Marvel: The other side of the double-passing door is Devouring the Stars

Chapter 354 Major Breakthrough
"Damn it, they've found us," Rowan cursed inwardly. Leaving through the main entrance was now impossible.

He looked around the office, searching for other escape routes. There was a door leading to the emergency exit, but that door had an alarm system that would trigger immediately if opened.

The footsteps grew closer; security personnel had already checked the office next door. Rowan had to make a decision immediately.

He remembered a technique Silvermoon had taught him during training: sometimes the most dangerous place is the safest. Rowan quickly walked behind a huge bookshelf in the office, where there was an inconspicuous gap, just big enough for a person to hide in.

Just as he had hidden himself, the office door opened. Three security guards walked in, each carrying a scanning device, and began to carefully check every corner of the room.

“This is the chairman’s office; it’s unlikely there will be any intruders,” one of the security guards said.

“Let’s check it out. The orders are to search every room,” the other person replied.

Their scanning equipment emitted a soft beeping sound, searching the room for any unusual signs of life. Rowan held his breath, using his mental energy to conceal his own life force—an advanced technique he had learned at the Giant Axe Arena.

The scanning device passed by the bookshelf where he was hiding, but no alarm was triggered. Security personnel continued to check other areas, including the desk, filing cabinets, and restrooms.

A few minutes later, the three men confirmed that there were no intruders in the office and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute." One of them suddenly stopped. "Can you smell something?"

Luo Wen's heart tightened; he realized that his perfume might have given him away. To maintain his identity as Lin Feng, he did indeed use a light men's cologne, but now that had become a potential source of exposure.

"It smells like perfume," another security guard said, noticing it too. "But the chairman doesn't usually wear perfume."

The three began to search the room more carefully, following the scent of perfume and gradually approaching the bookshelf where Rowan was hiding.

Rowan knew he would soon be discovered, and he had to prepare for battle. He quietly gathered his mental energy, preparing to use the Starburst Sky-Splitter Blade. But fighting under these circumstances would not only expose his identity but could also lead to the failure of the entire mission.

At the most critical moment, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the office.

"Quick! A client has suddenly fallen ill in the banquet hall and we need to evacuate the crowd immediately!" someone shouted in the corridor.

The three security guards immediately stopped searching and hurriedly left the office to deal with the emergency. Rowan, who was behind the bookshelf, only breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the footsteps fade away.

He knew this was definitely a distraction orchestrated by Silver Moon to buy him time to retreat. Rowan seized the opportunity, quickly leaving his hiding place and quietly slipping out of the office.

On his way back to the technical department, Rowan's heart was still pounding. The experience had been incredibly dangerous; if Silvermoon hadn't intervened in time, he might have been captured.

Back at his workstation, Rowan pretended to be working, but was actually pondering the crucial intelligence he had just acquired. These documents were enough to prove that the Meteor Group was indeed colluding with hostile forces, and on a larger scale than they had imagined.

An hour later, the banquet ended. Yin Yue left the banquet hall as Su Ya with her other colleagues, appearing perfectly normal on the surface, but only she knew how thrilling the situation she had just experienced was.

The next day was Sunday, and the two met secretly in a secure location.

“Last night was truly thrilling,” Silvermoon said. “Arya is clearly suspicious of something, and those Shadow Trading Company people aren’t ordinary merchants.”

"Luckily you gave the retreat signal in time, otherwise I would have been captured," Rowan said gratefully. "How did you create that emergency situation?"

Silvermoon smiled and said, "I added a special agent to a client's drink, causing him to experience food poisoning symptoms. Of course, this agent is harmless; it only causes temporary discomfort."

“However, we also made significant gains.” Rowan produced a micro-memory. “I obtained irrefutable evidence that Victor Meteor is indeed colluding with multiple hostile forces. They are not only exchanging intelligence but also planning large-scale operations.”

