It was nearly seven o'clock when the Shadow Owl returned from morning practice. He asked for a towel from the front desk and walked to his room while wiping his sweat, his mind foggy about what to eat in the morning.

When I saw the room number, I looked up, and I didn't think much about it and pushed the door in. In the next second, the three companions who were sitting neatly around the projection on the table turned their heads to look at him in unison, their expressions all solemn.

The shadow owl was a little hairy: "What's the matter?" ”

"Lei Wei has been arrested." "In the morning, I got a notification that the photo had been deleted, and I traced back to find a video. They used Lei Yan's life as a threat to ask us to go over and negotiate. ”

"Oh." Shadowowl tossed the towel to the coat rack at the door and walked to the table, "And what are you going to do?" ”

"You don't even ask what is said in the video, are they going to talk about anything?" Phoebe couldn't help but complain, "Are you really going to throw all your mental work at us?" ”

Shadow Owl didn't think about it and just said "um".

"You're ......!!"

"Okay, don't make a noise." Wang Gong couldn't help but stand up to maintain order, "Shadow Owl, sit down here and watch the video carefully." This is a collective action, we all have to discuss, and no one can make their own decisions. ”

Wang Gong was 5 or 6 years older than all three of them. He is tall, not angry, and looks very reliable, so even the shadow lord usually obediently follows what Wang Gong says. So he turned back to the door, picked up a folding chair, and moved over to find a place to sit.

The desks provided in the hotel's standard rooms are small in size. One side of the long one is against the wall, and the other side is just enough space for two people to sit side by side. Now, in order to be able to see the projection screen on the table clearly, the three of them squeezed over, and for a while there was no extra space left for the shadow owl.

The latecomer took the chair and visually measured the distance between the tables, walked over and placed the folding chair behind Phoebe, and sat down naturally.

Phoebe is in her early 1.6 meters tall, and Shadow Owl is nearly 1.8 meters tall and sits behind her, just enough to see the projection on the table above her head, and she can see it clearly.

Aaron manipulated the screen, and then added Wang Gong's words: "When I traced the mark left in the photo, this video had already been placed there. I was going to read it myself, think about the clues, and then ask you to come over and discuss it...... Unexpectedly, they buried the self-destruct code in the video, and after playback, all the video data would be disassembled. I didn't realize it until the end...... Even with best efforts, you can only recover a portion of the video data. You take a look first, I'll add the missing parts later. ”

Clicking on the video play button, the first thing is a snowflake picture and a busy noise. A few seconds later, Lei's vague figure appeared on the screen—his hands were tied to a chair with his hands cut backwards, and his eyes were covered with black cloth.

Moments later, Nina walked into the screen. Probably because of the subsequent recovery of data, her voice is intermittent, and the picture is interrupted by some snowflake-like garbled characters from time to time.

"This man is your friend, right? Call...... Thunder is coming? - Hiss - in our hands, if we want to save him, come to the - Hiss - warehouse. - Hiss - not worth it - Hiss...... Shhh......h Come, I'll wait for you. ”

"What report did she say?" Rao is a shadow owl doesn't like to think, and this fragmented message is enough to arouse his interest.

"Autopsy report." Aaron said, "According to their accounts, what we found in the freezer - the body of Mr. He Yingjie was handed over by the police to the Mendel University Medical School for autopsy. The body was actually found three days after the disappearance, and he committed suicide by slitting his wrists — in a room at a nearby hotel. ”

"It's another story...... "Phoebe" sighed, "this school can really do things." ”

"If there's a huge deal like selling wings behind it, then it's not surprising that anything will happen." Aaron pushed his glasses and looked at Wang Gong, "The location she said is Warehouse 7 in the North District. How about it, do you want to go to this Hongmen feast? ”

"It's really a Hongmen banquet...... Wang Gong sighed, "If you want to go, you'll be caught in the net." What kind of warehouse is that, the security force must be how tight and tight. Unless we also go with loaded guns, it is possible to wade into this muddy water and die in it. The school police and security guards over there are all equipped! ”

"Then what about really going with a loaded gun?" Phoebe blinked, "Even if the MI can't give a search permit, you can always apply for a gun permit under special circumstances, right?" ”

"Armed with a gun...... Permission? This is the first time Aaron has heard this word.

