Bunker Legend

Wen Xishu was being interrogated.

This was more or less what he had expected. Of course, he knew he had rendered great merit.

If he had not been a Wen family member, he would definitely have been highly sought after now.

People from the Bunker Security Bureau, the Bunker Administration Bureau, and every other bureau in the Bunker might have wanted to recruit him.

But the Wen family members' atrocities seemed to have been truly outrageous. Though Wen Xishu did not know exactly what Wen Chaohua and the other Wen family members had done.

Still, he was not surprised that he had been taken away the moment he returned to the Bunker.

He lay on a cold folding medical bed, surrounded by numerous armed guards.

People in medical protective suits were setting up equipment.

A lie detector.

Many syringes were laid out beside it, clearly including drugs such as truth serum.

Wen Xishu remained unhurried. Mainly because there was no use in panicking.

Instead, he looked at it from another angle. What he was about to experience was yet another thing he had never experienced before.

But deep down, he was also waiting for the outcome of the powerful figures' struggle.

"The higher-ups advocate wiping out the Wen family completely, but Wen Chaohua has something they are interested in."

"And the reason I have survived until now is because of the higher-ups' stance. Part of them wants Wen Chaohua dead, while another part wants to uncover some secret."

"That disagreement has created their power struggle."

"The current situation is not actually the worst-case scenario. The worst outcome would have been dying in the Strange Tower, or returning by sheer luck without reaching a Completion Level above Level Four."

Now, Wen Xishu had exceeded the mission requirements. A newcomer who had never entered a tower before had accomplished something so impossible...

Logically, everyone who knew about it would assume it had something to do with Wen Chaohua.

Naturally, that would deepen the connection between Wen Xishu and Wen Chaohua.

Those who wanted to uncover Wen Chaohua's secrets would only want him alive. But there would inevitably be an interrogation.

Wen Xishu did not know whether he could withstand the interrogation. At the same time...

He could sense that an additional variable would emerge in this power struggle.

The Bunker Security Bureau had six branch bureaus in total.

Among them, the Second Bureau and the Sixth Bureau handled "external affairs." Their primary responsibility was exploring the Three Towers.

The other branch bureaus were more like guards of the Bunker.

Even before Wen Xishu returned, the enormous quantity of supplies he had brought back had already drawn attention.

When Liu Jinsen received the news, he was utterly stunned.

A few hours earlier, he had already assumed that Wen Xishu would die in the Strange Tower.

Liu Jinsen did not actually harbor any prejudice against Wen Xishu. As a high-ranking member of the First Bureau, Liu Jinsen knew that some Wen family members were innocent.

That included Wen Xishu, who had been born intellectually disabled.

The Wen brothers were as different as heaven and earth. One could say that Wen Chaohua was as astonishing as Wen Xishu was pitiful.

Though Wen Xishu had seemed like a different person not long ago, Liu Jinsen felt that it changed nothing.

But when the supplies appeared and he learned that they belonged to Wen Xishu... a storm of shock rose in Liu Jinsen's heart.

"Level Six supplies? Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

"Officer Liu, how could I dare joke with you about something like this?"

"Also... there is even bigger news. I think you should prepare yourself quickly. People from the First Bureau have already taken Wen Xishu away. And then, and then..."

"Spit it out! Don't stammer when reporting!"

"Yes! A hospital has appeared on the Function Layer of the second level. It is suspected to be a Level Six facility."

That string of bombshells completely shattered Liu Jinsen's prediction of Wen Xishu.

He felt as though he understood every word his subordinate said, but when they were put together, he could barely comprehend them.

That meant Wen Xishu had obtained Level Six supplies and brought back a Level Six facility...

A newcomer, a "madman" from the Wen family, had achieved Level Six Completion after entering the Strange Tower for the first time?

What parallel world am I in?

Or was it not him who entered the Strange Tower, but me?

The shock in his heart made Liu Jinsen doubt whether it was real.

