Chapter 709 People with secrets should
"I...I'll go and bring the other one back right away!"
Iron Claw practically roared. He didn't dare look the captain in the eye again. He turned around hastily, and the mechanical limbs on his back popped out again, afraid that if he was even a second slower, he would be killed by the captain's gaze.
Watching Iron Claw flee in disarray, Shadow Scorpion felt a deep regret that his captain hadn't given that idiot a good scolding.
His eyes darted around, and he took a step closer to the captain, fanning the flames as he said:
"Captain, Iron Claw is getting dumber and dumber. He can't even do this little thing right."
We asked him to bring two people back for questioning, and he ended up killing one and crippling the other... He single-handedly dragged down the average IQ of our entire squad.
Captain, shouldn't we consider...?
Shadow Scorpion didn't finish his sentence.
The captain turned his head slightly and glanced at Shadow Scorpion.
That one glance was enough to make all the "eye drops" that Shadow Scorpion had prepared choke in his throat, leaving him unable to utter a single word.
He quickly lowered his head, suppressed all his cleverness, and stood up straight obediently, his scorpion tail also knowingly slowing down its swing.
The captain ignored him and turned his gaze back to the man curled up in pain on the ground.
Shadow Scorpion breathed a sigh of relief, not daring to delay any longer. He immediately squatted down, roughly pried open the man's bloodied and mangled mouth, checked the situation inside, and then reported in a calm tone:
"A piece of his tongue broke off, and judging from the cut, he bit it off himself. Tsk, that's pretty ruthless. But it's okay, it can be glued back on, though it will take some time."
As he spoke, he skillfully dislocated the man's jaw joint to prevent him from biting down and harming himself again, while also exposing his mouth more completely.
Then, he stuffed the severed tongue back into the other person's mouth, roughly aligning it.
Then, he pulled out a silver-white portable stapler-like device from a hidden compartment in his tactical belt.
There was no anesthesia, no reassurance.
Shadow Scorpion pressed down on the man's head and aligned the "nail" of the suture with the two severed tongue segments that needed to be connected.
"Snap! Snap! Snap!"
A series of dull, crisp sounds, similar to staples hitting paper, rang out.
But that wasn't paper; it was a bloody tongue covered in nerve endings.
The pain, far exceeding that of biting one's tongue in self-harm, swept through the man's entire body instantly like a high-voltage electric current.
His pupils, which had been somewhat dilated due to blood loss, suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints, and his eyeballs bulged outwards in a terrifying manner, filled with scarlet blood vessels, as if they were about to fall out of their sockets at any moment.
His limbs convulsed violently and uncontrollably, and he made a series of hoarse cries from his throat. However, because his jaw had been dislocated, he could not even let out a complete wail. Only large amounts of saliva and blood foam flowed uncontrollably from the corners of his mouth.
Shadow Scorpion, however, acted as if he had completed a routine task, calmly putting away the blood-stained sutures.
Then he took out a palm-sized metal spray can and sprayed it evenly onto the wound on his tongue that had just been "nailed" together.
It sprays out a semi-transparent gel-like liquid that quickly forms a thin film upon contact with the wound, which not only stops bleeding but also effectively promotes the healing of nerves and tissues.
The burning pain that accompanies the process is no different from another form of torture.
After doing all this, Shadow Scorpion clapped his hands, stood up, and said to the captain:
"Captain, it's all done. The tongue has healed and regained basic function. It will probably take 2 to 3 hours."
The captain remained silent on Shadow Scorpion's "treatment" methods throughout. His attention seemed to linger more on the man's face.
Just as Shadow Scorpion got up to leave, the captain suddenly squatted down, extended his fingertips, which were wearing special sensor gloves, and gently touched the man's cheeks, which were soaked with blood and sweat.
His fingertips moved slowly along the man's jawline, sideburns, and the sides of his nose, as if caressing a work of art, or searching for a hidden switch.
The man on the ground seemed to sense something and struggled even more fiercely.
Suddenly, the captain's fingertips paused slightly behind the man's ear, then he tightened his grip and tore upwards.
"Sizzle—"
A human skin mask, like a second layer of skin being peeled off, was completely ripped off the man's face.
