There has never been a truly great nation; all nations in this world are equally base.
The lieutenant observed the man, who possessed a remarkably handsome countenance. Despite his face being streaked with blood and one lens of his glasses shattered, it could not obscure the scholarly elegance that emanated from him.
“You claim yourselves to be of the Blaze Clan, yet your actions are no different from barbarians. While it is true that I am of the Blaze Clan, I am also a conscientious resident of Vega. I will never associate with hypocrites such as yourselves. Though I may be a pedantic scholar, powerless even to bind a chicken, I can die; but to betray my friends, to betray the heroes who resist your invasion, that is utterly impossible…”
“Professor Zhou, why must you be so stubborn? You wish to die, but must you also implicate your family? Look at your daughter’s desperate eyes. Can you truly bear to watch your own daughter suffer so? Bring that wretched girl out!”
Upon hearing this, the professor trembled, his eyes darting sideways, looking down the corridor where the lieutenant and his men walked, presumably at the side of the speaker.
“You beasts… you… burned my parents to death… strangled my wife… brutally assaulted my daughter… I will never coexist with you… until death do us part…”
No matter how much he feigned steadfastness as he spoke, he could not conceal the tremor in his voice or his averted gaze. The courage he had shown in denouncing them moments before vanished in an instant.
He did not fear being beaten or killed himself, but he simply could not bear to witness his own daughter suffer such torment before his eyes.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know what his daughter had endured; he could tell the pain and humiliation she suffered just by her cries. Yet, he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, which had allowed him to keep forcing himself not to yield through words. But now, witnessing his daughter’s torment firsthand, even a father with steel bones and iron sinews could no longer bear it.
The lieutenant and his companions furrowed their brows, clearly finding the Military Police’s actions deeply inappropriate. Threatening the man’s family was one thing, an unfortunate necessity to complete a mission, but killing and torturing them? That was an entirely different matter.
The lieutenant watched the man below in silence, his thoughts unknown, but his pace quickened, clearly unwilling to linger.
“I can’t say it… I’ll never say it in this lifetime… Just kill me…”
“Kill you? Is death so easy? Can your single life compensate for the eight lives of our fallen comrades?”
The man’s voice, thick with fury, shouted sharply.
“Bring his two sons here.”
The lieutenant continued forward, though his pace subtly slowed. His gaze remained fixed ahead, yet his peripheral vision never strayed from the scene unfolding below.
“Dad! Dad! Dad!”
A tender male voice, tinged with a sob, echoed. The boy sounded no older than thirteen or fourteen.
Although his cries were heard, no one rushed towards Professor Zhou; it seemed they were being held back.
“Children… you’ve suffered. Did they hurt you?”
“No… Ah!”
One of the boys let out a startled cry, immediately followed by the man’s voice.
“Professor Zhou, I’ll ask you one more time: where is the Workers’ Commando Unit? If you don’t speak, I’ll kill your son!”
Professor Zhou’s expression was desolate. He stumbled back a few steps, leaning against a pillar, and gnashed his teeth in silence for a long moment. He glanced in his daughter’s direction before finally fixing his gaze on the ground at his feet.
He slowly raised his head, looking forward, towards where his children were.
His dry, cracked lips moved several times; he tried to speak on numerous occasions, but ultimately held back.
“Child… death… are you afraid…”
“No… no…”
Though the boy’s voice trembled, his words were resolute.
“A true man… even if… if I die… I won’t betray Uncle Li… Ah!”
The lieutenant’s steps halted. Accompanied by a shriek, he saw a jet of blood spray forth, splattering across Professor Zhou’s face.
“Professor Zhou, you’d rather see your son die than reveal the Workers’ Commando Unit’s hiding place? Do you truly deserve to be a father? Do you even have a shred of propriety, righteousness, integrity, or shame? Is your son’s life so worthless in your eyes? And you still have the nerve to call yourself Blaze Clan? To me, your disregard for family ties makes you ninety percent barbarian.”
Hearing the man’s mockery, Professor Zhou simply lowered his head, utterly silent.
‘My son’s life is a life… but are the lives of the guerrillas resisting the invaders not lives?’
‘Child… your father is sorry… but there’s nothing I can do… truly… nothing at all…’
“Your younger son is already dead. Do you want to watch your elder son die now too?”
Another terrified male cry of ‘Ah!’ echoed from below, indicating that the man had likely pressed a weapon against the other boy’s neck.
“Dad! Dad! Don’t kill me! Please! Don’t kill me! I don’t want to die!”
With a thud, the boy fell to his knees, pleading for mercy.
“Dad! Dad! I don’t want to die! Just tell them where Uncle Li is! Why should we sacrifice our lives for these strangers! I don’t want to die!”
Professor Zhou abruptly lifted his head, his eyes seeming to blaze with fire.
“You little beast! What did you say!”
The boy’s voice immediately choked, and he dared not even breathe.
“How much did Uncle Li and the others sacrifice to fight these damned invaders? He alone saw six members of his family murdered! He couldn’t even save his own children, yet he risked his life to save you from under the gun! How could you utter such words! Are you even human?”
“Hahahaha! Look at this shameless old fool!”
The man’s laughter rang out, full of insolence and derision.
