Chapter 181: An Unexpected Development
They didn't even need to ask about the second person who entered.
Without question, he had committed truly heinous crimes.
There was a foul, rotten stench clinging to him that simply refused to fade.
The smell itself was incredibly faint. Anyone who didn't possess mental sensitivity on Nan Yu's level—or whose senses weren't particularly sharp—would never notice the odor that seemed to seep out from the depths of his bones.
If anyone else had been sitting here, they probably wouldn't have noticed anything.
Unfortunately for him, the people here were Nan Yu and Yu Lanfeng.
The moment he walked in, they both sensed the gloomy aura surrounding him, along with that lingering trace of decay—subtle, yet impossible to shake off.
Since Yu Lanfeng was sitting beside him, Nan Yu didn't bother beating around the bush.
"Where did you buy your identity records?"
The man was obviously caught off guard by how direct the question was. He froze briefly before putting on a confused expression.
"What are you talking about? I've never purchased anything like identity records."
Nan Yu flipped through the man's file before looking up.
"Your identity records are fake. As for how we know, don't bother asking. I won't tell you."
His gaze turned icy.
"But understand this. Since I'm willing to say it directly to your face, it means we already possess more than enough evidence. Are you sure you still want to keep resisting?"
The man's expression barely changed.
"Doctor Nan, it's not that I refuse to admit it. It's that I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. My identity records document everything I've experienced since childhood. How could they possibly be fake?"
Nan Yu already knew he wasn't going to tell the truth.
The earlier questions had merely been probes.
He had never expected to expose the man with just two simple questions.
Still, if they confessed voluntarily, it would certainly save a great deal of trouble.
Unfortunately, the first experiment had failed.
It seemed their work ahead would be much longer than expected.
Nan Yu waved him toward the room farther inside.
No matter what, this man was already doomed.
After that, everyone who entered received exactly the same treatment.
Out of the [N O V E L I G H T] hundred people, only the very first one—Shuang Qingyue—had been released.
The remaining ninety-nine were all locked inside.
That room could hold at most one hundred people. Any more than that and it would be full.
There were now ninety-nine people imprisoned inside.
Nan Yu stood and checked the time.
Aside from the lengthy conversation they had with Shuang Qingyue, every other person had taken roughly one minute.
That meant the first hundred people had already consumed nearly two hours.
That simply wouldn't do.
There were still almost twenty thousand people left to interrogate.
Were they really supposed to question every single one individually?
Honestly, that was an enormous waste of time.
Compared to this, what they had done at Border Region One—burning every spy into ashes in one go—had been far more efficient.
The difference was that they still didn't fully understand the situation in Border Region Six.
At Border Region One, they had acted that way because they were absolutely certain every single one of those people was truly a spy. There had been no hidden circumstances.
Someone like Shuang Qingyue could still be investigated separately.
Besides, Border Region One had been very straightforward.
Every last one of them had been the same kind of person—willing to sacrifice anything for personal gain.
Nan Yu simply didn't want to kill even a single innocent person by mistake.
But reality was right in front of him.
Time was running short.
The other military bases were still waiting for them.
They couldn't afford to remain here much longer.
After thinking for a moment, Nan Yu overturned his earlier decision.
"Brother, time is more important now. Since that's the case, let's use the same method as before. It'll save us a lot of time. We still have more than twenty military bases left to visit. We don't have enough time to stay here. What do you think?"
He had assumed Yu Lanfeng would agree.
Unexpectedly, Yu Lanfeng shook his head.
"I know we're short on time. But the more rushed we are, the more loopholes we'll leave behind. Since we're already here, why don't we properly look around this military base first?"
He stood to leave.
Nan Yu reached out, caught his wrist, and pulled him back into his seat.
"Let's go together later. I already asked General Yao Anyang to bring over the second batch. Could you deal with the ninety-nine people inside first?"
Yu Lanfeng showed no intention of refusing.
He walked into the inner room.
The instant he opened the door, he snapped his fingers.
A raging inferno erupted inside the sealed chamber.
The people within didn't even have time to scream before the blazing flames reduced them to ashes.
Some burned so quickly that they had already become ash while others nearby hadn't even caught fire yet.
Those standing in the middle watched helplessly as the people around them were burned alive.
Only then did they realize they themselves would die within seconds.
Their minds went completely blank.
By the time they recovered, it was already too late.
The nightmare-like crimson-gold flames had already spread onto their bodies.
Within merely two or three seconds, all ninety-nine people—and everything they carried—had completely vanished.
