170: Chapter 171 Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely!

The incandescent light in the Jiangcheng Public Security Bureau interrogation room was blindingly bright. Xiao Chen was handcuffed behind his back to a metal chair, his wrists marked red by the cold shackles.

He lifted his eyes to scan the white wall opposite him, where the eight bold, black characters reading "Confession leads to leniency, resistance leads to severity" loomed large, like two invisible shackles that made his chest feel tight.

The air was filled with a mixture of disinfectant and old paper, a scent entirely incompatible with the cigar smoke and red wine he was accustomed to, making him feel completely ill at ease.

Behind the interrogation table, Qin Xue wore a crisp police uniform, her badge reflecting the light.

She held a freshly printed "Commendation Notice" in her hand, her lips hiding an irrepressible smile.

Just a moment ago, the Bureau Chief had personally spoken with her, saying that capturing this "suspected member of a transnational criminal organization" would not only qualify her for a second-class merit, but if she could dig up more clues, a first-class merit was also possible, potentially even leading to a transfer to the municipal bureau's criminal investigation detachment, allowing her to completely leave behind the grassroots work at the Police Station.

Sitting next to her was Team Leader Li, a veteran officer from the National Security Bureau. He was flipping through Xiao Chen's personal file and tapped his finger lightly on the line that read "Suddenly went abroad after age 14," his tone steady: "Xiao Chen, let's not beat around the bush."

"Before you were 14, you attended middle school in Jiangcheng, your grades were average, your parents had passed away early, and you lived with your grandfather. The summer you turned 14, you suddenly disappeared from school, and even though your grandfather reported it to the police, they couldn't find you."

"Tell us, who arranged for you to go overseas? What have you actually been doing all these years abroad?"

Xiao Chen lowered his eyes, his chin slightly lifted, assuming an arrogant posture.

In his eyes, Qin Xue was just a low-level police officer, and Team Leader Li looked like an ordinary civil servant; they were simply not qualified to converse with him, the "Dragon King Hall Master."

He snorted coldly, his tongue pressing against his back molars: "Where I go and what I do is none of your business. If you want to interrogate me, first show me you have the qualifications."

"Qualifications?" Qin Xue put down the Commendation Notice, leaned forward slightly, her gaze as sharp as a blade. "We have video of you injuring people with a weapon at the birthday banquet, a recording of you claiming to be the 'Dragon King Hall Master,' and the flow of funds from your overseas accounts—in the last three years, there have been 12 large transfers into your account, all originating from offshore shell companies, and these companies happen to be associated with Polaris Capital, which previously shorted Yunqi Technology. Do you still dare to say we aren't qualified to ask?"

Xiao Chen's fingertips paused slightly, a flicker of panic crossing his heart, but he remained stubborn: "I don't know anything about Polaris or the Dragon King Hall! Don't you dare slander me!"

He jerked his head up, attempting to suppress them with his presence. "I hold a US Green Card, I count as half a foreign national! Your detention of me without cause is already a suspected violation of international law! I advise you to release me immediately, or else, if this triggers an international dispute, it's not something a little police officer and an old civil servant like you can handle! Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Before he could finish, Qin Xue grabbed a glass from the table and splashed half a glass of cold water onto Xiao Chen's face with a splash.

Water droplets dripped down his hair and cheeks, soaking his collar and instantly extinguishing all his arrogance.

Qin Xue's voice rose sharply, carrying an unquestionable firmness: "This isn't decades ago! No one is going to coddle so-called 'foreign nationals,' and even less will anyone tolerate someone using 'international disputes' as a shield! You threatened a public official; that's an additional offense! I'll ask you one last time: Is the Dragon King Hall a subordinate organization of the Tianming Group? Did you infiltrate the Qin Family as a live-in son-in-law to get close to the technology companies in Jiangcheng and execute the 'Elimination Plan'?"

Cold water dripped from Xiao Chen's chin onto his pants, the icy sensation making him shiver.

