Jiang Lin and the burly man exchanged a look, both seeing gravity in the other's eyes.
"If the one-way teleportation array has indeed been tampered with..." Jiang Lin said in a low voice. "Then if we call for backup now, wouldn't we just be sending them into a trap?"
"Exactly." The burly man nodded. "But so far, this is all speculation. We can't be certain. However, we still need to transmit the information we've gathered while ensuring our reinforcements can arrive safely."
Jiang Lin nodded, shifting his gaze toward the purple-robed mage and the bald warrior on the ground. "It seems the key intelligence will have to be extracted from them."
Being stared down by Jiang Lin, the two men shuddered simultaneously.
Instinct told them that something terrifying was about to happen.
Soon after, they saw one of the two individuals begin to set up a large number of complex soundproofing arrays inside the room...
"I'll go outside first to relay the information we have and get them to send people quickly. I'll leave this place to you for now. Once you've interrogated them for more info, I'll send another transmission.
"Also, I've set up some monitoring arrays. You can observe the situation outside through this crystal ball.
"If anyone else comes while I'm gone, handle it as you see fit."
With that, the burly man handed Jiang Lin a dark purple crystal ball and put the two victims into his biological storage space.
At the same time, he tossed the previous 'attack helicopter' out of the biological storage space, leaving him in a corner.
Jiang Lin watched the burly man leave.
Now, the room was lit only by the dim yellow glow of the magic crystal lamp and the heavy breathing of the two captives.
The purple-robed mage's hood had long since fallen off, revealing a pale, gaunt face with eyes full of terror.
The bald warrior kept his head low. The wound on his left arm had been crudely treated by Jiang Lin with a healing spell so he wouldn't bleed to death.
Jiang Lin checked the monitoring crystal ball left by the burly man.
Ripples appeared on the surface of the crystal ball.
When the burly man left, he had finished setting up the remaining surveillance equipment, allowing the crystal ball to show various angles outside the warehouse—the silent streets, mottled walls, and scattered lights in the distance.
Nothing unusual for now.
"Alright, let's begin."
As he spoke, Jiang Lin had already deactivated the soundproofing array on the purple-robed mage so he could hear him speak.
Meanwhile, he made the bald warrior turn around so he couldn't see the interrogation of the purple-robed mage.
"Let's play a game..."
"What is your name?"
"How did you find out about the 'Holy Son's ascension'?"
"Who told you to spread this news to the low-level cultists?"
"..."
Soon, two hours passed.
The burly man finished transmitting the intel and settling the victims, then returned to the basement.
The purple-robed mage was slumped on the ground, his eyes vacant and foam hanging from the corners of his mouth, his body twitching occasionally.
Hearing the door open, he recoiled reflexively, a hoarse whimper escaping his throat, "Don't... don't ask anymore... I told you everything... I really told you everything..."
Jiang Lin stood up, brushed off non-existent dust from his hands, and looked at the burly man. "How did it go?"
"The news has been sent out through special channels," the burly man replied, though his expression was solemn. "The Temple in the Royal Capital replied saying it will take until roughly tomorrow night to mobilize enough force to reach Emerald City.
"The 9th-rank powerhouses in the kingdom are currently unavailable. So, the strongest aid we can expect is an 8th-rank expert.
"They want us to investigate the situation with the one-way teleportation array if we are able.
"Additionally, emergency support will arrive through the Court of Space. However, this support won't be too powerful. If the rank is too high, the Court of Space's teleportation array would detect it."
"Did you get any valuable information?" The burly man glanced at the purple-robed mage on the ground, who was already somewhat delirious.
He secretly marveled. Brother Matthew's interrogation techniques were truly ahead of their time...
Jiang Lin nodded. "It's confirmed that the interior of the Temple here has been infiltrated, and the level of infiltration seems quite high. As for the exact extent, this guy doesn't know.
"Regarding the news of the 'Holy Son's ascension,' it was his contact inside the Temple who told him, instructing him to gather other low-level cultists and tell them to keep an eye out.
"He himself doesn't know what the 'Holy Son's ascension' means.
"As for things like the one-way teleportation array, he's completely clueless. He didn't even know that Emerald City had other long-distance teleportation arrays besides the Court of Space."
