Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

The glaring incandescent light shone on the stainless steel interrogation chair.

Two flying insects were flitting around the lampshade. Their wings vibrated, making a soft buzzing sound.

Jin's hands and feet were tightly bound by cold iron rings. Deep red marks were left around his wrists.

His black shirt collar was open, and his chest hair was still covered in basement grime. The blisters on the back of his feet, burned by the wreckage of the shield, had burst and were oozing yellow fluid.

But he didn't make a sound.

Instead, he leaned heavily against the chair back. His legs shook impatiently, causing the handcuffs and chains to clang loudly.

"I'm thirsty. Give me a cigarette."

He spat a mouthful of bloody saliva at the one-way glass. The sticky liquid dripped down the glass.

The iron gate was pushed open.

Lu Jingyan walked in, holding a black tactical tablet in his hand.

Zhao Tiezhu followed behind, carrying a chipped enamel mug, walking with a brisk pace.

"No cigarettes. Make do with your water." Zhao Tiezhu slammed his teacup down on the iron table, splashing water onto the surface.

Jin ignored Zhao Tiezhu.

His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Lu Jingyan. His gaze lingered on Lu Jingyan's unequipped tactical vest, carrying an undisguised provocation.

It had already spread throughout the underworld.

This living Yama has shed his divine skin; now he's just a mortal who bleeds even from a bullet. Without his soul-searching and mind-reading abilities, how can he possibly pry open Brother Jin's mouth?

"Commander Lu, I've said everything I needed to say in the car."

Jin grinned, revealing his gold-plated front tooth. "I'm a junk collector. I found that shield on the roadside. That's all I know."

He shrugged. The chains clanged again.

"You police operate on evidence. Without evidence, you have to release the person within 24 hours, right?"

Lu Jingyan pulled out a chair and sat down.

His long legs were bent under the table. He placed the tablet on the table and swiped the screen with his index finger.

"Name." He didn't respond, his voice as calm as if he were reading an instruction manual.

"Wang Dafu." Brother Jin casually raised his chin.

Lu Jingyan took something out of his pocket.

It was held between two slender fingers. It was a silver metal plate, about the size of a coin, with a faint red glow in the center.

He stood up.

He walked around the table to the interrogation chair. His leather shoes clicked on the concrete floor as he walked at a steady pace.

"What are you doing? The cops are beating someone up!" Brother Jin shouted, desperately shrinking back.

Lu Jingyan didn't speak. He simply pushed his wrist forward.

"Smack."

The cold, metallic patch was slapped directly onto Jin Ge's sweaty forehead. Like a stubborn plaster, it clung tightly to his skin.

"Miniature brainwave lie detector."

Lu Jingyan returned to the table and sat down. "A dimensional reduction derivative of the Skynet system. It directly reads the electrical signal fluctuations in the hippocampus of the cerebral cortex."

He opened the software on the tablet.

A green zigzag line moves smoothly forward on the screen.

"I ask. You answer."

Lu Jingyan raised his eyelids, his dark eyes fixed on the other person.

"Where is your contact person for tonight's major transaction?"

Jin Ge was stunned for half a second.

What is this? A lie detector? Those are just toys to scare laymen. He's been trained to resist interrogation; as long as he can hold his breath and keep his heart racing, this piece of junk is just for show.

"I have no idea."

He uttered each word slowly and deliberately, even raising his eyebrows defiantly.

The voice just fell.

The green line on the tablet screen suddenly shot upwards into a steep red peak.

"drop--"

A piercing alarm sounded.

The metal plate attached to Brother Jin's forehead instantly released a microcurrent of three milliamps.

The electric current is not fatal, but it penetrates directly through the skull and precisely targets the pain nerves.

"what!"

Like a toad that had been electrocuted, Brother Jin suddenly straightened his entire body upwards.

He dragged the chair across the floor with a screeching sound.

He gripped the iron handrail tightly with both hands, his fingernails scratching white marks from the force. Cold sweat suddenly burst from his pores.

