Hou Liangbing froze, caught off guard.
A prisoner had dared to interrupt him—and question him?
His sense of superiority bruised, Hou Liangbing bristled.
"Of course I know!"
Hou Liangbing forced out an answer. "It's a symbol of Art! It means we at Bureau 7 are always ready to give everything for our country!"
It was a catch-all answer, conventional and hollow.
"Oh?"
Elder Xu's reply was only one word, but his even tone carried an disappointment too deep to describe.
That tone stung Hou Liangbing into anger.
"What? You think you know, old man?"
Hou Liangbing scoffed. "What would a decrepit old man like you know about Bureau 7's beliefs?"
Elder Xu ignored the mockery.
He merely raised his head and gazed at the statue as though looking at an old friend he had not seen in years.
"That pose isn't a fighting stance."
Elder Xu spoke slowly. "It was a form of body language our earliest intelligence agents used to pass messages when they had no means of communication."
"The pose means—I'm in position, awaiting orders!"
What?!
Hou Liangbing's smile froze.
The Bureau 7 agents behind him looked startled too.
Many of them had served in Bureau 7 for years, even decades. They passed this statue every day, yet they had never heard that explanation.
Elder Xu went on without pause.
His gaze settled on the hollow heart.
"And this heart!"
"The reason it's hollow, the reason it can light up..."
His voice suddenly rose. The steely resolve of a soldier burst forth!
It was a commanding presence forged through mountains of corpses and seas of blood!
"It represents an oath!"
"It means that once you join this secret, great undertaking, you set aside all concern for your own life!"
"It means your heart will no longer beat for