Chapter 529: A Dead End
Chapter 529: A Dead End
"The memory decoding is complete, and it's confirmed that the target is correct."
After informing Prince Andre, who was sitting across from her, a woman with a striking resemblance to Felicia but looking much more mature took a sip of coffee and then smiled, saying:
"Dear Andre, can you tell me, Auntie, how you came to think that the target might come into contact with a scholar from Zone 1?"
"That's not important."
After glancing at the woman's face, Prince Andre frowned and said, "Get to work. It's been almost ten hours since the target was contacted, and they should already be back in Sector 3. Your job now is to capture the person and bring Felicia back to me, not sit here leisurely drinking coffee!"
"You're so unlovable..."
At the mention of this, Artifex 00 shook her head, a bit helplessly, and said, "I haven't had coffee in almost thirty years. Can't you let Auntie rest a bit?
Besides, this body creation technology is really impressive. When I was modifying my soul back then, I thought I'd be stuck in a cold machine for the rest of my life. I never imagined I'd have the chance to possess a body again.
Hmm... It's just a pity that this body's tongue is not very good, it's too sensitive to bitter and sweet tastes, and not as accustomed to the flavor of coffee as my original tongue. But considering this body was modified from Felicia's backup body, and children's tongues are a bit more sensitive, it's not a big issue."
"Why are you talking so much nonsense?"
At this, Prince Andre grew impatient and said, "Get to work! I'm not interested in chatting with you!"
"I'm working, I am."
Pouting slightly, Artifex 00 put down her coffee, crossed her arms, and said with dissatisfaction, "Andre, are you being a little disrespectful to me?
"Although you hold the Time and Space Scepter, and I can't defy your orders. But as the developer of Soul Encoding, I can exploit the loopholes in the encoding rules and cause you some trouble.
If you keep treating me this way, what if, during the capture process, I accidentally make a noise and the target escapes? Don't blame Auntie for being careless~"
"..."
That damn woman! She seemed even more troublesome than when she was alive!
Knowing that Artifex 00 was capable of carrying out her threat, Prince Andre could only click his tongue in annoyance and reluctantly agreed, "Fine, I'll be more careful."
"Don't say 'later,' do it now."
Artifex 00 seemed to be in a great mood after gaining the upper hand in the first round of their 'aunt-nephew war.' She put down her coffee cup and smiled, saying, "Come, keep Auntie company for a chat. Tell me, how did you guess that the target would come into contact with a scholar from Zone 1?"
"You better not push it too far!"
"I'm already working, dear nephew."
Artifex 00 lightly tapped her forehead with her fingertip and smiled, "As soon as I received the message, Auntie immediately used information chips to mobilize the troops and sent them to Sector 3 to surround the embassy. The search should have started by now.
Additionally, Auntie has increased the spray of the Adrenaline Neutralizer in Sector 3, activated the Forcefield Stones to disperse the anomaly's power, removed the Sensor that detects special human magnetic fields, and prepared the instruments for analyzing the anomaly's fluctuations. This way, I can ensure your mission won't be delayed.
But the precondition is that you be a good boy and keep Auntie, who's been locked up by you for so many years, company. Otherwise, the outcome might not be so pleasant~"
Damn it!
Artifex 00 was irritating Andre, but he didn't want her to cause any trouble. So, with a frown, he explained, "I've had contact with Leon, the man who abducted Felicia. In my opinion, he's a highly driven individual who wouldn't do anything meaningless.
Given that he couldn’t reach the Scorpion Squad’s director, he didn’t immediately flee or hide but instead immediately attacked Sector 3, kidnapping the Foreign Minister. This proves that Sector 3 must have something he wants, and that this thing might solve the problems he’s facing.
So I checked the Foreign Minister’s reception records and found that when he met with the Foreign Minister, he specifically asked about long-range communication technology and showed great interest in the scholars who invented it.
Connecting these dots, I concluded that he might have locked onto a specific scholar, intending to use that scholar to enter Zone 1 and find Artifex 01’s core component, thereby undermining my control over the kingdom."
"Sounds plausible~"
Artifex 00 nodded upon hearing this, then blinked her eyes and said:
"Since the palace has been sealed by you, and he can’t find it in a short time, you deduced that his target can only be the Zone 1 Research District. So you ordered me to halt the investigation and instead use soul encoding technology to rewrite the scholars who might have come into contact with him, to ensure we can track his whereabouts, right?
Tsk tsk, although your brain isn’t well-suited to become Artifex’s core, it’s quite clever, and you’re also good at reading people. Not bad, not bad at all."
"Are you satisfied yet?"
Faced with Artifex 00’s praise, Prince Andre’s face showed no trace of joy, only impatience. He coldly replied:
"If you’re satisfied, then just get to work and tell me the progress in Sector 3. Have you found the target’s location yet?"
"No."
Artifex 00 sighed deeply, then shrugged helplessly and said:
"The equipment I sent has already scanned the entire Chancellery three times, but we still haven’t found anyone who matches the target. It seems you might have been chasing a phantom~"
"???"
...
It seems Zone 1 Research district really can’t be visited.
Standing on the rooftop of a high-rise building, Lyon sighed in relief as he gazed at the Chancellery, which was surrounded so tightly that not even a drop of water could get through. He was glad he had been cautious.
Behind him, Alger, watching the soldiers with various strange instruments quickly dismantling and investigating, said with a shudder:
"To mobilize so many people and so much equipment would take at least seven or eight hours. Did Mr. Bell get exposed that quickly?"
Lyon shook his head and replied:
"It doesn’t feel like he was exposed, but rather that it’s a trap set for us."
Alger hesitated:
"But Mr. Bell seemed normal, and you said his soul didn’t lie, right?"
"His soul indeed didn’t lie, but that doesn’t mean it’s problem-free."
Lyon sighed and continued:
"Mr. Bell’s soul is somewhat similar to Princess Felicia’s, with a very unique precision. However, this feeling is very faint in his soul, less than one percent of Princess Felicia’s, so I didn’t notice it at first.
But out of curiosity, I asked about an incident from thirty years ago, and he seemed unsure about what expression to show while narrating this ‘nonsense’ behavior. His soul slightly ‘stuttered,’ and if not for that, I might have been deceived too."
(End of Chapter)
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