Lam Minh looked at the winged girl kneeling on the ground, her whole body trembling like a leaf in the wind. He didn't rush to question her. He just stood there in silence, letting the quiet and the pressure of his presence slowly suffocate her spirit.
For those accustomed to violence, sometimes psychological torture is more effective than a whip.
After a long while, when the girl felt she could no longer bear it, Lam Minh finally spoke, his voice calm but capable of sending a chill down one's spine.
"Name."
Just one word.
"Y-yes... Hac... Hac Duc..." the girl stammered. (Black Wing)
"Hac Duc," Lam Minh repeated. "A nice name. Now then, Hac Duc, tell me about your 'Sacred Cult of World Salvation'."
Hac Duc raised her head, her eyes filled with fear and a hint of hesitation. "I... I can't say... If I do, I will also..."
"Explode like them?" Lam Minh sneered. "Don't worry. As long as you cooperate obediently, I have a way to keep you from 'exploding'. But if you try any tricks, I'll let you taste something worse than death."
He gently channeled a wisp of Dragon qi, creating an invisible pressure that pressed down on Hac Duc. She immediately felt her soul being squeezed, a pain that came from the very depths of her consciousness.
"Ah... please... please don't!" she cried out, cold sweat pouring down like rain. "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
Lam Minh withdrew the Dragon qi. "Good. Begin."
With her life on the line, Hac Duc no longer dared to hide anything. She began to speak. Her trembling voice slowly painted a horrifying picture of an organization Lam Minh had never known.
She explained that the "Sacred Cult of World Salvation" had been established a long time ago, in the early days of the Madakaros invasion of Earth. The founders were a group of human scientists, politicians, and powerful individuals. They believed that humanity could never resist the Madakaros. The only way to survive was to "evolve," to merge with the enemy, to become a new, stronger race.
"They call it... the path of salvation," Hac Duc said, her voice tinged with irony. "They believe that being an inferior race, fighting and dying meaninglessly, is foolish. Only by merging, by becoming a part of the strong, is true wisdom."
"Merging?" Lam Minh frowned. "How?"
"Experiments... So many experiments..." Hac Duc trembled as she recalled. "They collaborated with a few outcast scientists from the Madakaros race. They kidnapped humans, both soldiers and civilians, and injected them with Madakaros genes. The failure rate was extremely high. Most died in agony, or turned into mindless monsters. Only a very few survived and successfully merged, becoming 'Holy Children' like us."
She pointed to her own wings. "Each of us has a different mutation. Some have extra arms, some have wings, some have skin as hard as steel... They call it the 'Saint's Awakening,' proof that we have been chosen."
Lam Minh listened in silence, a cold rage rising in his heart. Betraying their own kind, using their own kind as test subjects, just to exchange for a borrowed power and a cowardly existence. This was an unforgivable crime.
"What is your goal?" he asked.
"To eliminate all 'pure-blood humans'," Hac Duc replied. "We believe that you are a weak, obsolete race that needs to be eliminated to make way for a new, superior race. We will build a new world order together with the Madakaros race."
"A bunch of disgusting traitors," Lam Minh gritted his teeth.
"Where are your bases? Who is your leader?" he continued, this being the most important question.
Hac Duc shook her head. "I don't know. The organization is very strictly compartmentalized. Low-level 'Holy Children' like us only operate in small squads, receiving missions from a 'Deacon' whom we have never met. The base we just left is just one of hundreds of small bases scattered everywhere. I really don't know the locations of the other bases or who the Holy Master is."
The caution of this organization was far beyond Lam Minh's imagination. They were like a hydra; cut off one head, and another would grow in its place.
"Then what about the self-destruct device inside you?" Lam Minh asked.
"It was implanted in our hearts from the moment of our 'awakening'," Hac Duc said, her face full of fear. "It's directly connected to our consciousness. The moment we have any thought of betrayal, or are captured and cannot commit suicide, the Deacon will activate it remotely. I... I don't know how to remove it."
Lam Minh fell silent, thinking. The situation was much more complicated than he had thought. He had found a new enemy, an enemy even more dangerous and cunning than the Madakaros. They were human, they understood humans, and they were hiding in the shadows of the war.
He looked at the trembling Hac Duc, and an idea came to him. Killing her now would be easy. But keeping her alive might bring more benefits. She could be bait, a trap, or even a pawn in his hands.
"Alright," he said. "For now, I'll believe what you've said. I am now going to seal your cultivation. Don't try any tricks. I will take you to a place, and you will have to prove your value."
He stepped forward and used a special technique, tapping the acupoints on Hac Duc's body, locking her spiritual energy flow. Hac Duc immediately felt herself become as weak as an ordinary person.
After that, Lam Minh contacted Lac Long Quan through the seal, briefly reporting what he had just discovered. He didn't go into detail, only saying that he had discovered a traitorous human organization and needed a secret place to imprison and interrogate an important captive.
Lac Long Quan, after a moment of astonishment, immediately understood the gravity of the situation. He agreed and gave him the location of a small, isolated island, covered by his formation array.
"Bring her there," Lac Long Quan's voice echoed in his mind. "This matter... is even bigger than the war with the Madakaros. Kid, it looks like you've gotten yourself into another big mess."
