The Battle of Undertow was an incredibly messy affair.
Due to the battlefield being an entire city, and with the number of forces involved numbering in about four in total, casualties and prisoners of war were to be expected.
While most of the regular warriors were nothing to write home about, a cowardly Acolyte here and an injured Aether Master there, there were three prisoners of note that just so happened to be of particular interest to not only the people of Undertow, but to the warriors of the Zhen Clan and the forces of the Kaijn Lord.
And as luck would have it, all three would get a crack at the captured Grafted warriors, especially since those aformentioned forces were essentially just one big interconnected force anyways.
Which is why, all three of the captured Grafted warriors were currently locked away in a cell designed to contain [Chaos] wielders, waiting for the arrival of their interrogators.
Well… two interrogators, and an observer.
…
‘So how long until you guys can identify the grafted-on limbs of these assholes? Something about them is rubbing me the wrong way…’
<=Because of that Buzza guy?=>
‘Yeah, him.’
=It’ll take a few minutes due to their aether gunking up our whole identification process.=
<But we should be able to get you an identity soon, just see if your grandaunt and friend are up to snuff for now.>
‘I suppose…wait a minute, I thought y’all had a vicious hate boner against Cornilues. Why the change in tune?’
<=Memories getting unlocked about how reliable the guy was…is…time cultivation is bullshit.=>
‘Fair.’
<Besides, the Storm Queen was actually quite fond of him…no, he isn’t Jin Fang’s father by the way.>
‘I didn’t say shit.’
…
<<Well now, this is interesting to see up close. I knew Ao Long wasn’t the only so-called “Grafted” because of the reports from my soldiers, but seeing it in person is another thing entirely,>> Zhen Xun Tian stated while staring into the eyes of the prisoners.
As far as she could tell, absolutely none of them seem to have lost their fighting spirit.
At this moment in time, Zhen Xun Tian and Cornileus had been given the opportunity to interrogate the three Grafted warriors, Gao Su, Gao Kan and Gao Dau, after they had been recovered from the battlefield and placed into special containment arrays designed to mitigate the flow of [Chaos].
Undertow still had its fair share of criminal and lawbreaking elements, so these special arrays were quite mandatory in preventing them from going wild and tearing the caverns apart.
Either way, since they had the means of preventing these prisoners of war from going wild, it was time to extract some pertinent information.
Of course, they made sure not to interrogate all three of them at once as to prevent coordination. Unfortunately, all three of them were as stubborn as mules.
In very different ways.
It should be noted that Zhen Xun Tian and Cornileus wanted to go straight to torture to get the information they needed, but a shared ally of both of them wanted to try and see if they could just get information via the art of diplomacy before doing anything with a heavier hand.
Allegedly.
In reality, Cornileus was aware the game that this outsider observer was playing, and decided to play along. Because in his experience, that observer was accompanied by a pair of spirits that were smarter than all of them combined.
…Interrogation#1: Gao Su, the Screamer…
“Why the fuck does he have a muzzle on his face?,” Zhen Xun Tian asked Cornileus, in front of the aformentioned muzzled prisoner.
“He called himself Gao Su the Screamer when he fought Hurricroak,” Cornileus explained. “Apparently the grafted kaijin part gave him a voice laced with [Chaos], which he can weaponize to a surprisingly proficient degree.”
“Okay…so are his hands unbounded?”
“He can’t throw a punch to save his life.”
In response to this obvious insult, Gao Su presented a pair of birds to the interrogators.
“Lovely…wait, how are we suppose to get information from him?”
Without saying a word Cornileus produced a pen and paper for Gao Su to write with.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Needless to say, this approach didn’t really work, especially after Gao Su had written the words, “Fuck You” in Tide script.
It took a few cleansing breaths before Zhen Xun Tian promised not to rip out the man’s throat.
…
‘Okay, who is the source kaijin here?’
<Bad attitude, loud noises…sounds like Decibull.>
‘Decibull?’
<It’s either him or Operam.>
‘Now I feel like you’re fucking with me.’
