Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 71
Interrogation
Ji Jiu sat in the car, swinging his legs and looking at the locations marked by the Blood Sect. Only then did he realize that the Blood Sect had the audacity to establish its main base underground in a nearby “wasteland,” the closest location to their base. No wonder the Blood Sect’s leader could find them within a few hours.
Hundreds of centipedes came from all directions, converging onto a black-clad man. His ability was “Insect Gu,” with thousands of centipedes concealed in his body, each serving as his avatar.
The man in black spoke, “This area is strange. The attack tendencies of surrounding mutants are very low. They only instinctively counterattack if provoked, even the plants are the same.”
Centipedes continuously crawled onto his face, entering through his mouth, nose, and ears.
Transformed into a two-meter-tall man, San Mang was scared out of his wits, and his silver-grey ears and tail trembled as he exclaimed, “You, you better stay away from me. I’m afraid of bugs.”
After saying this, he hugged the 1.5-meter-tall “Beastification-Cat” lady, and the annoyed cat girl disdainfully flicked her tail, saying, “Look at how pathetic you are.”
Others in the team burst into cheerful laughter, teasing San Mang one after another.
An easygoing atmosphere spread within the team. After rescuing the person, the morale of the team finally improved, as they were almost scared to death by the Vanguard Commander during the journey.
The man in black pulled a cool face, leaning against a tree trunk, deliberately placing the centipedes in his hands forward, frightening San Mang, who howled like a dog.
Feng Chuyao analyzed seriously, “The Blood Sect comes and goes without a trace. The only thing we know is that they all survive outside the base. The biggest challenge outside the base comes from mutants. Could the dormancy of these mutants be related to them?”
“Go back and check the samples at the research institute, and you’ll know.” Yu Feichen muttered.
Ban Tang gently said, “The samples are almost eaten by Ji Jiu.”
Yu Feichen turned abruptly, “Hey, little ancestor, don’t eat them!”
After eating, he still had to find more. Who told him that he had just protected Xiao Xiang, avoiding any collision with any Blood Sect member, becoming one of the few hunters present without injuries.
Everyone burst into laughter again.
Ji Jiu finished the last piece of fruit, obediently saying, “Okay, I won’t eat anymore.”
Yu Feichen looked at the remaining mutants in the cube in the car, tears silently streaming down his face, resignedly continuing to collect them.
When everyone had finished preparing, Si Yin Yuan brought Xiao Xiang up from underground.
Xiao Xiang’s ability was extremely unstable. If it weren’t for his favorite big brother Ji Jiu being taken away, he wouldn’t have suddenly performed so well.
The reason Si Yin Yuan brought him down was to let him memorize the residual scent of the Blood Sect. This way, he could discern their location during the next “listening.”
Seeing him coming, Ji Jiu happily leaped down from the car roof and pounced into the arms of his owner.
Si Yin Yuan steadily caught him, one hand passing under his buttocks to support him. His strong arms looked effortless.
He pecked a kiss on Ji Jiu’s mouth, his eyes filled with tenderness. “Let’s go back.”
Ji Jiu nodded, “Hmm!”
The lively crowd dispersed in an instant, as no one wanted to stay here and witness any awkward romantic moments.
Si Yin Yuan put Ji Jiu down, his eyes suddenly narrowing, “What’s that?”
Ji Jiu reached into his pocket and pulled out a black card. He read the words on it aloud, “Until next time, my treasure.”
Si Yin Yuan’s face turned dark, and he instantly burned the card to ashes with golden flames.
Ji Jiu commented, “It seems to be an invitation card for the Sparrowtail Carnival.”
It even had a vivid Sparrowtail flower emblem printed on it.
The fact that the Blood Sect was behind the scenes of the base’s carnival was something no one had expected.
Si Yin Yuan asked, “Why did they kidnap you?”
Ji Jiu was momentarily stunned, then answered honestly, “I don’t know.”
The fact that the person had anticipated he would be rescued was unsettling.
Suddenly, Si Yin Yuan felt a sharp pain in his heart. The question that had been ignored before resurfaced.
