"What did you say? Prince Andre killed the entire royal family?!!!"
Just as Prince Andre climbed into the carriage with a thermal box and left the palace, Leon and others on the other end also completed their preliminary "interrogation" of Feiliya.
After learning the current state of the Crolock royal family from the green-eyed girl, several cleaners from the Scorpio Branch, whether alive or dead, were all greatly shocked. Even Leon couldn’t help but have his pupils constrict.
Although there was some vague speculation about the situation of the Crolock royal family, hearing it confirmed directly from one of the "parties involved," Leon couldn’t help but feel a slight chill in his heart.
It must be understood that the primary objective of this investigation task was to ensure the continuation of the Crolock Kingdom royal bloodline. Currently, the only two who could be considered "alive" in the entire Crolock royal family, apart from the strange little girl in front of him, was the Prince Andre, who was the perpetrator.
Subconsciously shaking his head slightly, Leon gestured for Alger and others to calm down, then continued to ask:
"Then what about you? Why did he kill all the royal family members, except you?"
"I... maybe because I’m his sister?"
Suspecting that revealing her identity as Atifei-01 would lead to an even worse outcome, the green-eyed girl sniffed and, with tears in her eyes, made up a story:
"Brother Andre still values family, so towards me... Hey! Stop! Stop! Ah ha! Hahaha! Stop!"
"I’ll remind you once again, lying in front of me is useless."
Holding a small tuft of freshly plucked wool, Leon scratched the sole of Feiliya’s soft foot and said seriously:
"You better be honest and explain why he didn’t kill you and what’s going on with your soul!"
Futilely kicking her legs twice, but unable to break free from Leon’s grip, Feiliya closed her eyes in despair and shouted defiantly:
"I won’t tell you! Even if... Ouch! Haha! Hahaha!"
Seeing that she had become stubborn, refusing to confess, Leon continued to scratch with the wool.
And the black goat, as one of the great demons, despite its current misfortune, its wool remained of superior quality, lightweight, smooth, soft, and dense, far exceeding that of ordinary wool, making it extremely effective for tickling the soles.
Before Leon had scratched a few more times, the tormented Feiliya screamed twice, her toes curling desperately like scallions, squeezing tiny horizontal folds onto her soft soles.
Her whole body was like a little frog lying belly up, her fair little legs kicking with all her might, trying hard to retreat, but she was too weak to break free from Leon’s iron grip, leaving her to laugh and sob:
"You... you go ahead and tickle! Even if it kills me... I... hahahaha! I’m not telling! You... you’ll never... wah... find out... hahahaha!"
Still quite stubborn...
After tickling for a full seven or eight minutes, seeing Feiliya’s small face covered in sweat, her temples and bangs soaked and sticking in strands on her forehead, but still holding her ground, Leon realized it couldn’t be resolved quickly and had to temporarily abandon this method of coercion, turning to look at the other cleaners.
"Any other methods you seniors can suggest to make her talk?"
"Well... we do have methods to make people talk, but they’re probably not suitable for her..."
Exchanging glances, the cleaners from the Scorpio Branch shook their heads and answered helplessly:
"After all, she’s a member of the Crolock royal family, and a child at that. Our methods are too harsh for her, and her body can’t take it. Moreover, her soul is very... special, it seems to have its own rules. We don’t know how to handle that."
So you can’t help at all?
Receiving their answer, Leon opened and closed his mouth, sighed, but said nothing, though it seemed like he said it all.
The cleaners, feeling a bit embarrassed by his sigh, exchanged a few more glances before Ruben suggested:
"How about this, since you can tell if she’s lying, let’s make more guesses. As long as we get close, her soul will surely react, allowing us to know the reasons without her having to speak."
"The problem is, how to guess?"
Leon spread his hands:
"It’s not impossible, but we need to first propose questions to know whether the conclusions are right or wrong. However, we currently have too little information, not even knowing what questions to ask, so there’s no way to start."
Upon hearing this, the Scorpio Branch members also fell silent. After a while, the female cleaner Mona seemed to think of something and hesitantly suggested:
"If the lack of information is the issue, how about we raid the archives of District 3? There are a lot of important documents of the Crolock Kingdom stored there, maybe they can give us some insight."
"That sounds like a good suggestion... let’s go, the carriage is here."
Nodding, Leon didn’t hesitate for a second, knocked out the green-eyed girl glaring at him, hoisted her with bare feet onto his shoulder, and stepped towards the stop by the street.
"We’ve delayed long enough, and Ruben’s ability has expired. We need to head to the embassy district to pick someone up. My companion left there knows how to find the palace.
Once we have picked up the person, we’ll hijack the foreign minister, find the scholar’s information in District 1, and see if we can locate District 1 through him, and thus find the original body of Atifei-01. Also, the archives are in District 3, so we can handle all three things together!"
"Citizens of the Crolock Kingdom, it is now time for the morning news."
As the sun crested over the orderly horizon, spilling light across the land of the Crolock Kingdom, a sweet broadcasting voice emanated from the metal speakers scattered throughout the streets and alleys.
"Yesterday, an attack occurred in District 38. A group of roving criminals from the Kingdom of Orleson detonated a homemade dangerous weapon. The explosion’s impact caused most of District 38 to be damaged.
The adjoining areas of District 2, the military district, and District 9, the production district, experienced tremors from the explosion, resulting in many buildings collapsing and injuring over one hundred and fifty citizens.
Fortunately, no lives were lost in the incident, and all key members of the criminal group have been either captured or killed. The three affected blocks will reopen within 15 days..."
A disheveled man, with tangled hair and beard, grumbled upon being woken by the broadcast outside and begrudgingly climbed out of bed. He took down the scholar’s robe hanging on the side of the bed and clumsily pulled it over himself while outside, the sweet broadcasting voice continued.
"Moreover, another group of roving criminals launched an attack on District 3 at a slightly later time.
This group of criminals broke into the embassy, kidnapped the foreign minister, ransacked his office, then raided the archives, and took away a large number of precious documents which are now missing. Citizens are advised to exercise caution while going out.
The appearance of the criminal gang is as follows, with two main suspects. The leading culprit is a young man with black hair and black eyes, with handsome features, a well-proportioned but slightly lean physique..."
Wow, two attacks in one day, things are really not settling down lately...
Listening intently to the broadcast, the unkempt middle-aged man shook his head, picked up a razor, and began dealing with his beard in front of the mirror.
Fortunately, I’m a scholar from District 1, using a private pathway that’s not open to the public, unlikely to encounter any criminals... umm... what is this?
Seeing the man smiling at him in the mirror, the middle-aged man’s mind went blank, his eyes widening in surprise.
Dammit, it’s supposed to be me in the mirror, so why is there a young man with black hair and black eyes instead? Hmm... a young man with black hair and black eyes... why does he seem familiar?