=She’s not. Decibull and Operam were a pair of very loud kaijin brawlers who were the vanguard for Duke Discord back during the Enclave of Silence era.=
<Oh yeah…I think that was also the first time we ever saw people shit themselves before battle.
‘Was…was that because of the Brown Note or-‘
<=Nope, terror. Turns out hearing high pitched and deep bass in stereo with each other while having giant monsters running towards someone count as nightmare fuel.=>
‘Huh…’
______
…Interrogation#2: Gao Kan the Giant…
“Wait, is his whole thing just being…big?”
“Yup. Well, that and size changing.”
“Can you speak up? I can’t hear you from up here,” Gao Kan taunted despite being only a fraction of his previous height. Granted, he was still eight feet tall and touching the ceiling with his head.
“You know, I don’t think you’ll be able to interrogate me, since I can’t hear a word you’re saying,” Gao Kan mocked.
Once again, Zhen Xun Tian wanted to punch the man’s face in, but stopped once she realized something.
“Wait a minute, aren’t all [Chaos] abilities supposed to be shut down by now? How the fuck is this guy so big? Is he just this big naturally?”
“Kind of. Apparently his grafted surgery replaced his spine and made him taller as a result,” Cornileus explained.
“That explains the fat head.”
“Hey!”
“Oh, so you can hear me?!”
…
‘Well, he’s real charming.’
=The Giant’s Herder was known to be a straightforward woman, and her kaijin even more so.=
<Alright, analysis reports that this spine belonged to…Ogram. Oh! I remember him, nice guy.>
‘That…sounds like a real name.’
=It should. I believe the Giant’s Herder had a habit of treating her kaijin like her children in a manner similar to you, but more…literal.=
‘Huh.’
<A lot of her kaijin were born from sentimental items, and I think Ogram was the designated baby giant of the group.>
‘Baby…baby?! He was a hundred feet tall!’
<=Imagine how big the others were.=>
‘Oh…’
______
… Interrogation#3: Gao Dau, the Nightmare…
“Oh shit, you’re still alive? Last I heard, you were off your rocker and slowly approaching death like a snail running through a salt field…good to know that I get a chance to do it instead.”
“Oh boy.”
The tension in the interrogation was thick enough that it could be stabbed multiple times with a rusty blade.
Evidently, Gao Dau and Zhen Xun Tian knew each other on a slightly more personal level.
“Same could be said about you, Inked Bitch of the Bog,” Gao Dau retorted. “And here I hoped you would get poisoned to death by that knock-off Khan. So sad.”
“Uh huh, so how’s your son doing, oh wait, he is still dead. How could I forget that?”
“Probably because you were too busy planning the funeral for one of your sons? How is Zhen Xun Po by the way, is he able to fill his older brother’s shoes?”
“Quite well, actually.”
“Good to hear.”
“I’m going to shove that third eye of yours into your stomach.”
“Try me, you tattooed whore.”
“And we are now three fo three on unproductive interrogations, great…,” Cornileus griped.
…
‘Alright, settle something for me. Is that third eye of Gao Dau’s from a cyclops-like kaijin or one with three eyes. They’re the only ones I know who might have an eye that big for the firheesd.’
<Worst, it came from a kaijin that was covered in eyeballs.>
‘Thats…disturbing.’
=The Nightmaker had a habit of taking naps before creating any Kaijin. He used the resulting dreams to either make pleasant support kaijin or horrifying combat ones, both able to use anima. This one came from a kaijin named Occulock.=
‘Occulock?’
<Stage fright personified. Every eyeball that he directs towards you, the weaker your mental defenses become. If he gets enough on ya, you’ll end trapped in a waking nightmare.>
‘Well…that’s unnerving as fuck.’
=The Nightmaker was an unnerving individual.=
______
It became increasingly clearer and clearer to Cornileus and Zhen Xun Tian that trying to interrogate these assholes through this “diplomatic” method wasn’t going to work. They had to get violent and probably start torturing these fools.
Or perhaps not.
“Hey…I know my grandson can make kaijin…you think he got any that can poke through their heads?”
“Multiple.”
“Excellent.”
________________________________________
*Bing-Bong*
At this point, I think you’re screwing with me.
|Wait for it.|
*Bing-Bong*
