"Let's begin!"
Thomas had grown tired of wasting time on emotions and dialogue with Song Heping.
He realized he simply couldn't impose psychological pressure on Song Heping.
The most effective way to conduct an interrogation was to break the opponent psychologically.
Even if you couldn't do it at first, it was necessary to exert pressure through speech, creating a mental burden for the other person.
It was akin to placing a giant stone on the opponent's nerves first; using torture later would double the effect.
The dialogue with Song Heping made Thomas feel as if he were inadequately trained.
It gave him an illusion—
that he was the one being pressured.
Several strong men dragged Song Heping up from his chair and, like on an airplane, carried him to what they called a "massage bed." They then laid him face-up, and quickly bound his limbs securely.
A "Scorpion" team member tilted the bed so that Song Heping's head was positioned lower, then scooped up a soaking wet towel from a bucket and covered Song Heping's face with it.
The moist towel made breathing difficult.
Song Heping tried his best to calm himself and breathe in the last bit of air.
Now, his biggest worry was not himself.
But rather the other "Musician" team members.
He himself might be able to withstand it.
But he didn't know if the others could.
Hunter and Disaster Star, one a lawless group and the other from the Caucasus Special Forces, presumably had decent resistance to interrogation.
White Bear and his spouse, along with Grey Wolf, were elite ex-paratroopers from Russia, supposedly also able to resist for a while.
The most concerning one was the chef.
This guy was out of prison.
Who knew if Russian prisons trained people this way or had similar methods.
If someone couldn't hold on and gave something away, it could get messy.
He truly hadn't expected Thomas and Simon to play this card so early.
He had thought it would at least be a day later.
By then, Angel's movement might have started, and the crisis might have been averted.
But things had come to this point; one could only say man's plans are inferior to those of heaven.
Everything was up to God now!
Before he had finished his thoughts, a "Scorpion" member already picked up a white plastic water can, about 10 kilograms in volume, and started pouring it onto the wet towel on Song Heping's face.
The stream of water was directed right at Song Heping's face, clearly trained professionally, targeting precisely the mouth and nose.
Song Heping closed his mouth, holding his breath.
After one can, the "Scorpion" member picked up another can beside his feet and continued the previous actions.
Soon, another can of water had been poured.
This member bent down to pick up a third can and continued to waterboard Song Heping.
By the fifth can, Thomas checked his watch and saw that three minutes had passed.
Song Heping seemed unharmed!
"FUCK!"
He felt surprised.
No one could last that long.
He had conducted water torture interrogations no less than ten times.
Most people would start to feel like they were drowning within thirty seconds.
Very few could last more than a minute.
Yet Song Heping had gone a full three minutes without showing any signs of struggle.
Could he be a fish?!
Breathing through gills?!
The bystanders continuously refilled the white plastic cans with tap water.
Because they had only prepared ten cans.
At this rate, they would run out soon.
"He's sneaking breaths!"
Upon close observation, Thomas finally spotted the clue.
It turned out that each time the water in the can ran out, and the torturer turned to bend over for more water, Song Heping would seize the moment to sneak a breath.
The window of time was very brief, and Song Heping's speed of sneaking breaths was extremely fast.
So much so that nobody had noticed this detail before!
"This sneaky bastard!"
This time, just as the team member had finished pouring a can of water and Song Heping had just started to catch his breath, he immediately pressed his hand over Song Heping's mouth and nose, tightly smothering him.
When the team member lifted the water can again, he let go.
This time, Song Heping really was in big trouble.
Just as he was about to breathe in, the water came.
The impact brought by the jet of water quickly rushed into his nostrils, forcefully filling his nasal cavities, then quickly inundating his mouth and flooding into his lungs.
This time, Song Heping held on for about 30 seconds before he finally started to react.
The oxygen in his blood was quickly depleted, and a conditioned reflex caused the nerve center to make the torturee open his mouth wide and forcefully breathe and swallow.
However, this caused even more water to be sucked into his stomach, lung lobes, trachea, and bronchi.
"Ugh—"
Song Heping began to vomit.
The continual choking on water gave him a sensation of drowning.
This feeling was extremely terrifying, making it seem like death was just a step away.
After pouring three more cans of water, Thomas removed the wet towel from Song Heping's face.
But this time, he dared not get too close.
After all, he had learned from the previous experience.
Standing beside the "massage bed," he sneered and asked Song Heping, "Song, how does it feel?"
Song Heping had finished vomiting and began to cough violently.
This was a completely normal physiological reaction.
After being subjected to such water torture, the central nervous system was still functioning, but the thoughts were completely disordered, needing time to recover.
Finally, Song Heping's breathing eased.
Thomas continued, "Song, if you don't want to suffer through that again, you'd better tell me what you know."
"Tell... tell you what... cough cough —"
Song Heping coughed and retorted.
Thomas asked, "Was it you who planned the attack three nights ago in the Northern Desert on the liaison meeting with Lars?"
"What liaison?"
Song Heping continued to feign confusion.
He really didn't want to return to the prior water torture.
It seemed actual resistance to interrogation wasn't so easy to endure.
It was damn painful.
"Playing dumb with me, is that it?"
Thomas waved his hand, stepped back half a step, and signaled his subordinate to continue.
The "Scorpion" team member immediately picked up the towel to place on Song Heping's face.
"Wait!"
Song Heping shouted.
Thomas held back his subordinate and then turned to Song Heping, "Well? Ready to tell the truth?"
He thought Song Heping had caved.
Song Heping was actually cursing inwardly.
He cursed Thomas's ancestors thoroughly.
He had to find a force to sustain himself.
This was crucial in resisting torture.
Now, he repeatedly vowed to himself to kill Thomas before he would ever bow down.
"This kid is just buying time."
A "Scorpion" team member seemed to catch onto something.
Thomas's face suddenly changed, he grabbed the towel and was about to place it on Song Heping's face.
"Wait, I'll talk."
Song Heping spoke again.
Thomas stopped his action.
"Then speak."
Song Heping licked the water drops from his lips and slowly said, "That night wasn't about Lars meeting anyone, I didn't see anything, I just saw your mom sneaking off with a man, sorry..."
He smiled at Thomas mischievously.
"Did I ruin her fun?"
Thomas's face had been pale, but it instantly turned purplish-red.
"Kill him! Force-feed him ten buckets of water! I want to see if he's still so tough!"