Part 2
After seeing General Nie Qing’s livid face, he obediently swallowed the second half of his sentence.
Nie Qing glared at him fiercely, as if suppressing a thousand tons of fury, and commanded with a wave of his large hand, “Take them back to the Investigation Division.”
Several soldiers ran over, separating them into different vehicles.
As he was being escorted away, Xie Ren yelled to Yu Shi, “Don’t panic! Just confess everything honestly! You’re from the Third Institute, they can’t do anything to you…”
Nie Qing delivered a vicious kick to his backside, sending him tumbling into the military vehicle.
Xie Ren’s head slammed against the vehicle with a loud thud, and he instantly went quiet.
“Still have the energy to worry about others? Worry about yourself!” Nie Qing snapped viciously, then turned around with a foul expression. “Yu Shi, right? Get in the car, you’re going to the Investigation Division first.”
Knowing perfectly well that what awaited him was days of interrogation, Yu Shi quietly climbed into the other vehicle.
Inside the transport vehicle, Xie Ren sported a swollen head and handcuffs. Sitting opposite him, Song Zhaohui lightly kicked his calf.
“The defeated rooster is finally back. I thought you were so impressive, ready to stage a hero-saving-the-beauty act. Instead, your warship got blasted to pieces. Tsk tsk, the repair costs will be at least a billion. Just wait till Old Xie peels a layer of your skin off when we get back.”
Xie Ren snapped irritably, “Piss off, easy for you to say.”
Song Zhaohui chuckled. “I helped you, and you tell me to piss off? Is this how you repay gratitude? Luckily you have a tough life and survived; I was almost ready to host your funeral.”
“Good brother, I owe you one,” Xie Ren sighed.
Song Zhaohui asked, “Was that junior Yu Shi just now? He’s quite the beauty, no wonder you risked your life.”
“Watch your mouth,” Xie Ren leaned against the wall of the vehicle, crossing his long legs. “What do you mean ‘quite the beauty’? He is obviously the number one beauty of the Blue Star, alright?”
Song Zhaohui: “…I’m gonna puke, have you no shame?”
The two were brought to separate interrogation rooms, kicking off seven days of relentless questioning.
In addition to making them repeat every detail over and over again, they intermittently shined incandescent lights directly into their faces and denied them sleep—it was nothing short of mental torture.
At night, their holding cells were far apart. Yu Shi had no idea how Xie Ren was doing, and anxiety gradually grew in his heart.
On his end, he had already confessed everything in full detail and handed over the chip he had kept hidden on himself. He found it in the starship’s warehouse; it contained the records of all administrative officials who had transactions with Qin Yin.
He also informed them that as long as they recovered 9527, the total video footage it recorded would prove that everything he said was true.
Thinking of Qin Yin, Yu Shi informed the interrogator about his injury.
Section Chief Tao was the man leading this interrogation. He had been locking horns with Yu Shi for seven whole days, yet his face showed absolutely no signs of fatigue.
Hearing this, he said thoughtfully, “You said Xie Ren shot him in the chest. Why do you believe he didn’t die, but was merely severely injured?”
Yu Shi answered without thinking, “His shadow guard wasn’t by his side. Based on his personality, I believe he must have had a backup plan.”
Section Chief Tao said meaningfully, “You seem to understand his operational style very well. You haven’t really just known him for half a year, have you?”
“You can investigate,” Yu Shi’s expression was placid. “I only established a communication record with him half a year ago. I’ve said this many times: we met at the scientific research bidding conference.”
Section Chief Tao said, “Just because there are no chat records doesn’t mean you haven’t met privately. The club you frequently visit happens to be one he invested in. I find this coincidence very interesting.”
A smile touched his face, “Based on my understanding of you, you don’t seem like someone who enjoys revelry. So why have you been there seventeen times in five years, Director Yu?”
Yu Shi raised his eyes to look at him. “Your understanding of me? Do you think you understand me well?”
His gaze was nothing short of freezing. Even though he was the one being interrogated, there was a chilling detachment about him that struck fear into the heart, making it feel as if he, not Section Chief Tao, was the one in power.
Section Chief Tao stared into his eyes for a few seconds, unable to find a single flaw, as if he was indeed telling the absolute truth.
However, the more magnanimous the Omega before him appeared, the more suspicious he became. This was an intuition honed by decades of working in the Investigation Division.
His gut told him that Yu Shi wasn’t telling the truth.
In the face of his deliberate pressure tactics during interrogation, Yu Shi showed neither unease, nor impatience, nor anger; instead, he had remained exceedingly cooperative.
This posture of having absolute certainty made Section Chief Tao feel he was dealing with a thorny issue.
He stopped pressing the issue. “For now, it’s just a superficial understanding. I hope there will be more opportunities in the future to understand the truest side of Director Yu.”
Yu Shi stared at him in silence.
Tao Shu made a hand gesture, “The interrogation is over, you can go.”
