Chapter 151: Finding Them
Qin Wenxing said, "We searched this place before, but we didn't find anything. There aren't any secret rooms here either."
He wanted to say that maybe they had made a mistake, but seeing how serious both Nan Yu and Yu Lanfeng looked, he swallowed the words. Besides, whether they were right or wrong would become clear soon enough.
Yu Lanfeng and Nan Yu seemed not to have heard him at all. They slowly walked around the cramped storage room piled high with miscellaneous items. While observing the surroundings, Nan Yu quietly spread out his Mental Power, inspecting every corner.
After about twenty minutes, he finally discovered something.
Calling it a crack wasn't entirely accurate. It was more like a seam created by a special kind of metal.
When the two sides remained closed for a long time, the seam would gradually disappear, making it look, feel, and even sound exactly like an ordinary wall or floor. There would be nothing to arouse suspicion.
In fact, the two sides had now almost completely fused together.
But Nan Yu's Mental Power was practically made for cheating.
He could clearly sense that there really was a seam there.
Unfortunately, opening it through conventional means was impossible.
If they wanted to get it open quickly...
They would probably have to rely on Yu Lanfeng's ability.
Nan Yu turned to look at Yu Lanfeng.
Yu Lanfeng immediately understood what he meant.
A cluster of golden-red flames appeared in his hand.
Even Qin Wenxing was startled.
Everyone knew that anything coming into contact with the Marshal's flames would be burned into nothingness.
At such close range...
Huh?
They quickly realized the flames gave off almost no heat.
Yu Lanfeng had deliberately controlled the temperature.
Since that was the case, they no longer needed to retreat.
It was the first time they had ever seen the Marshal deliberately suppress the temperature of his flames for someone's sake.
Nan Yu watched as Yu Lanfeng slowly brought the flames toward the spot where he had detected the anomaly.
The wall gradually began to melt.
As the molten section grew deeper...
Half a meter...
Then one meter...
There was still nothing behind it.
No one spoke.
They all waited.
This was the place Nan Yu had identified.
If Nan Yu hadn't said anything yet, neither would they.
Only after the melted tunnel extended beyond one meter did Nan Yu finally say,
"We're almost there!"
Everyone immediately focused their attention on the wall.
Only a dozen or so seconds later—
A hollow space finally appeared behind the melting wall.
Once the wall had completely melted away, they saw the person inside.
It was the stand-in who had been kidnapped in Nan Yu's place.
The hidden compartment was extremely narrow, only large enough to fit a single person.
Which meant...
The other two weren't here.
But since "Nan Yu" was hidden in this compartment, the other two probably weren't far away.
They were likely concealed inside similar hidden spaces elsewhere.
This hiding method was unbelievably troublesome.
If Nan Yu hadn't been here, they never would have found them.
Nan Yu said, "Take him to the medical room first. We need to make sure he's alright."
Yu Lanfeng replied, "Their target was you. Since they captured the wrong person, they definitely wouldn't have done anything to him. You can rest assured."
Although he said that, Nan Yu still wasn't completely relieved.
After all, no one knew what kind of things an organization like this might do.
He had heard they researched all sorts of bizarre drugs.
What if they had forced him to take something intended to control him?
That would be dangerous.
Yu Lanfeng asked, "Going back to rest now?"
Nan Yu shook his head.
"I'll help find the remaining two first. We absolutely can't let those traitors hide somewhere and escape."
"They're not just traitors. They both worked inside Border Region One Headquarters. One of them even had unrestricted access to the archives. They know a lot of classified information. That's exactly why we have to find them as quickly as possible."
Yu Lanfeng said, "There's no rush."
Nan Yu shook his head again.
"Brother, before, this was your legion, so naturally you had the final say. But now we're together."
"Which means this legion belongs to me too."
"I should contribute to my own legion as well."
Yu Lanfeng sighed helplessly.
He wanted to explain that the files inside the archive room weren't truly confidential. Even if they leaked, it wouldn't be a major issue.
But Nan Yu clearly didn't see it that way.
Still...
Nan Yu had one point absolutely right.
The two traitors had worked inside Headquarters.
They undoubtedly knew many sensitive military secrets.
If those secrets leaked, Border Region One's defensive deployments would definitely be affected.
Capturing them quickly was indeed necessary.
