The stars, but they become the gray wind

"A messenger from the Black Lizard Planet has presented you with a choice regarding your future. I'm curious about what you will choose, dear Miss Anjie."

Chapter 39: Smoky Steam World: Something happened so I might have to update later.

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Chapter 40 Why do you all like to call yourselves Centauri photography enthusiasts?

Carlisle, who spoke like a riddler, led the three people up the stairs to the restaurant on the second floor. The first person they noticed was Yuuki, who was sitting on a chair next to a dining table filled with delicious food.

"Hi, hello, Princess Charlotte, Miss Ange, and Miss Dorothy."

Yuki greeted the people he met for the first time.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Charlotte asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Ah... I forgot this is the first time you've met me. Let me introduce myself. My name is Yuuki Yuuna, the other founder of the Atlas Corporation that you found out about during your investigation."

"So you are another partner of Atlas?" Charlotte pretended to be surprised.

"Don't be polite with me. I also know about the past between you and Miss Anjie, so why don't we be more honest?" Yuki spread his hands and said to Charlotte and Anjie in front of him.

"Well, if you really want to communicate frankly, then first tell me, who are you?"

Jie Cheng and Ka, who were sitting across the table, looked at each other and talked in the thought network.

If we told them we were aliens, they probably wouldn't believe us, right? People back then barely knew anything about anything beyond our solar system.

"I think we should change our story. Besides, I don't want to confront them so soon."

[Then you have to give them a credible explanation, right?]

"Let me think about it... I got it, let's do it!!"

"Us? We're just two Centaurian photography enthusiasts passing by."

Carlisle touched her chin and answered without hesitation.

After hearing this answer, Anjie and the others also showed an expression that said, "Please don't treat us as fools."

[This is... what you call a trustworthy statement? ??]

[I think it's okay? QunVIII Object Bar Ling Silin Wu]

[I don't believe you, who would believe your story? If you want to make it up, make it more plausible. Who would believe your story?]

[Then I can change to something more reliable? ]

[Hurry up! Didn't you see Anhuo's expression? She clearly thinks we're taking her for a fool!]

"Uh... well... actually, we are a private military intelligence organization. Our purpose is to prevent serious military conflicts that go beyond our control in various countries around the world."

"In terms of nature, we are actually closer to mercenaries, but we are the kind with strong principles and bottom lines, rather than the kind of mercenaries who will do things for whoever pays the highest price."

"As for our operational model, we're more like a business. To be modest, our intelligence gathering and integration capabilities are on par with the Republic's top intelligence organization, Control, to which you, Miss Angel, belong. In fact, even Control pales in comparison to us in certain aspects, like a dwarf compared to a giant."

"Pale in comparison? Even if you're better than the control room in some aspects, isn't it a bit too conceited to boast about yourselves so exaggeratedly?"

Dorothy was clearly a little skeptical of Carlisle's confidence in Atlas's powerful intelligence-gathering capabilities.

"No, no, no, I'm not being overconfident, Miss Dorothy. I'm bragging like this because, after all, the Control Room is just an intelligence and espionage organization. There are limits to what it can do, but we are different."

"Miss Dorothy, we can easily obtain intelligence that the control room cannot obtain, and we can do things that the control room cannot do... For example, the control room cannot destroy the entire fleet of the kingdom and make all the kingdom's soldiers lay down their arms and surrender, but we can!"

"If we wanted to, we could turn all the Kingdom's warships into wreckage and ruins in the harbor. The enemy wouldn't even have a chance to fire a single cannonball."

"Ms. Carlisle, I understand the importance of momentum in negotiations, but even bragging should have a limit, right?" In the eyes of Dorothy opposite, Carlisle was obviously bragging without any basis.

"Oh... Miss Dorothy, let me remind you, don't underestimate the power of Atlas." Calisi narrowed her eyes and looked at Dorothy, who obviously underestimated her.

"Oh... really? If you can do that?" Dorothy counterattacked with ease.

"Well, let's stop arguing. After all, we're all here to have a friendly lunch, right?" Charlotte, who was sandwiched between Ange and Dorothy, stepped forward to smooth things over.

