Chapter 28: Interrogation, the Craftsman

Inside the interrogation room.

Facing Cole’s questioning, the thug simply sat with a wooden expression, refusing to say a word. Seeing this, Cole did not dawdle; he immediately picked up a pair of pliers from the table behind him. He then secured the thug’s finger in the jaws of the pliers and asked again, "Are you sure you won't talk?"

The thug remained silent.

Cole sighed, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as he began to apply pressure.

"Aaaahhh!!"

A shrill, miserable scream instantly filled the interrogation room. Behind the one-way glass, Leon watched everything unfold and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

*What a gecko.*

*If he asked him to count down from 1000 by 7, it would be even more like it.*

Recalling Cole’s usual shy demeanor and contrasting it with the incredibly bloody scene before him, Leon could only conclude that one should never judge a book by its cover.

Inside the interrogation room, Cole placed the blood-stained pliers in front of the thug, pulled up a chair, and sat down. "Can we talk now?"

"If you still don't want to talk..."

"That's fine. You still have sixteen other things left for me to work on."

The thug, having already lost five fingers, turned deathly pale, his face covered in cold sweat. Upon hearing Cole’s words, he was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized why Cole had said sixteen. Fear welled up in his heart, and he stammered, "I... I'll talk..."

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

Seeing this, Cole couldn't help but shake his head. "Look at you, playing the tough guy for nothing. You lost five fingers for nothing; wouldn't it have been better to cooperate earlier?"

"Tell me everything you know."

The thug began his stuttering confession. "O... our boss is called Razor."

"Back in March of last year, he sent people to find me... or rather, he found those of us who were a bit strapped for cash."

He gave a sheepish smile at this point, but seeing Cole’s lack of reaction, he continued, "The boss... Razor paid way too well, so we agreed to work for him."

"That place today was actually our warehouse. It’s just that because of those bugs from a few days ago, Razor had us go clean up the traces."

Cole listened to everything in silence, then stood up and picked up the pliers, walking back toward the thug. Seeing his movement, the thug shook like a sieve. "Don't... don't, please..."

"Everything I said is true! That’s all I know!"

Suddenly thinking of something, he grabbed at it like a life-saving straw. "Oh... right! Those fire crystals were all transported from outside the city! I really don't know anything else!"

Hearing this, Cole stopped and walked into the observation room. "Captain, he seems to be telling the truth."

Danika, upon hearing that the fire crystals were brought in from outside the city, rubbed her temples in frustration. Leon, standing nearby, also realized the gravity of the situation. According to the thug's information, if they were truly being brought in from outside the city, it meant someone within the city was colluding with these smugglers; otherwise, how could they have bypassed security to enter? More importantly, this person’s rank was likely not low.

Danika naturally understood what Leon had deduced. She sighed and said to Cole, "Go back and ask him how that 'Razor' character got into the city. I’m going to inform the Chief."

Leon didn't ask why Danika didn't suspect Marcus of being the mastermind. After all, it was Marcus who had ordered them to investigate the smuggling; it couldn't possibly be a self-directed play. Furthermore, even if it were Marcus, it didn't really affect Leon. At the end of the day, he was just a minor extra-legal citizen, and the smuggling didn't harm his interests. Besides, today was only his first day as an extra-legal citizen.

Not long after, Danika returned with a relaxed expression. "The Chief says we don't need to worry about what happens next."

Leon was stunned. Could Marcus really be the mastermind? A thought immediately crossed his mind.

*He wouldn't just kill him to silence him, would he?*

However, seeing Danika's expression, Leon felt he had probably overthought it.

"Cole, lock him up tight. Send him over once the detention block repairs are finished," Danika said via the intercom into the interrogation room. Hearing her voice, Cole looked up and nodded at the camera.

After dealing with the thug, Danika announced that everyone could head home early for the day. Leon had no objections; he had long been eager to return to his quarters to look up information regarding "Artisans."

As soon as he returned to his room, he tapped his wristband to pull up the interface and typed "Artisan" into the search bar. Leon didn't feel he was searching for anything sensitive; since Danika had discussed it with him earlier that day, his curiosity was perfectly natural.

Soon, a dense stream of information appeared.

"This many?"

The density of the information exceeded Leon's expectations, and it didn't take long for him to understand what an "Artisan" actually was.

An "Artisan" was not a specific profession, but a collective term for many professions. These professions were grouped together because they all originated from the Artisan class. The most significant characteristic of these professions was their capacity for creativity.

If Leon possessed the "Divine Machine Hundred Refinements," he might even be able to cosplay as an "Artisan."

"No wonder Danika said the Federation offers the best treatment to Artisans of any profession at the same level."

"But why is there not a single mention of the promotion requirements in all this info..."

Leon didn't think it was because others couldn't see the requirements; as long as the sample size was large enough, it should have been summarized by now. Since that was the case, there was only one possibility: the Federation kept a very tight grip on such information. Any profession with detailed information available online was usually one that couldn't boost one's strength, like a cleaner whose special bonus was increased speed while mopping...

Still, he hadn't come away empty-handed; at least he now had a direction in which to strive.

Sighing, Leon searched for information regarding the Universal Enterprise Consortium and the Federation. The resulting entries were far more numerous than those for "Artisans."

In short, the Universal Enterprise Consortium was a massive collective similar to a nation, but composed of individual large-scale corporations. As for the Federation... the entries claimed the Star-Glow Federation was a loving, kind, and inclusive nation. As an extra-legal citizen, Leon reserved judgment on that.

Beyond the Star-Glow Federation and the Universal Enterprise Consortium, Leon found that there was a third powerful force in the galaxy: the Dawn Empire. However, for some reason, information about the Empire on the network was extremely scarce. Leon suspected that the relationship between the Federation and the Empire was likely poor, but that was far removed from his current status as a First-Level citizen.

"This world is not peaceful either..."

Setting aside the friction between interstellar powers, the 9527 Colonial Star where Leon currently resided was infested with a massive swarm of insects. If he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to do his best to improve his strength.

With that thought, Leon calmed his mind and began his daily practice.

[Circulating internal Qi, profession experience +4]

[Controlling internal Qi, skill experience +1]...