Becoming an Emperor Starting from the World of The Wandering Earth

Chapter 81 Hard Bones

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Another four bursts.

This time, Paul wasn't able to completely dodge it.

A bullet grazed the outside of his thigh, leaving a bloody gash.

Meanwhile, Hicks and Maggie are in an even worse situation.

Hicks was hit at the very beginning of the battle and is now completely unable to retaliate.

Maggie tried to rush over to save him, but as soon as half of her body was exposed, she was forced back by a burst of gunfire.

Just as Maggie was trying to find an opportunity, Cheng Hongtu had already sneaked over with Kirk and the others.

Seeing the enemy approaching, Maggie tried to raise her gun to return fire.

Under the suppression of multiple enemy firepower, they have no chance to fight back.

A flash of gray light appeared, and Cheng Hongtu was already in front of him, then threw a punch.

Maggie managed to raise her hand to parry twice, but no matter how tough their bodies were, they couldn't withstand Cheng Hongtu in his exoskeleton armor state.

The third punch.

The fourth punch.

The fifth punch.

Heavy, sandbag-sized fists rained down on Maggie's face.

For a moment, Maggie was completely disoriented from the beating.

She tried to get rid of Cheng Hongtu's entanglement, but as soon as she moved, several team members around her would immediately open fire.

Because of the protection of the exoskeleton, they didn't need to worry about hurting Cheng Hongtu at all.

Using the momentum of his last punch, Cheng Hongtu reached out and grabbed the man's collar, then slammed him to the ground with a back throw.

Maggie tried to struggle, but Cheng Hongtu's fist had already smashed into the back of her head.

With a muffled thud, the Vatican's ace had already fainted.

Seeing that his comrades were either injured or captured.

Even the usually composed Paul couldn't help but show a hint of anxiety in his eyes.

But if anger were useful, there would be no such thing as failure in the world.

Wilson, with the help of a few teammates, could easily overwhelm them, let alone with Cheng Hongtu joining the team after he had already dealt with Maggie.

Taking advantage of a moment of carelessness, Wilson pulled a powerful anesthetic from his medical kit and injected it forcefully into the victim's body.

However, as the medicine was administered, Paul only became slightly sluggish and did not show any signs of immediately falling into a coma.

Wilson was slightly taken aback upon seeing this.

Fortunately, even someone as strong as Paul was struggling against the onslaught, and Wilson injected him with several tranquilizers in succession.

In this way, Paul stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground.

Once Paul was completely unconscious, Cheng Hongtu and Kirk immediately stepped forward and used specially made alloy straps to tie Paul's hands and feet behind his back. They then took out more than a dozen silver darts, a Bible, several bottles of unknown liquid, and seven or eight daggers from his body.

Meanwhile, Nancy and another team member tied the unconscious Maggie up like a dumpling and conducted a thorough search of her.

But it's still unknown what Paul and Maggie's bodies are made of.

After a few doses of anesthetic, Paul was already showing signs of waking up, and Maggie, who had been knocked unconscious, had already woken up long ago.

Seeing this, Wilson raised an eyebrow, which saved him the trouble of injecting the two with a sobering agent.

Wilson took a small metal box from his medical kit at his waist and took out two syringes.

This is a specially made, enhanced version of the Truth Agent by Skynet. Theoretically, it can significantly weaken the psychological defenses of the target. With certain interrogation techniques, it can extract what the target wants from almost anyone.

Without any hesitation, Wilson roughly injected the injection into both of them.

Five minutes passed.

Paul and Maggie's breathing became heavy, and their eyes began to glaze over.

The truth serum is working.

Wilson crouched down in front of Paul, his voice softening slightly.

"Paul Bettany, tell me about the core defensive structure inside the Holy City, the patterns of troop deployment, and the daily activities of the members of the Supreme Council."

Paul's eyes slowly moved, focusing on Wilson's mask, his lips moving.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—"

Upon seeing this, Wilson was taken aback.

Meanwhile, the team members responsible for interrogating Maggie also ran into trouble.

No matter what she was asked, Maggie would either grit her teeth and remain silent, or she would curse intermittently, occasionally uttering a few words that were meaningless Bible verses.

"Boss, the drug should be taking effect by now, but these two guys—their willpower is insanely strong."

Cheng Hongtu reported with some helplessness.

Wilson stared at Paul for more than ten seconds, then suddenly reached out and pinched his chin, forcing him to face his mask.

"Is it worth it for a papacy that already considers you a traitor and sent people to kill you? Your brother is dead, and your niece is still in the hands of vampires. If you keep fighting, you won't save anything; you'll just rot in this rat hole."

Paul's breath hitched for a moment, and a very subtle ripple flickered in his dark brown eyes, but it was quickly covered by a deeper numbness.

He closed his eyes, no longer looking at Wilson, and no longer speaking, like a lifeless stone statue.

Truth serum is ineffective against them.

Or rather, it is impossible to penetrate the mental barriers forged by their faith and years of brutal training.

"What a tough nut to crack."

Wilson sneered, then walked up to Hicks.

By this time, Carey had already given Hicks some basic first aid to stop the bleeding.

"Hicks, your companions are tough, but what about you? Do you want to die?"

Hicks' lips trembled, and he did not answer.

Seeing this, Wilson continued, seemingly to himself, "Sure, they're all tough nuts to crack, but I wonder what would happen to your girlfriend if you died? Hmm, would she be bitten to death by those vampires? Or turned into a vampire herself?"

Wilson crouched down, bringing the mask level with Hicks's line of sight.

"You should know that our target is not you, nor Paul; I just want to know what's going on inside the Holy City."

"If you tell me about the situation in the Holy City, I can not only heal you and save your life, but also let you go."

""

As Wilson recounted his story, Hicks's resolve began to waver.

His loyalty to the Papacy was far less ingrained than that of Paul and Maggie; he was merely a sheriff in a small border town who fell in love with a girl and became embroiled in a conflict far beyond his comprehension.

At this moment, the excruciating pain in his abdomen, the fear of death, and especially the anxiety over Lily's whereabouts were slowly eroding his defenses.

"I—I told you—you can save Lily?"

"If the information you provide is valuable, we will consider it."

"Besides, you have no other choice now. If you don't speak up, you'll die here from blood loss and infection, and you'll never know what Lily's fate will be."

Another long silence followed.

In the end, Hicks gave in.

"The Holy City has four main land gates. The East and North gates are the most heavily guarded, while the West and South gates are relatively less guarded. The South gate, in particular, is close to the old riverbed, and the guards often slack off at night. The changing of the guard is at sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight," Hicks said haltingly.

Wilson listened patiently, while signaling to Carey to give Hicks analgesics and antibiotics, and to apply a more proper bandage.

"Thanks."

Wilson thanked him and got up to go to Paul's side.

Sometime later, Paul had broken free from the effects of the truth serum and was staring intently at him with wide eyes.