Beneath the mask lay a completely different, pale, and unfamiliar face, etched with pain and blood loss.
"???"
Shadow Scorpion, Hawkeye, and Fortress—the gazes of the three white-masked figures froze instantly, their pupils contracting violently behind their masks.
Especially Shadow Scorpion, who had just personally manipulated the man's mouth and chin at such close range, yet he hadn't noticed the exquisite disguise covering the man's face at all.
This is enough to demonstrate how skillfully crafted the human skin mask was, to deceive him even upon close inspection.
But what could be hidden from him could not be hidden from the captain's sharp eyes.
The captain held the human skin mask in his hand, feeling the fresh elasticity and texture with his fingertips.
His voice was still hoarse, but it seemed to have gained a hint of interest:
"It seems... the target not only failed to be tricked, but also tricked us."
The man on the ground became even more agitated, making angry "whooshing" sounds, his eyes fixed on the captain. If looks could kill, the captain would have been riddled with holes long ago.
The captain's eyes darted around, and he said with great interest:
"Interesting. Someone who isn't afraid of death and is decisive in committing suicide is so afraid of exposing their disguise and revealing their secrets..."
"It seems you are very loyal to your target, and that second prison... does indeed hold some unknown secrets."
Upon hearing this, the man on the ground struggled even more violently, blood gushing from his wounds and staining the ground beneath him red.
Even though Shadow Scorpion easily pinned his chest down with his foot, rendering him unable to move, his indomitable will still emanated from his trembling body.
The fire crow beside them spoke up at the opportune moment:
"Captain Zhihui realized early on that this target was not simple."
The captain said quietly, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger:
"Yes... Killing a person is easy. Breaking his bones and tearing his muscles is not much harder for us than crushing an insect."
His gaze returned to the face of the man on the ground.
"However, it is not easy to get someone to be willing to die for you, or to keep a secret even in dire straits. You know, even an elephant cannot force an ant to commit suicide."
He paused, as if savoring this rare phenomenon.
"I'm starting to get a little curious about our target, Feng Mu."
Shadow Scorpion's eyes flashed, and he chimed in:
"Captain, so you mean... should we adjust our next action plan? Should we change it to... prioritizing capturing them alive?"
Upon hearing this, the man on the ground suddenly found a surge of strength and his struggle became incredibly fierce.
The captain looked down at the man at his feet, who was once again reacting strongly to a certain name. His voice suddenly turned cold and sharp, resolute and decisive:
"No."
"Exploring other people's secrets is too tiring and too dangerous. Curiosity often brings unnecessary trouble."
"Killing someone is the simplest, most direct, and least troublesome way."
His tone returned to its usual coldness and decisiveness.
"A person with a secret... should die with his secret."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this decision, the man who had been struggling violently on the ground suddenly stopped all movement.
He stopped struggling and stopped making meaningless roars. In his bloodshot, bulging eyes, anger and fear receded like the tide.
Instead, a very strange emotion arose—a mixture of pity, mockery, and… the coldness of looking at a group of dead people.
The captain clearly noticed this change in his gaze, but he wasn't annoyed. Instead, as if he had seen something amusing, he said calmly:
"Hmm—interesting. It seems... you have a different opinion? You think... we'll be the ones who die?"
"Ho—"
Shadow Scorpion and the other two white-masked team members seemed amused by the man's "overestimating himself" gaze, and simultaneously let out a cruel sneer.
In their view, this was nothing more than the meaningless fantasies and curses of a defeated dog on his deathbed.
Despite the captain's emphasis that the objective might not be simple.
Therefore, they carefully changed their mission from capturing alive to killing, which was the greatest respect they could show their target.
As for the possibility that they themselves might die?
Don't be ridiculous, who would believe that if I told them!
Just as they were laughing happily, the human skin mask that the captain was holding melted into a milky white, viscous liquid without warning.
Then, it trickled down his fingers and onto the ground, emitting a faint, strange scent similar to almonds.
In the blink of an eye, an exquisitely crafted human skin mask mingled with the filthy mud and ash on the ground, instantly losing all its form.
The captain shook off the sticky liquid remaining on his hands, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly beneath his mask.
