Chapter 164: Interrogation Techniques
Lu Yuan slowly walked towards Omar.
“In the Middle Ages, the Swiss on Earth invented a very interesting form of torture. They would make the condemned lie prone on a wooden slide, then bind him tightly to it.
“Behind the slide, there was a wooden stake over 4 meters long and about 6 centimeters in diameter, sharpened at the tip and coated with olive oil, aimed directly at the condemned’s buttocks, like a ballista.”
Omar’s throat twitched, and his face instantly turned ashen.
“You can probably guess that the criminals who committed such offenses typically engaged in abduction, trafficking, and sexual assault of women, so the executioners were always relatives of the female victims; when the execution began, these executioners would take turns picking up a hammer and continuously strike the tail of the wooden stake, slowly driving it into the criminal’s body.”
Omar shuddered all over, instinctively clenching his anus.
What kind of joke is this!
What do you want to do!? I am a noble Apollo Sub-Minister—
Lu Yuan grabbed his chin, and with a strength exceeding 20 points, lifted him along with the table and chair.
“The most ingenious part of this torture design is that as long as you strike slowly and steadily enough, when the wooden stake finally emerges from the criminal’s mouth, he is still alive and conscious, only slowly dying of organ failure a few days later, during which time he can thoroughly repent for his crimes.”
“Waaah! I don’t want to!!!”
Omar let out a strange cry, desperately struggling to break free from Lu Yuan, falling to the ground, flailing his limbs as he scrambled backward.
Lu Yuan followed step by step, cornering the other party.
“Minister Omar, I’m very curious, how many Desert maidens have you abducted in total? Where are they now, and are they still alive? In this Desert, how many relatives of slaves would be willing to pick up that execution hammer for you?”
“No, no, no! I’m just working for Apollo! I’m nothing!”
Omar desperately raised his bound hands, instinctively trying to shield himself, his voice hoarse like an animal’s.
“Please! I beg you, Executive Officer, don’t do this! This is too Barbarian! I know you have a noble soul that yearns for a civilized world, there’s no need to defile yourself for trash like me!”
Lu Yuan smiled.
This person actually understood everything, but simply chose to do evil.
“Yes, such torture would undoubtedly be a bit Barbarian in the golden age. But you seem to have forgotten that this is the apocalypse of civilization’s collapse, and until recently, I was also a Barbarian in your eyes. It’s only fitting for Barbarians to use Barbarian methods, isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!”
Omar tightly closed his eyes and curled into a ball, clutching his head, on the verge of collapse.
“I—I’m just an arrogant, rude pig! Yes, a stupid pig! I beg you, please spare me! I’ll do anything you want!!”
“Unfortunately, Minister Omar, you are destined to die; the only difference is how you die.”
Lu Yuan looked down at the other party and said.
“Originally, according to my employees, stuffing you into a nuclear missile and firing you back at Apollo’s punitive fleet would be considered a fair exchange, a tit-for-tat.
“But as you said, I am a ‘Barbarian,’ and I need the support and awe of Oasis City. I need to quickly establish a negative example to clearly show any potential opposition planning trouble in the city.
“Therefore, for your sake, I have decided to revive the ancient Earth torture tradition.”
Omar looked into Lu Yuan’s eyes, his heart growing more desperate.
He could tell that the other party was serious!
At this point, without the Executive Officer needing to say anything more, this fellow began to actively demonstrate his value for intelligence cooperation, his attitude extremely earnest.
“Don’t kill me! I can tell you everything I know! You can also pretend to accept the ransom and let me go back; I can be your spy for life!”
Based on Omar’s tearful confession, Lu Yuan finally obtained preliminary intelligence regarding the “Punitive Fleet.”
A month ago, Apollo Headquarters approved Omar’s request to mobilize a punitive fleet.
However, all of Apollo’s warships were firmly controlled by the core power 層, and given the level of threat shown by Cangyuan at that time, it was impossible to send expensive warp battleships.
The company only had a few of those battleships, which needed to be purchased at great expense from Paradise Island, and were among the top combat assets in the company.
Therefore, considering Li Star’s remote location, even if a second-line fleet without a warp engine received the request and departed immediately, it would only arrive in approximately 70 days at the earliest.
Considering the time needed for internal procedures, battle preparations, and fleet assembly, which would take no less than a month, the punitive fleet was more likely to arrive in 110 to 130 days.
Given Omar’s current state of fear bordering on mental collapse, the possibility of him lying was almost zero.
But Lu Yuan did not adopt the optimistic estimate of 130 days.
The reason was simple.
The Apollo employees in the Wormhole Space Station had already fled a week ago; these people would spread the news, and the news would certainly travel faster than their shuttles.
