Chapter 1276: Great Arcanist's Inquiry, Passing by Luck

Vengeance Tribunal, Yilisi branch base.

The person from above that Yilisi spoke of arrived much faster than Xia Duo had anticipated; almost as soon as he returned to his room and had not yet rested for a few minutes, he received a notification from Yilisi, telling him to go to the hall—

Someone from above has arrived!

While quickly running through the questions he might be asked in his mind, Xia Duo walked briskly out of his room and arrived at the hall outside where everyone in the branch base socialized.

At this moment, besides Yilisi, there was also a middle-aged male Spellcaster wearing traditional Judgment robes in the hall. Seeing Xia Duo arrive, both of them temporarily stopped their conversation and turned to look at Xia Duo.

"My lords." Xia Duo bowed to both of them simultaneously.

"Maikade, this is Lord Xisi, a Special Investigator from the Internal Affairs Department of the Judgment Division. He is also a Great Arcanist who specializes in Judgment Spells. He has a few questions that require your answers."

"Yes!"

Xia Duo felt a jolt in his heart. He had not expected that the higher-ups would specifically send a Great Arcanist; this indicated that the situation might be dire to such an extent that they would not let even the slightest opportunity slip by.

"Lord Xisi, please feel free to ask any questions you have; Maikade will certainly state the truth."

"The situation is tense, so some unnecessary procedures will be omitted for now. Maikade, I ask you, was that intelligence regarding the Underground Passage truly obtained from a Cormanthor Elf?"

Xisi did not cast any Judgment Spells in front of Xia Duo, but instead directly unfolded a Micro Magic Net, covering the entire area of the hall.

However, Xia Duo was not an ordinary Advanced Rank Mage, but a Senior Arcanist. Seeing this scene, he realized that this Great Arcanist Xisi was not only proficient in Judgment Spells, but should also be proficient in Transmutation.

Being able to judge various pieces of information from the interaction state between the human body and the Magic Net is a lie-detection technique more powerful than ordinary psychic spells.

After all, the mind can be disguised through forms such as hypnosis, prayer, or torture, but the natural changes of the human body are very difficult to control autonomously.

According to Xia Duo's speculation, to completely control the subtle internal changes of the human body, one must integrate the subconscious and the conscious mind, and find the one-to-one correspondence between consciousness and bodily functions.

This is not an easy thing. The latter is fine, as it counts as an incidental effect, but the former—integrating the subconscious and conscious mind—means—

Breathing, heartbeat, visceral peristalsis, hormone secretion, and other bodily functions originally completed automatically by the subconscious are instead all controlled "manually" by oneself.

The difficulty of this can be imagined.

Even Xia Duo had only just touched the threshold of integrating the subconscious and conscious mind, and the time for subsequent completion was far off.

Xia Duo knew he had to respond carefully. One misstep, let alone getting some supplies, could instead backfire and turn himself into a spy.

"Lord Xisi, this news was indeed obtained by me from a Cormanthor Elf."

"Tell me the process!"

What Xia Duo feared most was being asked for details, but he also knew he could not escape being asked for details. Fortunately, he was well-prepared. "My lord, as long as you destroy an Elf's Homeland, they are willing to do anything."

"I am asking you for the specific process; do not waste my time!" A trace of displeasure flashed in Xisi's eyes, and he repeated the question.

"Yes, yes."

Xia Duo knew he could not overact, so he hurriedly explained: "After that Cormanthor Elf's Homeland was destroyed, I appeared before him as a friend. Without much Guidance, he revealed the secrets in his heart, which included that Underground Passage."

This was not a lie, but combined with the previous sentence, it was actually implying to Xisi—that it was Maikade who destroyed the Elf's Homeland, and then disguised himself as the other party's friend to guide the other party to reveal the secrets in their heart.

Logically, this little trick should not be able to deceive an experienced Special Investigator, but the situation was critical now, and Xia Duo was indeed not lying. How could Xisi have imagined that a mere Advanced Rank Mage would dare to take such a risk on this kind of issue!

He had previously mentioned omitting some unnecessary procedures. If it were an ordinary investigator, they would certainly have asked Xia Duo about the time, location, and even every detail of his encounter with the Elf.

But for a Great Arcanist with a busy schedule, as long as it was confirmed that this matter was true, that would be the end of it; as for the details, someone else would come to ask later.

So-called details are two completely different concepts for people of different status.

In fact, even if he needed to face an ordinary investigator who would ask about and record every detail, Xia Duo was prepared. As a former "Drow Assassin," he had indeed destroyed Elf villages, and he just needed to graft the relevant details over.

And most importantly, he had strong resistance to psychic spells; if it were just an ordinary investigator, he would not be worried about being exposed.

Now that a Great Arcanist who could detect lies through physical elements had come, to be honest, Xia Duo was truly a bit panicked.

But fortunately, this Great Arcanist Xisi seemed to be in a hurry to investigate the Underground Passage. After asking two questions about the source of the information, he shifted the focus of the questioning to the Underground Passage itself.

He wanted to obtain the details that were missing when Yilisi reported it.

Regarding this, Xia Duo also answered truthfully, stating everything he knew about the Underground Passage in the Dragonspine Mountains without a single lie.

As for why Maikade could obtain such secret news just by finding a random Elf, Xisi did not ask too much; that was not his job.

After a simple inquiry, he quickly determined that the fact that Maikade obtained the intelligence was not fabricated. As for whether the Underground Passage was as Maikade said, it would require further on-site investigation in the Dragonspine Mountains.

And this was the true purpose of Xisi coming out in person.

……

After Xisi left, Xia Duo was asked by Yilisi not to leave the base for the time being, but at the same time, she promised a reward—

"Lord Xisi's investigation will be completed soon. As long as the existence of the passage is confirmed, you will have made a great contribution. Whether it is returning to the Headquarters base for further study, transferring to another department, or just points, I can make it happen for you! You can think about it in advance now."

"My lord, I would like some Arcane Crystal and High-Grade Mithril to craft Magic Items, is that possible?" Xia Duo asked tentatively.

Hearing this, Yilisi subconsciously frowned. It was not that supplies could not be drawn in advance; after all, regardless of whether the Underground Passage existed, providing intelligence always required a reward, it was just a matter of how much.

Drawing in advance was just drawing in advance; Yilisi, as the branch Supervisor, had this Permission Level. The reason for her hesitation was more for the sake of "Maikade":

"What kind of Magic Items do you need to craft? Is the organization's standard equipment not enough? What you need to do most right now is to rest well. A large-scale search by Cormanthor might come at any time, and it won't be as easy as it is now."

However, despite saying this, Yilisi still did not refuse to provide the supplies.