Chapter 105: Everything Is Ready

Last time, when Xu Chuyao interrogated Vulture, he indeed broke down and answered every single question they asked.

But after being locked up here to cool off for a while, Vulture suddenly realized something was wrong. He had told them everything, and while the information made the Supreme Society uncomfortable, it also seemed to put these people in front of him at ease.

As a completely defeated captive, Vulture knew he would never be comfortable again in this life. He resolved to make everyone else uncomfortable too—if anyone saw another person feeling comfortable, it would make them uneasy.

So…

“Leader, that’s the situation.”

After forcibly bringing back the uncooperative Vulture, Shi Lei and Cheng Li carefully stood on either side, reporting to Xu Chuyao, worried that they might have jeopardized the mission.

“No problem,” the beautiful and commanding Supreme Society officer pointed to the corner of the wall. “Put him there for now.”

So the two of them each grabbed an arm and shoved Vulture into the corner. But he was indifferent, having already seen through the world’s illusions. No matter where they threw him, it didn’t matter. He simply collapsed onto the floor, the hardest part of his body hitting the ground being his mouth.

Xu Chuyao first picked up the permit document Yu Jia had brought back. The application date was two days before the press conference—a very tight schedule.

“What kind of press conference requires a Third Rank Weifeng to lead the team? He just decided on a whim. Maybe that’s why the original team leader was replaced, messing up others’ career prospects.”

Patting the permit, she then walked over to Xiao Si Nuo. “How’s it going? Have you sorted it out?”

Everything downloadable from the academy’s network had been collected and handed over to the team’s special information processing expert for organization.

“Working hard on it,” Xiao Si Nuo took off his headphones. “There’s a lot of data, but most of it is useless.”

“Maybe there’s no useless information,” Xu Chuyao said. “Every word he said deserves attention.”

“Uh, do we also need to pay attention to the daily morning choir singing of the school anthem?”

“…No, that definitely isn’t necessary.”

It wasn’t until the next day that the bedraggled Vulture was dragged up from his corner and made to sit down in a chair.

Xu Chuyao sat opposite him and leisurely said, “Back again, huh? I remember you did well last time. You provided us with a lot of intelligence.”

Vulture’s face looked like it had been scalded by boiling water. There was nothing left to fear. Without even looking at the pretty and cute young woman in front of him, he seemed as if everything in the mortal world no longer concerned him.

Xu Chuyao didn’t mind and continued talking to herself: “I recall you mentioned last time that you had a contact person—someone important in the Supreme Society who led and directed your group on several missions. During interrogation, you said this person’s title was ‘Professor.’”

At this point, she paused slightly, then shifted her tone: “Actually, we already know who this professor is. He’s Professor Svina, academic advisor of the Rockmorgan Family and an expert in Spirit Ore research.”

Vulture suddenly lifted his head sharply but still said nothing, his mind wavering between belief and doubt.

Xu Chuyao stood up and circled his chair as she spoke: “Don’t misunderstand—I didn’t bring you here to question you, but to share something with you. Remember last time I said they lied to you? Do you know just how much they lied?”

Soon, under her signal, Xiao Si Nuo played an audio clip.

“Student Svina, may I ask why you decided to arrest your best friend?”

“Because he made mistakes. The school always teaches us to treat every ordinary person like family, to protect them, especially their human rights and lives. Any spiritual power user who harms ordinary people should be severely punished.”

“Wang Ba Liang!”

Vulture lost control.

“Wang Ba Snake, that Wang Ba Snake. He clearly said we are born to stand above ordinary people; ordinary people’s lives aren’t really lives… How can he say one thing and then another? Could it be that even that sentence was a lie?”

Xu Chuyao returned to her seat and exchanged a glance with Xiao Si Nuo.

It was time to play the next clip.

Xiao Si Nuo understood immediately, typing a few keys on the computer before playing a synthetic audio of Svina’s voice: “I order all units to mobilize, surround Commerce Plaza, and kill them all—leave not a single drop alive!”

“Did he say that exactly?” Xu Chuyao asked.

Vulture wiped his eyes with his sleeve, grinding his teeth: “He didn’t say ‘all units mobilize,’ only ‘send as many people as possible.’ And the last line is wrong—it said to capture alive the white-haired, red-eyed one, leaving the others’ fates unspecified… But the voice is the same, exactly!”

“You didn’t process the voice?”

“It was processed, but after removing the processed noise, the voice is exactly the same.”

In truth, Vulture hadn’t heard the noise-processed audio. His statement was somewhat subjective, but that was enough.

Xu Chuyao was playing a game of matching, with a clear goal and result. The process could be a bit vague, but what mattered was making people believe.

She recorded his testimony and tapped the chair with satisfaction. “Thank you for cooperating. Someone will escort you back later, but before that, please have a meal in the cafeteria.”

Finally, she gathered the clippings, permits, and recorded testimony Xiao Si Nuo had organized, making a call as she headed upstairs.

