The interstellar passenger spacecraft quickly escaped the gravitational pull of Capital Star and entered a stable phase of interstellar travel.
A gentle announcement rang out from inside the ship: "Dear passengers, our spaceship has begun its constant-speed journey. During the remainder of the journey, you can purchase various food items at the self-service counter in the lobby on the second floor. Meanwhile, the entertainment center on the third floor will be open 24 hours a day. Passengers wishing to participate in any entertainment activities can make reservations in advance using the app onboard the ship..."
It was the first time for everyone to ride a spaceship. The spaceship was similar to a luxury cruise ship, with the rest cabins being converted into a food court and entertainment center.
If it weren't for this escape from Capital Star with the princes, everyone could have had a good two days of relaxation on the spaceship.
However, no one is in the mood to go out and have fun right now.
Shao Qingge opened his carry-on suitcase No. 3, took out a large amount of compressed food, and placed it on the table for everyone to help themselves. Lu Jiuchuan opened a package of compressed beef, popped a beef cube into his mouth, and joked with a smile, " CEO Shao is really well-equipped, bringing such a big suitcase of food."
For ease of movement, the rest of them went empty-handed, except for Shao Qingge and Ye Qi, who brought three suitcases.
Ye Qi leaned closer mysteriously and whispered, "We had a Weekly Routine before, a replica of a cruise ship. CEO Shao is incredibly extravagant; he took us to a VIP restaurant for an outrageously expensive breakfast. It probably cost several hundred RMB for just one steamed bun. CEO Shao said, 'You get what you pay for; expensive things are always better.'"
Tang Ci asked with interest, "And then?"
Ye Qi glanced at Shao Qingge: "Then, just like those people who ate free breakfast, we got vomiting and diarrhea, food poisoning! Hahaha."
Shao Qingge: "...You remember it so clearly."
Ye Qi finally managed to stop laughing, cleared his throat, and said in a serious tone, " The Ace of Spades taught us that you can still suffer even if you spend money. So, CEO Shao learned his lesson and, not wanting to eat on the starship, went to the convenience store early this morning to buy a whole case of sealed food."
Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci both had expressions of "I see" on their faces.
Shao Qingge: "..."
Shao Qingge had no intention of defending this dark history. He gently patted Ye Qi's shoulder and said, "Is there anything wrong with being cautious? Go cook Dad a pack of noodles. Don't forget that I'm your adoptive father in this world. Don't be disrespectful."
Ye Qi's ears turned slightly red. She glared at him with a resigned expression, then turned to cook noodles for "Dad" and also cooked a bowl for each of the other teammates.
After a quick dinner, Xiao Lou suggested, "We still have a long way to go before reaching the final stop, so why don't we take a look at the banknotes? Did CEO Shao bring any?"
"Of course." Shao Qingge opened suitcase number 1, which was indeed stuffed with cash.
To prevent the banknotes from shifting and becoming disordered while being dragged through the suitcase, Shao Qingge stuffed all the empty spaces inside the suitcase with white paper of similar thickness. As a result, the arrangement of the banknotes in the suitcase was exactly the same as that of a one-meter-tall safe.
"We put the banknotes in one by one in the original order, and we didn't find any other pattern," Shao Qingge said.
"Let's take another look." Xiao Lou took the first stack of banknotes from the top left corner, untied the white ribbon binding the banknotes, and spread the 100 banknotes out on the ground, examining them one by one.
His teammates also bent down to take a closer look.
To make a comparison, Shao Qingge simply summoned an ATM on the spot, took out a few more Star Coins, and gave one to each of his teammates.
Everyone held the banknotes that Shao Qingge had just taken out in their left hands, squatted down next to the banknotes that Xiao Lou had spread all over the ground, and compared the details one by one. The scene was like playing a game of "spot the difference".
Tang Ci summarized: "The designs are all the same. The front features the portrait of the founding emperor of the Luoke Empire, while the back shows the denomination of 1000, embossed Braille, and the banknote serial number."
Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, "Look at the bottom right corner of the banknotes, the anti-counterfeiting marks are different."
Among this group, Yu Hanjiang is undoubtedly the most observant. After all, he is a Criminal Police Officer, and he has encountered many counterfeit goods in the cases he has solved before, so he is quite sensitive to anti-counterfeiting marks.
In the interstellar era, few people use paper money anymore. Wristband ID cards are linked to bank cards, allowing for direct payment via scanning. However, paper money is still a form of hard currency, and banks will certainly maintain reserves. Furthermore, paper money must be equipped with anti-counterfeiting measures; otherwise, a large-scale introduction of counterfeit currency would cripple the market economy.
