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Chapter 326 Like a Nightmare (Part 2)

……

After being injected with the drug, Honglian felt all the nerves in her body boil, and her senses were amplified countless times. Any pain could make her scream.

She suspected that she would soon die in excruciating pain, but the shock she had been hoping for never came. Not only was she conscious, but she was also able to think about why.

Is it because my injuries were not fatal at all?
She looked at her right hand, which was tied to the armrest of a chair—her knuckles were red and swollen, unable to move, her fingernails were peeled off, revealing the tender, light red flesh underneath… The pain was indescribable, excruciating, but far from killing her.

"How many wanderers have you encountered, and what are their names?"

Are they organized?

"What is their purpose?"

"Tell me about your conversation."

Wang Qianduan paid no heed to her screams, calmly asking the questions the organization wanted to know. Regardless of whether she answered, he would move on to the next topic after asking several questions, as if whether she confessed or not was unimportant.

What is he doing?
The interrogation was just a pretext; he simply took pleasure in torture and torment.

Impossible... Honglian immediately rejected this guess. The organization risked expanding the eroded area to bring their team to this world, and went to great lengths to separate all the agents, just to create an opportunity for Wang Qianduan to interrogate him. He would never use such an opportunity to satisfy his own desires.

Is it possible——

An extremely frightening thought surfaced in Honglian's mind.

"How did the Wanderer find you?" Wang Qianduan asked again.

Honglian suppressed her unease and deliberately created a non-existent scenario: a person wearing a black mask contacted her, and when the person removed the mask, Xiao Kanong's face was revealed.

In an instant, Wang Qianduan's brows furrowed.

Honglian did not miss this subtle change.

She suddenly felt a chill run through her body!
This person... is reading their own thoughts!

"Snapped!"

Wang Qianduan angrily raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face. "Don't try to be clever like that. It's not hard to tell if a memory is fake if you ask it a couple of times. Give her more."

Another vial of medicine was injected into her neck.

Ten times more intense than before, a tsunami-like pain surged through her, almost leaving her mind blank! Honglian's whole body was convulsing, and she was drenched in sweat. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out because her vocal cords were spasming from the pain.

She realized that the purpose of the drug was to weaken her willpower.

To combat the pain, she had to focus most of her energy on endurance... which forced her brain to process even more information.

Or rather... he had already revealed a lot—without her knowledge.

“Kill, kill me…”

After a series of rapid breaths, Honglian spat out a few drops of blood foam and said with difficulty.

“I really want to kill the traitor with my own hands, but you can’t die yet. The organization requires you to return alive,” Wang Qianduan refused. “Your only choice now is to confess everything. That way, you can at least avoid a lot of suffering.”

"Kill me, kill me..." Honglian kept saying.

She changed her strategy, no longer resisting with silence, but instead repeatedly using the same words to fill her mind.

"Inject her with a hypersensitivity drug that doesn't contain neuroprotective agents," Wang Qianduan said to the logistics team members.

“Doing this could damage her brain and turn her into a comatose, unconscious person,” the subordinate worriedly said.

"It's alright. Headquarters only said to keep her alive, not to bring her back intact."

Soon, someone else approached with a new syringe.

Honglian knew that a new round of torment was about to begin.

……

She didn't know how much time had passed; the pain had made her lose consciousness, and even breathing had become a difficult task.

Even so, she did not give up the fight.

Even the logistics team members looked at her with a hint of awe.

Wang Qianduan entered the basement again, carrying something in his hand. When Honglian saw what it was, her mind went blank.

—The head of Wang Baihu.

His expression was contorted, his face pale, clearly indicating he had endured immense pain. But now, he no longer complained to himself about how much it hurt…

"Wang! Qian! Duan!"

She opened her mouth and let out a roar, struggling to break free of her restraints. The iron chair was lifted off the ground by her, and the chains under her feet snapped straight!
People around her rushed forward and pushed her back to where she was.

"Now you're not going to say you'll be killed?" Wang Qianduan seemed to have known all along that this would enrage her. "I warned you, this interrogation won't be easy for them to endure."

"I...I will never let you go!" Honglian cried out in anguish.

"Yes, I sensed the details of your past interactions with him... It seems his confession is correct; the enemy contacted him first, and then contacted you through him."

"You and the authorities have gone mad!"

"Our plan went awry, and don't forget who's to blame!" Wang Qianduan's tone was tinged with anger. "We are fighting for the benefit of all mankind, and we cannot afford any mistakes, but you—you have betrayed that great goal!"

The organization is wrong...

She couldn't help but recall Lin Qing's words.

"What did you say?" Wang Qianduan asked, frowning.

“At first I thought she was talking nonsense... but now, I completely believe her.” Honglian said through gritted teeth, “The Limits Agency can’t save this world... it’s not the organization it used to be.”

“Arguing about these things is pointless. All I know is that what the Doctor foresaw is gradually coming true, and the organization must lead the world to win the challenge of fate.” Wang Qianduan returned to his initial indifferent expression, as if he had lost interest in arguing with Honglian about right and wrong. “If you don’t cooperate, it will be Xiaojiu and Jiang Siqi’s turn next.”

"They...have absolutely nothing to do with this!"

“That’s not important. What’s important is that they can break your passive resistance, just like they did just now.” Wang Qianduan lifted her cheek and leaned closer, saying, “I’ll repeat myself, headquarters is serious about this. We will spare no effort to nip the threat in the bud.”

Sadness, pain, and despair welled up in Honglian's heart.

Her abilities couldn't help her out of the predicament, and she couldn't persuade the other party to let the group members go.

She couldn't even keep a secret.

If Wang Qianduan really did that, she didn't know if she could continue.

It was all like a nightmare, slowly consuming her.

The physical pain and inner struggle caused Honglian to have a hallucination: she wished it were all a dream, even if the price was that she would never wake up.

……

After an unknown amount of time, Honglian felt a warmth.

She felt as if she were enveloped by something soft, and the pervasive pain in her body lessened considerably. The surroundings were utterly quiet; Wang Qianduan's shouts and her own screams were gone. A faint fragrance lingered in the air, as if the stench of blood and sourness had vanished...

Has it really... turned into a dream?

Or is she already dead?

These two thoughts brought her a long-lost sense of ease.

But the next second, reason forcibly pulled her relaxed thoughts back: a person cannot have consciousness after death, and the authorities would not let her go. All of this is just a fragile illusion, and running away cannot solve any problems.

Despite her resistance and reluctance to return to reality, the sense of responsibility that was driving her almost mad still forced her eyelids open—

The ceiling above was painted snow-white, no longer the cold, gray stone.

Honglian was stunned.

Then she found herself lying on a bed, wrapped in a soft blanket.

What exactly is going on?

I actually escaped?
She struggled to get up, but her hands and feet were too weak to move, and the pain in her wound returned, making her groan softly.

Just then, Honglian heard someone approaching.

A slender, delicate hand rested on her shoulder. "It's good that you're awake. Don't move around. I'll go call Master right away."

(End of this chapter)