Chapter 146
Chapter 146: I want too...
"Leave it to me, boss!"
"I guarantee I'll have these 2 little bastards begging for mercy!"
Seattle Mercy Hospital.
Wang Meng's face broke into a kind smile.
He looked at the 2 Sakura Nation soldiers Jiang Nan had knocked unconscious.
Hoshino Hikari, standing to one side, rubbed her hands together in excitement.
"Fellow countrymen meeting fellow countrymen—tears streaming down both faces!"
"Today I'll make you tear up in the most literal, physical sense!"
Watching the 2 of them crack their knuckles and roll up their sleeves, Jiang Nan sat expressionless on the RV steps.
He flicked his fingers, and a note stuck itself to Wang Meng's forehead.
【Go ahead.】
With the leader's ultimate authorization granted, a uniquely flavored interrogation officially commenced.
Wang Meng's side was relatively by the book—operating a high-voltage current with one hand while professionally extracting intelligence with the other.
Hoshino Hikari's side, however, had completely devolved into chaos.
This wasn't an interrogation. This was clearly one-sided, personal vendetta venting.
"That's for putting me on the cannon-fodder list! That's for setting me up!"
Hoshino Hikari let out a battle cry as she hammered the electric chair's maximum setting over and over.
She recognized this bastard!
This was the one who had recommended her for the cannon-fodder squad!
Sure, the misfortune had led her to the boss—a blessing in disguise!
But that was a separate matter entirely!
A debt is a debt!
"Today I will electrocute every last one of you vermin into ash!!!"
Zzzt zzzt zzzt zzzt!!!
"Aaaaah! Yamero!!!"
Accompanied by a flash of blinding blue light, the smell of char, and agonized screaming—
The Sakura Nation soldier Hoshino Hikari was responsible for interrogating cycled in and out of consciousness, again and again and again.
Half an hour later.
The interrogation ended.
Wang Meng came running to Jiang Nan with a sheet of paper, delivering his report.
"Boss! Got everything out of them!"
"These 2 guys are called Ueno and Shimono—they're a Sakura Nation ace reconnaissance pair."
"They came from our next target:【Scholar's Dojo】!"
"According to Shimono's confession, Sakura Nation's main force is currently establishing a forward base at【Prayer Deep Pool】."
"The 2 of them were dispatched as couriers this time, and Seattle Mercy Hospital's perimeter happens to be on their route."
"They noticed the usual permanent fog had suddenly cleared over here and, having a death wish, decided to come scout it out."
"Then they got spooked into shutdown by the Magic Hide on our vehicle."
"Couriers?"
Jiang Nan raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Yes! This is a top-secret letter retrieved from Shimono's person—please take a look, boss!"
Wang Meng presented the letter with both hands.
Jiang Nan reached out and took it.
【Year 1314, March 14th, 3:14 AM.】
【The Day of Soul-Return—a hundred ghosts walk the night.】
【Two hearts in mutual devotion; the appointed hour has arrived.】
【Commander Muraguchi, come at once.】
【The Portrait Ghost shall, on the Day of Soul-Return, go to Scholar's Dojo to collect her destined groom.】
【So long as you seize the opportunity to take the bridegroom's place—】
【Our great Sakura Empire shall naturally come to possess that Special-Grade Cursed Object sufficient to reverse our nation's fate…】
The letter's contents cut off abruptly there.
The edges of the remaining paper showed tearing marks—it had clearly been split into 2 halves down the middle.
Jiang Nan's deep brow furrowed sharply.
The most critical intelligence was gone!
What exactly was that Special-Grade Cursed Object?
And who in the world was the Portrait Ghost?
This feeling—what was the difference between this and getting your bowel movement cut off halfway through?!
Jiang Nan irritably waved the half-letter in his hand and flung out a note.
【Where is the other half?】
"Uh… Shimono said that to prevent the intelligence from being seized all at once, the other half of the letter was kept on Ueno's person."
Wang Meng said this while turning his head, pointing toward the person named【Ueno】—the【prisoner】that Hoshino Hikari had been in charge of interrogating.
