"I don't bluff"

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Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence, torture, and intense emotional distress. Reader discretion is advised.

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"I am listening," Rong Xinghe said quietly, her arms folding across her chest as she leaned against the wall. The room was still, save for the sharp inhale she drew—quiet, but cutting through the silence like a blade. Her voice held no warmth, no hostility either—just a hollow calm, like a storm waiting beneath still waters.

The man nodded slowly, measuring her expression before he spoke. "Alright," he began, his tone deliberate. "Remember when I said I was going to look into your medical team?"

She offered a faint nod, her gaze unreadable.

"The Military Chief Medical Team—MCMT—is made up of the best. Elite specialists. If there was anything to uncover, I knew that's where I'd find it."