Upon hearing Yu Hanjiang's words, everyone flipped the banknotes over to the back. Ye Qi quickly noticed this: "The light colors are different? The banknotes left by Grandpa Shao have horizontally changing colors on the security features, but the banknotes we just withdrew from the ATM have vertically changing colors?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "The banknotes will have optically variable ink to prevent photocopying and counterfeiting. The anti-counterfeiting inks of these two versions of Star Coins are printed in different ways, which will cause the color to change at different angles under light. Mr. Tang, could you please check if the Empire has issued any announcements regarding Star Coin redesigns in recent years?"
Tang Ci took out his portable optical computer and quickly told everyone the results: "There have been four versions of banknotes issued since the founding of the Empire. The one in the safe is the third version, while the fourth version was issued in August 2975 and has been in use ever since. It is the version that was just taken out of the ATM."
Xiao Lou quickly grasped the crux of the problem: "In other words, Old Mr. Shao..."
The banknotes that came out were from the third edition, which ceased printing in August 2975. From August onwards, only the new edition banknotes were issued. To withdraw 7.5 million old banknotes from the bank, how can one prove that the withdrawal definitely occurred before August 2075?
After the new banknotes were issued in large quantities, the old version would cease printing, making it impossible to withdraw 7.5 million yuan in old banknotes from the bank. Therefore, the only explanation is that Shao Qingge's father withdrew 7.5 million yuan in cash before the new banknotes were issued and deposited it in a safe deposit box.
The date of July 15, 2975, indicated by the arrangement of the coins matched the date he withdrew the cash. At that time, the new version of the banknotes had not yet been issued, so what he took out was naturally the old version.
Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and analyzed, "This also proves our speculation about the date. July 15, 2975, is definitely the time when Noahs Ark Project was first launched. For some reason, Old Mr. Shao took out a large amount of banknotes from the bank when the project was launched and left them as clues for Shao Qingge."
He must have felt uneasy or had a bad feeling about the plan, which is why he took precautions and left a clue in advance.
Xiao Lou suddenly asked, " CEO Shao, do you remember when your father passed away?"
Shao Qingge thought for a moment and said, "It should have been 18 years ago, shortly after the Noahs Ark Project was restarted."
After saying that, he glanced at Ye Qi again and said, " Ye Qi's biological parents also died 18 years ago, shortly after Ye Qi was born. The information says that they died in a battle on the front line, but I always feel that things are not that simple. I saw Ye Qi's father's name in the signatures of the Noah's Ark Restart Project."
Ye Qi scratched his head and said, "I have no memory of my parents at all. I grew up in an orphanage."
Shao Qingge frowned and rubbed his temples. He suddenly remembered why he had adopted Ye Qi in the first place —that year, he went to an orphanage to do charity work and donated a sum of money to the orphanage. Ye Qi, as a representative of the children, went on stage to present him with flowers. The then very young Shao Qingge met the child's clear eyes and felt a strange sense of familiarity, which is why he adopted Ye Qi.
Shao Qingge looked at Ye Qi: "Ignoring all our past experiences, simply put, in this secret room, we didn't know each other at first. I adopted you because you are Ye Bowen's son, and I have met your biological father."
This was a bit of a mouthful, but Ye Qi quickly understood: "You mean that the fact that you are my adoptive father wasn't just a random arrangement, but rather related to some clues from the Noahs Ark Project back then? Your father and my biological father were both involved in this project? And you've even met my biological father?"
Shao Qingge nodded: "Yes, although I don't remember clearly, your biological father must have come to my house and had an argument with my father. I was very young at the time and didn't hear what they said, I only heard them arguing. What is certain is that they both died in accidents during those two years. My father was in a car accident, and your parents sacrificed their lives on the front lines."
Xiao Lou frowned slightly: "Could it be that the deaths of your parents were not accidents?"
Yu Hanjiang asked, "Where is that list?"
Shao Qingge also took out his portable optical computer and enlarged the downloaded Noah's Ark restart plan in front of everyone.
The signature page contained more than ten names, including directors from the investor Noah Medical Technology Company, as well as several important high-ranking officials from the Imperial Academy of Sciences and the military...
Yu Hanjiang suddenly had a bad feeling. He looked at Tang Ci, who understood and quickly typed the names into the optical computer to search for them. The results of the search made Tang Ci's expression change.
He said in a deep voice: " Old Mr. Shao died in a car accident on August 10, 2982; Major General Ye Bowen sacrificed his life in September of the same year; Professor Qi Zhao of the Academy of Sciences died of poisoning in the laboratory in November of the same year; scientist Liang Lu also died of a sudden heart attack in November..."
With each name he called out, his teammates' expressions grew increasingly grim.
After he read out the names of nine people who had died, Ye Qi's eyes widened: "Are they all dead?"
