Interrogation

The Branch, detention wing.

"Name."

"..."

"Organization."

"..."

"Who sent you?"

"..."

Lin Guo set down her pen, rubbed her temples, and left the interrogation room.

It had been all morning.

Five men in black, held separately, questioned separately, with interrogators taking turns.

And the result?

Not a word.

The five men might as well have been stones. They ate when fed and acted as if they couldn't hear a question. Some stared into space; others kept their eyes shut. None gave away so much as a flicker of expression.

"Old Wei."

In the corridor, Lin Guo stopped Old Wei as he approached with a cigarette in his mouth.

"No luck. We can't get anything out of them..."

"These men are much tougher than the ones we caught before. They aren't some ragtag bunch. They've had serious training."

"Mm. I figured as much."

Old Wei nodded.

Masked Heroine had already given him a verbal account of the fight.

She was young, but after her awakening, she had undergone specialized training. She had spent seven full years honing her combat skills under expert instruction.

Anyone who could hold their own against her in close combat was no ordinary fighter.

"I'll give it a try."

In the interrogation room, the man who appeared to be the leader sat with his eyes closed. Restraints secured his hands to the tabletop. He looked perfectly at ease, as though he were dozing in his own living room.

Old Wei pulled over a chair, straddled it backward, and rested his chin on the backrest.

"Care to talk?"

The man didn't so much as lift an eyelid.

"No? Fine. Don't talk, then."

Unbothered, Old Wei carried on.

"Let me guess."

"You're not the remnants of that earlier Liberation Faction group. If those stray dogs had equipment