Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary - Chapter 365

Chapter 365: Chapter 365 Work out of Retirement
Seeing the man flailing on the ground in pain in front of him, Urs walked over and pressed his foot down on him to keep him still and prevent him from doing any desperate actions.

“Calm down already. Losing a single hand barely even counts as an injury. You’re not going to die, and a lot worse is waiting for you if you don’t answer my questions.”

Once Urs was certain that the guy he had caught was thoroughly terrified, he bent over and grabbed him by the neck. Easily lifting him up into the air with one hand and holding him at eye level.

Janson tried to struggle as he felt the grip crushing his throat and he could not breathe.

It was painful, and his lungs felt like they were on fire as he was unable to replenish his oxygen.

Of course, if Urs wanted him dead, he would have just snapped the man’s neck. What he was doing now was merely a part of the tactics he had developed during his time as a mercenary to get people to talk.

“I’m going to loosen my hand soon. You’ll be able to breathe again then. However, if you yell or try to make any loud noises, what will come next will be a lot worse than this.” Urs said, applying a bit of pressure with his voice and facial expression.

When he gave Janson enough slack so that his throat was not closed any longer, the now one-handed man violently sucked down a big gulp of air.

It took him a few moments to collect himself, and breathing still was not particularly easy since Urs still was holding him up by the neck, but at least he was no longer suffocating.

After finally managing to collect his thoughts, Janson understood that he was likely to die whether he cooperated or not.

The person holding him up so easily in one hand had cruel and merciless eyes that were not looking at him like another person, but simply as a container of information. Once he divulged everything that the guy wanted to know, his life would be as good as over.

‘His eyes are just like the boss’. I’ve seen how he looks at and treats us rank and file guys. We’re disposable and worth almost nothing to him.’

Understanding all of this, Janson figured that his only chance was to somehow get away. And at this moment, his only real option was to bring attention to what was going on right now.

“HELP! SOMEBODY! ANYBO-”

Despite Urs’ warning, the first thing Janson did after collecting his thoughts was to call out for aid as loudly as he could.

He figured that if he could bring over members of the public, Urs would be forced to stop and get away. Otherwise, the Alliance Police would show up, and he would be in some real trouble.

Naturally, Janson likely would find himself on the wrong side of the law as well seeing as how his identification was fake and he clearly had spying equipment in his room, but that certainly beat being dead as far as he was concerned.

“Hehe. Hahahahaha!”

Yet instead of panicking or even becoming more alert, Urs started laughing instead.

“Yeah, I figured that you were the type to disregard my warning and shout out to try and save your cowardly ass.” Urs said, wearing an amused grin.

“No one is going to hear you though. I already activated multiple sound dampening devices around the room before coming in. No noise a normal human can produce will be loud enough to escape as anything more than a muffled voice. Well unless you’ve got a bomb in your chest or something. In that case go ahead, you got me.” Urs said, flashing Janson a sinister grin.

This was a side of himself that he had not shown to either Avery or Ezra.

Certainly, he had bene harsh when training both of them, but when it came to those he viewed as enemies, he was ruthless. Perhaps even deriving a bit of sadistic enjoyment in what he did. This was part of the reason he was such an effective solo mercenary. There was nothing he was not willing to do in order to get the job done.

“Now, I do think that you broke our agreement first. I told you not to yell, but you did. That means that you chose what comes next yourself.”

Janson went past panic and into a frenzy as the fear of Urs’ retribution invaded his heart and mind.

He was already in a lot of pain, and the promise of worse was causing him immense psychological distress.

While he may have been working towards the goal of kidnapping Avery’s parents, right now it was Urs who seemed like the real villain.

“Figures that the first time I do this in years you’re the type that can’t accept what’s going on and fruitlessly screams and flails about. Maybe this will help keep you still and quiet.” Urs said, raising up his other hand and placing it on Janson’s side.

For a few seconds he felt around until he was certain that he had the right place. Then Urs pressed down with enormous strength far greater than even someone his size would normally possess.

There was a sickening cracking sound followed by a sharp exaltation of pain from Janson.

His violent movements in an attempt to escape and shouting for help came to a swift end as his body was wracked with a new pain.

Urs had just broken one of his ribs, and trying to move wildly and yell only made it more unbearable.

“Looks like I’m not too rusty. Now, for the next one.”

Without a shred of mercy, Urs went from top to bottom, breaking everyone of Janson’s ribs on his left side.

Needless to say, this was an agonizing experience, and one that left him delirious from the intense pain once it was over.

“Good, the prelude is done. You’ll have a hard time talking like this though, so I’ve got to fix you up.” Urs said, pulling out a large syringe with nanomachine medicine inside.

At first Janson thought that he would finally get some relief after everything, that Urs was satisfied with the coercion he had already administered and was going to continue asking questions now that he had broken Janson down.

However, that turned out to not be the case.

What came next was not the instant relief that typically came from an injection of medical nanomachines, but a fiery pain five times worse than anything else he had received.

He could feel his injuries being repaired as the nanomachines flooded into his system, but the process was tortuous.

“These are a bit special from the stuff that you’ll normally find. They work about twenty percent faster, but they’re lacking any anesthetic agents to reach that speed. It feels like millions of tiny devils are poking around in you and stitching you up, doesn’t it? I’ve used this stuff dozens of times during desperate situations, but you can’t really get used to it.”

Though Urs was speaking to him, Janson did not understand a word that was said.

The torment he was currently enduring was all-consuming. He could not see, hear, smell, or taste. It felt like his entire capacity for sense was directed solely towards suffering he was experiencing.

If there was one thing that was fortunate, it was over quickly. As Urs had said, this medicine with no anesthetic agent worked a bit faster than the typical nanomachine medicine. Except, you would be hard pressed to find anyone that would say that the slight boost in recovery speed was worth the pain.

“Good, that’s the first round over. I’m wondering if you’ll corporate now, or if you want to go for more.” Urs said, moving his hand to Janson’s right-side ribs.

“Damn it! Where the hell is Dario!”

Janson could not fathom why he was having to suffer so much, and why his partner had not returned yet.

If only Dario was here, he would have been saved already.

The blame he was starting to direct towards his partner was unfounded of course. Let alone Dario, no one had predicted that such a monster like Urs would get involved. Well, perhaps one person had, but she had declined to mention him to Rook or Clarien.

“Don’t start losing you mind. I still need you to give me the information I want. Now, I’ll only give you one last chance, start talking or we start on round two. Ah, and for the record, the most I’ve ever done was seven rounds. That’s how long it took me to break the toughest person I ever interrogated. And I doubt you’re anywhere near their level.”

Urs flicked Janson’s rib with enough force that it hurt, but not so much that it broke.

This served as a reminder to him what sort of situation he was in and what awaited him if he kept delaying.

“My partner will be back soon. No doubt he’s noticed something is wrong since I haven’t been in touch.” Janson forced out weakly, trying to grasp at anything that might get him out of this.

“That’s not the right answer.” Urs sighed.

“Your partner isn’t coming back. I already reported him to the Alliance Police for stalking. They’ve no doubt got him detained right now. If they haven’t already, it’s probably not going to be long until they figure out his identification is fake. So, he’s not getting out before I’m done with this. It’s just me and you here, and now we’ve got to go again.” Urs said, placing his hand on Janson’s top rib on his right side.