Evolution - Chapter 102
Chapter 102
The shock of this sudden reprieve was immense.
Ji Changqing’s lips moved, but no words came out.
When she killed him by mistake, her future became a blur; after being imprisoned and realizing someone was targeting her from the shadows, she only wanted to serve her sentence peacefully; after entering Zones One, Two, and Three, she felt as if she were in hell, her only thought to end the torment as quickly as possible and get out alive…
Just when her expectations had sunk so low that she only wanted to survive, this sudden turn of events told her she could still get back on the right track.
An immense joy threatened to overwhelm her.
He Qingzhi had already answered crisply, “I’m willing.”
The big boss’s eyelids drooped as he glanced at Ji Changqing.
In the midst of her excitement, Ji Changqing shivered, instantly understanding that her situation wasn’t exactly wonderful either.
But with the temptation of returning to a normal life before her, she still answered decisively, “I’m willing to accept the selection.”
The big boss wasn’t surprised by their choices. Drowning people were like that—they would grasp tightly at even a single life-saving straw without hesitation.
“Then let the training begin.” After saying this, he gave the two a strange smile, his mood suddenly improving. Like a devil’s whisper, he said, “Survive, and you’ll be a member of Star Hidden. If you don’t… you know what happens.”
Star Hidden, specializing in covert affairs, had its essence in the word “hidden.” The meaning of “hidden” was that no matter the time or circumstance, one’s identity could never be revealed.
Unless one completed their mission and retired with merit.
To the entire Peace and Development Special Investigation Department, Star Hidden personnel, whether they were candidates or official members, were more like consumables.
The training period was incredibly brutal.
The attrition rate during training was far higher than the attrition rate on missions.
This attrition rate didn’t just refer to those who died because they couldn’t endure the training; it mostly referred to those who couldn’t endure and were washed out midway through.
It was just that others had a way out, but these two…
He Qingzhi had absolutely no way out. As for Ji Changqing, despite all the threats and temptations, she had never stained her hands with blood. As long as she was willing to live as an ordinary person from now on and abandon the military path, she theoretically still had a way out.
In reality, well, that path had long been cut off for her.
A normal person might have kindly concealed this cruel fact, not revealing it unless absolutely necessary.
After all, it was only a highly probable deduction.
But this man was no ordinary person. With a hint of someone enjoying a good show, he said with particular frankness, “Huantu is controlled by the family of the guy you two took out together. From the moment you entered, you were destined never to leave.”
Neither Ji Changqing nor He Qingzhi reacted.
Both had a deep understanding of their own predicament. If they had been anxious before, hadn’t they now found a powerful backer in the Peace and Development Special Investigation Department? Since the other party was recruiting them, they naturally intended to use them.
They wouldn’t be recruiting underlings in prison just to form a gang and become the top dogs, would they?
Not that it was impossible, just unnecessary. The big boss before them was so perversely powerful that he alone could make people kneel and call him “daddy.”
The big boss was extremely dissatisfied with their reaction and continued his explanation, lest these two think the world was now at peace and lose all sense of urgency and fear. “The annual death rate reported by Huantu is far higher than the normal attrition rate. It’s now been confirmed that they sell and transport inmates with decent potential to the Empire.”
Ji Changqing frowned.
Since this connection had been confirmed but no action had been taken, it meant there was a larger plan in motion.
Using a long line to catch a big fish—from a public service perspective, it was beyond reproach. She just sighed inwardly. Those who were sold and transported away, if their crimes didn’t warrant death, how innocent they were.
But she wasn’t someone who couldn’t distinguish priorities. Some sacrifices were unavoidable.
Could soldiers be sacrificed? Could spies and undercover agents be sacrificed? Could police officers fighting crime and maintaining order be sacrificed? Could civilians caught up in the schemes of crazed criminals be sacrificed… but prisoners, who bore the weight of their sins, could not?
There was no such logic.
The big boss could tell what she was thinking with a single glance.
He was actually crystal clear on Ji Changqing’s and He Qingzhi’s situations. For example, Ji Changqing had once been selected for the Star Corps. If not for her bad luck, she would have already been training with the unit for half a year.
