In a room filled with high-tech equipment, Jiang Zhong was secured inside an upright memory-extraction pod.
His head had been shaved, and a perforated hood covered it, studded with fine needles already piercing his scalp.
The muscles in Jiang Zhong's face twitched. Sweat drenched him from head to toe, his chest heaved violently, and his mouth hung open like a fish gasping for air.
Gu Poyue stood before Jiang Zhong, looking down at him with condescending pity. "Jiang Zhong, you can't even take this little stimulation. Extracting your memories will be ten thousand times more painful. Talk! Where is the settlement you built in the Ancient Realm? And give me the list of your resistance alliance members. Which forces in the base have joined you? Then I'll set you free!"
"Keep dreaming!"
Jiang Zhong's eyes were bloodshot, but his resolve was unshakable.
"Since that's how it is, don't blame me!" Gu Poyue's eyes turned cold. He signaled to the technicians waiting by the machine.
One of them immediately pressed the button. The machine lit up, and the needles piercing Jiang Zhong's head began to glow.
Jiang Zhong let out a scream. His body stiffened, and the immense force made the steel restraints around his arms creak.
The veins bulged on his forehead, his skin flushed red as if he were being boiled alive, and his eyes turned blood-red. A rattling sound came from his throat, as if he were about to choke to death.
Gu Poyue stared at the virtual screen, where images flickered nonstop—all of them Jiang Zhong's memories.
Extracting memories was an extremely complex process. Even the Mechanical Empire couldn't extract them completely; most likely, all they would get were fragments. That was why he'd tried to make Jiang Zhong talk. But Jiang Zhong was so unyielding that