Chapter 426 - 373: Willing to Become the Executioner’s Blade?

Chapter 426: Chapter 373: Willing to Become the Executioner’s Blade?

Lin Yi’s brow was furrowed, his gaze fixed on Tang Zhan and the others as their figures receded into the distance.

Once they had vanished from sight, he turned to glance at Wei Shang.

"Old Wei, do you think Tang Zhan could be involved with the Blood Handprint?"

After Lin Yi spoke, Wei Shang turned to look at him.

After a long moment, he shook his head. "That... I really can’t say."

"Back when he was in the New District, he was certainly reckless and impulsive!"

"But he wasn’t a bad person. He had principles. He would never have done something like this!"

"But now... it’s hard to say. He’s been in the Old District for a few years, after all."

"Who can say for sure if his character has changed over the years?"

Lin Yi remained silent, his expression growing grim.

His memory of Tang Zhan was still fixed on the time he led the men from the Public Security Bureau...

...to wipe out the Blood Drop Believers alongside Chu Zhengxiong.

Tang Zhan back then wasn’t actually all that different from how he was now.

Just as lazy, just as inactive.

But when he was truly needed, Tang Zhan had stepped up without a second thought.

That alone showed he wasn’t a bad person at heart.

"Who knows. We’ll find a chance to ask him."

After he spoke, Lin Yi walked toward the car.

Wei Shang was momentarily stunned and was about to say something.

Seeing Lin Yi get in, he hurried to follow.

"Lord General, where are we going now?"

Wei Shang asked with a deep frown as he got into the car.

Lin Yi smiled. "There are still plenty of stragglers left to catch."

"Aren’t we going to interrogate Tang Zhan first?"

"No need to rush. We can question him after everyone else is rounded up. It won’t be too late!"

"Get in!"

Wei Shang nodded, opened the car door, and got in as well.

After Feng Lei, Wei Nan, Shan Kui, and the others had all returned...

...they got back in the vehicles and sped off toward the next arrest location.

Lin Yi held the list of names. To prevent any new problems from arising with delays...

...he planned to bring them all in within a single day.

In the subsequent operations...

...Lin Yi and his team split into two groups.

One group headed straight for the various schools.

They were to arrest the Blood Handprint members hiding there—the true culprits who had pushed students step by step into the abyss of death. The other group made a beeline for the government buildings.

Their task was to arrest the implicated officials and bring them all to justice.

Meanwhile, the Old Beggar and his people remained at the intelligence center...

...monitoring the targets’ movements in real time...

Throughout the entire afternoon, group after group of people were taken into military custody.

Military personnel then placed them in collective detention.

As dusk fell and the sky grew dark...

...the arrest operation finally came to an end...

"A total of two hundred thirty-seven people. All of them have been arrested!"

Wei Shang reported the final tally, and Lin Yi nodded.

"Two hundred thirty-seven people!"

A cold glint flashed in Lin Yi’s eyes.

"Any movement from the Public Security Bureau or other government departments?"

Wei Shang nodded. "They’ve already lodged complaints with the New District. The Huawu Alliance also questioned Elder He, but it’s not a major issue."

"Even the Huawu Alliance wouldn’t shelter these people!"

"Besides, Elder He is the one taking all the pressure..."

After Wei Shang finished, Lin Yi nodded.

"Interrogate them through the night. Make them all confess!"

"As long as we get their confessions, all the pressure on Elder He will disappear!"

"The others are yours. Leave Tang Zhan to me!"

"Understood!"

Wei Shang nodded again and hurried out.

That night, they began interrogating the suspects, continuing through the late hours.

After a moment of contemplation, Lin Yi also left the office.

...

「In the temporary interrogation room.」

It was a windowless room.

Lin Yi sat in a chair, sipping from a teacup.

A short while later, the interrogation room door opened.

Tang Zhan was brought in.

The moment their eyes met, Lin Yi quickly set down his teacup.

Smiling, he stood up and said, "Brother Tang, come, have a seat!"

Tang Zhan gave him a deep look but didn’t speak.

He walked to the chair opposite and sat down, remaining silent.

