405: Major safety accidents occur

In Liu Zhi's holographic report, data flickered clearly.

"Based on current estimates of human traffic and resource revenue, the input cost for Blue Star Two is expected to be recouped within one year."

Li Yang looked at the report, his fingertips tapping lightly on the desk—the decision to purchase this Star had, after all, not been a mistake.

On the other side, good news also came from Xiao Ran.

He had successfully entered the Officer Cadre Advanced Studies Branch and achieved an excellent rating in his first assessment.

In the holographic communication, Xiao Ran wore a sharp Student uniform, his brows exuding the keenness and composure of a young man.

"Captain Li Yang, I didn't disappoint you."

Li Yang smiled at the communicator, his tone filled with satisfaction.

"I knew you could do it, kid. Keep this momentum, and strive to graduate with the best results in a year—by then, there will be plenty of tough battles waiting for you."

After hanging up the communication, Li Yang looked out at the Star sea beyond the porthole... The office was quiet, with only Li Yang leaning back in his large office chair, his eyes gently closed, fingertips resting on the edge of the desk, his brows still showing a hint of fatigue after handling his duties.

He had been working non-stop for several days and was taking advantage of a brief moment of leisure to rest.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

An urgent knocking sound suddenly broke the silence of the room, so heavy it almost knocked the door open.

Li Yang opened his eyes, a hint of surprise flashing in them—this knocking was too urgent, completely unlike the usual rhythm. He called out,

"Come in."

The door was pushed open abruptly, and Pal walked in quickly, his military boots making a slightly chaotic sound on the floor.

He, who was usually calm and capable, now had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and his breathing was somewhat hurried, even the epaulets on his shoulders swayed slightly due to the large movements.

"What's wrong, Pal?"

Li Yang sat up straight, his gaze sharply fixed on him.

"What has made you so flustered?"

As his most capable assistant and “secretary,” Pal had always been calm and collected, never showing such a flustered expression, even when faced with urgent battle reports of interstellar conflicts.

For him to be so discomposed, it must not be a small matter.

Pal took a deep breath, trying to calm his breathing, but his voice still carried an undisguised urgency.

"Captain Li Yang, Speaker Ou Ben asked me to inform you immediately—to attend a meeting in the top-floor conference room right away. All core members must be present. He said... there's an emergency."

"A meeting?"

Li Yang frowned slightly, his fingertips pausing gently on the desk.

Normally, routine meetings only required a notification via the smart brain, and video conferences were rarely held, let alone Pal personally rushing to urge him, specifically emphasizing "emergency."

He stood up and casually picked up his military jacket draped over the chair back.

"Do you know what it's about?"

Pal shook his head, his expression grave.

"I'm not sure. Speaker Ou Ben only said the situation was special and had to be discussed in person, not even willing to mention another word in the communication."

Li Yang's eyes darkened.

For Ou Ben to be so solemn and even secretive, this meeting likely concealed an extraordinary change.

He suppressed the speculation in his heart, no longer asking, and walked quickly towards the door.

"Alright, I understand."

As he spoke, he quickly straightened his collar and smoothed his slightly disheveled cuffs with his fingertips. As Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee and supervision director, even in an emergency, his demeanor could not be out of place.

As soon as he pushed open the conference room door, Li Yang was slightly startled.

Important officials from The Administrative Center Department of This Galaxy Cluster were all present, and even some Persons in Charge of departments who rarely attended regular meetings were seated.

Everyone's face showed varying degrees of anxiety; some unconsciously tapped the table with their fingers, while others stared intently at the optical computer screens in front of them, their brows tightly furrowed.

Ou Ben, who was sitting in the main seat, was currently resting one hand on his forehead, and with the other, he was irritably pulling at his hair, which was originally neatly combed but now looked somewhat disheveled.

Seeing Li Yang enter, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief instantly, quickly stood up, and waved to Li Yang.

"Secretary Li, you're finally here! Please, have a seat, we were just waiting for you."

His voice carried a subtle hoarseness, clearly indicating he had been anxious for quite some time.

Li Yang sat down in the reserved empty seat, his gaze sweeping over the tense expressions of everyone, and asked directly,

"What exactly happened? Judging by this setup, it doesn't seem simple, does it?"

As soon as his voice fell, the low murmurs in the conference room instantly stopped, and all eyes turned to him.

