180: Chapter 180 Safe House Zero, Interrogation Room

In the deep mountains and forests on the western outskirts of Jingjiang City.

An unnamed road winds to its end, where a dilapidated, abandoned cement factory comes into view.

Three rows of barbed wire are strung along the high walls, and there is no sign or plaque at the entrance.

This is Safe House No. 0, the interrogation base with the highest security classification within the Provincial Public Security Department.

Within a three-kilometer radius, all civilian communication signal base stations have been blocked; external communication relies solely on dedicated networks and independent internal telephone lines, truly achieving complete isolation from the outside world.

Three unmarked black vehicles stopped in front of the first iron gate.

Two fully armed guards holding submachine guns stepped forward to intercept them.

Without unnecessary questioning, the beam of a flashlight shone directly onto the windshield of the lead vehicle's driver's cab.

The window rolled down.

Captain Xiao Zhan, the head of the Provincial Public Security Department's Criminal Investigation Division, handed over his ID, along with a warrant stamped with the official seal of the Provincial Public Security Department.

The guard took them and returned to the guard booth.

A dedicated line was used to call inside the facility to verify the warrant.

It took a full five minutes to confirm it was correct.

The barrier lift rose, and the iron gate slid open to both sides.

The vehicles drove in one after another.

Deputy Captain Shan Hu sat beside Captain Xiao Zhan, turning his head to lower his voice as he reported the surrounding defenses.

"The water tower to the front left, the high ground to the rear right, and the top of the factory building."

"In just these past few seconds, at least five sniper positions have locked onto our tires and windows."

Having worked at the Provincial Public Security Department for so many years, this was the first time Deputy Captain Shan Hu had seen such a paranoid defensive posture.

"What kind of place is this exactly?" Deputy Captain Shan Hu asked.

Captain Xiao Zhan's tone was devoid of any warmth: "Do not open your mouth about things you shouldn't ask, and do not entertain thoughts about things you shouldn't inquire about."

"Once you are here, there is only one rule: bring your ears, but leave your mouth behind."

Deputy Captain Shan Hu suppressed any unnecessary movements and nodded heavily.

The car came to a stop in front of the main building.

Captain Xiao Zhan pushed open the car door and gave Deputy Captain Shan Hu his final order.

"Gather all the brothers who participated in the raid at the backyard. A special vehicle will come to pick them up and take them to the mountain ravines for closed-door training."

"Without Director Qi's warrant, no one is allowed to leave the camp even half a step."

"If a single word leaks out, you will be dealt with by military law."

Deputy Captain Shan Hu nodded solemnly and led the team to carry it out.

Two special operations team members pulled open the rear door of the middle vehicle.

Lei Dong was dragged out of the vehicle with his arms bound behind his back and a black cloth bag over his head.

In another car, Wang Xiaoqian was also hooded; her gait was unsteady, and she nearly fell when her feet touched the ground, letting out a few muffled sobs.

The man and the woman were escorted inside through different side doors and placed in two separate rooms, cutting off any possibility of collusion or sensory contact.

Safe House No. 0 interrogation room.

There were no windows, and all four walls were completely covered in grey soundproof padding.

Lei Dong was pressed into an iron restraint chair.

Click.

The lock snapped shut.

The black cloth bag was yanked off.

A blinding, intense incandescent light shone directly down from overhead, hitting Lei Dong's face.

After a long period of darkness, encountering the intense light, Lei Dong instinctively closed his eyes.

He shook his head, forcing himself to adapt to the light.

When his vision refocused, he saw the person sitting behind the interrogation table.

Captain Xiao Zhan.

He spread out the case file, with a police officer responsible for taking notes sitting beside him.

Lei Dong's eyes shifted slightly; on one side of the wall was a large one-way observation mirror.

Director Qi Shan stood with his hands behind his back, looking coldly through the glass at Lei Dong, who was bound in the chair.

This pawn, who had stirred up trouble in Jingjiang City and played the Provincial Public Security Department for fools, had finally fallen into the net.

