Chapter 248: Two S-Levels

It’s useless. Qinggang is doomed.

Inside a sparsely populated, heavily guarded Research Institute on the north side of Qinggang Main City.

The first Old Captain of the Sea Country was being held in a small, secure room.

The entire room, except for the heavy iron door, was constructed from ten-centimeter-thick layers of lead and reinforced concrete.

Sandwiched in the middle was a thick layer of tempered glass.

The airtight structure and a small ventilation fan made the room incredibly oppressive.

This was a room designed to hold Ability Users. Although Elder Ye wasn’t one, he received the same treatment.

Looking exhausted, he sat opposite a long table, his hands shackled and an Ability Inhibitor clamped around his neck. The harsh lights shining on his face made him look not just tired but deathly pale, like a lamp about to run out of oil.

The IV drip that had been keeping him alive was removed, but he was given an extra shot of adrenaline.

Everyone knew he didn’t have much time left, but they couldn’t let him die before they got the answers they needed.

Elder Ye didn’t resist any of this. During the previous interrogation, unwilling to have his mind forcibly controlled by an Ability User and reveal everything without dignity, he had been cooperative, telling them what he could and what he knew.

Yet, he showed no signs of despair, no sense that all was lost.

When he occasionally opened his cloudy eyes, they were filled with the confidence of someone who had everything under control.

“The only way to deal with these Ability Users is to prepare everything in advance.”

“These Ability Users can alter people’s memory, perception, even their minds, but they cannot change facts.”

“Therefore, as long as preparations are made and the most basic logic is triggered, everything will proceed in the right direction…”

…

Facing the woman interrogating him from behind the harsh desk lamp, Elder Ye, fueled by the adrenaline, spoke calmly yet coldly, “Shen Ming, that child, will use his death to bring the only hope for the Sea Country.”

“You don’t need to keep interrogating me over and over.”

“I’ve already told you everything I should.”

“Because, unbeknownst to you, the Monster from the abyss has already been drawn to Qinggang. Therefore, you cannot escape this chaos. When Qinggang descends into chaos, Shen Ming can use the Mental Monsters appearing there to continuously strengthen himself. His Psychic Power will reach unprecedented heights. He will become a true god.”

“Qinggang’s fate will be in his hands.”

“I know you’ve researched some weapons to counter Ability Users, but they are a joke compared to him…”

“Now I’ve told you everything, but what can you possibly do?”

“Knowing there are Ability Users in this world, I never intended to gain an advantage by hiding secrets!”

…

The woman behind the desk lamp frowned.

She was Jia Mengyi, one of the Qinggang Six Monsters, a level-five expert specializing in psychology.

The situation was so critical that she had personally taken on the interrogation mission.

This type of interrogation was the most unsettling because it only confirmed established facts.

“I need you to understand something now.”

Doctor Jia thought for a moment before saying, “What you believe are established facts can still have complications.”

“Now, let me tell you what has actually happened in Qinggang.”

She slowly flipped through the newly printed file beside her. “First, regarding the Altered Persons scattered across Qinggang Main City and its five Satellite Cities: Because we detected their anomalies about eight hours in advance, we activated the internal Level 1 emergency defense protocol. Before their mutations fully manifested, we had already captured and isolated over seventy percent of them.”

“When the mutations occurred, we deployed an A-level Ability User who instantly eliminated these Altered Persons.”

She paused. “So, if your S-level Ability User intended to use these Mental Monsters to boost his Psychic Power to one hundred thousand or even higher, that objective failed from the very beginning.”

“Events have also shown that the Mental Monster codenamed ‘Red Cloaked Apostle’ only reached a maximum Psychic Power of less than fifty thousand.”

…

At this point, she deliberately pushed aside the desk lamp so Elder Ye could see the triumphant smile on her face.

Then, seeing Elder Ye’s clearly stunned expression, she continued, “Of course, the remaining thirty percent of Mental Monsters did cause some chaos for us. However, because the City Defense Department implemented strict lockdowns beforehand, these Mental Monsters were systematically eliminated by Ability Users we had already stationed at key locations throughout Qinggang. Very few reached the Apostle’s position.”