Just that one second of sharp pain. It felt like a red-hot steel needle was churning inside my brain.

Zhao Tiezhu stood to the side, arms crossed, and laughed.

"Hey, that's pretty good. How about it, Jin? Is this junk any good?"

Jin was panting heavily.

His chest heaved violently. He clenched his teeth, tasting a metallic flavor in his mouth—he had accidentally bitten his tongue.

"You fucking... tortured me to extract a confession..." he slurred, tears welling up in his eyes.

Lu Jingyan didn't look at him.

My gaze remained fixed on the tablet's data cable. I tapped the screen with my finger.

"This is a compliant neurostimulation-assisted questioning device. The current intensity is within international medical safety standards."

His tone was rigid, like an emotionless card reader.

"Second question. Where is the goods?"

Jin was panting.

The red light on his forehead was like a death knell. He knew he couldn't tough it out anymore; he had to make up a half-truth, half-lie.

"At...at the South City Secondhand Market...Warehouse No. 3!"

He stared intently into Lu Jingyan's eyes, trying his best to make his voice sound sincere, even carefully controlling his breathing.

"drop--"

The red peak has surged again, even higher than before.

The microcurrent doubles.

"Ughhhh!"

Jin Ge's neck snapped back.

The veins on his neck bulged out one by one, like several twisted blue earthworms.

His legs thrashed wildly in the air. His leather shoes slammed against the iron legs of the interrogation table with a dull thud.

This time, the pain was so intense that his vision blurred. The halo of the incandescent bulb blurred into a white fog in front of his eyes.

My stomach churned violently. The cheap alcohol I drank last night, mixed with stomach acid, was rising up my throat.

"I'm not lying! It really is in the South City!" he roared hysterically, his voice cracking.

Lu Jingyan picked up the enamel mug and took a sip of water.

His Adam's apple bobbed. He put down his teacup.

"The Nancheng Secondhand Market was demolished and its power was cut off three days ago."

He exposed this shoddy lie. "These alien parts, which require constant temperature preservation, will be rendered unusable after a three-hour power outage."

Lu Jingyan's slender fingers rested on the edge of the tablet.

"Your hippocampal electrical activity is 400 percent higher than normal. When a person fabricates false logic, the brain needs to consume more oxygen."

He looked straight at the contorted face, drenched in sweat.

"This machine doesn't measure heart rate or blood pressure. It only looks at your brainwaves and instinctive reactions."

Lu Jingyan's voice was cold. "In the face of absolute physical data, all beings are equal. Your pretense is meaningless."

Jin Ge's defenses are starting to crack.

Looking at the man in front of him who showed no emotion whatsoever, the last glimmer of hope in his heart was extinguished.

Didn't this guy lose his superpowers?

Why is this oppressive feeling of seeing through everything even more suffocating than the rumors suggest?

"Third question."

Lu Jingyan's finger hovered over the red button on the tablet.

"If I don't tell the truth, the next current will automatically be increased to the medical safety limit of 9.9 milliamps."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word struck Jin Ge's nerves.

"You will experience the pain of having your dental pulp and nerves pulled out alive. I'll ask one last time."

"Where exactly is this large shipment to be handed over tonight?"

Jin felt a chill run down his spine.

His clothes were soaked through. Sweat streamed down his face and chin, dripping onto his black shirt and leaving a dark stain.

He looked at Lu Jingyan's finger hovering in mid-air.

The excruciating pain I had just felt flashed through my mind, and my scalp tingled.

He's too scared to gamble anymore. He really isn't scared to gamble anymore.

This man doesn't play by the rules at all; every word he says could take half a person's life.

"Don't press it! Don't press it!"

Jin Ge's psychological defenses completely collapsed.

His mouth was wide open, and snot and tears streamed down his face, smearing his lips. He looked utterly pathetic. The handcuffs had chafed his wrists, drawing blood, but he didn't care about the pain.

The foreman, his face streaked with snot and tears, yelled at the top of his lungs, "I said! A batch of high-risk anti-gravity engines is being moved tonight! The location is..."