Ou Ben's voice trembled uncontrollably, his fingertips pressing tightly on the optical computer terminal, the scrolling casualty figures on the screen stinging one's eyes.

"Just received an urgent report from the energy Star monitoring station—Kolos Planet, an energy Star in This Galaxy Cluster, experienced a Star explosion during deep-layer mining."

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing violently.

"The entire Star... was directly and completely destroyed."

These words were like a giant rock thrown into a calm lake; the conference room instantly erupted into chaos.

Li Yang's hand beneath the table clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white. He had heard of Kolos Star in previous meetings; it was an important energy collection Star in This Galaxy Cluster, with a resident population of over ten thousand. How could it be... "And the casualty statistics are already out."

Ou Ben's voice was as rough as if it had been abraded by sandpaper.

"25,448 Imperial Citizens died, and 624,804 non-Imperial Citizens."

When he looked up, his eyes were bloodshot.

"No injuries, no disappearances; everyone on it is dead."

With a "boom," a Minister of a department slammed his hand on the table. "Star explosion? The safety threshold for deep-layer mining is triple-verified! How could it just explode?"

And the Minister of Energy, who was in charge of the energy Star, looked pale, muttering,

"Impossible... Last week's safety inspection report was still A-grade..."

Li Yang took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Over twenty thousand Imperial Citizens dead—this had already crossed the red line for a major safety incident.

According to imperial laws and regulations and official ordinances, the Ministry of Energy, the Safety Assessment Center, and many other departments responsible for supervision would all be implicated. It could be said that the entire Administrative Center Department of This Galaxy Cluster would be affected, and likely all would be placed on the accountability list.

And the Minister of Energy in charge of the Kolos Star project would probably face more than just a demotion.

"The special Investigation Team from the Virgo Supercluster is already on its way."

Ou Ben rubbed his stiff cheeks.

"They'll be here in six hours at most. Before then, we must compile all the mining logs, safety assessment records, and personnel deployment schedules for Kolos Star from the past six months, without a single error."

Li Yang nodded, his fingertips tapping lightly on the desk. Now was not the time to assign blame; cooperating with the investigation was the top priority.

The discussion in the conference room lasted for over an hour, the atmosphere alternating between intense and subdued.

The attendees engaged in a detailed discussion surrounding the causes and consequences of the incident and the countermeasures, with everyone fully expressing their views, and various opinions clashing and merging in the exchange.

Ultimately, the discussion reached a unanimous conclusion: first, systematically compile all necessary data, ensuring accuracy and clarity.

Once the Investigation Team arrives, they must cooperate actively and honestly with all inspection work, without concealment or prevarication, and fully assist in the smooth progress of the investigation.

After the meeting, Li Yang stood up and left the bustling conference room, returning to his office.

He sat behind his large desk, his fingertips gently tapping the surface, his gaze fixed on the deep Starry sky outside the window, lost in thought.

To be honest, although a major safety incident had occurred this time, causing a significant impact, upon careful review, the responsibility actually did not fall on his, Li Yang's, shoulders at all.

Just then, there was a soft knock on the office door, accompanied by a slightly hesitant call,

"Secretary Li?"

The voice was deep and familiar; it was clearly Ou Ben.

Li Yang collected his thoughts, adjusted his posture, and replied,

"Please come in."

The door opened, and Ou Ben walked in.

His face showed obvious fatigue, his brows tightly furrowed, appearing preoccupied. As soon as he entered, he sat down in the chair opposite Li Yang, let out a heavy sigh, the melancholy in his brows impossible to hide.

"What's wrong, Chairman Ou?"

Seeing his grave expression, Li Yang comforted him in a gentle tone.

"Didn't the meeting already finalize the plan? Although this is a major safety incident, interstellar mining inherently carries uncontrollable risks, and no one can guarantee absolute infallibility. We will actively cooperate with the investigation according to protocol, prepare all necessary documents, and it should be handled properly."

Ou Ben, however, shook his head, the worry in his brows undiminished. He leaned forward, his voice lowered even further, his tone carrying an undeniable seriousness.

"No, none of that is the key. According to the preliminary investigation results I just obtained, the private company that took over the mining rights for Kolos Planet has problems."

"Problems?"

The relaxed expression on Li Yang's face instantly faded, and his demeanor became serious.

It should be known that the mining of energy Stars is very important to the Empire, and its mining rights have always been strictly controlled.

