“I was zoned out because.. because..” Nicole said and paused, trying hard to find some excuse.

“Because?” Victor asked again.

“Because I was worried about grandpa’s decision! So I didn’t hear you well.” Nicole said, glad that she was able to come up with something.

“So?” Victor asked, seriously driving Nicole crazy.

“What’s your damn problem Victor!! First you intimidated and backed me up against that wall. Then you were like an entirely different person. You said those things that I never believed would happen. Talked about turning my lie into reality and falling for you. And then you act like you don’t know anything!! Why are you doing this to me???” Nicole exclaimed, truly irritated by Victor’s teasing.

“Okay okay calm down.” Victor said, surprised at Nicole’s sudden outburst.

“How am I supposed to calm down this way?” Nicole questioned him back.

“Fine, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have behaved that way, but there is something in you, something different. I am not someone who teases people, but with you I just wanted to do it. Anyways, I guess you have heard the options quite correctly. So I need not repeat that.” Victor said.

“I will.. I will take my leave now.” Nicole said, shyly leaving his room.

‘Get back to your senses Victor! She is not the same girl. Your overly close behaviour would only scare her away.’ Victor thought to himself while shutting the bedroom door.

The members rested till evening before gathering in the hall, where Markus had asked them to meet.

Kizy, Markus, BLACK COMMAND, Joel, Nicole, Andrew, Jack and Alex were present for this discussion.

Once everyone had settled down, Markus spoke.

“So as you all know, I had been to The Imperial Nation.” Markus said and paused, looking at Kizy.

But Kizy gave him an all too familiar look, which meant she had already guessed it right.

“I only had one thing in my mind – find their weakness!” Markus said.

“I started from base, mingling between the low level workers, doing their chores everyday. And I’ll be honest, it was hard. They all have been trained to simply shut their mouths and do the jobs designated to them.

But that place is one complete hell. Those workers are kidnapped from various other countries and brought to the Imperial Nation. They are devoid of food for three days and only given water at the end of the second day.

They are given food only after they start working on the third day. If they still refuse, they are beaten black and blue. This way they eventually give up by the end of the fourth to fifth day or maximum a week and eventually start working.

Do you know why the Imperial nation is the richest of all three?” Markus asked.

All others shaked their heads while Jason opened his mouth.

“I have heard that they are involved in some illegal exports but I am not sure what it is.” Jason replied.

“Illegal weapons maybe.” Harry answered.

“All the three black markets sell weapons illegally. But there must be something hidden from the rest of the world which makes the Imperial Nation richest in the black market.” Victor replied calmly.

“Yes, that’s right. They sell drugs illegally!” Markus answered.

“Ohh my goodness! I never thought it was drugs!!” Nicole exclaimed while Rose nodded at her.

“The workers are trained for several days with a minimum amount of food and water. They are trained to intake as many drug packets as they can. And then devoid of food to see how long they can survive that way.

Sometimes the drug packets are difficult to extract back through their mouth. At such times, they directly cut open the stomach of that person and take them out, not paying attention to the person.” Markus explained while Nicole’s face had turned pale just from listening to this revelation.

All of them were truly in shock, not believing that such things actually happened in the same world they were living in. Yes they all were used to killing others when necessary but they still had humanity left in them. But guess the professor was already poles apart from the word humanity.

“The workers are given fifteen day training before they are sent on trial missions and if failed, they are killed on the spot.

If they succeed, then they are sent on their first actual mission where they are used as means to transport these drugs to various parts of the world without being caught by securities at borders.

These workers or carriers are heavily guarded to ensure they won’t run away. And once a carrier is made to swallow the drug, he or she can not drink even a single drop of water till they reach their destinations and deliver the drugs properly.” Markus continued.

“This is so inhuman!!” Jack said from the side.

“They of course receive some money and better food after succeeding their missions though. Many of the carriers who worked excessively well are then promoted to the post of bodyguards or some other reliable post.” Markus replied, describing the dark side of the Imperial Nation without even batting an eyelid.

“Never knew the professor would fall down to such levels!” Harry said with hatred, feeling sad for those poor workers.

“What about you?” Kizy asked, turning their attention back to Markus.

“I was made to do the same. I had a mask on all the time, hence no one could recognize me. I acted to go against them for five days before eventually giving up-” Markus was still speaking when Kizy spoke up.

“Did they hit you?” She asked, her voice turning ice cold.

“That was a part of the act. If I had accepted my fate that easily, then the guards would have doubted me later on. So I had to get beaten.” Markus said in a gentle voice, knowing Kizy must be feeling guilty about it.

“None of them is gonna live long.” Kizy said, or more like promised herself, sure to avenge her husband.

“Of course not. Anyways, I acted as if I barely passed my trial mission. Hence they had allotted more than necessary men for my first mission. And that was exactly what I wanted. I successfully completed my mission so that out of so many men, at least someone would inform the higher-ups.

In fact after that, I was quick to take mission after mission, while befriending many poor workers in between.

That’s when I came to know that this professor has secretly grown himself a land on which he cultivates these drugs as well as poisonous plants.

And out of the many poor workers that are brought here, a lot of them die under his hand as a part of his poisonous experiments.

The worst part is yet to come though..” Markus said, making all of their heartbeats race.

“What can be worse than this?” Rose asked.

“Those men are buried in those secret grounds and their dead bodies are used as fertilizers for those poisons.” Markus said and paused, letting all of them digest the cruelty this world had to present.

“I never imagined that he was such a psycho through and through!” Harry exclaimed while Jason and Victor were just silently listening to this information, taking in everything.

They could imagine the amount of blood and gore that was happening behind the curtains in the Imperial Nation. And though they had already predicated how inhuman the Professor was, Markus’s first hand experience had truly shocked them to the core.

“It took me seventeen days to catch a glimpse of that psycho for the first time since I arrived there.

He was out on a round to keep a check on workers. That day I decided to lay low and not catch his attention this soon.

But on the twenty-first day, a body guard came to me, ordering me to go and meet a man who was waiting at the gates.

And true to my expectation, he was the head of bodyguards, ready with a good proposal for me.” Markus paused.

“That means you finally managed to catch their attention.” Nicole said.

“Yeah. He told me that I was supposed to leave the place I was staying the very next morning and shift to the place where bodyguards stayed.

I just nodded and left when he told me too. I continued to work a little that day and ultimately went back to the hall where we stayed, thirty people in one single room.

As usual I did my normal routine, cleaned myself up and went to my spot. I started packing my bag, though it wasn’t much to begin with. I was busy with my chores when suddenly a man approached me. But I wasn’t expecting him to say the next part…” Markus paused, surprising others with the information he was about to share.

———————-

Sorry but will only be posting a single rushed chapter today. Had some major surgeries and a real busy day! Though I wrote it a little longer than usual – 1.5k words. Don’t forget to comment and vote with powertones and golden tickets. Have a wonderful day ahead!!

– Kizy