Interstellar Beastworld: Raising A Cub With My Mummy System!-Chapter 47: ANYONE COULD BE THE RAT

The holographic display flickered back to life as Lin Yue dismissed and then recalled it.

She could not let this go.

Not now.

The data was too important, and the implications too serious to ignore.

She stepped back into the web of information, letting it close around her.

Names and numbers floated at eye level.

Transaction logs spiraled in neat columns.

Red highlights pulsed like warning lights, drawing her attention to the places where things did not add up.

"MS, show me the full chain for the largest transfer in the past year."

The display zoomed in.

A single transaction, dated eight months ago, stood at the center.

The amount was significant, enough to cover the salaries of five staff members for a full year. It had been marked as a payment to a vendor for "estate maintenance supplies." But there was no corresponding delivery record, no inventory log, no signature from any staff member confirming receipt.

"Who authorized this?"

The screen highlighted a name.

Not Mira.

Not the head of security.

Not the quartermaster.

Someone lower in the hierarchy, someone whose job description did not include approving six‑figure payments.

"That’s odd." Lin Yue murmured. "This person should not have had that level of access."

[Unless their credentials were borrowed. Or stolen. Or given to them by someone higher up who wanted to hide their own tracks.]

She zoomed out again, looking at the pattern of smaller transactions that fed into the larger ones.

Over time, the same small amounts appeared, like tributaries flowing into a river.

Each one was approved by different people, at different times, using different vendor names.

But they all shared one thing. The funds eventually converged in the same account.

"Whose account?"

The screen hesitated.

Then a name appeared.

Lin Yue’s blood went cold.

"That is... that is not possible."

[The account is registered under that name. But accounts can be opened in someone else’s name without their knowledge. Identity theft is not uncommon, even here.]

She stared at the name.

It was someone she had met only once, briefly, during the tour of the estate.

Someone who had seemed polite, professional, and utterly unremarkable.

A mid‑level administrator who handled supply orders and delivery schedules.

Nothing about them had suggested wealth or influence.

"MS, pull up this person’s employment record. How long have they worked here?"

The file appeared.

Ten years.

No complaints.

Several commendations for efficiency.

A salary that had increased steadily over time, but not enough to explain the amounts flowing through their account.

"Run a background check. See if they have any other sources of income."

[Already running. Preliminary results show no other employment, no investments, no inheritances. Their spending patterns are modest. They live well within their means. Nothing unusual.]

"Then where is the money going?"

[That is the question. The account receives funds, but the funds do not stay long. They are transferred out again within days, routed through a series of shell accounts that I am still tracing. The final destination is not yet clear.]

Lin Yue rubbed her temples. This was getting more complicated, not less. The rat was not just one person. It was a system, a network of people and accounts and transfers designed to hide the truth.

She thought about the people she had met since arriving at the estate. Mira, with her warm smile and sixteen years of service. Henry, the head of security, who had bowed to her in the garden. Sunam, the quartermaster, who had given her the mobile for Auriel’s crib.

The mid‑level administrator whose name now glowed red in the display.

Any of them could be the rat.

All of them could be involved.

She needed more information.

"MS, show me the staff schedules for the past six months. Overlay them with the dates of the largest transfers."

The display shifted again.

A calendar appeared, filled with names and shifts. The red transaction dates stood out like wounds. Lin Yue studied the patterns, looking for someone who was present every time a large transfer occurred.

Several names appeared. Mira was on duty for most of them, but that made sense. She was head of household. She was always on duty. Henry appeared frequently, but his presence was also expected. Security logs showed he was often in the administrative wing during those times.

Then she noticed something. One name appeared on every single transaction date, without fail.

Not Mira.

Not Henry.

Not Sunam.

That mid‑level administrator again.

They were present every time. They were listed as the approving officer for several of the smaller transfers. And their account was the destination for the consolidated funds.

But they were not the only name. There was another, higher up, whose name appeared on the approval logs for the largest transfers. That name was redacted in the public records, but MS had uncovered it.

Lin Yue touched the name.

The display expanded, showing a profile. The person had been with the estate for over twenty years. They had direct access to the accounts. They were trusted by the family. They had attended Uriel’s birthday parties as a child. They had helped plan the King and Queen’s anniversary celebrations.

And they had been quietly siphoning money for years, using the mid‑level administrator as a front.

Lin Yue stepped back from the hologram, her mind reeling. She had spoken to this person yesterday. They had smiled at her, asked about Auriel, offered to help with anything she needed.

The rat was not a stranger. The rat was someone who had been here all along, hiding in plain sight, trusted by everyone.

She looked at Auriel, still sleeping in his bassinet. Then back at the floating data.

"MS, I need to be sure. Triple‑check everything. I cannot make a mistake."

[Already running additional verification. It will take several hours. The data is extensive, and the layers of deception are deep.]

"I still have time." She dismissed the hologram with a wave of her hand and walked to the bassinet. Auriel’s tiny chest rose and fell, his platinum hair catching the morning light.

She would find the truth. And when she did, she would protect her family from whoever was trying to destroy it.

But first, she needed to let Uriel know that something was wrong.

Not the details, not yet.

Just that she had found something concerning.

She picked up her phone and typed a message.

"We need to talk. Tonight. Nothing urgent, but important."

His reply came within seconds. "I will be there."

She set the phone down and looked out the window. The garden was peaceful, the pond still, the stone marker for Auriel’s tree standing alone in the grass.

Somewhere in this house, a traitor was watching.

Waiting.

Thinking they were safe.

They were not.