Chapter 158 Interrogation

Back at their lodgings, Ruan Ning and his men threw the prisoners into the basement.

Shen Yan closed the door and looked at the five Shadow Guards who were bound—the fifth-tier mental leader, and several fourth-tier and third-tier guards who were less seriously injured.

"Who leaked our mission route?" Shen Yan asked directly.

No one answered. The leader of the psychic faction was deathly pale, his eyes unfocused, but he kept his mouth tightly shut.

Lin Yan nudged the nearest third-tier shadow guard: "Speak."

The other party spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered.

Ruan Ning stepped forward. She looked at the leader of the mental system, her eyes calm and unwavering: "I'll see for myself."

She reached out and placed her hand on the other person's forehead. Sixth-tier spiritual power surged into him without reservation!

"Ah—!" The leader let out a piercing scream, his eyes bulging and his body convulsing violently. Memories were forcibly extracted and processed—

At the Shen family mansion, a gloomy middle-aged man gave the order: "Capture Ruan Ning alive and bring him back to the capital. If he resists to the death, he will be put to death, but his body must be intact."

The Shadow Guard squad infiltrated the Northwest Base and met with a masked man in a dark alley. The masked man's voice was hoarse: "Tomorrow morning, they'll be going to Warehouse C in the Southwest Industrial Park. The route map is here."

The shaky footage shows preparations before the warehouse ambush.

The shadow guards checked their equipment, and the leader communicated with the masked man again. The masked man said, "'The Merchant Alliance' has arranged for the patrol team to be in place, so there will be no interference for the next two hours. After the success, we will withdraw through the backup exit number three, and a vehicle will be there to pick us up."

Memories continue to surge, revealing more fragments: the Shen family's analysis report on Ruan Ning's supernatural abilities, the power struggles within the Northwest Base, and the clandestine activities of Feng Yuanzhou's remaining forces...

"Ugh—!" The leader's screams grew weaker and weaker, and blood began to seep from his seven orifices.

Ruan Ning released his grip. The leader slumped down like a tattered sack, his eyes vacant, drool dripping from his mouth, already mentally impaired—his spiritual core had been completely destroyed.

She then walked toward the next shadow guard.

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" The third-tier shadow guard broke down, tears streaming down his face. "It was Shen Yao's father who gave the order! To take you back! There are people at the Northwest Base to meet us, they're from the 'Merchant Alliance'! We don't know exactly who they are, it's all through the leader's one-on-one communication!"

Ruan Ning pressed her hand down anyway.

"No--!"

A few minutes later, the four shadow guards followed in their leader's footsteps, collapsing to the ground, completely losing their minds.

Ruan Ning withdrew her hand, her face slightly pale. Forcibly searching the soul had taken a considerable toll.

"You found out?" Shen Yan asked.

Ruan Ning nodded: "The order came from the Shen family. There's an inside man at the Northwest base, arranged through the 'Business Alliance.' The contact wore a mask and his voice was altered. But I remember a few suspicious locations and contact methods."

She gave several addresses and codes.

Shen Yan noted it down: "I'll go investigate. These people..." He looked at the five people slumped on the ground.

"Clean it up." Ruan Ning turned around. "Don't leave any trace."

"clear."

Shen Yan drove the car and dragged the five people away.

Lin Yan closed the door, and the basement returned to silence, leaving only a faint smell of blood.

“The Shen family, the Business Alliance, and the remnants of the research institute…” Zhou Min frowned, “They’ve joined forces?”

“Our interests align, so we’ll cooperate for now.” Ruan Ning walked to the sink to wash her hands. “The Shen family wants revenge, Shang Lian wants to take advantage of the chaos to expand their power, and the remnants of the research institute want to retrieve the necklace and the data. We’ve become their common target.”

"What do we do next?" Lin Yan asked.

Ruan Ning dried her hands: "Shen Yan, go investigate the inside man. We'll hold our positions and focus on strengthening our forces. I'll give Qin Li the intelligence. The military needs a purge."

