Chapter 111: Well Said—Let’s Start With You

The Alpha swallowed nervously and slid to his knees in a panic. “Lord Garna! I swear, I am completely loyal to the Empire!

I work twelve-hour shifts every day—I swear, I don’t even slack off for more than two hours!”

“Eh? So you do slack off?”

The curly-haired young man looked surprised, then immediately turned to report him. “Lord Garna, he’s slacking off!”

“He admitted it himself!”

“You—shut up! Just shut up already!”

The Alpha lunged forward, trying to cover his mouth. Ji Laili sidestepped him in a single step, widening his eyes. “Dude, that’s not cool.”

“We’re standing right in front of Lord Garna, and you’re already trying to silence me? Isn’t that a bit much?”

Silence him?! All he wanted was to shut him up!

The Alpha felt a surge of frustration clog his chest.

But the little curly-haired troublemaker wasn’t done. He even raised his voice to Garna,

“Lord Garna! He doesn’t respect you at all!”

This is unbearable!

He was just trying to be obedient to his superior, but if he didn’t retaliate now, would this brat think he was a pushover?!

Furious, the Alpha launched himself at Ji Laili.

Shen Yu’s gaze turned icy as he clenched his fists tightly, memorizing the Alpha’s face.

Given the circumstances, they absolutely couldn’t make a move—not to mention reveal any familiarity with Ji Laili.

No matter how much they trusted their comrades’ abilities, it was impossible not to feel a twinge of concern for them.

Eugene, watching from the side, rolled his eyes dramatically.

That kid Ji Laili can probably fight better than you guys. What’s there to worry about?!

The Alphas stationed at the research base weren’t on Ji Laili’s level, whether in physical ability or combat ranking.

Taking them down was easy.

Ji Laili deliberately held back his strength, engaging in a few rounds of sparring with the Alpha.

After a few exchanges, he ended it with a sharp spinning kick, sending the Alpha sprawling onto the ground.

He grinned brightly, his eyes glimmering with excitement from his victory. Then, turning to Garna, he said,

“Lord Garna, see? I’m pretty useful, aren’t I?”

Garna had been silently observing from the start, his cold and calculating gaze flickering between Ji Laili and the rest of the group, carefully scrutinizing their reactions.

Their performances were flawless—none of them acted as if they knew Ji Laili too well.

Now, facing Ji Laili’s beaming expression, Garna let out a contemptuous scoff.

“This? You dare call this ‘useful’?”

The little curly-haired troublemaker wasn’t discouraged in the slightest. Instead, he responded with full enthusiasm,

“Then I’ll train harder until I meet your standards!”

His reaction was completely unexpected.

Garna’s lips curled into a twisted, bloody smile. “Interesting. If you fail to meet my standards, you’ll be sent off as a test subject.”

Ji Laili, confident in himself, nodded without hesitation.

Seeing that, Garna shifted his gaze away and turned to the Alpha struggling to get back up.

“What about the identities of the rest?” he asked.

The poor Alpha, still gasping for breath, was already being sent back to work.

Ji Laili felt a brief pang of guilt for slandering him earlier. Poor guy—just another overworked employee.

But at least they hadn’t exposed any flaws right at the start.

Ji Laili remained cautious as Garna’s gaze moved toward Zhai Yifei and Eugene.

Nagano Star… Just Garna alone is already this difficult to deal with.

He must be an expert.

Ji Laili’s expression darkened slightly.

“You’re the so-called ‘escaped undercover agents’?”

Garna was far more suspicious of defectors than those recruited directly.

Alphas all had an arrogant streak, and Nagano Star was firmly under their control—there was no way the planetary leader would dare to slip in spies.

If any of them turned out to be undercover agents, then the planetary leader would have to answer for it.

The selection process alone had already eliminated most potential infiltrators.

To Garna, it was only natural to assume that the Federation would retaliate in kind—if the Empire was playing dirty, the Federation was bound to do the same.

Sending spies? The Federation would never turn down that opportunity.

And in a way, Garna had hit the nail on the head—because the Federation had done exactly that.

If you can’t beat them, join them.

You send spies? We send spies, too.

Ji Laili: Heh. Guess what? There are actually three of us this time! And the other two are fake defectors!

No matter how thorough the screening process was, there was no way to uncover the deception in such a short time.

Garna understood this.

Which was why he decided to use technology instead.

“Laurie, take them to the interrogation room. Use the detection device on them. Didn’t Wen Qiu develop a new lie detector? Let’s have these Alphas test it out.”

Laurie gasped for breath, barely able to recover from his earlier struggle.

Hearing the order, his chest tightened as if the air had been sucked out of his lungs, making him cough violently.

Sensing Garna’s terrifying gaze, Laurie forcibly suppressed the coughing fit and gritted out,

“Yes, my lord!”

Then, turning to the group with a disgruntled glare, he snapped,

“You lot—follow me.”

Laurie led them to the interrogation room, pushing open one of the isolated chambers. Inside, several black helmets sat ominously on the table.

Garna seated himself at the front, cigarette between his fingers, watching them leisurely with an amused gaze.

“These are the newest lie-detecting helmets,” he said.

“They’re supposedly linked to mental chains. If you lie while wearing one, the helmet will detect it and sever your mental chain.”

“If an Alpha loses their mental strength… I wonder what would happen?”

What a pure-blooded psychopath.

He looked far too eager to use them as test subjects.

Eugene had been holding back for a while, but now, he couldn’t take it anymore. His brows furrowed, his expression full of irritation.

“This is how you treat talent you’re recruiting?”

He tilted his chin up, his face full of dissatisfaction.

“No fine tea? I can deal with that. But now you’re doubting me?”

Shouldn’t the Empire treat valuable recruits with proper respect?

Eugene was thoroughly unimpressed.

Even Laurie was stunned by his response.

A crisp, mocking clap rang through the room.

Garna sneered. “Well said—let’s start with you.”

Eugene: “???”

He stared in disbelief.

Shouldn’t I be last in line, at least?!

Ji Laili: Wow, Eugene-senpai, so this is what you meant by ‘guiding us through this mission’!

He shot Eugene a look of deep admiration.

Meanwhile, Eugene, now forcibly pinned to the table, was struggling to maintain his composure.

“…”