TIC 79

 Chapter 79

“To the point of even shutting down the brain’s cognitive functions.” Hein had already grasped the situation.

“Precisely. Strictly speaking, while Xiao Yan’s brain hasn’t actually ceased functioning, he is no longer capable of thought.”

“So we must eliminate this—this ‘suffix.’”

“Hein! You were once a cadet at the Central Academy of Sciences yourself! Do you not understand the true nature of a virus? Once it enters the human body... it becomes an integral part of it! Whoever engineered this virus, their objective was clearly not to kill the host; therefore, they must possess an antiviral agent! That is the only thing that can bring Xiao Yan back to consciousness. The loss of the ability to think is not, in itself, the terrifying part; rather, it is our inability to gauge the extent of the damage this neural shutdown will inflict upon his brain. We must, therefore, locate the virus’s creator as quickly as possible.”

“Jane Wallis.”

Lieutenant General Aver pressed a hand against his forehead. “I received a report from Hiti via Admiral Sheriff: Jane Wallis has taken Cathy and defected from the Tide Organization. They have now become targets of the Tide themselves. Jane Wallis represents the ideal vessel—the perfect host—for the Tide Organization’s leader, Valentine. We won’t find him easily.”

Hein spun around abruptly.

“Where are you going, Hein?”

“To the Interrogation Unit.”

In truth, ever since Xiao Yan had lost consciousness, Hiti had been ceaselessly replaying their entire interrogation session in his mind. He wanted to pinpoint exactly where he had erred—what, precisely, had led to this current catastrophe.

He admitted to himself that he felt a profound sense of reluctance to let go—for he could still vividly recall the impression Xiao Yan had left upon him. The way his fingers skimmed across the waves; the way he playfully teased the hermit crabs inside their glass jar; even the obscure little wildflowers—which would have gone entirely unnoticed by anyone else—seemed to possess a unique, captivating charm through his eyes. No one else viewed the world quite like Xiao Yan did; everything that typically went overlooked was magnified infinitely through his gaze, until you suddenly realized just how fascinating—how truly beautiful—those things actually were.

He desperately hoped that this young Second Lieutenant would wake up.

At that very moment, several armed soldiers from the Interrogation Unit were unceremoniously hurled into the room, landing with a jarring thud at his feet.

Hiti rose to his feet; even without lifting his head, he could guess exactly who his visitor was.

“Colonel Burton.”

The fallen soldiers scrambled back to their feet, immediately closing ranks to form a protective guard around Hiti. “I must locate Jane Wallis.”

“So you want to interrogate the witch, Claire. But the last time you subjected her to interrogation, you damaged her neurons; I don’t believe she is capable of enduring a second session.”

“*You* will interrogate her—not me.”

Hiti lowered his head, his fingers ceaselessly tracing the rim of his teacup.

“If I manage to extract the answers you seek from her, will it help Lieutenant Xiao Yan wake up?”

“Yes.”

Without another word, Hiti accompanied Hein to Claire’s cell.

“Turn up the lights; don’t you think it’s a bit too dim in here? Such gloom isn’t exactly conducive to mental health.”

Hiti sat down gracefully across from Claire.

This was not his first time interrogating Claire. On every previous occasion—just as he was on the verge of unearthing the truth—the woman had ruthlessly killed him within her mind; yet, each time, he had managed to withdraw from her consciousness in the nick of time. Of all those who had ever attempted to interrogate Claire, Hiti was the only one whose neurons had emerged unscathed.

Claire lifted her eyes, her gaze fixed upon Hiti with an expression of utter loathing and impatience. Although this man did not employ the same brutal, no-holds-barred tactics as Hein Burton, his cunning—demonstrated over several previous encounters—had nonetheless allowed him to extract a significant amount of useful information from the depths of Claire’s mind.

The fundamental difference between interrogation and standard questioning lies in their methodology: during an interrogation, the specialist constructs a series of illusions within the subject’s mind, designed to inflict psychological torment. Standard questioning, conversely, is a simple question-and-answer exchange; the interrogator relies on the subject’s naturally surfacing memories to form judgments—a process that requires the subject’s active cooperation to achieve its objective.