"The human skin self-destructed... The method of making this skin is unexpectedly ingenious. Not only is the imitation realistic, but it also has a built-in biodegradation mechanism..."
The usually taciturn fortress finally spoke up in a muffled voice:
"Now, if anyone investigates the disappearance or death of these two good-for-nothings, the investigation results will truly show that Iron Claw 'killed and destroyed the bodies'."
Although killing a few people is nothing to this team of white-masked people, they don't care about having a few more lives on their shoulders.
But this feeling of being tricked, like swallowing a fly, still inexplicably stirs up a strong sense of unease.
The man on the ground seemed to realize the significance of the mask's self-destruction, and his brows and eyes twitched with difficulty, revealing an extremely distorted smile.
The captain watched the changing expressions on the man's face on the ground, his eyes darting around as if he were thinking something.
His expression suddenly turned cold, and his voice became hoarse as he said:
"I admire your loyalty to your goals, but I don't like the way you look at me."
Before he could finish speaking, the Shadow Scorpion's tail lashed out.
"Pfft!"
A line of blood flashed across the surface, and Shadow Scorpion now had two blood-stained eyes on his hand, still showing expressions of astonishment.
Shadow Scorpion didn't even look, but slightly tightened his fingertips.
"Smack!"
His two eyeballs turned into two clumps of red and white viscous residue, which dripped from between his fingers.
"Aaaaaah—hohohoho—!!"
The man let out a painful roar, his entire body arching and convulsing violently like a live shrimp thrown into a frying pan.
Shadow Scorpion, along with Fire Raven and Fortress beside him, all let out cruel and satisfied low laughs from beneath their masks.
Only the captain didn't smile.
Instead, he gave a cold glance to his three subordinates who were laughing gleefully, his gaze like ice water, instantly extinguishing their laughter.
"What are you laughing at?"
The captain's voice was chilling, sending shivers down one's spine.
"The target may be more dangerous than I had anticipated."
The three Shadow Scorpions immediately fell silent, exchanging bewildered glances, not understanding why their captain had suddenly made such a judgment.
The captain seemed to see through their thoughts and said coldly:
"Iron Claw made the mistake of underestimating his opponent, which is why he failed to complete the task I assigned him."
He paused, then turned his gaze back to the man on the ground, who was convulsing but still staring intently in his direction (even though the latter was blind):
"The way this person looked at us... was like he was looking at dead people."
"However, this does not rule out the possibility that this person simply does not understand our strength, or has a blind and inexplicable confidence in their target."
"but……"
The captain's voice lowered, gradually becoming serious:
"I'm not feeling too well."
The expressions of the three Shadow Scorpions behind their masks simultaneously turned solemn, and their hearts jumped into their throats.
In their memory, the captain may have been cold-blooded or cruel, but his intuition, especially in judging danger, was always terrifyingly accurate.
Countless seemingly illogical warnings have ultimately proven to have saved their lives.
The captain pondered for a moment, and finally made a decision:
"The plan remains unchanged, and the operation will still be deployed with 'killing the target' as the core objective."
but……"
He changed the subject, his tone becoming more serious.
"In the ensuing contact and combat, I allow you to assess the danger level of the target based on the actual situation on the ground."
If things go wrong, abandon the mission and retreat at full speed!
The three Shadow Scorpions were shocked; this was tantamount to being given permission to desert in the face of battle.
The captain was so wary of the "target" he had never even met.
They exchanged a subtle glance, both seeing disbelief in each other's eyes, and a hint of gloom creeping in, a result of being affected by the captain's somber mood.
The only person who didn't receive this latest instruction was Iron Claw, who happened to be away from the scene and was busy running back to "retrievate the bodies".
I wonder if Iron Claw and the other two will remember to update the captain's instructions and promptly inform their good teammates when Iron Claw returns.
Meanwhile, Iron Claw returned and stood beside the dilapidated car.
The stench of blood still lingered in the car. There were splattered bloodstains on the driver's and passenger's seats, fragments of broken bones, and the ripped-off car door...
They all clearly told him that this was indeed the car he had just attacked.
But, what's truly bizarre is...
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