Silvermoon carefully examined the documents, her expression turning serious: "The value of this information far exceeds our expectations. We must report to headquarters immediately."

"So our mission is complete?" Rowan asked.

Silvermoon shook her head: "It's not completely finished yet. Although we've obtained the evidence, we still need to find out exactly how many people within the Meteor Group were involved in this conspiracy. Furthermore, I'm worried that our identities may have already been exposed."

Indeed, last night's experience made both of them realize that their situation had become extremely dangerous. Continuing to remain undercover meant facing constant threats to their lives. But at the same time, retreating now might mean losing the opportunity to completely destroy this spy network.

“We will continue the mission,” Rowan said firmly. “Now that we’ve come this far, we can’t give up halfway.”

Silvermoon nodded: "Then we must be even more careful. From now on, every action we take could determine the success or failure of the mission, or even our lives."

The next day.

In the morning, Rowan, posing as Lin Feng, arrived at the Meteorite Group's technical department, looking somewhat anxious. He approached Tony and said gravely, "Manager Tony, I need to request a week's leave."

"Taking time off?" Tony was a little surprised. "Lin Feng, you're usually so hardworking, you rarely take time off. What happened?"

Rowan feigned concern: "I just received an urgent call from home. My mother has suddenly fallen seriously ill and needs immediate surgery. I must go back to take care of her."

Tony's expression immediately turned concerned: "That is indeed an emergency. Family is the most important thing. Don't worry about work; I'll arrange for someone else to temporarily take over your project. When are you leaving?"

“I’m leaving this afternoon,” Rowan replied. “If the surgery goes well, I should be back within a week.”

“Okay, I’ll process your leave application right away.” Tony patted Rowan on the shoulder. “Don’t worry too much, modern medicine is very advanced, your mother will be fine.”

"Thank you for your understanding," Rowan said gratefully.

After completing the leave application process, Rowan returned to his workstation, ostensibly organizing work documents, but actually observing his surroundings. He noticed several people he rarely saw moving around the office area. Although they were wearing ordinary work clothes, their behavior was clearly different from that of ordinary technicians. "It seems that Meteorite Group has begun to strengthen internal security," Rowan thought to himself. Although last night's events did not directly expose their identities, they had clearly alerted the higher-ups at Meteorite Group.

At 3 PM, Luo Wen packed his belongings and prepared to leave the Meteorite Group. On his way to the elevator, he encountered Yin Yue. She was posing as Su Ya, talking with several clients in the lobby, and everything seemed normal.

Their eyes met briefly, and Yin Yue nodded almost imperceptibly—a safety signal they had agreed upon.

“Suya, who is this?” A customer noticed Rowan.

“Oh, this is Mr. Lin Feng from our technical department,” Silver Moon introduced naturally. “Lin Feng, and these are clients from the Sirius system.”

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Rowan greeted politely. "Excuse me, I have some urgent business to attend to, please excuse me."

"It's alright, you go ahead and do your work," Silver Moon said with a smile.

The two parted ways naturally in front of everyone, without any apparent abnormality. Luo Wen left the Meteorite Group headquarters by elevator, but he was worried about Yin Yue. The risks she faced alone there were greater than he had imagined.

After leaving Meteorite Group, Rowan did not go directly to the spaceport. Instead, he circled around Carol Star to make sure no one was following him before boarding a commercial spaceship to head to the headquarters of Virtual Universe Company.

Three hours later, Rowan returned to the familiar headquarters of the Virtual Universe Corporation. He didn't go back to the Genius Building, but went directly to the field operations department on the eightieth basement level. The Observer and Samuel were already waiting for him.

“Starmark, welcome back.” The Observer seemed pleased to see Rowan. “I heard you obtained important evidence?”

“Yes.” Rowan produced a micro-memory. “This contains irrefutable evidence of Victor Meteor's collusion with hostile forces, including communication records, financial transactions, and operational plans.”