The burly man frowned. "As I suspected...
"What about the sacrificial array eyes? Did you ask about those?"
Jiang Lin nodded. "I did. His answer was that he followed orders to set up five array eyes in the city, but he doesn't know what they do.
"However, according to him, a 'big shot' came to inspect them after he finished, likely because they didn't trust the workmanship of people like him."
After a pause, Jiang Lin continued, "Therefore, I suspect that 'big shot' is likely the so-called 'Holy Son' of this operation, or the Holy Son's confidant.
"In other words, this ascension ceremony is either fake news intended purely to distract the Temple, or it was planned long ago and the protagonist is already in Emerald City."
Hearing this, the burly man's gaze turned grave.
Jiang Lin looked at the bald warrior slumped on the floor. "I haven't interrogated him yet. But I doubt he knows more than the purple-robed man—after all, he's just a thug responsible for making sure the purple-robed mage isn't ambushed in close quarters."
"But we still need to ask clearly. We can use disguise to turn into two of these three leaders and then contact higher-level subordinates in Emerald City."
The burly man walked over to the bald warrior, knelt down, and undid his restraints.
The bald warrior looked in terror at the purple-robed mage on the ground, who was now as limp as a pile of mud.
Are these guys really Temple people? How could they torture someone into this state?
He shouted in panic, "Don't hit me! Don't hit me! I'll tell you everything I know!!"
The bald warrior's pleas echoed within the soundproofing array, filled with a sobbing tone.
Jiang Lin and the burly man exchanged a look. The latter stepped forward and asked in a deep voice, "Tell us everything you know about the 'Holy Son's ascension,' the sacrificial array eyes, the Temple moles, and all contact methods and stronghold locations for the cult leaders in Emerald City. If there's a single lie..."
He glanced at the limp purple-robed mage on the floor. "You'll end up worse than him."
The bald warrior began to spill everything he knew in a rambling, incoherent mess.
A few minutes later, the burly man asked again, "Alright, now tell me your name, home address, family situation, and your daily habits from morning to night."
The bald warrior trembled and began to confess his details. "I... my name is Barton. I live in the shack behind the blacksmith shop in the west of the city...
"I live alone, my parents died long ago...
"Every morning I go to the Old Oak Tavern for a drink, then I go collect debts...
"In the afternoon, I usually stay at the casino, and at night... at night I go back to the stronghold...
"Which is right here..."
The burly man continued his questioning.
At this point, Jiang Lin felt a faint sense of unease. He didn't know why, so after frowning and thinking for a moment, he told the burly man he had thought of something and slipped out.
Soon, nearly an hour passed, and the burly man had learned most of the intel.
Jiang Lin returned to the secret room.
Then, under the burly man's surprised gaze, he pulled out several neatly cut wooden boards, a few low-level magic crystals, some highly resilient metal wires, and a large jar of thick liquid emitting a faint green glow from his spatial ring.
He crouched on the floor and began to assemble them rapidly.
"Brother Matthew, what are you...?"
"Just a flash of inspiration I had."
Jiang Lin didn't even look up, his fingers nimbly wrapping the metal wires around specific spots on the wooden boards and embedding the magic crystals into the carved grooves.
"Since we're going to disguise ourselves as these two to contact the higher-ups, if the info they gave us about those higher-ups is fake, we'll likely face danger.
"So, to prevent them from giving us false info, I have to make some items to cover our bases."
He picked up the bottle of green liquid and carefully dripped a few drops onto the intersections of the metal wires.
The liquid touched the wires and immediately made a slight 'sizzling' sound, spreading out into fine, blood-vessel-like patterns.
"This is 'nerve vine juice,' extracted from a swamp magic plant," Jiang Lin explained.
"It can simulate biological neural signals and has an incredibly strong amplification effect on pain signals. Combined with these simple illusion magic arrays and life-sustaining arrays..."
These were all very basic arrays, within the scope of what was taught at a Middle Magic Academy.
Finally, he pasted a few thin metal plates covered in runes onto the back of the wooden board, stepped back, and clapped his hands.
"Done."
Appearing before the burly man was a bizarre device about half a meter square.