Most core Stars are managed by relevant imperial personnel teams, meaning the Ministry of Energy in each Star system handles the mining themselves.

Only a small number of lower-tier Stars would, after strict review, be granted limited authorization to a few qualified private companies.

And the mining of Kolos Planet happened to be one of those few Stars authorized to a private company.

Companies that could obtain this permission were supposedly enterprises that had undergone Screening, with clean backgrounds. How could there be a problem?

Li Yang's gaze deepened, clearly realizing that this matter was probably more complex than imagined.

Li Yang frowned slightly, his fingertips gently rubbing the edge of the desk.

"What specific problems?"

Ou Ben's face grew even graver, his fingertips gliding in the air, bringing up a stack of projected documents between them.

"The company responsible for mining Kolos Planet is called Dongyuan Resources Mining Company. I checked all their archived documents, and the more I looked, the more something felt wrong—this company has no experience in large-scale Star mining whatsoever. All their past projects were scattered collections from asteroid belts; they haven't even touched a Star with a radius exceeding ten thousand kilometers."

"No experience?"

Li Yang's voice abruptly rose, carrying a tone of disbelief.

"This shouldn't be. According to the Empire's 'Interstellar Resource Development Regulations,' for a Star of Kolos's caliber, even if handed over to a private company, it must be undertaken by a company with at least three complete large-scale Star mining records. During the review, even the specifications and parameters of the mining equipment must be checked item by item. How could a novice company be allowed in?"

"Not only that."

Ou Ben's fingertip tapped the "Qualification Certification" section, and the text on the projection instantly magnified.

"They don't even have a large-scale Star mining qualification certificate; the company only possesses a small-scale Star collection permit. To put it plainly, they haven't even met the entry threshold."

The last sentence exploded like a thunderclap in the room. Li Yang sprang from his chair, his back muscles instantly tensing, his eyes churning with anger.

"This is a serious violation! Who approved this permission? This is treating the lives of Imperial Citizens as a joke!"

The cold light in the office reflected on his face, making his anger and solemnity even clearer.

"They don't even have a qualification certificate! How dare they let them take over large-scale Star mining!"

He took a deep breath, his fingertips tracing the red annotation "No large-scale mining qualification" on the screen, his tone full of incredulity.

It was like a child who only knew how to play with a toy gun suddenly being pulled to fire a large cannon—whether it could hit the target was beside the point; it would most likely backfire directly.

Now it seemed that the safety incident on Kolos Planet was not an accident at all; this was clearly the inevitable result of a 'backfire'!

"So you're saying..."

The now calm Li Yang's gaze moved away from the light screen, his pupils suddenly contracting.

"You mean, there's a shady deal of collusion between officials and businessmen hidden here?"

Once this thought surfaced, it grew wildly like a vine.

He sat back in his chair, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing his chin.

A company that didn't even possess basic qualifications being able to obtain the mining rights for a key imperial energy Star—it would be impossible without a tilt of power and an exchange of interests behind it.

The officials who signed the approval documents, the steps that gave this company a "special" green light, every single point reeked of corruption.

"It must be thoroughly investigated."

Li Yang's voice turned cold, the blue light of the optical computer screen reflecting in his eyes.

"Start the investigation from the first signature on the project approval, and see who put the 'toy gun' into the 'cannon's' muzzle."

"Could it be the Minister of Energy?"

Li Yang's brows furrowed, his fingertips tapping lightly on the desk, his tone carrying a hint of speculation.

After all, for projects involving large-scale energy Star mining, the final approval authority was firmly held by the Ministry of Energy, and the Minister, as the highest Person in Charge of the department, was undoubtedly the most crucial link in the process.

Ou Ben, however, shook his head, his fingertips swiping on the optical computer to bring up a segment of the meeting minutes. The image showed the Minister of Energy slamming the table and reprimanding during the meeting.

"Judging from his performance in the meeting just now, it doesn't seem like it."

He paused, his tone becoming more certain.

"Moreover, he could reach the position of Minister of Energy, holding the approval rights for most of This Galaxy Cluster's energy mining. This position itself is 'lucrative' enough, with already sufficient profits. Coupled with the anti-corruption crackdown launched by the Empire a few years ago, so many people fell due to illicit transfers of benefits. For him to safely hold onto this position, it's impossible for him not to be aware of the risks involved."