43 Torture.
Shi Lang said, “I do not drool, I…”
The person in front of him seemed to be impatient and punched his face again. Then followed a cold voice, “You better speak when you can speak in one go, or I will break your face to bits and pieces.”
Shi Lang’s head was lulling over to the side. The boy seemed to have lost consciousness. The figure checked his responses and did not attack again. He mumbled, “I have all the time in the world. Let’s say when you will wake up. Or on the other hand, I might hurry things up, the sooner you break the better.”
The figure opened the door of the room and walked outside. Shi Lang was unconscious and had no idea what was happening to him. However, he did understand what was happening to him. The reason he was naked and tied to a chair was to impose the psychological effect of his weakness on himself.
When people are naked under the eyes of someone who had malicious intent toward them, they will be overwhelmed by a sense of weakness and inferiority. This will help the enemy get the information they want from these people even easier.
The next thing the enemy did to him was to punch his face, the attacks were all focused on his face, to make him feel even more worthless. Earlier when the boy was talking, he was about to give up but then he recalled a simple thing that he had read in the books. Torture is all about who is more tenacious.
He was the most stubborn person when it came to things like this. They wanted to know how he outsmarted them, so he will tell them anything but that. He was just thinking about what to do when the person in front of him knocked him out.
With a click sound, the door of the room opened and the vague figure returned holding a bucket and a plier in his hand. He scooped some water from the bucket in his hand and splashed it over Shi Lang. The boy did not wake up he did feel some discomfort, it was as if his face was being prickly and itchy.
This sensation caused him to wake up. He regained his consciousness and heard a cold genderless voice, “I will give you a chance, tell me what I want to know and you will be spared.”
Shi Lang shook his head and said, “No.”
The person was surprised for a second and then the voice sounded again, “Very well. You leave me no option.”
The figure squatted down and undid the tape wrapped around Shi Lang’s left foot. Then he took out the plier and held Shi Lang’s small toenail with it. He said, “Welcome to paradise.”
Then he jerked his hand, ripping off the nail from the finger. Shi Lang wailed in agony. The screams were the true evidence of how much pain he was in. His body was twitching and struggling in the chair but to no effect. The man did not hurry for the next step but waited for the pain to settle in Shi Lang completely.
This was a tactic to increase the intensity of the pain one suffered. When the pain starts to reduce on its own as the body gets used to it. That was the moment you act again and amplify it. The cold voice said, “I will ask you to tell me, how you did what you did.”
Shi Lang was in agony like never before but he still shook his head in denial. The man raised his leg and put it inside the bucket. The itchy feeling that came from Shi Lang being splashed by saltwater was amplified and this time it was his injured small toe.
The boy tried to move his leg out of the bucked but the person in front of him just held his leg inside and chuckled. This person was a sadist, enjoying the pain other people suffered. He asked again, “Are you willing to tell me now?”
Shi Lang grit his teeth and said, “NO.”
He said it in a loud voice, the voice seemed to be boosting and reaffirming his own ideas and thoughts. The person did not act but said, “Do you know, it is said that if a person does not break when their first nail is clipped, they will not break at all. However, I have a strong curiosity about how long can they last. Would you like me to test that with you?”
Shi Lang grit his teeth and watched as the man took out his leg of the bucket and let out a peal of creepy laughter.
…
In the monitoring room, Dalia said with a frown, “Camp Master. If the injuries are too harsh, then I will not take care of him. You understand I have to train him about medicines and other things too, but he is not the guinea pig.”
Charlotte Knight smiled and said, “You can ask him to bandage himself if his limbs can move. Or dump him in the simulation cabin, let him learn medicine while he recovers. You can teach him poison detection and resistance.”
Dalia furrowed her brows, seemingly unpleased with this whole suggestion, and then said, “Okay. I will do just that.”
Carlos chirped from the side, “When do I get to train this pup?”
Charlotte said, “When he passes the first level of medical knowledge. I will send him outside the base. He will have to survive in no man’s land. You can monitor him and guide him remotely. But that is only limited to the rules, we can discuss later.”
Carlos smirked and said, “Nothing is better than hands-on experience.”
…
Inside the small room, Shi Lang was again lying unconscious. All twenty of his nails were lying on the floor while his fingers were bleeding and swelling. The figure in front of him spat on his body. He muttered, “You outlasted the whole thing. I will know to try to bring you an experience that will make you beg for death.”
Then he went outside the room. Shi Lang was really unconscious and did not wake up until the man came back with a lot of things. He took out a vial from his pocket and snapped it open in front of Shi Lang’s nose. The strong pungent smell made the boy wake up, grunting with pain.
The person said, “Good morning sunshine. Now we will have you shine just like fire.”
Then he picked up a sprayer from the ground and said, “This is a special herbal mix of this planet. It is akin to kerosene but it does not vaporize when left out in contact with air. We call it Maki-abura.”
Then he pressed the switch and a stream was sprayed over Shi Lang’s chest. Then the man took out a zippo lighter from his pocket and said, “This little oil on your chest can last till ten minutes. Do you know how much pain it causes when you continuously burn for ten minutes.” at the end of the sentence was an unprecedented excitement followed by a creepy peal of laughter.
The man ignited his lighter and waved the flame in front of the oil splash. Amber flames ignited on Shi Lang’s chest as he let out deafening screams. The person disliked his screams. So he suddenly kicked on his jaw, breaking it.
Shi Lang’s lower jaw was hanging free on his face as he let out wailing sounds. Since his jaw could not move, the sounds became bland. The man said, “Oh made a mistake. Looks like we will have to stop here. But I can let you feel the pain from the burns.”
…
Dalia stood up and rushed out of the monitoring room but not before she said, “Camp Master, you better have this guy bring that kid to the infirmary or I will poison him.”
Charlotte nodded and sent out a message to John, who was responsible for torturing the boy. John did not want to help Shi Lang but Dalia insisted on it. The reason she did this was because of the burn Shi Lang suffered. His chest had a seven-inch patch of flesh that was missing and his internal organs were visible as if a three-dimensional model.
Although Terrans were strong, they were still prone to infections. They might have become stronger, but the planets they explored, they were getting stronger and different too. John held Shi Lang from his leg and dragged him across the floor like a rag. Dalia grit her teeth and said, “Sadist Asshole, if this kid died, Stevenson will fuck you like a sex slave.”
John was surprised by this but then he said, “Mind your language. You are a lady. Also, did that old guy not know what we were doing here? Why will I be blamed?”
Dalia said, “Did you forget the condition on which he let Camp Master continue this camp? Or do I have to bring out the memory in your clutzy brain?”
John thought and said, “OHH, I will try not to be so hard the next time, but it was Camp Master’s order.”
Dalia did not listen and said, “Get out of here. I have work to do.”