Why did the Blood Sect, who always had a dismissive attitude towards humans, individually capture him, leaving him unharmed and not even considering him a hostage? Moreover, why did Ji Jiu appear alone in the ‘Wasteland’ before, with incomplete memories, mistaking him for someone else and becoming overly dependent on him?
Could the person he called ‘Owner’ be the same one who left the card?
Si Yin Yuan sensed that something was off and regretted bringing up the question again.
He didn’t know anything now, and maybe it was better to keep it that way.
As for the person previously called the ‘Owner,’ he probably held a high position in the Blood Sect. The card was a form of provocation, more insidious than the previous peacock who used to send love letters.
Si Yin Yuan silently elevated the eradication of the Blood Sect to the top of his priority list.
Ji Jiu, oblivious to the turmoil in the man’s mind, lifted his head and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Si Yin Yuan took a deep breath, restraining himself, and asked in a low voice, “Were you a member of the Blood Sect before?”
Ji Jiu: ???
Oh no, the ‘owner’ is malfunctioning.
Seeing him looking confused and remaining silent, Si Yin Yuan felt even more distressed. He regretted asking such a question.
What did he know now? He decided to let it go.
Ji Jiu had no idea that in the man’s mind, he had become an imaginary enemy, killed thousands of times.
He looked at the changing expression on the man’s face, initially unpleasant but gradually calming down. Confused, he tilted his head and thought, “Owner seems to be better again?”
Humans are really hard to understand.
…
The rush to come had been too urgent, and the return trip took twice as long. When they arrived at the base, 24 hours had passed since the collapse of the church tower incident, and the survivors’ anger had not subsided.
People were lining up in a long queue at the church’s entrance. At the end of the line was Ruan Shuang, the healing-type ability user from the research institute. She was removing the mental suggestions left in the brains of these intermediate-level believers.
These suggestions were typically spread into the minds of believers by the ordinary leader using “faith” during speeches.
Some people weren’t lacking in determination; instead, they had consumed Aster Flower mixed into the free meals distributed by the church before.
This mutant substance could make a person psychologically fragile, and its effects required a certain cycle. However, the last time Ji Jiu had consumed all of their Aster Flower and a warehouse full of items in one breath, causing them not to take this substance immediately after the cycle ended.
With the decreased obedience within the church itself and the continuous spread of public opinion recently, the number of remaining loyalists within the church was unexpectedly lower than imagined.
Especially after witnessing the church leader using believers as human shields that day, both believers and survivors who had simply come to witness the event and confirm the truth developed a visceral disgust towards the church.
Hu Yan pulled them into the car as soon as he saw them, “Hurry up, we haven’t touched the church leader. We kept him for you to interrogate.”
Ji Jiu looked outside the car at the angry people demanding the execution of the church leader. Surprisingly, he saw that a large portion of them were former believers, including the one he had encountered when he first arrived at the base. This person had clashed with the vendor who worshipped Si Yin Yuan, displaying a disdainful attitude towards the guild.
He withdrew his gaze, puzzled, “Why are these believers the most furious?”
Hu Yan sat in the passenger seat and glanced at the documents. “Perhaps you’ve heard of a phrase?”
“What phrase?” Ji Jiu asked humbly.
Hu Yan pushed up his golden-rimmed glasses. “Leave, Fans, Come back, Stomp.”
He pushed his glasses again and looked back, finally realizing something was amiss. He suddenly sat up straight. “Are you two together?”
Ji Jiu blinked. “You’re strange. Haven’t we always been together?”
Little Grass had not fully grasped the profoundness of Chinese characters.
Si Yin Yuan did not answer and calmly pecked Ji Jiu on the lips.
Hu Yan covered his eyes, which were blinded by the sparkle. He had long realized that his good friend had feelings for someone but was unaware of it. He intentionally kept it a secret to see how long it would take for him to catch on, never expecting him to realize it even faster than himself.
Without further ado, he urged the assistant to drive quickly and handed them the keys to the prison cell once they reached the destination.
