Chapter 85: Is Xiao Wan a Spy?

As they were eating, everyone in the dining hall suddenly stood up and walked outside.

“Senior, are they going to switch shifts?”

Peng Dongli casually grabbed a young man and asked, “Comrade, are you all finished eating so soon?”

The young man replied, “It’s already almost seven thirty. If the other team wasn’t testing the system, we would’ve switched shifts at six thirty. Anyway, I need to go now and get ready for my shift.”

“All right, all right.”

Watching everyone leave, Peng Dongli nodded. “I knew it, there must have been a sudden situation. Let’s wait a bit longer. When the other group comes, we’ll head back.”

Zhang Mingyang patted his stomach and lounged sideways in his chair. “Senior, I really can’t eat any more. If they don’t come soon, I’m going to burst.”

“Then get up and walk around to digest a bit.”

“Okay.”

Zhang Mingyang stood up, holding his stomach, and paced along the windowsill.

“Hey?”

Zhang Mingyang suddenly noticed an engineer in a blue spacesuit outside the room talking to someone in a red command suit, seemingly giving instructions.

Sensing something was off, Zhang Mingyang quickly called his senior over. “Senior, come here.”

Peng Dongli hurried over, and Zhang Mingyang pointed. “Senior, isn’t only someone in red allowed to enter the command center? Why is there a blue-suited engineer in there too?”

Peng Dongli took a closer look. It was true, but the helmets made it hard to see their faces. He could only tell Zhang Mingyang to memorize the numbers on their suits.

“Red Seventeen, Blue One-One-Five. Senior, I’ve got them both.”

At that moment, a group of just-off-duty command staff walked in.

Seeing this, the two quickly returned to their seats.

“Junior, that number seventeen isn’t from the last shift. He must be one of these new ones coming in. Watch carefully when he arrives.”

“All right.”

As the dining hall filled up again, that number seventeen still hadn’t come in.

“Senior, do you think he’s not coming?”

Peng Dongli looked at him. “Are you hungry?”

Zhang Mingyang, thinking his senior wanted him to fetch more food, frantically shook his head. “I’m already about to burst, please spare me, Senior.”

Peng Dongli nodded, “See, you’re not hungry after dinner. They’ve been on shift all day—how could they not be hungry? Just wait.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Number Seventeen walked in.

“He’s here!”

They covertly watched him.

From getting his food to sitting at the table, Number Seventeen kept a cheerful smile, chatting and laughing with his tablemates. He didn’t look anything like a spy.

“Senior, aren’t spies supposed to be cold and expressionless? This guy doesn’t seem like that at all. Are there different kinds of spies?”

Peng Dongli shook his head. He didn’t know either. Outwardly, the man seemed open and talkative, easily blending in with the group.

“Let’s keep watching.”

So they kept their eyes on him until he finished eating, but found nothing useful.

As the dining hall emptied and Number Seventeen left, Peng Dongli gestured for Zhang Mingyang to get ready to go.

Walking out, Zhang Mingyang mused, “Senior, maybe our scope is too narrow. Should we broaden it?”

“What do you mean?”

Zhang Mingyang replied, “Command staff can enter any area freely, but is it possible they can authorize others to enter too?”

Peng Dongli seemed to realize something and rushed back to the dorm.

Back in their room, he took out his communicator and dialed Tian Wenyuan’s number.

“Hey, Old Peng, you’ve arrived on the Moon, haven’t you? What’s up?”

Peng Dongli quickly asked, “Old Tian, can you access the Space Agency’s lunar base system and look up someone for me?”

Tian Wenyuan thought for a moment. “I could, but if I get caught, I’ll be in prison for life.”

“Don’t worry, if you get caught, I’ll find a way to get you out.”

“This…”

Tian Wenyuan hesitated, then agreed. “Fine, I’ll hack in for you. Who are you looking for?”

“Engineer Number One-One-Five at the Moon Palace Base.”

“All right. I’ll send you what I find.”

“Thanks!”

After hanging up, Peng Dongli pulled out the command staff roster and searched for Number Seventeen.

“Found him. Xia Jiming, forty-two, logistics pipeline engineer at Moon Palace Base. Served there three times, seven years in total.”

Looking over Xia Jiming’s resume, Peng Dongli was puzzled. A pipeline engineer—what connection could he have to the launch tower’s electromechanical systems?

Just then, Peng Dongli’s communicator beeped. “Old Tian is fast! He’s already sent it.”

Opening the email, he saw the info for One-One-Five: “Wan Zhiqiang, age thirty, from Fujian, PhD candidate in automation from the Southern University of Electronics. Joined the Space Agency in 2037, transferred to Moon Palace Base in July 2039, currently captain of Mining Heavy Vehicle Team Two.”

The last page was Wan Zhiqiang’s photo.

“Hey, isn’t that Xiao Wan?”

Peng Dongli took a closer look—it really was him.

“Junior, Xiao Wan is a PhD in automation? He’s a top specialist! I really underestimated him.”

Wait a minute!

Zhang Mingyang looked at Xiao Wan’s field and current job. “Senior, don’t you think it’s a waste for Xiao Wan to be just driving trucks?”

Peng Dongli nodded. A PhD in automation, driving a transport vehicle?

“This is bad!”

They both realized it at the same time and rushed to suit up.

“Senior, call Director Wang and report that we need to apprehend him. I’ll go to the mining area lounge to find him.”

“All right.”

Zhang Mingyang suited up and dashed out, while Peng Dongli urgently contacted Wang Bowen.

Along the way, Zhang Mingyang kept an eye out for Xiao Wan.

At the mining lounge, Zhang Mingyang frantically punched the door controls and hurried inside, not even taking off his suit before activating his suit’s external speaker. “Xiao Wan, are you here? I need your help with something.”

He called out several times but got no answer. A middle-aged man came over and said, “Xiao Wan went with Engineer Xia to fix a pipeline.”

“Fix a pipeline?”

The man nodded. “Oh, you didn’t know? Xiao Wan is our base’s repair expert. Sometimes when we’re short on engineers, he helps out.”

Realizing Xiao Wan wasn’t there, Zhang Mingyang rushed back out. Just as he stepped outside, the entire base was suddenly bathed in red warning lights.

At that moment, Peng Dongli ran up. “Junior, how did it go? Is he there?”