Chapter 926

“What did you say? Prince Andre killed the entire royal family?!!!”

Just as Prince Andre boarded the carriage, carrying a thermos box and leaving the Wang Gong, Leon and the others had just completed their preliminary “interrogation” of Philia.

Upon hearing the current state of the Krook royal family from the emerald-eyed girl, every member of the Scorpio Branch’s cleanup crew—alive or dead—was violently shaken, even Leon couldn’t help but narrow his pupils sharply.

Though he had vaguely suspected the fate of the Krook royal family, hearing firsthand confirmation from one of the “participants” still sent a faint shock through Leon’s chest.

After all, the primary objective of this investigation was to ensure the continuation of the Krook royal bloodline, yet among the entire Krook royal family, the only two still considered “alive” were this strange little girl before them—and Prince Andre, the murderer himself.

This was truly…

Without thinking, Leon shook his head slightly, then waved his hand to signal Alger and the others to calm down, before pressing on:

“Then what about you? Why did he kill every member of the royal family but spare you?”

“I… maybe because I’m his sister?”

Feeling that revealing she was Atifey 01 would lead to an even worse fate, the emerald-eyed girl sniffled, tears welling in her eyes, and lied:

“Brother Andre still values family ties, so he… Ah! No! No! Ahaha! Ahahaha! Please stop!”

“Let me remind you once more: lying to me is useless.”

Holding a small clump of freshly plucked wool, Leon gently tickled Philia’s soft, tender foot sole, his expression utterly serious:

“You’d better confess—why he didn’t kill you, and what exactly is going on with your soul!”

“I…”

Struggling to kick her legs twice, yet unable to escape Leon’s grip, Philia shut her eyes in despair and shouted out, as if surrendering:

“I won’t tell you! Even if… Aah! Ahaha! Ahahaha!”

Seeing she had suddenly grown defiant and refused to confess, Leon continued tickling with the wool.

As one of the few great demons, the Black Goat, though now fallen, still possessed wool of superior quality—light, smooth, soft, and densely fine, far beyond ordinary wool—and it was exceptionally effective for tickling the soles of feet.

Before Leon could even scratch a few times, Philia, subjected to this “torture,” let out two shrill yelps, her slender toes curling desperately, squeezing her tender soles into fine horizontal creases.

Her entire body writhed like a frog on its back, her two clean white legs kicking wildly, straining to pull away—but her strength was far too weak to break free from Leon’s iron grip, and she laughed and cried simultaneously:

“You… you tickle! Even if I die of itching… I… Ahaha! Won’t tell you! You… you won’t find out… Waaah! Don’t want you to know… Ahaha!”

She’s surprisingly stubborn…

After tickling her for nearly eight to ten minutes, seeing Philia’s face drenched in sweat, her bangs and side strands plastered to her forehead, yet still refusing to speak, Leon realized he wouldn’t resolve this anytime soon, and reluctantly abandoned this interrogation method, turning to the other cleanup crew members:

“Senior colleagues, do you have any other methods to make her talk?”

“Well… we do have ways to force confessions, but they’re probably unsuitable for her…”

?￠〇

After exchanging glances, the Scorpio Branch cleanup crew members shook their heads in unison and replied helplessly:

“She’s still a member of the Krook royal family, and a child at that. Our methods are too brutal—her body couldn’t withstand them, and her soul is also… unusual, as if governed by its own rules. We don’t know how to handle it.”

So you’re still no help at all?

Leon opened his mouth to respond, sighed, then said nothing—but somehow, he said everything.

Embarrassed by his sigh, the senior cleanup crew members exchanged glances, and Ruben spoke up:

“How about this? Since you can tell whether she’s lying, let’s try guessing as much as we can. If our guesses are close enough, her soul will react—then we won’t need her to speak to learn the truth.”

“But how do we even start guessing?”

Leon spread his hands:

“It’s not impossible, but we need to pose questions first to judge right from wrong. Yet we have almost no information—we don’t even know what to ask.”

“This…”

Hearing this, the Scorpio Branch members fell silent. After a moment, the female cleanup crew member Mo Na seemed to think of something and hesitantly suggested:

“If the problem is lack of information, what if we raid the archives in the 3rd Administrative District? They hold many important records of the Krook Kingdom—maybe they’ll give us some insight.”

“That’s a good suggestion… Let’s go. The vehicle’s here.”

Leon nodded without hesitation, immediately knocked out the emerald-eyed girl glaring at him, slung the barefoot girl over his shoulder, and strode toward the roadside stop.

“We’ve wasted too much time already. Ruben’s ability has expired. We must hurry to the embassy district to pick up our contact—my companion there has found a way into the Wang Gong.”

“After picking them up, we’ll kidnap the Foreign Minister, retrieve the 1st District scholar’s records, and see if we can trace the 1st District through him—and ultimately locate Atifey 01’s true body. The archives are also in the 3rd Administrative District. We can handle all three tasks at once!”

…

The next day.

“Citizens of the Krook Kingdom, this is the morning news broadcast.”

As the sun rose above the orderly horizon, bathing the Krook Kingdom in light, sweet voices poured from metal loudspeakers lining the streets and alleys.

“Yesterday, an attack occurred in the 38th Administrative District. A gang of fugitives from the Olesong Kingdom detonated a homemade weapon, causing massive destruction across the district.”

“Due to the shockwave, neighboring districts—the 2nd Military Industrial Zone and the 9th Production Zone—suffered widespread building collapses, injuring over one hundred fifty civilians.”

“Fortunately, no fatalities occurred. All primary members of the criminal gang have been captured or killed. The three affected districts will reopen within fifteen days…”

“Tch… so noisy…”

Woken by the broadcast outside his window, a man with messy hair and beard grumbled, then climbed out of bed, grabbed his scholar’s robe from the coat rack beside him, and hastily pulled it on, while the sweet voice continued outside.

“Additionally, another gang of fugitives launched an attack on the 3rd Administrative District shortly afterward.”

“They broke into the embassy, kidnapped the Foreign Minister, looted his office, then stormed the archives and stole a large number of precious documents. Their current whereabouts are unknown. Citizens are advised to exercise caution when traveling.”

“The suspected appearance of this criminal gang is as follows: two primary members, the ringleader a young man with black hair and black eyes, handsome features, and a lean but well-proportioned build…”

Wow—two attacks in one day? Things have really gotten restless lately…

After listening to the broadcast, the unkempt middle-aged man shook his head, picked up his razor, and began shaving his beard in front of the mirror.

Fortunately, I’m a scholar from the 1st District—I use the private, non-public access route. I’m unlikely to encounter any criminals… Wait… what the hell is this?

Staring at the smiling man in the mirror, the middle-aged man froze, his eyes widening in shock.

This is impossible—I’m the one looking in the mirror, so why is the reflection a young man with black hair and black eyes? Hmm… black hair, black eyes… why does that feel familiar?