64: Let me hear your heartbeat

Fifteen minutes.

The atmosphere in the ward was as solid as granite.

The door was pushed open.

Two fully armed Norwegian SWAT officers escorted a man inside.

The man was wearing an orange prison uniform, and heavy electronic shackles were clamped onto his wrists and ankles.

He was tall, thin, blonde, and blue-eyed, with no expression on his face.

He was "Shadow."

The terrorist who had nearly dragged everyone down to hell with him during the explosion.

His gaze swept over Bureau Chief Zhou and Zhao Dahai in the room without lingering.

Then, he saw Su Qingxue.

A mocking curve lifted the corner of his mouth.

Finally.

His eyes landed on Chen Mo on the hospital bed.

A flicker of imperceptible surprise crossed Shadow's eyes, immediately replaced by deeper contempt.

"Not dead yet?"

His Chinese carried a stiff accent, but his articulation was clear.

"Quite tenacious."

Zhao Dahai's temper immediately flared up.

"You motherf—"

"Old Zhao!"

Bureau Chief Zhou grabbed him and shook his head.

Provoking the suspect was a major taboo during interrogation.

The SWAT officers pressed "Shadow" down onto a cold iron chair and secured him.

The chair faced Chen Mo's hospital bed.

Su Qingxue glanced at the clock on the wall; the minute hand had just ticked forward once.

The countdown began.

"You plan to interrogate me using a man who's half-dead?"

"Shadow" leaned back in the chair, his posture relaxed, as if he wasn't a prisoner but attending a boring tea party.

"Don't waste your breath."

"I won't say anything."

Chen Mo, on the hospital bed, did not speak.

He just watched "Shadow" quietly, his pitch-black eyes like two pools of bottomless cold water.

Su Qingxue stood by Chen Mo's bed, her palms slick with sweat.

She didn't know what Chen Mo intended to do.

He didn't even have the strength to sit up right now, so how could he interrogate a top assassin whose willpower had undergone special training?

"Why is your codename 'Shadow'?"

Chen Mo finally spoke.

His voice was still weak, but steady.

"Shadow" scoffed.

"You want to play mind games with me? You're too green."

Chen Mo ignored his mockery.

He continued speaking independently.

"Because you lived in the shadow of others since childhood."

The smile on Shadow's face froze.

Chen Mo's voice was like a surgical knife, precisely slicing open his shell of pretense.

"You had a twin brother, didn't you?"

"He was healthier than you, smarter than you, and more favored by your parents."

"Everything you had was his leftover. Clothes, toys, even... your parents' love."

Shadow's pupils abruptly contracted.

He stared fiercely at Chen Mo, his eyes filled with horror.

It was impossible for anyone else besides himself to know these things!

"You investigated my background?"

His voice wavered for the first time.

"No, that's wrong. My files were completely destroyed when I joined the organization. It's impossible for you to have found them!"

Su Qingxue and Bureau Chief Zhou exchanged a look, both seeing shock in the other's eyes.

They truly hadn't uncovered any of this information.

How did Chen Mo know?

Chen Mo did not answer his question.

His gaze seemed to penetrate "Shadow's" flesh, seeing the deepest secrets of his heart.

"When you were twelve, your brother developed leukemia."

"He needed a bone marrow transplant."

"You were the only successful match."

Every word Chen Mo spoke was like a heavy hammer, slamming hard onto Shadow's heart.

"You were happy, weren't you?"

"You felt that this was the first time you could truly help him, perhaps even... surpass him."

"You finally wouldn't be that dispensable shadow anymore."

"No..."

Shadow's breathing became rapid.

He leaned forward, his shackles rattling.

"Shut up!"

Chen Mo ignored his roar.

His voice became cold and cruel.

"But the day before the surgery, you overheard your parents' conversation by chance."

"They said, 'Fortunately, we still have you.'"

"'Fortunately, we have you, the 'backup,' to save the life of our perfect son.'"

"'Backup'..."

Chen Mo softly uttered these three words.

Shadow's body began to tremble violently.

The mask of coldness he had maintained cracked inch by inch.

Sweat streamed down his forehead.

"You went mad."

"You felt the whole world had betrayed you."

"So, you ran away. You escaped from the hospital, leaving your brother to die on the operating table."

"No! It wasn't me! I didn't kill him!"

"Shadow" let out a beast-like roar, struggling wildly, and the iron chair groaned under the strain.

Everyone in the ward was stunned by this scene.

Su Qingxue's heart hammered frantically in her chest.

She looked at Chen Mo, at this man lying on the hospital bed who had completely destroyed the psychological defenses of a top assassin with just a few words.

This wasn't an interrogation.

This was a trial.

He was judging "Shadow's" original sin.

"'Spade K' found you."

Chen Mo's voice, like a verdict from hell, delivered the final conclusion.

"He told you that you were not wrong."

"The world, being unjust, was wrong."

"He gave you a new name, a new identity, and gave you... the power of revenge."

Shadow's struggling stopped.

He slumped in the chair, gasping for breath, as if all his bones had been removed.

He raised his head, looking at Chen Mo with a gaze mixed with fear, malice, and breakdown.

"You... what exactly are you?"

Chen Mo did not answer.

He slowly closed his eyes, seeming somewhat exhausted.

Then, he opened them again.

"Let me hear your heartbeat."

He said.

"Shadow" froze.

The next second, an invisible vortex seemed to appear in Chen Mo's eyes.

"Thump... thump... thump..."

A dull, chaotic heartbeat abruptly sounded in Su Qingxue's mind.

It wasn't her heartbeat, nor was it Chen Mo's.

It was... "Shadow's" heartbeat!

Su Qingxue's face instantly turned deathly pale!

She heard it!

She actually heard that heartbeat too!

"Speak."

Chen Mo's voice carried an irresistible authority.

"Who is 'Spade K'?"

Shadow's lips trembled; his will had completely broken down.

"I... I don't know..."

"No one knows who 'Spade K' is..."

"He is a ghost..."

Disappointment appeared on the faces of Bureau Chief Zhou and Zhao Dahai.

Only Chen Mo's expression remained unchanged.

"He is lying."

Chen Mo's voice was soft, yet it made Su Qingxue shudder.

Because the heartbeat in her mind suddenly skipped a beat the moment "Shadow" said "I don't know."

"'Spade K' is not a person."

Chen Mo stared into Shadow's eyes and spoke word by word.

"It is a plan."

Shadow's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks!

His final defense was utterly shattered by this earth-shattering statement!

"How could you... know..."

He muttered distractedly to himself.

"Tell me the name of this plan."

Chen Mo's voice was like the final judgment.

A strange, relieved smile appeared on Shadow's face.

"doomsday clock..."

He said.

"The name of the plan is 'doomsday clock'..."

As soon as the words fell.

"Beep—!"

The life monitor beside Chen Mo's bed suddenly let out a sharp, continuous alarm.

Chen Mo's body went limp.

His head lolled to the side, and he completely lost consciousness.

"Chen Mo!"

Su Qingxue cried out in alarm and rushed over.