Interrogation...

The military tent temporarily serving as an interrogation room was rather crudely furnished. The long table was most likely cobbled together from several smaller ones, draped in dark green tarpaulin to join them into a single piece. It was as though they were intentionally trying to manufacture a sense of imposing formality and solemnity. At the two ends of the long table sat an interpreter and a transcriber, followed by Alliance Commander Jackson. He looked utterly exasperated and pained at having Han Qingyu appear before him; if he could, he would probably have left the place immediately. Han Qingyu raised his hand in a salute but didn't speak. Turning his gaze, he saw General Arthur of the French Front in full military uniform, and next to him, a Caucasian man in a suit. One more person than Shao Xuan had mentioned. "This is General Arthur of the French Front. And this is Mr. Howard, an Alliance Council member, formerly a lawyer, who came all the way here specifically for this matter." An old acquaintance, General Liu Yiwu, cigarette pinched between his fingers, introduced them from the side. Judging by his tone and posture, he didn't like these two men one bit and couldn't care less if they noticed. At the same time, from the posture of the four seated there, Arthur and Howard leaned closer toward each other, obviously standing on the same side. Han Qingyu broke into a smile and stood properly at attention, greeting, "Good day, Commander Liu." "Good? Good, my ass!" Liu Yiwu snapped back, glaring daggers at him. *What's this about?* A momentary look of confusion crossed Han Qingyu's face. "Don't you play innocent with me!" When Liu Yiwu barked this, the other three men at the table all turned in unison toward the interpreter. They thought the formal interrogation had begun. "Still playing innocent with me! Weren't you the one who claimed at the All-Army Conference that I talked a Red Shoulder to death? Was it you, wasn't it?! Damn it all, now the whole world is spreading rumors that I'm the first human to bridge the language barrier with the Great Spike civilization! You tell me what I'm supposed to do! I'm starting to suspect Snow Lotus might kidnap me at any cost!" "It's going down in the history books, Commander Liu." Han Qingyu wore a deadpan, earnest expression, trying hard not to laugh. "Get lost!" Liu Yiwu slapped the table and pointed at himself. "And now they're saying everywhere that I can force a Great Spike to its death without even lifting a finger, calling me some unconventional super combat power... What if one of these days a real monster shows up—a Miwang or something—and our line can't hold, so they actually make me go out there? What am I supposed to do, go up and have a chat?!" Han Qingyu couldn't hold it in any longer and finally burst out laughing. Liu Yiwu glared at him fiercely, but gradually, a grin broke across his own face as well. The interpreter faithfully translated the exchange between the two. Jackson ducked his head, feigning a cough to stifle his laughter, while the expressions on Arthur and Howard's faces steadily darkened. Arthur signaled with his eyes. An elite soldier stationed at the back of the tent stepped forward, walked up to Han Qingyu, and gestured with an outstretched hand. "Major Qing, if you please!" Han Qingyu turned to look. On that side of the tent stood a row of roughly a dozen unfamiliar elite soldiers in full gear. And in the middle of the tent sat a solitary chair. Suspended from the ceiling right in front of the chair hung a dedicated light fixture, situated less than thirty centimeters above and ahead of where someone's head would be when seated. The light was extraordinarily bright, blindingly harsh. Even in the already well-lit tent, it threw a stark, glaring circle over the chair, throwing it into sharp relief. Seeing this, Han Qingyu's mood shifted instantly. Prior to this, even knowing he was to be interrogated, escorted by an unfamiliar squad, entering this place, and facing these people, he had maintained a relaxed, composed attitude, fully intending to cooperate politely. Now, however, his face darkened. Because logically speaking, based on how the events had unfolded, he was not a criminal suspect awaiting conviction. In the world of source energy martial strength, even in Azure, there was no rule forbidding vengeance. Therefore, what they should be discussing first was whether the truth of the Alphonse family's crimes was substantiated. Only with that prerequisite established could they determine whether Han Qingyu's actions truly violated military law. The proper term for the current situation should have been an investigative inquiry. To put it another way: on the other side, was Alphonse being treated as a criminal suspect awaiting conviction and subjected to this kind of interrogation for his role in the conspiracy that led to the casualties of Squad 1777?! The answer was obviously no! "Major Qing..." Seeing that Han Qingyu wasn't moving, the soldier gestured again. "Please!" Han Qingyu silently turned toward him. "Major..." As the soldier spoke, his eyes met Han Qingyu's, and his expression instantly