Then, he expressed the need to take a stroll.
Only fools stay behind to eat dog food!
It took them 24 hours to return from the Blood Sect, and the High Priest had been hanging there for 24 hours without a drop of water. The physical strength of an Awakener was excellent, showing no signs of passing out.
Seeing the two approaching, he hurriedly threw himself at them. “I was wrong, I really was wrong. Spare me, I’ll say anything.”
Si Yin Yuan pointed the tip of the knife directly at his eyeball and calmly said, “Then start by telling us all the filthy activities between you and the Blood Sect.”
The tip of the knife was less than two centimeters from his eyeball, a slight shake, and it would pierce through.
The High Priest didn’t even dare to breathe. “I’ll talk, I’ll talk…”
Once he removed the distinctive mask with its built-in voice-changing feature, his real voice sounded sharp and unpleasant.
Ji Jiu, witnessing his weak and pathetic performance, found it challenging to associate him with the initially high and mighty High Priest who pretended to be mysterious.
It seemed that appearances could indeed be deceiving. Who would have thought that under that white smiling mask was such an ordinary face?
He stammered, “The connection with the Blood Sect dates back to the early days when I first established the church. At that time, my church had very few people, all attracted by my abilitys. Before the apocalypse, I was just an ordinary office worker and had never encountered such things. Even with these excellent abilities, I had no capacity to stand firm among the many rising Sects.”
Si Yin Yuan lightly tapped his face with the back of the knife. “Continue, you better not lie. We have the latest lie detector developed by the institute here. If you lie, I’ll stop this interrogation and throw you into that angry crowd outside. You know my temper has never been good.”
He looked even more villainous than an actual villain.
In reality, there was no such thing as a lie detector. Such devices were no longer functional in the post-apocalyptic era.
In extreme panic, the High Priest, without daring to doubt, continued tremblingly, “Later, they approached me, teaching me how to expand a religion. The most crucial thing about a religion is faith. They gave me the image of that seed, but I had no idea it was a seed that had mutated before the apocalypse!”
As he spoke, he suddenly became agitated, but under Si Yin Yuan’s gaze, he was forced to calm down.
“I only provided them with supplies within the base and some information. I didn’t do anything outrageous.” The High Priest attempted to justify himself.
With a “ding” sound, the combat knife passed just above his head, embedding into the cement wall behind him.
Suppressing his anger, Si Yin Yuan said, “Didn’t do anything? With your assistance, the Blood Sect gathered information about our base, turning it into a situation where I have enemies both in the light and in the dark. Do you realize that your actions could have cost the lives of tens of thousands of people in the entire base?”
No wonder the Sparrowtail Carnival went so smoothly; there was an insider in the base from so early on.
Terrified, the High Priest’s eyes rolled back, and Ji Jiu poked him awake with a tree branch.
“And Xiao Shu’s sister?” Ji Jiu asked.
The High Priest looked puzzled. “Who?”
“A little believer.”
“I… I don’t know.” The High Priest’s voice grew quieter.
He always treated those believers as his accessories. Even in the base, he would encounter those against the church and use those unimportant believers as disposable meat shields.
If they died, they died. He never cared.
Si Yin Yuan detected the undertone in his words and simply punched him in the face. “Beast.”
“Don’t hit the High Priest!” the tied-up deputy disciple shouted angrily.
The High Priest’s gaze was dull. This person was the only one who hadn’t left after his ability weas removed, solely because of the life-saving favor he owed him half a year ago.
Even though that life-saving act was calculated, he just needed a better “shield” that wouldn’t break easily.
Hu Yan knocked on the door from outside, expressing deep regret. “I understand your current desire to vent through beating, but I’m afraid we need to change interrogators. We have to attend a meeting; all the ones in power are waiting for us.”
Ji Jiu dropped the tree branch, blinking his eyes. “What urgent meeting is this?”
He wanted to go back and sleep for a while.
Hu Yan shrugged, intentionally dragging his tone. “Of course — a meeting about our base needing a true leader.”