Originally, Yu Lanfeng had planned to catch them himself as quickly as possible.
He hadn't expected Nan Yu to think this way.
It surprised him.
But...
It wasn't a bad thing.
Nan Yu searched the cramped storage room one more time.
Finding nothing else unusual, he moved into the two neighboring rooms.
The first contained nothing.
The second did.
"It's here, Brother."
Yu Lanfeng repeated the same method, melting the wall.
The instant the hidden person was exposed, terror appeared on his face.
Qin Wenxing reacted instantly.
With astonishing speed, he flashed in front of the man and knocked him unconscious before he could react.
If they started fighting inside Headquarters using destructive abilities...
Border Region One Headquarters would have to be rebuilt from scratch.
Normally that might have been acceptable.
But right now everyone was busy dealing with the beast tide.
Who had time to rebuild a headquarters?
Even Nan Yu let out a sigh of relief.
"Good. Nothing happened. But next time, don't give the last one any opportunity to make a move."
Using the same method, Nan Yu searched every room on the underground first floor.
Unexpectedly, the last person was hiding in the farthest corner.
Nan Yu only found him at the very end.
For a while they had even suspected he wasn't here anymore.
By the time Nan Yu finally located him, his Mental Power was almost completely exhausted.
If he hadn't found him then, he would have had to stop searching and return to recover.
Fortunately...
They found him in the end.
This time, Yu Lanfeng was visibly angrier than before.
When he found the first person, his face had merely been cold and expressionless.
Now...
His expression was terrifying.
Even Qin Wenxing and the others could clearly feel it.
Only Nan Yu noticed nothing.
After all, Yu Lanfeng was always gentle whenever he looked at him.
Nan Yu said, "Now that we've found everyone, let's go back and rest. We can interrogate them tomorrow. Everyone's already exhausted after today."
Yu Lanfeng nodded.
"Alright. Let's go back."
The traitors were important.
But to Yu Lanfeng...
Nan Yu was far more important.
He left the two traitors to Qin Wenxing.
He trusted Qin Wenxing to handle everything properly.
Qin Wenxing was already very experienced at this sort of work.
Meanwhile, the stand-in who had impersonated Nan Yu had already undergone a full examination in the medical department.
The results had come back.
There was nothing wrong with him.
He had simply been given a rather large dose of sedatives and would probably remain asleep for another two days before waking up.
Only after hearing that did Nan Yu finally relax.
"Let's go, Brother. Let's head back."
The corners of Yu Lanfeng's lips curled upward.
"You're exhausted. Get to bed early."
Nan Yu nodded.
"I'm alright. I just used too much Mental Power. One night's sleep will fix it."
In truth...
Calling it "used too much" was putting it lightly.
His Mental Power had been completely drained.
If he had kept maintaining his external Mental Power for another two minutes, he probably would have collapsed.
Naturally, he wasn't about to tell Yu Lanfeng that.
He just wanted to hurry back and rest.
Only after watching Nan Yu fall completely asleep while hugging the tiny Nianshen Grass did Yu Lanfeng quietly stand up and leave the room.
As for the two traitors...
He wasn't willing to wait even one more moment.
He intended to deal with them immediately.
They had actually allowed themselves to be bought off by that organization and had dared to kidnap his little partner.
That had completely crossed his bottom line.
When Yu Lanfeng arrived at the interrogation room...
Even Qin Wenxing, standing outside the entrance, felt his legs trembling at the sight of the Marshal's terrifyingly cold expression.
It was absolutely frightening.
There was no need to guess.
Yu Lanfeng was standing right on the verge of exploding.
Anyone foolish enough to provoke him now would immediately discover what true despair felt like.
Qin Wenxing and the others obediently stepped aside.
Yu Lanfeng walked into the interrogation room.
Looking at the two men hanging there, he said nothing.
He simply stood there.
The way he looked at them...
Was exactly the way one would look at corpses.
Perhaps he was already considering how to kill them.
The two hanging prisoners had not fully regained consciousness yet.
They still didn't know Yu Lanfeng was staring directly at them.
But Ability Users were especially sensitive toward killing intent and hostility.
Especially those capable enough to work inside Headquarters.
Without that level of perception, they never could have made it this far.
Within only a minute or two under Yu Lanfeng's murderous gaze...
