Chapter 152: 151: Clouds of Suspicion (Part Two)

Why would the evaluation of my mental state be a string of question marks?

Reading the text the puppy reflected onto his pupils, Li Ang saw seven question marks after the mental state column and couldn't help but frown slightly.

After receiving the red-haired director's reminder, Li Ang was on his utmost guard. He sat with the two investigators on the right side of the sofa, near the storage cabinet, and secretly sent the puppy to hold a small mirror and slip into the glass of the cabinet's opened glass door.

From where Li Ang was currently sitting, he normally wouldn't be able to see the contents of the investigation form, but with the help of 【Mirror Dog】, every single character the two investigators wrote on the paper was reflected into his pupils without the slightest omission, and the moment that string of question marks was written down, he saw it.

However... although the evaluation of my mental state is a bit strange, his overall evaluation of me seems quite good?

Cooperating with the elderly investigator and answering some not particularly sharp questions, Li Ang watched the dozen or so "Outstanding" and "Excellent" evaluations on the form, and despite the director's earlier reminder to "be careful of this person," his impression of the old investigator kept rising.

Even though he'd first been chased out of the office by the red-haired director, and there'd been some minor friction here, the old investigator remained impartial throughout the questioning, even showing a slight protective bias on some trivial matters—a bearing that was quite admirable.

Compared to the female investigator beside him who had given him a bunch of crosses on the form, loved to make something out of nothing with her questions, kept steering the topic toward the *** Bureau as a whole, and even hinted that she could report on her colleagues, he was incomparably better.

……

"Mr. Li Ang, we've finished our questions. Thank you for your cooperation."

Standing up and giving Li Ang a friendly handshake, the elderly investigator didn't inform him of the results, but left Li Ang's office directly with the silent female investigator.

A moment later, after completely leaving the *** branch's range, the elderly investigator glanced at the female investigator whose expression was rather odd, tugged at the corner of his mouth, and asked with a smile:

"Aisha, what's your take on this person today?"

"……"

The female investigator fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then sighed and said:

"Honestly... he should be a rare good person. Not only is he kind-hearted, he's also careful and meticulous in his work, diligent and honest but not rigid, and he seems quite sharp as well.

Senior Camus, personally speaking, he's practically the ideal template for a Cleaner. It's really a waste for him to stay in a place like the *** Bureau."

"Oh? No wonder you gave him low evaluations—so you were using low scores to help him transfer to a branch with a better environment?"

"Mm."

The female investigator nodded, a hint of admiration in her eyes, and said:

"Senior Camus, according to our previous division of labor, I was responsible for investigating him as a person, while you were responsible for investigating the Rhine Blood Night. Although we exchanged materials before the questioning, some things simply can't be reflected in the documents.

Before joining the *** branch, he was nearly driven to desperation several times because of money. Logically speaking, he should have a fairly strong desire in this regard, but he didn't become a slave to money—even the holy spirit of the Chengjin Sect couldn't control him.

Besides money, his desire for power is also very faint. He was quite resistant to becoming a duke, and tried to escape as soon as his wounds healed. These things can't be faked. He really isn't a person of strong desire. The only thing he seems to truly cherish is the emotional bonds between people.

He's not only extremely good to his family, carefully looking after his younger siblings after his parents' death, he's also in the habit of remembering every kindness shown to him. He even gets along remarkably well with those people at the *** branch. That's truly quite rare."

Hearing the female investigator's words, the elderly investigator seemed to have discovered something interesting and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

The corners of his mouth were naturally upturned, and paired with a pair of kind, crescent-moon eyes and rather deep laugh lines around his eyes and mouth, his smile gave off a very approachable feeling. However...

"Aisha, you've completely misjudged this one."

After shaking his head slightly, the elderly investigator took out his own investigation form and handed it over.

The female investigator took it and looked, shocked to find it covered in glaring red crosses, along with a large number of comments like "Dangerous!", "Must be monitored!", "Recommend strict investigation!"—completely different from the form Li Ang had seen earlier.

"He performed too normally, and in our Cleansing Bureau, the more normal a person appears, the more terrifying they usually are!"

Facing the female investigator's somewhat bewildered gaze, the elderly investigator shook his head and said:

"Cleaners are exposed to contamination from anomalous objects every day, and in mission after mission they constantly witness the most extreme evils of human nature, while also engaging in extremely brutal life-and-death struggles against the many beings that covet this world.

Aisha, remember this—the greatest influence on a person's character and behavior is always their experiences and what they've been through. People doing this kind of work must inevitably drift further and further from the normal range. How could they possibly perform as normally as he does, with such a stable state?"

"But..."

Hearing the elderly investigator's words, the female investigator couldn't help but be stunned, and immediately couldn't resist questioning:

"Could it be... that he hasn't been in the Cleansing Bureau long enough, so he hasn't yet become too..."

"This isn't a matter of how long or how much he's changed, but a certain more 'solid' feeling. Even though he wields power far beyond ordinary people, this person's self-perception hasn't shifted in the slightest.

He still firmly believes he's part of the 'ordinary people,' and genuinely treats the Cleansing Bureau's cleanup work as a job similar to that of a civil servant. This bizarre sense of stability is truly terrifying—just thinking about it a little makes one's hair stand on end."

Pausing here, the elderly investigator thought for a moment, then shook his head again and said:

"Also, he actually didn't appear as normal as he seemed... Do you know? He was peeking at the investigation forms we were writing the entire time."

"Huh?"

"Just like that Sewer Emperor, he also has a pet from the Mirror World. It was lying inside the glass beside us the whole time, peeking. Every single character you wrote was projected into his eyes."

"……"

Watching the female investigator's completely dumbfounded expression, the elderly investigator sighed and began to recount his discoveries in detail.

"Not only that, the Rhine Blood Night can't be separated from him either. I strongly suspect those people weren't actually killed by Bobby Rhine, but by him. Because when I replayed the scene, Bobby Rhine seemed utterly shocked by what happened, his eyes overflowing with despair.

However, this person was extremely meticulous. He didn't expose any flaws throughout. His exchanges with Bobby Rhine and that goat demon both took place in the mental realm, so I had no way of overhearing by replaying the scene.

Even the 【Heart of Ambition】 the Bureau collected was somehow influenced by him—it kept insisting that the one who acted was Bobby Rhine.

Oh, and besides that, I also went to the Secret Investigation Bureau and replayed the situation before and after the Rhine Blood Night, observing his two interrogations of that female rebel. This person... how should I put it... seems to have some kind of innate, strange talent for toying with the human heart..."

After pondering briefly, the elderly investigator said with a serious expression, summarizing:

"In short... he's most likely a madman!"