The last and most important step before the final move was to convince the person who could give the order.

“Hey, Principal, please help me contact Minister Long. I have something important to discuss with him… and he’s looking for me too, so that works out.”

“Where will you be a thousand years from now? What kind of scenery will surround you? Our story isn’t beautiful, but it’s unforgettable.”

Perhaps today’s story was too sad. Broken Shadow couldn’t control its emotions and started singing at midnight.

“All right, all right, Sister Broken, take a break first,” Sexual Repression Shadow coaxed it down, then looked toward the small mirror on the bedside table. “Milky Ning, your turn.”

Called upon, Milky Ning Reflection seemed a bit distracted and took a moment before speaking: “We already told our story a long time ago. Whatever Yao Yao says, I just listen. She says it’s time to get angry, I grunt. She says it’s time to eat, I go ‘ah woo ah waa.’ She says it’s time to pay up, I mumble something.”

Its onomatopoeia was vivid, but Sexual Repression Shadow was quite displeased: “I gave you so much time to organize language, and this is all you’ve got? What have you been doing these past days?”

“I’ve been thinking,” Milky Ning Reflection replied confidently, “Don’t you guys feel something’s off these days?”

The moment it mentioned things in the Research Institute, Sexual Repression and Broken Shadow were silenced.

Quietly, Shen Ning herself had to poke her head out and respond: “What’s off?”

“A lot,” Milky Ning said, “but the most off thing is your daily work. Look, every time you’re taken to that little room, you casually chat with whatever’s inside, but your emotions are perfunctory and inexplicable. And they’re just as perfunctory and inexplicable in return.”

Shen Ning blinked: “Isn’t that just being cautious?”

Being perfunctory is being cautious—not willing to talk much. As for inexplicable, well, you’re taken to such a place daily to converse with a lunatic; it’s no wonder it feels that way.

As for the other side’s attitude, Shen Ning hadn’t noticed, because she thought lunatics saying anything was normal, no emotions involved.

“Speaking of which, I still don’t know what exactly they want me to do,” Shen Ning yawned and lay back down in the nest.

No one knew how many days had passed outside. Every day was the same tedious routine, but the nightly story meetings became more interesting, turning into the girl’s spiritual comfort.

“Why don’t you tell a story too?” Sexual Repression Shadow finally found a chance to speak.

“No thanks. You can see my story anytime,” the girl murmured as she burrowed deeper into the nest, “Besides, my story with her has only just begun…”

Her voice grew quieter and quieter.

She missed her.

All because of Sexual Repression, which dredged up people’s sorrows.

“Better to rely on Minister Long. Maybe tomorrow will bring a breakthrough.”

The next day, Shen Ning did indeed sense a turning point—but not for any other reason than what Svina told her:

“Today’s work is a bit different. You might encounter a special situation, so prepare well.”

That said, she was still taken to the little room, and the procedure was no different from before.

Different? It was exactly the same.

“No,” Milky Ning Reflection suddenly said, “This time, the conversation is very slow. Remember to stay cautious.”

Outside the glass window, Svina sat with a plump senior supervisor. The other looked very nervous.

“Was it too early to take it out and have it talk with Number Zero? Have you convinced Zero to cooperate?”

“Of course not, Supervisor Fort,” Svina said calmly. “But we must have some breakthrough.”

Supervisor Fort couldn’t help but look at the psychokinetic waveform detector on the control panel.

Every time Shen Ning spoke to whatever was behind the door, it left a special waveform on the detector. But in all these days, they had only recorded a few types:

[Helpless], [Suspicious], [Inexplicable], [Perfunctory].

For the Research Institute’s purposes, these were the least useful waveforms, collectively known as one term—‘Open Search.’

“I think the family wants us to obtain positive waveforms,” Supervisor Fort reminded him.

“Positive? How can it not be positive?” Svina smiled. “Reuniting with old friends after many years—aren’t you happy about that?”

“The premise of happiness is that the friends are still human…”

Before Supervisor Fort could finish, the indicator lights on the control panel lit up, signaling resonance was occurring in the observation room.

Inside the room, Shen Ning waited for a long time. Just when she felt bored, a familiar voice suddenly sounded.

“Little Shen Cha Fei.”

The girl immediately stood up.

“Uncle Liu?! How did you…”

Bzzt! Vrrr! Buzz!

The detector recorded an extremely high-frequency waveform, steep as a thousand peaks, plunging like a deep valley.

“This is definitely not happiness! Damn it!” Supervisor Fort almost jumped up, grabbing the walkie-talkie. “Check the isolation device! Confirm dispersal channels and destruction measures are online…”

“What happiness? We already confirmed all that; otherwise, I wouldn’t have let her in,” Svina said lazily. “Don’t worry, the waveform will only stay here—it won’t spread out at all.”

As he stretched, he quietly hid the hint of regret in his eyes.