At the interrogation table, Captain Xiao Zhan was in no rush to drop any bombshells.

The art of psychological warfare requires moving from the shallow to the deep, peeling back the layers like unwinding a cocoon.

"Name."

"Lei Dong."

"Age."

"Forty-two."

After the series of basic identity checks were completed, Captain Xiao Zhan placed his fountain pen on the table.

"Lei Dong, you were invited here from Yulong Mountain in the middle of the night; explain for yourself why."

Lei Dong leaned back against the chair, adjusting to a relatively more comfortable sitting position.

"Captain Xiao Zhan, this display of yours has scared me quite a bit. I, Lei, have always done business honestly and have always been a law-abiding citizen. You ask me why I was arrested, but I have nowhere to go to cry out against this injustice."

Using Tai Chi-style deflection, avoiding the serious to focus on the trivial.

Captain Xiao Zhan remained unmoved and opened the first document.

"A law-abiding businessman? If it was legal, then why, when the Provincial Public Security Department issued a summons regarding the acquisition of Red Star Machinery Factory and the loss of state assets, did you refuse to appear, instead cutting off all contact and hiding in a private villa on Yulong Mountain?"

Captain Xiao Zhan pressed on step by step.

"What role did your company, Shengyuan Investment Holdings, play in the restructuring of Red Star Machinery Factory? Where did those several asset divestments, totaling hundreds of millions, ultimately flow?"

Lei Dong gritted his teeth, his expression remaining unchanged.

"Regarding the Red Star Factory business, Shengyuan only participated in the public bidding process according to the rules. All procedures were compliant and legal, and they can stand up to investigation. As for moving to Yulong Mountain, that was just to find some peace and quiet. In business, you have many enemies, and I was just looking for some stability."

He flatly denied it, shirking all responsibility clean.

Lei Dong had calculated everything very carefully.

The accounts of Red Star Machinery Factory were intricate and complex. As long as he held his ground and didn't confess, the police couldn't convict him based solely on a few fund transfers.

More importantly, he was waiting.

Waiting for reinforcements from outside.

Secretary Lei Zhen was still in the position of Secretary of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission. As long as this big tree did not fall, the Provincial Public Security Department would not dare to truly do anything to him.

Behind the glass, Director Qi Shan looked at Lei Dong's stubborn, unyielding demeanor, coldness rising in his eyes.

The protection of power, before it is uprooted, can always give its henchmen a sense of invulnerability.

Seeing that standard interrogation was ineffective, Captain Xiao Zhan reached back, opened his briefcase, and pulled out a stack of stamped dossiers.

"We have plenty of time to slowly calculate the Red Star Factory's accounts. Today, let's first settle a clear account."

Captain Xiao Zhan threw an interrogation transcript in front of Lei Dong.

"Regarding the case of gathering social elements with weapons at Jiangnan Machinery Factory to assault Zhu Wenhao, a student of the Spark Class at the Provincial Party School, how do you explain this?"

Lei Dong's eyelids twitched, but he quickly suppressed the strange look.

"I don't know what you are talking about; what does fighting and brawling have to do with me?"

"You don't know?"

Captain Xiao Zhan interrupted coldly, laying out more materials one by one.

The testimonies of several low-level thugs, including Zhao San, were prominently listed.

"You shouldn't be unfamiliar with these people. They have spilled everything, naming you, Lei Dong, as the one who instructed them to ambush Zhu Wenhao."

Captain Xiao Zhan pressed play on the player on the table.

The recording of Zhao San's confession echoed in the interrogation room.

Immediately after, a bank transaction statement was pushed over.

"The day before the incident, you used the debit cards of people under your command from other banks to transfer 200,000 yuan to Zhao San's account in three separate transactions. How do you explain this money?"

Witness testimony, physical evidence, and the flow of funds formed a perfect closed loop.

Lei Dong stared fixedly at the transaction statement, his back teeth clenched tight.