However, when both Wang Meng and Jiang Nan's gazes landed on that electric chair simultaneously, their expressions froze.
Zzzt zzzt—'die already!!!’
Hoshino Hikari was still jabbing the high-voltage button.
And in the electric chair before her…
The reconnaissance soldier named Ueno—never mind hiding a letter.
The man had been electrocuted into a still-smoking charcoal sculpture.
It was abundantly clear that Hoshino Hikari, deep in her berserk state, had not the slightest awareness of how catastrophic a blunder she had just made.
Jiang Nan's eyelid twitched violently—twice.
He strode forward with a grim face, seized Hoshino Hikari's fate by the scruff of her neck.
He lifted this legally-of-age little gremlin who was still raging impotently into the air, and switched off the power supply that was on the verge of overloading.
Wang Meng hurried over and rummaged through the charred corpse.
A moment later, with obvious distaste, he pinched out a scrap of paper from Ueno's already-incinerated loincloth.
"Boss… found it…"
Before Wang Meng even finished his sentence—
A breeze drifted past.
The letter reduced to windblown ash, scattering into the air.
The lead—was gone.
Watching this, Jiang Nan's eyes narrowed.
He turned his head to look at Hoshino Hikari, still dangling in mid-air.
Only at this moment did she come back to her senses.
"Boss, I…"
"I really didn't mean to…"
Hoshino Hikari curled in on herself.
Jiang Nan naturally knew she hadn't meant to.
The fact that she'd electrocuted someone straight into charcoal meant the hatred truly ran bone-deep.
Even Wang Meng hadn't gone that far.
But rules were rules.
Destroying critical strategic intelligence was a mistake—and mistakes must be punished!
What's more…
Jiang Nan drew a deep breath. He could feel that violently suppressed inner fire surging back upward.
Dragon Nature was seizing this moment of loosened guard to storm the high ground of his mind!
Jiang Nan looked down at Hoshino Hikari from above.
Barely 1.5 meters tall—a textbook petite frame.
But the figure beneath that jacket was quite substantial, refined features paired with that pitiful, helpless expression.
Leaving a rather singular impression on the heart.
Dragon Nature had utterly defeated reason.
Expressionless, Jiang Nan produced a note and pressed it to Hoshino Hikari's forehead.
Hoshino Hikari stared at the note dangling before her eyes.
【You destroyed the intelligence—compensate with yourself.】
【Come with me into the hospital now. I'm going to give you a thorough personal examination.】
‘A thorough personal examination?!’
Wang Meng, who had witnessed the entire thing from the side, instantly understood everything!
"Ahem! Well, uh—boss!"
Wang Meng knowingly snapped to attention, stood straight, saluted, eyes-front, and bellowed:
"I just remembered—I think the rear left tyre on the RV might have a slow leak!"
"I'll go do a full maintenance check on the vehicle right now! After you… ahem, after you've finished the examination, we can set off for Scholar's Dojo at any time!"
"Your subordinate takes his leave!"
With that, he shot back to the RV driver's cab in a flash.
The entire open ground now held only Jiang Nan and Hoshino Hikari, still dangling in mid-air.
Hoshino Hikari read the words on the note, then felt the scorching heat radiating from Jiang Nan's body.
Her face flushed crimson in an instant.
She was no naive little innocent who knew nothing.
‘Is… is this receiving the boss's punishment?’
Hoshino Hikari's heart pounded erratically.
‘Am I… am I going to get… that too?’
The thought of that image filled her with equal parts anticipation and fear.
The anticipation—she'd somehow stumbled into an iron rice bowl out of nowhere.
The fear—she'd never been through it before.
But Jiang Nan gave her no opportunity to open her mouth and plead for mercy.
He turned, and walked into the Seattle Mercy Hospital building.
A short while later…
The night breeze drifted past.
Leaving behind only the faint sounds of insects outside the building.
And…
"Hngh—hngh—hngh—hngh—hngh!"
Bunny-Bunny