Chapter 149 Old Tang was arrested
Inside the interrogation room, the lights were dim and cold, and there was a repressive atmosphere in the air. Old Tang sat on a chair with his wrists handcuffed to the table. He shrugged slightly, looking relaxed and contented. Opposite him sat a stern-looking interrogator with a record sheet in his hand, staring at him sharply, trying to find some flaws in his every subtle expression.
The interrogator spoke coldly, his voice low and authoritative: "Name."
Old Tang replied: "Ronald Tang, you can also call me Old Tang."
The interrogator's expression did not change, and he continued to ask, "Age."
"26."
"Country of Citizenship."
"America," Old Tang paused and smiled politely, "But I have plans to immigrate to China recently."
The interrogator raised his eyelids, with a hint of doubt in his eyes: "Professional."
"Unemployed vagrant." Old Tang smiled calmly and didn't think there was anything wrong with this answer at all.
The interrogator's eyes flickered slightly, he took note, and continued to ask: "What is your purpose in coming to China?"
"My brother and I grew up abroad. This time I brought him to China to see the beautiful rivers and mountains of our motherland." Old Tang said, as if he wanted to show a bit of so-called patriotism.
The interrogator stared at him for a few seconds, obviously not interested in his story, and asked coldly: "Why did you run when we caught you?"
Old Tang rolled his eyes and showed a matter-of-fact expression: "Nonsense, of course I have to run away if I get caught..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Old Tang realized that his answer was not quite right. He quickly cleared his throat and added with a wry smile, "Ahem, I mean... I'm afraid there might be some misunderstanding. My brother and I are foreigners after all, right? When we saw so many armed police and soldiers, we thought there might be some misunderstanding, so we were inevitably a little nervous."
The interrogator narrowed his eyes slightly and sneered. He was obviously not moved by Old Tang's "naivety". He put down the record sheet in his hand, tapped his fingers on the table a few times, and then slowly said: "You have been active near the restricted area of the Three Gorges Dam for several days, and you also brought a telescope. Tell me, what exactly are you planning?"
The smile on Old Tang's face remained unchanged, but there was a barely perceptible sharpness in his eyes. It was obvious that the other party had already obtained a lot of evidence.
"I'm just curious, sir," he shrugged and said casually, "The Three Gorges Dam is so famous, it's considered a great wonder of China, right? I was just sightseeing on the shore, showing my brother these great projects, but I didn't expect to cause such a big misunderstanding."
"Sightseeing?" The interrogator sneered, his tone full of disdain. "Do you think we will believe such a cheap lie? The area you are observing is not only the Three Gorges Dam, but also a key military site that we focus on protecting. You are a foreigner, and you brought your brother here to 'sightsee'. Do you think this excuse is tenable?"
Old Tang narrowed his eyes, and the smile on his face faded slightly, revealing a helpless expression, "Sir, I understand your suspicion, but I am really an ordinary tourist. I brought my brother to China just to let him see the beauty of this land, and maybe find a suitable place to settle down, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this."
The interrogator looked at him coldly, obviously not convinced by his words. He lowered his head and glanced at the documents in his hand, and continued to ask: "It is a very serious matter to observe near the Three Gorges Dam without authorization, so what did you see near the dam?"
Old Tang's eyes flickered slightly, and he continued to answer calmly: "I didn't see anything special, just the dam, the river surface, and those patrolling boats and troops... I was thinking that the defense here is so strict that even a fly can't fly over." He deliberately pretended to be innocent and spread his hands, "But other than that, I didn't see anything."
The interrogator stared at him for a while and snorted coldly: "You'd better pray that what you said is true, otherwise..." There was a hint of threat in his tone, and then he stood up and left the interrogation room.
Old Tang sighed slightly, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and thought. He knew that the Chinese military's methods were not simple. Once they had any suspicions, they would investigate layer by layer. His current situation might be more dangerous than it seemed.
As for why he didn't just fight out and enter the Bronze City, it was mainly because he remembered that more than a thousand years ago, Liu Xiu led his army to break through his Bronze City. Almost two thousand years have passed. He didn't think that human beings now would be worse than those thousands of years ago. He now regretted merging his Nibelungen and the Bronze City, otherwise he could have stayed and developed now.
