Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength
Chapter 175 - 174 Inquiry

Chapter 175: Chapter 174 Inquiry

Clatter, clatter, clatter—

In a pitch-dark consciousness, a piercing and shrill wooden clattering noise came from ahead.

It awakened Morris, who had previously lost consciousness.

What had he been doing before?

That’s right, he had been hired by Mr. Everton to serve as a guard at the exhibition on the outskirts of Greenwich.

Then...

"Hiss—"

Taking in a sharp breath, Morris, now fully alert, recalled the scene he had witnessed earlier.

This morning, he had been stationed as usual on the first floor of the exhibition venue.

But soon after Mr. Ronald Adler arrived, a fierce black fog had engulfed his surroundings like a flood.

Corridors, halls, rooftops...

There was absolutely no place to escape as far as the eye could see.

In his haste, he tried to cast a spell for defense, but the spell failed to stop the overwhelming black fog, and he quickly lost consciousness in the process.

So...

What was happening now?

Struggling to lift his heavy head, Morris saw the source of the sound that had awakened his consciousness.

—Ronald.

Ronald Adler, nominally responsible for protecting the exhibition.

At this moment, he walked out of the unfathomably deep black fog, dragging the backrest of a chair with one hand.

The man who spoke not a word as he passed.

Around him, the dangerous-feeling black fog that had suddenly taken his consciousness, now lay prostrate at Ronald’s feet like jesters welcoming a king, parting to either side as he advanced.

He steadily walked into the center of the hall, the last area not shrouded by the black fog.

Ronald positioned the chair in front of everyone and sat down coolly.

In the midst of the black fog, only a lantern placed on the ground provided light.

The lantern cast a shadow over Ronald’s face and, combined with the surrounding black fog, a chilling atmosphere abruptly arose.

Then, he spoke:

"Sorry, but I need to inconvenience everyone for a bit."

"I need to ask everyone some questions, please stay silent if it’s not your turn to answer..."

"Ronald, have you gone mad?"

Suddenly, a voice filled with fear rang out:

"Why are you attacking us?"

"Do you really intend to betray us, ’Ginkgo Leaf’? Do you realize what you’re doing?"

Morris turned his head and saw the man daring to roar in anger at the moment.

It was Mr. Everton’s confidant, Mr. Hansen.

That was it.

Morris was now completely sober and aware.

He also realized how dire the situation had become.

Around an empty space in the hall, all the staff of the exhibition were tied to chairs, arranged in a circle, with their heads exposed and the rest of their bodies enveloped in thick black fog.

If that had been all.

If not for the fact that Hansen, who now only dared to vent in anger, was a mystical side member like Morris himself, who would quietly try to use spells to break free from the constraints.

But he dared not!

It wasn’t just Morris; everyone present did not dare to make any rash moves.

After all...

The glaring blade was pointed right in front of them.

The black fog enveloping everyone was also controlling sharp knives, positioned right by their sides.

The black fog nearly touched everyone’s skin.

Any small movement would likely be detected in the next second.

The result of which went without saying!

"Ahem—"

At that moment, Ronald coughed lightly.

Then, he straightforwardly said:

"Let me get straight to the point."

"Among those present, there is a traitor."

"He murdered Mr. Kevin last night and then stole an important item, which is why I have taken control of everyone here."

"..."

Ronald’s words fell, and the pitch-black hall fell into dead silence.

Although everyone present was scared, they also understood that Ronald, who held their lives in his hands, had no need to deceive them.

If this matter could not be resolved,

not to mention Ronald in front of them, Everton would definitely dismiss them afterward.

For all the staff at the exhibition,

—this was absolutely unacceptable!

Seeing that everyone silently consented to his statement, Ronald nodded in satisfaction:

"Then, please answer my questions next."

"Please don’t be too panicked."

Smack—

Immediately, Ronald gently clapped his hands.

"Let’s start from left to right, each one of you state the last time and place you saw Mr. Kevin."

After saying this, Ronald smiled slightly:

"Oh, a friendly reminder."

"I used to work at the investigation bureau, and I suppose you all know about a certain spell that can differentiate lies, right?"

"..."

After finishing, Ronald did not urge the crowd.

He simply sat quietly in his chair, waiting.

After nearly two minutes of silence, the first person on the left looked around and finally spoke up:

"I saw Mr. Kevin in the corridor last night while having dinner."

After speaking, he passed the gaze to the second person, who immediately followed:

"I... I also saw him last night during dinner!"

"There were many people there!"

"Mr. Kevin’s death has absolutely nothing to do with me!"

Following that, the next person spoke:

"I saw Mr. Kevin last night during my shift change, he was in the second-floor corridor!"

The next person continued:

"I saw him last night during dinner too, and I’ve been standing guard on the first floor since then!"

Another person said:

"I’m the same as them..."

Such a round of questions brought about a puzzling situation.

Ronald had just checked Kevin’s body, which had died earlier this morning.

But the problem was,

everyone present proved that the last time they saw Kevin was before his death.

Ronald was not bluffing.

He had indeed activated the lie detector ability.

Although each guard’s mindset fluctuated, none of the feedback indicated that "he was lying."

"Hehe—"

Laughing and shaking his head, Ronald continued with some emotion:

"The next thing, each one of you say ’Kevin was not killed by me.’ Not a single word wrong."

This time, Ronald didn’t need to specify the order.

The man on the far left, as if participating in a quiz contest, hurriedly answered:

"Kevin was not killed by me!"

Then, a series of voices rose among them:

"Kevin was not killed by me!"

"Kevin was not killed by me!"

"Kevin..."

After another round of responses, all denied being the murderer, and Ronald still could not detect any lies.

Now this was interesting...

Shortly after receiving ’fraud’ in "Divine Comedy," Ronald had initiated sensory exploration. Unless the murderer was a monster capable of flying at several times the speed of sound, it would be possible to escape from his sensory range in such a short time.

Ronald was confident that "Divine Comedy" would not fail.

So the conclusion was simple.

Someone was lying, and they could pass the lie detector test!