Tang Ci said, "There's only one left, Lin Yan's mother, Professor Zhang Shaohua."
Yu Hanjiang frowned: "Besides Professor Zhang, all the other people who knew about The Lover were silenced eighteen years ago. This is the case that Hearts needs to investigate in this locked room incident—we can't even find the bodies of the victims."
In investigating a case, having a body allows us to at least deduce the cause and time of death. Only by arriving at the crime scene can we find various pieces of evidence and clues left by the suspect…
But now, the nine deceased have become nine urns, buried in the cemetery.
The crime scene was completely destroyed.
A serial murder case without a body, and it's from 18 years ago?!
Lu Jiuchuan, rubbing his forehead with a headache, asked, "How do we investigate this?"
All eyes turned to Yu Hanjiang. This was an 18-year-old cold case, which was much more difficult than sending everyone to the crime scene to examine the body and find the murderer in the past.
After careful consideration, Yu Hanjiang said, "This case cannot be solved using the old way of thinking. We can't investigate the deceased's social relationships, grudges, or cause of death. No matter how they died, in the end, they were definitely silenced. So, we only need to start with the plan itself, investigate those who are still alive, the secrets of the Noahs Ark Project, and the forces behind it."
Ye Qi said, " Teacher Qu is currently investigating Ms. Zhang Shaohua, Lin Yan's mother. She is the only living person among those who signed the document. Could she possibly know any clues?"
Yu Hanjiang shook his head: "Since everyone else was silenced, they couldn't have left only this one as a threat. I suspect Ms. Zhang was most likely hypnotized and doesn't remember that past. The people who silenced her let her go because..."
She is General Lin's wife; perhaps General Lin is protecting her, or perhaps His Majesty is giving General Lin face.
His Majesty?
Yu Hanjiang's mention of this person is not surprising. Although His Majesty is not on the list, this plan must be related to His Majesty. Otherwise, how can we explain the clones of several princes in the palace?
Xiao Lou's gaze swept over the star coins on the ground.
One hundred pink banknotes, similar in color to RMB, were neatly laid out on the ground in order.
Besides the fact that the anti-counterfeiting features are different from the current banknotes, confirming that this is the third edition of the Star Banknote issued before 2975, are there any other clues on the banknote?
He squatted down and carefully examined both sides of the banknote.
Suddenly, Xiao Lou said, "There's a problem with the serial numbers on the banknotes."
Yu Hanjiang paused for a moment, then walked over and squatted down next to Xiao Lou: "Number?"
Xiao Lou said, "Bank ATMs don't keep that many banknotes. Large cash withdrawals require prior appointments at the bank. For example, in my hometown, when people get engaged, they usually need brand-new banknotes. They make an appointment in advance to pick them up at the bank counter. The new banknotes that are picked up in this way all follow a pattern, which is that they are consecutive numbers."
Yu Hanjiang's eyes lit up as he carefully examined the number area in the lower right corner of the back of the banknote.
The first one is G446805;
The second card is SABFD31;
The third one, G446806;
The fourth AMCR333;
The fifth one is G446807;
The sixth image is AEFPF13...
The 1st, 3rd, and 5th banknotes are all odd-numbered consecutively; the 2nd, 4th, and 6th banknotes are all even-numbered consecutively.
Xiao Lou reclassified the banknotes spread on the ground and explained, "The consecutive banknotes all start with G, so they must have been withdrawn from the bank by appointment; while the banknotes that are not consecutive and have messy serial numbers must be clue banknotes that Old Mr. Shao specially found and inserted into this pile of banknotes."
After Xiao Lou categorized them, everyone looked at the banknotes on the ground—and sure enough, they were right.
This stack of 100 banknotes consisted of alternating odd-numbered notes that were all consecutive and even-numbered notes that were not consecutive. Ultimately, 50 consecutive banknotes and 50 banknotes with randomized serial numbers and clues were selected.
By eliminating the interference of consecutive banknotes and focusing only on the "clue banknotes" with their random serial numbers, a strange pattern can be discovered.
Xiao Lou said, "The only numbers on the clue banknotes are 1 and 3."
Upon closer inspection, everyone indeed discovered that none of the 50 clue banknotes contained any numbers from 0 to 9; they were all 1s and 3s. The second banknote was 31, the fourth was 333, the sixth was 13, the eighth was 1111, and so on.
Ye Qi looked bewildered: "What do 1 and 3 represent?"
Xiao Lou is good at math, but he has only heard that the conversion between decimal and binary is 1 and 0, and has never heard what 1 and 3 represent.
The room suddenly fell silent; everyone was clearly deep in thought.
Just as everyone was frowning in thought, Shao Qingge suddenly stepped forward and said softly, "This is Morse code."
******