Shadow Empire

Chapter 1045 Approaching
Once an interrogation without any moral bottom line begins, it means that both the interrogator and the interrogated begin to transform from human beings into non-human beings.

When Jiawen first arrived at the interrogation room of the Capital Military District, the walls were covered with waterproof white tiles.

The grout between the tiles is dark red in some places, which is probably because blood seeped in too deeply and could not be washed off.

The room reeked of disinfectant, a very strong smell, and it looked like the room had just been painted.

Jarvan was restrained on a crucifix-like instrument of torture. He tried to resist, but all he could do was be beaten and then obey. Nothing would change, so he began to learn to obey.

This is not a good sign, he told himself, but he couldn't refuse it.

The room was rather quiet. Seven or eight minutes after the soldier who brought him left, an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel pushed a small cart in from outside.

There was a tray on the trolley containing some high-concentration alcohol.

He knew this because he could smell the strong odor of alcohol when the cart was pushed next to him.

Some instruments of torture were placed there, soaked in alcohol.

The officer closed the door, took off his uniform, and hung it on the coat rack by the door, along with his hat.

After hanging up his clothes, the officer rolled up his shirt sleeves and walked over. He glanced at Jiawen, then dipped his hands in alcohol before putting on gloves.

As he examined the instruments of torture, he said, “They said you weren’t a soldier, but a politician who was involved in treason, so I didn’t have them prepare those large instruments of torture for me.”

"Sometimes we face very tough enemies, like the one I encountered last time."

As he spoke, he took out a long, narrow knife. Alcohol dripped down its blade, and it gleamed with a metallic coldness under the light.

“I took out his intestines and put them in front of him, but he still refused to talk. In the end, I had to drill into his brain to see what was inside and what gave him such a strong will and determination to keep the secret even in death.”

He put the knife back. "This process won't be long. I'm different from those who like to torture people for a long time. I believe that if you still don't want to talk after your physical fear has reached its limit, then we most likely won't be able to dig anything out of you. So you don't need to worry too much. Everything will be quick."

"There are only two types of people I deal with."

“There is no other choice but to have living people who are willing to communicate with us, and dead people who died with secrets.”

As he spoke, he began to undress Jiawen, cutting her clothes open with a pair of sterilized scissors. As he cut, he asked, "They want me to get a list from you."

"A list of how many people have defected to the Slads and betrayed Dantra's interests. They believe there must be many important figures on this list, and you are one of the insiders."

As he spoke, he had almost completely removed Jiawen's clothes, leaving Jiawen completely naked in front of him.

Jarvan seemed to notice something different. This officer was a man, and men usually show resistance when touching another man's features, but he... didn't have that emotion.

He was just doing his job normally, and even thoughtfully helped Jiawen clean and disinfect.

"This is to prevent you from finally being unable to hold back and saying it, but then dying from complications due to infection caused by our failure to disinfect the wound. So you don't need to worry about anything; it's all for your own good."

As he spoke, he switched to a small tool, a pair of pliers that looked like a pair of vise pliers.

But the pliers have interlocking jaws that can tightly grip the object being clamped through friction. The one in his hand, however, was just a sharp nail and a groove to hold it.

He simply pinched off a layer of skin from Jarvan's body and then made a cut in it.

The sudden pain made Jiawen curse involuntarily. He tried to struggle, but it was all in vain.

When he was bound to this cross, it meant that, as the officer had said, he only had two paths to take.

He was put down by someone else, instead of struggling down on his own.

Before Jiawen could continue shouting, the officer pinched another piece of his skin and clamped it with the pliers in his hand, instantly creating another gaping hole.

This officer was indeed a seasoned interrogator. Although the bloodstains looked frightening, there wasn't actually much blood flowing out. However, there were four bright red holes with fat oozing out, which was a physical and psychological challenge for anyone who hadn't received counter-interrogation training!
"Go ahead and ask me, you fucking idiot!" Jiawen couldn't take it anymore. He had thought that the so-called interrogation was just someone beating him and then forcing him to tell him the results. He never thought it would be like this!
When a stubborn person faces a calm and eccentric person, there is a high probability that they can correct their bad habits, not to mention that Mr. Jarvan is not a truly stubborn person.

The officer smiled somewhat shyly, "I was just afraid that if I asked you, you wouldn't tell me, and that would waste our time?"

"So I'll let you experience it first, which will make our subsequent communication easier..."

What followed was a very friendly exchange, with both sides seemingly eager to finish their work for the day as quickly as possible, but there were also some minor disagreements.

"Is there the leader of the second largest party among them?" The officer asked, looking up at Jarvan, whose eyes darted away. His notebook was filled with these questions.

Clearly, this is the result they wanted. After several friendly "negotiations," he had already admitted to colluding with the enemy.

He admitted that he had given some military intelligence to the Slavs in exchange for their support for the second-largest party coming to power.

At the cost of the lives of soldiers and civilians, the president's authority was severely damaged.

At first, he didn't want to admit it, but after five of his fingernails were pulled out, he confessed.

He's not exactly covered in wounds, but he's definitely not in much better shape.

Seeing his hesitation, the officer picked up another instrument of torture and, amidst Jarvan's terrified cries of "Don't do that!", made him scream again.

This time, he didn't hesitate, because he found his injuries increasingly unsettling and frightening. He nodded repeatedly, "It was the party leader who sent me to make the contact..."

