"Can you vouch for the truth of what you say, ma'am?"

"I can."

"Do you understand the peculiarities of this conversation?"

"I understand."

"Do you know who you're giving evidence to?"

"I am providing evidence to the Eighth Legion of the Human Empire about the colony of Harcosus." Senior trader Tracy said numbly to the darkness. "I swear in the name of the Emperor that I will be completely honest."

"Very well, may you be honest, Ms. Tracy. Next, I will ask you a few questions, would you like to answer? ”

"I do." Tracy said.

"Very good."

The voice that came back from the darkness hissed, and the language of the Nostramo people sounded like a poisonous snake spitting out letters in the darkness.

Tracy hugged herself tightly, gasping in horror in the cold iron chair, waiting for the question—she wasn't hurt in any way, none of them were there.

Strictly speaking, the senior traders from Harcosus were on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"First question, then, Ms. Tracy. What kind of place is Harcosus? ”

"It is a federation of three planets. We call them by code names. ”

"What codename?"

"One, two, three."

"Why is it called that?"

"Because. Because that's what they're called, my lord. The senior trader grasped the edge of the iron table with numb fingers so that he would not slip to the ground.

She lifted her legs, not wanting them to touch the ground. The escaping mist was cold and alive, and it crept through the cracks in her boots, numbing each of her toes.

"So, we'll call them Harcosus One, Harcosus Two, Harcosus Three, do you have a better suggestion?"

"No, sir."

"Good. Second question, about the Colonial Federation of Harcosus, can you give us more information? ”

Tracy interlocked her fingers and answered the question quickly and clearly, "Yes, my lord, yes." ”

"Very well, then, what about the military power of the Harkosus Federation?"

"I, I don't know, my lord, I'm just a senior trader."

"What do you know?" The inquirer said patiently. "Anything is fine, Senior Trader, Ms. Tracy, you can make any additions you wish."

The Federation has a lot of weapons, a lot of soldiers, but we can't reach it, we're just high-level traders, my lord. We only have escorts on board. ”

Van Cleef turned his head and nodded to Carlile, "It seems that Enrique Barbatos's intelligence is correct, instructor. These high-ranking traders were indeed just outcasts, unaware that another ship full of soldiers was following them. ”

"They are outcasts, but that doesn't mean they themselves think they're outcasts and let Ms. Tracy be alone." Carlil said expressionlessly.

Van Cleef complied, he turned around, lowered his head, and pressed a button on the console in front of him, and the scene on the glass curtain wall was immediately switched.

Another man, also in a gray uniform, sat in horror in a dark room that was empty except for him, trembling against the wall. As soon as the company commander pressed a button, the conversation unit was activated the next moment, and his voice reached the man's ears.

"Senior Trader, Mr. Tartan, please get ready."

"What, what preparation? Who's talking?! The man shouted. You can't do that, I demand the most basic human rights treatment! You can't keep us in a dark room all the time! ”

"We have given you the most basic food security, Mr. Taltan, a senior trader. You are now prisoners of the Empire, so we can do anything to you in accordance with the law, especially after Harcosus tried to commit war crimes against one of the planets of the Empire. ”

"In other words, you are now prisoners of war, Mr. Tartan. I will use the powers conferred on me by the laws of the Empire to ask you a few questions, will you answer? ”

"I-"

"Would you like to answer the question, Mr. Tartan?"

"I do." Tartan bowed his head in despair. The long prison hours and the gloomy conditions on the lower deck of the Nightfall made him feel less inclined to refuse.

"Very well, please elaborate on the specific information about the Burning Chamber of Commerce, the ruler of the Harcosus Federation."

Tartan jerked his head up, his previous depression replaced by horror once more, he stammered like never before, his features distorted, and he looked like a frightened animal: "No, no, no, I can't answer this question, I can't!" ”

"Why not?"

"I swore it!"

"What oath?"

"I swear to our God!" Tartan stood up, his features detached, but each exuding a different fear. "I can't tell you about the Chamber of Commerce, or I'll be punished by the gods!"

