization, he committed suicide.

Gu Xi frowned slightly after hearing the story.

’It’s obvious this Mr. Zhang was just a scapegoat someone had set up.’

But since he took all the blame before he died, the trail of clues would likely go cold.

But Qi Xiang suspected a conspiracy. "Are you sure it was suicide? Not murder?"

Shen Yue shook his head, downed the hot water in his cup, and said with a grave expression, "Multiple staff members at the scene can confirm that the man did indeed commit suicide."

’That’s strange.’ Qi Xiang raised an eyebrow.

As the saying goes, it’s better to live a wretched life than to die a good death. If you can live, who would choose to die?

Besides, according to his own story, he was just eager to distinguish himself. Even if he caused a huge mess, it wasn’t a crime punishable by death.

’Something about this is wrong.’

"What about the vaccine, then?" Qi Xiang asked after a moment of thought.

"Still investigating." Shen Yue crushed the paper cup and threw it into a nearby trash can, his voice heavy. "But the person behind this is very cautious. To avoid tipping our hand, I haven’t made any loud moves..."

"Then, what about that Mr. Jian? Could it be him?" Qi Xiang’s intuition told her that Jian Yi had to be involved in this.

He was Shen Yue’s prime suspect at first, too.

But there was nothing wrong with Jian Yi’s background; he was one of Mr. Shen’s assets planted here.

Mr. Shen had personally told him to back off the investigation into the man.

Moreover, Shen Yue had also discovered that the order to draw Gu Xi’s blood for a check-up yesterday hadn’t come from him. Instead, it was an attending physician from the inpatient department who had arranged it...

When Qi Xiang heard that the matter involved Mr. Shen’s people, she frowned instinctively.

’This makes things complicated.’

She looked up at Shen Yue but didn’t speak.

Just then, Gu Xi suddenly spoke up. "There’s no rush with this. Let’s wait and see."

’It’s fine as long as they don’t touch my blood. But if they really want to use it for something... like human experiments, then they’ll only have themselves to blame.’

"That works. I’ve already arranged for people to watch the few suspects. Sooner or later, we’ll catch them red-handed." Shen Yue pulled over a chair and sat down boldly in front of Gu Xi, resting his chin on one hand. "But there is another matter..."

At this, Shen Yue hesitated, his brow furrowing slightly.

Gu Xi’s hand, which was tapping the edge of the bed, paused.

She looked up at him, waiting.

Shen Yue glanced at her, his tone heavy. "Yang Tao has been placed in isolated review. He’s being investigated for leaking secrets, apparently."

’Who’s Yang Tao?’

Gu Xi paused.

Shen Yue sighed, his gaze on her a little strange. "Yang Tao is a soldier under Ye Junhan. He’s the Water Ability user who went into the water to retrieve the boxes at No. 003 Grand Canyon."

Almost instantly, Gu Xi realized his isolated review must be related to the three Crystal Core Fragments she had taken.

’Since the sprout had secretly retrieved the three fragments, did the other party suspect the soldier, Yang Tao, when they noticed the items were missing?’

’Looks like that young soldier is taking the fall for me.’

Gu Xi frowned slightly and discreetly pressed the knuckle of her left index finger.

But Shen Yue suddenly looked up at her and said meaningfully, "It’s not necessarily because of the items in the boxes. The Military Department handed him over to the Central Base for the review."

Gu Xi paused, then immediately realized she had jumped to conclusions.

’Because the sprout had taken the three fragments from the box beforehand, she had subconsciously assumed the soldier was taking the fall for her.’

But when the boxes were salvaged, Ye Junhan had personally inspected them. Many people at the scene had seen it, and the instruments carried by the Special Service Team members had also recorded the entire process. All of it could prove that the boxes had not been opened beforehand.

’So, was something else left behind at the bottom of the lake? Or...’

Gu Xi lowered her gaze, tapping the two tender leaves atop the little green sprout. ’Could it be that someone only discovered the three Crystal Core Fragments were missing after the fact, and this is all a setup?’

Because after those boxes were opened, Ye Junhan had immediately sent the items to Mr. Shen.

’So if items were missing from the boxes, shouldn’t the people in the know have first suspected the Military Department’s top brass, or even Ye Junhan himself?’

’And yet, the one sent for isolated review was the soldier who went into the water.’

’Besides, several days have passed. Why was the soldier only taken in for review now...’

’There’s something strange about this.’

Gu Xi suddenly realized that the reason the Military Department handed the soldier over to the Central Base for review probably wasn’t just to avoid suspicion.

She slowly looked up at Shen Yue.

