595: Chapter 595 Well Disguised, Ringing the Bronze Bell

Following the sound, Fang Cheng raised his eyes to look.

He could clearly feel a highly penetrating gaze shooting out from the dark shadow and falling onto him.

That was not a simple gaze, but a substantive scrutiny, as if it could directly see through the thoughts hidden deep within his heart.

The interrogation room was very large, but it had no windows, appearing exceptionally desolate and gloomy.

Relying only on a chandelier overhead casting a dim halo, it barely illuminated more than half of the area.

Right in the center of the aperture of light stood a lonely metal chair.

And just a few meters away, behind a large interrogation table, sat the person who had spoken earlier.

On the table, besides the ancient bronze bell, there was also a laptop, a mechanical timer, a pen, and a scoring sheet.

The young staff member who brought Fang Cheng in walked straight to the left side of the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Then he typed a few words on the laptop, seemingly recording something.

Clearly, he was also one of the examiners for this interview.

As for the examiner sitting to his right, most of his body was concealed in the shadow that the light could not reach.

It was as if an energy field was interfering with others' vision.

Not only was the outline very blurry, but even the surrounding air was slightly distorting and fluctuating.

The whole person was like a silent iceberg, exuding a mysterious Aura that kept strangers at a distance, and his specific face could not be seen clearly.

One could only vaguely see a pair of hands he placed on the desktop, with skin withered like tree bark and knuckles thick and powerful.

He seemed to be an external martial arts expert who had practiced martial arts for many years.

Fang Cheng pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Deep within his pupils, an extremely faint golden light flashed and disappeared.

Under the blessing of supernatural vision, the darkness was dispelled like a thin mist.

The examiner's appearance instantly became a bit clearer in his eyes.

Hooked nose, deep nasolabial folds, and graying temples.

He was obviously very old, but those eyes were as bright and sharp as a blade, staring intently at him.

Fang Cheng perceived the Aura of the old man who was awe-inspiring without being angry.

He immediately restrained his gaze and did not continue prying, so as not to arouse unnecessary vigilance from the other party.

He pretended to be nonchalant, walked up to the metal chair, and slightly bowed:

"Hello examiner, I am Candidate 263, applying for the medical position of the Special Investigation Team."

"Hello candidate, welcome to today's interview."

The young examiner responded first, with a businesslike tone.

After Fang Cheng took his seat, he began to read the rules according to the procedure:

"This interview implements a double-blind mechanism. The examiners do not know your name or identity information, only your interview serial number, and you do not need to know our identities either."

"The entire process is recorded by audio and video. Please do not reveal any personal information such as name, work unit, or graduated institution. Pay attention to your words, otherwise it will be treated as a violation of discipline."

"May I ask, are you ready?"

Fang Cheng nodded, indicating that he understood.

This was both to eradicate malpractice and to protect the examiners, avoiding resentment from the rejected candidates and subsequent harassment or revenge.

"Alright, now the interview officially begins."

Having obtained Fang Cheng's confirmation, the young examiner finished speaking and pressed the mechanical timer on the table.

"Click, click."

The sound of the second hand moving was infinitely amplified in the room, and every beat felt like it was beating on people's nerves.

At the same time, movement came from the corner.

Accompanied by a soft beep of 'di', a dazzling red light lit up.

A camera flashed with a red light, silently recording everything happening here.

The older examiner, serving as an Incarnation of a dark shadow, leaned his body slightly forward.

His sharp gaze swept over Fang Cheng, just like scrutinizing a prey that had fallen into a trap.

This highly aggressive gaze lasted for a full dozen seconds, and the Aura was enough to crush an ordinary person psychologically into a breakdown and helplessness.

Fang Cheng just sat quietly, with his hands placed flat on his knees, his eyes clear and upright, without the slightest dodge.

"Good psychological quality."

The older examiner suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse and low, carrying a majesty of someone in a high position for a long time:

"You applied for the medical position... It seems you have great confidence in your medical skills."

"People who study medicine usually boast of being benevolent and taking saving lives as their life ideal. I wonder if your heart is also like this."

Fang Cheng slightly bowed, his tone modest:

"Treating illnesses and saving people is a doctor's duty. I dare not accept the word benevolent; I just do my best."

"Do your best?"

The old examiner snorted coldly, his tone disapproving.

But he did not dwell on this topic, and then threw out another question:

"Young man, don't say those high-sounding clichés. Tell me, why must you rack your brains to apply for the Special Investigation Team?"

His tone didn't sound like an interview, but more like interrogating a criminal with malicious intentions attempting to infiltrate the Special Investigation Team.

Fang Cheng pondered slightly and gave an answer he had prepared long ago:

"For the future."

He pushed his glasses and calmly met the examiner's gaze:

"The Special Investigation Team is a law enforcement department symbolizing state power, possessing extremely high social status and generous salary and benefits."