Van Cleef turned his head and frowned at some point: "His words are suspicious, we have not found any traces of faith among the civilians, and those civilians have even smoothly accepted the propaganda of the truth of the Empire. Instructor, this is not right. ”

"The fact that the ruler of a federation is a chamber of commerce is already very wrong in itself, and the weapons and armor they use. These things would appear in a world where there was no long-distance sailing. ”

Carlil smiled intriguingly, "Let's calm him down for a while." Mr. Taltan, a senior trader, had obviously seen their gods when they were angry, otherwise he would not have been afraid to be like this. Go ahead and ask the lady. ”

Van Cleef nodded, and the glass curtain wall changed again. Tracy, a senior trader, looked around uneasily in her chair, a woman who had been completely mastered by fear. Her every movement revealed a nervous twitch.

Press the button again and for a long time.

"Senior Trader, Lady Tracy, we need you to describe in detail the ruler of the Harcosus Federation, the Flame Chamber of Commerce. Please provide any information you think you can provide. ”

The trader jerked his head and looked at the wall, clearly frightened. She was silent for a while before she began to answer Van Cleve's question: "There are three rulers in the Chamber of Commerce, and they all come from the same family."

"Ms. Tracy, please continue."

"I" the senior trader staggered to her feet, Carlil's eyes narrowed, her face had turned blue-purple.

Van Cleef frowned, and immediately pressed another button on the console.

The door to the room was opened, and two fighters of the Eighth Legion immediately approached and began to check her vital signs. But to no avail, five seconds after uttering the only message about the Igniter, senior trader Tracy died.

"Instructor?" The company commander turned his head solemnly and looked at Karil, who had already walked up to him. "Are we going to continue?"

"Skip that question." Carlil said. "Get the body to the medical hall and have Jaylziño come over as well, it looks like my paperwork for tonight is going to be postponed again."

He sighed.

——

Jairziño Guzmán looked at the corpse in front of him with a serious face and put down the scalpel in his hand.

"No toxins remaining, instructor." The medical officer said in the communication channel. "Neither the air samples in her room at the time of her death, nor herself, have detected any possible toxins."

"Is it possible that there is something else?" Carlil asked. "For example, a machine placed inside the brain that triggers as soon as she speaks the relevant information, and then forces her to die instantly?"

If that's the kind of thing, you might want to get a mechanic priest to test it. Besides, I don't think there really is such a small and powerful thing that can not only exist in the human brain, but can even detect whether every word of the host touches the red line. ”

Jairziño Guzmán sighed and walked out of the isolation cell. After a series of complicated disinfection measures, he finally appeared in front of Carlil.

"To be honest, instructor, I don't think it's medical." The medical officer said. "It seems that every time something that has something to do with you has nothing to do with medicine."

"Although I assigned someone to bring this body to the medical hall, it had nothing to do with me before it died."

Carlil looked at the medic amusedly, and heard the most obvious resentment in his words—not incomprehensible.

After all, it is indeed very impactful for a doctor to watch the deceased go from nothing to a living person. The reason why Jairziño Guzmán has not yet begun to doubt the world is probably only because of his trust in the original body and Karil.

"But her death really had nothing to do with medicine." The medic turned his head, glanced through the laminated glass at the corpse perched on the platform, and shook his head.

"The cause of death is suffocation, but, logically speaking, five seconds is far from enough for a person to die of suffocation. She is also in good health and has no similar, possible odd conditions. I didn't find out any possible cause, instructor. I have to say that if this continues, I'm afraid I'll have to find a theological book from one of our cousins. ”

"The Bearer?" Carlil raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I've actually read some of their books, and the writing is indeed very high, but it requires a certain reading threshold. Guzmán shook his head. Anyway, that's the way it is, and I'm afraid you won't be able to find any truth about her death from me. ”

Carlil nodded thoughtfully, then spoke softly.

"It's okay." He said calmly. "Then let the dead rest in peace."

There are two more chapters

(End of chapter)