NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

"Of course I don't know."

Phoenix blinked helplessly, looking like an informant caught off guard being forced to ask a question they didn't know the answer to, and said with a troubled expression:

"She was able to seriously injure that talking Leitch with just a few shots. Seeing how capable she was, I asked her a question as a last resort."

"Then she'll be willing to help you with the treatment."

"Ah."

"You fainted again during the treatment due to excessive blood loss."

"Ah."

"None of your other Nikis are here either."

"Ah."

"What the hell! I think you're just asking for trouble!!!"

After nearly an hour of interrogation, Ark's blood pressure was successfully driven to its peak by Phoenix's flawless and simple logic.

This was the first time he had interrogated such a heart-pounding prisoner. There were no complicated reasons, no superfluous excuses, and no erroneous emotions; even the micro-expressions and micro-gestures were completely consistent with the words.

If it were a younger, newer employee, they would probably already be back in their office reporting on their work by now.

But he was different. His intuition, honed by over a decade of interrogation experience, kept reminding him that the lieutenant was clearly lying!

"Let me tell you, if you don't honestly tell me the details, it won't be me interrogating you in a little while." Ark's face darkened, and he braced himself on the table, about to launch into another useless threat…

laugh--

The sudden sound of pressure relief from the interrogation room gate abruptly interrupted Yak's train of thought as he was still organizing his thoughts.

Looking back, two soldiers with intersecting scars on their faces stepped through the interrogation room doors from the corridor.

"The higher-ups sent us to replace you."

"For me?"

For a moment, Ark was a little confused when he heard the order, but he quickly realized that this was probably going to be a two-person act with the good cop and the bad cop.

So he gave the two men a wink, indicating that it would be more appropriate for him to play the role of the "bad cop."

To everyone's surprise, one of the two soldiers merely glanced at him, then slightly raised his chin and said indifferently:

"go out."

"?"

go out?

Should we make him leave his workplace?

"Wait, I've never seen you before." Sensing the intrigue in the air, Ark frowned. "Which department are you from? What orders or authorization do you have...?"

However, before he could finish his question, the soldier with his chin raised grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away.

"Your level is too low, get out."

"Wait……"

Yak stumbled back several steps, his lips barely moving, but the soldier's menacing gaze forced him to choke back his tears.

Finally, the man swallowed hard, turned his gaze to the slightly uneasy prisoner behind the interrogation table, and silently backed out of the interrogation room.

呲——

The pressurization sound began, and the gate closed again, keeping Yak, who should have been inside, outside.

……

……

Boom!

"I only have three minutes."

A large, bony hand gripped Phoenix's head, shoving his face mercilessly against the cold interrogation table.

Don't try to test my patience.

Tado's words were devoid of any emotion; judging from his demeanor, he was no different from an office worker blankly filling out a form.

"I've really told you everything I know. How about this, what do you want to hear? I'll do what you say, okay?"

A lieutenant, his hands chained to the table with magnetic rings, wore a bitter expression. Instead of looking at the impolite Tado, he shifted his gaze to meet the eyes of the soldier in front of him.

"Everyone has to get things done and complete their tasks, I understand that, and I will definitely cooperate with your work."

Boom! !

A powerful kick landed squarely on Phoenix's stomach. If he hadn't been surviving on IV nutrition these past few days, Tado's kick would have probably made him vomit up his dinner from the night before.

Damn it, they dare to use torture to extract confessions, who are these guys?

"Lieutenant Phoenix, you may not understand your current situation."

Seeing that the prisoner still wanted to fool him with that flawless yet utterly deceptive explanation, and unable to produce any valid evidence to refute it, Bernanke had no choice but to twist the scar on his lip and patiently explain:

"The minimum sentence for concealing military information is two years. According to my information, your current behavior could very well result in you being imprisoned for life in a rehabilitation center."

"What did I do wrong? I really don't know. I, I, I shed blood for the Ark! You can't treat me like this!"

Upon hearing that he might face life imprisonment, Phoenix immediately panicked and struggled, shouting, "You're framing me! I don't even know you, why are you framing me!!! You..."

Perhaps because he disliked noise, Tado reached down without thinking and grabbed someone's neck.

"Cough...I...I really...don't know..."

Even though he was struggling to breathe, Phoenix remained unmoved by anything except the memory of the vicious kick he had just received.

Interrogation? What's the point of interrogating someone who's already dead?

"You think I wouldn't dare kill you?"

Bernanke didn't believe there were any commanders in the world who weren't afraid of death. Besides, he had interrogated these cowards before. If he taught them a little about the meaning of "cruelty," they would probably be crying and begging for mercy in less than two minutes, just like their kind.

……

……

"Reporting to the commander, we have not received Lieutenant Phoenix. According to the attending physician, he was taken away an hour ago."

"..."

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Vice Commander Anderson, who was sitting in his chair reviewing the meeting materials, habitually touched his cufflinks. "I understand."

After saying this, he nodded to the officer at the door, and only after the officer saluted and left did he take out his phone and make a call to Ingrid.

“Ingrid, someone has taken Phoenix away without permission. The one who would do such a thing is undoubtedly Burningham. I have a meeting in a minute…”

“I already know about this, and I’m on my way to the Central Interrogation Bureau.”

"...Then I'll trouble you."

"Anderson, you've got it wrong, I'm not trying to help you."

"..."

"Yinhua told me that the kid was quite good, so as the CEO of Gokuraku Jodo, recruiting talent is also my responsibility."

"...Before that, remember to take him to see Anick. Anick just asked me to let him know that it is necessary to meet him."

"understood."

drip.

Too lazy to pay attention to Anderson's excuse about starting a meeting, Ingrid hung up the phone and, following the information provided by her inside contact, passed through the interrogation office. Then, with the deputy director's obsequious smile, she arrived at the interrogation room numbered "7-14".

Without her even having to say a word, the very perceptive deputy director immediately stepped forward and used the master card to unlock the interrogation room door.

The scene that followed immediately froze the expressions of the two.

Inside, Phoenix was slumped in his chair, his mouth full of blood, while Tado and Bernanke stood on the other side of the interrogation table, looking completely unconcerned, as if the prisoner's injuries were the result of his own self-harm and had nothing to do with them.

Since they dared to use torture to extract confessions, they must have made thorough preparations to ensure that it wouldn't be recorded on video.

Therefore, rather than pursuing the crimes of the two men, Ingrid was more concerned about Phoenix's current physical condition.

"I am Ingrid, the CEO of Elysium Pure Land, and Lieutenant Phoenix." Ignoring the presence of Bernanke and his companion, the woman strode to the man's side. Seeing him weakly meeting her gaze with half-open eyes, she continued:

"Should we get treatment first, or go see Anik first?"

"Heh...heh...heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..."

For some reason, Phoenix felt as if he had heard a joke when he heard the strong woman's question, and he couldn't help but grin and chuckle softly.

“Ms. Ingrid, I think the first step should be to unlock it.”

After saying that, he shook his elbow, gesturing for the other person to look at the disc-shaped magnetic ring lock on the table.

"Untie."

"Hey! Here it comes."