Suffering

"Nutritional concentrate...30cc... begin injection..."

"How is the situation?"

"Heartbeat normal, body temperature normal, breathing normal."

"Put away everything that can be used as a weapon, except for 'tools'."

"Yes, sir."

"The ceremony is ready."

"Shall we begin the awakening, Director?"

"Yes, speed."

"Begin, wake up--"

Nid opened his eyes in a daze.

The room that came into view was dimly lit, with only a bright chandelier directly above him, which stung his eyes. He was stripped naked and chained to something resembling a recliner, made of iron and covered with uncomfortable spikes and gears.

"Oh? Are you awake, little Nid?"

Suddenly, someone turned his head around, and a bald man covered in tattoos looked at him with a strange smile.

"Can you see me? You should still remember me, right? I'm Selace, the current head of the tribunal. We'll be spending some sweet time together from now on~"

"..."

"Yes, yes, I know it's very impolite, but what can I do? This is my line of work. I can't help being a little rude. By the way, you've got a really good body!"

"..."

"This is deep beneath the Cathedral of the True God in the Holy City Gloria, the torture chamber of the Inquisition. It must be the enemy's stronghold to you, but don't be afraid, and don't be intimidated by the name 'torture chamber.' As long as you cooperate, we can all have a good time."

"..." "Hello..."

"..."

Hey! Say something, you little brat!

"... sister..."

"Uh-huh?"

"... Sister Xue... is she dead?"

"Of course, how could he still be alive?"

"..."

Nid fell silent again.

His eyes were extremely empty and lifeless, his cheeks were a little sunken, and there were deep dark circles around his eyes. He looked much more haggard in just a few days.

"Please accept my condolences. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Thank you for my kindness; I've cremated her body for free! Of course, before that, as required by the higher-ups, I cut off her head and hung it in front of the Cathedral of the True God to proclaim to the world the fate of a great sinner—you know what, she's actually quite pitiful."

"..."

"Dead is dead, so don't be discouraged, huh? We originally wanted a high-level Divine Spellcaster to use divine magic to directly inscribe what was in your brain, but that girl's death seemed to have hit you too hard, causing you to completely shut down your mind. The shutdown was so thorough that even we were a bit dumbfounded, so we could only use the traditional method here."

"Sister Xue... I want to see Sister Xue..."

Nid seemed to completely ignore Selace's words. He simply moved his dry lips slowly, softly calling the name of his only relative. His eyes remained vacant, his pupils fixed and unmoving, and his face was as pale as paper.

"Don't do that, little Nid. A grown man—well, you're still a boy—can't always be yelling about wanting a sister. It's embarrassing!"

"... Sister Xue... must not die, I... must... see her..."

"... well."

Selace sighed, turned around, and rummaged through a multi-tiered trolley, making a clattering and rattling sound.

"Looks like I need to wake you up first... Oh well, you'll just have to grit your teeth and bear with it."

He now held a long, gleaming nail in his hand, with fine, serrated patterns on it.

He bent down slightly, gestured over Nid's head, and then aimed the long nail at his left ear.

"If you're just listening to people talk, one ear is enough, so don't be sad... hey!"

Pfft!!!!

Without the slightest pause or hesitation, Selace plunged the long nail deep into Nid's left ear, tearing through the raised barrier in the ear canal and piercing the eardrum directly, without any hesitation! Bright red blood gushed out, slowly dripping onto the ground along the nail, forming a small Blood Pool.

Selace still wore a playful smile, completely relaxed, as if he were simply cleaning Nid's ear.

"It doesn't feel good, does it? And if I push it any further in, it won't just damage your eardrum."

"..."

"Hey, can you hear me? Your right ear should be fine, right?"

"... Hmm? Ouch... it hurts?"

Nid blinked suddenly, his body twitched slightly, and he mumbled something.

But that's all.

Less than a few seconds later, his eyes returned to their previous empty and lifeless state.

Selace immediately became very disappointed.

"Tsk, this is your reaction to my first service? There's a limit to how much you can lose your mind! What's this? I thought it would be over quickly, looks like it's going to be a long battle..."

He shook his head helplessly, continued rummaging through the cart, and then sorted out some items.

There were saws, knives, hammers, mallets, whips, long needles, and other such items, as well as oddly shaped small rings and wheels whose uses were hard to guess.

"Well then, let's get started," Selace said with a wicked grin. "Let's begin with these basic things, then we'll move on to the tiger bench and the skinning knife. Okay, let your reliable uncle help you sober up, and you'd better spill all the dirty secrets of the Revolutionary Army remnants!"

"OMG..."

A young soldier lay on the ground like a dead fish thrown ashore, his body covered in scratches and bruises, looking utterly wretched. Dozens of others lay beside him, all half-dead, groaning and trying to get up, but their limp limbs wouldn't obey them.

"Is that all? Make sure you all do something useful!!"

Boom!!! Accompanied by a loud explosion, more than a dozen people fell from the sky with screams.

"--Isn't there one that can last even a single round?"

Clang! A massive boulder weighing several tons, placed next to the training ground, was thrown into the air, spinning and crashing heavily to the ground. The soldiers had no choice but to drag their injured and exhausted bodies away, but the devilish instructor showed no mercy and steadily closed in from behind.

"Hurry up, all of you! Don't fall behind if you don't want to dislocate your whole bodies and hang on the doorframe!!!"

"Yes, yes, yes!!!!"

"You guys on the left, slow down!"

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Without any mercy, three spiritual energy bullets were fired at the group on the left. Although Xiao Wu deliberately suppressed the power, the three of them still had to run away in a sorry state, covering their heads.

"This is too pathetic. Is this all you've got?"

Xiao Wu sighed as she watched the soldiers running around the training ground.

Seriously, these guys are so weak! The others are one thing, but why are those Physical Enhancement System like her so pathetic? It's just running 30 kilometers on sand with a ton of weight, right? I even did some special training tailored just for them...

Why did I agree to be this temporary instructor in the first place?