Chapter 275: 275, Betrayal and loyalty

Li Dingding glanced at the list and said, "Wei Jiangyu, come with me to another tent. I have something to ask you."

This Wei Jiangyu was seized by Ren Xiaosu and others from another combat squad, and he had the weakest sense of belonging to the entire unit.

Inside the military tent where Ren Xiaosu and the others were stationed, more than ten soldiers held guns and stood guard. When Li Dingding spoke, he indicated it was merely a casual inquiry, but in reality, he had imprisoned everyone here, and these ten or so soldiers might all be nanowarriors.

Li Qingzheng whispered, "Xiaosu, could someone betray us?"

"I don't know," Ren Xiaosu shook his head calmly. Though he didn't know what Li Dingding was investigating, they had supported each other along the way, and he wasn't sure if anyone would betray them.

Wei Jiangyu was led into another tent, where a table and chairs had already been arranged.

Li Dingding asked, "Has there been anything unusual within your squad?"

Wei Jiangyu shook his head. "No, sir."

"Let me remind you," Li Dingding smiled. "Wolf pack, nanowarriors, Li Qingzheng, Ren Xiaosu..."

Something interesting happened then. Li Dingding had only intended to probe with some vague terms, but when he mentioned "wolf pack," Wei Jiangyu's pupils suddenly contracted. When he spoke of nanowarriors and Li Qingzheng, the pupils began to return to normal, but when he reached Ren Xiaosu, Wei Jiangyu's pupils contracted again.

Pupils typically respond to light—when there's strong light, they constrict because only a small aperture is needed for light to pass through.

But they also react to emotions—tension causes them to shrink, excitement makes them dilate.

And dilation... is due to death.

As Li Shengtan once said, the human body harbors too many secrets controlled by the subconscious, yet this subconscious is not governed by humans themselves.

Li Dingding chuckled, shifting into a more comfortable position as he spoke to Wei Jiangyu, "Here's the deal. Tell me everything unusual in your squad, and I'll reward you 100,000 yuan, plus barrier resident status, and even arrange a job for you—food and clothing for life."

Wei Jiangyu pressed his lips together in silence. How could he know if Li Dingding was telling the truth?

At that moment, Li Dingding called for someone to bring a bag of items. "100,000 yuan in cash, and I've already processed your resident ID card. Take a look."

Wei Jiangyu was stunned—this was serious. They had even prepared the ID card. The other party's power must be immense!

Just then, Li Dingding suddenly withdrew the bag from Wei Jiangyu's hands. "You're lucky. As the first to be interrogated, you have this opportunity. If you tell the truth, the others won't be so fortunate. But if you don't, someone else will be willing to talk. Then the money won't be yours, and you'll face imprisonment."

Both carrot and stick—Li Dingding had them all ready.

Wei Jiangyu whispered, "I'll say it. Ren Xiaosu secretly left the outpost multiple times. When we were heading north to the 313 position, he always left at night and returned in the morning. Wang Yuchun and the others have known Ren Xiaosu for a long time. They escaped from the 109 barrier. Chen Wudi is Ren Xiaosu's disciple..."

Next door, Chen Wudi suddenly sighed softly, "Master, we've been sold out."

"Hmm," Ren Xiaosu indicated this was expected.

"Shall we act?" Chen Wudi asked quietly.

"Wait a bit more."

At this moment, Li Dingding's smile was thick with satisfaction. These refugees had such easily exploited weaknesses—money and barrier status were his unstoppable weapons!

With this opening, he no longer feared others staying silent.

After letting Wei Jiangyu leave, Li Dingding summoned the next interrogation candidate, and this time he gained even more information!

"When we were at the outpost, the wolf pack would deliver food."

"The night before two officers disappeared, I saw Ren Xiaosu secretly leave the outpost through the window."

"Before the five Divine Machine Battalion officers in the private army died, Ren Xiaosu always left the camp."

"The night before the Qing clan launched their attack yesterday, Ren Xiaosu also left the high ground."

Each of these pointed the spear directly at Ren Xiaosu, the heroic battalion commander. Li Dingding didn't need evidence—he wasn't a judge, didn't need to rely on evidence to judge anyone.

One by one, those beside Ren Xiaosu and Chen Wudi were called away. Li Dingding looked at Li Qingzheng and said, "Everyone else has spoken. You too, say something... and there's money to be had."

Li Qingzheng smiled apologetically. "Is there still money, sir? I love money the most."

Li Dingding's smile deepened. "Hmm, then go ahead."

"But I don't know anything. Our squad has nothing unusual. Don't listen to their nonsense," Li Qingzheng protested.

"Don't refuse a toast only to drink a penalty cup," Li Dingding sneered. "Do you think I need only your testimony? It seems you want to spend the rest of your life in the dungeon."

Li Qingzheng took a deep breath. "That might not be so bad. At least someone will feed me..."

Li Dingding clapped his hands. "Finally, a real man. Not bad, not bad. You probably don't even know what fate awaits you. Take him back, and bring those eight students along too."

From beginning to end, Ren Xiaosu wore a beaming smile, while Chen Wudi occasionally whispered something to him, though Chen Wudi wasn't as cheerful—he had originally believed they had been companions for so long...

After returning to the tent, Li Qingzheng remained silent. Ren Xiaosu said nothing more, only smiling at him. When the eight students returned, Wang Yuchun stood inside the tent and sneered at the other comrades, "Even raising dogs would be better than raising you lot—a bunch of inhuman things."

"Enough, sit down," Ren Xiaosu said with a smile. What ultimately didn't disappoint him was that Jiang Wu's students indeed had the backbone they appeared to have. Jiang Wu hadn't wasted his efforts on them.

Only Ren Xiaosu and Chen Wudi remained un-interrogated. Li Dingding seemed to deliberately place them last.

Li Dingding had already become very clear about where the problem lay.

Suddenly, Li Dingding drew back the tent curtain and stepped inside, smiling at Ren Xiaosu and Chen Wudi. "Just the two of you left. Anything to say?"

"Wait a bit more," Ren Xiaosu said.

"Wait for what?" Li Dingding was taken aback.

The words had barely finished when a sharp, piercing sound seemed to fly through the sky, followed by a rumbling that shook the ground.

It was the roar of artillery—war had escalated again in the dead of night! The Qing clan had returned!

In an instant, Ren Xiaosu lunged at Li Dingding. "The time has come!"

If he had acted earlier, the commotion would surely have drawn a large force from the 313 position. Ren Xiaosu had to wait for a moment when no one would notice here—when the Qing clan launched their counterattack!

At this moment, the 313 position was too busy to pay attention to them.

"Die!" Ren Xiaosu roared.

An outer armor instantly enveloped his body. Ren Xiaosu actually grasped Li Dingding's throat with one hand, lifting the man into the air and slamming him to the ground.

Li Dingding's blood vessels all burst forth with silver light—he had been prepared for Ren Xiaosu, for he had guessed that Ren Xiaosu was a supernatural being!

But in the instant they clashed, Li Dingding despaired to find that the gap between them was of a crushing level!

...

There will be an extra chapter tonight.