“I know how much you detest me—and, truth be told, I’m not exactly fond of you either. Your mind is hardly a beautiful or pleasant place to visit. However, if you cooperate just a little, I can be out of your head that much sooner.”

Hiti’s adjutant administered a double dose of sedatives to Claire and began monitoring her vital signs. With their neural links calibrated, this time Hiti lingered at the periphery of Claire’s mind for nearly half a day. This gradually wore down Claire’s defenses, allowing Hiti to penetrate the "troposphere" of her consciousness with minimal resistance.

The objective was to avoid damaging Claire’s mind as much as possible before extracting any useful information.

As Hiti delved deeper, Claire—true to expectation—began to resist. It was at that precise moment that the image of Valentine materialized within Claire’s mind.

"Do you realize, my child, that you have made far too many mistakes?"

"Father..."

In the instant Claire’s consciousness faltered, Hiti slipped into her subconscious.

The darkness was thick with the scent of blood. Every so often, Hiti could parse fragments of the brutal combat training Claire had endured; she had not grown up in a normal environment—the only things she truly cherished were the comrades who had suffered through that hell alongside her.

Just as the deepest layers of Claire’s subconscious began to exert pressure and resist Hiti’s intrusion, the figure of Jane Wallis appeared amidst the turmoil.

Claire instinctively dismissed the figure as a mere hallucination, yet in that very moment, her surroundings transformed into Jane’s room.

Jane lay on her bed, a book resting over her face.

"Hey. I just love these old-fashioned things. Holding a real book feels so much better than staring at a terminal screen."

Claire walked slowly forward and sat down beside Jane.

"Why am I here...?"

"That’s a question you should be asking yourself—why did *you* come to *my* room?" Jane rolled over lazily.

"It feels so good... to see you again." Exhausted, Claire lay down beside Jane. “Hey, I forgot to tell you—Valentine is getting ready to take over my body.”

“...What should we do?”

“Hmm... Cathy, Jerry, and I are already packed and ready to leave this place. What’s your decision?”

“I’m coming with you, of course! You’re the only family I have.”

“But where should we go? We can’t let Valentine find us; that would be a huge hassle.”

“There’s a place called Tahiti...” Claire closed her eyes, her face radiating a sense of blissful tranquility. “I hear the pearls there are exquisite...”

“Ah, you could have heaps of jewelry—dress yourself up just like any ordinary woman.”

As Claire’s subconscious drifted deeper into oblivion, Xiti realized he couldn’t let this go on any longer; if her consciousness were to collapse completely, the consequences would be far worse.

Fortunately, he had gleaned a wealth of information regarding Jane and Valentine from Xiao Yan’s memories; otherwise, he truly wouldn’t have known how to set a trap for Claire.

As he exited the interrogation room, he spotted Hein leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

“Tahiti. You might want to try looking there to see if you can find Jane Wallis.”

Hein departed from Char immediately. His spacecraft had been waiting patiently outside the Torture Unit Headquarters for quite some time, and Major General Xiti couldn't help but marvel at Hein’s decisive efficiency. Accompanying him were not only Liv and Mark, but also Major Ling Xiao’s unit.

“Keep a close eye on Xiao Yan for me,” Hein said, grabbing Maya by the collar.

Maya nodded knowingly. “Don’t worry—he’s my brother.”

The medical wing at Char was under heavy guard. That very night, Admiral Sharif personally visited Xiao Yan’s ward. Standing guard outside was Major Maya, looking stern and solemn, while inside, Lieutenant General Avil sat clutching his head, looking utterly distressed.

“Sir!” Avil exclaimed, snapping back to reality just as Admiral Sharif approached the isolation chamber.

Sharif turned his head slightly, gazing with deep absorption at Xiao Yan, whose features remained perfectly serene.

“So this is the young man who caused Hein to lose control.”

Avil grew tense; he wasn't entirely sure how to interpret the meaning behind Admiral Sharif’s words. News that Hein had led a special forces squad out of the Shire must surely have already reached Colonel Sheriff’s ears. Scarcely anyone outside the military’s upper echelons knew that Hein Burton was General Sheriff’s only son. Given Hein’s military merits and capabilities, he could easily have been promoted to Major General; yet, Hein had declined the promotion.

