Chapter 143: The Great Memory Recovery Technique!
"Saul, be honest with me—did you tell those scumbags from the Maelstrom gang the location of our Aldecaldos camp?"
Panam's voice rose sharply as her piercing gaze locked onto Saul, her tone dripping with suspicion, as though she were interrogating a criminal.
If the Maelstrom gang had indeed found the Aldecaldos camp due to Saul's betrayal, leading to casualties among the clan, Panam wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet through Saul's head with her sniper rifle.
Cough, cough... Saul's voice carried a trace of grievance as he responded weakly, "Panam, is that really how little you think of me? Do you truly believe I'm that kind of person?"
Panam, however, wasn't buying it. Her sharp glare, like arrows, bore into him. Grinding her teeth, she demanded, "Don't waste my time with nonsense. Answer me directly—did you or did you not collude with those Maelstrom bastards behind our backs?"
"Did you leak the location of the Aldecaldos camp to them?"
In this harsh wasteland, the Maelstrom gang and the Aldecaldos had long been at odds. The enmity between the two groups ran deep, making them sworn enemies.
If the Maelstrom gang truly knew the location of the Aldecaldos camp, they would almost certainly launch a sneak attack, likely causing severe casualties among the clan.
That's why Panam was so worried about Saul's possible betrayal. The safety of the Aldecaldos was at stake.
Seeing Panam on the verge of drawing her gun to kill Saul on the spot, V quickly intervened, pulling her back and trying to mediate.
"Panam, calm down. Let's hear him out first before jumping to conclusions," V pleaded. He genuinely feared that Panam's fiery temper might lead her to impulsively blow Saul's head off.
After V managed to soothe Panam's agitation, Saul finally spoke, albeit reluctantly.
"I gave the Maelstrom gang a fake address. They're probably out verifying it now," Saul explained.
"If you guys had arrived any later, I'd probably be the one dead right now. Panam, I didn't betray the Aldecaldos. I never have."
"Everything I've done was for the sole purpose of making life better for the Aldecaldos. That's all."
His voice was weak, tinged with regret. Saul knew Panam would never support his vision, so he had planned to prove himself by leading the Aldecaldos toward a better future.
But fate had a cruel sense of irony—Panam, the one who had left the clan, ended up saving him, while he, the leader of the Aldecaldos, had become a prisoner of their enemies.
"At least you've retained some semblance of a conscience," Panam scoffed coldly before falling silent. To Saul, this silence signified her grudging forgiveness.
Seeing the tension between the two ease up a bit, V took the opportunity to ask Saul if he knew anything else.
"That's all I know. If you want more information, you'll have to wake this guy up," Saul said, glancing at Nash, who lay bound on the ground.
Saul suspected Nash had been awake for some time and was merely pretending to be unconscious.
V and Jackie exchanged a knowing look. Without hesitation, V stomped hard on one of Nash's fingers, causing him to scream in pain.
"Ahh! Damn you bastards!" Nash howled, clutching his injured finger. He was sure it had been broken by that vicious stomp.
"Listen, Nash. No one here wants to waste any more time. Spill everything you know, and we might let you live," V said coldly, his piercing gaze boring into Nash like a wolf locking onto its prey.
"If you don't want us breaking the rest of your fingers, you'd better start talking now. Don't try to play games, or you'll regret it," V warned.
Faced with the mercenary's terrifying presence, Nash, bruised and battered, could hardly catch his breath. But the pain forced him to nod frantically.
"Fine! I'll talk—I'll tell you everything!"
Satisfied, V gestured for Panam to give Nash a glass of water to calm down. After catching his breath, Nash finally began to speak.
"Look, I'm just a low-level lackey for the company. I don't know much," Nash said, trying to explain.
"The bodies in the trunk of Panam's off-roader? They're failed experiments from Biotechnica. My job was just to clean up their mess."
"They were working on some sort of gene fusion experiment. They told the nomads in Red Ochre that it was a new antibiotic with no side effects."
"But in reality, almost everyone who received the injection died. The few survivors became deranged and bloodthirsty."
"That's all I know. I swear!"
Hearing Nash's account, Panam couldn't help but laugh bitterly. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Biotechnica was behind the corpses in the trunk.
When it came to human experiments involving gene fusion, Panan could roughly guess what was going on without Nash's explanation. It was obvious that this guy was trying to fool them!
"Do you think we're idiots? Tell us something we don't already know!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Panan kicked Nash hard in the chest, causing him so much pain he nearly couldn't catch his breath.
"I'm not lying to you! Everything I said is true!" Nash collapsed to the ground, mumbling in pain.
V said nothing but silently observed Nash's facial expressions. He wasn't trying to discern whether Nash was lying but was simply applying psychological pressure.
Seeing that Nash genuinely seemed to know little about the biotech company, V sighed lightly, shook his head, and said, "Forget it. We'll just bury you outside tomorrow morning."
"Don't say we didn't give you a chance. You're the one who failed to seize it."
With that, V stood up, ready to grab a sack to cover Nash's head. Since this guy was worthless, there was no point in keeping him around.
Realizing V was about to follow through, Nash's face turned pale as a sheet. He frantically shouted in a strained voice, "Wait! I... I just remembered something!"
Faced with V's "memory-restoration technique," Nash immediately caved. To save his own life, he started blurting out whatever came to mind.
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