“As for the ‘Red Cloaked Apostle’ Mental Monster left behind by your Sea Country’s S-level Ability User, after one of Qinggang’s Second Stage Ability Users took action, its connection to the scattered Mental Monsters throughout the city has already been severed…”

“Heh, you were trying to hide the fact that this ‘Red Cloaked Apostle’ can devour the Mental Power of ordinary people, weren’t you?”

“It doesn’t matter. We figured it out through analysis.”

“What I can tell you now is that the Mental Monster you consider a ‘god’ has not only stopped increasing its Psychic Power but has also been beaten into submission by our Ability Users… The most direct proof is that the Mental Monster, once visible to everyone in the city, its shadow has vanished, and its detectable readings are dropping rapidly.”

…

Saying this, she once again pushed aside the desk lamp, showing Elder Ye another triumphant expression:

“Sigh, it’s quite a shame. We in Qinggang were actually hoping to test the power of our newly researched Overclocked Ion Cannons on it…”

“…Unfortunately, we only needed to send two Ability Users, and the problem was basically solved!”

…

“That’s impossible…”

Elder Ye’s lips trembled. He couldn’t bring himself to believe what the interrogator had just said.

Even though he repeatedly told himself it might be false, seeing that smug expression on the interrogator’s face—an expression that made you want to punch her… twice…—ignited an uncontrollable rage within him. An angry roar escaped his throat, like an old lion letting out a powerless bellow.

“Don’t believe me?”

Doctor Jia pushed aside the desk lamp again, flashing him that triumphant smile.

Then she stood up and pulled open the small metal shutter covering the window, allowing Elder Ye to look directly outside.

“I specifically chose the location of this interrogation room so you could have a direct view of the Donghai Grand Hotel.”

“Take a look…”

Her voice held unconcealed smugness. “Can you still see that Monster now?”

…

Elder Ye’s eyes widened as he peered through the small window.

He remembered Shen Ming’s position just before his death and had previously seen Shen Ming’s towering form overlooking the city. So when he saw that the ‘Red Cloaked Apostle’s’ shadow was indeed gone from that spot, his face instantly turned pale.

“Impossible! Things can’t end the way you say…”

“Our preparations for the plan were meticulous! It can’t be resolved so easily by you…”

He shouted loudly, less in argument and more in self-reassurance.

“But that’s just how it is…”

Doctor Jia put on an innocent expression and sighed regretfully.

“Oh, by the way, since you can’t leak secrets anymore, it doesn’t matter if I tell you.”

“We in Qinggang have always had a group of people passionate about various kinds of research, and a very positive attitude towards scientific endeavors. What we fear most is attracting the attention of the Alliance Research Institute because some of our Ability Users are too high-level. We don’t want them coming to demand these Ability Users or imposing annoying restrictions on us. Therefore, we’ve developed a very reasonable, very normal habit.”

“That is, we report the level of some high-level Ability Users as one level lower than they actually are.”

“So, while others think Qinggang only has one A+-level Ability User, we actually have two S-levels.”

“One had her true level hidden.”

“The other… we never even considered reporting…”

…

This time, even without moving the desk lamp, Elder Ye could see that infuriatingly smug smile on her face.

“You didn’t expect that, did you?”

…

“You’re playing with fire! You’ll burn yourselves…”

Elder Ye screamed desperately, unable to contain his fury any longer. His voice grew hoarse from shouting in anger:

“Two S-levels! No High-wall City can handle that! You can’t possibly have two S-levels…”

“And… and…”

“Do you really think that child is so easy to deal with?”

“Even if what you say is true, Qinggang City will still be destroyed…”

“When you force him to unleash his final Ability, Qinggang will forever become a land inhabited only by Monsters…”

…

When his venting roar subsided, Elder Ye felt a deathly silence descend upon the interrogation room.

He saw the annoying woman across from him slowly letting her smile fade.

She just stared at him quietly. A jolt went through him, and a bad feeling instantly surfaced.

“Special report…”

The woman didn’t speak to him further. Instead, she touched the headset in her right ear and spoke softly into the channel:

“Latest interrogation results obtained…”

“‘Red Cloaked Apostle’ likely has another Ability yet to be revealed. Please alert Mr. Lone Soldier.”

“Suspect its third Ability involves releasing a large number of Mental Monsters.”

…

After speaking, she stood up, gently placed a hand on her waist, stretched slightly, and let out a long sigh.

She added, “Also, send over a few Ability Users capable of excavating deep memories. It’s obvious he’s hiding some.”