Their instincts sounded the alarm.
Both men abruptly regained full consciousness.
The moment they opened their eyes and saw the situation...
They realized they were finished.
Yu Lanfeng was standing directly in front of them.
The two men swallowed nervously.
There was no hope left.
They were truly done for.
How had this happened?
How could a hiding place like that have been discovered so easily?
They had personally replaced those walls.
Special anti-detection materials had been mixed into them.
According to every test they had conducted...
The legion's detection equipment shouldn't have been able to find anything.
They had tested it repeatedly beforehand.
Finding them should have been impossible.
Impossible.
So...
How had they done it?
But it was already too late to think about that.
"Marshal... I know... I know everything... I'll tell you... I'll tell you all of it..."
Yu Lanfeng showed no interest in asking anything.
Still...
If they wanted to talk...
He could let them finish before dealing with them.
In any case...
Neither of them would leave this room alive.
"Go ahead."
"If the information you provide is worth more than your life..."
"You might survive."
"But..."
"You speak separately."
"If one of you repeats information the other has already given..."
"It won't count."
The instant Yu Lanfeng finished speaking, both men began talking at once.
Very quickly, they discovered they were constantly repeating each other's information.
In their panic, they contradicted themselves, misspoke, and blurted out all kinds of incoherent nonsense.
Yet Yu Lanfeng calmly sorted through everything they said.
"So."
"You're saying someone bought you off."
"But you don't know who that person actually is."
"And the four Ability Users who replaced the patients and came here from the rear hospital..."
"You were the ones who arranged all of that?"
The two men nodded frantically.
Each desperately insisted that he had been the first one to reveal it.
Yu Lanfeng asked,
"That's all you know?"
"Nothing else?"
Of course there was more.
The most important information should have been the mastermind behind everything.
Unfortunately...
Neither of them knew who that person actually was.
So they could only offer other details instead.
Yu Lanfeng continued,
"How did that person contact you?"
"How were the payments—or whatever you wanted—delivered?"
"Or..."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"How exactly did you communicate?"
"There had to be some intermediary connecting both sides."
"Right?"
The two men suddenly fell silent.
Yu Lanfeng was slightly surprised.
Even under this level of intimidation...
They were still hesitating?
He hadn't expected the mastermind to have such a terrifying hold over them.
Whoever that person was...
They clearly had enormous influence.
The two men stammered,
"I'm sorry, Marshal..."
"We didn't want this either..."
"But if we hadn't..."
"If we hadn't..."
"We couldn't..."
"Really... we're sorry."
"Just kill us."
Yu Lanfeng roughly understood.
Even knowing he intended to torture them to death...
They still refused to reveal the most important information.
Perhaps...
Speaking would cause harm even after their deaths.
Not to themselves...
But to their families.
"Where are your families?"
"I'll bring them here immediately."
The two men suddenly raised their heads.
They realized Yu Lanfeng genuinely intended to protect their families.
But they also understood...
He genuinely had no intention of sparing either of them.
If that was the case...
Perhaps...
They might as well confess.
Even if they kept silent and died here...
Who could guarantee the mastermind would actually honor the agreement and leave their families alone?
Maybe he would still harass them.
Or assassinate them.
Being a soldier really did require having no weaknesses.
They had become vulnerable because they had families.
Their enemies had simply exploited that weakness.
Of course...
They couldn't deny another truth.
They had also been tempted by the enormous reward.
Their resolve had wavered.
That was what had brought them here today.
If they had reported everything to Yu Lanfeng from the very beginning...
They would have become heroes.
They would have earned military merit.
Perhaps even promotions.
The money might have been less.
But it would have been earned honestly.
Their futures would have remained bright.
Instead...
They were hanging here, waiting to die.
After thinking for a moment, Yu Lanfeng said,
"Forget it."
"They probably don't know anything useful anyway."
"In that case..."
"I'd rather vent my anger."
"And..."
He looked meaningfully at the two of them.
"If they trusted you enough to leave you here carrying out this mission..."
"They must have already prepared for the possibility of you being captured."
"Which means..."
"They're not afraid of anything you might reveal."
"So everything you know was probably false information they deliberately fed you."
"That kind of information is useless to me."
"And..."
He smiled faintly.