Only a thin layer of gray ash remained scattered across the floor.
Nan Yu didn't pay much attention.
From childhood, they had been taught that spies deserved no sympathy.
Killing them all like this was honestly letting them off too easily.
If not for the sheer number involved this time, they would certainly have been tortured thoroughly before being executed.
Who knew how many military secrets—whether from their legion or even the Empire itself—they had already leaked over the years?
The damage had already been done.
It couldn't be undone.
If so, then using their lives as compensation was acceptable enough.
Yao Anyang quickly brought over the next hundred people.
This time Nan Yu moved even faster.
Half a minute per person was enough.
The questions remained exactly the same.
As expected, everyone gave virtually identical answers.
Even when there were slight differences, they all boiled down to the same thing.
In short, every one of them intended to hide the truth if possible.
If they couldn't hide it, then they would think of another excuse later.
What they didn't realize was that by refusing to answer differently, they were throwing away their final chance to defend themselves—or even argue for their own innocence.
Nan Yu's expression had been telling them exactly that the entire time.
Yet not a single one noticed.
He let out a sigh.
"These hundred people really disappointed me. Not a single one noticed the killing intent on my face. Not one realized that if they answered incorrectly, this would be the first—and last—conversation they'd ever have with us."
Afterward, even if they wanted to explain something, Nan Yu doubted they would bother listening.
The high-level intelligence they actually wanted regarding the organization behind the drug simply wasn't something these low-level spies knew.
Rather than wasting time on them...
It was easier to burn them to death.
This second batch—from beginning to complete extermination—had taken only one hour.
Nan Yu was rather pleased with his own efficiency.
Still...
There were more than nineteen thousand people remaining.
Questioning each one individually would still require over one hundred ninety hours.
Even if they worked ten hours every day, it would still take nearly half a month.
That was still far too long.
No matter how much Nan Yu thought about it, he couldn't come up with a better solution.
Finally, he looked toward Yu Lanfeng.
"Brother, do you have any ideas?"
Yu Lanfeng's answer was simple.
"There is no need to worry about time."
"We're not in a hurry. We have plenty of time to handle this. We'll move on to the next military base after we're finished here. Right now, many bases urgently need a large amount of combat strength to deal with the Ability Beast tides outside. For the time being, I don't want to eliminate all of that combat power."
Nan Yu frowned.
"But what about Border Region One? Didn't word spread after we wiped out every spy there? If the news gets out, the spies at other military bases might secretly flee together—and take countless classified secrets with them."
"And that's not all. Some particularly vicious people might even leave behind a 'parting gift' inside the base before escaping."
Yu Lanfeng answered calmly.
"Before carrying out this plan, I already shut down and sealed every communication channel between the military bases. Unless information had already been transmitted before I gave the order, nothing afterward could get out."
"People outside may know what happened at Border Region One."
"But the other military bases cannot receive that information."
Nan Yu nodded.
"If that's the case, then there's really no need to rush."
"Let's continue."
"And we don't have to race against time anymore. We can take it slowly."
While they spoke, Yao Anyang had already brought the third batch of one hundred people to the corridor outside the interrogation room.
Whenever the door opened even slightly, it meant the next person could enter.
Jiang Youjian stood at the very end of the line.
Watching people enter one after another without anyone returning made him increasingly uneasy.
An interrogation room couldn't possibly hold so many people.
Then why did the line keep moving?
The answer came to him quickly.
He had heard that the legion's Marshal, Yu Lanfeng, was inside.
Yu Lanfeng's ability was those overwhelmingly destructive flames that could burn anything into ashes.
People would naturally be no exception.
If that was true...
Then it made perfect sense why an endless stream of people could keep entering such a tiny interrogation room.
The room never became crowded because the people inside no longer existed.
The more Jiang Youjian thought about it, the more convinced he became.
But what was he supposed to do now?
Escape?
Impossible.
Even though he was still outside the room, the moment he showed the slightest abnormal behavior, Yu Lanfeng would notice immediately.
Before he could even take two steps, one fireball would reduce him to nothing.
That would truly be the most unjust death imaginable.
Standing at the very end of the line, his thoughts drifted aimlessly.
Before he even realized it...
It was his turn.
Someone pushed him into the dim interrogation room.
Two people sat inside.
One of them was the familiar Marshal Yu Lanfeng.
His eyes were closed as if he were resting.
He didn't look like he intended to participate in the questioning.
Which meant...
The person conducting the interrogation would be the one beside him.
Nan Yu.
Jiang Youjian recognized him instantly.
