Confession

Yang Ning shook his head, casting off the tangled memories. He lowered his gaze to the screen, where the special audio he had synthesized using AI technology was playing—it perfectly imitated the assembly bell from the Undercover Camp all those years ago. For everyone who had emerged from that hellish place, that sound meant absolute obedience and fear etched into their bones.

When the "ding-ding-dang-dang" of the bell rang in the undercover agent's earpiece, the man bound to the chair suddenly convulsed violently.

Though repeated torture had left him unconscious from the pain, his muscles still tensed instinctively. It was a conditioned reflex formed through years of training.

Beyond the One-Way Glass, Yun Zishan's brow furrowed tightly. She had keenly noticed the subtle change.

Xu Yinyin, standing behind her, unconsciously took a step forward, almost pressing herself against the glass as she tried to see everything on the other side more clearly.

The undercover agent's eyelids slowly lifted a crack. After days of torture, his eyes were so swollen and red that all he could see was a blur of light; he could barely make out the shifting silhouettes.

Just then, the VR Goggles on his head lit up. In the lenses appeared a figure etched into the memory of every undercover recruit: Scorpion, the training camp's Head Instructor.

The one-eyed man, with a savage scar slashing across his face, had once been the nightmare of every one of them. Every brutal training session and every life-or-death trial at the camp had been arranged by him.

No one could forget that cold, single eye—or the fear etched into their bones that he brought with him.

The scene inside the goggles showed the Head Instructor of the training camp back then—the man everyone feared: Scorpion.

The undercover agent began to tremble uncontrollably, his head lolling helplessly from side to side. Though he had been weak to the point of collapse, he somehow found a sliver of strength. His lips quivered as he uttered an indistinct plea:

"Sp... spare me... please..."

Yang Ning dragged his stool one step forward, perfectly blocking the three people behind the One-Way Glass from view. The small gesture stirred a trace of doubt in Yun Zishan, but she suppressed the urge to ask and decided to keep watching.

Yang Ning picked up the Microphone beside him and spoke in a hoarse voice, altered to sound seven-tenths like Scorpion's. "Maggot."

The word came through the earpiece and exploded in the undercover agent's ears like thunder.

"Maggot"—that was the contemptuous name Scorpion always used for undercover recruits like them.

The undercover agent trembled all over, murmuring:

"M-My lord..."

The repeated torture had already brought his mind to the brink of collapse. The lifelike images in the VR Goggles, the familiar voice coming through the surround-sound headphones, the camp's distinctive assembly bell, and that humiliating name etched into his memory finally shattered his mental defenses. In his daze, he could no longer tell reality from hallucination.

Yang Ning glanced at the Tablet Computer in his hand. The undercover agent in front of him had an extremely high heart rate.

"Maggot, tell me your codename."

At the same time, Yang Ning quietly took out his phone and pressed the record button.

The undercover agent's throat bobbed with difficulty. "L-Ladybug."

"Your mission?"

"I... infiltrated Dan Peak to steal the Sword Sect's Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir Formula..."

As he adjusted his posture, Yang Ning glanced back at the three people beyond the One-Way Glass, then continued questioning him:

"Maggot, how do you send and receive orders?"

"Magic Stone... sends them..."

Yang Ning pressed the pause button on his phone's recording.

The undercover agent then uttered the rest of his answer: "And Poison Bee..."

Yang Ning immediately resumed recording and asked, "What does the Magic Stone look like?"

"Purple... palm-sized, glowing with a dim purple light..."

Yang Ning nodded in satisfaction and pressed the stop button. In a voice seven-tenths like Scorpion's, he said one last thing: "Maggot, you've been exposed."

Then he stood, swiftly shut off the VR video and surround sound, turned around, and opened the door.

The instant the door opened, a bloodcurdling scream burst from inside:

"Ahhhhh—!"

Qiao Bin dashed into the room to check on the undercover agent.

At the same time, Yang Ning felt a powerful pressure bearing down on him—the icy aura radiating from Yun Zishan.

At the critical moment, Yang Ning pressed the play button on his phone before she could make a move.

The recording instantly echoed through the Interrogation Room:

Undercover agent: "Ladybug."

Yang Ning: "Your mission?"

Undercover agent: "Infiltrate Dan Peak and steal the Sword Sect's Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir Formula."

Yang Ning: "Maggot, how do you send and receive orders?"

Undercover agent: "Magic Stone... sends them..."

Yang Ning: "What does the Magic Stone look like?"

Undercover agent: "Purple, palm-sized, glowing with a purple light..."

In an instant, the pressure bearing down on Yang Ning vanished. Yun Zishan immediately took the phone from his hand and studied the glowing object carefully. "Is this... a Sound Recording Stone?"

Yang Ning's heart was thumping wildly. He managed a halting reply:

"More... or less."

Yun Zishan fiddled with the phone, unsure how to operate it. A rare note of urgency crept into her voice. "How do you use it?"

Yang Ning pointed to the Pause Button on the screen. "Just press here."