froze. He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. Han Qingyu didn't know him; they were strangers to him. But none of them could be strangers to Han Qingyu. This was the man who had fought Red Shoulders hand-to-hand twice in one night during the Flag War, The King who had soared into the sky with his sword on Xilang Peak! Even though he wore only his apparatus and carried no weapons, in the military's latest updated records, he was an existence above the top-tier, a combat power beyond prediction. The soldier stood there feeling completely at a loss. Fortunately, Han Qingyu looked away, his gaze sweeping slowly across the men at the long table. "Turn off that lamp." The interpreter whispered a translation, listened to the response, and turned back. "Mr. Howard says this is standard procedure for an interrogation." "I said, turn off the light." Han Qingyu repeated the words flatly, turning around and taking a single step forward. *Buzz!* The dirt around his feet erupted outward. Soil and stone alike were pulverized into powder as fine as sand. The dozen-plus soldiers standing across the tent instantly went on high alert, reaching for their weapons at once. But halfway through the motion, their hands froze... The King hadn't attacked. In their current predicament, drawing weapons might trigger an actual confrontation and provoke him into genuinely striking. No one wanted things to escalate to that point. Han Qingyu stood there calmly. The blue light of his source energy apparatus had not lit up. "But just now, there was clearly a source energy surge?!" The elite soldiers lowered their hands, exchanging bewildered glances. "He's still holding back. Otherwise, he could have shattered that lamp directly and blown the entire tent away." At the long table, Jackson murmured to the other two, cautioning, "Don't forget, until there's a conclusion to this matter, he remains a hero of all mankind from Xilang Peak. Just days ago, the entirety of Azure was discussing his Star Glory Medal." Arthur and Howard looked at each other and said nothing, silently acquiescing. Liu Yiwu took no part in the discussion whatsoever. Resting an elbow on the table, he tilted his head back, contently engrossed in his cigarette. "Go on, turn off the lamp," Jackson stepped in and ordered. "Yes, sir." A soldier hurried over to the side and switched it off. Only then did the tension in the air ease slightly. Han Qingyu turned around. "Commander Liu." "Hm? What is it? Speak." Liu Yiwu snapped out of his reverie and shot him an encouraging look. Beyond genuine concern, his expression seemed to say: *Cause whatever ruckus you want.* Unlike Arthur and Howard, Liu Yiwu—just like Han Qingyu—knew very well that this matter could never be resolved at the level of the four men before them. Even the entire Azure Council had to tread with caution, because the two men truly standing on opposing sides of this affair were Chen Buer and Alphonse. "Could you spare a cigarette?" Han Qingyu asked. "Ah... sure." Liu Yiwu paused in surprise. Tapping his cigarette pack against the tabletop, he popped one out and extended it to Han Qingyu. "I seem to recall you don't smoke. No lighter, right? Here." He set an old yet polished kerosene lighter on the edge of the table. "Thanks." Han Qingyu put the cigarette in his mouth, picked up the lighter to light it, and voiced his thanks. Only then did he turn, walk over, and sit down in the chair. The interrogation finally began. "Very well. Let us first confirm the most explicit point in this entire affair." Arthur sat up straight, glanced at the transcriber, and began, "Major Han Qingyu, is it true that two days ago, at the temporary airfield of the Perimeter Xilang Peak battlefield frontline command, you murdered the commander of the Nepal Front, Denis Alphonse, as well as Eric Alphonse and Charles Alphonse? Furthermore, more than a dozen Azure elite soldiers fell to the blades of you and your accomplices. Is this correct?" The interpreter collected his thoughts and began, "General Arthur is asking—" "You don't need to translate," Han Qingyu said. The interpreter looked puzzled. "...So, Major Qing, you can understand him yourself?" "No, it's just that I refuse to answer anyway, so don't bother," Han Qingyu replied. The interpreter: "..." "By the way, tell them this: I intend to press charges against the Alphonse family, on the grounds that everyone already knows. That's all. I'm very tired." Han Qingyu wasn't lying; he was truly exhausted. He had returned from the plateau with severe injuries, and having stayed up all night to carry out the killings, he had only managed a brief nap, not even completing his skin shedding. As a result, he had spent the last two days peeling. From that moment on, regardless of what Arthur and Howard did or said, Han Qingyu refused to listen to translation. He simply sat there in silence, finished his cigarette, stood up, and signaled two of the soldiers to take him away. The interrogation was over. Han Qingyu left the tent. Five minutes later, Wu Xu entered the tent. Twenty minutes later, Wu Xu sat in the chair, staring blankly back at Arthur, Howard, and the others.