“Li Yixing was the positive case study in their daily anti-interrogation drills.”
The Alliance First Star System Military District Command Headquarters was located in the Yas district of planet Nuwa, only a five-minute flight from Feng Zhao and Li Yixing’s marital home.
When Feng Zhao arrived at the command post, he happened to run into his good friend, Wade. The latter, dressed in full military uniform, observed Feng Zhao sternly for a long moment before finally asking: “You did not fight last night, did you?”
“…” Thinking of the previous night’s situation, Feng Zhao felt a bit of a headache. “If you guessed, keep your voice down. Do you want everyone to know that he and I are not on good terms?”
“Tsk…” Wade punched Feng Zhao in the arm. “I am just worried about Major General Feng’s safety.”
“…” No need to worry. At the very least, neither of us can kill the other,” Feng Zhao replied with a grin, slapping Wade’s shoulder in return. “Besides, Lieutenant General Alina has been summoning me for three consecutive days, demanding that I return to the Fifth Star System’s Great Wall Fortress within half a month to resume my post.”
As the deputy commander of the Sixth Column of the Gladius Legion at the Great Wall Fortress in the Fifth Star System, it was logically impossible for Feng Zhao to leave his post for such a long time. However, to facilitate this political marriage, the former Alliance General, Stan Davis, and his father, Feng Tingsong, had worked together to grant him two months of leave.
This vacation had overdrawn the Major General’s annual leave for the next ten years.
“The Oga Empire has not been very honest lately,” Wade sighed. “They constantly send small combat fleets to harass the Great Wall Fortress in the Fifth Star System. They even attacked a starship transporting supplies to the fortress. The situation at the fortress is very tense now, and it is very likely that a war is coming. I do not blame Lieutenant General Alina for trying every possible way to get you back.”
“So, when are you planning to leave?”
“Three days from now,” Feng Zhao said. “Leaving too quickly will lead the hacks at the Yas Evening News to write that the couple is at odds.”
“Cough, cough, cough…” Wade choked. “The Yas Evening News’ ability to make something out of nothing is truly growing.”
The two complained for a while about the newspapers’ tendency to jump to conclusions, then both went into their respective offices.
On the other side, Li Yixing had arrived at the Security Department building and reached his office.
The work of the Security Department was complex and extremely intense. It was the Alliance’s first line of defense for classified information and the front line for invading the Oga Empire to obtain intelligence. As Minister, Li Yixing had very little free time. This wedding was actually held during his annual leave. Thinking of this, a trace of malicious pleasure appeared on Li Yixing’s cold face.
Feng Zhao had been on planet Nuwa for almost a month and a half. He must have taken ten years of annual leave!
Thinking that Feng Zhao would not be able to take a long vacation for the next ten years, Li Yixing finally felt the anger that had risen due to their fight last night subside a little.
Thinking that Feng Zhao would soon return to the Great Wall Fortress and disappear from his sight, his mood improved even more.
The normally indifferent Minister, feeling exceptionally good, handled his official duties and then got up to head to the interrogation room.
Yesterday, the Security Department’s special task force successfully captured an Imperial spy, who was now being held in the underground interrogation room.
Li Yixing’s subordinates knew he was busy with his wedding these past two days, so they did not ask him to conduct the interrogation personally. However, they did not expect this Imperial spy to be so stubborn; they had been unable to get any useful information out of him at all.
Therefore, they finally sent a message asking Li Yixing to come down and interrogate him personally.
The underground interrogation room had no natural light, and there were not many large lights installed, so the environment was very dark. On both sides of the corridor were interrogation rooms with one-way glass, also known as solitary confinement rooms, where Imperial spies who endangered the Alliance or other dangerous individuals were held.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
The rhythm of the black military boots crossing the corridor was distinct and exceptionally clear, sounding like a Grim Reaper coming to claim a life.
The guard responsible for patrolling the underground interrogation room opened the door to one of the interrogation rooms for Li Yixing. Under the dim light, a miserable, gaunt figure stood with calm indifference.
“I am loyal to the Empire. No matter what methods you use, I will not reveal anything regarding the Empire.” The haggard person did not even raise his head, merely speaking mechanically to inform the uninvited guest of his stance.
Li Yixing pulled out a chair and sat down in front of the figure.
“He is very stubborn,” the accompanying special task force member told Li Yixing. “We used many methods, coercion, and inducement, but he remained unmoved.”
Li Yixing nodded slightly to indicate that he understood, then waved for the special task force members to leave.
The large interrogation room was left with only him and the Imperial spy.
In the middle of the long table, a one-way partition stood, blocking the suspect’s line of sight, but the interrogator could clearly observe every move the suspect made.
“Wu Mingyu…” Li Yixing opened the projection on the interrogation desk; the Imperial spy’s identity was displayed. “This is not your real name. It is the name you used while operating in the Alliance.”
The ID photo on the projection showed what ‘Wu Mingyu’ looked like. He was a young man, seemingly only in his early twenties, wearing a white lab coat with brownish-gray eyes.
“The data shows that you studied at the Boya Medical School on planet Nuwa, majoring in Biomedical Engineering.”
‘Wu Mingyu’ remained silent.
