Chapter 526

“But…”

Looking at the disheveled man in front of him who was visibly anxious, Leon, having successfully reeled him in like a fish, “hesitated” for a moment and then helplessly said:

“Well, we don’t have any other options right now, so we can only temporarily trust you this once…

But let me make one thing clear: our original goal was just to complete the investigation mission and confirm the situation of the Crocodile Royal Family. We weren’t planning to harm you, but if you decide to warn anyone else, don’t blame us!”

“I guarantee I won’t! I swear!”

Seeing that they were still hesitant and unwilling to trust him even after he had chosen to “surrender” himself, the last bit of doubt in the disheveled man’s heart disappeared. After hastily making a solemn vow, he couldn’t help but ask anxiously, “What exactly happened to the royal family? Is His Majesty really dead?”

“About 90% dead.”

Leon sighed and said, “Based on the intelligence we’ve gathered so far, there should only be two members of the entire Crocodile Royal Family left alive. Pretty much all the members with royal blood have had their brains extracted by Prince Andre and turned into Artefact sub-bodies.”

What?!?!

Upon hearing the “truth” from Leon, the disheveled man was struck like lightning, his eyes full of horror as he exclaimed, “Prince Andre… how… how is this possible? This is too absurd! I… I don’t believe it!”

“To be honest, neither do we.”

Leon looked troubled and said, “I understand how you feel. When we first heard this news, we didn’t believe it either. But the source of the information is highly credible, so we decided to try to infiltrate Zone 1 Research Area through you and see if we can verify this message.”

“This…”

Looking at Leon, whose furrowed brows and expression made him seem quite troubled, the disheveled man couldn’t help but clench his fists tightly, falling into deep thought.

Sometimes people are just so contradictory. If Leon had revealed the truth right away and said that the Crocodile Royal Family had been harmed and asked for his help, it would most likely have resulted in suspicion and defense, possibly even being betrayed.

But if they hesitated and didn’t say it outright, letting him ask questions instead, while pretending that they also didn’t believe the news but felt obligated by their duties to take the risk to verify it, the eager-to-know disheveled man would subconsciously think the information was highly credible.

After hesitating for quite some time, the disheveled man, who had initially refused to cooperate, couldn’t help but grit his teeth and lower his voice, saying,

“Where did you get your information?”

“Hm? Why do you want to know that?”

Upon hearing his question, Leon immediately narrowed his eyes, adopting an “alert” attitude, and scrutinized him suspiciously, asking, “Do you know something?”

“I…”

“I’ve been suspicious of you from the start!”

Leon’s expression turned slightly cold as he said suspiciously, “Even though you were kidnapped by us, you’re not worried about your own safety and even voluntarily respond! And you’re asking about such important information… Speak! What’s your relationship with Prince Andre?”

“You’ve misunderstood me!”

Seeing that Leon started to suspect him, the disheveled man couldn’t help but protest,

“I really have nothing to do with Andre! I’m Fein’s man!”

“That’s just what you say! How do I know if it’s true?”

“I…”

Being annoyed by Leon’s “paranoia,” after scratching his head for a while, the disheveled man suddenly brightened up, fumbled around his chest, pulled out a pocket watch, opened the lid, and handed it over.

“Look! This is a photo of Fein and me! It was taken when we graduated from the Second Metal Academy years ago, and I’ve carried it with me ever since!”

“…”

After checking the pocket watch and seeing the photo of two young men standing side by side, smiling brightly inside the cover, Leon raised an eyebrow suspiciously and asked, “Is this photo really you?”

“It’s me!”

“Is that so?”

“Alright… Although the photo doesn’t prove much, I’ll barely believe you this time.”

Reluctantly closing the pocket watch and handing it back, Leon somewhat “unwillingly” explained, “Our source of information is Princess Phelia, who is also the last survivor of the Crocodile Royal Family besides the murderer, Prince Andre.”

“…”

Princess Phelia? Upon hearing Leon’s words, the disheveled man’s expression flickered momentarily, then his pupils shrank sharply, and the muscles on both sides of his cheeks involuntarily twitched. He then forced himself to appear calm and said,

“I see… Then we really need to verify it properly…”

Hmm? He’s doubting me again? Seeing the turbulence returning to the soul of the disheveled man, where distrust appeared once more, Leon couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and bluntly questioned,

“What’s wrong with Princess Phelia? Why does your expression change so strangely when you hear her name?”

“I…”

Not expecting to be caught just by hesitating for a moment, the disheveled man couldn’t help but be startled. Then, hardening his resolve, he said, “Nothing, it’s just… I haven’t met Princess Phelia many times… So…”

“Liar!”

Without hesitation, Leon shouted loudly, interrupting the disheveled man’s words. He stared intently at his face and demanded fiercely, “What’s the problem with Phelia? You’d better explain clearly!”

“This…”

“Mr. Bell, we are cleaners from the Clearing Bureau. If you are really a friend of King Fein, you might have heard him mention us.”

After briefly explaining the work of the cleaners, Leon fixed his gaze on the disheveled man’s eyes and said coldly,

“Normally, we wouldn’t lay a hand on ordinary people, but to protect the royal family of the Crocodile Kingdom, three of our comrades were blown up yesterday, and two were captured. We haven’t heard anything from them yet.

So our emotions aren’t very stable right now, and we can’t guarantee we won’t vent our anger on others. You’d better cooperate with our investigation, tell us everything, or don’t blame us for using force.”

“…”

Feeling his scalp go numb under Leon’s icy stare, the disheveled man couldn’t help but shiver.

And after sneaking a glance at Algernon beside him, who seemed genuinely saddened by the death of his comrades, considering that these two self-proclaimed cleaners probably weren’t enemies of the royal family, the disheveled man gritted his teeth and stuttered,

“It’s not that I don’t want to speak frankly, it’s just… Phelia died over ten years ago, how could she become a ‘survivor’?”

???

Phelia died over ten years ago?

Upon hearing the answer revealed by the disheveled man, this time it was Leon’s turn to be shocked.

The jade-eyed maiden was physically intact, her soul sound, vibrant with life, without a trace of the deathly aura characteristic of a ghost, so even Leon hadn’t considered this possibility. But…

After observing the disheveled man’s soul and confirming that he was telling the truth—at least what he believed to be the truth—Leon couldn’t help but furrow his brows and say,

“Are you sure? Wasn’t it possible that King Fein lied to you? Maybe your friendship wasn’t that deep, so he didn’t tell you the truth?”

“Impossible!”

Seeing Leon actually questioning his friendship with the old king, the disheveled man couldn’t help but angrily retort,

“I saw that child! She suddenly fell ill on her twelfth birthday and passed away shortly after.

Fein loved that daughter dearly. When Phelia died, he didn’t bring a single attendant, ran out of the palace in the middle of the night, came to my house, and cried for a long time. There’s no way that event was fake!”

(End of Chapter)