Chapter 123 The Agent's Nightmare: This Interrogation Method is Too Unorthodox

Inside the top-tier suite of the luxury inn at Blackwind Stronghold.

The air was filled with the lingering scent of gunpowder mixed with blood, but more than that, there was an extremely bizarre and awkward atmosphere.

In the center of the room, a dark green jade slab the size of a double bed, radiating an eerie chill throughout its body, lay quietly.

This was the supreme treasure that had driven the entire black market crazy, and even attracted agents from the Tianli Research Institute and the biochemical beast "Tyrant" to fight over it — the [Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Jade].

And at this moment, Jiang Chen was sprawled out unceremoniously in a "big" shape on this priceless piece of jade.

"Hiss... Cool! This is the temperature summer should have."

Jiang Chen let out a satisfied sigh. His brain, which had been scorched from overdrawing his Mental Energy to manifest the "Heaven-Covering Giant Slipper," was rapidly cooling down under the nourishment of this extremely cold Spiritual Qi. The refreshing sensation, like suddenly attaching a liquid nitrogen heat sink to an overheated CPU, made him hum with comfort.

【System Prompt: The host is currently in the "Mental Overload" cooldown period.】

【Contact with high-order cold source "Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Jade" detected, mana regeneration (Mental Energy) speed increased by 300%.】

【Current Mental Energy: 5%... 6%...】

On the floor next to the Profound Ice Jade, the captured black-robed agent was tied up tightly, with a sock of unknown origin (suspected to be Little Fatty Chen's) stuffed in his mouth, staring at Jiang Chen with resentful eyes.

"Jiang Chen, this guy is very stubborn."

Su Qingyue wiped the fragrant sweat from her forehead, her crimson longsword still humming slightly.

She had just tried to interrogate him using the Su Family's interrogation methods, but the opponent's brain seemed to be locked by some kind of high-tech means.

"His cerebral cortex has been implanted with a 'Mental Threshold Lock'." Mu Qingxue stepped forward, condensed an ice needle at her fingertip, gestured near the black-robed man's temple, and frowned deeply, "Once subjected to forced Soul-searching from the outside, or if he attempts to reveal core secrets, the chip will instantly fuse his nerves, turning him into an idiot, or even causing him to self-destruct."

"Mmmph! Mmmph!"

Although the black-robed man could not speak, his eyes revealed a kind of crazy mockery: If you have the ability, just kill me. Want to get information out of my mouth? Dream on!

He was a death soldier carefully cultivated by the Tianli Research Institute, codenamed "Shadow Raven," who had undergone the most cruel desensitization training; physical pain was nothing more than an itch to him.

"Mental lock? Self-destruct?"

Jiang Chen, lying on the jade, opened one eye slightly, a flash of impatience at being disturbed from his rest appearing in those pitch-black eyes.

"Why go to so much trouble? I hate these extremists who are always ready to die at the drop of a hat; it's not healthy at all."

Jiang Chen yawned, rolled over to face the black-robed man, rested his head on one hand, and casually drew a circle in the void with the other.

"Since he won't talk in reality, let's chat in his dreams. It just so happens that I need someone to chat with."

"Dreams... in his dreams?" Su Qingyue was stunned, "But his mental defense..."

"No matter how strong the lock is, it can't lock the instinct to dream."

A devilish smile curled the corners of Jiang Chen's mouth.

【Skill Activated: Nightmare · Forced Dream Entry (VIP Customized Edition).】

【Target Locked: Peak of the Viscera Refining Realm / Mental Energy Defense A-Rank (Augmented by Tech Chip).】

【Mental Energy Consumed: 10% (Used up everything that was just recovered).】

【Scene Construction: Endless Overtime Hell.】

"Hum—"

An invisible wave instantly enveloped the black-robed man.

The black-robed man's originally mocking eyes suddenly froze, his pupils instantly dilated, and his whole body seemed to have had his Soul extracted, collapsing softly to the ground and emitting a slight snore.

But he did not sleep peacefully; instead, after a few seconds, his whole body began to twitch violently, an expression of extreme terror and despair appeared on his face, and cold sweat poured out like a waterfall.

... Dream World.

The black-robed man "Shadow Raven" opened his eyes suddenly, finding himself sitting in a narrow, cramped office with pale, ghastly lighting.

The desk in front of him was piled high with files like a mountain, and every document had "Urgent," "Process Immediately," and "No leaving until finished" written on it.

"Where is this? Illusion? Hmph, cheap trick!"

Shadow Raven sneered, attempting to circulate the True Qi in his body to break the illusion.

