Chapter 439: Interrogation
"Get lost!" In the blink of an eye, Ge Pan roared at Wu Xiaonan, and the latter, who was about to stab the knife in, actually crashed into Gan Qing and flew backward under the force of that shout!
At the same time, Xu Huo manipulated the strings to loop around Ge Pan's neck, swiftly kicked and broke one of his legs, knocked him unconscious, retrieved the "Real Wooden Man" wrapped in the "Mona Lisa Veil," and then dragged him out of the elevator.
Wan Yunrong was a bit confused, and the latter asked, "Is Ge Pan a problem?"
"He's most likely in cahoots with the Kong siblings," Chu Yuan said. "This guy is no good!"
"The timing of his appearance is too perfect," Wu Xiaonan added. "We came here first, and he showed up right after. None of the players on Dr. Deng's side were isolated—how could he have killed a player and successfully escaped? He's undoubtedly the mole."
"Could it be that he tampered with our memories?" Gan Qing asked.
"Almost certainly," Xu Huo said, taking out Mao Wei's kite string. He pried open Ge Pan's mouth, pierced his tongue with two needles, and pulled the string through.
Wan Yunrong felt her scalp crawl. "What are you doing?"
"Interrogation," Xu Huo replied. "If Ge Pan knows the Kong siblings, he should at least have some information about those players' traits and items."
"He might not tell the truth," Wu Xiaonan said as she and Gan Qing approached. The former added, "He used to be a director, so his profession is likely related to that. His speech seems to carry trait power."
Xu Huo had noticed that too. The "click" he heard earlier at the elevator door was probably "cut"—a term familiar in the entertainment industry for directors' catchphrases. The subsequent memory gaps among everyone also aligned with the idea of calling "cut" and reshooting. So Ge Pan was highly suspect, especially given his earlier cooperation with Mao Wei to escape from the black-shirted player.
"Let's reinforce him a bit more," Chu Yuan said, dragging over some cabinets and chairs, using his own sound to tie them all onto Ge Pan.
"We might not be able to withstand his trait," Wu Xiaonan said again.
Xu Huo held the kite string. "Not a problem. His trait is useless against me. If it's a prop, I'll pull the string when I retreat, unless he doesn't want his tongue anymore."
"I'll wake him up," Miao Yu said, walking over and giving Ge Pan a simple, rough slap.
Ge Pan opened his eyes and, in just a few seconds, assessed his situation: hands and feet bound, heavy objects strapped all over his body, a broken right leg, and a string piercing his tongue... Looking at the person holding the string, he concealed his shock and said angrily, "Why!"
"Stop pretending. We know you're with the Kong siblings," Chu Yuan said. "You'd better come clean now, or don't blame me for being harsh. I might not be as good as you at scheming, but I have my ways with torture and interrogation."
The knife was already in hand, so no special methods were needed.
Noticing the players' gazes, Ge Pan wisely chose to comply. "I did take money, but I haven't done anything against you so far."
"Bullshit!" Chu Yuan shouted. "Wasn't it you and Mao Wei who let Zhu Rumin escape? And earlier, when you tampered with our memories in the west half of the lab, wasn't that you?"
The others didn't know about Zhu Rumin yet, but before anyone could ask further, Xu Huo said to Ge Pan, "You reset our memories after listening to our conversation, probably to use the time we spent repeating the discussion to notify the Kong siblings."
"After all, you couldn't handle all of us alone."
"No need to deny it. Since we've already acted against you, whether you admit it or not doesn't matter much."
Ge Pan's expression shifted several times, then he seemed resigned. "I admit it. I did it. But everyone has their own motives, so you can't really blame me."
Xu Huo nodded. "I'll ask you questions now, and you answer."
"What do you know about this instance?"
"Not much," Ge Pan replied. "My starting point before entering was the same as yours. The Kong siblings just told me to take out one or two players when I got the chance. They didn't say much else."
"There's clearly a secret hidden in this instance, otherwise the Bolen Clan wouldn't have made so many preparations before the ticket players entered."
"I'm not interested in that secret. I just want to get some benefits and leave."
"What secret?" Wan Yunrong couldn't help asking.
"I don't know. I only heard it's about a potion," Ge Pan said. "That's not hard to guess. This lab is all about potions. The Bolen Clan controls this place, so they definitely want to monopolize the potion industry."
"In some instance worlds, potions are a means for ordinary evolved humans to control players," Wu Xiaonan said. "It's not unusual."
"The professions, traits, and items of the Kong siblings and the others," Xu Huo pressed on.
Ge Pan countered, "You don't think they'd spill everything to a temporary player they hired, do you?"
"You've interacted with them. Use your observational skills," Xu Huo said, tugging the kite string. He added, "You also guessed they came to the lab for some secret. How can you be sure they won't kill you to silence you? No information about the Deep Blue Lab instance has leaked out—you should understand that logic."
Ge Pan grunted in pain, glared at him hatefully, and then said, "Kong Cheng's profession is computer repairman, and Kong Hui is a magician. Both siblings are very skilled, especially Kong Cheng."
"Kong Hui can control objects and is strong in combat, especially martial arts. She was originally an expert with knives and swords. Kong Cheng's trait is unclear, but it's said he once killed an A-rank player alone."
"These two are long-term hired players for the Bolen Clan. If you have some connections, it's not hard to dig up information about them."
"As for the others, they're probably just thrown together. I don't know them."
"You're lying," Wu Xiaonan said. "If the Bolen Clan considers this lab important, why would they use only temporary players? Not only do you know the Kong siblings, but you're probably old acquaintances."
"Don't you have any lie-detection tools?" Ge Pan said. "Test whether I'm telling the truth or not. Why would I lie at a time like this? Besides, you said yourself that the Kong siblings will definitely kill to silence me. I can cooperate with you and work together."
"To go back and trick the Kong siblings?" Chu Yuan snorted. "You're pretty good at playing double agent."
Unfortunately, none of the players present had suitable items to verify the truth, so they could only rely on experience.
"Are there any more of the Kong siblings' people among us?" Miao Yu asked at that moment.
The players fell silent for a moment, but Ge Pan laughed instead. "Why don't you ask him?"
He pointed his chin at Xu Huo. "He killed Mao Wei. He acted pretty honest when he entered the instance."
"Anyone else?" Chu Yuan instinctively asked Xu Huo. He also felt that since Xu Huo had figured out Ge Pan, Mao Wei, and Zhu Rumin, if there were more, he should be able to tell.
(Chapter End)