Stuck in a Chinese novel

"What kind of a sicko would do that to himself?" Zhou Han asked particularly no one but he was looking for an answer as well. They were in a white room with a giant mirror on one wall through which, they could see a similar white room where a man whose flesh was absent from his body and something green was flowing out of its surface was bound to a chair, dressed in a white outfit and bound in leather belts.

The ugly sight was the last thing on their minds at the moment. What they were trying to figure out was the intention of the man in there. What he wanted and what his motive was.

No one could even guess.

"All we know is that he's not a sicko," Zhang Fei said, "He's smart as hell."

"That's smart?" Zhou Han asked.

"He erased every way we could have identified him. He allowed us to capture him while making sure he had all the insurance on him so we wouldn't kill him even if he killed many of us." Zhang Fei elaborated.

"He's hella smart," Commander Han agreed.

"Then what do we do, Sir? If it was a lunatic, we could have done something but a ghost we don't know anything about, not about his life or his goal, would be impossible to reason with." Zhang Fei said.

"I know." Commander Han added before he asked, "He said anything yet?"

"The same as you. He hasn't said a word." Zhou Han replied.

"I contacted Sergeant Hui from the police and he relayed that this pattern was similarly displayed by Wei Jun Ruan when he was arrested and interrogated." Zhang Fei added.

"For the moment, act as if it's someone else, Sergeant," Commander Han said, "We're already taking heat from the Thunder Cloud Tempest Sect. It doesn't matter who he is, all that matters is that we cannot prove it is Wei Jun Ruan."

"And since we can't, it means it's not him. Whether he is or not, doesn't matter." Zhang Fei said.

"Precisely," Commander Han said before he instructed, "Call Yan Rong."

"But, Sir," Zhang Fei and Zhou Han both collectively protested but the commander interrupted them, "Enough. I know what your concern is but we don't know who that person is. You were against her because she is in a relationship with Wei Jun Ruan. But now, looking at this," The commander pointed at the skinless man, "It's some lunatic who's more intellectual than us. You call in someone intellectual to deal with someone like that."

Zhang Fei and Zhou Han remained silent in the face of the direct order. The commander left and they both turned to look at the man who was staring straight at the mirror with his eyes, his eyeballs visible to everyone which was not a pleasant scene for anyone.

"I still can't believe all that happened," Zhou Han said, "I mean, it all sounds so sudden. There was no such thing a few days ago in our lives in just a week, our lives have turned around completely. While some…"

Zhou Han choked on his own words. Zhang Fei patted him on his shoulder in consolation but even he was barely holding it in. He took a deep breath and said, "And we need to bring them all to justice. No matter the cost."

"No matter the cost," Zhou Han agreed and they both left to carry out the orders.

~~

Yan Rong entered Wei Jun's office. While he was supposedly engaged in closed-door cultivation, the business was being handled by Lin Ruan while the shadier aspects were taken care of by Li Wei. Xia Lu was still out of it and for some reason hadn't woken up since the day she suddenly stopped screaming.

"Any update?" Yan Rong asked.

"I'm halfway in. But this would take me some time. The authorities are looking for me now after all," Li Wei replied. If earlier the authorities were focused on the biker and never thought the possibility of a hacker existed, now they were actively looking for her so Li Wei had to spend most of the time trying to dodge them and get very little work done.

"How long would it take you then?" Yan Rong asked.

"At the rate I'm going, about three weeks," Li Wei replied.

"That's within the time frame, right?" Yan Rong asked.

"It is," Li Wei replied before she added, "Boss was specific that it would go down after twenty-eight days. That's four weeks. Then he also said that there would be only two days to get it done, so… you know the rest."

"Jealous much?" Yan Rong teasingly asked.

"One day, he's going to strangle me like he strangles you. Just you wait!" Li Wei offensively said.

However, it only made Yan Rong sad as she replied, "He never strangles me. He isn't even rough with me ever."

Li Wei made a face like she sympathized but before they could continue, there was a sound from Li Wei's laptop. When Li Wei checked it, her expression turned somber.

