Chapter 1: Tell Me, Who Are You?
"When you're down on your luck, even cold water can get stuck in your teeth."
Hit by a car.
Transmigrated.
Captured upon arrival.
Why?
No idea.
Lucas felt he was tied to a cold iron chair.
A hood was placed over his head, plunging his vision into darkness.
The coarse burlap lining the hood stuck to his cheeks, sticky and greasy, with a rancid smell of blood constantly assaulting his nose.
Whip cracks echoed nearby, accompanied by someone's continuous wailing.
"Speak! Where is it?" a rough voice demanded loudly.
The beaten person pleaded desperately, "I really don't know what you're talking about. Please, stop hitting me. Let me go… I'm just a petty thief. All my money is hidden in the bird's nest on the statue on the east side of Albian Square. It's all yours… just let me go…"
The rough-voiced man seemed to ask another person, "He probably really doesn't know…"
A gunshot! The thief's pleas fell silent.
The rough-voiced man said, "Now, we're down to the last suspect. If he's not the one who stole it… we'll all be punished."
A female voice responded, "No, we won't be punished. He will tell us where it is…"
"Are you sure he's the one who stole it? Why interrogate the others?"
The woman replied, "They just don't get it. As long as he confesses and says the item was thrown into the Lilim River, whether we can retrieve it or not won't be our agency's concern. It might have been thrown somewhere hard to find. As long as he confesses… at least he won't die here. If he doesn't… we can go out and catch more people."
Lucas knew these words were meant for him.
They couldn't find the thief, so they wanted to pin it on someone to report to their superiors.
Confess?
What would be the outcome of a confession? Lucas heard footsteps approaching, and a hand grabbed the hood...
At that moment, a few key phrases from the earlier conversation flashed in Lucas's mind.
"Albian Square," "statue," "bird's nest," "Lilim River," "agency."
In a single-player open-world game he played called "Epoch," there was an Albian Square in the Seawall District of the Argent Empire's Storm City.
On the east side of the square, there was a statue with a bird's nest where players could find a bag of coins. Fifteen gold coins were a nice surprise for a novice player.
The Lilim River flowed through Storm City.
The agency... was the Argent Royal Secret Intelligence Bureau, a powerful organization with investigative, enforcement, and execution powers, instilling fear throughout the Argent Empire.
The Seawall District had a branch of the Intelligence Bureau...
There was a joke circulating about this branch in the game.
"One day, a noblewoman lost her pet rabbit and asked the Seawall District Intelligence Bureau to find it. The next day, the bureau brought back a bear. The bear, beaten black and blue, lay on the ground shouting, 'I'm a rabbit! I'm really a rabbit!'"
This was how the Seawall District Intelligence Bureau operated. Funny as a joke, but not from the bear's perspective. Lucas was now certain.
Even if he confessed, his fate would be a sudden violent death after signing the confession.
Dead men tell no tales! A common tactic of the Seawall District Intelligence Bureau.
Now he had to gamble... The hood was being lifted.
Lucas angrily shouted, "Zane, get your oil-scented mechanical hand off my head!"
The hood, already at his chin, stopped.
The rough-voiced man asked in shock, "How do you know my name?"
So, this was indeed the Seawall District Intelligence Bureau.
"Zane, not only do I know your name… I also know you have a cat named Miley, and you hold her every night when you sleep."
Zane was even more shocked, "How do you know about Miley! I hid her so well."
The woman laughed heartily, "Zane, you actually have a cat named Miley! You've truly shown me a new side of you…"
At this point, Lucas said, "Shelley, born in the Empire's Extraordinary Species Research Institute, is a third-generation hybrid of human and Medusa, with a Medusa's eye for her right eye.
At 18, you joined the Empire's Royal 469th Infantry Regiment.
At 25, you were transferred to the Royal 10th Steam Fortress as the Captain of the 398th Rapid Assault Team and participated in the Battle of Fior Hills.
At 36, she was promoted to Third Officer of the 10th Steam Fortress, during which she took part in the Barn Campaign, personally leading the capture of three enemy steam fortresses.
Later... due to severe injuries, you were appointed as the first commander of the 10th Steam Fortress and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
However, in the second year of your sentence, you joined the Intelligence Bureau under the alias 'Black Mamba' and have been working in the Seawall District branch ever since."
After Lucas finished, the room fell into silence.
Quiet!
That meant his words had an effect.
Now, just wait. A test of patience.
After a while, Zane suddenly said, "Boss, you're 46 years old now. How do you still look like you're in your twenties?"
"Shut up!" The woman's mood clearly turned irritable. She asked Lucas, "Who are you? How do you know all this about me?"
Lucas replied authoritatively, "Shelley, take off my hood. I don't trust Zane's mechanical hands. If I get even a scratch, your punishment will be far worse than another 45 years in prison."
After a moment, the hood covering Lucas's head was removed.
The dim room was lit by a glaring incandescent lamp hanging from above. It took Lucas a while to adjust to the light and see his surroundings clearly.
A confined interrogation room. Seven people tied to chairs, six of them dead.
All had been shot in the head, leaving red and white matter all over the floor.
Standing next to him was an extremely burly old white man, his exposed upper body covered in tire-like bulges of muscle, with metallic mechanical arms.
In front of him.
A young red-haired beauty, her right eye covered by a black eye patch, twirling a revolver in her hand.
The gun had a long barrel, engraved with golden runes, and the grip emanated a green glow.
Wham!
The woman propped her right foot on the chair Lucas was sitting in, positioning it between his legs.
A blade sprang out from the heel of her shoe.
"Now, mister in the strange outfit, how about you tell me… who exactly are you?"