“But I am grateful to him. He allowed Hein... to seem like an ordinary person. For the first time, I sensed that Hein actually had something he *wanted* to attain.”

“Sir...” Avel breathed a sigh of relief.

“I recall that this young man has three significant research projects under his name.”

“Yes. The first involved research into the ‘Surge’ bioweapon—a project that has since been terminated. The second concerns the ‘Marker’ virus; although that project remains ongoing, according to Major General Hiti’s report, Second Lieutenant Xiao Yan injected himself with the Marker virus and played a pivotal role during the escape from the Surge organization. The third is X-2. In terms of success with a single individual subject, Second Lieutenant Xiao Yan has indeed succeeded. The current objective is to conduct research into the generalized synthesis of this virus; once successful, the Special Task Force will undergo a massive expansion, playing a decisive role in the clearance of the territories beyond the Wall and in the hunt for the Surge organization.”

“It is ironic, then, that he remains merely a Second Lieutenant.”

“We simply wished to protect him.”

“That is no longer necessary. Virtually the entire military command now knows that there is a genius Second Lieutenant within the Central Academy of Sciences. You were right: we need hope—whether for the Special Task Force, who face the apocalypse anew with every passing day, or for the Central Academy, which has suffered such devastating personnel losses. If he wakes up, promote him to Major. He has earned everyone’s respect.”

“Sir...”

“Do you feel the rank of Major is beneath him? I do not wish for the boy to skyrocket too quickly. If he climbs too fast and reaches too great a height, he may easily lose sight of who he truly is.”

Sheriff offered a faint smile, then rose and departed.

Gazing at Sheriff’s retreating figure, Avel let out a deep, heavy sigh.

“Are you worried? Casey is currently with Jane Wallis. Hein is about to confront Jane, and there is a strong possibility he will end up in a direct clash with Casey as well.” Major General Gordon had appeared behind Avel at some point, unnoticed. “Even now, at this very moment, I still believe in Casey. That boy is always trying to prove something to me—specifically, the extent to which he deserves my trust.” Avel slowly turned around, leaning against the wall as he scrutinized Major General Gordon. “And what about you, Gordon? Do you still have as much faith in Jan Wallis as you always have? You lent him Xiao Yan, yet the outcome now suggests there is a ninety percent probability that he has betrayed your trust.”

“I have never placed one hundred percent trust in Jan Wallis—not even sixty percent. I trust him on only one point: that he desires the overthrow of the Tide more than I do.”

“Then let us wait and see what explanation he offers regarding the virus inside Xiao Yan.”

An hour later, the Special Task Force’s aircraft arrived over the South Pacific.

“Target confirmed: Tahiti.”

Beneath them lay an island, shimmering like a pearl upon the sea.

Major Ling Xiao ordered a scan; the system detected an underground structure. Ling Xiao then led his team down to land.

“Boss, do you really think Jan Wallis is inside that underground base? Casey is with him, after all! Who knows—they might release some kind of bioweapon inside...” Mark gazed out at the beautiful tropical island, where deadly peril lurked beneath the tranquil natural scenery.

“You and Liv are to remain on standby in the air.”

Hein stepped up to the hatch.

“Boss!” Liv grabbed Hein’s arm. “I don’t trust Major Ling Xiao! After all, he used to be Jan Wallis’s subordinate!”

“He passed Citi’s interrogation.”

With those words, Hein stepped out of the aircraft and plummeted downward; as the rappelling line reached its full extension, he landed on the island’s sandy beach.

“Did the Boss pick the wrong landing zone?” Mark watched as Hein strolled unhurriedly across the sand.

“He never makes a mistake.”

Meanwhile, Major Ling Xiao and his subordinates had blasted open the entrance to the underground base; upon entering, they discovered the place was completely empty.

“Jan Wallis! Get your ass out here—Jan Wallis!”

Just then, something flickered across the dark walls. Jane Wallis’s face—so indolent it was practically begging to be slapped—was projected onto the screen.

