Chapter 924: Truth Serum
Zhang Yi's honesty completely baffled the intelligence department.
Perhaps due to Zhang Yi's aura, or perhaps because the Divine Source was their top priority, they simply couldn't believe he would so easily reveal the truth.
However, they had no way to verify the falsehood of this matter.
Because so-called intelligence is essentially information in one's mind.
Zhang Yi had told them this crucial intelligence as casually as mentioning he had rice for lunch - how could they believe it?
How could they know that Zhang Yi had long been mentally prepared?
Even if he told the East Sea Region about the Divine Source's location, they would find it difficult to travel to Star Island to retrieve it.
Because they would have to pass through the Colombian Navy's blockade.
Secondly, the worst-case scenario would be the East Sea Region monopolizing the Divine Source.But for Zhang Yi, he didn't have an absolute must-obtain mindset about the Divine Source.
Getting it would be best, but not getting it wouldn't mean he couldn't survive.
Well, simply put, it was about "lying flat."
However, while Zhang Yi could lie flat, this matter couldn't be dragged on indefinitely.
The East Sea Region taking away the Rose Squad and Zhang Yi was quickly discovered by the Jiangnan Region.
There are no walls that don't leak - the major battle in the southern sea was too conspicuous, and a simple investigation revealed what had happened.
Zhu Zheng immediately called Li Guangxiao, demanding he return the people.
The specific details of their conversation remain unknown.
Only that after the call ended, Li Guangxiao summoned several important officials.
These included Chief of Staff Qu Liangshao, Intelligence Director Liang Simiao, and Operations Director Li Tianyang.
Once everyone had gathered, he got straight to the point:
"The Jiangnan Region has communicated with me - they're demanding we return their people."
"We and the Jiangnan Region are brotherly allies. We don't want to tear face and make things too ugly."
"So you need to find a way to extract the Divine Source intelligence."
Intelligence Director Liang Simiao frowned upon hearing this:
"Actually, Zhang Yi has already disclosed the Divine Source's whereabouts. It's just that we temporarily cannot verify the truthfulness of his statements yet."
He repeated Zhang Yi's words.
"Star Island?"
Li Guangxiao tapped the table. "If it's really there, that makes things quite difficult!"
If it were elsewhere, at least they could send people to verify.
But to reach Star Island, they must pass through the Colombian Ocean Fleet's defense line.
Joking aside, after recent tensions, who would dare go now?
Li Guangxiao could only tell Liang Simiao to think of more methods.
At most, they had three days. If there was still no progress, they would have to return Zhang Yi and the others to the Jiangnan Region.
After all, other regions were watching too.
If he made things too ugly and damaged his reputation, it might create bad feelings among all five major regions.
As the main coastal defense force, the East Sea Region still needed other regions' assistance, especially support from the Jiangnan Region.
They couldn't push things to the extreme.
Liang Simiao walked out of the office with knitted brows.
Time was tight - he needed to find a good method to make Zhang Yi tell the truth.
But without using torture, relying only on observation and verbal guidance was actually quite difficult.
Just then, Chief of Staff Qu Liangshao approached with a smile:
"Old Liang, still troubled by this matter?"
Liang Simiao smiled bitterly: "How could I not be troubled? After all, he's not our enemy but someone from a brother region. Our methods are indeed somewhat limited in application."
Qu Liangshao mysteriously told him: "I actually have a method. Come with me."
Liang Simiao looked at him in surprise, then seeing Qu Liangshao's confident expression, followed him away.
After the two left, Operations Director Li Tianyang revealed a cold smile at the corner of his mouth, then took several subordinates and headed toward where Zhang Yi was being held.
What was Zhang Yi doing at this time?
It was his third day in the East Sea Region, daily routine involved answering questions from intelligence department staff.
Other times, he read books or turned on the TV to watch old movies.
Answering the same questions every day was starting to irritate him.
He had clearly told them everything, yet they still wouldn't let him go - how could that make him happy?
Just as Zhang Yi waited in his room for the routine interrogation.
The door was forcefully opened, but he saw several unfamiliar faces.
They were soldiers with cold expressions.
They entered the room without a word, then one person placed a glass of water in front of Zhang Yi.
Zhang Yi frowned. "What does this mean? Are you trying to poison me?"
Li Tianyang walked in from outside with his hands behind his back.
He sat opposite Zhang Yi, eyes fixed intently on him.
"Kill you? No. Your death holds no value for us, but alive, you're most useful to us."
He pointed at the glass of water on the table.
"Rest assured, this water contains no toxins. It has only one purpose - to make you tell the truth!"
"I admit, as a soldier, you possess excellent professional quality. You almost fooled everyone into thinking you were just an ordinary person."
"But," he stared at Zhang Yi, pointing at his own eyes, "you can't hide from my eyes! I know you've been lying all along!"
"Don't try playing these little tricks - it won't benefit you in any way."
"So now, drink this water. Answer all my questions obediently! If you don't cooperate, I'll have to use methods you won't want to see."
Zhang Yi fell into silence.
He slowly closed the book in his hand and placed it on the table.
Then he stared at the glass of water. After a few seconds, he reached out, took the glass, and slowly brought it to his mouth.
Li Tianyang's mouth revealed a victor's smile.
He felt somewhat smug.
Liang Simiao was too cautious - if they had used forceful methods earlier, they would have obtained all the intelligence they wanted directly.
Why bother with all this trouble?
Not long after Zhang Yi drank the water, his eyes became dazed.
He shook his head forcefully, his eyelids seeming to weigh a thousand pounds as his body slumped weakly onto the sofa.
Li Tianyang stared at him, slowly asking: "Zhang Yi, tell me, where exactly is the Divine Source hidden?"
"At... at... I can't..."
"Answer me! Where exactly is the Divine Source hidden?"
Li Tianyang intensified his tone.
Zhang Yi's expression showed painful struggle.
After a long moment, he finally spoke intermittently:
"Somewhere... between Malai and Star Island."
Li Tianyang said in a deep voice: "Then why did you say it was in Mist Valley?"
"Because... Mist Valley is dangerous. I wanted to delay your discovery time."
"Specifically? Where exactly was it found?"
"Right between Malai and Star Island... in the sea... found it. The Divine Source... is in the sea."
Author's Note