If Wen Xishu had reached Level Four or Level Three Completion, he would not have been this shocked.

But Level Six Completion was simply too outrageous.

Still, Liu Jinsen's shock did not last long.

He accepted the truth and suddenly realized—Wen Xishu was in danger.

Liu Jinsen did not have an especially terrible impression of Wen Xishu, but neither did he like him. Yet if Wen Xishu could truly save the people at the bottom, then in Liu Jinsen's eyes, that was an immense achievement.

His political instincts told him that before Wen Xishu received honors and rewards... he would very likely be subjected to a brutal interrogation.

So Liu Jinsen quickly made a call.

The call was to the director of the Bunker Security Bureau, though it was the director's assistant who answered.

"Jinsen? The director guessed you would call. Heh, you're still the same as ever." The voice on the other end was very young.

Liu Jinsen said:

"Wen Xishu has rendered merit. I don't know exactly what a Level Six hospital can do, but it can definitely ease the epidemic. Even the hospital itself would be a long-term benefit for the people at the bottom."

The young voice said:

"Even if you hadn't called the director, he would have asked me to contact you. Listen carefully, Jinsen. This matter is very complicated."

"It involves the Wen family's case, as well as certain... matters concerning the Three Towers."

"The Bunker Administration Bureau and the faction within the Bunker Security Bureau's First Bureau both advocate using any means necessary to extract every memory from Wen Xishu's mind."

Liu Jinsen said:

"Have they never considered that Wen Xishu might have relied on his own abilities? What if Wen Xishu did not rely on Wen Chaohua's abilities?"

That gave the young man on the other end pause.

Liu Jinsen did not blindly believe Wen Xishu was a genius. He had also considered that it was already incredibly difficult for a newcomer to survive the Strange Tower, much less achieve Level Six Completion.

Even among the experts on the Ladder Ranking, few could achieve Level Six Completion. Level Six facilities were even rarer, almost only appearing on the Function Layers of the highest levels.

Yes, what Wen Xishu had accomplished was unbelievable. Anyone would suspect that Wen Chaohua had secretly helped him.

But Liu Jinsen remembered something. He remembered speaking with Wen Xishu before he left the Bunker.

"If, and I mean if, I refuse to provide clues about Wen Chaohua, would I still die even if I successfully explored the Strange Tower?"

The moment Wen Xishu said those words, Liu Jinsen had seen through him. That child had no clues about Wen Chaohua at all.

He merely wanted to take a chance in the Strange Tower.

That was why Liu Jinsen had told him almost everything he knew.

So, in Liu Jinsen's eyes, Wen Xishu was very likely a genius at exploring the Strange Tower.

"Jinsen, don't be so impatient. The director has said many times that pieces caught in a game between multiple sides are the hardest pieces to capture."

"But now, both the First Bureau and the Bunker Administration Bureau want to dig everything out of Wen Xishu's head. We need some outside help."

Liu Jinsen hurriedly asked:

"What outside help?"

The voice on the other end said softly:

"You know that the First Bureau has the greatest power, but even the First Bureau has people it cannot touch. Go contact someone."

"Who?"

"The Principal of Three Towers Academy, Albert Napolitano. Tell that old man that a child with talent no less than Wen Renjing, Xun Hui, or Wen Chaohua is being interrogated."

Liu Jinsen froze.

He had heard that name. It was a highly legendary name. Though the Level Seven structure Three Towers Academy had not been brought back by one person alone, Albert Napolitano had absolutely been at its core.

He had devoted his entire life to climbing to the top of the Three Towers and leading humanity out of the Bunker. He was also someone all the Bunker's higher-ups respected and feared.

He had even turned the tide during several Great Devourments, saving countless lives.

"Would someone like that... be willing to help Wen Xishu?"

"I'm not sure, so public opinion must be controlled as well. In short, the director wants to protect Wen Xishu. Not because he wants to help him, but politics is about making sure your political enemies do not get what you cannot obtain."

"So Jinsen, you still have work to do."