The First Order

Chapter 275 Treachery and loyalty

Li Dingding glanced at the roster and said, “Wei Jiangyu, please come with me to the other tent. I have some questions for you.”

More than 10 soldiers armed with guns were keeping guard inside the military tent Ren Xiaosu and the others were in. Although Li Dingding had expressed that he was just going to ask some questions, he had actually confined all of them in here. Furthermore, these soldiers might even be nanosoldiers.

Li Qingzheng asked softly, “Xiaosu, will we get betrayed?”

“I don’t know.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head calmly. Although he did not know what Li Dingding was trying to investigate, he wasn’t sure if anyone would betray him even though all of them had supported each other so far along the way.

Wei Jiangyu was taken to the other tent where a table and chairs had already been set up.

Li Dingding asked, “Has anything strange happened in your platoon recently?”

Wei Jiangyu shook his head. “No, sir.”

“Let me refresh your memory a little,” Li Dingding smiled and said, “The wolf pack, the nanosoldiers, Li Qingzheng, Ren Xiaosu…”

At this moment, something interesting happened. Li Dingding was only testing him by throwing out some unrelated words. But when he brought up “the wolf pack,” Wei Jiangyu’s pupils constricted. When he mentioned “the nanosoldiers” and “Li Qingzheng,” his pupils went back to normal. Then when he said “Ren Xiaosu,” his pupils constricted again.

Pupillary response is usually caused by a reaction to light. When there is a greater intensity of light, the pupils constrict to decrease the amount of light entering the eye to protect it from damage.

But pupillary constriction can also be affected by one’s emotions. When a person is nervous, the pupils will shrink in size. Similarly, the pupils will dilate if a person gets excited.

As for pupils that became fully dilated, that would mean the person died.

Just like Li Shentan had said, the subconscious was in control of too many secrets of the human body, yet the subconsciousness could not be controlled by humans.

Li Dingding smiled as he switched to a comfortable sitting position and said to Wei Jiangyu, “How about this? I’ll put it another way. If you can tell me about all the strange goings-on in your platoon, I’ll reward you with a 100,000 yuan and a stronghold resident status as well. I can even find a job for you so you’ll have nothing to worry about for the rest of your life.”

Wei Jiangyu covered his mouth and refused to say anything. How could he know whether Li Dingding was speaking the truth?

Li Dingding called for someone to bring in a bag of items. “I’ve already prepared a 100,000 yuan in cash and a stronghold ID card for you. Check for yourself.”

Wei Jiangyu was stunned for a moment. This was the real thing! This person must have quite the authority if he could even create the ID card!

All of a sudden, Li Dingding grabbed the bag back from Wei Jiangyu’s hands. “You’re really fortunate. Since you’re the first to be interrogated, you can seize on this opportunity. If you tell the truth, those that come after you will not be as lucky. But even if you don’t speak, I’m sure someone else will be willing to. When that happens, not only are you not going to get the money, but you’ll also face jail time.”

Li Dingding was already prepared with the carrot and the stick.

Wei Jiangyu said in a low voice, “Fine, I’ll talk. Ren Xiaosu secretly left the outpost on many occasions. After we got deployed here to Position 313 in the north, he would also always go out during the night before returning in the morning. Wang Yuchi and the other students all knew Ren Xiaosu from before as they had escaped from Stronghold 109 together, and Chen Wudi is also Ren Xiaosu’s disciple…”

In the other tent, Chen Wudi suddenly sighed and whispered, “Master, we’ve been betrayed.”

‘Mhm.” Ren Xiaosu expressed that this was within his expectations.

“Should we force our way out now?” Chen Wudi asked quietly.

“Wait awhile longer.”

At this moment, Li Dingding had a broad smile on his face. It was simply too easy to gain a breakthrough when it came to these refugees. Money and status as a stronghold resident had always been his go-to weapons when it came to interrogating them!

With this breakthrough, he was no longer afraid the others would not speak.