Phoebe hurriedly explained: "You are not a soldier, so you don't understand, on our army side, there are several secret agencies that can overstep their authority to distribute gun permits - that is, we are allowed to wear firearms and weapons in plain clothes." Among these secret services is the Military Intelligence Service. ”

"That's right! I didn't think of that. Wang Gong slapped his thigh, "It's much easier to shoot a gun." ”

"Then I'll apply now!" Phoebe said, pushing the shadow owl sitting behind her to the side, standing up and running to the door.

"Why are you going!" Wang Gong called her from behind, "Come back, come back!" ”

"I'm going to call Second Lieutenant Ito......" Phoebe paused at the door, rightly speaking.

"What to call now, this matter has not yet been decided." Wang Gong's voice was fierce, "Come back and sit down for me, if everyone agrees to break in, it's not too late for you to call again." ”

Phoebe had no choice but to slump back and sit down on the edge of the bed.

"How?" Wang Gong turned back to look at Shadow Owl and Aaron.

"I think so." Aaron, who doesn't know how to fight, instead of advocating an attitude of outwitting, said a little toughly, "It's a moment to kick in the door now, and the truth of the matter is basically pieced together, and it's almost time to find evidence." I have a bold idea - if we can take this opportunity to capture Nina alive, we will definitely be able to provide important information from her. ”

"Captured alive?" Phoebe sighed, "Let's not mention whether she can be caught alive for the time being, but didn't you insist that she was just a pawn before, and there were people with more authority above to manipulate her behind her back?" Does it really work to catch her? ”

"It works." Without thinking, Aaron said, "I watched the full video before you came, and she has more information than I ever imagined. She even knows that you and Wang Gong are from the Army, and the autopsy report she is holding in her hand is also true. I even think she might not be a student at all, but have some other special status......"

"Huh?" Wang Gong asked suspiciously, "Aren't students just students?" What other special status can there be? ”

"Could it be...... Could it be that she was involved in the process of reselling 'Wing'? Phoebe asked.

"I don't rule it out." Aaron nodded.

Phoebe's eyes suddenly lit up: "So if we can capture 'Nina' alive, it is equivalent to getting a witness related to the 'illegal incident', right?" In this case, it is no longer necessary to struggle with how to obtain 'physical evidence', and even the autopsy report may not be necessary...... No, it may even become a situation where 'human witnesses' also have 'physical evidence' in their hands! If Nina was really involved in the smuggling process, she might also be in possession of the bills or vouchers in the transaction! ”

The more Phoebe spoke, the more excited she became, and finally she walked over excitedly and patted Aaron on the shoulder: "Awesome! ”

Aaron blushed and lowered his head: "It's nothing, it's just speculation." ”

"Ahem-" Wang Gong cleared his throat and concluded, "That means that both of you want to capture that Nina alive and send it to the Military Intelligence Department for interrogation, and by the way, see if you can interrogate relevant physical evidence, is that the case?" ”

"Yes." The two said in unison.

Wang Gong looked at the shadow owl again: "Then what do you think?" ”

"Huh?" The person being asked was stunned for a moment, as if he had not reacted.

"Ask your opinion." Wang Gong looked a little impatient, "After both of them are finished, it's up to you." Is it a hard break or what? Don't tell me you didn't hear it......"

"I heard it...... "Shadow Owl flickered to his senses, resting his elbows on his desk and began to think, "that university warehouse...... Is it ...... to break through? ”

"Yes."

"Hmm...... If you break in, Aaron won't go. ”

After the shadow owl finished speaking, the three people in the room were stunned for a moment.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward.

Aaron's face suddenly became less pretty.

The Qingyun Empire is a martial country, and compared to the Wing People, the original people, who are inferior in both strength and physical fitness, have no status in society. Aaron worked hard to get into Mendel University in the hope that he could at least get a place in this school dominated by his own excellent mind. However, contrary to expectations, the atmosphere in this school is even more advocating the use of violence to counter violence than in society.

The most valuable resource in Mendel University, the sage species, is almost all allocated to clubs that are more 'martial arts' such as the archery club, the kendo club, and the fight club, and even if some of the remaining clubs are more 'literary' or 'science', they are trying their best to move closer to 'martial arts'. In short, the question of not being good at martial arts has become a thorn in Aaron's heart - once someone mentions it, it will hurt his self-esteem and make him feel frustrated.

What's more, it's not someone else who mentions this now, but the shadow owl.

