Chapter 38 Interrogation

Sirian put on the handcuffs; the man named Dailin sat opposite him, his expression stern.

After being forced to stop by Dailin, Sirian had no time to observe the true appearance of the Confluence City, He’er, before he was taken by these so-called City Guard Bureau personnel into this interrogation room.

After waiting for several hours, Dailin finally pushed open the door and began questioning Sirian.

“Name.”

“Sirian.”

Dailin took notes, asking without lifting his head, “And your surname?”

Sirian was silent for a moment, then said, “I am an orphan. I have no surname, only a given name.”

Dailin looked up at Sirian. There were many such cases in Heer City, and he didn’t dwell on it too much.

“Age.”

“Seventeen.”

Dailin carefully scrutinized Sirian’s appearance. Days of wind, sand, and scorching sun had made Sirian look quite disheveled, but Dailin could still discern the awkwardness of youth.

“Only seventeen? It’s quite impressive that you can survive in the wilderness at your age.”

Dailin’s tone softened a little, no longer as stern as before.

“Are you also an extraordinary individual?”

Sirian admitted it frankly, “Yes, I am a Torchbearer.”

“Where are you from?”

“I was originally traveling with a caravan, but a while ago, we encountered a source energy tide. After that night, I got separated from the caravan members.”

Sirian replied without changing his expression.

He had already prepared these explanations on his way to Heer City.

Then, Sirian retorted, “Are you interrogating me like this because I violated some City-state law?”

“Not at all. Your interrogation is purely for safety considerations.”

Dailin replied, “You are only seventeen, not only a Torchbearer, but you can also survive alone in the wilderness… You even had the spare capacity to bring a dog.”

As he spoke, Dailin glanced at the corner of the interrogation room, where a dirty Big White Dog was lying. It looked like it was curled up asleep, but its ears were constantly perked, eavesdropping on their conversation.

“It’s hard not to suspect whether you’ve been contaminated by Chaos.”

Dailin fiddled with his pen and continued, “As you know, for a City-state standing on the Outer Flame Frontier, the threat of Chaos is imminent.”

Sirian agreed with Dailin, cooperating, “Then how can I prove myself?”

“You don’t need to prove yourself; we have a way to test,” Dailin glanced at his watch. “But my colleague responsible for the testing seems to be busy with something else. We’ll have to wait for her a bit.”

“Alright.”

Sirian waited patiently.

Sirian had always harbored immense curiosity and anticipation for the outside world, but he also deeply understood that the outside world was not a fairy tale. The cruelty of reality would only be a hundred times more severe than Sirian had imagined.

However, this seemed like a good start.

He hadn’t suffered torture, and this man named Dailin showed no obvious hostility towards him; in fact, he seemed quite friendly.

While waiting, Dailin initiated many conversations with Sirian, asking about details of Sirian’s nights in the wilderness, his experiences becoming a Torchbearer, and so on.

Dailin’s questions were to the point, making it much easier for Sirian to lie.

“Sorry, I’m late.”

A tall woman pushed open the iron door of the interrogation room. She had golden curly hair, light makeup on her face, and exuded charm in her every gesture.

“Anya, where have you been?” Dailin frowned when he saw the woman. “Do you know how late you are?”

“I had a date tonight,” Anya raised an eyebrow at Dailin. “He was quite a handsome gentleman. I was so happy I completely lost track of time.”

“Since I’m already late, let’s not waste any more time and just start.”

Anya opened her briefcase, took out a syringe, and casually rolled up Sirian’s sleeve.

“What is this?”

Sirian instinctively pulled back his arm, alert.

Anya shook the syringe. “This is a soul marrow agent, a method we use to detect Chaos contamination.”

She appropriately activated the source energy within her body. Anya’s hands glowed faintly, and beneath the orange-red skin, luminous capillaries could be seen.

Anya was also a Torchbearer, and her rank was clearly higher than Sirian’s.

“If the soul marrow agent is injected into your body and there’s Chaos power present, it will spontaneously combust, burning you from the inside out until you’re just an empty shell.”

Anya plunged the needle into Sirian’s vein.

“But if you’re not contaminated, nothing will happen. The agent will metabolize within a week, and even if there are adverse reactions, it’s just a bit of nausea, which can be relieved by drinking more hot water.”