At this current point in time, the news that the Li Star System was almost completely fallen would probably be transmitted back to Apollo Headquarters in the form of electromagnetic waves.
After the news reached headquarters, Apollo would inevitably re-evaluate the threat from Cangyuan, and then adjust the type and configuration of the punitive fleet’s warships, as well as the mission timetable.
Enemies also have brains and can think.
By then, what kind of forces would come, and when they would arrive, would no longer be as Omar described.
Cangyuan’s response time would likely not exceed 50 days, and they would need to prepare to go head-to-head with Apollo’s best warships.
Thinking of this, Lu Yuan was a little worried, but more than that, he was excited.
Any ship could be captured through boarding actions. Warp ships must have a large reserve of 【Warp zero element】 internally, and this was Cangyuan’s most scarce resource, as well as one of the most precious resources in the universe.
He was very confident in the First Battle Group’s combat effectiveness in boarding operations.
They were a group of beasts in power armor!
Bring it on.
Lu Yuan left the continuously wailing Omar, begging for mercy, and headed to the room where Mayor Kroll was being interrogated.
“How are things?”
Lu Yuan called out to Cao Yuan, who was in charge of the interrogation, and asked.
Cao Yuan shook his head.
“This guy has no intelligence value. We have already obtained most of the city’s secrets that he knows through other channels, such as the mystery of the non-evaporating lake water.
“As for the crimes, he denies all charges, telling me something like ‘the mayor is the law,’ and that he has no concept of breaking the law at all. I really want to beat him!”
“Hmph, if you really beat him to death, that would be letting him off easy.”
Lu Yuan, with Cao Yuan, pushed the door open and walked in.
“Mr. Kroll, this is our first meeting. I am Cangyuan’s Executive Officer.”
“Hello, invader.”
The other party lowered his head, not looking Lu Yuan in the eye, his attitude very arrogant.
“Hmm, hello. Today I’m here to tell you that your public trial will be held the day after tomorrow.”
“Public trial? Ha, hahaha!”
The mayor laughed heartily.
“You Sky People, perhaps you possess powerful physics and technology, but deep down, you are all equally arrogant. You are, and so is that Omar.
“Don’t you realize you’re an invader? And I am the legitimate leader of Oasis City! All the laws of Oasis City were discussed and formulated by me and the noble elders.
“Publicly try me? What exactly are you thinking?
“This idea is even worse than a secret execution! You and Cheng Yun, that traitor, have carefully dug a logical trap for yourselves, and then jumped into it yourselves.”
Kroll smiled confidently and shrugged.
He believed that the Executive Officer would not execute him, and would need to secretly reach an agreement with him, allowing him to continue as mayor or governor.
Oasis City needs me to be in charge, then it won't be chaotic!
Only with my strong support and that of the church can Cangyuan gain a foothold in the city and enjoy the dividends in peace.
Public trial? Just a formality.
“You want to give the citizens justice, a very noble idea. But unfortunately, you and I both know that in this world of collapsed civilization, such an idea is very naive. Justice is a luxury in the apocalypse, it can even be called a poison.”
Oh.
Lu Yuan nodded.
It seemed this one was the same; he understood everything, but simply chose not to be human.
“Alright. It seems you don’t need legal aid, nor do you need us to contact a lawyer in the city for you.”
“Of course not! Defending myself is enough.”
Lu Yuan was about to turn and leave when Cao Yuan held him back.
“Executive Officer, can I ask this guy one more question?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you!”
Cao Yuan walked in front of Kroll, looking at the pad displaying document data in his hand, silent for a few seconds.
“According to the interrogation of Omar’s assistant, you apparently intended to package and sell the entire Oasis City, along with all its citizens, to Apollo in the near future. Is this true?”
“True.”
“In exchange for New Hope citizenship, a mansion, a yacht, and Star Alliance credits?”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t you realize this would turn everyone into slaves? Didn’t you realize their fate would become even more miserable?”
“I did.”
“...Among these people who would become slaves are even your own secretary, your own Weibin Chief, and those nobles close to you.”
Kroll paused.
“So what? These lowly creatures all owe the Kroll family a life! Life is more valuable than freedom; even if they become slaves, they still owe me.”
Cao Yuan’s mouth twitched. He tried hard to suppress the urge to hit someone.
“...The citizens of Oasis City work hard their whole lives, enduring poverty, sickness, and injustice. You call that owing? Have you never felt pity for them?”
Kroll grinned, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Cao Yuan, seemingly finding the question very amusing.
“Hey, soldier, this is how it was when I was born, so you can’t blame it on me, right?”
Cao Yuan took a deep breath, shook his head, and stepped back half a pace.
“I’m telling you, I’m not some ‘soldier.’”
At this moment, he was certain that the day after tomorrow, no matter what the Executive Officer did to this beast, he would no longer object.