Chapter 931

Indeed...

Upon hearing this, the scruffy man lowered his head, his expression growing increasingly complex.

I remember when Andre was a child, he was a lively and cheerful boy, but after Philia died, he became increasingly silent and withdrawn, spending years shut away from the world.

Fein’s temper gradually grew erratic; after the death of the Crown Prince, he became even more volatile and irritable, distancing himself from me as a friend and even speaking to me with outright hostility—all these changes seem to have begun with Philia’s death from a brain illness.

If Philia didn’t die of a brain illness but was... murdered, then all the inexplicable details suddenly make sense.

Andre’s motive for slaughtering the royal family was to avenge his murdered sister, and the one who originally approved the decision to let Philia be killed could only have been Fein, the king himself...

“Mr. Bell.”

After glancing at the scruffy man’s pained expression, Li Ang spoke to comfort him:

“All of this is still just our speculation—it may not be as extreme as we fear. Whether we can uncover what truly happened back then depends on whether you can get us into Research Zone One.”

“I’ll do it.”

Hearing Li Ang’s words, the scruffy man snapped back to himself, clenched his fists tightly, then asked Zhudong :

“What was your original plan? To control me and follow me all the way there?”

“Yes.”

“Then you won’t even get past the first checkpoint.”

After giving his assessment, the scruffy man said seriously:

“Even if you have a way to make yourselves invisible, most of Zone One’s core facilities are underground, and the vertical shafts leading down can only accommodate one person at a time—there’s only one spot, and no amount of forcing will squeeze in another.”

“Even if you somehow get underground and break through the monolithic inner walls, Zone One still has a whole array of detection systems—trigger any one of them, and the alarm will sound immediately; all areas will seal themselves off, split into over twenty smaller zones, then be relocated separately.”

“Is that so...”

Li Ang raised his eyebrows slightly, then politely asked:

“Then what do you suggest we do?”

“In my opinion, you should just give up on entering Zone One entirely.”

The scruffy man said:

“You Cleaners have many special abilities—some so miraculous they defy scientific laws—but Zone One’s detection systems are astonishingly numerous: heat, scent, magnetic fields, abnormal fluctuations, brainwave signatures... just the ones I know of exceed twenty types.”

“And because past incidents involved Cleaners infiltrating, there are also specialized technologies designed specifically for you—no matter how strange your abilities are, as long as you’re not hiding in another dimension and still need to physically enter Zone One, there will always be a moment you can’t hide.”

“Moreover, the positions of these detectors aren’t fixed—they’re rotated irregularly and guarded by dedicated personnel; any suspected damage or signal loss triggers an immediate investigation.”

Not... even though I knew Zone One was important, this level of security is insane—don’t you find it a hassle?

Blinking in disbelief, Li Ang couldn’t help asking:

“Can I ask—what exactly did that previous Cleaner do to provoke such extreme defenses?”

“That Cleaner...”

At Li Ang’s question, the scruffy man’s lips twitched, then he said with a strange expression:

“It was about thirty years ago. He heard Zone One was researching bodily reconstruction, broke in, kidnapped forty scholars of Level Three or higher, and demanded we resurrect his dog—or else he’d burn all our research data.”

“...”

What an absolute genius...

Though Li Ang knew this wasn’t the time to ask, the absurdity of the situation made him press:

“And what happened after? Did you bring his dog back to life?”

“Precisely because we couldn’t, we’re now this paranoid—afraid someone else will break in!”

The scruffy man said, visibly exasperated:

“To get rid of her, we spent two full weeks working nonstop—even built her an identical dog, down to the missing tip of the tail.”

“But she still wasn’t satisfied. She caused a massive scene—though she never actually destroyed the data, she tormented the kidnapped scholars terribly before your Cleaners finally dragged her away.”

Good grief...

After hearing the previous Cleaner’s absurd antics, Li Ang winced, struggling to keep his composure.

He never imagined that a Cleaner’s rampage thirty years ago would make his own mission today so difficult—previous generations cut down the tree, and now he’s left baking under the sun.

And after that incident, Zone One learned its lesson and cranked its security to maximum—so with just my [Secretive Tail], I might not even get in...

After frowning in thought for a moment, Li Ang glanced at the scruffy man and said thoughtfully:

“Then, Mr. Bell—if Zone One is too hard to enter, what do you suggest...?”

“My suggestion is this: if you need intelligence, I’ll go get it for you.”

The scruffy man clenched his fists, his face resolute as he proposed:

“No matter what really happened back then, Fein was my friend. If he was murdered, I must find out the truth!”

“Think carefully.”

Looking at the scruffy man, Li Ang warned:

“Mr. Bell, this is extremely dangerous. If you’re discovered during your investigation and we’re not with you, we won’t be able to protect you.”

“I don’t care—I’m not afraid of death!”

The scruffy man gritted his teeth; beads of sweat broke out on his streaked temples from tension, yet he declared firmly:

“If it weren’t for Fein pulling me up back then, I’d have spent my whole life as a poor student with no chance to fulfill my ambitions. If I die because I helped you investigate, then I’ll have repaid my debt to him!”

“Alright.”

Seeing the scruffy man’s unwavering resolve, Li Ang sighed and accepted his offer, then signaled Arger to withdraw the threads from the man’s body, adding with quiet admiration:

“Mr. Bell, for the next three days, we’ll be hiding in the embassy in Administrative Zone Three. If you find anything, go there to find us.”

“Got it!”

As the scruffy man nodded firmly, the hovering vehicle began slowing as it neared its destination. Once it stopped completely, he stepped out expressionlessly and, under Li Ang’s and Arger’s watch, entered the vertical shaft leading to Zone One.

“Ding...”

As the access chime sounded, the single-person passage before him opened. He stepped in with resolute expression—then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed with a thud.

Simultaneously, on the central control panel in Zone One’s main hall, a small red light flickered on, then blinked several times in a specific rhythm. The operator staring intently at the indicator immediately sprang to his feet.

“Subject 9’s brain activity abnormal—likely in close contact with the target!”