Chapter 658: Chapter 657 Interrogation
Five minutes later, Nord swore in the name of God and pleaded with Xu Yunshan to let him go, promising to tell everything he knew truthfully.
Xu Yunshan glanced at Yang Fei, who smiled and said, "Let’s have him endure a bit longer."
Nord screamed, "No, no, I beg you, just put me out of my misery, I... I really will tell you everything..."
He had originally thought that his willpower was steadfast and that he could withstand all kinds of severe torture to uphold the Smith family’s spirit, yet he never expected to be overwhelmed by such minor actions from the other side.
That damned toxin, of unknown origin, made it seem as if thousands of venomous insects were devouring his blood and flesh within his veins; the pain and the horrific itchiness were unbearable even for a moment.
During Nord’s constant cries and pleas for mercy, another three minutes passed.
By this time, Nord’s throat was hoarse, his spirits were drained, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked as if he had escaped from Hell, feeling the palpitations of a narrow escape from death.
Yang Fei threw away his cigarette and squinted at Nord.
Nord weakly waved his hand, pleading, "Let... let me catch my breath."
Just a few minutes of torture had drained him of all his spirit.
"Start with a few names for me to hear," Yang Fei said, showing no mercy and impatiently urging him.
A chill ran down Nord’s spine; though the toxin was given to him by Xu Yunshan, he was now filled with fear for Yang Fei.
This handsome and youthful Eastern man was simply a demon.
"Daniel, Ruolan, Conrad..." Nord said weakly, managing to utter three names.
Yang Fei found these names somewhat familiar, but given the high rate of name duplication among Westerners, after careful thought, he realized that just having these three names would leave him groping in the dark.
He looked up at Nord.
Nord’s condition was still very bad.
A man in his sixties, though Westerners naturally have good constitution and he was a Martial Artist, had aged and, coupled with debauchery draining his body, once devastated by Xu Family’s poisons, his health collapsed and was hard to recover from.
After waiting for a few minutes as Nord’s condition improved, Yang Fei said, "Which families do they belong to?"
Nord listed them one by one.
Yang Fei nodded to himself.
These families indeed possessed considerable strength in the Western World, had deep roots, and coupled with the influence of the Smith family, it made sense for them to establish a mysterious and powerful organization like Sky Net.
But remembering the Martial Arts experts within Sky Net, Yang Fei felt something was amiss and looked at Nord, saying, "It seems the punishment you received earlier was insufficient."
Nord shuddered all over in fear and quickly said, "No, no, I really have told everything."
"The people you mentioned do indeed hold power, but not enough to recruit so many Martial Arts experts," Yang Fei hinted.
At this, Nord quickly responded, "Most Sky Net members are people from the Martial Arts World, and some are professional assassins cultivated by our families, but it’s difficult to train top-level experts. Those strong individuals were provided through channels of the Duke."
"Duke?" A flash of understanding crossed Yang Fei’s eyes.
"Edward Hughes, Duke Hughes," Nord immediately replied.
"So, the Edwards family is also a main constructor of Sky Net?" Yang Fei asked.
Nord shook his head, "No, the Duke is a personage with the privilege to speak directly with Heaven; Sky Net is beneath his notice. He only guided us in establishing Sky Net and provided a certain level of assistance."
Yang Fei’s interest was piqued, and he asked, "About those members of the Vatican who went to see Edward Hughes, who is that old man among them?"
"Are you talking about the Great Priest?" Nord asked curiously.
Yang Fei’s pupils constricted.
There were three Great Priests in the Vatican, and according to the legends of the Underworld, the Great Priest was the most mysterious and terrifying entity within the Holy See.
I never expected to encounter someone in England this time.
Thinking back on the secret observations I had made of this person and the resulting feeling that I was being watched instead, Yang Fei knew Nord hadn’t deceived him.
That old man must be one of the Great Priests.
This person is too strong, too mysterious.
"What did you two talk about?" Yang Fei asked.
Nord was now an open book.
He recounted the discussion that took place in the old castle among the three men.
Yang Fei, Umekawa Taro, and the three Xu Yunshan brothers were all left dumbfounded.
"Restoring imperial authority with divine power above it?" Xu Xiao couldn’t help but ask.
Nord nodded, "Yes, this will be a huge historical change for mankind."
"Although I haven’t read much, you can’t fool me with this; shouldn’t this be like reversing the wheels of history?" Yang Fei questioned.
Umekawa Taro laughed and said, "Indeed, it is like reversing history."
Yang Fei said speechlessly, "This works too?"
Upon hearing this, Umekawa Taro’s smile faded as he said, "Actually, no matter the system, it’s just a change of name. To the overwhelming majority of the people, they are the exploited, regardless of the system. Resources and power are always in the hands of the very few. And these few are the Aristocratic Group. Of course, we can call the aristocratic consortium something else—capital."
Yang Fei laughed, "In the feudal era, it’s called aristocratic family, in the capitalist era, it’s called capital."
Umekawa Taro nodded and said, "Exactly, that’s the essence of it."
Yang Fei turned to Nord and asked, "The great change you’re talking about, it should be Heaven pushing all this from behind, right?"
Nord nodded and said, "It should be, without Heaven’s tacit consent, such things would not happen."
Yang Fei silently nodded and said to Umekawa Taro and others including Xu Yunshan, "It’s the same as the Hidden Sect and Penglai entering the world."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Umekawa Taro looked at Nord and asked, "So when will your actions to restore imperial and divine authority begin?"
Nord shook his head awkwardly, "I...I don’t know. Maybe the Great Priest and Hughes know; they had me leave first and talked alone for a long time. There are some things I’m not privileged to know."
"Let’s talk about Meris," Yang Fei said, lighting up another cigarette.
Nord shuddered, looking at Yang Fei and said, "You... you still want to go after him?"
Yang Fei said indifferently, "I’ve lost several brothers who’ve been through life and death with me, their souls are still waiting in the Underworld, and I will not let go anyone involved in their deaths."
"I advise you not to touch Meris. If I die, at least Meris can still support the Smith family, but if Meris is threatened, the Smith family will spare no expense to deal with you. When that happens, my eldest son Pudis will surely return from Heaven, and once the people from Heaven take action, none of you will survive," Nord exclaimed.
"Heh, if you die, your eldest son will still seek revenge against us," Yang Fei said.
Nord shook his head, "It’s not the same, if I die, Meris can still maintain the normal operation of the Smith family, and the family won’t resort to asking for Heaven’s intervention, but if Meris also dies, the Smith family will be headless and subject to the crazy retaliation from hostile forces, at which point they will definitely seek assistance from Heaven."
"It sounds like you’re considering this for our sake?" Yang Fei chuckled.
Nord nodded, "Yes, I really am thinking of you. If you kill me, the feud Sky Net had with your International Madman will be settled by the Smith family, so could you please not target anyone else?"
Yang Fei was taken aback, not expecting this man to be so devoted to his family.
He himself could discard his dignity to beg for mercy, yet he still put forth such effort for his family.
"Mr. Xu, give him a bit more," Yang Fei said to Xu Yunshan.
When Nord saw Xu Yunshan take out the porcelain bottle from earlier, he immediately trembled uncontrollably, "I...I’m telling you, just give me a swift end, don’t torture me anymore."