Chapter 623: The True Interrogation (Part 2)

"A wise decision."

After bowing slightly to the Director of the Clearance Bureau, the Aquarius Director left his seat and walked slowly toward the massive cage at the center of the hall.

As he drew nearer, the twenty-faced prison formed by thirty brilliant golden beams slowly opened, revealing the true form of the colossal creature within.

"Hssss..."

Accompanied by a strange wail echoing through everyone's soul, the ugly demon, resembling a giant soft-bodied octopus, rapidly "spread out," instantly covering nearly a quarter of the hall.

Immediately afterward, a mouth resembling a nautilus's beak slowly opened, and hundreds of slender tongues, each adorned with purple-red tubercles, twisted like a tangle of strange sea serpents, lashing out toward everyone around.

"Behave!"

At the sound of a sharp command, the Aquarius Director interlaced his fingers and pressed down hard on the spread-out Brain-Eater.

A muffled, thunderous crash rang out—the thirty-meter-tall demon, as if crushed by an impossibly heavy weight, slammed violently onto the floor of the hall, letting out a pained moan.

The Spirit-Suppressing Fork Technique... a secret art exclusive to the Aquarius Line, used solely to subdue imprisoned True Gods.

Watching the Aquarius Director casually press down and forcibly subdue a God-rank Brain-Eater, the Director of the Clearance Bureau narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint trace of admiration flickering in them.

The secret art developed by the first Aquarius was truly formidable: once a True God's authority was sealed, no matter how powerful its physical form, a single gesture could effortlessly suppress it.

The only regret was its high threshold—no one besides this generation's Aquarius had yet mastered it...

A pity.

Watching the Aquarius Director, who had released the Brain-Eater's tongues and now deliberately stepped forward to receive their licks, the Director of the Clearance Bureau couldn't help shaking his head slightly.

If he had merely created anomalies in private, there might still be room for maneuver—but this concerned the safety of the Watch Palace. No matter how gifted this generation's Aquarius was, if the memories extracted proved tainted, his fate would be...

Hm?

Sensing something amiss, the Director of the Clearance Bureau frowned.

When the Brain-Eater had spread out, to prevent the four relocated individuals from being crushed, he had immediately shifted the main platform backward and shielded them behind himself.

Yet these people had not stayed safely behind him—they were craning their necks to peek, and that Clearance Officer named Li Ang had even stealthily reached out and grabbed the God-rank Brain-Eater's rear end.

"Zzz..."

【Encountered... Materialist... Information】

【Name: The Ruminant Memory-Eater (Memory, Corruption)】

【Appearance: Approximately thirty meters in size, a giant demon resembling a soft-bodied squid, identical to a normal adult God-rank Brain-Eater】

【Ability: Memory Reading】

【Cost: None】

【File: A God-rank demon that descended upon the Kingdom of Saeo in the Thousand Sails Sea nine hundred years ago through an accidentally opened Abyssal Rift, causing unimaginable casualties; the Saeo Kingdom's Unmoored Vessel No. 0137 was nearly obliterated by it.】

After ravaging Saeo for three months and devouring nearly one hundred thousand memories, this God-rank Brain-Eater was ultimately captured jointly by the Pisces and Aquarius Divisions of the Clearance Bureau and delivered to the contemporary Taurus Director for modification, its...】

【After a series of procedures, the demon's authority was stripped, its emotions and intellect purged, leaving only the instinct to consume memories. It was preserved as a special anomaly for memory extraction, stored in the underground vaults of the Clearance Bureau headquarters ever since.】

【Evaluation: An exceptionally potent anomaly—its fleshy, spirit-like tentacle tongues can effortlessly penetrate any sentient being's brain, extracting memories by licking its cerebral grooves. Due to its extremely high rank, even True Gods cannot resist its reading...】

【Contamination Level: 59.9】

This thing... is genuinely disgusting... and genuinely deadly!

After secretly touching the God-rank Brain-Eater's rear end and gaining information about it via 【Materialist】, Li Ang felt a chill crawl up his spine.

Leaving aside whether his own "transmigration" memories might be read, just the thought of those slimy, disgusting tongues slithering into his brain and licking around made him want to die.

Watching the clusters of tongues burrow into the Aquarius Director's skull, each purple-red tubercle scraping something out, Li Ang shuddered violently.

If the Aquarius Director wasn't bluffing and truly had a way to deceive them, then the one being licked inside the brain would soon be himself and the Director! And judging by the Aquarius Director's bulging veins and convulsing body, the memory extraction experience must be excruciating...

No! Absolutely not! He must think of a way quickly—ensure the Aquarius Director couldn't use his trick even if he had one!

Looking at the "Corruption" tag in the name 【The Ruminant Memory-Eater】, and recalling 【I Am the Demon】, which could forcibly control 【Corruption】 anomalies, Li Ang clenched his fist tightly, then extended his sinful right hand again, preparing to give the Aquarius Director a double layer of trouble.