The Empire had reported extensively on Nan Yu.
The incident involving Bai Zhouyun had also made headlines for quite some time.
Later, after Yu Lanfeng had recruited him into the legion, everyone in the legion had become familiar with Nan Yu's appearance.
So Jiang Youjian recognized him immediately.
A Mental Power User was interrogating veteran Ability Users?
No...
Something wasn't right.
Jiang Youjian suddenly realized things weren't that simple.
Everyone before him had entered for only a very short time.
Otherwise, as the very last person, it would've been impossible for his turn to come this quickly.
Which meant his earlier observation had been correct.
Each person really had only about thirty seconds.
Sometimes even less.
Within such a short period, Nan Yu could probably ask only two or three questions.
And that was assuming the person cooperated.
But...
Would things really go that smoothly?
Jiang Youjian sat up perfectly straight.
He couldn't shake the feeling that simply being allowed to sit inside an interrogation room meant he was already being treated as a suspect.
The situation felt unbelievably strange.
Nan Yu didn't waste any time.
"The information you submitted to the military doesn't match the information we've uncovered during our investigation. Is there anything you'd like to explain?"
Jiang Youjian blinked.
He froze.
His records really did contain discrepancies.
But that was actually—
Just as he opened his mouth to answer, Nan Yu had already asked the second question.
"Where did you obtain those identity records? Who sold them to you? Who altered them for you?"
Jiang Youjian paused.
That fast?
Should he answer the first question...
Or the second?
He took a breath, intending to answer the second.
But Nan Yu immediately continued with a third question as though talking to himself.
"Given your financial situation back then, there was no way you could afford identity records convincing enough to fool everyone. Who helped you?"
After asking the third question, Nan Yu simply looked at him.
For some reason...
Jiang Youjian felt as though this was his last opportunity.
The words escaped before he even had time to think.
"A close friend paid for me. He said it was so I'd have a more perfect life history and would have a much better chance of being accepted into the legion after passing the examinations."
Nan Yu paused.
He actually answered?
And judging from his reaction...
It was the truth.
"Tell me everything from beginning to end. Keep it brief."
The atmosphere gradually eased.
Jiang Youjian quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Perhaps...
The immediate danger had passed.
"I didn't get into the Royal Military Academy back then."
"But I was admitted to Fuling Military Academy, the military academy with the closest overall standards to the Royal Military Academy."
"Before graduation, I was selected as one of the final exchange students sent to study at the Royal Military Academy."
"I never expected Marshal Yu's legion to begin its recruitment assessments at the academy while I was there."
"I admired Marshal Yu for a long time."
"So I signed up."
"I honestly thought I wouldn't be accepted."
"But somehow my application passed."
"I joined the assessment."
"And unbelievably... I passed."
"At first I didn't think much of it."
"But after I passed, members of the legion asked me several basic questions."
"That's when I realized that, since I wasn't actually a Royal Military Academy student, I probably wouldn't be accepted into the legion even if I'd passed the assessment."
"So when someone approached me and said they could transfer my student records directly into the Royal Military Academy..."
"I agreed without any hesitation."
Nan Yu frowned slightly.
"Who approached you? After secretly helping you enter the legion, did they ask you to sell military secrets? How much classified information have you provided them?"
Jiang Youjian twitched awkwardly.
"I honestly never expected things to become like this."
"One of them was the dean responsible for my graduating class."
"Her name was Bai Shanzhou."
"She was a very beautiful teacher. I remember her clearly."
"The other person was my best friend."
"He was also an exchange student from Fuling Military Academy."
"He was one of the academy's top students."
"His family was very wealthy."
"The teacher found the connections."
"He paid the money."
"Together, they solved my enrollment records."
"I graduated from the Royal Military Academy."
"Then everything proceeded naturally."
"I entered the legion."
"And I've remained here until today."
"My life before entering the academy... wasn't exactly ideal."
"So they altered that part."
"My father was a murderer."
"He killed someone over a trivial dispute."
"Then fled to avoid punishment."
"He abandoned both his wife and me shortly after I was born."
"About three years later, my mother left me home alone."
"She took all the family's money and went looking for my father."
"They were eventually arrested together."
"While on the run, my father committed several more murders during robberies."
"He was an ordinary person with no labor value."
"So he was sentenced directly to death."
"My mother was convicted of assisting a fugitive, harboring a criminal, concealing crimes, and several other offenses."
"She received a one-hundred-year sentence."
"She's still somewhere serving penal labor."
"They probably thought someone with my family background wasn't suitable for the military."
