Chapter 183: Treason

Yang Haitao and Hu Hailiang still had some subsequent work to handle.

Getting acquainted with He Tian had already left the two of them quite satisfied.

Since He Tian harbored the intention of developing in the business sector, there would naturally be many opportunities for contact in the future, so there was no need to appear overly anxious now. There was plenty of time ahead!

"Boss, I'll head back first then!" Shen Feng knew it was better for him not to be involved in the subsequent events. Although Shen Feng was genuinely curious, he had to suppress that curiosity.

"Madman, you don't blame me, do you?" He Tian nodded and patted Shen Feng on the shoulder.

"Boss, what are you talking about! How could I possibly blame you?" Shen Feng smiled and said, "I'm just a bit curious!"

"Stop right there! Toss that curiosity away... Of course, if you want to get involved, you can! You know what I mean!" He Tian blinked and smiled.

"Forget it!" Shen Feng waved his hand and said, "I'm used to being free and easy, and I simply can't stand any kind of restraint."

"Then you should head back first!" He Tian said with a smile, knowing full well that Shen Feng would say that.

"Boss, you must thoroughly investigate that colonel! Seriously... he has huge issues! I'm not saying this out of revenge, but I genuinely feel something is wrong with him!" Shen Feng said earnestly.

"I know! No matter what secret he is hiding, since he fell into my hands today, he will have to spit it all out!" He Tian said with confidence and dominance.

"To be honest, Boss, tell me, is there any element of revenge in the way you're handling this now?" Shen Feng knew He Tian's temperament very well. That fiery temper! If he said there was no element of revenge, Shen Feng honestly wouldn't believe it.

"Would you believe me if I said no?" He Tian rolled his eyes.

"Hahaha, then I can rest easy!" Remembering something suddenly, Shen Feng smiled and said, "Boss, look, I'm not even blaming you for rushing me away now! Can the number of our treasured artifacts drop a bit? Just drop by one... How about bringing out thirteen?"

"Do you think that's possible?" He Tian expressed his firm attitude with utmost seriousness!

"I knew it!" Shen Feng muttered under his breath, and then, under the arrangements made by Wan Shun, he left Zhoushan and returned to Tianhai!

"Instructor, everything is ready! The entire camp is under martial law!" Wan Shun said softly to He Tian.

"Shunzi, you must understand that by doing this, once that colonel turns out to have no problems, you will be implicated!" He Tian looked at Wan Shun very seriously.

"Instructor, I, and even those trainees I know who were trained by you alongside me, all share one dream: to work under your command! Even if you are extremely strict with us! We yearn even more to work alongside you... To be honest, right now I am definitely the object of envy for many of our brothers!" Wan Shun said with a smile.

"Hahaha! You rascal! Wait for my news!" He Tian said nothing more. Since Wan Shun had made his stance so clear, if He Tian were to act hesitant, it would seem overly ungracious.

He Tian first questioned the other personnel from the Ministry of State Security.

There were a total of seven people, all of whom had come following that colonel!

The questions He Tian asked were basically identical.

With He Tian revealing his identity and the questions not touching upon core classified secrets, the answers he received left him very satisfied.

Next, He Tian walked into the room where the colonel was being detained.

The flying knife on this colonel's wrist was gone now, and the wound had been bandaged and treated to prevent any adverse consequences from excessive blood loss!

"Lin Shaozhen! Is that your name?" He Tian sat down on a chair, looking at the colonel—Lin Shaozhen—with a smiling expression.

"He Tian, how dare you interrogate my subordinates? They are all people from the Ministry of State Security! You Dragon Soul members have no authority to interrogate them!" Lin Shaozhen glared at He Tian and said resentfully.

"Colonel Lin, you are mistaken! If they were members of your MSS Special Service Group, I indeed would not have the qualification to interrogate them. Only under specific circumstances could special measures be taken for special situations! However, for any MSS personnel who are not members of the Special Service Group, I possess the full authority to interrogate them. It seems my assessment that you don't understand us very well is entirely correct!" He Tian corrected Lin Shaozhen's mistake, firmly suppressing him in terms of momentum.

"He Tian, I admit I acted a bit impulsively. But that was just my professional habit. I merely wanted to investigate thoroughly. My starting point was good. As it turns out, this was just a misunderstanding! We are considered people within the same overarching system, so why make things so rigid? How about we each take a step back right now, what do you say?" Lin Shaozhen's tone softened slightly.

"Hahaha, professional habit? A misunderstanding? Do you think I would still believe a single word you say? Lin Shaozhen, let me tell you, you have huge issues, massive issues! You still have a chance to confess honestly now; otherwise... you can well imagine the consequences!" He Tian burst into laughter, then looked at Lin Shaozhen with exceptional seriousness.