Looking at the fury in Qin Xue's eyes, he suddenly realized that the police before him were not the "easy to handle" pushovers he had encountered overseas, and the majesty of the rule of law here was not something he could easily provoke with a "Green Card" or "foreign nationality."

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but was interrupted by voices coming from next door.

"Officer! I'll tell you everything! I'm just a migrant worker; I was hired by Xiao Chen at the job market!"

The voice from the next interrogation room came through the wall, laced with tears: "He told me to wear a trench coat and sunglasses, and as long as I followed along and shouted 'Greetings, Dragon King,' he'd give me five thousand yuan! That gun is fake, a prop bought on Taobao, you can't even pull the trigger! I really don't know what he does; I just wanted to earn some pocket money!"

Immediately after, another voice rang out, filled with obsequious urgency: "Officer, I'll confess too! I used to run a wedding business, and Xiao Chen came to me to rent 'General' costumes, saying he wanted to stage a 'son-in-law's counterattack' play, and gave me ten thousand yuan! I swear, I didn't participate in hurting anyone; Zhao Lei broke his own finger, it has nothing to do with us!"

What made Xiao Chen's scalp tingle the most was the third voice, that of the "General" who had resisted earlier: "I... I'm a wanted fugitive online, hiding in Jiangcheng doing odd jobs. When Xiao Chen approached me, I thought it was just ordinary acting, thinking I'd take the money and run... I only fought back at the birthday banquet because I was afraid of being recognized and wanted to seize the chance to escape, I'm really not a terrorist!"

Xiao Chen's face turned deathly pale in an instant. He jerked his head up to look at the two people behind the interrogation table, his eyes full of disbelief.

His carefully selected "Four Great Generals" were actually a migrant worker, a wedding business owner, and a fugitive? The people he spent thirty thousand yuan to hire to put on a show hadn't even lasted half an hour before they all confessed?

"What? Did you hear that?" Team Leader Li put down the file, his tone tinged with mockery. "The 'Four Great Generals of the Dragon King Hall' you imagined are nothing more than a rabble gathered together for money. Those 'thousands of subordinates' and 'dozens of strongholds' you bragged about overseas are just a joke to us. Now, do you still think you are qualified to talk to us about 'qualifications'?"

Xiao Chen's body swayed, and he slumped against the back of the chair. The arrogance in his eyes had completely vanished, leaving only panic and resentment.

He recalled how, when he returned to the country three years ago, the people at the Dragon King Hall headquarters had told him that "China's grassroots police force is weak and easy to infiltrate," remembered his meticulously planned "three-year counterattack," and the awe in the eyes of those guests at the birthday banquet. Now, it all seemed like a massive joke.

Watching him, Qin Xue softened her tone, yet remained firm: "Xiao Chen, we know you are just a pawn of the Tianming Group. As a subordinate organization of Tianming, the Dragon King Hall has done quite a few shady things overseas. We are giving you a chance now: confess everything you know—the Tianming Group's strongholds in Jiangcheng, their next steps, and the contact information for your handler. As long as you give a truthful account, we can count it as meritorious service and treat you with leniency."

Xiao Chen's lips moved, his gaze falling on the words "Confession leads to leniency, resistance leads to severity" on the wall, and his inner defenses began to crumble. He knew that his "Dragon King" identity had completely collapsed, the Four Great Generals had all confessed, and the headquarters overseas could not be counted on—his only way out now was to tell the truth.

But the moment he thought of the methods used by the Tianming Group, he couldn't help but tremble.

If the Dragon King Hall lost its Dragon King, it could just be renamed the War God Hall or the Wolf King Hall, but if he confessed, would Tianming really not retaliate against him?

The interrogation room fell into a brief silence. The incandescent light remained blinding, and the eight characters on the wall seemed like pairs of eyes, staring intently at Xiao Chen, waiting for his final choice.

And Qin Xue and Team Leader Li knew that the key to this interrogation had only just begun; only by digging clues about the Tianming Group out of Xiao Chen's mouth could they truly stop the next wave of the "Elimination Plan" and protect Jiangcheng's technology industry.