But he discovered with horror that his cultivation at the Organ Refining Realm, capable of splitting stones and breaking monuments, had completely vanished!

Now, he was just an ordinary corporate slave with no power to truss a chicken, and he also suffered from severe lumbar disc herniation and tenosynovitis.

"Smack!" A stack of new files was slammed onto his face.

He raised his head and saw the "boss."

It was a young man wearing spongebob pajamas, holding a thermos, and looking lazy—it was Jiang Chen.

But in the dream, Jiang Chen's figure was infinitely magnified, like a demon god controlling life and death, looking down at him from above.

"Little Ying, the company has been busy lately, so there will be no holidays this month."

Jiang Chen (Demon God version) said with a smile, "These reports must be finished tonight. Can't finish? Then I'll deduct your salary, deduct your performance bonuses, deduct your social security, and finally... fire you, leaving you to roam the streets and be chased and bitten by wild dogs."

"You... what do you want to do?! Kill me!" Shadow Raven roared, wanting to pounce and fight to the death.

But as soon as he moved, he felt excruciating pain all over his body; it was the pain of occupational diseases caused by long-term overtime, magnified tenfold in the dream.

"Kill you? No, no, no, we are a civilized enterprise."

Jiang Chen took a sip of goji berry tea, "We only advocate for 'blessings.' Come on, start working. Question one: Please write down the coordinates of all branches of the Tianli Research Institute in the Chaos Land, along with the longitude and latitude accurate to the decimal point. If you write one wrong number, you have to copy it ten thousand times."

"I will never..."

"Zzzzt—" Just as Shadow Raven wanted to refuse, the chair he was sitting on suddenly turned into an electric chair, and a perfectly judged electric current instantly surged through his whole body.

It wasn't fatal, but the stinging sensation made his Soul tremble.

"Not writing? Then that's passive sabotage." Jiang Chen sighed, "Looks like I need to increase the intensity."

The scene changed instantly.

Shadow Raven found himself transformed into a hamster, running frantically inside a giant wheel.

And behind the wheel was a giant monster (also with Jiang Chen's face) wearing pink slippers, chasing him with its bloody mouth wide open.

"Run! Run fast! If you stop, you'll be eaten!"

Shadow Raven ran for his life, running until his lungs felt like they were going to explode, but the wheel had no end.

He didn't know how long had passed; maybe it was an instant, maybe it was ten thousand years.

Shadow Raven's mental defenses completely collapsed under this round after round of absurd yet incredibly real torture.

The tech chip could defend against Soul-searching, but it couldn't defend against this fatigue and fear originating from the depths of his subconscious.

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! Let me sleep! Please, let me sleep for a while!"

Shadow Raven knelt on the ground, crying bitterly. He had never felt that "sleeping" was such a luxurious thing.

... Real World.

"Ahhh—!!!"

The black-robed man bounced up from the ground, let out a shrill scream, and then began to kowtow frantically.

"Coordinates (34.56, 112.78)! The third underground level of Red Rock Canyon! There are three S-class mechs and fifty modified warriors there! The entrance password is DX9982! I've said it all! Let me die! Or let me sleep! I beg you!"

Inside the room, Su Qingyue and Mu Qingxue looked at each other, watching the iron-blooded agent who had completely collapsed, his face covered in snot and tears, and felt a chill down their spines.

How many minutes had passed?

What exactly did Jiang Chen do to him in the dream?

"Tsk, his psychological quality is too poor."

Jiang Chen sat up from the jade bed and rubbed his temples, "I just let him experience an enhanced version of '996 blessings,' and he can't take it already?"

He casually noted down the coordinates, then took a look at the agent who was still going crazy and snapped his fingers.

"Snap."

The black-robed man rolled his eyes and finally fainted happily. For him right now, being unconscious was simply heaven.

"Red Rock Canyon..."

Jiang Chen looked at the coordinates in his hand, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, "Tianli Research Institute, right? Since you like conducting experiments so much, I'll go teach you a lesson on what... true biological mass extinction is."

"But before that..."

Jiang Chen turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Su Qingyue, Mu Qingxue, and Iliya, finally landing on the huge Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Jade beneath him.

"This mattress is too cold; sleeping alone is prone to causing cold legs in old age."

Jiang Chen revealed an extremely serious (shameless) smile, "In order to ensure our combat state for tomorrow, I need a few of you to assist me in a scientific experiment on 'Human Heat Conduction and Mental Energy Resonance'."

"Simply put... tonight, let's sleep together."

The three women: "!!!"