"What else did he say?" Jiang Ye frowned.
"Nothing, just that one request. There might be more later," Isabella said in a panic. "Jiang Ye, hurry and give the order, I'm still at the logistics city!"
"That's not right," Jiang Ye said.
"Not right? What's not right? Hurry up and give the order, it's only a minute! We can't afford to delay!" Isabella almost shouted.
"No, no, his request is completely wrong," Jiang Ye shook his head frantically. "The nuclear bomb is fake."
"What if it's real!" Isabella cried in terror. "Jiang Ye! Don't you dare gamble recklessly!"
A message arrived simultaneously from Shizhi Zhizi.
"The phone that was just talking to Isabella is located at the end of the first main road of the logistics city. It's an unregistered burner phone."
Jiang Ye glanced at it, tapped furiously on the screen, directly connecting to the logistics city troops, and issued an order.
"At the end of the first main road, arrest everyone nearby."
"Sir, there are many people, about three to four hundred. Many alien merchants are crowded here, wanting to get out. Outside is the space station, and they want to leave from there."
"Arrest them!" Jiang Ye repeated.
"Yes!"
Less than five seconds later, Isabella's call came in again.
"He called again, saying the nuclear bomb is in container 1006 of Warehouse 12, and if the roadblock in the logistics city isn't opened within 30 seconds, he'll detonate it!" Isabella cried. "Jiang Ye! Do as he says!"
Jiang Ye's hands trembled as he tapped the screen, issuing consecutive orders.
The logistics city's blockade was lifted.
The space station outside the logistics city was strictly sealed off, and any departing spacecraft were to be shot down.
Dispatch the warehouse guards of the logistics city to inspect container 1006 of Warehouse 12.
Dispatch the warehouse guards of the logistics city to immediately retrieve Isabella.
After giving the orders, Jiang Ye opened his phone's stopwatch and watched the seconds tick by.
At the 29th second, a message came in.
[Report, container 1006 of Warehouse 12 contains grain seeds, no weapons.]
At the same time, Isabella's call came in.
"He just called again, saying he made a mistake, the nuclear bomb is in container 1206 of Warehouse 15," Isabella said. "He also made a new demand: immediately lift the lockdown on the logistics city space station and let all merchants leave."
"Tell him this," Jiang Ye took a deep breath. "Spider-Man, your clumsy trick is over."
"Jiang Ye! Do as he says!" Isabella shouted.
"Do as I say."
Jiang Ye tapped the screen, ordering the space station guards to arrest anyone nearby.
At the same time, he ordered the little dogs to continue the pursuit.
Five minutes later, two messages popped up almost simultaneously.
[Arrests at the space station completed, a total of 287 people apprehended and are being escorted to the military base.]
[Little dog vanguard has entered a vast space and spotted a large-scale unidentified machine.]
Jiang Ye was so exhausted he almost fainted.
...
It took a full three days to complete the interrogation of all suspects.
Spider-Man finally surfaced.
Jiang Ye had initially thought Spider-Man was some scheming, calculating, sinister old man, silently manipulating all activities from behind the scenes.
But he never expected that "Spider-Man" was a group of people.
Five women and three men, of various ages and races.
After severe interrogation and a combination of threats and inducements, only one "Spider-Man" was willing to cooperate.
At eight in the morning, Jiang Ye personally went to the Hanhai Grand Hotel in Binhai City.
This hotel had recently opened, primarily serving visiting alien merchants, and its standards and class were first-rate.
Wearing a mask, sunglasses, and a hat, Jiang Ye, accompanied by several plainclothes officers, silently walked through the swimming pool, gardens, and hotel corridors, taking the elevator to the top-floor suite.
He pushed the door open.
Officers with expressionless faces stood in each corner of the room, their waist bulges clearly indicating firearms.
A young woman sat by the coffee table, her hands and feet shackled to it. She wore a white skirt, somewhat resembling a maid's uniform.
Jiang Ye sat opposite her, casually crossing his left leg over his right, and examined her with interest.
Her face was slightly chubby, with an East Asian facial structure. However, her skin tone, blonde hair, and the dense scattering of freckles on her face clearly indicated she was Caucasian. Overall, she was very beautiful, with remarkably bright eyes, the kind of girl who would catch one's attention.
She was petite, as if she had just started middle school.
"What's your name?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Snake," she said.
"Snake?" Jiang Ye smiled. "Is that a codename or a name?"
"I don't have a name. The codename within the organization is my name," she said softly.
"How was this codename chosen? Is it because you have snake-like qualities? Or is 'snake' a certain rank?"
"Our group had twelve people come to Jiang Ye Star. We wrote the twelve zodiac animals on playing cards, and each of us drew one," Snake said. "It's actually simpler than you think."
"How old are you?" Jiang Ye asked. "Seventeen? Eighteen?"
"140 years old," Snake smiled. "All twelve of us are 140 years old, we just look different."
"At 140 years old, why would you come here to do this? And why would someone 140 years old act so simply and ridiculously, using childish tricks like fake nuclear bomb calls to try and escape?" Jiang Ye smiled. "After the incident, your organization's struggles were quite low-level. Throwing bombs, shooting randomly in the streets, making threatening phone calls with lies. Frankly speaking, if intergalactic terrorists have this level of intelligence, they really need to improve their professionalism."
"You're right. If we weren't so unprofessional, we wouldn't have so many dead and injured, and you wouldn't have caught us all in one sweep," Snake smiled, her demeanor as if she were talking about someone else. "The incident was too sudden, we didn't react in time, nor did we expect all cities to be suddenly taken over by the military police. In a hurry, people always make mistakes. Your actions were truly unexpected, almost insane. The normal response to a terrorist attack is to send the military police to where it happened. You actually imposed a global lockdown. I still can't understand what kind of person would act like that."
"Stop making excuses for yourself. No matter how sudden the situation, you should have had an emergency plan. You terrorists are too incompetent," Jiang Ye said. "My people are still exploring underground. You might as well show some sincerity and tell me everything."
"Since I've chosen to cooperate, I will naturally tell you everything. Where would you like me to begin?"
"Who do you work for?" Jiang Ye asked.
"The Mil."
"As expected. Do you know that the Mil's stronghold is about to be taken down? Your masters are about to be eliminated, so why are you servants working so hard?"
"That's why I'm cooperating with you."
"As humans, why would you sell your lives to the Mil? And how did you come into contact with them?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Perhaps I should tell you a story first."
Jiang Ye remained silent, his smile fading, and he stared intently at Snake.