Chapter 80: An Illusory Secret?

“Something happened?!” Chen Hao’s face was marked with surprise. Although he had already steeled himself for this moment thanks to the fragments of scenes that had flashed through his mind, hearing Shaotian say it aloud still caught him off guard. “What happened? Is it related to those planes that arrived here?”

“That’s right.” Shaotian nodded. “I can’t tell you much, young master. What I can say is that about a month ago, something unprecedented happened with that building deep in the forest.

There are always people stationed around that building, so when they noticed anything unusual, they reported it right away to the relevant authorities and the company.

Everyone reacted swiftly, and a large number of personnel were dispatched to Kestal in succession. That’s when the master and I came here.”

“What exactly was the anomaly? Was it serious? Tell me a little about it.” Although Chen Hao already understood what had happened, he wanted confirmation from Shaotian that the visions in his mind weren’t mere illusions. “Earlier today, I saw security personnel hired by Dad’s company—were they also brought in by Dad?”

Shaotian paused, surprised. “You saw them, young master?”

Chen Hao nodded.

“Oh, so they’ve already arrived.” Shaotian understood. “Actually, they weren’t hired by the master; they were contracted by another company.”

“Huh? Another company?” Chen Hao was puzzled.

“Yes.” Shaotian nodded again. “The reason the master didn’t hire them is because, after learning about Kestal and coming to inspect the situation himself, he felt their company’s capabilities were insufficient for handling this anomaly. If he brought them in, it would only lead to unnecessary casualties. So he brought internal personnel from the Chen family instead.”

“Wait!” Chen Hao quickly caught something amiss. “You said Dad didn’t hire them because he was worried about their lack of strength and possible casualties?”

Shaotian nodded.

“But that doesn’t add up.” Chen Hao voiced his doubts. Wanting to get straight to the heart of the matter, he didn’t hide his knowledge and described the scenes from his mind to Shaotian, without explaining how he knew. Under Shaotian’s astonished gaze, he continued, “Did Dad encounter an attack by enemies as soon as he arrived? How did he escape from those strange attacks?”

“Uh…” Shaotian was put in an awkward spot by Chen Hao’s words. “Don’t be anxious, young master. Things aren’t quite as you imagine. Although I don’t know how you learned about what happened in Kestal Forest, the master didn’t experience what you described.

When he arrived in Kestal, he wasn’t attacked. The situation was simply that he noticed the building in Kestal emitting a strange green light—the same kind you mentioned earlier.”

“Then why did Dad think it was dangerous, and that regular security companies would suffer casualties?” Chen Hao was now thoroughly confused, his face blank with bewilderment.

The specific reason, I think, is that many years ago, the master had a previous experience with Kestal. Perhaps he went through a similar situation then, which is why he has such concerns. Maybe the first time he came to Kestal, the building also emitted that light, and it was after that that the tragedy of those years occurred. So when he saw the building glowing again recently, he thought bringing in ordinary security companies would lead only to unnecessary deaths.

Chen Hao nodded in understanding and then asked, “So who hired those security companies? From what I know, it seems more than one company has sent people here.”

Shaotian obviously knew the answer, but his hesitation betrayed his difficulty. Clearly, Chen Ding’an had instructed him not to reveal too much to Chen Hao.

But the situation had changed. Although he himself hadn’t said much, Chen Hao had already learned about the events in Kestal from somewhere. So perhaps there was no longer any need to be overly secretive.

Shaotian understood his young master’s temperament well: the more you try to hide things from him, the more determined he becomes to uncover them. Anyone could understand that.

Now that Chen Hao had already discovered some details and was present in Kestal, if he withheld information, Chen Hao might go into the forest himself to investigate. If he encountered any danger, that was the last thing the master wanted. The master’s intention in keeping secrets was simply to protect Chen Hao’s safety, as well as that of Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou. So perhaps it was better to tell Chen Hao a few things.

Having realized this, Shaotian answered directly, “The companies that hired those security personnel—you’d never guess. In fact, you should be quite familiar with them.”

“I’m familiar?” Chen Hao was startled, then mentally reviewed all the companies he might know. “Wait! Don’t tell me it’s the Phantom Company?”

Shaotian confirmed, “Exactly! It’s Phantom. But Phantom didn’t hire those security personnel under their main company’s name. They used one of their subsidiaries—a transport company—to do it.”

“Why?” Chen Hao was clearly baffled. As a former employee of Phantom, Chen Hao knew enough about the company. He might not know the core secrets, but he was aware that Phantom had its own security force, whose capabilities far surpassed those of most independent security companies. Why would they spend money to hire outsiders instead of using their own powerful team? It made no sense.

Shaotian understood what Chen Hao was getting at. “I can’t figure out the reason either. And there’s something else you might not know. Ever since Kestal was discovered years ago, and then Phantom was founded, they’ve always taken Kestal’s matter very seriously.

After years of research with little progress, most organizations and even governments lost interest and only sent people for periodic surveys and reports.

But Phantom was the exception. All these years, they’ve been persistent, relentlessly researching the building and barrier at Kestal, never letting up or growing discouraged.

This time, too—the anomaly was first discovered by Phantom, and they were the ones who loudly hired five security companies to come here, as if they knew something unusual would happen in advance.”

“It’s definitely strange.” Chen Hao nodded, thinking for a moment before asking, “Phantom was founded after the Kestal incident and began its rapid rise from then on. At first, it was just a small, obscure online gaming company. So… could it be that Phantom discovered something here at Kestal, or achieved some breakthrough, which allowed them to succeed and grow so quickly?”

After all, their products—whether games or other tech—always seemed to possess technology far beyond that of other companies.

Shaotian agreed wholeheartedly. “You’re absolutely right, young master. The master has always suspected the same. All these years he’s never stopped probing into Phantom, but unfortunately, by the time he noticed something was wrong, it was already too late.

Phantom’s global influence had grown enormous, and it was difficult for anyone the master hired to investigate their internal secrets. Every time he made a breakthrough and was about to learn more, outside forces would intervene and force the investigation to halt.

But precisely because of this, the master has grown even more suspicious of Phantom’s connection to Kestal.

Recently, the master discovered something remarkable—the only useful progress he’s made in all his years of investigating Phantom.”

“What is it?” Chen Hao asked urgently.

“The master managed, through various channels, to obtain a list of some Phantom Company insiders. Every name on that list is a survivor of the Kestal incident,” Shaotian said.

…

“You must understand, young master, the first researchers to go to Kestal came from different institutions and companies, representing diverse fields and industries. Yet after that incident and Phantom’s founding, all those people joined Phantom and took up positions in its various departments.

It’s deeply perplexing. At the time, Phantom hadn’t even been founded, had no background or resources, so why would such a group of top professionals from every field collectively join a company with no prospects? Isn’t that odd?”

“It is…” Chen Hao agreed, then suddenly remembered something. “By the way, that tomboy in the hotel room, the one named Dong Xin—does Father know anything about her?”

Shaotian paused, uncertain. “I don’t know. Why do you ask? Why mention her so suddenly?”

“Because that tomboy is an employee of Phantom, and apparently part of the management! On the day I resigned, Phantom transferred her to my department as its new head.

But after I resigned, she showed up here in Kestal. I’m wondering if she came for me or for Kestal itself.”