Chapter 164 Interrogation

"Tony—though it is just a disguise, I shall call you by this name for now—can you give me some of the information I am looking for?" Demarcated by a formidable aura, the Transcendent Garen asked in a deep voice.

"I am merely a stylist. I have no idea what you are talking about!" Master Tony maintained a look of panic, shouting loudly.

"Tony, I know you recognize me, and you should know what kind of place this is. Once someone is brought here, you cannot refuse to tell me what I need to know. Here, we will make you confess everything, from your flesh down to your very soul. However, I have an important ceremony coming up shortly, so I hope you will be cooperative!" The Transcendent Garen continued.

By this point, he was one hundred percent certain that Master Tony was no ordinary person. Someone who could still act under the oppressive pressure of a Transcendent's aura could hardly be a common stylist.

"No, I don't know you! What you are doing is illegal! Naan City is a place governed by law!" Master Tony's expression remained unchanged as he kept shouting.

The Transcendent Garen turned and nodded at the researcher beside him. The researcher picked up a small vial from the medical kit, fitted it onto a syringe, and approached Master Tony.

Perhaps realizing what the serum was, Master Tony's eyes flashed with fear, and his body instinctively shrank backward.

Yet, strapped tightly to the interrogation chair, there was no way for him to evade it, and he could only watch as the injection was administered into his body.

"David, I brought you here today to let you witness modern interrogation methods. No matter the circumstances, you must always look out for your own safety and never fall into the hands of your enemies!" Garen explained to David.

"Uncle Garen, what does this serum do?" David asked curiously, watching Master Tony, whose complexion had turned extremely pale after the injection.

"It's a type of genetic serum designed to drastically heighten the human pain receptors. Even a passing breeze will make the subject feel as though their entire body is being carved by blades!" Garen answered with a smile.

A chill ran through David's heart, and he finally understood why Master Tony's expression had turned so wretched.

If even the wind blowing against his skin caused excruciating agony, then the clothes clinging to Master Tony's body must have felt like instruments of torture.

"This is merely the first step of the interrogation. To shatter someone's psychological defenses, extreme pain is the most effective method. If he can endure this first step, we will move on to truth serum. If the truth serum proves ineffective, we will use a more potent soul-interference drug. The longer he holds out, the more severe the damage to his body and soul will be. Once we reach the soul-interference stage, even if the interrogation ends, he will be left an idiot," Garen explained softly to David.

At the same time, this served as a psychological assault on Master Tony; every word Garen spoke was primarily intended for Tony to hear.

Master Tony's tolerance exceeded Garen's expectations. He had originally assumed an ordinary person without much combat capability could not withstand such torment.

Of course, when Garen said Tony lacked combat capability, he merely meant Tony had not reached the rank of a Man-at-Arms, which in Garen's eyes made him an ordinary person.

The researcher stepped forward, used medical scissors to cut away Master Tony's upper garments, and then took out a soft-bristled brush. Under Master Tony's horrified gaze, the researcher began to brush it across his skin.

Master Tony let out a shrill scream. He tried to struggle, but the movement only brought even more intense agony, as the friction between his skin and the interrogation chair was far worse than the soft brush.

David stood to the side and watched. He disliked this method; when dealing with enemies, he preferred a direct kill. Yet, in order to unearth information about the mysterious organization, such measures were necessary.

"Sir, he has undergone interrogation tolerance training!" The researcher reported to Garen after Master Tony had passed out from the pain.

Garen nodded. He had already surmised as much. An ordinary person subjected to such torment, even if they had no idea what to say, would blurt out whatever they imagined to be a secret. They certainly wouldn't just scream like Master Tony without the slightest intention of speaking.

"Administer the truth serum!" Garen ordered in a deep voice.

The researcher retrieved another vial from the medical kit, attached it to the syringe, and injected it into Master Tony's body.

As the truth serum entered his system, the unconscious Master Tony began to convulse, his entire body twitching with increasing violence.

Garen stepped forward and grabbed Master Tony's arm, only to discover that the man's life force was rapidly fading.

"Damn it, his soul has been locked! The moment any soul-related drug is used, it triggers an immediate death mechanism!" Garen said darkly.

When Garen let go, Master Tony slumped limply in the interrogation chair.

At that moment, the Shadow Servant proactively stepped forward and absorbed Master Tony's soul into its body.