"I believe that with my medical skills, I can obtain better resources and development platforms here than in ordinary hospitals, and at the same time realize my life value."

This answer neither had the empty 'serve the people' nor appeared too vulgar.

Instead, it appropriately displayed the ambition and pragmatism that a young man should have.

The older examiner knocked on the table noncommittally, and then threw out the second question:

"If in an emergency operation, your captain is seriously injured and urgently needs treatment. And right beside, lying there is a criminal who holds the core intelligence of a terrorist attack, also in critical condition."

"The first-aid medicine in your hand is only enough to save one person. Who do you save?"

This was a classic moral dilemma, and also a trap commonly seen in movie plots used to test human nature.

Saving the captain meant valuing relationships and having principles, but it might lead to the cut-off of intelligence and cause a disaster.

Saving the criminal meant having a global perspective, but it would bear the infamy of being cold-blooded, ruthless, and abandoning comrades.

Therefore, there was no truly correct answer.

It all depended on what purpose the questioner had and what they wanted to test through this question.

Fang Cheng hardly hesitated and answered calmly:

"I will save the captain."

"Reason?"

The older examiner's brows loosened, and he asked with a stern expression.

"I am a doctor, not a commander, nor an interrogation expert."

Fang Cheng's voice was steady, and his tone did not waver at all:

"On the battlefield, my primary duty is to ensure the survival of my own combat personnel."

"As for intelligence, that is something the Intelligence Department needs to worry about. Perhaps the criminal can still leave clues before dying, but if my comrade dies, he is truly dead."

Upon hearing this, a trace of imperceptible appreciation flashed in the older examiner's eyes.

But it quickly disappeared, and his tone became even more aggressive:

"If your superior orders you to treat a powerful person who has committed murder but has been acquitted, and you must cure him so that he can escape legal sanction while also getting rid of the torment of illness, what will you do?"

Fang Cheng frowned slightly, as if undergoing an intense ideological struggle.

After a moment, he sighed:

"I will execute the order and try my best to cure him."

Without waiting for the examiner to ask further, he continued:

"The Special Investigation Team is a disciplined force, and obeying orders is a sacred duty. As a subordinate, I have no right to question the superior's decision."

"But after the treatment ends, I will take remedial measures..."

Speaking of this, Fang Cheng paused, trying to give a reasonable explanation:

"For example, immediately submit my resignation and make a real-name report to the supervision department."

Such an answer appeared to have one's own principles while also knowing how to obey the army's orders and discipline.

"A bit interesting."

The older examiner leaned back, and his expression seemed to relax a little bit.

But immediately after, he threw out a question even trickier than before.

"Hypothetically..."

He stared into Fang Cheng's eyes, his tone becoming deep and unpredictable:

"If one day, you found that your father was a heinous serial killer or a member of some reactionary organization."

"Would you feel guilty for flowing with his blood? How should you face the ... stain brought by such a family of origin?"

As soon as this question came out, the air instantly froze.

Fang Cheng's heart moved slightly.

This was not just an assumption, but more like a pointed probe.

He slightly narrowed his eyes, and various possibilities flashed through his mind.

He also thought of his father who had been dead for many years in the archives, and the layers of suspicion shrouding the Guangwumen Shooting Incident.

Fang Cheng took a deep breath, and a touch of appropriate solemnity and resolution appeared on his face:

"Blood relationship is the result of fate, but fate is not unchangeable. How to walk the path of life, more of the power of choice lies in one's own hands."

"I will not feel ashamed for the crimes of my relatives, because I myself did not participate in evil-doing."

"If there really is such a day, out of family affection and trust, I would first find him and verify it face to face."

"As long as the evidence is conclusive, I will arrest him with my own hands and send him to court."

"Because only by severing the continuation of this evil can it be the greatest redemption for him and for myself."

As the voice fell, the room fell into a brief silence.

On the older examiner's face hidden in the shadow, a trace of satisfaction finally appeared.

Then he picked up the pen and heavily checked off a stroke on the scoring sheet.

His name was Chen Bingzhong, the former deputy minister and special investigator of the Intelligence Department of the Special Investigation Team, and he could be considered decades-old comrades with Shi Chengyi.

Two days ago, Shi Chengyi specifically came to him and greeted him.

Saying that there was a good sapling in this spring recruitment exam, a young man with astonishing martial Dao Genius.

Asking him to take care of him a bit within the scope allowed by the rules if he encounters him.

Chen Bingzhong most detested such back-door and connection-relying things.

He originally intended that if this kid was an embroidered pillow, even if Shi Chengyi interceded, he would still brush him down.

For this reason, he specially increased the trickiness of the questions, trying to probe the dark side of this young man's heart.

Unexpectedly, this young man named Fang Cheng performed impeccably.