"What is it?" Seeing her serious expression, Yan Rong knew something was wrong.

"I won't be able to get the job done." Li Wei replied before she added, "They applied ten firewalls at once. To take this down and remain undetected, I'd need months while I have weeks."

"Not if you're inside," Yan Rong, however, didn't panic in the least. She knew what to do in this scenario.

"He told you, didn't he?" Li Wei asked.

"He did," Yan Rong replied, not so smug now.

"Figure," Yan Rong remarked before she added, "But you won't have much time. And you'll also need this."

"What's this?" Li Wei asked, looking at the white mask without eye spaces.

"Wei Jun gave it to me. He said they've seen your face." Yan Rong replied. Li Wei, who was just about to state this issue, couldn't help but be impressed by her boss's foresight.

~~

"Who is she?" The Lieutenant of the CSF in charge of the site where the biker was held asked Yan Rong because he wasn't told she wouldn't be alone.

"My secretary," Yan Rong coolly replied. The girl with her was a brunette, with hazelnut eyes and fair skin, she looked nothing like who she really was.

Luckily, crafting a serial ID wasn't difficult because the CSF was looking for a hacker, not an insider. Li Wei was able to craft an ID as she hacked into the CSF system and created an identity for her.

"What's her specialty?" The lieutenant asked. Unless it was relevant, he couldn't let any unassigned personnel inside.

"She's here to do her medically computing thing," Yan Rong replied like a typical jock.

"It's called brainwave analysis, Lieutenant." The disguised Li Wei, whose name was now Ai Huiying, interjected to correct Yan Rong.

"Yeah. That analy thingy." Yan Rong brushed it off.

"Lieutenant," Ai Huiying made a face as if she had given up hope which the Lieutenant in charge could somewhat understand. Those in charge of the fighting squad weren't exactly bright so he could sympathize.

"Very well," The lieutenant said before he led Yan Rong and her secretary inside.

After about half an hour, the system was set up and everyone was ready.

"You ready?" Yan Rong asked Ai Huiying who nodded and said, "I've set up everything. I will monitor his condition and let you know."

"Good," Yan Rong said and tapped her earpiece, "You read me?"

"Clear," Ai Huiying replied.

With that, Yan Rong left to enter the other room to deal with the biker while Ai Huiying tuned in all her equipment.

"Can I ask you what that is?" Commander Han, who was also in the room hence why Yan Rong and Ai Huiying weren't even looking at the biker.

"This tells me what the target's brain activity is. Whether he's anxious, upset, angry, or completely calm. We will proceed depending on that data," Ai Huiying professionally replied.

"Your analysis thingy is constantly moving though," Zhou Han pointed at one screen that was in constant fluctuation.

"That doesn't tell us about his emotions," Ai Huiying nonchalantly replied.

"Then what is it?" Zhang Fei asked.

"Pain receptors," Ai Huiying replied before she elaborated, "This monitors the part of his brain that alights when his body is in pain."

"If it's going like that, then what does that tell you?" Zhou Han asked, a little spooked while Zhang Fei and Commander Han were also very deeply intrigued. Find more to read at empire

"That means he's in a hell of a lot of pain," Ai Huiying replied, her voice a little hitched as if she was uncomfortable about this.

The men took as her nervous though because the situation, the looks of the target, and the topic of discussion would make anyone uncomfortable, even them.

"So that lunatic is in constant pain?" Zhou Han asked.

"Mhm," Ai Huiying replied.

"Then why doesn't his face show a shred of it?" Zhou Han asked no one in particular but no one had an answer to that question.

"About that, officer, I have no idea. I deal in the brain, not willpower," Ai Huiying replied.

"Shame," Commander Han remarked, "That's one hell of a strong will."

"But the bad news is that an enemy possesses that." Zhou Han added.

"That only makes him much more dangerous," Commander Han said, "Let's just hope she can get through such a man."

"I sure hope so," Zhang Fei replied.

"She will," Ai Huiying replied, determination and trust overflowing in her tone before she added, "She's about to start."