The sudden attack caught Labul completely off guard. The blow left his mind reeling, and it took him a long while to recover. Filled with fury and fear, he demanded an explanation.
"Mr. Lott, what are you doing? The Ship Gang has never provoked the Pedrol Family... Don't forget, the harbor is our territory. I advise you to..."
Labul threatened him fiercely, but before he could finish, Lynn snapped his other arm with a backhanded strike and threw the burly man, curled up like a shrimp, onto the ground.
"I ask, you answer. Understood? Being cooperative will be good for all of us!" Lynn crouched down, stared at Labul, and spoke bluntly.
The tall, burly man was drenched in cold sweat from the pain, yet he clenched his teeth and refused to make a sound. He glared at Lynn as though he wanted to swallow him alive, countless thoughts racing through his mind, but he simply could not figure out why the Baron Pedrol's son had attacked him.
Could some clueless Ship Gang lackey have accidentally offended him?
As he was thinking, Lynn's voice reached him.
"First question... your name!"
Labul widened his eyes, feeling insulted. Wasn't that obvious?
"Answer!" Lynn's voice was icy. After waiting two seconds, he suddenly pulled the dagger from Labul's waist and swiftly, decisively drove it toward Labul's right hand.
"La... Labul..."
The burly man screamed himself hoarse. He did not want to lose his precious right hand over such an incredibly stupid question.
Lynn did not stop. Before Labul's horrified eyes, the dagger plunged straight down through his palm.
Labul's back was soaked through, but the pain he had expected never came. Looking down, he realized that the dagger had been driven directly into the gap between his tightly pressed fingers.
"You have only one second to answer each question. There won't be a next time!" Lynn said coldly before immediately asking the next question.
"Gender!"
"Male!" Labul answered through gritted teeth, having completely taken the man before him for a madman.
"Place of origin... in other words, where you were born!"
Lynn kept questioning Labul about all kinds of things.
At first, they were questions anyone could answer without thinking. Then they gradually became more and more tricky, ranging from the trivial things he did every day to the Ship Gang's trade goods and routes.
Whenever Labul hesitated even slightly, Lynn broke one of his fingers.
In just a few minutes, six of Labul's fingers had already been broken. The pain had left him half delirious.
"Fine. Since you've forgotten which foot you stepped out of the house with three days ago, I'll ask you something simpler." Lynn sighed helplessly, then abruptly changed tack. "Where is Lame Laud?"
"He's..." Labul was about to answer instinctively, but froze the next moment. Shaking his head in terror, he said, "I... I don't know."
"I told you, if you cooperate, it'll be good for everyone!" Lynn sighed helplessly. In truth, he was not particularly skilled at interrogation. The little he knew had all been crammed into his head overnight.
But Labul clearly had no intention of speaking properly, so Lynn had no choice but to use more aggressive methods.
Lynn's gaze sharpened. The Ship Gang had originally been founded by a group of pirates who had supposedly "gone straight."
According to Labul's testimony, aside from running ships and transporting cargo, they also secretly organized all manner of illegal activities.
For example, they disguised themselves as pirates to raid ships, trafficked people, transported contraband, murdered, fought, and more... If this had been his previous life, what Labul had done would not have been enough to appease public outrage even if he died a hundred times!
"Have you ever heard of flaying?" Lynn asked leisurely.
Flaying?
Labul shuddered, then heard Lynn continue.
"You start by cutting from the spine, splitting the skin on the back in two. Then you slowly cut downward along the grain of the muscles. You have to be quick—the job must be finished before the target bleeds to death..."
Lynn went on and on, explaining an ancient torture method from a certain country to Labul. His description was vivid and detailed, even covering where to make the cuts, how much blood would flow, and how many minutes each step had to be completed within.
Labul had already gone limp on the ground in terror. He had no doubt that the lunatic before him would peel off his skin. Trembling, he said, "Lord Lott, I truly don't know where Leader Laud went."
"Really? But I heard you were Lame Laud's most trusted subordinate!" Lynn sneered.
"In fact, Mr. Laud never trusts anyone..." Labul explained uneasily. "All I know is that he left Harbor Town three days ago..."
"It doesn't matter if you don't want to talk. We have plenty of time to play slowly!" Lynn stood and patted the dust from his trousers. While looking up interrogation techniques last night, he had found many interesting punishments that did not harm the body. This was the perfect chance to try them out!
Half an hour later, Labul was completely limp on the ground. Under the double torment of mind and body, he was on the verge of collapse. Faced with Lynn's questions, he told him everything he knew, even confessing that he had once embezzled an entire shipload of goods and disguised it as a maritime accident.
Yet Labul knew nothing at all about Laud's whereabouts. After trying several methods of psychological torment, Lynn had to admit that Labul was probably not pretending.
According to the information Labul had provided, Laud had left two days ago, which happened to be the day after Antioch led people in a surprise attack on Ur Town. The Drunkard tavern Lynn had visited had also been raided by the Church that day, and Old Hawke's whereabouts remained unknown.
Most likely, Lame Laud had received word at that time and become frightened enough to hide.
Only a small number of the Ship Gang's upper ranks knew that he was not in Harbor Town.
"Looks like even you, his most capable assistant, are nothing more than a smokescreen!" Lynn looked at Labul lying limply on the ground and shook his head helplessly.
Labul did indeed know many of the Ship Gang's secrets, but he knew very little about someone secretly transporting supplies to the Land of Wizards. He only knew that every Moon Day, Laud personally handled the transport of several large ships. Labul did not know where those ships were headed.
Lynn pondered this for a long time. Laud's caution and cunning had completely exceeded his expectations.
Laud had likely long prepared for the possibility that the Ship Gang's upper ranks might betray him or be captured.
However, Laud could never sail across the sea by himself. That meant the Ship Gang surely had even more core members responsible for this matter... while the other peripheral members served as cover, obeyed Labul's orders, and were discarded as pawns when danger came.
Lynn recalled the names and histories of the Ship Gang's leaders, large and small, that he had learned from Labul.
Every one of them seemed as though he might be one of Laud's hidden agents.
As he considered this, a thought suddenly emerged in Lynn's mind.
Since I can't find him, why not make Laud come looking for me instead...
(PS: Please support the new book in any way you can.)
Thanks to reader Eternal One of Antiquity for the reward of 2 Qidian coins.
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