’Shen Yue had just deliberately said, "It’s not necessarily because of the items in the boxes." He must know something, or at least have his suspicions.’

Shen Yue calmly met her gaze.

Meanwhile, Qi Xiang was completely lost.

She was dying of curiosity, but after her gaze flickered between Gu Xi and Shen Yue, she decided not to ask anything.

...

「At the same time, on the outskirts of the Central Base, Testing Ground No. 2.」 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Ye Nan stood before the lab bench, staring at the Light Screen in front of her, but her eyes were vacant, her gaze distant.

Ye Xin came in from outside, frowned slightly at her dazed daughter, and said, "Xiaonan."

Ye Nan snapped back to her senses, almost subconsciously closing the Light Screen as she stood up. "Mom."

"What’s wrong?" Ye Xin walked over, looking her daughter up and down. "Tired? I’ll have someone send you back to the Base."

Ever since her last conversation with Ye Junhan, Ye Nan had voluntarily applied for a leave of absence.

After returning to the Central Base, she had been staying by Ye Xin’s side, assisting her mother with her work as a High-level Healing Ability User.

"Mom, I’m not tired." Ye Nan shook her head and said hesitantly, "I was just thinking about Yang Tao..."

On the day of the incident at No. 003 Grand Canyon, she was supposed to be at the scene too, but just before she could board the helicopter, Jun Han had stopped her.

Ye Nan hadn’t made it to the scene, so she didn’t know what exactly happened that day.

But Yang Tao was a veteran team member. If something hadn’t really been found, given the Military Department’s usual practice of protecting its own, they would never have allowed the Central Base’s high command to take him away for an isolated review.

But this time, the Military Department’s high command was uncharacteristically silent, allowing the Central Base to take him.

’I heard Jun Han even went to see Mr. Xiao about this...’

Ye Nan was very curious about what on earth Yang Tao had taken that he shouldn’t have, so much so that the Military Department, the Central Base’s high command, and even her mother, Ye Xin, were all paying close attention to the matter, frequently putting pressure on the Central Base.

Ye Nan secretly glanced at her mother, Ye Xin, wanting to ask but not daring to.

"Stay out of this." Ye Xin knew that her daughter was asking about this mostly because she wanted to help Ye Junhan.

’But this...’

Ye Xin frowned slightly, and the personal terminal on her wrist suddenly rang urgently.

The unfamiliar yet distinctive ID number made her raise an eyebrow.

Ye Xin thought for a moment, glanced at her daughter, then turned and went into the inner break room to answer the call.

Normally, in a situation like this, Ye Nan would have voluntarily given her mother privacy.

But this time, for some reason, Ye Nan found herself quietly following her mother on a strange impulse.

Soon, through the door, she vaguely heard a somewhat familiar name.

’Gu Xi?’

’Isn’t that the young woman from South City with a knack for planting?’

’I heard she wants to get involved with the seeds?’

’When she first heard the news, Ye Nan had only one thought: that young woman was full of youthful arrogance. She had no idea how the world worked, thinking her little bit of talent made her so great she could even meddle with the seeds!’

’Then again, she was just a refugee from the wastelands. She probably didn’t know any better and was easily swayed by a few flattering words until she didn’t know which way was up.’

’She was probably being used by someone to get involved with the seeds in the first place.’

’In that case, there was no reason to be so angry.’

’Still, a faint sense of dislike remained.’

A few minutes later, Ye Xin finished the video call, pushed open the door, and walked out.

She walked to Ye Nan’s side and asked, seemingly casually, "Last time you went to South City, did you see that young woman named Gu Xi?"

Ye Nan paused. She didn’t expect her mother to bring this up. "I didn’t see her last time," she said after a moment, "but I’ve seen her before, over at Mr. Zhao’s experimental field..."

"Mom, why are you suddenly asking me this?" Ye Nan looked at her mother, puzzled.

Ye Xin smiled and said casually, "Just curious."

Ye Nan frowned slightly. "Is it because of the seeds?"

Ye Xin smiled and said nothing.

But Ye Nan saw a very complex emotion in her mother’s eyes, a mixture of nostalgia and regret, and perhaps something else?

In short, it was very strange.

Ye Xin was very busy and was quickly called away.

After she left, Ye Nan thought for a moment and still felt that something was wrong.

’In the past, she would have instinctively gone to find Ye Junhan.’

’But ever since that conversation...’

Ye Nan sighed, opened her personal terminal, found another Special Service Team member, and sent a message.

’In the end, she was still unwilling to give up.’

’After all, he was the man she had loved for so many years. To stay by his side, she had sacrificed so much, and even...’