At this moment, the door of the interrogation room was opened again, and a new interrogator walked in. This man was tall and thin, wearing a pair of glasses, with sharp eyes and a hint of calmness that seemed to see through everything. He sat down slowly, crossed his hands on the table, and looked at Old Tang quietly.
"Ronald Tang," the new interrogator said with a smile, his tone gentle as if he was chatting with an old friend, "I advise you not to waste your time. We have already grasped all your whereabouts, including some of your 'special activities' in China."
Old Tang frowned slightly, a hint of vigilance flashed in his eyes, but he remained calm on the surface. "Special event? Sir, your words make me a little uneasy. I'm an unemployed vagrant. I don't even have a stable job on weekdays. How can there be any 'special event'?"
"Really?" The interrogator smiled, took out a few photos from a folder, and slowly spread them out on the table. "These photos should be able to refresh your memory, right?"
Old Tang glanced down at the photos and was suddenly shocked. Although he appeared calm on the surface, his eyes still revealed a hint of shock. These photos clearly captured his activities near the Three Gorges Dam, including details of his observations through the telescope, and there was even a photo of his back as he and Constantine flew across the Pacific Ocean together.
The interrogator looked at his reaction with satisfaction and smiled. "Do you want to keep pretending? We know that you are not an ordinary 'vagrant', nor are you an ordinary tourist. You came to China for another purpose. Or maybe it would be more appropriate to call you Dragon King Norton."
Old Tang was silent for a moment, then he smiled bitterly, spread his hands and said, "Sir, your efficiency really opened my eyes... Well, in that case, I have nothing to hide. I just want to go home and take a look."
"So, the legendary Bronze City is really under the Yangtze River." The interrogator said excitedly with a gleam in his eyes.
"Oh~ You know Bronze City." Old Tang said in surprise as he looked at the excited eyes of the man opposite him.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Liu Zexuan, and Liu Xiu is my ancestor."
........................
In another interrogation room, the interrogator held the report and examined the muscular bearded man in front of him and asked, "Your name is Mans Rundstedt, right?"
"Yes." Professor Mans answered calmly. He did not choose to escape during the previous arrest. The main reason was that according to the official standards of China, since they came to arrest them, their identities must have been fully investigated.
Many of the specialists in their operation in China are Chinese. If he chooses to escape, these exposed specialists will most likely be listed as wanted criminals. As the person in charge of this operation, he will be responsible for these people.
The more important reason was that he believed that even if they were caught, he could rescue them safely with the power of Kassel College.
"According to the information, you served as the captain of a ship named Moniah that entered the Three Gorges Dam for operations a few months ago. The ship named Moniah was registered as a tugboat, but it was actually a warship in disguise. Am I right?" the interrogator continued to ask while holding the report.
Professor Mans did not reply, but he was shocked. He didn't know how the matter was exposed. According to previous missions, such things would be handled cleanly by the people in the college without leaving any loopholes. How come it was known this time?
"Why, you don't want to answer? Never mind, I'll keep asking. After you entered the Three Gorges Dam, we detected a small underwater earthquake, and soon after, a large explosion occurred. In addition, our radar briefly captured unidentified creatures appearing above the Yangtze River."
Professor Mans sat quietly in the chair, his expression showing almost no fluctuations, but ripples gradually appeared in his heart.
He knew that the interrogator in front of him had more intelligence than he expected, perhaps even more than some of the directors of Kassel College. Could it be that every step of this operation was known to the Chinese authorities? This outrageously detailed intelligence showed that the other party was not only "informed", but was intentionally waiting for a suitable opportunity to attack them.
Seeing that he did not answer, the interrogator sneered, put the report in his hand on the table, and said slowly: "Professor Mans Rundstedt, I advise you to be honest. You should know that the matter is beyond the scope of what your Kassel Academy can handle.
We have detailed records of every action you take. The action of the Moniah in the waters of the Yangtze River was not an ordinary exploration operation, but a planned secret excavation, right?"
Professor Mans frowned slightly, and after a moment he spoke slowly in a low voice: "If I say that we are just conducting an underwater survey and have no hostility towards China, will you believe it, sir?"