His mentality was calm and steady, his logic meticulous, possessing both the sharpness of a young man and a transparency and sophistication far beyond his age.

Not to mention young people today, even himself when he was young probably didn't have this composure of remaining unfazed by disgrace or favor.

As long as this kid did not have an obvious antisocial personality, he would give this 'excellent' evaluation with sincere conviction.

"The Q&A session is over."

Chen Bingzhong closed the scoring sheet and casually pushed it aside, his originally cold and hard tone easing up a lot:

"Next is the second session, the subconscious stress resistance test, which is commonly known within the Special Investigation Team as the illusion trial, Abyss Echo."

The young examiner next to him stood up at the right time, turned around and pulled open the iron cabinet behind.

He took out a metal helmet covered with sensing patches and black cables, stepped in front of Fang Cheng, and instructed him to put it on.

Chen Bingzhong raised his right hand, pointed at the ancient bronze bell on the desktop, and explained aloud:

"Later I will ring this bronze bell, and what you need to do now is to put on the helmet and try to stay awake as much as possible. The longer you persist, the higher the score naturally will be."

Fang Cheng carefully looked at the ancient bell, feeling the spiritual fluctuations coming from it.

Then he slightly nodded his head and cooperatively lowered his head:

"Understood."

The young examiner held the helmet with both hands, placed it properly on Fang Cheng's head, and pressed the metal buckle.

The cold metal touch was transmitted along the scalp.

"Get ready."

Chen Bingzhong picked up a striker from the edge of the table, slightly raised his wrist, and suspended it beside the side of the bell body.

Without waiting for the response from Fang Cheng, the striker suddenly fell.

"Dong—"

A bell toll that was not very loud echoed in the closed room.

But this sound completely violated acoustic common sense.

It seemed not to enter through the ears, but directly penetrated the skull and exploded in the mind.

Fang Cheng only felt his vision suddenly darken, and the originally clear walls and lights around him began to violently distort and stretch.

At the end of his line of sight, the human face patterns on the surface of the bronze bell actually came alive.

That face suddenly opened an abyss-like big mouth, issued a soundless roar, and turned into a spinning black vortex.

Immediately afterwards, a huge pulling force surged out from it, attempting to forcibly strip away his consciousness.

This level of mental interference might instantly produce a psychedelic effect for ordinary people.

But with Fang Cheng's mental attribute as high as 70 points, it actually couldn't shake his mind at all.

As long as he was willing, he could completely sit upright on the chair, motionless like a boulder.

But he did not forcibly resist.

After all, today he came to participate in the interview assessment, not to pick a fight or smash the place.

As a "martial Dao Genius", if his mental resistance appeared too weak, it would seem unworthy of the name.

But if it appeared too formidable, it would be extremely easy to be mistaken for those dangerous mental-type metahumans.

The most crucial thing among them was to grasp the scale of disguise well.

Fang Cheng glanced at the camera next to him, and his heart moved slightly.

Then his brows were tightly locked, and his eyelids trembled slightly.

The ten fingers of his hands were even curved, firmly clasping the edge of the metal chair, and the blue veins on the back of his hands protruded.

Perfectly portraying the appearance of a Martial Artist struggling bitterly on the edge of reality and illusion.

This tug-of-war lasted for about a few breaths.

Until he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that the young examiner was looking at the instrument screen with an uncontrollable look of surprise on his face.

Only then did Fang Cheng completely loosen his tense mental defense line.

Then, following that pulling force, he let his consciousness fall downwards, completely blending into the deep darkness.

"Hoo..."

Fang Cheng's head slowly drooped, his originally tense body gradually lost strength and leaned back against the back of the chair.

His breathing quickly became long and rhythmic, the amplitude of his chest's rise and fall tended to stabilize, and his heart rate also dropped accordingly.

Obviously, he had entered an extremely deep sleep state.

"Officer Chen, this candidate is really a good sapling."

The young examiner lowered his head to look at the steadily progressing waveform on the tablet computer, and couldn't help praising aloud:

"Average special service candidates, as soon as the bell rings, at most hold on for two or three seconds and collapse."

"He actually managed to hard-resist for ten seconds before entering the dream, and after entering the dream, his vital signs recovered so steadily."

"This psychological quality is definitely the absolute top one among the hundreds of people today!"

Chen Bingzhong's gaze fell on the young man whose posture remained upright even after falling asleep, and a rare smile was pulled out on his face.

"Old Shi this time really didn't misjudge..."

He muttered silently in his heart, then picked up the pen in his hand and neatly checked off a stroke on the scoring sheet:

"First record for this candidate, stress resistance test, dream-entering stage, Grade A."

After speaking, Chen Bingzhong put down his pen and re-focused his gaze on the ancient bronze bell.

"Next, let's see how much of his true nature he can display deep inside the illusion..."