Two days have passed since the Sky Island incident, and everything has returned to a calm. Even the news hype has died down.
Bai Cha's internal and external injuries have healed by fifty percent. The combination of new and old wounds had taken a significant toll on her. However, the mission she undertook was considered temporarily completed. She could breathe easy until the vortex gate in Jun Yao's territory was opened.
"How is it?"
Bai Cha arrived at the interrogation room, which was Shadow's private facility. As of now, there was nothing that couldn't be extracted through interrogation here.
Noticing Bai Cha's still pale complexion, Meng Qinghuan expressed concern, "Little Bai, shouldn't you rest more?"
"I'm fine. Who is in charge of the interrogation this time? What stage has it reached?" Bai Cha sat in front of the interrogation room. Through the glass, she looked at Tu Guangshao's weakened state inside, devoid of any pity.
"Ah, Xiang Nan is interrogating him. He's using insects to eat him from the inside out, then healing him," Meng Qinghuan said, rubbing his nose and shuddering.
While Bai Cha and Meng Qinghuan were renowned in their circle for their strength and leadership, Xiang Nan, in addition to those qualities, was infamous. Everyone avoided him.
Bai Cha had even given him a strict order: in front of her, Xiang Nan could not display more than five types of insects, such as cockroaches, centipedes, and leeches. Otherwise, she would directly kill those insects.
After all, people might not fear insects, but they certainly feared ugliness. Swarms of grotesquely shaped, crooked insects flying everywhere would make anyone shiver and could even trigger trypophobia.
Thinking of Tu Guangshao being gnawed by cockroaches all over his body during the recent interrogation, Meng Qinghuan felt a chill.
"Did he confess?" Bai Cha tugged at the corner of her mouth and pressed a button on the side, connecting the intercom to the room. "If there are any omissions, remember to fill them in, Mr. Tu."
Tu Guangshao remained silent. He had been tortured yesterday. If it weren't for the special stimulating gas that brought him back to his senses, he might have passed out. Now, looking at Bai Cha, who appeared indifferent and even lazy, he felt a chill run through his entire body.
"Regarding the human experiments, the personnel were dispatched by the three top families of Guangming: the Mo family and the Zhi family were the main dispatchers. The uploaders were also mainly from these two families, but they were all from collateral branches, so it's hard to say if the key figures were aware of it." Meng Qinghuan flipped through the documents. "The stated purpose was to create warriors like you, and... to explore the truth of the world."
Explore the truth of the world?
Bai Cha frowned. This was too grand. If the World Tree found out, it would probably want to sever this lineage directly. They truly had no desire to live.
The point was, if you wanted to explore the truth of the world, you should experiment on yourself. What was the meaning of stealing other people's children?
Meng Qinghuan continued his report. It was evident that Tu Guangshao had been thoroughly terrified, confessing everyone he was involved with, regardless of whether there was evidence.
Bai Cha looked at Tu Guangshao, who was slumped on the table with a grim expression, with a strange look in her eyes. She let out a scoff, reclined in her chair, and pulled the microphone closer with her hand. "Tu Guangshao, are you implying that everyone except your Tu family are villains? Your family honor is quite something."
Tu Guangshao remained motionless, his eyes closed, lying on the table. He refused to say anything about his family. However, just because he wouldn't speak didn't mean Bai Cha would let them off. Bai Cha's voice echoed through the speaker, startling Tu Guangshao so much that he nearly jumped up.
"Then arrest all the Tu family members. Leave no one behind, from the oldest to the youngest." Bai Cha tapped on the table. "Seal off the entire Tu family."
"Bai Cha! How many contributions has our Tu family made to the country for generations? You can't just seal us off!" Upon hearing that his entire family was to be sealed off, Tu Guangshao became indignant. If he hadn't been handcuffed to the table, he would have jumped up and pointed at Bai Cha's nose, yelling, "And what do you mean, from the oldest to the youngest! Have you no conscience?"