Samuel took the memory and inserted it into the analysis device. Soon, the detailed contents of the document appeared on the holographic projection. When they saw the staggering numbers and plans, both men's expressions turned serious.

“This is far more serious than we anticipated,” the observer said in a low voice. “They are not only stealing trade secrets, but also planning military operations against us.”

Samuel pointed to one of the documents: "Look at this. They plan to attack several of our key bases on the border within three months, with the aim of seizing our core technological data."

“And this too.” The observer pointed to another record. “They have connections with the Shadow Trading Company, the Blood Raven Pirates, and the Void Hunter Group; it’s practically an alliance against us.”

Rowan nodded and said, "Silver Moon has also discovered some suspicious clients, many of whom are representatives of these hostile forces. It seems that the Meteor Group has become an important stronghold for them."

“The problem now is that we need to determine how many other people within the Meteorite Group are involved in this conspiracy,” Samuel said. “Capturing just Victor Meteorite isn’t enough; we must wipe them all out.”

The observer pondered for a moment: "Starmark, you have expertise in information technology. I'd like you to collaborate with our cybersecurity experts to use technological means to track down all relevant individuals."

“No problem,” Rowan agreed immediately. “What support do I need?”

“Follow me.” The observer led Rowan to the technical center of the field operations department.

This is a huge circular room, filled with various high-tech devices, with a massive holographic projection system at its center. A dozen or so technical experts are busy at their respective workstations; among them are humans, machine races, and some races Rowan has never seen before.

"This is our cyber warfare hub," the observer explained, "specifically responsible for cyber intelligence gathering, data analysis, and electronic warfare."

A human woman who looked very young walked over. She had short silver hair, sharp eyes, and a special energy fluctuation emanating from her body.

“Starmark, this is our chief cyber expert, codenamed ‘Ghost,’” the observer introduced. “Ghost, this is Starmark, whom I mentioned earlier; he brought back very important intelligence.”

The ghost sized up Rowan and nodded. "I heard you have a talent for mental power, which is a great advantage in network technology. Let's take a look at the data you brought back."

Over the next few hours, Rowan worked closely with Ghost to conduct in-depth analysis of the data obtained from the Meteorite Group. Ghost's technical skills were indeed highly advanced; she was not only able to crack complex encrypted files but also trace the source and destination of information through data traces.

“Interesting.” Ghost pointed to a data flow diagram on the screen. “Look at the routing paths of these communication records; they all go through the same relay node.”

Rowan observed carefully: "Where is this transit point?"

“Let me check.” Ghost’s fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly finding the answer. “On the eighty-fifth floor of the Meteorite Group headquarters, that’s the finance department.”

“The finance department?” Rowan thought of Marcus Undercurrent, the chief financial officer who was also one of the prime suspects.

“That’s not all,” Ghost continued his analysis. “I discovered that these confidential communications all used the same encryption algorithm, and the key for this algorithm is updated very regularly, every seventy-two hours.”

Rowan's eyes lit up: "What does this mean?"

"This means someone is centrally managing the communications security of this spy network." A glint of excitement flashed in Ghost's eyes. "If we can find this manager, we can trace back to all the participants."

How do I find it?

“By tracing the source of the key’s generation in reverse,” Ghost began working on another device. “Every encryption key has a unique generation pattern, like a fingerprint. Once we find that pattern, we can pinpoint the generator’s location.”

This was an extremely complex technical process, requiring a great deal of computation and analysis. Although Rowan possessed technical knowledge, he still struggled somewhat with this advanced network technology. However, his mental abilities played a crucial role at this moment, enabling Ghost to process massive amounts of data much faster.

“Star Mark, your mental strength is truly invaluable,” Ghost said while working. “Ordinary people would struggle to process such a large amount of data, but you’ve maintained a high level of concentration, increasing your efficiency by at least three times.”

After six hours of continuous work, they finally made a major breakthrough.

(End of this chapter)