Lam Minh just smiled wryly. He had a feeling his "leveling up" path would never know the meaning of the word "boring."
...
Lam Minh used a qi-reinforced rope to tie up Hac Duc, then threw her onto his Iron Horse. He wasn't worried about her escaping. With her cultivation sealed, Hac Duc was now weaker than an ordinary soldier.
He drove away from the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, heading in the direction Lac Long Quan had indicated. It was a small island, not on any map, located in the eastern sea.
The journey took nearly two days. Along the way, Lam Minh didn't talk much with Hac Duc. He only provided her with enough food and water to sustain her. His silence was more terrifying than any threat, keeping Hac Duc in a constant state of tension, not knowing what fate awaited her.
Finally, they reached the coast. Lam Minh hid the Iron Horse in a cave, then used a small motorboat he had prepared to take Hac Duc to the island.
The island appeared before them, shrouded in a thick, year-round fog. As the boat approached, the fog automatically parted, revealing a path. Clearly, this place was protected by an extremely advanced formation array.
There wasn't much on the island besides trees and rocks. In the center of the island was a towering stone mountain, its peak lost in the clouds. This was the Dragon's Abyss, Lac Long Quan's residence.
Lam Minh took Hac Duc to a reinforced cave at the foot of the mountain and locked her inside. The cave was protected by a powerful barrier; even if Hac Duc recovered her cultivation, she could not escape.
"Stay here," he said to her. "Someone will bring you food. Don't try any tricks."
With that, he turned and climbed the mountain alone.
Atop the Dragon's Abyss, Lac Long Quan was already waiting, a stone tea table steaming beside him. The scenery here was magnificent, with a panoramic view of the vast sea.
"You're here?" Lac Long Quan said without turning his head. "Is it dealt with?"
"For now," Lam Minh replied, sitting down opposite him. He poured himself a cup of tea. The tea was clear and cool, carrying a pure spiritual energy that refreshed his spirit.
"Tell me," Lac Long Quan said. "This 'Sacred Cult' of yours, what's it all about?"
Lam Minh recounted everything he had investigated and Hac Duc's testimony. He didn't hide a single detail.
The more Lac Long Quan listened, the more serious his expression became. When Lam Minh finished, he was silent for a long time, his gaze fixed on the distant sea, hiding a deep anger and disappointment.
"Fools!" he finally spoke, his voice low. "A bunch of fools! Betraying their own race, using their own kind as test subjects, just for a little borrowed power. They are worse than beasts!"
This was the first time Lam Minh had seen Lac Long Quan so angry.
"So... what do we do now?" Lam Minh asked. "This organization is hidden too well. With just one prisoner like Hac Duc, we can't possibly find their main nest."
"I know," Lac Long Quan said, having regained his composure. "When dealing with a hiding venomous snake, the best way isn't to go looking for it, but to force it to crawl out of its hole on its own."
He looked at Lam Minh with a meaningful gaze. "And you are the best bait."
"Me?" Lam Minh frowned.
"That's right," Lac Long Quan explained. "You've destroyed one of their bases and a squad of their 'Holy Children.' You've become a thorn in their side. They certainly won't let you be. They will find every way to investigate and assassinate you. This is our chance."
A plan began to form in his mind. "From now on, you just continue your activities as usual. Keep going out to 'wreck villages,' keep acting strong and arrogant. Become a big, eye-catching target to draw all of their attention."
"In other words, you want me to be a bullet shield?" Lam Minh grumbled.
"You could say that," Lac Long Quan smiled. "But a bullet shield with 'protection.' I will secretly monitor you. Any member of the 'Sacred Cult' who approaches you, I will record their aura, track them, and from there, find other clues and dens. We will slowly peel back this network."
This was a long-term plan that required coordination and patience.
"Alright," Lam Minh nodded. "I need to 'level up' anyway. A few more enemies won't hurt."
"Good," Lac Long Quan said, looking pleased. "As for that Hac Duc girl, just leave her here. I have my ways of making her spit out everything she knows, even things she thinks she doesn't know. At the same time, I will also study the self-destruct device inside her. We might find some interesting clues."
He poured more tea for Lam Minh. "Now, let's talk about you. When are you planning to break through to the Golden Core Realm?"
Lam Minh looked at his teacup, thinking. He had nearly enough Immortality Points, but he still felt he was missing something. His foundation, though solid, needed to be even more perfect before he took such a major step.
"I'm not in a hurry," he said. "I want to train more. I want my body and soul to reach a state of absolute perfection before forming the core. I want my Golden Core to be the strongest."
Hearing this, Lac Long Quan burst out laughing, a laugh full of delight and pride.
"Haha! Good! Very good! Such ambition! A true descendant of mine! Alright! If that's what you want, I'll give you a hand."
He looked out at the sea, his eyes glinting. "Out there, there are many interesting places that can help you train. Places with extreme gravity, places with thousand-year-old lightning... I'll show you a few spots. But whether you can get there, and whether you can endure it, will depend on your own ability."
A journey of arduous but promising training was about to open up before Lam Minh. His path to becoming a powerhouse was becoming ever wider and more challenging.