It wasn’t that he was biased toward his own profession; speaking factually, Star Hidden’s requirements were far stricter than the Star Corps’. One needed a clear mind, outstanding skills, sufficient self-preservation abilities, and more importantly, a hard heart.
But beyond all these requirements, which essentially demanded that Star Hidden operatives be emotionless machines focused only on the mission, there was another, contradictory requirement—they must possess a heart for justice and passion.
To do the dirtiest work, yet keep one’s heart pure and untainted, so that one could disregard life and death and bear infamy without regret.
Because they might never receive the glory they deserved, yet they would have to carry sins that were not their own.
Those fools full of nothing but justice and sacrifice couldn’t even touch the edges of Star Hidden.
To be fair, both Ji Changqing and He Qingzhi were outstanding cadets in the military academy. But in his eyes, Ji Changqing was clearly many times stronger than He Qingzhi.
If He Qingzhi hadn’t been an Omega from such a shitty family, and if the other party wasn’t certain to come after him for that key reason, he would never have even considered He Qingzhi for selection.
It didn’t matter if his methods were perverse or his heart was black, but a person had to have some principles, right?
Someone who weighed the pros and cons too much, always choosing the path most beneficial to himself, would always make people lack that little bit of confidence in him.
“We suspect them of treason, but we don’t have much solid evidence. Your mission is to find an opportunity to collect proof of their treason.” The big boss explained slowly, expressing his disdain for Ji Changqing and He Qingzhi and the helplessness of having to recruit them. “The guy you two took out together, while not particularly outstanding, was still their biological son. Judging from their subsequent series of actions, if they really are traitors, it’s highly likely they’ll want to take you with them.”
Such natural bargaining chips to infiltrate the enemy’s interior—it would be a shame to waste them.
Even if the other party only wanted to sell and transport these two to the Empire like cargo, that too was an opportunity for infiltration.
But based on his understanding of the enemy, this level of revenge was far from enough.
Feeling he had clearly explained the cause, effect, and mission, the big boss smiled at his newly selected members. “So, what we need to do now is to give you the ability to survive under any circumstances.”
His training methods were wild and imaginative, with no discernible pattern.
The only constant was that no matter the lesson, it was just as sadistic as the brutal beatings before.
The first lesson was to teach them how to endure interrogation.
Just as he had used brutal beatings to force them to improve their combat skills, the training for enduring interrogation was, of course, to serve them with severe torture.
It was undiluted, severe torture, as if these two weren’t Star Hidden candidates but real enemies.
This torment was even harder to endure than the simple beatings from before.
Every method they could or couldn’t imagine was employed with creative flair by this pervert.
Moreover, they discovered with horror that during the varied tortures, seeing their pain and hearing their irrepressible cries brought this guy genuine pleasure. He was the very picture of an antisocial personality.
Of course, while poisoning them, he would teach them how to identify the poison’s composition and how to find the right antidote.
When they were battered, bruised, and on the verge of death from torture, he would teach them how to hang on to their last breath, and little tricks to lessen the pain and speed up their recovery.
When they were forced to stay awake, he taught them little tricks to relieve stress and secretly nourish themselves with mental power.
When deprived of food and clothing, how to slow their breathing and reduce their energy consumption to a minimum.
There were also some unorthodox tricks for dealing with interrogations: how to fool the other party to buy time, how to determine if the interrogator wanted them dead or alive, or if they intended to keep them barely breathing just to pry open their mouths.
And so on and so forth…
Every day, he would use torture, then summarize the results, give pointers for improvement, and be even more vicious the next day.
In this cycle of torture, instruction, application, and even more vicious torture, the big boss didn’t forget to urge them to cultivate.
That was the foundation for surviving and resisting abuse.
During this process, the people behind the scenes were not only satisfied but even felt a pang of sympathy when they saw the miserable state of Ji Changqing and He Qingzhi.
As expected of the great malignant tumor of Huantu Prison. When you got him to act, there was nothing he wouldn’t over-deliver on.
