Crystal

Hill was feeling restless.

The case had hit a dead end. Apart from Captain Jeram's mutiny and its connection to the relics, he couldn't find any other leads. The problem was, Reno and the others had already realized this before him. It was precisely because of this issue that he was brought in to decipher the key to all of this. Moreover, the problem itself was fraught with contradictions: why did it only affect some people and not others?

So where did the problem lie? What did the relics do to Jeram and his crew? And how could the relics be made to function?

Hill didn't know any of these answers.

He was just an investigator, not a scientist.

But in order to unravel everything, Hill had to request all the information from Claire from the Edward Hospital and the Tianhe Four Research Institute and painstakingly go through each one. The information was piled up like mountains, filled with various professional terminologies, and understanding them alone took Hill a great deal of effort.

But Hill had no choice; he had to grit his teeth and persevere.

Time slipped by quietly.

Unbeknownst to Hill, over thirty Earth days had passed, and yet there had been no breakthrough in his investigation.

This made him frustrated. Despite going through every piece of information on the ship and questioning everyone, there were hardly any meaningful clues left due to the battle and subsequent repairs of the Abrodi.

At times, Hill couldn't help but wonder if the case would come to an end here. Was it impossible for him to uncover the deeper secrets?

It was the investigator's inherent persistence and refusal to give up that kept him going.

That day, Hill came to see Reno again. "I think I still need something from you."

Reno replied, "I've told you everything I know."

"That's not enough," Hill shook his head. "Details! The key lies in the details. There must be some detail we've overlooked or missed. I need you to think more carefully about it."

Reno thought hard for a long time but ultimately shook his head. "I really can't think of anything."

"Don't worry, we can take our time. You know, sometimes the details come to light with just a flicker of inspiration, an accidental discovery," Hill reassured him.

Reno shrugged helplessly. "Well, if you insist, you can keep following me around. If I remember anything, I'll be sure to tell you."

"Thanks a lot."

So from that day on, Hill became a frequent visitor to Reno's side.

He came to see Reno every day, chatting with him, talking to him, studying his habits, and understanding every detail of his military life, jotting them all down.

Most of the time, he was serious, but occasionally, he would exchange jokes with Reno. As they got to know each other better, their relationship gradually grew, no longer as confrontational as it was at the beginning.

Today, in the sports cabin, Reno was playing tennis.

His way of playing tennis was a bit peculiar; instead of using his hands to hold the racket, he used his telekinesis.

He controlled the racket with his mind to hit the ball, then used telekinesis to control the opponent's racket to hit the ball back. He played against himself, requiring precise use of telekinetic abilities and timing.

Several chips were attached to his body, faithfully recording his data. Sarah stood not far away, watching the changes on the holographic image, while Russell Hill sat at a table drinking tea, flipping through a stack of files, with Claire sitting beside him, watching Reno intently.

After playing for a while, Reno finally stopped.

He came down from the court and sat down beside Claire.

"How do you feel?" Claire handed him a drink.

Reno took a sip and replied, "How do I feel?"

He tilted his head and thought for a moment before answering, "One is observing my behavior, wanting to find out even my urination habits, while the other is delving into my inner self, wanting to number every cell in my body. How do you think I feel?"

"Doesn't sound too bad," Claire laughed.

Sweat soaked Reno's clothes, and he took off his shirt, revealing a sturdy physique and a pendant hanging around his neck. It was a crystal pendant, with a silver chain holding a rhombus-shaped crystal that looked clear and translucent. Unfortunately, there was a long crack on the surface, greatly reducing the value of the crystal.

"Unfortunately," Hill said as he looked at the crystal pendant.

Reno glanced down, gripping the pendant. "Are you referring to this?"

Hill nodded. "Why not replace it?"

"This is a memento left to me by an old friend."

"I see," Hill shrugged, then casually asked, "Was it damaged when it was left to you?"

"No, it was damaged during the last battle with the Divine Clan, probably due to the energy dispersion," Reno replied, putting on another piece of clothing and carefully tucking the pendant back into his clothes.

Sarah, who was conducting the examination nearby, interjected without lifting her head. "That's impossible. The energy would disperse after it leaks out. If it could penetrate and damage your personal belongings, it would mean your whole body was exposed to energy radiation, not just the pendant. And it wouldn't leave such a long crack, even if it were to crack, it should be the kind that spreads out, like a snowflake."

Reno shrugged in response. "Then it might have been from a fall."

A thought occurred to Hill, and he extended his hand. "Can I take a look at it?"

Reno took out the pendant and handed it to Hill.

Hill held the crystal pendant and examined it carefully.

He asked Reno, "Can you tell me the exact time it was damaged?"

Reno spread his hands. "The battle was too intense. I couldn't pay attention to this. I only noticed it was broken three days after the battle ended."

Hill's expression became serious as he looked at the crystal pendant.

He asked, "I've never seen this style of crystal before. It doesn't look like an ordinary crystal. Captain Reno, can you tell me about the origin of this thing?"

Claire couldn't help but speak up, "Mr. Hill, I think you're being overly sensitive. It's just a pendant. I don't think it has anything to do with Captain Jeram and the relics."

But Hill shook his head in response. "Every clue may have value until proven otherwise."

As he said this, he looked at Reno.

Surprisingly, Reno's expression seemed extremely peculiar at that moment.

Looking at Reno's expression, Hill realized something and said, "It's related to the relics, isn't it?"

Reno swallowed hard and replied with some difficulty, "To be precise, it's not related to the relics, but to the Divine Clan."

"The Divine Clan?" Everyone was stunned.

Reno explained, "It was obtained from a member of the Divine Clan, a master of the mind."

A master of the mind, one of the most terrifying beings of the Divine Clan.

If the Shadow Warriors were the strongest warriors who manipulated energy for attack, then the mind masters were the kings of mind control, perhaps not as elusive as the Shadow Warriors, but definitely more terrifying.

These peculiar energy life forms possessed a special ability, which was mind control, the ability to control a person's mind to serve oneself. At the beginning of the war, there were several rebellions within the Federation Army. These rebel forces all rebelled suddenly without warning, including some loyal soldiers.

Because the Federation Army didn't know about the existence of mind masters at first, they suffered a lot. Military operations were leaked, and attacks from behind during wartime, and a series of rebellions caused great harm to the Federation Army. It was only with the increase in incidents that the Federation Army gradually uncovered the mystery and found ways to prevent the infiltration of mind masters.

After that, mind masters brought unprecedented damage to the Federation. Since then, although mind masters occasionally appeared, their threats gradually diminished. The Federation Army knew that mind masters couldn't control from a long distance, and most of their control was done on the ground battlefield. Since controlled soldiers would have certain physiological fluctuations, as long as each soldier who had left the starship was checked upon return, controlled individuals could be identified, minimizing the damage.

After that, the control ability of mind masters over the Federation starships greatly weakened.

Although the significance of mind masters on the space battlefield had been reduced to the lowest level, on the ground battlefield, they were still the most terrifying force, making every soldier executing ground tasks extremely cautious, fearing encountering this nightmare-like existence.

But now, Reno was telling them that this crystal was obtained from a master of the mind from the Divine Clan, which was shocking.

Claire stood up suddenly. "Mind master, my goodness... Captain Jeram. Reno, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Reno shook his head. "I couldn't."

"Why?" Claire was puzzled.

"Because it was left to me by Dandy Bag," Reno replied softly.