"........."

"........."

"Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte is right. Ultimately, the fundamental purpose of today's event is to invite you all to lunch and make friends."

Yuki was also there, working with Charlotte to smooth things over and give the two of them a way out.

"So, Princess Charlotte, Miss Angel, and Miss Dorothy, please sit down and try our cooking. I hope this meal will make us friends. I guarantee you won't regret it."

"If you can have a deeper communication with us during this meal and become closer friends, maybe we can help you solve some difficult problems that you may encounter now or in the future?" At this point, Yuki, who has always been steady, showed a meaningful smile.

Chapter 41 Everything is as expected (Plan Passed????)

"I don't think we have any difficulties that require your help to solve at the moment." Anhuo protected Charlotte behind him and politely rejected Yuki's kindness for unknown reasons.

"Don't rush to refuse, Miss Anjie. It's true that we don't have it now, but what if it happens in the future?"

"You will definitely encounter some troubles and difficulties in the future that you cannot solve on your own. If you have our help at that time, we can use the easiest method to solve these problems that may make you anxious and overwhelmed." Yuki said to Anjie meaningfully.

"Although I still don't know your background, I do understand that there is no free lunch in the world. Free things are always the most expensive."

"And you promised to help us when we encounter unsolvable difficulties. That means you must be able to get some kind of sufficiently large reward from this process. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense why you would be willing to help us for free."

"You are absolutely right about this, dear Miss Angel. There is indeed no such thing as a free lunch, but we have no designs on you. To be more precise, at least we have no designs on you or the country of Albion."

"Whether it's the Kingdom of Albion or the Republic, we don't care. What we're planning is something you can't even imagine."

"Atlas doesn't care about any country or group in the world. What we want is the future of human civilization as a whole and the countless stars!"

Yuuki said after slowly clenching his fist.

"Your ideals are indeed very ambitious, but may I criticize you for a moment? Aren't your goals a little too unrealistic and vague?" Charlotte, who was protected by Ange behind her, calmly refuted and criticized Yuuki's rather unrealistic goals.

"Haha, Your Highness Charlotte Liubaba Silingwukun, you should know that just over a hundred years ago, creating a machine that could perform automatic calculations was considered a fantasy. I would like to remind you not to underestimate the development of anything. Any goal that seems unrealistic now may become a reality in the future."

Carlisle, who was leaning against the wall, spoke to Charlotte seriously.

"Besides, you're an idealist yourself, aren't you?"

"No, I may be an idealist, but at least I won't set impossible goals for myself." Charlotte shook her head.

"Princess Charlotte, don't underestimate the power of idealists... let alone a group of idealists with sufficient strength."

"I hate seeing idealists' hopes dashed the most. Since you asked me why I promised to help you unconditionally, this is one of the important reasons." Carlisle raised her right hand, raised an index finger and said to Charlotte.

"I don't think anyone would unconditionally provide help to a group of spies for such a reason." Anjie frowned, still expressing deep distrust towards the two people in front of her.

"That's not the case, Miss Anjie. What we told you is the truth. The reason we promised to help you without any reason is simply because we admire your and Princess Charlotte's ideals."

"Just because of an ideal that has nothing to do with you? Is that really all there is to it, Master Yiyang Linglin?"

"That's all, Miss Anjie, whether you believe it or not." Yuki still looked at the three people with a smile.

Yiling Yisi Lunch Bar

In the end, Charlotte, Ange, and Dorothy didn't eat a single bite of the food on the table until they left the villa. Apparently, Carissa and Yuuki's words of "free investment and help for the two princesses' ideals" did not convince the three of them. When they left, the three of them only received an unclear promise of future help and a small warning that some big things would happen in the kingdom in the near future.

"Angie, you don't let me touch the food on the table because you're afraid the other party has poisoned the food?" Charlotte asked Angel the question in her heart only after she walked out of the yard of Qi Yisan's villa and got into the car.

"Well, that's indeed the reason, but the fundamental reason is actually considering the intelligence the other party has. I'm worried that they may have obtained this information through some means beyond our imagination." Angel looked at the villa in the distance and answered with a worried expression.