The interrogator sneered, staring into Professor Mans' eyes with a sharp gaze. "Survey? I don't deny that your Kassel Academy does have world-class scientific research technology, but I don't think your 'survey' is just for scientific research. What does the existence of the Bronze City mean to you? I don't think I need to explain it, right? What's more, the person who accompanied you in the survey is probably not just an ordinary researcher."
Professor Mans was silent, with a hint of gloom in his eyes. The person he was talking about was obviously Lu Mingfei who came with them.
The interrogator did not give Professor Mance more time to think, and continued coldly: "We know that you are not only surveying the Bronze City, but also trying to awaken the remains of the dragon race through some method. The earthquake and the subsequent explosion are the byproducts of your actions, right?"
Professor Mans was silent for a moment, and finally sighed and nodded slightly, tacitly accepting everything.
The interrogator saw this and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes. His tone became even more stern: "Do you know how much impact the explosion had on us? Not only did the military defense system go on full alert, it even caused panic among residents along the Yangtze River. Moreover, we discovered afterwards that someone had hacked into our network. That was your Kassel College trying to cover up the traces of your actions, right?"
Professor Mans' hands could not help but tighten on the armrests of his chair, but he remained silent.
"Professor, there is no point in keeping silent at this point," the interrogator said with a hint of threat in his tone. "You know very well that the Chinese military is not a partner of your academy. We have the ability and means to uncover all the secrets you are trying to cover up, and you are just the first step for us to grasp the truth."
Professor Mans took a deep breath, finally raised his head, looked directly into the interrogator's eyes, and slowly said, "We have no ill intentions. Our actions are indeed related to the Bronze City, but they are limited to archaeology and research. The Bronze City is an important research object for us. Its existence may solve some unsolved mysteries."
The interrogator snorted coldly, not disguising his distrust. "Unsolved mysteries? Professor, your research has put thousands of our Chinese military on alert day and night, and may even threaten the safety of the entire Yangtze River Basin. Is this what you call 'academic research'?"
Professor Mans did not answer immediately. Instead, he thought for a moment before slowly speaking, "Sir, I understand your concerns. The Bronze City is indeed a dangerous relic. I do not deny that it has certain risks. We at Kassel Academy have conducted in-depth research in this area, and the Bronze City... is one of the most important relics. If we can unlock the secrets of the Bronze City, perhaps we can prevent greater disasters in the future."
The interrogator stared at him, his eyes sharp as a knife: "So, that Ronald Tang? Is he also just part of the 'academic research'? What role does he play in your team?"
Professor Mans was speechless for a moment. It was obviously impossible to explain Norton's true identity as a "researcher", and the other party would not believe this statement. Faced with such a sharp question, he knew that he could no longer get away with simple excuses.
Just as he was about to answer, the interrogator's cell phone suddenly rang. The interrogator frowned, picked up the phone, responded briefly, and hung up.
The interrogator put down his phone and showed a barely perceptible sneer on his face: "It seems that your friend has confessed a lot of things. The gentleman who calls himself Ronald Tang, or Norton, has confirmed his identity as the Dragon King. Do you have anything else to say?"
Professor Mans's expression changed slightly. He didn't expect that Norton, as the Dragon King, did not choose to escape but chose to cooperate with the investigation. This made him a little unbelievable.
He took a deep breath and said calmly: "If I say we just want to confirm the current status of some ruins, would you believe it?"
The interrogator narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression full of sarcasm: "Professor Mans Rundstedt, we Chinese military are not so easy to fool. We have already mastered many secrets of the Dragon Clan. We have even investigated a lot of things about your so-called secret party. The existence of the Dragon Clan is no longer a secret."
Professor Mans knew that it was meaningless to defend himself at this moment. He sighed slightly, let down his guard, and smiled helplessly: "It seems that we have indeed underestimated the intelligence capabilities of the Chinese military."
The interrogator looked at him coldly, his tone unquestionable: "It is your mistake to underestimate our intelligence capabilities. As for the Bronze City plan you planned, it has come to an end. We will decide how to deal with you 'tourists' based on your confession and the evidence we have."
Professor Mans did not refute, but nodded and accepted the result. He knew that things could no longer go back to their original track.
(End of this chapter)