Lin Yi waved a hand at the others, and they all nodded and exited.

Soon, only he and Tang Zhan were left in the room.

After a long moment, Lin Yi finally said, "Brother Tang, we’ve known each other for a while now, haven’t we?"

Tang Zhan looked up at him. "A year and a half."

"Right. Time really flies. A year and a half has passed in the blink of an eye."

"I still remember the first time I saw you."

"The biggest impression you gave me was... ’This guy from the Public Security Bureau doesn’t look like a good person.’"

As soon as the words were out, Tang Zhan quickly looked up at Lin Yi.

There was a hint of surprise in his eyes.

However, he quickly smiled, as if in relief, and said nothing.

Lin Yi continued, "That was really the impression you gave me at the time."

"After all, the Public Security Bureau’s reputation has never been very good."

"’Inaction,’ ’afraid of death’... that was practically the defining image of the Martial Arts Police Station."

"But later, during the operation to wipe out the Blood Drop Believers, my opinion of you and the Martial Arts Police Station changed quite a bit. You’re not what everyone thinks you are."

"You have a sense of justice, a side of you that’s willing to bear responsibility."

"When facing life and death, when truly staring death in the face, you don’t shrink back, and you certainly aren’t a coward afraid of dying..."

After Lin Yi finished speaking...

...Tang Zhan looked at him with some surprise.

After a long pause, he whispered, "Thank you..."

"Don’t thank me. What I’ve said is just my personal impression of you and the Martial Arts Police Station."

"It’s just that I can’t understand... why are there so many people willing to sell their lives for the Blood Handprint?"

"The Blood Handprint organization stops at nothing; they treat human life as if it’s worthless."

"To feed those savage and brutal demonic beasts, they even capture people as fodder, specifically to raise them!"

"But what I don’t understand is... how can there still be so many people willing to help those outsiders harm our own people?"

"Brother Tang, can you help me understand?"

When he finished, Lin Yi looked at Tang Zhan, his eyes shining intently.

Tang Zhan lowered his head and pondered for a moment.

He then let out a soft sigh and said, "Lord General, do you think that in the depths of human nature, there’s still a need to distinguish between justice and evil?"

"Or for those living at the very bottom, do they really need to let themselves be shackled by morals?"

"You came from the Old District, too. Your achievements today are, of course, a result of your hard work."

"But... so many others have also worked hard. And in the end, haven’t they just been left to languish in the Old District, becoming the pathetic dregs of society?"

"I don’t understand why they would willingly become tools for the Blood Handprint, why they’d sell their lives for them!"

"Perhaps this is just human nature!"

After Tang Zhan finished speaking...

...Lin Yi said nothing more, just nodded lightly.

Tang Zhan’s words were filled with a profound resentment, a defiance against fate.

After a long while, Lin Yi finally shook his head. "Brother Tang, I think you’re confusing something."

"Fate may be unfair, and hard work may not always be rewarded."

"But that is absolutely not a reason for them to abandon their principles and willingly become executioners!"

"Perhaps from the moment they decided to become someone else’s tools, they had already abandoned their humanity."

"Therefore, people like that are no longer worthy of sympathy!"

"The only reason I’m still willing to sit here and talk with you is because I hope you are not one of them."

"That you’re still you—the same lazy Tang Zhan, but one who hasn’t given up his principles and crushed them underfoot."

"You can complain about the unfairness of fate. You can resent the indifference of the system."

"But you shouldn’t just stand by and watch them willingly become the butcher’s blade!"

"You have to know, the moment that blade falls, it slaughters people just like you!"

"They are helping those outsiders slaughter our own people!"

"As the captain of the Public Security Bureau, you can be lazy, you can be inactive, but you stood by and watched them hunt those students... Do you really think you can remain uninvolved?"

After Lin Yi said all this...

...an almost imperceptible glint flashed in Tang Zhan’s eyes.

Then, Lin Yi took out a stack of photos and handed them to Tang Zhan.

"Take a look at these photos."

"They were all taken at the fodder yards we destroyed back in the New District."

"Perhaps after you’ve seen them, you’ll understand what I was just saying."