"Alas... Regardless of whether the other party really has some means of obtaining intelligence beyond our imagination, the fact is: we still know nothing about their origins, and obviously those two guys know even more." Dorothy, who was sitting in the back seat, spread her hands and said helplessly.

"But...Angie?" Dorothy in the back seat seemed to suddenly remember something and asked Ange who was driving the car.

"what happened?"

"What did that Carlisle mention earlier about...the secrets between you and the princess?"

"Nothing, just some things that happened after some princesses joined our spy team." Anjie calmly brushed off Dorothy's question with an expressionless face.

"It seems that they still don't really trust us..."

Yuuki relaxed his body and leaned back in his chair, turning his head to speak to Carisi beside him.

"Don't worry, we have already left an unfathomable image in their minds through the information messenger, and the warning we gave them that a big event will happen in the kingdom soon will come true soon. Then we will give them some more precise information that will be like predictions. They will have to believe us even if they don't." Carlisle stood by the window, watching the steam-powered car driving away from the villa, and muttered to herself.

"As the information we provide them becomes more accurate, they will gradually realize that the goals we have stated before are not just empty talk, but something we must achieve."

"But...wouldn't that backfire? For example, if the information we provide is too precise, they might lead Yang Shiba VIII to believe we orchestrated it? And think we're the mastermind behind it?" Yuki quipped, half-jokingly.

"So... when we give the information, the Riddler needs to not be too precise, otherwise it may increase the suspicion that we are directing and acting out the crime ourselves." Carlisle answered Yuuki's almost joking question very seriously.

"For example, regarding the assassination of the third prince, Duke Arkham, we, Junyang VIIling, Yinwushi, Liubaqiqi, and others, need to deliberately give them some vague hints, making them think that we knew about this matter in advance through some means, but we don't know who is the specific mastermind behind it." Kalisi said with a sinister smile.

"Then you plan to..."

"It'll take them some time to get back to the base. I plan to use this time difference to give them a little hint about what's going to happen tomorrow."

Behind Carlisle, who had a sinister smile on her face, a two-dimensional portal flashing green fluorescence emerged from the air. Across the portal was the familiar spy base of Ange, Charlotte and others.

Chapter 42: The assassination case was so fun that the audience in the special seats (laugh)

After Ange, Charlotte, and Dorothy met up with Chise and Beat, who were in charge of monitoring the villa, and drove back to the base, they found an envelope on the table in the base that was crushed under a 7.62mm bullet. The signature on the envelope was Atlas.

After opening the envelope, Anjie found a piece of letter paper filled with the names of almost all the main members of the Albion Kingdom's royal family, including Princess Charlotte. At the bottom of the letter paper was a very thoughtful note: "No matter how powerful a person is, a bullet shot from the dark can take away everything."

"He even placed a bullet in the envelope. Is he trying to warn us that an assassination attempt on a member of the Albion royal family will occur soon?"

Dorothy put her thumb to her chin in thought.

"That's probably the case, but... this makes me even more curious about where these intelligence agents come from."

Anjie read the contents of the letter expressionlessly, then held the letter above the burning candle and lit it, watching the letter being burned to ashes bit by bit by the candle flame.

"Since there is a possibility of an assassination attempt on a member of the royal family in the near future, we must pay more attention to the princess's security."

"Also, this information must be reported to the control room, so that they can pay closer attention to any groups or individuals within the kingdom who may be planning such acts."

Dorothy summarized carefully.

"Are all members of the royal family potential assassination targets? This seems a bit difficult to deal with." Dorothy sighed, covering her forehead.

"And this is not the biggest problem at this stage. The biggest problem is that our base has almost become a sieve. For those people from Atlas, why do they feel like our base is almost their own home? Do they treat our base as a public toilet? They can come in and go out as they please?" Dorothy complained helplessly.

At this time, a tense secret meeting was taking place in the conference room of the Republic's spy organization Control.

The gray-haired middle-aged man, codenamed L, lit his cigar, took a drag, and after blowing out a puff of smoke, he calmly announced the urgent intelligence that had just arrived to the others sitting at the conference table: "Not long ago, three completed [Anti-Gravity Material Bombs] were stolen in the Republic. The identity of the thief is currently unknown, and we are still investigating.