“Hey, let me take a guess...” Jane pressed his palms together, fingertips resting against his lips. “The one barging in isn’t Colonel Burton—a man renowned for his composure—but rather my old subordinate, Ling Xiao.”

Ling Xiao craned his neck, narrowing his eyes; only then did he notice that directly opposite this wall, a machine appeared to be running, emitting a beam of light that cast an image onto the surface.

“I have a fondness for all things retro—including this little contraption. Two hundred years ago, people called it a ‘projector.’ Pretty neat, isn’t it? Ling Xiao, I know that because of me, you’ve faced scrutiny from Military Command—a blow to your dignity as a soldier. But then again, were it not for me, you might never have had the experience of being tortured in your entire life. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind experience.”

Jane Wallis wore an expression that seemed to say, *You really ought to be thanking me.*

Ling Xiao instantly gritted his teeth, raising his blade as if to strike at the projector.

“Hey! That’s an antique! Don’t wreck it!”

The more Jane seemed to anticipate Ling Xiao’s reaction, the more incensed Ling Xiao became; with a swift thrust, his blade pierced the projector, shattering it into fragments.

Meanwhile, walking along a beach elsewhere, Hein extended his hand; his expression utterly impassive, he watched as the sunlight filtered through the gaps between his fingers, casting shifting shadows upon the sand.

In the distance, beneath a palm tree, lay the figure of a man facing the sea.

It was Jane Wallis.

“I never really understood why Xiao Yan loved lying on the beach so much—basking in the sun, doing absolutely nothing, just lazing about all day long.”

Jane’s voice—slow and drawn-out—drifted through the air, mingling with the sound of the waves.

“Give me the antiviral agent.”

The icy coldness in Hein’s eyes seemed to belong to a world entirely distinct from the gentle, balmy sea breeze surrounding him.

“You know, every time he came back to me, my heart would ache with concern—because he always managed to get himself sunburned. His arms, his legs—they’d be a mass of angry red patches. I’d have to be so, so careful as I applied the medicine to his skin; otherwise, he’d frown—and even if it hurt like hell, he’d never admit it to me.”

Jane pushed himself up into a sitting position, leaning against the palm tree as he brushed the grains of sand from his body. “I don’t want to hear your drivel.”

“Come now, Colonel Burton. We barely spoke even back when we served in the same unit—and that was when so many people viewed me as your successor. Of course, ever since you took charge of X-2, my role as ‘successor’ has become patently superfluous.”

“This is all a trap of your making. Your true target isn’t Xiao Yan; it’s *Tide*.”

“Aha! So Major General Gordon has told you everything. I went to great lengths to spirit Xiao Yan away from Shire precisely so I could harness the sheer processing speed of his brain to take down Valentine Sheen. What I hadn’t anticipated, however, was that Valentine would tamper with the X-virus I injected into him.”

“If you don’t have the antiviral agent on you, then tell me: where is Valentine?”

Jane offered no direct answer to Hein’s question; instead, he lazily tossed out one of his own: “How were you so certain that I wasn’t in that underground base, but rather here by the sea?”

He advanced step by step, emerging fully into the sunlight.

His languid, unbridled demeanor stood in stark contrast to Hein’s cold, unshakeable intensity—as if they were two opposing extremes.

“Because Xiao Yan loves the sea. And since Shire is situated entirely underground, you’ve spent far too long beneath the earth; you simply couldn’t bear to be deprived of sunlight any longer.”

“You really do know me.”

Jane let out a soft chuckle. In that very instant, Hein’s figure flashed abruptly into his immediate proximity; a razor-sharp blade sliced ​​through the sunlight, and just as its edge was about to graze the skin of Jane’s neck, the smiling man executed a turn so incredibly fluid and precise that it defied belief, evading the attack. The motion with which he drew the dagger from his leg was so blindingly fast that the eye attempting to follow it seemed to shatter. Just as the tip of his dagger was poised to pierce the back of Hein’s neck, Hein spun around violently to deliver a lateral parry; a piercing clang of clashing metal rang out as Hein’s blade intercepted Jane’s dagger.

“Aha! X-2 certainly seems to have made you far more agile than you used to be.” Jane stroked his chin. “Truly a masterpiece of Xiao Yan’s design.”