The assault was originally done to steal the spotlight for Lei Jun; who would have thought that these scumbags who took money to do the job wouldn't even last two days in the police station.

If he didn't confess, the police would continue along this line and would inevitably end up investigating Lei Jun.

Once Lei Jun fell, in Secretary Lei Zhen's rage, his own role as a white glove would lose its value.

Cut off the tail to survive.

Abandon the pawn to save the chariot.

Lei Dong raised his head, meeting Captain Xiao Zhan's gaze, his tone relaxing instead.

"I did it."

Lei Dong generously took on all the blame.

"I had my eye on that land and wanted to do some development. I was afraid that if Zhu Wenhao went to investigate, he would expose me, so I found a few people to teach him a lesson. The transfer was the payment for the job. I admit to this."

He completely cleared Lei Jun, the mastermind behind the scenes.

Behind the one-way glass, Director Qi Shan took in this entire scene.

Lei Dong's response had long been within his expectations.

A loyal dog protecting its master—it was nothing more than relying on the fact that his master could still shield him from the storm.

If they continued to dwell on this matter, the interrogation would hit a dead end.

Director Qi Shan picked up the encrypted walkie-talkie on the table and pressed the talk button.

"Switch personnel. This old fox is relying on outside help, and we won't be able to pry his mouth open anytime soon. Send Old Li from the Pre-trial Section in to wear him down."

Director Qi Shan issued the order for a strategic shift.

"You pull out and go after that woman; she is the breakthrough point."

Captain Xiao Zhan pressed his earpiece and nodded imperceptibly.

He didn't look at Lei Dong again, stood up, and gathered the dossiers from the table.

"Since you've admitted it, sit here and write down the details of the crime one by one. We have plenty of time."

With that, he pulled open the iron door and walked away with long strides.

An older interrogator carrying a thick stack of blank paper entered to take his place, sat down behind the table, and began a protracted war of attrition.

At the other end of Safe House No. 0, in Interrogation Room No. 3.

Wang Xiaoqian did not receive the treatment of a restraint chair; she was only placed on an ordinary wooden chair.

This delicate guest, who had long relied on Lei Dong and lived a life of luxury, had never experienced such a situation before.

The moment the black cloth bag was pulled off, the pale, harsh light, the grey soundproof walls on all four sides, and the omnipresent sense of oppression directly shattered her pathetic psychological defenses.

She curled up on the chair, trembling.

Captain Xiao Zhan pushed the door open and entered.

Seeing someone in a police uniform enter, Wang Xiaoqian completely lost control of her emotions and began to scream hysterically.

"I didn't do anything! I'm just an attendant, why are you arresting me! Let me go back!"

"Lei Dong's business has nothing to do with me! Go ask him!"

The shrill voice echoed in the cramped room, extremely grating to the ears.

Captain Xiao Zhan did not stop her shouting.

He pulled out a chair, sat down, and placed his briefcase on the table.

He did not open the case file, nor did he prepare to take notes.

He just leaned back against the chair, arms crossed over his chest, watching Wang Xiaoqian's breakdown performance with cold eyes.

No matter how she wailed, cried, or swore oaths, Captain Xiao Zhan remained silent throughout.

In the interrogation room, there was only the woman's distorted wailing.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Receiving no response, Wang Xiaoqian's voice grew weaker, turning into intermittent sobs.

That kind of indifference was more suffocating than torture.

The fear of the unknown was like a venomous snake, tightening around her heart bit by bit.

When only her heavy breathing remained in the room, Captain Xiao Zhan finally moved.

He reached out, pulled a photograph from his briefcase, and steadily pushed it along the table to right in front of Wang Xiaoqian's eyes.

"Wang Xiaoqian." Captain Xiao Zhan's voice was extremely cold. "If you've cried enough, take a look at this."

"After you're done looking, let's chat about Lei Dong's business."

The photograph showed Lei Dong acting intimately with another woman, with the background being a luxurious manor somewhere.

Wang Xiaoqian's sobbing stopped abruptly.

Her pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints.