Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

She looked at Luo Tianming, and her face quickly turned red.

Luo Tianming crossed his arms and looked at her with distrust: "There's no need to say nice things to him. No matter how much you try to save face for him, it won't help."

"If it weren't for the hierarchical relationship within the alliance, I probably would have broken ties with him long ago."

He looked around and said:

"Come out, Colonel Ivan—or would you rather I come to you myself?"

"Don't be scared if I find you."

Luo Tianming listened to Lucy's guidance through his earphones and knew that he was on the floor above this office, and the hidden entrance was probably a small staircase hidden in a cabinet.

"..."

After waiting for about ten seconds, there was a knock on the office door.

Colonel Ivan from the military site's intelligence department casually pushed open the door and entered...

“Uncle~!” Migra called out to him, embarrassed and annoyed.

"Heh," Colonel Ivan said with a forced smile, "Alright, Honey, I'm sorry this time. You can leave now... Remember to button up your clothes. I told you before, change into a sexy red lace lingerie set. Men are only interested in pure white lingerie up to the age of 18."

"...Hmph!"

Mi'er left in a hurry.

“Lieutenant Luo,” Colonel Ivan said to him with his hands behind his back, “haven’t you noticed that Mia is truly sincere towards you?”

"Heh~" Luo Tianming gave a disdainful sneer.

"When the child heard that they were going to seduce you, the hero who saved the site, he shyly rejected our professional seduction female spy."

"She was trying to protect you."

"..."

Luo Tianming: "You're lucky you used someone I know this time, otherwise I would have killed him long ago on charges of being a spy."

"..."

Seeing that he truly could not sway Luo Tianming, Colonel Ivan abandoned his conciliatory approach and said, "Lieutenant Luo, I firmly believe that there are no irreconcilable conflicts between us."

Luo Tianming: "What about the matter of decoy operations?"

"Look—that man has been hanged."

He grabbed his own neck with his hands and stuck out his tongue.

But Luo Tianming didn't find him funny at all; instead, he felt a chill run down his spine.

A loyal member of the alliance who had committed no major wrongdoing was sent to the gallows. If it were Luo Tianming himself, would he also be pushed up to be a scapegoat in such an inexplicable way?

Luo Tianming asked in a determined tone, "Then who proposed this operation?"

"..."

Colonel Ivan said with a serious expression, "A 64-year-old researcher, only six months away from retirement, with failing eyesight and talking nonsense, how could Lieutenant Luo bear to cause trouble for such a person?"

"..."

Now, Luo Tianming completely understood... The so-called intelligence department was a bureaucratic web spun by a group of 'spider's' that could spin webs. Only the spiders could stay on the web, while others could fall off or become their prey at any time.

"You'd better pray that you can find an excuse for everything," Luo Tianming warned, sounding like a judge. "Otherwise, sooner or later, a loophole will appear that you can't plug no matter what lies you weave."

Colonel Ivan: "That day will never come..."

"...Alright, that's enough of this rambling."

The colonel said as if to put an end to the chaos, "I lured you here with Mia because I have an important mission to entrust to you."

Luo Tianming: "Don't even mention asking me to steal research data on mushroom spores. That stuff is almost impossible to get my hands on. Stealing a few spores would be the limit."

"What, can't the scientists in the alliance even solve this simple problem?"

Colonel Ivan: "Hmm..."

“That matter is indeed important, but it’s not as important as what I’m about to say.”

"Lieutenant Luo—you must have heard some rumors at that station, about the [Painted Skin Cult] holding another concert."

"!"

Chapter 101 Musicians

Luo Tianming made no attempt to hide his surprise. He had indeed expected the Alliance to know about this, but he hadn't anticipated that they would bring it up with him.

After all, from the league's perspective, he should have been completely unaware of this matter.

Fortunately, it seems that the alliance is unaware of his secret contact with the Painted Skin Cult.

"Has the league heard about this too?"

Luo Tianming wore an expression of complete disbelief.

"I've only heard some rumors, but they should be just rumors. Those guys aren't bold enough to swagger around right under the Alliance's nose."

"..."

Colonel Ivan sighed, whether with satisfaction or worry: "Lieutenant, you should have reported this sooner... According to our intelligence department's investigation, the followers of the Painted Skin Cult are indeed preparing for a gathering."

"..."

Luo Tianming found it strange that Colonel Ivan would want to talk to him about this.

Could it be that they want him to infiltrate the Painted Skin Cult again under the guise of a spy?

"Now that you know about this, I think the most suitable person for this mission... is probably none other than you, Lieutenant Luo Tianming."

It really is!

"Wait!" Luo Tianming interrupted. "Colonel, something's not right—I remember I was supposed to be a spy in charge of 'Jupiter Separatism,' so sending me to handle matters related to the Painted Skin Cult would be overstepping my authority, wouldn't it?"

"This matter should be handed over to the special agents in charge."

Luo Tianming didn't not want to go; rather, he believed that the alliance shouldn't be involved in this matter any further.

He's already a troublesome person; if he had another identity, it would definitely arouse suspicion.

Colonel Ivan spoke in the shrewd tone typical of intelligence personnel:

“Lieutenant Luo, I think you are the only one who can do this job… The intelligence department has other agents, but they also need to keep an eye on other important targets. If this gathering is real, then we need to find a way to wipe out the ‘Painted Skin Cult’ in one fell swoop.”

"There's a rumor... that their church's archbishop, Yakov Subra, will also be attending this time. You've heard of him, haven't you?"

Luo Tianming: "I've heard of them: madmen, lunatics, terrorists, genetic geniuses..."

"Alright, no need for such a detailed explanation," Colonel Ivan waved his hand impatiently.

"In short, as the archbishop of the Painted Skin Cult, his position is no less than that of God's representative to those ordinary believers. If we can arrest him alive, it will be a devastating blow to this cult."

Luo Tianming: "Easy for you to say..."

"What did you say?" Colonel Ivan's expression immediately turned hostile. "Lieutenant, do you even understand the significance of their operation?!"

"This is a blatant provocation against the alliance!"

Luo Tianming: "..."

“That bastard Yakov Subra is defying the authority of our alliance, as if to say—'I'm going to the concert, come and get me!'”

"Not only that, but the riots that occurred in the lower cave area must also be a feint by the Skin-Painting Cult to confuse us."

Luo Tianming: "The lower cave? What's the matter?"

Colonel Ivan: "Recently, the mining station in the cave has been frequently attacked by the Painted Skin creatures. Originally, the only threat in the area was the Algae Mane Crawlers, but now overnight they have all become the crawlers parasitized by the Painted Skin creatures."

"Only the Skin-Painting Cult would do something that benefits no one!"

"In order to maintain the operation of the ore supply chain, the alliance is currently mobilizing a large fleet to wipe out the masked agents, which is why other agents cannot be freed up at the moment."

Luo Tianming: "..."

"What's wrong?" Colonel Ivan asked him. "You look thoughtful; it seems you have something on this matter?"

The real culprit immediately chimed in, "No, this must have been the work of the evil Painted Skin Cult! It's utterly despicable!"

"..."

Phew, that was close... How could someone still be hit by a boomerang after all this time?

Fortunately, he had warned Levi and the others not to talk nonsense beforehand, otherwise they would have suspected him by now. Luckily, the Painted Skin Cult had a bad reputation and could throw all sorts of accusations at them.

"Since Lieutenant Luo has no objections, let's have a combat meeting."

"..."

Colonel Ivan did not give him the right to refuse, and soon the office was transformed into a 3D projection combat command center.

An intelligence officer scanned Luo Tianming from head to toe with an instrument to ensure he wasn't wearing any listening devices or tracking devices...

When the synchronization device was checked, the Alliance's technology was completely unable to recognize this short-frequency encrypted communication. Luo Tianming simply made up an excuse about noise reduction and hearing aids and took it back.

As soon as I put the earphones back in my ears, I heard Lucy's smug laughter.

"..."

In the blink of an eye, three people they had been communicating with were already waiting for them.

One of them was a lieutenant general I had met before, while the other two refused to show their faces. However, judging from Colonel Ivan's respectful demeanor, he must have several generals on his shoulders.

“We’ve reviewed the plan to capture Yakov,” a refined voice rang out.

"The alliance's upper echelons agree that it can be approved... but it must be successful, and the scope of the operation must be kept to a minimum. We don't want to start a full-scale war with the Painted Skin Cult, after all, we already have Jupiter separatism as an enemy."

"Hmph~" another cold voice rang out, "It's not like we haven't tried to capture Yakov before, and what happened—he escaped!"

In response, Colonel Ivan explained: "We have seriously reflected on our mistakes last time. When we imprisoned Yakov before, we treated him as an ordinary person and ignored the physical strength brought about by the parasitic skin. This time—we plan to imprison him in the 'Capital Prison,' where he will definitely not be able to escape."

"..."

The lieutenant general spoke as if they had planned it in advance: "The restraint device specifically designed for him has already been developed by scientists. Once we capture him, he will never be able to leave that dark prison for the rest of his life."

"..."

“The key is,” the elegant voice spoke again, “how we can capture him.”

"Don't worry about that..." Colonel Ivan assured him, "We are absolutely certain that Yakov, that antisocial element, will attend this 'concert,' and they will disguise themselves as historical musicians to attend the banquet."

"..."

Luo Tianming thought for a moment—the code name he and the missionary had agreed upon was: [Robert Schumann]

What about the other people's code names?

“Hmm,” the elegant voice said, “using a musician as a code name for operations… well, Yakov, who calls himself the savior of the new humanity, would probably use the name [Beethoven].

"..."

Just as Colonel Ivan nodded, the previously indifferent voice said:

"No, no, no, that's impossible... No matter how you look at it, the name 'Mozart' is much more influential. He must have been extremely arrogant to the extreme, considering himself a genius."

"..."

"Your taste is absolutely terrible! When it comes to the King of Music, it can only be Schubert!"

"What's Schubert? That guy will definitely use Bach, the father of music, as his codename!"

"Yakov could not possibly idolize a German; his idol is definitely Glinka!"

Luo Tianming: "..."

Who would have thought that these high-ranking officials of the alliance would argue over which musician's name Yakov would use as his code name?

Chapter 102 Renovation

In the end, the high-ranking officials couldn't reach a conclusion.

On-site actions could only be based on Luo Tianming's own judgment.

Moreover, those people don't even know where the 'concert' is being held; they're completely clueless, yet they still dare to dream of arresting Yakov Subra.

Do they think Archbishop Yakov is a rabbit that has run into a stake and died?

In any case, Luo Tianming was not optimistic about this arrest operation. He thought it would probably end up like the previous operation, a chaotic mess that yielded nothing and then everyone shifted the blame.

Luo Tianming had already made up his mind.