“Your old man doesn’t know what’s good for him, but you, you’re a clever child! Boy, you’re absolutely right! You’re only eighteen or nineteen; why throw away your life for unrelated outsiders? You’re sensible. As long as you do as I say, I guarantee your life.”
“Yes… yes… I’ll do it… I’ll do it… As long as you spare me… I’ll do anything…”
Professor Zhou sighed, his face a canvas of endless grief and indignation.
“Your father, a member of the Blaze Clan, did not step forward to serve our clan, but instead shielded foreign barbarians and acted as a lackey for foreign devils! Tell me! Is he not a Blaze Clan traitor! Is he not a beast! Is he not a son of a b*tch!”
The boy’s voice hesitated for a moment, then he spoke, trembling.
“Yes… he’s a Blaze Clan traitor… he’s a beast… he’s… a son of a b*tch…”
“Can’t hear you! Louder!”
“He’s a Blaze Clan traitor, he’s a beast… he’s a son of a b*tch.”
“I said I can’t hear you!”
“I’m speaking very loudly…”
Accompanied by a resounding slap, the man roared.
“If I say I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you! Whispering like that and you expect me to spare your miserable life!”
“He’s a Blaze Clan traitor! He’s a beast! He’s a son of a b*tch!”
The boy’s voice was now tinged with a sob as he shrieked at the top of his lungs.
“Good! Tell me! Who is the Blaze Clan traitor! Who is the beast! And who is the son of a b*tch!”
“My dad is the Blaze Clan traitor! My dad is the beast! My dad is the son of a b*tch!”
Amidst a burst of jeering laughter, Professor Zhou collapsed onto the ground, his eyes wide and unfocused as he stared at the scene before him, his psychological defenses on the brink of collapse.
“Well said! So, you say your dad harbored guerrillas and opposed our Blaze Clan. Should he be killed?”
“He should! He should!”
Professor Zhou’s body convulsed. He looked at the son he had raised for over a decade as if seeing an utter stranger.
His heart was subjected to a torment akin to death by a thousand cuts, yet there was no escape from the agony.
“Your sister, a member of the Blaze Clan, did not stand up to support our clan. Instead, she wounded my arm with a knife. Tell me, should she not be brutally violated to death?”
“She should! She should be brutally violated to death! She should be brutally violated to death!”
The boy showed not the slightest hesitation, still screaming at the top of his lungs.
A person’s morality can plummet rapidly. As his last taut string snapped, he became utterly reckless. He had already cursed his father to death in public; he no longer cared about insulting his own sister.
“You little beast… you little beast… all men must die… so what if we die… who throughout history has escaped death! You beg them for mercy… do you think they’ll spare you… do you think they’ll spare you!”
Professor Zhou’s face was etched with despair. He had lost all will to live, collapsing onto the ground, no different from a pile of mud.
Amidst his overwhelming sorrow, he heard the man’s cold laughter.
“Since you also say your sister deserves to die, I’ll give you a chance! Go and violently violate her, until she dies!”
The boy’s voice fell silent… but only for an instant…
“Yes… yes… I… I’ll go violently violate her now… I’ll go now…”
Professor Zhou watched everything before him in shock, his gaze shifting from directly ahead to the side. In his rapidly constricting pupils, he witnessed the most utterly inhumane and monstrous scene he had ever encountered in his life.
“Beast! You depraved beast! That’s your sister! Are you even human, you goddamn monster! How in the hell did I give birth to a beast like you!”
Professor Zhou lunged headfirst towards a pillar, but was instantly grabbed by the hair by a nearby soldier and yanked back. He was pinned firmly to the ground, his head yanked up by his hair, and a pair of large hands pried open his eyelids, forcing him to watch everything unfold.
“Kill me! Kill me! Please! Xuanji Star! Just kill me! Kill me!”
“You want to die! It’s not that easy! Didn’t you preach about propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame? Didn’t you call us people of Xuanji Star hypocritical beasts in human clothing? I insist you watch with your own eyes how your son kills your daughter! Then we’ll see who the true hypocrites are! Who the true lackeys of foreign barbarians are!”
Amidst Professor Zhou’s agonizing wails, the man’s voice grew even more derisive.
“Professor Zhou, I must congratulate you! Your family truly is a model household. This isn’t some human tragedy; this is a joyous occasion!”
Amidst the jeering laughter, the man’s voice grew utterly unrestrained.
“You little bastard, look at your father’s weakness! He’d rather see his family destroyed than reveal the whereabouts of those foreign barbarian lackeys who murdered our compatriots. You, however, are sensible and understand reason. As long as you diligently serve our Blaze Clan from now on, pledging your loyalty, I guarantee you won’t meet the same end as your unlucky younger brother.”
“Yes! Yes! Thank you! Thank you, officer! Thank you, officer!”
Amidst the boy’s almost fawning pleas…
Amidst Professor Zhou’s desperate and agonizing wails…
The group had reached the door at the end of the corridor.
The group filed in, one after another, and the lieutenant was no exception.
As he stepped through the doorway, he heard a weak whisper from behind him.
The voice was faint, but with his acute hearing, he caught every word clearly.
“Don’t continue… please… don’t continue… the Workers’ Commando Unit’s location… I’ll tell you… I’ll tell you everything…”