After Wei Jiangyu left the tent, Li Dingding called for another person to get interrogated. As a result, he received even more information!

“When we were at the outpost, the wolves would send food over.”

“I saw Ren Xiaosu leaving the outpost secretly on the night before the disappearance of the two officers.”

“Before those five Divine Arms Battalion officers leading the private troops died, Ren Xiaosu was also always leaving the campsite.”

“Before the Qing Consortium’s attack last night, Ren Xiaosu also left the defensive position that we were guarding.”

All of the claims were pointing at Ren Xiaosu, the commander of the Heroes Battalion. Li Dingding did not need to have any evidence. Since he was not a judge, it would be unnecessary for him to gather evidence to prove something.

The people around Ren Xiaosu and Chen Wudi were called away one after another. Li Dingding looked at Li Qingzheng in front of him. “The others have already confessed, so you might as well confess too. If you do, you can even get some money…”

Li Qingzheng said with an obsequious smile, “I can even get some money? Sir, I love money the most.”

Li Dingding smiled even more. “Alright, start speaking then.”

“But I don’t know anything. There’s nothing strange about our platoon. Don’t listen to their lies.” Li Qingzheng said, feeling insulted.

“I’m warning you, don’t force my hand.” Li Dingding sneered. “Do you think I really need your statement? I suppose you prefer going to prison for the rest of your life, huh?”

Li Qingzheng took a deep breath and said in seriousness, “It doesn’t sound too bad. At least I’ll have my meals provided for me.”

Li Dingding started clapping. “I’ve finally met a brave man. Not bad, not bad at all. You probably don’t even know what fate is awaiting you. Take him back and bring the eight students over together.”

Throughout the interrogation, Ren Xiaosu had been all smiles. Meanwhile, Chen Wudi would whisper things to him from time to time. However, Chen Wudi was not as happy as him because he had thought that everyone would be better than this having been comrades for such a long time.

After Li Qingzheng returned to the tent, he remained silent. Ren Xiaosu did not say anything to him either and just smiled at him. When the eight students returned, Wang Yuchi stood inside the tent and sneered at his other comrades. “Even dogs are more loyal than you people, you buncha garbage!”

“That’s enough, sit down,” Ren Xiaosu said with a smile. What did not disappoint him ultimately was still how Jiang Wu’s students were as tough as they appeared to be. Jiang Wu had not made her sacrifices for them in vain.

Ren Xiaosu and Chen Wudi were the only two people who were not interrogated yet. Li Dingding seemed to have deliberately arranged for them to be interrogated last.

Li Dingding already knew where the problem lay.

Suddenly, Li Dingding lifted the tent flap and came in. Looking at Ren Xiaosu and Chen Wudi, he said with a smile, “You’re the only two left. Is there anything you wish to say?”

“Wait awhile more,” Ren Xiaosu said.

“What are you waiting for?” Li Dingding was stunned.

As he finished speaking, a sharp and ear-piercing noise rang out in the air. Then a loud explosion shook the ground.

It was the sound of artillery fire. In the early morning, the war had been escalated again! The Qing Consortium was back!

In that instant, Ren Xiaosu sprang into action and charged at Li Dingding. “It’s time!”

If he had made his move earlier, the commotion here would have attracted the many soldiers who were guarding Position 313. So Ren Xiaosu was waiting for an opportunity when no one would notice what was going on here, and that opportunity was when the Qing Consortium restarted the attack!

At this moment, the soldiers at Position 313 could hardly even look after themselves. Who would have the time to pay attention to them?

“Die!” Ren Xiaosu roared.

Ren Xiaosu’s armor immediately covered his entire body as he grabbed Li Dingding by the neck with one hand and slammed him into the ground.

A silvery glow flared up all over Li Dingding’s body in his blood vessels. He already had his guard up against Ren Xiaosu as he had guessed that he was a supernatural being!

But the moment the two of them exchanged blows, Li Dingding realized with despair that Ren Xiaosu seemed to have an overwhelming advantage over him!