Butcher’s heart filled with suspicion and uncertainty upon hearing Su Wan’s words.
Who exactly was this woman?
How did she know these things?
Gene modification was a closely guarded secret of the entire Dawn Federation.
“Were you raised by the Dark Department? Or were you recruited from elsewhere?”
Butcher did not answer Su Wan’s question.
He simply stared at her with those yellow-green vertical pupils, his mouth slowly curling into a chilling grin.
In that smile, there was mockery, disdain, and a strange, inexplicable sense of acceptance.
Su Wan frowned slightly.
She didn’t ask further. Instead, she concentrated her mental power, condensing it into an invisible needle that she thrust violently into Butcher’s consciousness core!
“Hmph—!”
Butcher let out a muffled groan as his body suddenly tensed. Veins bulged on his forehead, and beads of sweat poured down like rain.
Even so, he didn’t scream. He simply gritted his teeth and endured.
Intense pain surged within those yellow-green vertical pupils, but beneath the agony lay an even firmer resolve to die.
Su Wan increased the output of her mental power.
Her Level 3 Late Stage mental power poured out without reservation, slamming into Butcher’s consciousness core like a tidal wave.
That level of pain was enough to cause an ordinary person’s mind to collapse instantly or leave a typical Ability User wishing for death.
But Butcher only gritted his teeth. His entire body trembled violently, yet he didn't utter a single plea for mercy.
Su Wan withdrew her mental power and watched him quietly.
Butcher gasped for air, his clothes soaked through with cold sweat, his face as pale as paper.
However, when he looked up at Su Wan, those vertical pupils still showed no sign of submission.
“I’ll ask you one more time...”
“Keep dreaming...” Butcher interrupted Su Wan’s questioning. His voice was so raspy it was almost unintelligible, but every word was clear and firm. “You will get nothing from me!”
Su Wan looked at him and remained silent for a moment.
“Aren’t you afraid of death?”
Butcher gave a sinister laugh.
“Afraid?” He tilted his head, his mouth splitting into a grin. “From the day I first had memories, I knew I would die sooner or later.”
“The Dark Department didn’t raise us to live long lives.”
“We are tools. Consumables.”
“Living until today is already a bonus.”
His voice grew softer and calmer, as if he were discussing an insignificant trifle.
“So, don’t waste your energy.”
“Even if you torture me until I’m begging for death, I won’t tell you anything about the Dark Department.”
Su Wan was silent for a moment before slowly speaking, “Are your bones truly this hard?”
Butcher looked up at Su Wan with mockery in his eyes.
He shook his head. “Do you know how the Dark Department trains its hidden operatives?”
Su Wan said nothing.
Butcher continued on his own, his voice light, as if recalling a distant past.
“We were locked in pitch-black underground bases since we were children. Every day, we were injected with various drugs and subjected to all kinds of training.”
“The companions training alongside us... they might be here today and dead tomorrow.”
“The causes of death were varied—drug rejection, training accidents, mental breakdowns, being eliminated by a peer...”
There wasn't a hint of emotion in his voice, as if he were telling someone else’s story.
“Of those who survived to adulthood, fewer than three out of a hundred remained.”
“And the only purpose for us survivors is to carry out missions.”
“If a mission succeeds, you come back alive and wait for the next one.”
“If it fails, you die out there. No one will come looking for you, and no one will bury your body.”
He looked up at Su Wan, those yellow-green vertical pupils devoid of fear or anger, containing only a calm acceptance.
“The pain I endured during training was far worse than your current methods!”
“So, what exactly do you think you can pry out of my mouth?”
Su Wan watched him in silence.
This man had long since been thoroughly brainwashed by the Dark Department.
His fear, his desires, his survival instincts—all had been twisted, suppressed, and reshaped.
To him, death was not a threat, but a release.
Su Wan stood up and looked down at him. “You think that because you won't speak, I have no way of knowing?”
Butcher said nothing, merely staring at her with those vertical pupils.
The corners of Su Wan’s mouth curled into a slight smile as she spoke slowly, “Even if you don’t say it, I know... you’re just a monster created by the Deep Blue Research Institute.”
Butcher remained silent.
His expression didn't change, and those yellow-green vertical pupils continued to stare at Su Wan calmly, showing no emotional fluctuation.
But the system captured it.
【Ding! Detected extremely faint emotional fluctuation from the target 'Butcher' when the host mentioned 'Deep Blue Research Institute'.】
【Fluctuation Type: Disdain/Contempt.】
【Inference: Target has negative emotions toward the name 'Deep Blue Research Institute,' possibly related to his own origin or perception.】
Su Wan’s pupils contracted slightly.
Disdain.
Contempt.
The Deep Blue Research Institute was the research arm of the Panshi City Inner City. In this region, it was already a top-tier existence.
Yet Butcher’s reaction wasn't the shock of being exposed or the anger of being insulted. It was... disdain.
It was as if the Deep Blue Research Institute wasn't even worthy of being associated with him.
【Ding! Detected the target 'Butcher' generating counter-thoughts to the host's words.】
【Target's counter-thought: Deep Blue Research Institute? That place is worthy?】
【Deep Blue Research Institute is just the lowest tier of the Dawn Federation Bio-Research Institute; the technology they possess is also the worst.】
【Their gene-modified organisms don't even hit a 50% gene chimerism rate. They are all defective products.】
【How could I possibly be a product of such a garbage institute?】
【I am... a product of the Yaohui Area Research Institute!】
Su Wan’s breath hitched slightly.
These were Butcher’s true inner thoughts.
At this moment, Butcher also seemed to sense something. His yellow-green vertical pupils contracted slightly, and his body instinctively tensed.
He didn't know his thoughts had just been read by Su Wan, but he felt something was off.
A sensation... of being watched.
“You... what did you just do to me!” Butcher was both shocked and enraged.
Su Wan ignored his question.
Since Butcher wouldn't divulge anything, she would simply read his memories directly!
She closed her eyes, and her mental power condensed into a fine needle once more, probing toward Butcher’s consciousness core.
Butcher’s body stiffened abruptly, and horror flashed through those yellow-green vertical pupils.
He felt something invading his consciousness—cold, sharp, and cutting through his mental defenses with the precision of a scalpel.
“You—!” Butcher struggled desperately, the shadow energy within his body churning frantically in an attempt to resist the invasion.
But under the suppression of the Rule Power, he couldn't even move a single finger, let alone activate his ability to resist.
Rate on N.U.