He quickly gave the statement the president wanted, then put his fingerprint on every place that involved names, places, and times, and signed his name at the bottom of every page.

The officer then left, and two soldiers who came in tossed him a set of clothes and took him to stop the bleeding and get treatment. He was still useful in court.

In just one day, the president obtained the three-point list; one guy died of a sudden heart attack on the execution rack, otherwise it would have been four points. Looking at the materials in his hand, his face didn't entirely show the satisfaction of getting what he wanted; there was also a hint of hesitation.

The Great Purge is certainly a good thing, but it will also put him in complete opposition to everyone, including the second largest party, the current ruling party, capitalists, conglomerates, and powerful families.

They can allow someone to become president and wield power over the country, but they won't allow a madman to use the power they've given him to pose a deadly threat.

This is a very difficult step, and once you take it, there is no turning back.

He told the soldiers to leave first, and he sat down in a chair, watching the clouds slowly drift away and return through the narrow window, lost in thought.

The disappearance of Jiawen and others finally triggered dissatisfaction and panic among the leaders of the second largest party. They learned through some channels that these people were now in custody and had been interrogated. As a result, some anxiety arose within the second largest party, including the ruling party.

The president's hand was already gripping the hilt of the knife. Would he raise the knife and chop it down fiercely, or would he put it back into its sheath?

Everyone seemed to be frantically contacting anyone they could reach. The once stable political environment in Dantra was beginning to crumble due to the continued defeats in the war!

This led them to contact the Federation and Slade again, offering to pay a higher price in exchange for the resumption of the war.

Only when external pressure continues to increase will the president and the military shift their focus from internal to external...

The situation in Dantra was starting to deteriorate. It was like a pressure cooker with ever-increasing pressure, and no one knew when the cylinder would finally break down under the immense internal pressure.

The situation in Lance was much simpler than the situation there. The protracted battle had exhausted many people on both sides, and "guards" were being formed in various places to protect the safety of the people in the autonomous region.

The gunshots that were originally some distance away from Zhuolan are now getting closer and closer. In the quiet of the night, the gunshots and cannon shots outside the city can even be heard.

Ultimately, the government forces were outnumbered, and many deserters emerged from among them. Unlike the insurgents, they had a way out.

Lay down your weapons, take off your uniform, and go home to be an ordinary citizen.

Even if the rebels take off their uniforms, the government forces will still take extreme measures if they find them.

More and more people flocked to the concessions, perhaps because for them, the concessions were the only safe place at that time.

"The influx of people is increasing, and it has begun to affect local order, so..."

Several concession officials stood in Lance's office, reporting on the situation there.

Too many people were pouring in. Lance had indeed noticed this situation when he wandered around the concession these past few days. People from outside the concession were crowding the roadside.

They have not undergone any "transformation" by civilization and still retain the bad living habits and low quality of the Lapa people. Many people urinate and defecate anywhere, even when they are sleeping next to their own excrement.

During the day, they also beg and even steal, and the police have reported many such cases to the police station.

Moreover, even if the police were to dispatch officers and apprehend these individuals, it wouldn't be a good option.

Locking them up is tantamount to providing them with a free place to eat and rest, which will likely encourage more people to commit crimes and try to get themselves imprisoned by the concession authorities.

But if left unchecked, these people will only become bolder.

Lance sat there thinking for a while, "Continue to use whipping on them, whip them hard, and then throw them out of the concession."

"If necessary, we can make an example of a few."

Not long ago, they didn't quite understand what "making an example" meant, but recently Juan has given them a very vivid lesson.

It was only after Juan began dealing with the "awakened masses" that people discovered the terror hidden within this young man.

Some time ago, many people followed the example of the federal protests and demonstrations. They appeared in the concession with signs, roughly saying that this land belonged to Lapa, that the Lapa Treaty signed by President Diego was illegal and had no effect, and that they demanded that Lance and the federal people return this land to Lapa instead of continuing to occupy it.

These people didn't show themselves before because the anti-government forces hadn't entered the Zhuolan area yet, and they didn't dare to do so.

But as the anti-government forces continued to approach Zhuolan, these people began to emerge.

Whether they made this choice under someone's remote control or they genuinely believed it would be useful, Lance had already put Juan in charge and given him some hints.

Strict and severe measures should be taken, and the public's opinion should not be feared.

In just two weeks, those people who could be seen from time to time disappeared from the streets.

Once captured by Juan, they would be secretly disposed of after being tortured.

Some people had previously wanted to see Juan fail, thinking he was too young to become sheriff and might mess things up.

But his performance silenced everyone, so much so that Juan now has his own nickname – Hyena.

It's not that no one has reported Juan, saying he abuses the death penalty and arbitrarily arrests people without following the law.

But this isn't the federal government, and things that apply in the federal government, including moral bottom lines, don't apply here.

The federal government does not deal with those who hold demonstrations, though this is true for most of them. Sometimes they do try to deal with some extremist demonstrators.

But in Lapa, no one cares whether their spirit of freedom is upheld, and no one cares whether their lives and property are protected.

This is Lapa, a place where savagery and civilization meet, a border between heaven and hell.

This actually reflects the success of the Federation's cultural export. In just over a year, people in Lapa have begun to believe in the Federation's system, which is a symbol of success!
(End of this chapter)