From becoming a companion to the present, Aaron has always thought that the reason why an absolute warrior-type character like Shadow Owl is willing to obey the arrangement is because of the wisdom and strategy he has shown, which makes the other party feel impressed from the heart.

But now, it was also him who made the suggestion to withdraw from the front line, and he felt like someone had poked his heart hard, and the blood in his whole body was cold.

Phoebe and Wang Gong seemed to think that the Shadow Owl would explain, but they didn't.

In the half-minute silence, the Shadow Owl didn't say anything, as if he had finished speaking, and then waited for a decision.

Finally, it was Wang Gong, the organizer of the conference, who couldn't help it: "Wait...... Who will command if Aaron doesn't go? ”

Indeed, anyone with a discerning eye can see that if there is a real fight, Aaron is definitely the one who lags behind among the four. So Wang Gong didn't ask, 'Why didn't you take him?' Rather, it was raised - who will command? - There is a real problem with this.

Unexpectedly, the shadow owl did not hesitate at all, and immediately asked after Wang Gong asked this sentence: "Isn't Phoebe good?" ”

…………

The atmosphere was awkward again.

"Huh? I? Phoebe pointed to the tip of her nose.

The Shadow Owl nodded as a matter of course: "What?" You don't want to command? ”

"No, it has nothing to do with whether you want to or not!" Phoebe almost jumped, "Who told you I could command?" I'm not a student at this school, and I don't know much about the environment......"

"But you have the ability, don't you?" The Shadow Owl's gaze was extremely pure, and the ink-stained eyes were without any emotion, "Or do you just not want to?" ”

"I ......"

"I don't agree." Aaron suppressed the anger churning in his heart, "We are a group, and we all have our own division of labor. Maybe Phoebe is smart, but she doesn't know enough about the school environment and can't respond if something unexpected happens......"

"Can you respond?" Shadowowl asked rhetorically, "If the other party has a gun." ”

"Uh...... I ......"

"Just run away with all your might, you won't have enough physical strength." The Shadow Owl said bluntly, "If the other man shoots, you'll die." ”

Will it die? - Aaron's brain "buzzed".

This is the school...... This is my school! He was shot dead at the school where he studied...... Is there - thinking of this, He Yingjie's frozen corpse suddenly appeared in his mind - is there ...... The possibility of being killed in school!?

But...... If you don't go!

Aaron's fists clenched at his sides, his fingernails almost digging into his flesh. He stiffened like this for a moment, and then suddenly raised his head with a resolute look on his face: "I'm not afraid of death!" ”

When the shadow owl heard this, he turned his head to look at Phoebe and Wang Gong.

Phoebe rubbed her chin in her hand in embarrassment, not wanting to make a statement.

Wang Gong also felt embarrassed, but he couldn't go to the Shadow Owl to speak too directly, and he didn't want to hurt Aaron's self-esteem, so he could only stand up and say: "Either this - Aaron, you have made a plan in advance, and we will sneak in and arrest people according to your plan, do you think it's okay?" ”

Aaron's eyes widened in disbelief: "Are you really not letting me go?" ”

"Phoebe and I are military personnel, and we have to protect civilians in dangerous situations." Wang Gongzheng said, "You know this, right? ”

-- It is the duty of military personnel to protect civilians.

Shadowowl suddenly remembered what Phoebe had said to herself at the entrance of the kyudo department. At the time, he thought there was a joke, but now that Wang Gong said it himself, he realized that she was serious at the beginning. Thinking of this, he subconsciously glanced at Phoebe, just in time to meet the other party's gaze. Both of them suddenly felt a little embarrassed and avoided each other.

"I'm ......" Aaron lowered his head, his eyes drowning in the shadow of his bangs. His fists were so clenched that even his arms were shaking. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind—frustration, powerlessness, anger, frustration...... If this wasn't a world ruled by winged people...... If I could be born as a winged person......!!

Suddenly, the confusion receded.

Aaron raised his head again, and his calm gaze swept over the faces of the three people present in turn: "I will draw up a plan to infiltrate, and then I will hand it over to Phoebe to execute." You guys...... Be careful when arresting people. If there are any emergencies on site...... Hehe...... Anyway, I can't reach it, you can do it. ”

With that, he walked to the door of the room. Pull open the door and walk out.

The hotel's openwork wooden door slammed shut behind Aaron.