But at that moment, a cold voice came from ahead.

"Stop."

Watching Li Ang, who had already touched the Brain-Eater's rear end once and now intended to touch it again, the Director of the Clearance Bureau frowned and asked: "Why are you constantly touching her rear?"

"..."

Man, after it spread out like a sliced-open giant octopus, how the hell did you even tell head from ass?

Suppressing an internal scoff, Li Ang retracted his hand and gave a nervous, "truthful" reply:

"My ability allows me to forcibly obtain partial information about an anomaly through touch. After hearing the Aquarius Director's words, I feared he might cheat during memory extraction, so I wanted to check if this thing had any weaknesses..."

Look for weaknesses in this thing? By you?

Unaware that Li Ang's real goal was to exploit the weakness himself, the Director of the Clearance Bureau studied his eyes, confirmed the truth of his words through some unknown method, then turned away, his tone cold and warning:

Don't bother. At its peak, its power rivaled Olivia's. Even now, stripped of authority, its rank remains nearly equal to that of a True God. You're just a Level-3 Clearance Officer—you can't possibly shake it.

"Well... I've already gleaned some information."

To secure another chance to touch the Brain-Eater's rear end and use 【I Am the Demon】 to sabotage the Aquarius Director, Li Ang had to showcase his value, continuing:

"Its name is 【The Ruminant Memory-Eater】. It was originally a God-rank Brain-Eater that descended upon the Kingdom of Saeo. It was eventually captured jointly by the Pisces and Aquarius Divisions."

"The Taurus Director of nine hundred years ago purged its emotions and memories, removed its memory-digesting organ, and replaced it with the 【Dream Memory Furnace】, which converts memories into dreams."

"Memories it swallows aren't digested—they pass through the 【Dream Memory Furnace】, leave behind a batch of copied dreams, then are regurgitated back..."

At first, when Li Ang began speaking, the Director of the Clearance Bureau was dismissive, even glancing toward the Red-haired Woman, displeased by her unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

But as Li Ang spoke more, especially describing how the Taurus Director of nine hundred years ago had processed the God-rank Brain-Eater, the Director's expression gradually changed.

If this were documented in bureau records, fine—but much of what the boy revealed had no written record at all. Even the Director himself only vaguely knew these details, and Olivia certainly couldn't.

So... he just touched it once, and uncovered all this?

Gazing at Li Ang in awe, sensing his aura, the Director's eyes flickered with sudden understanding.

His contamination level was barely average for a Level-3 Clearance Officer—yet this weakling could forcibly extract intelligence from a True God-rank anomaly while remaining unharmed!

No wonder Olivia and the Taurus Director protected him—he's truly a treasure!

He guessed right: this Director was indeed a pragmatist!

Seeing the Director's gaze, detecting a faint eagerness within, Li Ang promptly stopped speaking, withholding the rest.

The Director, now clearly hooked, couldn't help asking:

"Why stop? What comes next?"

Li Ang hesitated, saying:

"The rest... my power is too weak, and I fear contamination. I only lightly touched it once, and then you stopped me..."

"Then continue!"

Glancing at the Aquarius Director, confirming the memory extraction was proceeding normally without interference, the Director immediately declared:

"Touch it all you want! Touch as long as you can—see how much more you can extract! And don't worry about contamination—I'm right here to block it. No problem will occur!"

Got it! You told me to touch it! If the Aquarius Director gets caught later, don't blame me!

Biting his cheek to suppress a rising grin, Li Ang nodded firmly, activated 【I Am the Demon】, extended his sinful right hand toward the Brain-Eater's rear end, and added cautiously:

"You'll really block it, right?"

"Don't worry—touch away!"

Phew... finally over...

As wave after wave of memories flowed back into his mind through the slimy purple-red tongues, the Aquarius Director gradually regained consciousness and staggered to his feet.

After carefully checking his backup plan and confirming it wouldn't fail, the Aquarius Director—whose brain had nearly boiled from the Brain-Eater's licks—lifted his head with the triumphant smile of a victor, gazing toward the Director of the Clearance Bureau.

Safe! All those years of preparation were worth it—this time, it's flawless!

"Apologies... there was a slight issue. The previous memory extraction is invalid."

"???"

Meeting the Aquarius Director's bewildered stare, the Director of the Clearance Bureau awkwardly explained:

"This thing has existed for over nine hundred years. Though the core, the Dream Memory Furnace, remains intact, it's been severely corroded by the Brain-Eater's stomach acid—the memory extraction wasn't fully successful."

"I checked the dreams it regurgitated and found only a small portion of your memories were copied—insufficient to prove your innocence. So... could you please undergo it again?"

(End of Chapter)