Chapter 930

Twelve-year-old birthday... sudden brain illness?

He vaguely sensed something, but still couldn’t pierce the last layer of paper—he could only note down this clue and frowned:

“But we did indeed bind... help Princess Philia escape Prince Andre’s control.”

“After we rescued her, she told us the entire royal family of Krok Kingdom had been murdered by Prince Andre, their brains extracted and turned into Atphi substrates—I even obtained one.”

As he spoke, Leon wiped his cufflink, retrieving Atphi-128, then slashed its shell open with the [Cutting Silver Dagger], prying open a small gap to reveal the brain encased in transparent gel.

“Look.”

He passed Atphi-128 to the scruffy man, letting him examine the interior, then continued:

“After learning of the Krok royal family’s fate, I immediately cut open this substrate and checked inside—I confirmed there was indeed a living brain, and it was unmistakably from the Krok royal family.”

As he spoke, Leon forced down his nausea and sliced open the gel-wrapped brain, exposing its clearly abnormal internal structure.

“Though I don’t understand brain anatomy, according to her account, the Krok royal family’s brains differ from ordinary people’s—these regions are abnormally developed, several times larger, even more.”

He pointed his blade tip at the brain’s peculiar zones, letting the scruffy man observe, then pressed the incision shut, smoothing the cut with his fingertip, restoring Atphi-128 to its original state, and frowned:

“Also, to free Philia from control, I briefly opened her brain and removed the implanted data chip—her internal brain structure was indeed very similar to this one.”

“So regardless of whether the information is true or false, she is a member of the Krok royal family—and with this brain inside Atphi-128 as evidence, I believe her account is highly credible.”

“But... but she’s really dead!”

After seeing Leon’s “evidence,” the scruffy man—who had just insisted his information was flawless—was momentarily stunned, muttering in confusion:

“Could it be... she was revived later? But if she was, why didn’t Fein tell me? And I’ve never seen the child reappear...”

Revived again... that child...

Hearing this, it was as if a wall blocking his mind had been shoved aside—Leon finally grasped the elusive insight and asked urgently:

“Mr. Bell, tell me—what was the relationship between Prince Andre and Princess Philia?”

“They were both the Queen’s children, naturally close. Andre was a few years older and always looked after his sister; when Philia was alive, she clung to him dearly.”

“I see... then, does your Sector 1 research zone have any technology capable of reviving the dead?”

“How could that be...”

At Leon’s question, the scruffy man stared blankly:

“Science can’t do everything. Even if the body can be replicated, what about the soul? Even Sector 1’s research on the soul is extremely limited... wait!”

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something, his face twitching as he hissed:

“We don’t have revival tech in Sector 1, but we do have a method to create bodies—last month we achieved a breakthrough, producing over a dozen ‘shell people’—bodies without souls, yet alive.”

Shell people without souls... that fits!

With a hunch forming, Leon paused briefly, then asked again:

“Mr. Bell, when was Atphi created? Did that timeline overlap with Philia’s sudden brain illness?”

“?!!!”

Hearing Leon’s question, the scruffy man froze, then flushed red with anger when he realized what Leon was implying:

“Don’t speak nonsense! Atphi existed long ago!”

“When Fein’s twin sister was still alive, Sector 1 already had the prototype of this technology—though not as advanced as now, its intelligence was already on par with humans. The current Atphi-01 is merely the improved second generation!”

“Understood.”

Leon nodded, then fixed him with a piercing gaze:

“Then when was the improved Atphi-01 created? Did its development coincide with the timing of Philia’s brain illness and death?”

“...”

“Mr. Bell?”

“Timeline-wise... it was very close—about a week after Philia died from her brain illness, the stalled progress on the Atphi-01 project suddenly broke through...”

Realizing the truth might indeed be what Leon suspected, the scruffy man opened his mouth, voice weak:

“But it couldn’t be like that—Fein... he loved Philia dearly. That day, he truly wept uncontrollably, so I think...”

“Mr. Bell, sometimes people lie even to themselves.”

After a moment’s thought, Leon spoke:

“Under pressure, some make decisions they themselves reject, then hide the truth to avoid being abandoned by those around them. His tears may be real—but why he wept is another matter.”

“Also, you might consider the better possibility: the truth may not be so cruel. Perhaps Philia truly suffered a sudden illness, and King Fein chose this path to preserve his daughter.”

“But... if that’s the case...”

“Mr. Bell, the intelligence is still insufficient—everything is still speculation. But some things are nearly certain.”

Interrupting the scruffy man, Leon spoke with deliberate weight amid his conflicted expression:

“More than a decade ago, for some reason, young Princess Philia died; her brain was extracted and, like these substrates, became the core of Atphi-01.”

“Then, over a decade later, Prince Andre, for some reason, slaughtered every member of the royal family, extracted their brains, and turned them into Atphi substrates—giving them the same fate as his sister.”

“After completing all this, he used your Sector 1 technology to recreate Princess Philia, granted her royal treatment, assigned her princess-level guards—as if making up for some regret—and truly treated her as his sister.”

“...”

“Mr. Bell.”

Leon glanced at the silent scruffy man and spoke:

“In my personal judgment, the massacre in the Krok royal family was an act of vengeance by the elder brother.”