"How do you think I became Marshal?"
"You think 'because of my family' is some special excuse?"
"Do you know how many criminals, prisoners, and traitors I've interrogated before?"
"They all said exactly the same thing."
By then, Yu Lanfeng had already given up trying to obtain any more information from them.
"I'd better finish this quickly."
"If Xiaoyu wakes up tomorrow morning and I'm not there..."
"He'll definitely get angry."
He muttered quietly to himself.
The two hanging men were Ability Users.
Naturally, they heard every word.
After that, Yu Lanfeng said nothing else.
Nor did he continue with ordinary torture as before.
Instead...
He walked over and released one of the prisoners.
The man's expression became even uglier.
Yu Lanfeng had only one reason for setting him free.
He grabbed the man's shoulder and hurled him straight at the nearby wall.
The prisoner passed directly through it.
Yu Lanfeng followed him inside.
The wall...
Had never been real.
It was merely a holographic projection.
One man had been taken away.
Only the other remained behind.
He was the one who had directed the infiltrators through the surveillance system.
The man who had just been taken away was his partner from the archives.
About ten minutes later...
Yu Lanfeng emerged from behind the holographic wall.
The remaining prisoner immediately smelled the thick scent of blood clinging to him.
He hadn't been able to hear anything.
Nor could he see what had happened inside.
But judging from the overwhelming smell of blood...
His partner had almost certainly met a miserable end.
Now...
It was his turn.
A wave of scorching heat swept across the rope suspending him.
It snapped instantly.
He landed steadily on the ground.
Looking at the ropes that had already been burned completely into ashes, he silently inhaled a sharp breath.
Yu Lanfeng simply stared at him.
The man had no choice.
With trembling steps, he walked toward the same place.
Sure enough...
He passed straight through the holographic wall.
The first thing he saw was blood scattered everywhere.
In one corner lay a mangled human-shaped lump.
There was no need to guess.
It was obviously his partner.
He cautiously took another couple of steps forward, as though that might somehow move him farther away from Yu Lanfeng.
Yu Lanfeng remained expressionless.
"Now it's your turn."
He understood.
Of course he understood.
If he lost...
He would become another heap of flesh barely retaining a human shape.
If he won...
He could walk out alive.
No one would stop him.
The problem was...
Who in the Empire could possibly defeat Yu Lanfeng?
The strongest Ability User in the entire Empire.
People who had only heard rumors might suspect his reputation had been exaggerated.
But...
Those who had truly witnessed Yu Lanfeng fight knew perfectly well—
There wasn't a single ounce of exaggeration.
He was exactly as powerful as the stories claimed.
Perhaps...
Even stronger.
Only now did the man truly understand what absolute despair felt like.
"Marshal..."
"Don't you want to know?"
"I know a lot."
"I've even been to one of their bases."
Yu Lanfeng interrupted him.
"Are you certain that base is still there?"
The man froze.
Only then did he realize Yu Lanfeng was right.
Their so-called base had gathered many people...
But in reality...
It could be abandoned and relocated at any moment.
Everything he knew...
Really was worthless.
Yu Lanfeng had already lost his patience.
He had already wasted enough time on them.
He wanted to finish this quickly and return to his room to sleep beside Nan Yu.
That was what truly mattered.
"Finished?"
"No..."
"I'm not finished!"
"Marshal!"
"Don't you want to know how they contacted us?"
"Weren't you asking how they made the transactions?"
"I also know many methods they use to control people."
"Shouldn't those be important?"
"Once you know them, you can investigate your own legion and discover how many traitors are still hiding inside."
"Marshal..."
"Don't you want to know any of that?"
"I know there are still people you haven't caught."
"If you spare my life..."
"I'll tell you everything."
"I won't hide a single thing."
Only then did Yu Lanfeng speak.
"How do you know the people you know are all of them?"
The man froze.
Only then did he realize...
Yu Lanfeng was right again.
How could he possibly know that everyone he knew represented the organization's entire membership?
Then another realization struck him.
The mysterious mastermind had never allowed him to contact the other so-called members.
The official explanation had been to protect everyone's identities.
But...
The real reason might simply have been...
Those people weren't allies at all.
The mastermind had merely lied to reassure them.
Yu Lanfeng said calmly,
"Ready?"
"Same rules as before."