Li Yixing spread his hands: “It is okay. Do not be nervous. I just want to chat with you.”
This sentence was met with ‘Wu Mingyu’s’ mocking laughter.
“You Alliance people use interrogation, coercion, and torture,” Wu Mingyu snorted. “Now you say you want to chat with me? What kind of good person are you pretending to be?”
“It is just normal interrogation procedure.” Li Yixing rolled up his shirt sleeves. The Imperial spy was extremely exhausted after experiencing a constant rotation of interrogators throughout the night. Li Yixing decided to talk to him about something more relaxed.
He leaned back leisurely in his chair. “Wu Mingyu… how old are you this year? I am referring to your real age.”
“No comment.” Wu Mingyu refused to answer the question.
“Fine,” Li Yixing did not force him, merely stating flatly, “I am thirty years old this year. I think your real age should be about the same as mine.”
“I should have come to see you yesterday, but unfortunately, I had to attend a wedding.” Li Yixing continued, “Are you married?”
Speaking of this, ‘Wu Mingyu’s’ eyes moved slightly: “No.”
“Ha, that makes sense,” Li Yixing said. “Spies really should not get married; it is easy to delay their partners.”
“Just like you being locked up here. If you were married, your partner would be very sad to receive your death report.”
Wu Mingyu became somewhat irritable upon hearing this.
“None of your business!” Wu Mingyu said. “To die for the Empire is the greatest honor!”
“Fine, truly honorable, but do you really not want to go back?” Li Yixing sighed. “Being locked up here is a dead end. Think about your lover…”
“Shut up!”
“Then let us change the subject.” Li Yixing spread his hands and steered the conversation smoothly. “How are the courses at Boya Medical School? Are they very difficult?”
Wu Mingyu sneered: “What is difficult about the courses at your Alliance medical school?”
Li Yixing raised an eyebrow: “Not difficult? Then you must be very capable.”
Having received a lukewarm compliment, Wu Mingyu’s expression began to sour.
“Presumably, you must have been an extremely outstanding researcher in the Empire, for them to send such an excellent researcher to the Alliance after changing your identity.” Li Yixing watched Wu Mingyu’s increasingly ugly expression and said flatly, “They really spent a fortune.”
“…Since you are a student of Biomedical Engineering, you must have been a researcher in the relevant field when you were in the Empire.”
Li Yixing’s fingers tapped on the table unhurriedly: “You want to enter the Alliance Institute of Life Sciences.”
This was a very suspicious point. Almost all the Oga Empire spies captured by the Alliance in the last ten years had been in the military or administrative departments. Although spies in the education and technology engineering sectors had occurred from time to time, this was the first time one had been caught in biomedical engineering.
Moreover, this spy’s goal was not just to enter a university, but to enter the Institute of Life Sciences.
And when one finds a cockroach in the house, there are actually countless cockroach eggs in the corners.
The content and scope involved in the Institute of Life Sciences were very broad; it was necessary to figure out exactly what they were trying to do.
‘Wu Mingyu’ raised his head upon hearing this, his eyes sinister. He knew he had exposed too much, so he simply remained silent and stood there with a tense body. From then on, no matter what Li Yixing asked him, he did not speak again.
The thirty-minute interrogation time passed quickly in the standoff. Li Yixing saved the recording inside the interrogation room as top secret and then deleted everything. He called the special task force personnel in through the communication channel: “Ordinary interrogation is useless.”
He did not avoid ‘Wu Mingyu,’ and his voice was neither loud nor soft, just enough for ‘Wu Mingyu’ to hear: “I will submit the relevant report to the Alliance Council. Now you may legally and compliantly use extreme measures.”
The special task force personnel nodded to indicate they understood. The one-way glass partition descended. ‘Wu Mingyu’ finally saw clearly who was interrogating him, but after just one glance, he was genuinely stunned.
Li Yixing stood up and looked straight at the Imperial spy, his tone calm: “You recognize me.”
Of course, he recognized Li Yixing. This man, who had been hunted for three months after escaping from the Imperial Intelligence Agency’s interrogation room, had once been the positive case study in their daily anti-interrogation drills.
That is correct, a positive case study.
There were no human rights for prisoners of the Oga Empire. During the month Li Yixing was locked in an interrogation room with no sun, after coercion and inducement were completely ineffective, he had been subjected to repeated food and water deprivation, sleep deprivation, physical abuse, sensory deprivation, psychological torture, and finally even electric shocks and drug-induced hypnosis in an attempt to make him talk.
But without exception, they all failed. Not only that, he even successfully escaped from the interrogation room in the end!
After this incident, the relevant personnel of the Imperial Intelligence Agency were all dismissed. The Intelligence Agency’s system underwent an unprecedented comprehensive upgrade, costing a full ten million Star Coins, equivalent to about fifty million Alliance Credits.
This man, whom he had only seen in textbooks and news reports, was looking at him like this. He did not seem surprised that he recognized him, and in the end, he only gave him a calm glance before leaving the interrogation room.
The sound of military boots rang out in the corridor again, followed by shocking screams!
Li Yixing’s footsteps paused for a moment, and then he disappeared from the underground interrogation room unhurriedly.