Chapter 489: He Is a Spy
With a gun pressed to his head, the man finally knew fear.
Seeing this, a soldier hurried inside to get help.
About ten minutes later, a large, clamoring crowd emerged.
"What do you think you're doing?! Who gave you permission to threaten an official of our Country N with a gun?"
"Don't think you can be so arrogant just because you're the one from Dragon Country delivering the secret key!"
"Stop it, Xiao Ye! Put the gun away, now!"
The crowd rushed over, glaring at Xiao Ye and berating him one after another.
Xiao Ye spoke unhurriedly. "This man is a spy."
A spy?
The crowd exchanged glances.
Someone scoffed. "You've got some nerve. You show up and immediately call one of our men a spy. What are you trying to say?"
"What, you can tell with just one look? Country N may not be as great as Dragon Country, but that doesn't mean we don't even know how to vet our own people."
Xiao Ye's gaze fell on the speaker's face. "If you want the secret key, you'll do as I say. Take this man away for interrogation."
"What are you implying? Are you threatening us?"
"He's an official of our Country N! Anyone who reaches his position is a hero to our nation. How can we just interrogate him on your say-so?"
"You can't do it?" Xiao Ye holstered his pistol. "Fine. Then you can forget about using the secret key."
"A country that refuses to even apprehend a spy is unworthy of cooperating with Dragon Country, much less taking the secret key from my hands!"
"I'm leaving. You can discuss any other matters with Dragon Country."
"Wait!"
The man in the lead finally spoke. Although he had been very careful when speaking with General He before, withdrawing the arrest warrant without a second thought...
'There are many ways to deal with an opponent, why does he have to do it in public?'
He'd forgotten that it was those men who had made the first move; Xiao Ye was simply acting in self-defense.
"Mr. Xiao, there's no need to be so angry. I know you've encountered many difficulties on your way here."
Xiao Ye snorted. "If you knew all that, why didn't you send anyone to meet me? Why were there no measures in place? Why was I left to handle it all by myself?"
The man was at a loss for words. "I... We were short-staffed."
"Spare me the excuses." Xiao Ye had no desire to listen to his nonsense. "I'll give you two choices. First, interrogate the spy, and I must be able to observe the entire process."
He said this to prevent them from simply feigning compliance.
"Second, I leave with the secret key. Don't even think about trying to take it from me. If you so much as lay a finger on me, Dragon Country will not let you off the hook!"
"My status is more revered than even your leader's!"
The leader of a minor nation like Country N truly couldn't compare to him.
"You... You're unbelievably arrogant!"
"General, you can't listen to him!"
"That's right! Why should we do whatever he says? He's clearly just trying to stir up trouble!"
"General, you can't interrogate me! I'm innocent! I'm truly a good person! I've dedicated my life to Country N, how can you suspect me like this?"
Xiao Ye kicked him in the mouth. "Shut up. You'll have your chance to talk during the interrogation."
He was certain that Country N would never let the secret key go.
One man, who was not irreplaceable, was simply not that important when compared to a secret key that held the future.
The man took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll do as you say! Men, take him away for interrogation!"
"But I have one condition. If he turns out not to be a spy, you will apologize!"
"Deal. I accept!"
When it came to judging people, Xiao Ye was never wrong!
"Can you give us the secret key now?"
"No. We'll talk after I've seen the interrogation."
Frustrated, the man turned around. "Let's go. To the interrogation room!"
「N Country Border Post Interrogation Room.」
The spy sat inside, his mouth full of blood. "I'm really not a spy!"
Watching their interrogation, Xiao Ye frowned slightly. "This is what you call an interrogation?"
"Since you don't know how to ask questions, bring in a lie detector!"
The men felt aggrieved, but they brought in the lie detector anyway.
Modern lie detectors were incredibly advanced, especially the ones used at national borders. Their accuracy rate was basically over ninety-nine point nine percent.
The remaining zero-point-zero-one percent margin of error was practically negligible.
"Are you a spy?"
"I am not!"
BEEP.
A red light flashed, indicating he was lying.
The men watching from behind the glass were stunned.
"How could this be? Is he really a spy?"
"That's impossible! I've worked with him for a full twenty years. There's no way he's a spy!"
"The lie detector must be malfunctioning. I suggest we go back to conventional questioning methods."
Xiao Ye strode straight into the room, grabbed the man by his hair, then took out a silver needle and inserted it into several acupoints.
'If I had known Country N's interrogation techniques were this pathetic, I would have just dealt with him myself at the gate.'
Excruciating pain shot through his body. The spy's teeth chattered from the agony.
"If you don't talk, I have countless ways to make you wish you were dead!"
"Besides, you saw it yourself. The secret key in my possession is far more important."
"If you confess now, you might have a chance to atone for your crimes. Otherwise..."
"I'll talk!"
The man was never someone with a strong will to begin with. Under the torment of pain, he confessed everything!
And it wasn't just nonsense; his confession was coherent and backed by evidence.
"I... I'm working for Country A."
The moment he said it, the entire room erupted.
"He... He really is a spy!"
"My God, I never would have thought!"
Many of them felt deeply ashamed. They hadn't believed Xiao Ye at first, but reality had just slapped them twice across the face.
The general hadn't expected Xiao Ye to be right.
Thinking about the importance Dragon Country placed on this, he finally understood just how formidable a figure Xiao Ye was.
"Mr. Xiao, you are truly incredible!"
"If it weren't for you, we might have remained in the dark forever!"
"We are deeply sorry for our earlier mistrust. We hope you can find it in you to forgive us."
Xiao Ye had never been the type to lord a victory over others, not to mention it was perfectly normal for a country full of idiots like Country N to have overlooked the spy.
"Mr. Xiao, I've prepared a banquet. Please, join me."
He called it a banquet, but in reality, it was just for the people present.
Xiao Ye didn't refuse. He did indeed need a proper meal.
The banquet hall's decor was simple, but the food was excellent—far more appetizing than what was sold locally, at least.
The general followed closely by Xiao Ye's side. "Mr. Xiao, have you ever considered... changing your citizenship?"
"I know Dragon Country treats you very well."
"But if you come to our Country N, I guarantee that your treatment will be second only to the leader himself!"
"No matter how much Dragon Country values you, they couldn't possibly grant you that level of authority, could they?"
Xiao Ye turned to him and sneered. "You think you can win me over with a bunch of incompetents like yourselves?"
"You couldn't spot a spy, you don't know how to conduct an interrogation, and you had to rely on me, an outsider."
"Get lost. Don't bother me while I'm eating."