She looked out at the night sky: "Let's wait for them to make their move next time. Or, let's wait for us to find an opportunity and strike first."

The fire crouched in the corner, licked its paws, and its golden pupils glowed faintly in the darkness.

Three days later, Shen Yan came to find Ruan Ning with the information he had found out, and Qin Li was also there.

He spread a hand-drawn map on the table, marked with several red circles.

"Warehouse No. 7 in Zone 3 is ostensibly a leather storage point for the 'Merchant Alliance,' but it has a mezzanine underground. I staked out there for four nights and discovered three groups of people: one was the 'Merchant Alliance's' transport team, carrying weapons and medicines disguised as leather; another group wore civilian clothes, but their gait indicated they were soldiers, led by Li Kai, the deputy section chief of the quartermaster department; and yet another group..." Shen Yan paused, "...wearing white coats and protective masks. The items they were transporting were sealed in lead boxes, showing a slight radiation reaction."

Zhou Min frowned: "People from the research institute? Weren't they taken into military control after Wang Jinsong was arrested?"

“They were Feng Yuanzhou’s former subordinates. General Luo purged some of them, but some went underground and got in touch with the ‘Business Alliance.’ Li Kai was one of their contacts,” Qin Li replied.

He pointed to a red circle on the map: "This is the abandoned '307' chemical plant in the northern suburbs. The 'Business Alliance,' the Shen family's moles, and the remnants of the research institute hold regular meetings here. The Shen family sent people here this time, ostensibly to retaliate against you, but in reality, it's part of a three-way cooperation—the Shen family wants your crystal core to save Chen Yao, the 'Business Alliance' wants to take the opportunity to control more channels and resources, and the remnants of the research institute wants to obtain your body data to continue their 'Origin' research."

Lin Yan gritted her teeth: "What do you take us for? A packing list?"

Ruan Ning looked at the map: "When is the gathering?"

“The fifteenth of every month, midnight,” Shen Yan said. “Today is the ninth, there are still six days left.”

“They are well-prepared.” Ruan Ning looked up. “What is the purpose of their meeting? To distribute profits? To exchange intelligence? Or… is there some concrete action in store?”

Qin Li pulled a piece of paper from his pocket: "Li Kai was talking to his men yesterday, and my men recorded it. They're planning a 'major cleanup' targeting you, me, officers in General Luo's faction, and everyone who knows about the 'Origin Project' and opposes its restart. The operation is scheduled for the end of the month, using the base's monthly defense exercise as an opportunity to create 'accidents' and 'zombie raids'."

Several names and dates were scribbled on the paper.

Ruan Ning glanced at the list and saw her maternal grandparents' names; her eyes suddenly turned cold.

“We can’t wait until the end of the month,” she said. “Six days later, when they gather, we’ll take them all down.”

Shen Yan said, "The chemical plant has a complex structure, and there may be underground renovations. We need detailed blueprints and security deployment."

Qin Li: "I'll handle the blueprints. As for the guards, Shen Yan will continue monitoring, figuring out the shift change patterns and hidden sentries. Ruan Ning, what do you need?"

Ruan Ning pointed to the location of the chemical plant on the map: "I need to know what they've hidden underground. The Shen family is far away in the capital, yet they're so obsessed with 'Yuan Chu.' Second-hand information from Feng Yuanzhou's remnants isn't enough. There must be something more direct in the chemical plant—perhaps early experimental records of 'Yuan Chu,' or even undestroyed samples."

She looked at Qin Li: "Can you get the peripheral files of the 'Origin' project from General Luo? For example, the list of researchers from back then, the distribution map of the experimental bases?"

Qin Li shook his head: "The core files are encrypted at too high a level; even General Luo doesn't have the authority to access them alone. But I can try to get the personnel list and the location of the old base. What do you need this for?"

“Our guess is confirmed.” Ruan Ning stood up. “If the chemical plant really is one of their bases, it’s very likely a modified version of an old experimental site. Knowing the original structure will be beneficial to our operation.”

Over the next few days, they split up and acted separately.