Chapter 222: 221 Using Technology to Counter Magic

Let me try again?

Upon hearing the Director of the Cleanup Bureau's words, the Aquarius Director involuntarily drew a deep breath, feeling as if his brain had boiled over.

If one were to rank the world's pains by severity, the process of a Divine-class Brain-Eating Demon reading memories would certainly rank among the highest.

Each time the long, purplish-red tumor-covered tongue brushed lightly along the grooves of the brain, siphoning away memories bit by bit, the sensation was not only the agony of the self slowly dissolving, but also tangible physical torment.

Completing the entire memory-reading process felt like having hundreds of burning feet, one after another, stomping relentlessly between your legs, all perfectly aimed at a vital spot, kicking nonstop for over ten minutes—no human could endure such pain!

"Impossible! I…"

"I'm sorry, but given this concerns the Watch Palace, please try again."

"And if it still doesn't work the second time?"

"Don't worry—this time, it will definitely work!"

Seeing the Aquarius Director's temples twitching with veins, the Cleanup Bureau Director, who fully understood the agony of the process, offered a slightly apologetic assurance:

"Before you wake up, the Taurus Director has already inspected the Dream Memory Furnace and temporarily patched the corroded parts—this time, there will be no issues!"

Taurus?

Upon hearing the Cleanup Bureau Director's assurance, the Aquarius Director's furious glare finally softened slightly.

As one chosen by the Watch Palace for ascension, the Taurus Director's integrity was unquestionable; even if she stood on the "opposing side," she would never sabotage something like this.

Moreover, the real cause of the Dream Memory Furnace's malfunction might not be the Brain-Eating Demon's stomach acid at all, but rather an error on his own side—after all, the brain inside his skull wasn't original; some glitches were inevitable.

There was no choice—he'd have to endure the reading once more.

Looking at the Director, who spoke apologies with his mouth but whose eyes conveyed absolute refusal, the Aquarius Director ceased his futile resistance, drew a deep breath, and grimly stepped back before the Divine-class Brain-Eating Demon.

……

When he decided to act, he had already anticipated the possibility of memory reading and prepared a solution.

Although the Divine-class Brain-Eating Demon's memory reading could not be resisted, it still relied solely on physical contact to extract memories, with no soul-level techniques involved; swapping in an identical brain would fool its probe.

To withstand memory reading at a critical moment, he swallowed water from the 【Twin Mirror Lake】 and created an identical clone, then killed the clone after preparing it in advance, extracting the clone's brain.

Next, by putting this copied brain into deep sleep and feeding it a dream indistinguishable from reality, he could fabricate nearly flawless false memories.

If memory reading ever became unavoidable, he would use the brain-swap surgery from the Kingdom of Koroak to temporarily implant the fake brain—while not perfectly identical, achieving 95% similarity was entirely feasible.

The only flaw was that the other brain's memories originated from dreams, so the extracted memories lacked authenticity and were fragmented; direct observation might expose them.

Fortunately, the Brain-Eating Demon did not directly output original memories—it reproduced them as dreams via the 【Dream Memory Furnace】, and under the process of dream-to-dream replication, this final 5% deficiency was compensated.

After all, he was the real Aquarius Director; though his brain wasn't original, it was still "his" brain, and the memories within matched his own statements exactly, only slightly blurred—more than enough to deceive.

As for why it failed now… perhaps because the timing was too early?

After glancing toward the Twin Branch Director and receiving confirmation that no one had tampered with anything—it was truly the Dream Memory Furnace's fault—the Aquarius Director silently sighed at his bad luck.

When he underwent the brain-swap surgery at the Twin Branch, the surgeon had said it would take two or three days for the new brain to fully synchronize with the body.

But because the Cleanup Bureau Director had suddenly appeared, the interrogation was moved up by a full day, leaving the newly implanted brain still not fully awakened—hence the incomplete memory extraction.

Fortunately, he had anticipated this possibility, and the Koroak Kingdom surgeon had provided a solution for this exact scenario.

Secretly pressing the thin copper plate embedded in the back of his skull, slightly increasing the current to activate the brain, the Aquarius Director and his fake brain were once again completely submerged beneath hundreds of tumor-covered tongues…

……

Little Li Ang… we might be in trouble…

After reviewing the "partial memories of the Aquarius Director" sent to him, the Red-Haired Director sighed, crushing the sphere containing the memory-dream, and silently apologized to Li Ang in his heart.

Although the Dream Memory Furnace malfunctioned suddenly, leaving only about 5% of the Aquarius Director's memories copied, even that 5% was enough to reveal anomalies.

To crush the Aquarius Director decisively, the Red-Haired Director, Bevrie, and the Twin Branch Director—who had voluntarily provided abundant evidence after learning the situation—had conducted extensive investigations, uncovering nearly 80–90% of his movements.

Yet within this 5% of memories, the Aquarius Director's actual actions differed drastically from the intelligence they had compiled.

So if his guess was correct, the Aquarius Director had likely prepared other backups over the past two or three decades, even found a way to deceive the Divine-class Brain-Eating Demon.

Although the sudden failure of the 【Dream Memory Furnace】 allowed him to evade the first memory reading, after the Taurus Director's repairs, the next reading would certainly work—there was no escaping it, and even Li Ang would be dragged into it.

It was… too hasty of him to initiate the inquiry. If he had prepared more thoroughly, he might not have been so reactive, and at least wouldn't have pulled Li Ang into this…

……

"I just checked—it's running perfectly!"

As the Red-Haired Director fretted over his own insufficient preparation, Li Ang on the main stage pounded his chest, confidently assuring the Cleanup Bureau Director:

"After the Taurus Director's repairs, this device is even more effective than before—normal use is definitely flawless!"

"Good. Let's hope it doesn't fail again."

Having received dual assurances from two "experts," the Cleanup Bureau Director nodded in satisfaction, never suspecting anyone had tampered with it.

Beside him, Li Ang watched his expression, then activated his 【Elite Performer】, subtly adding fuel to the fire:

"Speaking of failure… Director, when I first touched it, the device was perfectly functional—it should have worked normally. The 【Dream Memory Furnace】 may be old, but it's far from broken."

"And I suspect the Taurus Director felt the same—she simply couldn't find any other issue, and you had no time to wait for her to conduct a thorough inspection, so she concluded the furnace was damaged."

Hm?

Hearing Li Ang's reminder, the Cleanup Bureau Director paused slightly, then glanced toward the Taurus Director and noticed she was indeed frowning in deep thought; he mused aloud:

"You mean… the problem might lie with the Aquarius Director?"