Reborn in 1950: Shorting the Federal Reserve at the Start

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The dull thud echoed in the interrogation room, accompanied by a sickening cracking sound.

Wang Ergou (Lin Shuwen) was like a madman, desperately slamming his bald head against the metal table. A large bruise quickly appeared on his forehead, and blood flowed down his brow bone, blurring his vision, making him look both ferocious and pitiful.

But he couldn't feel any pain.

Compared to the physical pain, the young man standing on the podium, holding chalk and lecturing endlessly, was the real judge of hell.

"Stop! Please stop!"

Wang Ergou roared, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows, "I won't listen! I won't listen to any gravitational fields! I won't listen to any spacetime curvature!"

"Don't rush, this is the essence of general relativity."

Shen Jinghong completely ignored his breakdown, turned around and drew a huge funnel-shaped grid on the blackboard, tapping the chalk on the board with a loud thud.

"You see, when a massive object, like your sins, is in spacetime, it will bend the space around it."

He turned around, his eyes behind his glasses cold to the point of cruelty, yet his tone was gentle, as if he were coaxing a child to sleep.

"This is like you right now. You think you can escape? No, you're falling into a black hole. Within this horizon, time will be stretched infinitely. In other words, the pain you feel will be... eternal in your conscious mind."

"Eternal suffering... even light cannot escape it..."

These words became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

At this moment, Wang Ergou's psychological defenses collapsed like a dam breached by a flood.

He was a secret agent, trained in severe torture. He could endure having his fingernails pulled out, endure electric shocks, and was even prepared to sacrifice himself for the "Party and State."

But he couldn't stand it.

This feeling of being completely unable to understand, yet being able to sense an irresistible and terrifying sense of oppression from the depths of the universe, made him feel as insignificant as an insect, being mercilessly crushed by a higher civilization.

"Ah—! I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!"

Wang Ergou let out a piercing howl, his snot, tears, and blood mixing together to create an abstract painting on his face. He struggled desperately, oblivious to the handcuffs digging into his flesh, wanting only to get further away from that damned blackboard.

"Stop talking! Grandpa! Ancestors! Director Shen! Please stop!"

"I'm illiterate! I'm a scoundrel! I don't deserve to listen to physics! I don't deserve to understand the universe!"

He cried so hard his whole body convulsed, slid off the chair, knelt on the ground, and frantically kowtowed to Shen Jinghong:

"I'll confess! I'll confess everything! I'll tell you anything you want to know! Just make me shut up, no, just make me shut up, I'll do anything you want!"

In the corner of the interrogation room, Chen Weiguo, who was in charge of taking notes, trembled so much that the tip of his pen almost pierced the paper.

He had been a soldier for so many years and had interrogated so many prisoners, but this was the first time he had ever seen such a scene.

No torture, no cursing, just lecturing.

They managed to portray a professionally trained, elite spy as someone suffering from neurasthenia, crying and begging for mercy.

What kind of tactic is this?

Is this the legendary "knowledge is power"?

"So... he confessed?"

Shen Jinghong stopped what she was doing.

He glanced at the Schwarzschild radius formula on the blackboard, which was still not fully derived, and then at Wang Ergou, who was kneeling on the ground and on the verge of a mental breakdown. A hint of regret, as if he hadn't had enough, appeared on his face.

"Tsk, Wang, your willpower is a bit weak."

Shen Jinghong sighed, casually tossing the half-used piece of chalk back into the chalk box with precise accuracy. She dusted off her hands, her tone full of regret and disappointment.

"I was just getting to the exciting part, about to explain the possibility of wormholes. Why aren't you learning anymore?"

"I'm not learning anymore! I'd rather die than learn!"

Wang Ergou shook his head vigorously, as if afraid Shen Jinghong would pick up the chalk again. "I'm a pig! I'm a dog! My brain is full of mush, it can't hold a wormhole!"

"Fine, since you insist."

Shen Jinghong shrugged, took the interrogation record book from Chen Weiguo, pulled up a chair, and sat down imposingly in front of Wang Ergou.

"Then let's talk about things you can fit in your head."

"Who is 'Viper'? Where is he? What's your contact information? How many spies like you are left in the capital?"

Once these questions were posed, Wang Ergou spoke at an astonishingly fast pace, as if afraid that if he was even a second too slow, Shen Jinghong would have to continue explaining gravitational waves to him.

"The 'Viper' is named Zhang Jingui! On the surface, he's a blind fortune teller, but actually, his eyesight is perfectly good!"

"He's hiding in the dilapidated temple district in the south of the city! There's a Guandi Temple there, long abandoned. Behind the statue is a cellar, and the radio is in there!"

"We don't need to meet in person to communicate! If he hangs a red banner at the temple gate, it means he has a mission; if he hangs a white banner, it means he's silent! I'm his sole contact person, responsible for delivering money and supplies to him!"

"There's more! There's more!"

Wang Ergou, panting heavily, scanned his surroundings with fear, as if desperately searching his mind for anything to prove his worth:

"He also kept a group of assassins, about a dozen of them, hiding in the slums next to the temple, all armed! They originally planned to take action tomorrow night and bomb your substation!"

"A list! I have a list!"

"It's right there in that loose floor tile under the counter in Wenyuan Pavilion! There's an iron box inside, filled with the roster of our undercover agents!"

Less than ten minutes.

And so, an incredibly detailed confession was born.

Even details like whether "Viper" prefers savory or sweet tofu pudding were clearly explained by Wang Ergou.

He was genuinely scared.

He would rather be shot than face that demon called "general relativity" again.

"Did you write it down?"

Shen Jinghong turned around and asked a question.

"I...I've written it down." Chen Weiguo looked at the densely filled notebook in his hand, feeling like he was dreaming. "Director, is...is that all?"

"Otherwise what?"

Shen Jinghong stood up, tore off the confession, folded it, and put it in his pocket. He looked down at Wang Ergou, who was slumped like a limp rag doll, his eyes showing no joy of victory, only a deep disgust.

"Take him away."

He waved his hand, as if shooing away flies, "Find him a quiet private room, don't let anyone disturb him. After all, he's just undergone such an intense 'scientific baptism,' his brain needs a rest."

"yes!"

Two guards rushed in and dragged Wang Ergou out.

As Wang Ergou passed by Shen Jinghong, he even cried out with tears of gratitude, "Thank you, Director! Thank you for not telling me!"

He looked even more sincere than when he was pretending to be an old farmer in Liulichang.

The interrogation room door closed again.

Shen Jinghong walked to the window and opened it.

Outside, the eastern sky was already tinged with the pale light of dawn. The chilly morning wind swept in, dispelling the strange stench of chalk dust and blood that had filled the room.

It's almost bright.

"Defend the country."

Shen Jinghong glanced at the mechanical watch on her wrist.

4:30 a.m.

This is when people are sleeping the most soundly, and when the night is at its darkest.

"Assemble the team."

Shen Jinghong turned around, and in that instant, his scholarly air vanished, replaced by the sharp and domineering presence he displayed when he moved the Air Force's armory in the United States.

"Now that we have the address and the list, let's not wait until the New Year."

He straightened his collar, picked up the Mauser pistol that symbolized command from the table, and tossed it to Chen Weiguo:

"The Guandi Temple in the South of the City".

"Let's catch that venomous snake before dawn. And while we're at it, let's offer some blood as a sacrifice on the gate of our Shenzhou Bureau."