"David, the organization targeting you is extremely bizarre. The ability to place a lock upon the soul implies that they possess a master of the spiritual arts—such individuals are rare even within the Starry Sky Federation!" Garen turned and spoke with a grave expression.

He was deeply disappointed today; even personally handling the interrogation had ended in failure.

Yet precisely because of this, he gained a profound sense of how诡异 (bizarre and unfathomable) the organization targeting David truly was.

"Uncle Garen, I will be careful!" David nodded.

"Actually, there is no need to overly worry. Your safety is guaranteed within Naan City, but you must exercise caution every time you leave!" Garen said with a smile.

He did not wish to keep David cooped up in Naan City indefinitely. David was a genius who needed room to grow.

Without experiencing combat and danger, David could not mature rapidly.

Coupled with David's current combat prowess, as long as a Transcendent did not personally intervene, he possessed sufficient self-preservation strength.

"If the others at the fashion salon yield any interrogation progress, I will let you know. Go rest for a little while; the ceremony is about to begin!" Garen lightly patted David's shoulder.

"Yes, Uncle Garen!" David nodded in acknowledgement.

He knew that if even Master Tony's interrogation yielded no results, there was even less hope of getting anything out of the ordinary staff who weren't even true members of the organization.

The comforting part was that David now knew the mysterious organization had set its sights on him once again, allowing him to prepare accordingly.

David returned to the room assigned to him on the top floor, the fifteenth floor. Furness was currently very busy greeting incoming guests from various factions, leaving David alone in the suite.

Entering the bedroom, David operated the Shadow Servant to sweep the surrounding area for monitoring devices. Finding none, he summoned the Shadow Servant close to his side.

He pressed his hand against the Shadow Servant's shoulder, and a faint thread of warm energy flowed into him, though he paid little attention to this trace of soul energy.

The boost this thread of soul energy provided was extremely limited; what he cared about far more was the ability Master Tony had brought him.

He prayed inwardly that it wouldn't be some useless stylist ability. If that turned out to be the case, he would rather refuse to assimilate it than have his aesthetic tastes ruined to match Master Tony's.

Within the Shadow Servant's body, aside from the yellow knowledge orb of the Knight Breathing Technique (80 Mastery, conditions for use not yet met), all other knowledge orbs had previously been absorbed and integrated by David. Now, however, a new deep-yellow knowledge orb had appeared.

With a thought from David, the deep-yellow knowledge orb transformed into a labeled knowledge orb: 'Divine-Realm Language (99 Mastery).'

Upon seeing 'Divine-Realm Language (99 Mastery),' David's first thought was of the language spoken in the Divine-Realm Grand World.

After all, having undergone countless years of development, the Starry Sky Federation had long since relegated minor dialects to the past; the unified language of the Federation was simply Federation Standard.

The appearance of the 'Divine-Realm Language (99 Mastery)' knowledge orb further convinced him that the mysterious organization had a profound connection to the Divine-Realm Grand World.

If the timing hadn't been so inconvenient, he would have integrated this 'Divine-Realm Language (99 Mastery)' knowledge orb right then and there.

He instructed the Shadow Servant to display his current attribute panel.

Name: David Kerr
Strength: 3.63 (1)
Agility: 2.42 (1)
Physique: 3.63 (1)
Spirit: 5.05 (1)

Literature (2 Mastery), Mathematics (5 Mastery), Comprehensive Studies (4 Mastery), Advanced Body Techniques (66 Mastery), Electronic Warfare (98 Mastery), Warhammer Mastery (85 Mastery), Sniper Mastery (32 Proficiency), Shield Mastery (89 Mastery), Heavy Axe Mastery (98 Mastery), Longsword Mastery (80 Mastery), Spear Mastery (1 Perfection), Spiritual Piercing (10 Proficiency), Spiritual Slumber (99 Mastery), Soft Body Techniques (65 Mastery), Spaceship Piloting (10 Proficiency), Hand-to-Hand Combat (23 Proficiency), Theft (51 Proficiency), Force Shockwave (Talent).

The vast majority of David's abilities had now reached the Mastery level. Whether mundane academic knowledge or combat skills, he was an elite in his respective fields.

In particular, his recent study and review of Hans's sniper insights had increased his sniping proficiency by 12 points, reaching 32 Proficiency. Furthermore, this was far from over, as he had only studied a tiny fraction of those combat experiences.

He believed that fully digesting Hans's sniper insights would allow his sniping capability to achieve a major breakthrough.