Chapter 544

Staring at Apheta 00, who had taken over the queen’s body, Leon couldn’t help but a trace of understanding flickering in his eyes.

No wonder my luck was so good; I just entered the preservation hall and stumbled upon a little theater about the truth from back then—it was specifically shown to me.

“Good enough.”

After giving an ambiguous nod, Leon gazed at the gentle-smiling ‘queen’ and asked:

“Does Andre know about what you just showed me?”

“Of course not.”

The queen—or rather, Apheta 00—smiled and replied:

“Although Phelia’s computational power is much stronger than mine, souls and memories aren’t something that can be handled with just computational power. As the developer of soul encoding technology, it wasn’t difficult for me to hide a few things from my own ‘work.’”

“I see… So your relationship with Prince Andre is even worse than I imagined.”

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Leon said:

“You hid this past just so you could use it against him when the time came?”

“Don’t put it so harshly.”

Apheta 00 smiled and replied: “I am still Andre’s aunt after all. Maybe I was just worried the kid would break down, so I didn’t want to tell him the truth?”

“…”

Yeah right…

Leon rolled his eyes internally and didn’t continue the conversation. Instead, he began pondering the implications behind this hidden past.

After all, if what Apheta 00 showed me is true and Prince Andre doesn’t know about it, then the bloodbath in the Crocodile Royal Family was actually a tragic misunderstanding.

Because he couldn’t bear seeing his two children die in agony, the old king decided to sacrifice one to save the other. And because he didn’t want Andre to live with the guilt of “sacrificing his sister to survive,” he chose to keep the truth hidden from him.

But in Andre’s eyes, the entire Crocodile Royal Family had gone mad, pressuring the old king to sacrifice his twelve-year-old sister to solve the kingdom’s crisis. His parents didn’t protect Phelia—they gave the order, one silently agreeing, and on her birthday, they extracted her brain while she was still alive, turning her into a cold machine.

To be honest, if it were me, I’d probably go insane too.

From the perspective of another big brother obsessed with his younger sister, after putting myself in Andre’s shoes, Leon couldn’t help but shake his head slightly, beginning to understand the reasons behind his actions.

King Fein and his wife didn’t want Andre to live burdened by guilt, but from the result, this choice stole even more from him.

In Andre’s view, if his father could sacrifice his sister for the sake of the kingdom, then he could also sacrifice him. Thus, everything in the past turned into false lies. The happier his original life had been, the deeper the pain cut.

Honestly, if Prince Andre were part of the Uchiha clan, this situation would’ve definitely awakened his Sharingan, and not just three tomoe either. With such a devastating misfortune, who wouldn’t lose their mind?

However, understanding is one thing, but given the current situation, if this information can be used against Andre, I will definitely use it without hesitation.

What understanding? What sympathy? That’s something to think about after the fight. Once he’s dragged out of Zone 1 Research Area and all resistance is neutralized, there’ll be plenty of time to sympathize with him later.

As for whether this piece of intelligence can really be used against Prince Andre…

If it can.

If Prince Andre truly doesn’t know these details, revealing this “truth” from the past will indeed cause significant psychological damage, but the outcome might not necessarily favor us.

Considering the ancestors of the Crocodile Royal Family were extremely powerful cleaners, if Prince Andre suffers a mental breakdown, there’s a high possibility he could create anomalous items like Joshua in the future.

If instead of breaking down, he goes completely berserk and unleashes his full potential, we’d be throwing stones at our own heads. Revealing the truth of the past to Andre might not be wise. This piece of intelligence isn’t as impactful as it seems…

At this point, Leon glanced at the “queen” before him and proactively asked:

“Apheta… I’ll just call you Apheta directly. There’s something I’m curious about. Can you answer me?”

“Speak up, but whether or not I can answer depends on your question. If you ask about Andre’s trump cards, I definitely won’t say anything.”

“Relax, I’m not asking about his trump cards. I want to ask about what happened back then.”

Gazing into the emerald green eyes of the “queen,” which resembled Phelia’s, Leon asked deliberately:

“Were Andre and Phelia really ‘ill’ back then?”

“…”

“What do you mean?”

After a brief silence, the smile on the “queen’s” lips faded slightly, and she frowned: “I already showed you everything that happened. Except for Fein’s actions, which were simulated since her brain was removed, all the memories related to those events are real. I didn’t fabricate any of them.”

“I’m not questioning if you fabricated them.”

Leon shook his head and pressed on: “I’m questioning whether King Fein received accurate information. Could someone have tampered with things secretly to create a mech ten times more powerful?”

“Are you implying that the illness of Andre and Phelia was fabricated by me?”

Upon hearing Leon’s words, the expression on the “queen’s” face turned cold, and she glared disapprovingly:

“Don’t get carried away. Our Crocodile Kingdom has extensive research on brains, with over three hundred scholars contributing significantly in this field. If I tampered with anything, wouldn’t Fein have sought confirmation from others?”

“There are many scholars who understand the brain, but back then, you were the only mech. Moreover, the brains of the Crocodile Royal Family differ greatly from ordinary people, so it’s possible those scholars were deceived.”

Looking at the “queen” glaring fiercely at him, with anger lurking in her expression, Leon summarized: “So the possibility that you tampered with things in this matter isn’t zero, right?”

“…”

“Or, let me put it more bluntly.”

Leon slowed his speech and continued, staring intently into its eyes:

“The important thing isn’t the truth itself but what Prince Andre is willing to believe.

On one side, he mistakenly killed his family and kin himself, making him the biggest mistake, and he wouldn’t even know where to seek revenge. On the other side, someone plotted a conspiracy, deliberately using his hands to create this tragedy, leaving at least a black hand to retaliate against… Which one do you think he’d choose to believe?”

“…”

Definitely the second one… And if Andre knew this “truth,” he would likely destroy me immediately!

Faced with Leon’s relentless pressure, the playful and carefree demeanor disappeared from the “queen’s” face. Regretting contacting Leon in the first place, she couldn’t help but frown and questioned: “What exactly do you want!”

“Of course, I want a deeper cooperation with you.”

Leon maintained his composure and said:

“I don’t need a fence-sitter swaying in the wind; I need your more thorough, unrestrained support… Apheta, you don’t want your dear nephew to find out the truth about that event, do you?”

(End of Chapter)