It looked like a crude wooden box, but the interior was filled with an intricate network of metal wires, with magic crystals at the nodes emitting regular, weak pulses.
There was a depression in the center of the box, just large enough to hold a human head.
A thin tube extended from the side, with a funnel attached to the end.
"Mm, I just thought of this. I'm not sure if it'll work."
"This... how do you use it?" the burly man asked hesitantly.
Jiang Lin walked over to the limp purple-robed mage, dragged him to the device with one hand, and stuffed the back of his head into the central depression.
The metal wires automatically adjusted to fit, tightening slightly like living things.
He then forced the purple-robed mage's mouth open and inserted the side tube deep into his throat.
"Just add fresh water and nutritional paste to the funnel periodically. The life-sustaining array will ensure he doesn't die of hunger or thirst."
As Jiang Lin spoke, he pressed an inconspicuous protrusion on the side of the wooden board.
Buzz—
The magic crystals on the device's surface suddenly lit up! The green patterns on the wire network flashed wildly!
"Ugh—aaaahhh—!!!"
The previously delirious purple-robed mage's eyes snapped open, his eyeballs bulging, his body thrashing like a fish out of water!
A non-human scream erupted from his throat, but because of the tube, it was muffled into a sickening, guttural sound.
"The device cyclically stimulates the main pain nerves throughout his body while projecting various 'customized' illusions in his mind," Jiang Lin explained calmly, as if introducing the functions of a piece of furniture.
"For example, repeatedly being chased by what he fears most, being surrounded by his most loathed scenes, or reliving his most painful memories.
"The nerve vine juice amplifies the pain to near the limit, but the life-sustaining array ensures he doesn't go into shock or die.
"Theoretically, as long as nutritional paste is prepared, it's no problem for them to be immersed in this pain for over a decade. After all, they are at least at the 3rd-rank level.
"As long as we hide them somewhere out of sight, they can continue living in this agony.
"Even if we meet with an accident, we can ensure they continue to be tortured like this until they die."
The burly man's expression had gone from surprise to outright horror as he looked at Jiang Lin.
Is this guy... really a paladin?!
How is he so different from the paladin friends he knew??!!
After finishing his explanation, Jiang Lin pulled the purple-robed mage's head out of the device.
He glanced at the bald warrior, Barton, who was watching him in terror, and said to both of them:
"If any of the intel you gave us about the cult's higher-ups is fake and leads to our deaths, you will suffer in this agony for over a decade.
"So, if there was any false info in what you just said, speak up now and pray that we survive the upcoming operation.
"That way, once we finish the mission, we'll come back and give you a quick death.
"Hmm? What's that smell?"
Jiang Lin's brow furrowed, and then he saw that Barton's crotch was already soaked.
This guy... he actually wet himself from fear...?
He hadn't even interrogated him yet, had he?
Barton was on the verge of tears. "The secret code to contact them is actually wrong, I lied just now. Also, regarding the meeting location..."
At this point, Maurice, the purple-robed mage who had already experienced Jiang Lin's 'evil small toy' once, also spoke up weakly and fearfully:
"I have a few pieces of false intel on my side too..."
Soon, Jiang Lin and the burly man obtained a great deal of corrected information.
In the upcoming disguise and infiltration, those pieces of info would have been fatal misguidance.
These two guys really hadn't given up on trying to get them killed!
The burly man looked at Jiang Lin with considerable admiration. "Brother Matthew, impressive. I didn't expect these two to be such tough nuts to crack, refusing to tell the truth even after that first interrogation."
Jiang Lin sighed. "Mainly because both of them knew they were destined to die. Since we're going to contact the cult higher-ups whose strength might be above ours, if our disguise fails, there's a high probability they could kill us.
"That's why they were certain we wouldn't come back alive and gave us fake info.
"Unlike that lady-man earlier—even though we were going to find trouble with his colleagues, from his perspective of being insta-killed by us, he felt those two definitely wouldn't be a match for us either. If we got fake info, we'd just come back to trouble him.
"So, he only dared tell us the truth."
The method he had thought of on a whim really did have some effect.
It seemed he could research this more in the future and make several sets of similar devices.
Right now, a single small wooden box was still too crude.
Rate on N.U.