In the course of the interrogations, the big boss also managed to dig up quite a bit of gossip for his own personal satisfaction.
The final assessment for the interrogation lesson lasted for a full half-month.
After half a month without sleep, Ji Changqing’s consciousness was scattered, and she felt she could drop dead at any moment. Her answers to the big boss’s questions had become almost reflexive.
The big boss’s questions were bizarre and utterly illogical.
Ji Changqing’s answers were just as whimsical and rambling.
A meeting of worthy opponents!
The big boss thought Ji Changqing’s performance was truly outstanding.
It made him unable to resist being a little more vicious.
He brought out his unique secret weapon: he used a small amount of hallucinogenic drugs, employed a mental power deception skill, and spoke with a hypnotic tone and rhythm:
“Did you really kill him by mistake, or did you pretend it was a mistake?”
Ji Changqing sneered. “If it wasn’t a mistake, that dumbass wouldn’t have been worth the risk of killing!”
She was delirious, suddenly bursting into tears. “That fucking dumbass ruined me! I had such a bright future…”
The big boss’s face was full of admiration.
Although he didn’t know if she was telling the truth, he at least believed it.
“Wasn’t it because you were deeply in love with Qiao Nansheng that you couldn’t stand him harassing and bullying her?”
Ji Changqing shot him a sidelong glance. “Harassing and bullying a girl—doesn’t a dumbass like that deserve to be beaten to death?”
“Oh, so you beat him to death?”
“Pah! I wouldn’t do that! It’s all that dumbass’s fault for being unsteady on his feet. He ruined my future!”
“But you did beat him to death.”
“Then maybe he wanted to commit suicide and ruin my future!”
The big boss’s expression was indescribable.
Saying he wanted to commit suicide… you’re something else!
“It wasn’t because of Qiao Nansheng?”
“What the hell does it have to do with me!”
“You don’t love Qiao Nansheng?”
“Who?”
“Do you want to be with her?”
“I’m not an idiot.”
“Then who is the person you like the most?”
“Yu…” Ji Changqing suddenly paused, as if trying to force herself awake, and answered vaguely, “I’ll know when I meet them.”
The big boss was greatly disappointed. The frustration of failing at the last hurdle was incredibly vexing.
But Ji Changqing seemed to have triggered some kind of forced-wakefulness command and was about to come to her senses. His attempt to extract a confession and dig up gossip had failed.
He Qingzhi’s side, however, was a little different.
After using the same dose of hallucinogenic drugs and the same mental power deception skill with a hypnotic tone and rhythm.
He barely struggled before the key information was extracted.
“You and Ji Changqing were both charged with manslaughter. Was it an accident?”
“Yes.”
“Did you harbor killing intent toward him?”
“No.”
“He was a marriage partner forced on you by your family. Were you willing?”
“That’s why he’s dead.”
“What did you do to cause his death?”
He Qingzhi let out a laugh, tinged with mockery and a hint of pride. “I didn’t do anything. I just kicked two people over to disrupt the rhythm.”
“So you did it on purpose? You tripped him, which led to Ji Changqing killing him by mistake.”
“Well, it was worth a try. What if it worked?”
“You weren’t sure if you could get him killed?”
“Who can guarantee anything?” He Qingzhi kept laughing, as if savoring his own stroke of genius. “But how would I know if I didn’t try?”
The big boss now looked at him with new eyes.
Not bad, this guy. A black heart, ruthless hands, and a strong gambler’s instinct.
If the conditions are right, go for it. If the conditions aren’t right, create the conditions and go for it.
From his answers, it was clear that unless that guy had refused the marriage, or unless He Qingzhi had gained enough power to reject the union before his family forced it, he would have been done in by He Qingzhi one way or another.
With someone like that, constantly thinking of digging a casual pit for you—if it works, it’s a win; if not, try again next time—even the luckiest person couldn’t withstand it.
Being a pervert himself, the big boss instantly developed a special appreciation for He Qingzhi.
This spirit of casually digging pits, being persistent, daring to try, and not giving a damn about right or wrong… it was a perfect fit for Star Hidden!
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