"So they created a new identity that could pass for the real thing."
"Everything involving my appearance, blood samples, DNA, and similar information was replaced with my own."
"The rest remained completely unchanged."
"So..."
"I've been living under someone else's life history ever since."
Nan Yu nodded.
"Very good."
"You've explained everything in detail."
"I'll have someone investigate whether everything you've said is true."
"For now, go outside."
"General Yao will take you where you need to go."
"And remember..."
"If you wander around instead of staying where you're told..."
"Don't blame anyone if you end up dead."
Jiang Youjian suddenly felt as though he'd escaped disaster.
As he stood up, he added,
"Doctor Nan, regarding your earlier question about whether they'd asked me to leak classified information..."
"I can guarantee they never did."
"I've lived a completely normal life all these years."
That was what he said.
And it had indeed been true.
But he was proven wrong almost immediately.
The very next moment, Yao Anyang knocked on the door.
His gaze swept briefly across Jiang Youjian.
"Marshal, according to schedule, it's currently the soldiers' designated time to contact their families. Just now someone claiming to be Jiang Youjian's friend requested to speak with him."
The instant those words were spoken, Nan Yu's mouth twitched.
He turned toward Yu Lanfeng.
Yu Lanfeng slowly stood.
His gaze settled on General Yao.
"Didn't I already order that no one was to communicate with the outside world until this matter is completely resolved?"
Yao Anyang nodded.
"Yes."
"But they used certain connections to route the communication directly through me."
"They asked me to make an exception."
"They said I could supervise the entire conversation."
"They only wanted to confirm that Jiang Youjian was safe."
Nan Yu frowned slightly.
He felt there was something far more complicated hidden behind this.
He just hadn't figured out what it was yet.
Yu Lanfeng said calmly,
"In that case..."
"Let him answer the call here."
Yao Anyang nodded.
"Understood."
He switched on the interrogation room lights.
The previously dim room instantly brightened.
Jiang Youjian leaned against the white wall.
Taking the communicator Yao Anyang handed him, he opened the communication interface.
"Baichuan? Why were you in such a hurry to contact me? This is a military base. We're not allowed to communicate with outsiders whenever we want. There's also a communication ban now..."
Zhou Baichuan replied,
"I know."
"I just had a bad feeling, so I had to contact you."
"Are you alright?"
"You don't look very well."
Seeing the genuine concern on Zhou Baichuan's face, Jiang Youjian suddenly felt an overwhelming bitterness welling up inside him.
Even so, he forcibly suppressed his grievances.
"I'm fine."
"The military base has been extremely busy lately."
"I can't talk for long."
"And contacting the General directly like this was too dangerous..."
Zhou Baichuan shook his head.
"I had no other choice."
"This was the only way I could reach you."
"Can you honestly tell me you're absolutely fine?"
"I know you too well."
"You can't fool me."
"Tell me."
"Did the identity records I asked Director Bai to help you create get exposed?"
Jiang Youjian hadn't expected Zhou Baichuan to be so observant.
He had noticed even the slightest change in his emotions.
Jiang Youjian himself hadn't realized it.
Just as he didn't know how to answer...
The communicator was suddenly taken from his hand.
On the other end of the call, Zhou Baichuan saw the communicator turn.
The entire interrogation room came into view.
He immediately sucked in a cold breath.
He should have realized this long ago.
How could the identity records of someone entering a military legion possibly be altered so easily?
Even if they succeeded...
Once the truth was discovered, the person would almost certainly be treated as a spy.
Imperial law clearly stated that once sufficient evidence proved someone was a spy, they could be executed immediately.
No one would bear any legal responsibility.
The instant Zhou Baichuan saw the interrogation room, he understood.
It was all his fault.
He had been the one who suggested it.
Director Bai had only helped because of his request.
And Jiang Youjian had agreed only because Zhou Baichuan had persuaded him.
He didn't realize the person holding the communicator now was Yu Lanfeng.
He assumed it was still General Yao Anyang.
"General Yao..."
"I can guarantee with absolute certainty that I never used him to pass information outside."
"If you don't believe me, investigate."
"I only wanted his background to look better."
"I didn't want him to be rejected or isolated after joining the legion because of his family."
Nan Yu listened quietly.
Everything Zhou Baichuan said placed every bit of responsibility onto himself.
His only goal was to prevent Jiang Youjian from suffering.
Yu Lanfeng slowly returned the communicator to Yao Anyang.
Yao Anyang looked at the screen.
"Zhou Baichuan."
"Do you understand what your actions mean?"