A shadow fell over them both; even without looking up, Hein knew exactly what loomed above his head.

Perched overhead was an aircraft—equipped with a silent engine—that was unmistakably a masterpiece of Casey’s design.

“You wouldn’t want him to sleep forever,” Hein’s voice rang out, chillingly cold beneath the blazing sun.

“No, I wouldn’t. That is why, Hein Burton, I won’t ask you to pay too heavy a price; I require only one thing: a sample of your blood.”

Jan tossed a blood-sample vial toward him; Hein caught it with steady hands.

“Xiao Yan is stubborn; he refuses to divulge his research to anyone—not even to Casey, his friend of many years. We need X-2; all we need is to give Casey the opportunity to analyze your blood sample. Rest assured, we have no intention of returning to Shire just to make a mess of things again.”

Hein drew the blade across his palm; blood flowed down the vial and pooled at the bottom. He tossed it back to Jan.

“Thank you for your contribution. I believe we will find many more opportunities to cooperate.”

Jan pressed a button; a grappling cable shot skyward, latching onto the aircraft overhead. As he ascended to an altitude beyond Hein’s reach, a glass vial came tumbling down.

“I miss him,” Jan paused mid-ascent, his hair whipping wildly in the wind. “Protect him. I don’t want to regret having returned him to Shire.”

Hein reached out—without shifting a single step—and caught the glass vial with unwavering precision.

No sooner had Jan’s aircraft prepared to depart than Ling Xiao’s squadron closed in for the pursuit.

What followed was a furious barrage of fire over the open sea, as five or six missiles were unleashed.

Hein returned to his cockpit with an air of detached indifference.

“Boss! Are we going after Jan Wallis, too?” Mark shouted, gritting his teeth in sheer loathing at the sight of Jan—he would have gladly launched a nuclear warhead at the man himself.

“Provide cover for Major Ling Xiao.”

Although Mark did not fully grasp the reasoning behind Hein’s order, he never once questioned it.

They followed closely in the wake of Major Ling Xiao’s three aircraft.

Sure enough, after executing a sharp, evasive maneuver, Jan’s aircraft finally launched a missile of its own.

However, the missile suddenly disintegrated mid-flight, fragmenting into a cluster of high-velocity sub-munitions that scattered in various directions—yet all were locked onto a single target: Major Ling Xiao’s three aircraft. Almost simultaneously, Hein’s craft suddenly swooped in from above, unleashing a volley of missiles that formed a defensive screen directly in front of Ling Xiao’s approaching vessel. The precision of the fire was jaw-dropping; the incoming barrage of small missiles was intercepted with absolute accuracy, detonating in a spectacular burst across the sky.

“Whoa!” Casey let out a cry of astonishment from the cockpit.

“Underestimate Colonel Burton, and you’re bound to pay the price,” Jan remarked with an amused smile, ruffling Casey’s hair.

Casey instantly maxed out the engine thrust, accelerating away at twice the speed of a standard craft. The sheer turbulence generated by their rapid acceleration was powerful enough to knock the pursuing vessels off course.

Just like that, Jan Wallis vanished beyond the reach of Ling Xiao’s attacks.

“Damn it!” Ling Xiao slammed his fist against the console with such force it nearly shattered the cockpit hatch.

“Return to base,” Hein ordered crisply.

“Colonel Burton... we may never get another chance to lock onto Jan Wallis again,” Ling Xiao’s voice—heavy with profound disappointment and frustration—echoed over the comms channel.

“You still have a long road ahead of you.”

Hein’s words carried significant weight; aside from Hein himself, Ling Xiao and Wynn were the very first special operatives within the Special Missions Unit to undergo the X-2 augmentation.

Meanwhile, Jan sat with his chin propped in one hand, gazing out the window at the azure sea below.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Xiao Yan.” Gone was his usual air of flippant cynicism; in profile, Jan’s expression even seemed tinged with melancholy.

Casey rolled his eyes at him.

“I still don’t get how you ever fell for him.”

“Isn’t that entirely your fault?”

“My fault? Who you fall in love with has absolutely nothing to do with me!”