High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2310: Chapter 531: Lock

The one leading the interrogation was Dylan. Possessing vampire lineage, he naturally has the ability to hypnotize and bewitch, which, when combined with the effects of strong truth serum, made him the best interrogation officer of the Absolution Hunting Team.

”Can you hear me?”

A mechanical voice asked from beneath the cat mask. Though the voice was cold, it carried a bizarre, metallic allure that made Furry Bean, who was frolicking at Zheng Qing’s feet, stretch its neck, droop its ears, and widen its eyes.

”I can hear you.” The captive mumbled in response.

Instead of immediately asking urgent questions, Dylan began with a seemingly unrelated one, ”How many colleges does the First University have?”

”There are four,” the captive replied monotonously, ”Alpha Academy, Jiuyou Academy, Starry Sky Academy, and Atlas Academy.”

”Who are you?”

”Tom Hansen.”

”Is this your shop?”

”Yes... Our family has been brewing and selling wine in the Newcastle area since my great-grandfather’s time.”

”Why is the shop named ’White Crow’?”

”Because I want to become a bit smarter.”

Hearing this, Zheng Qing glanced at Xiao Xiao with some confusion, because the captive’s response was nearly identical to what he had said before the group earlier—under Dylan’s bewitchment and the effect of the truth serum, it was almost impossible for him to cheat.

This made the Hunting Team Leader, who had been on edge, immediately tense up.

If they used methods meant for Black Wizards on an innocent person, they might face complaints later. Even if Danghag wouldn’t cause trouble for such matters, it would still leave a bad record during the practical assessment and the hunting team certification.

”...Why did you attack us?” Dylan, evidently sharing thoughts similar to Zheng Qing, immediately adjusted the priority of his questions.

The captive replied expressionlessly, ”Because you are a Trident Sword hunting team.”

”Why attack a Trident Sword hunting team?” Dylan continued to ask patiently.

”Because the Trident Sword hunting team is bad.”

”How so?”

”Because Trident Sword is a group of deceivers.”

Beneath the cat mask, Zheng Qing slightly frowned, feeling that something was amiss yet unable to pinpoint it. He glanced at others, who seemed to share a hint of doubt in their eyes.

”What have they lied about?” Dylan pursued.

Perhaps due to a lack of subject, this question made the captive’s expression even more confused and bewildered. The interrogation officer had to change the way of asking, ”Why do you say Trident Sword is a group of deceivers?”

The captive replied mechanically, ”Because they lie, they deceive, and they steal.”

At this rate, Zheng Qing felt they wouldn’t get any valuable information even by dawn. Similarly, the Diviner of Absolution also realized this.

”That’s enough.”

Xiao Xiao cut off Dylan’s questioning, touched the mask on his face as though to adjust his glasses, with a voice tinged with contemplation, ”Did anyone feel that there was something wrong with his answers?”

Everyone felt it.

The question was, why were there such problems?

”The truth serum is definitely fine.” Xin Fat Man was the first to vouch for the potion he provided, ”This kind of magic potion isn’t even on the market. When I took it out of the Trident Sword warehouse, I went through more than a dozen procedures and signed a huge stack of application materials... Moreover, the potion’s color and properties match the book’s description perfectly... Don’t believe me? Someone try it! There are a few drops left!”

He held up the small glass bottle containing the transparent liquid.

No one paid attention to his terrible suggestion.

”My bewitchment skill isn’t wrong either,” Dylan, with an ominous look, replied swiftly, ”I saw his eyes, and I can be very sure he was completely under my control just now... The words he spoke came from his heart.”

”But his answers were too short.”

Zheng Qing finally found a suitable term for that strange incongruity, ”’Too short’. Theoretically, under the influence of the truth serum and the bewitchment, he should clearly explain the ins and outs of every question we ask, rather than giving short, abrupt answers like this.”

”You can’t even beat a fart out of him with three sticks, but you can’t say he’s uncooperative.” The Fat Wizard felt the same, and when he said this, he couldn’t help but glance at Blue Bird, then quickly withdrew his gaze.

Blue Bird was leaning against a pillar with his sword, pretending to nap with his eyes closed, showing no interest in joining the discussion, and naturally, wouldn’t notice the Fat Man’s furtive gaze.

”Everyone is right!”

Xiao Xiao snapped his fingers crisply, ”Our potion, bewitchment, and interrogation methods are not wrong, and he didn’t resist... The only possibility is that he is selectively telling the truth.”

”Selective truth?”

Zheng Qing glanced at Xin Fat Man—he often heard this from the fat man because many reports in the ”Beta Town Post” selectively report the truth, often causing the Fat Wizard to rant in the dormitory.

”Are you suggesting he’s locked something in his own mind?” Dylan said softly.

Xiao Xiao nodded slightly, then shook his head.

”It’s not necessarily a lock he’s put in himself.”

The Diviner of Absolution squatted in front of the talisman, staring at the captive’s dazed eyes, seemingly trying to see the truth hidden behind them through those windows to the soul: ”Everyone has witnessed the power of those White Crows earlier. With such a magic level, it’s impossible to withstand the effects of a strong truth serum... If someone doesn’t want certain key information exposed, yet wants to deceive the Alliance’s general interrogation methods... such a level of consciousness sea fog would require a highly skilled master of mind lock and an anti-interrogation master to execute... It might even require the help of a deception master to achieve this.”

”But such measures can handle ordinary investigative methods. If the Trident Sword really wants to dig something out of his mind, he can’t hide for long.” Dylan, who understands many shady tactics of the Alliance due to his family background, said.

”He doesn’t need to hide for long.”

Xiao Xiao, caressing the crystal ball in his arms, closed his eyes at some unknown point: ”If the Alliance wants to acquire intelligence lawfully and legally, they’ll have to take him back through procedures... According to my calculations, during this process, there’s a seventy percent chance he’d die suddenly, and a twenty-nine percent chance he’d become mentally impaired.”

”What about the remaining one percent?”

This time, the Hunting Team’s Diviner was silent for a long, long time.

So long that Zheng Qing began to suspect that the few drops of truth serum poured into the captive’s mouth had begun to wear off.

Xiao Xiao finally spoke, almost whispering, ”The remaining one percent possibility is that a wizard capable of breaking through the fog to retrieve information might not reveal all the information... When their tier is high enough, even demons can become professors, so what does a little illegal experimentation matter?”