"You seem to have a lot of spirit," Bai Cha said, spreading her hands. "Did I hear you correctly? Are you talking about conscience with a villain?"
"Of course. If there are other options, I'll give you one day to consider. When the time is up, we'll seal the family and make arrests." Bai Cha stood up and sneered. "By then, it won't just be the Sky Island incident you'll be blamed for. There's also your connection with the Y country's Astor family..."
"There will be new sponsors," Bai Cha said expressionlessly. Perhaps Tu Guangrao could still survive, but Tu Guangshao was definitely facing a death sentence. Even the neutral faction had reached their limit. Releasing him was out of the question.
"No one... is willing." Xi Yayan's emotions seemed very intense. The blood mist around him constantly evaporated, and bloody tears slid from the corners of his eyes, only to be vaporized into blood mist. "It's too remote... too poor... too far. All the children are disabled, and no one is willing to take them in."
All disabled? And an orphanage that was too remote and too poor for anyone to be willing to take in?
Bai Cha frowned, as if she had thought of something. She took out her phone and showed a photo to Xi Yayan, asking, "Do you recognize this person?"
"Xiao, Xiao Yue..." Xi Yayan struggled to speak. "We wandered... no one cared for us, and we would be captured... He adopted us. The orphanage had many family members... He... is a benefactor. He..."
"I've already taken over," Bai Cha interrupted Xi Yayan, closing her phone. "He is your benefactor. If I let him go and you give your family an explanation, what explanation should I give to those who lost their families because of him?"
"You helped him capture people because you were repaying his kindness?" Bai Cha cast a cold glance at Xi Yayan. If Xi Yayan weren't on the verge of death, a slap from her would be considered light. "Why should your kindness be repaid by others? You're begging me to release him. When those children were captured and experimented on, did they beg you to let them go? Did their parents beg you to find their children?"
Xi Yayan let go of Bai Cha's wrist. He had no words to refute, nor the strength to do so. He collapsed weakly on the bed, tears of blood continuously welling up in his eyes, only to be vaporized. It was unclear if he was repenting for himself or mourning for someone else.
Watching Bai Cha gradually walk away, he finally closed his eyes, completely devoid of life.
Since the arrival of Lucifer, Bai Cha now felt that her most enjoyable moments were during meals.
There's a saying that goes well: live in a US house, marry a Korean wife, have a French mistress, drive a German car, have a British butler, and finally, a Chinese chef.
And Lucifer, embodying the last two points, was simply flawless. As for the second and third points, they might have simply been a matter of gender.
His duties as a butler were beyond reproach, and his cooking skills were top-notch. She had been unwilling when Gong Yuechen asked her to find a dragon resonance back then, but now she thought it was truly wonderful.
"Master, regarding the orphanage, have you really taken it over?" Lucifer stood behind Bai Cha, waiting for her to finish her meal before speaking. "As far as I know, Shadow doesn't get involved in charity or anything like that, does it?"
Lucifer had only asked casually, but Bai Cha's hand, which was holding her drink, paused. Her hand, holding the cup, hovered in the air, unsure whether to put it down or continue drinking.
"Of course, we don't get involved," Bai Cha sighed softly after a long silence, placing the juice back on the table. "The photo I just showed Xi Yayan was actually a photo of those who died in the laboratory due to human experiments and couldn't be saved."
"Those seemed to be children from the orphanage," Lucifer said, his expression shifting as if he had thought of something. "You mean..."
"A year ago, we found many children from different laboratories in different regions. That orphanage was one of the 'sources,' you understand." Bai Cha crossed her arms, looking somewhat troubled. "They started reaching out to children in the outside world, which caused the child disappearance cases to be taken seriously and even escalated to me. This indicates that the original 'goods' are no longer sufficient to meet their demands."
These children were merely tools to them; they were used and discarded. As for that orphanage, it had long since fallen into disrepair, and there were no survivors left.
To protect their families who no longer existed, and to fight for their absurd "benefactor," it was hard to say whether they were showing true devotion or were simply pathetic.