"Tsk...it's been almost a day since the theft, right? And we still have no idea about the thief's identity. That's why I've said it before, relying solely on spies to steal intelligence is not reliable at all." The man in military uniform sitting on the right side of the table was obviously very dissatisfied with this matter.

"Well... calm down, Colonel. At least we can confirm that the thieves who stole the anti-gravity bombs are not from the Kingdom. This is good news for us."

The beer-bellied uncle named Dolly Shope, who was sitting next to the colonel in military uniform, calmly used words to soothe the colonel who was a little too impatient.

"This is what I'm most worried about. If someone from the Kingdom stole the anti-gravity bomb, their purpose would most likely be to conduct reverse engineering and replica. But now the people who stole the anti-gravity bomb are a group of unidentified individuals. Who knows what they will do with it?"

"Right now, the relationship between the Kingdom and the Republic is extremely tense. If we are not careful, a war could break out."

"What the Colonel said does make sense. Our most urgent task right now is to quickly locate the three stolen anti-gravity bombs. This is to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Kingdom and leaking the Republic's core technology."

"Also, according to our intelligence, things have been unsettled within the kingdom lately, with some strange military and personnel movements."

"It's said that the Third Prince, Duke Arkham, who has been away as the Governor of the New World for many years, will be returning home tomorrow. If something unexpected happens at this critical juncture, it will likely lead to further tensions between the Kingdom and the Republic, which is something none of us want to see."

"The balance between the Kingdom and the Republic is very fragile. What we have to do is to maintain this balance between the Kingdom and the Republic."

"And the three stolen anti-gravity bombs are the fuse that could cause this balance to collapse. We must recover them as soon as possible. Even if we can't find them, we must ensure they are destroyed and absolutely cannot fall into the hands of others."

L, who was in charge of the control room, put out the burning cigar in his hand in the ashtray and gave solemn instructions to his subordinates at the conference table.

"It seems that the Duke of Arkham's men have successfully stolen the Republic's anti-gravity bomb." Yuki said as he looked at the images sent back by the drone in his field of vision.

"However, such an important strategic weapon as the anti-gravity bomb could actually be stolen. Isn't the security of the Albion Republic too poor?" Carlisle criticized the Republic's poor security system while tearing open a bag of potato chips.

"The Third Prince is about to stage a self-inflicted self-torture scheme. I have to say, clearing himself of suspicion by allowing himself to be assassinated first is quite clever."

"But in order to ensure the success of this assassination farce he directed and acted in, he even paraded in the streets in a convertible. Maybe this guy has something in common with a guy named Kennedy?" Carisi's thoughts gradually wandered as she munched on potato chips.

"As everyone knows, don't ride in an open-top car during a street parade, especially if you're a public figure. You might end up laughing yourself to death."

"Pfft! What a wild imagination, huh?" Yuki continued what Calis said with a chuckle.

"I guess tomorrow we'll see this assassination that shocked the world, and it'll even be filmed in holographic format by a drone, right?"

"For this historic moment, I can't wait to use the drone to record it from multiple angles." Carlisle looked at the drone that had been de-cloaked and parked in the corner with an expectant expression.

Chapter 43 Melozong Treatment

On this day, the main roads of London were decorated with lights and a royal guard in a bright red military uniform and a top hat stood every ten meters or so on both sides of the street. People on both sides of the street crowded behind the fences on the side of the street, and the whole street was filled with a festive atmosphere.

After nearly an hour of waiting, the excited people on both sides of the street finally saw the person they had been looking forward to seeing after enduring the crowded crowds.

A team of royal cavalry riding on tall and gorgeously dressed horses and marching in neat steps appeared at the end of the street. Following this team of royal cavalry was an open-top steam-powered car exclusively for the royal family. The expensive, hand-made body of the car was inlaid with the royal emblem. Sitting in the back seat of the open-top car was a red-haired man wearing glasses who looked very cheerful. He looked at the enthusiastic people on both sides of the street, stood up with a bright smile on his face, waved to the people on the street and shouted happily.