"He Tian, even if you are from Dragon Soul, you have no right to talk to me like this! This is slander against me! No wonder many people say your Dragon Soul is far too aggressive and lacks checks and balances... Looking at it now, those claims are completely true. Power without checks and balances can only lead to a loss of control!" Lin Shaozhen said angrily, acting as though he were truly innocent.

"Is saying all this useful? Whether Dragon Soul has checks and balances—is that something for you to know? Lin Shaozhen, are you still trying to struggle? Fine, let me ask you: First, I have already questioned your subordinates, and they told me they had no idea how you received the intelligence or came to meet the plane! They merely followed your orders and trailed along. Furthermore, your superiors, and even your superiors' superiors, had no knowledge of this intelligence either! So, I want to ask you: How did you obtain this information? Why did the Japanese contact you specifically? You hold the rank of colonel, which gives you some status within the MSS, but I believe your status is nowhere near high enough to unilaterally decide such cooperation between two nations! To put it bluntly, aside from the Minister and the Political Commissar of your MSS, no third person has the authority to make such a decision."

"Second, leaving aside the source of your intelligence, let's look at the plane-meeting itself. I believe that given your experience, you shouldn't have aggressively and persistently ignored objections by contacting pilot Liu Qigang three consecutive times! Why did you do that... What was your purpose? Why not wait at the airport and make preparations to capture the two operatives first? Instead, you chose to change airports—wasn't that completely redundant? And to make matters worse, that redundant move was entirely wrong!"

"Third, you claimed you were interrogating the two of us out of professional habit! But don't you think that sounds far-fetched? Leaving aside the anger you displayed toward the two of us... and that trace of lingering reluctance! Just looking at the timing of your interrogation, don't you think it was completely inappropriate to target two 'heroes' at such a moment?"

"Lin Shaozhen... Can you give me an explanation for these three points?"

He Tian's expression was grave, his eyes as sharp as swords, as if he could thoroughly pierce straight into Lin Shaozhen's innermost thoughts.

"He Tian... You, you suspect me of treason?" Lin Shaozhen stared at He Tian with boundless fury, his face contorted into an ugly expression.

"Treason? Hahaha, Lin Shaozhen, besides treason, do you have any other explanation?" He Tian stared fixedly at Lin Shaozhen, confirming the point based on Lin Shaozhen's own words.

"Slander! Slander! I'm going to report you... Even if you're from Dragon Soul, I'm going to report you!" Lin Shaozhen roared angrily, "I've worked so hard for national security and sacrificed so much, only to be treated like this in the end!"

"The innocent remain innocent! If you were truly innocent, why fly into such a rage? Lin Shaozhen, listen well! Let me analyze this from the perspective of treason, and you tell me whether my analysis is correct or not!" He Tian stared at Lin Shaozhen and said in a deep voice.

"He Tian, this is revenge! This is your revenge against me!" Lin Shaozhen yelled angrily.

"First point: The reason you were able to acquire such intelligence when no one else had wind of it, and the reason the Japanese side contacted you, is because you have already switched sides! And the information those two operatives were carrying must be extremely, extremely important! Therefore, the Japanese side spared no expense in activating an embedded sleeper agent like you, and they were even prepared to sacrifice you in the process."

"Second point: The reason you aggressively demanded to communicate with the pilot was to transmit a message to the two operatives! To let them know... they couldn't land, that there was danger! To make them choose to hijack the plane and escape! There are two possible explanations for this: either the Japanese side had a dedicated team responsible for capturing those two operatives, or the Japanese side decided that if they couldn't capture them, they had to eliminate them!"

"Third point: Your plan in the second point failed! And the ones who ruined your plan were the two of us! That is why, toward us two heroes, you suddenly burst out with your so-called 'professional habit,' wanting to teach us a lesson, and even... wanting us to vanish! Furthermore, you found some suspicious points in my companion that you could use as a breakthrough, allowing you to vent the frustration of your failed operation! But you didn't expect that I am a member of Dragon Soul, nor did you know that the entire military camp was at my disposal, which is why you failed again!"

"You hijacked Wan Shun because you wanted to escape... to flee far away! That was your true purpose, not washing away any so-called slander!"

"Lin Shaozhen, just how long are you going to keep up this stubborn act? I honestly cannot fathom why you would turn toward Japan. Don't you know how much disaster that country once brought upon our nation? Where is your conscience? Has it been eaten by dogs?"

He Tian said all this with sternness, deep anger, and disappointment.

"Slander! This is sheer slander!" Lin Shaozhen roared furiously, refusing to admit to any of it!

"Lin Shaozhen, are you still not going to give up?" He Tian shook his head and let out a long sigh.