The guard stepped forward to escort Yu Shi out. As he reached the door, Tao Shu suddenly asked, “By the way, does Director Yu like drinking Gin Fizz?”
Yu Shi replied coldly, “It’s alright.”
“According to what I know, Qin Yin likes it too,” Tao Shu stared at him intently. “The officials who accepted his bribes said he frequently ordered this cocktail at gatherings.”
Yu Shi gave a mocking smile and walked away without another word.
A subordinate officer commented, “Section Chief, are we really just letting him go like this? Once he returns to the Third Institute, we won’t be able to snatch him from Elder Tang’s hands.”
Tao Shu’s face darkened, “What else can we do? He played his part perfectly, even bringing back the list and making a major contribution. The Third Institute falls under the Base’s authority, and they’ve been constantly pressuring me. His mother is from the General Media Agency and has repeatedly stirred up public opinion to force the Investigation Division to release him. What else can I possibly do!”
His final sentence erupted in sheer fury as he kicked the trash can over.
The officer said, “Speaking of which, Elder Tang and the General Media Agency both vehemently backed him. Elder Tang is the Sovereign’s man; it’s impossible for him to protect a spy. This whole thing is bizarrely suspicious.”
Tao Shu’s brows were locked in a tight frown, saying nothing.
He recalled that over the past few days, Yu Shi constantly looked exhausted, periodically closing his eyes to rest. This kind of behavior was essentially a display of weakness and exposing flaws, so much so that the entire Investigation Division believed he would break under the interrogation and spill the truth.
Those eyes flashed through his mind, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He had been entirely focused on digging into Yu Shi’s emotions, micro-expressions, and body language, completely overlooking the color of his eyes.
That overly orthodox brown color, the pure, defining trait of Sundial.
The officer asked, “Section Chief, did you think of something?”
Tao Shu said, “Have you noticed that Yu Shi doesn’t look much like his parents?”
“It’s not just that he doesn’t look like them, he practically hit the genetics lottery! Both his parents have relatively heroic, martial features, while his looks are almost too soft and feminine.” The officer pondered, “But didn’t we check his family background? His birth certificate and academic records are all clean.”
Tao Shu frowned, “There’s definitely something fishy going on here. Go check all of his parents’ medical records, including the ones before he was born.”
The officer jolted, “Yes, sir!”
Yu Shi stepped out of the vehicle, the glaring sunlight making him squint slightly.
Having spent the past few days in the interrogation room, it had been a long time since he’d seen such scorching sun. His skin was pale; under the daylight, he looked like a frail patient on the verge of collapsing, his lips and cheeks utterly devoid of color.
As if afraid he might pass out on the spot, the driver rushed to drop him at his door and quickly went inside to notify the family.
A moment later, Liu Yin rushed out, throwing her arms around him and bursting into tears.
She looked even more haggard than Yu Shi. She was wearing makeup and her work uniform, but couldn’t hide her exhaustion. Her tears ruined her makeup, and she spoke incoherently between sobs.
Yu Shi hugged her tightly to comfort her while dismissing the servants. He patted her back and said, “Mom, I’m fine. I’m not hurt. Don’t worry anymore.”
Once the others had left, he finally heard clearly what Liu Yin was saying.
She whimpered, “If anything happened to you, what would your dad and I do? And after we passed away, how would we ever explain it to your parents…”
For over ten years, she had never uttered the words “your parents,” but today she simply couldn’t hold it in any longer.
Yu Shi’s eyes instantly turned red, feeling as if a wad of cotton had been stuffed into his throat.
Liu Yin murmured, “As long as you’re okay… Go upstairs and take a shower first. I made soup for you. Eat something and get a good sleep, be a good boy…”
Looking past her shoulder, Yu Shi saw Yu Songwei standing by the door.
He didn’t walk over. The expression on his face was intensely complicated, a mixture of worry, joy, and affection, but also opposition and anger. He gave Yu Shi a deep, penetrating look.
Yu Shi rested at home for two days, using the home communicator to report his safety to Tang Senmiao and Luo Shengge. The rest of the time, he spent mostly sleeping.
On the evening of the third day, Yu Songwei called him into his study.
Yu Shi pursed his lips and called out, “Dad.”
Yu Songwei didn’t speak for a long time. Finally, he said, “Kneel.”
He had never spoken harshly to Yu Shi before, much less given any corporal punishment or reprimand. This was the first time he had been this furious. His rage was hidden beneath a calm exterior, his eyes stormy with turbulent waves.
Yu Shi didn’t resist. He slowly knelt down in front of him.
Yu Songwei said with agonizing sorrow, “You’re not kneeling to me, you’re kneeling to your biological father! Little Shi, have you forgotten what I taught you since you were a child? Have you forgotten the promise you made to me? Have you forgotten how many people wanted you dead back then?!”
Every word was like a heavy stone, smashing brutally into Yu Shi’s heart.
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