The acquaintance Ma Linqiang mentioned turned out to be another professor whom everyone knew.
Just then, a commotion arose outside, and soon a middle-aged man in military uniform appeared before them.
He said to the crowd, "Please excuse us for a moment."
He was the deputy general of Jincheng and also the second-in-command of Jincheng. Everyone who saw him had to call him Deputy Commander Chen.
"Lieutenant Chen has arrived."
"Good morning, Lieutenant Chen."
Everyone quickly greeted each other and then consciously left the room, leaving only Deputy Officer Chen and his subordinates, Ma Linqiang, and the surgeon.
Lieutenant Chen sat down opposite Professor Ma and said in a deep voice, "Professor Ma, I need you to explain why you left the underground city without permission for three days."
Ma Linqiang was taken aback. He never expected that the other party's first words would not be about what had just happened, but rather about other matters related to leaving the underground city.
He was somewhat displeased. "Lieutenant Chen, I did not leave the underground city without permission. I have an application, and the application form should still be in Director Lin's office."
Furthermore, I left the underground city with three students and five soldiers; how can you say I left without permission?
Lieutenant Chen's voice was devoid of any emotion: "But the information I received was that you took important documents and your prized student, using the pretext of searching for materials, and left the underground city, then disappeared for three days."
Their reappearance, causing such a commotion and nearly leading unidentified individuals into the underground city—Professor Ma, how do you explain this?
Ma Linqiang was furious: "Nonsense, utter nonsense! Where is Director Lin? I want to see her, I want to ask her myself why she framed me like this."
"She is dead."
"What? Dead?"
"Yes, she died. She died mysteriously the night you left the dungeon."
Ma Linqiang suddenly realized something was wrong; it seemed someone wanted him dead.
He was silent for a moment, then asked Lieutenant Chen, "Lieutenant Chen, do you suspect that Director Lin's death is related to me?"
Lieutenant Chen raised his chin, stared at him coldly for a while, and then slowly said, "I have no interest in, nor do I have time to hear about what happened between you two."
I only have one question for you: during the three days you disappeared, who did you contact, and why did you bring them into the dungeon? Also, on the second day after you left the dungeon, someone appeared in the underground river.
Professor Ma, you know best about the entrance to the underground river and its secrets. But what a coincidence! Everything was fine until the very next day after you left the underground city, when someone suddenly appeared in the underground river?
Ma Linqiang frowned slightly: "Is that so? No, Lieutenant Chen, this is purely a coincidence, it has nothing to do with me."
Lieutenant Chen nodded. "You don't want to talk about it, huh? Fine. Liang Kong and Da Hui, aren't they your prized students?"
Ma Linqiang nodded: "Yes, but they were killed while trying to save me when I was captured by those people."
"Heh~"
Deputy Chen chuckled softly, took two photos from his subordinate, and handed them to Ma Linqiang. "The person you mentioned who was killed appeared in the underground river with four other people in the middle of the night."
Ma Linqiang took the photos. One photo showed Liang Kong and his group standing and talking with four suspicious figures outside the Jincheng base.
One of the photos shows Liang Kong and his companions with the corpses of four suspicious individuals, in a familiar location—an underground river.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Lieutenant Chen gestured for the surgeon to leave, then stood up and lit a cigarette. "I must say, your plan was very meticulous. If it weren't for a few powerful people accidentally stumbling upon you, you would have actually succeeded."
Ma Linqiang looked up at Deputy Chen and said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I only know that I'm very disappointed right now. I've devoted all my energy to the country and to Jincheng, and yet you're doubting me."
Deputy Chen took a drag of his cigarette, his eyes fixed on Ma Linqiang with hostility: "I never expected that the highly respected Professor Ma would actually be a descendant of a lowly person. I also never expected that you would have been lying low for so long, all for the sake of destroying our country's dragon vein."
Ma Linqiang's eyes remained calm, and he was not intimidated by Chen's words: "I have a clear conscience toward my country, so you can slander me however you want."
"But Lieutenant Chen, instead of trying to smear me here, you should think carefully about how you're going to deal with those intruders."
Lieutenant Chen said to his subordinates, "Take him down and hand him over to Xiao Bai. He has a way of getting him to tell the truth."
"yes."
Ma Linqiang was losing his temper. He shouted, "Lieutenant Chen, don't go too far. You have no right to interrogate me. I want to see the base commander. If he finds out that you've tortured me, you'll lose not only your position as lieutenant, but your life too."
Lieutenant Chen laughed: "So you two are really close. It seems the base commander is no ordinary person. Professor Ma, if it weren't for your words, I wouldn't have known the base commander wielded so much power that he could decide my fate."
He waved his hand dismissively: "Take him away."
After Ma Linqiang was taken away, he beckoned to his subordinates outside. Once they came in, he gave them some instructions in a low voice, and then strode away.
He approached the woman who had spoken to Ma Linqiang earlier, and said, "Madam Zhang, may I speak with you in private?"
Madam Zhang was a woman of great poise and elegance; there was no trace of the panic and distress one might expect from someone living in the apocalypse.
She nodded and followed Lieutenant Chen to the open space. He got straight to the point: "Madam Zhang, I need you to come with me to meet a few people."
"Go out of the dungeon to meet people?"
"right."
Madam Zhang smiled and said, "Since the apocalypse began, I haven't left the underground city, and my husband doesn't feel comfortable letting me go out either. Lieutenant Chen, has my husband agreed to your request to take me out to meet people?"
Lieutenant Chen said with certainty, "He will agree."
Madam Zhang: "Then come find me again after my husband agrees. Don't worry, as long as he agrees, I will cooperate with you to go out of the underground city to meet the people you mentioned."
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