Sirian responded, “I am also a Torchbearer.”

“So?” Anya retorted, “Do you think Torchbearers can’t be contaminated?”

The image of a Deathbird flashed through Sirian’s eyes, and a piece of history emerged in his mind… the Year of Rebellion.

“On the contrary, a Torchbearer, once contaminated, becomes even more dangerous.”

Anya’s smile vanished, her gaze sharp. “Because of their identity as Torchbearers and the soul marrow within them, the public easily trusts them, thereby lowering their guard.”

“Alright.” Anya pulled out the needle. “Now, activate the source energy within your body.”

Sirian didn’t immediately follow Anya’s instructions, asking curiously, “If I am contaminated by Chaos, what will you do?”

Anya paused, then covered her mouth and chuckled.

“You, what a silly question.”

Anya gently stroked Sirian’s dirty hair. “Of course, we’ll kill you. What else, throw you out?”

Dailin nodded in agreement. “Typically, I would twist your neck before you spontaneously combust, which would certainly alleviate your suffering before death.”

“Afterward, this interrogation room will be quarantined, and specialized personnel will clean up any potential Chaos contamination. Your body will be thrown into the incinerator and thoroughly burned to eliminate any lingering Chaos power.”

Sirian fell into a deeper silence.

Dailin and Anya’s friendly attitude was not meaningless kindness; it was merely the composure that came from absolute control over the situation.

They could laugh and chat with him, and they could just as easily laugh and kill him.

Sirian sighed helplessly, awakening his source energy. The soul marrow burned, and his body temperature rapidly increased.

“He seems to be fine.”

After a period of observation, Anya and Dailin exchanged glances.

Dailin stood up and unlocked Sirian’s shackles.

“Do you check every visitor this way?”

Sirian flexed his wrists, immediately feeling much more relaxed.

Dailin shook his head. “Most visitors arrive in the form of caravans and carry relevant documents from their departure City-state to ensure the caravan’s purity and safety.”

“Visitors like you, traveling alone, are extremely rare.”

At this, Dailin chuckled unconsciously. “When we found you, we almost immediately thought you were a Chaos Follower. Only those madmen would travel alone in the wilderness at night.”

Hearing this, Sirian couldn’t help but feel a surge of fear. “What made you change your minds?”

Dailin tilted his head, looking past Sirian to Bruce curled up in the corner.

“It’s simple. No matter how insane a Chaos Follower is, he wouldn’t bring a dog along.”

Dailin grew more excited as he spoke, his eyes filled with curiosity. “Besides, even if you really were a Chaos Follower, I’d still have to catch you and ask what you’re plotting… and why you’d bring a dog.”

Sirian took a deep breath, covering his face with his hands. He wasn’t feeling ashamed, just unsure what expression to make.

The absurdity of life continued.

Sirian never would have imagined that he would survive for such a ridiculous reason, nor did he expect that someone would relentlessly pursue him for this absurd reason.

“Well, traveling alone in the wilderness, it’s hard not to feel lonely.”

Sirian spoke nonsense with empty eyes. “With a dog for company, at least you can talk, right?”

Dailin paused, looked at Bruce, then at Sirian’s serious expression.

“Talk? To a dog?” Dailin burst into laughter. “Anya, this guy, hahaha!”

Sirian silently clenched his fists, wishing only to leave this godforsaken place quickly and end this strange humiliation.

After three minutes of Dailin’s rambling, Sirian was released from the interrogation room to retrieve his motorcycle and other personal belongings.

Bruce obediently followed behind him, not even wagging his tail.

Dailin and Anya watched Sirian leave. Once his figure disappeared around the corner, the smiling Dailin immediately became serious.

“This Sirian wasn’t telling the truth,” Dailin’s voice was cold. “If he were part of a caravan, he wouldn’t have possibly never seen a soul marrow agent.”

“But he passed the soul marrow agent test, which is enough to prove he’s not a Chaos Follower.” Anya analyzed, “He must have lied about his origins.”

Dailin pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

“Forget it. Visitors are a mixed bag. We can’t thoroughly investigate everyone. As long as they’re not Chaos Followers and pose no clear threat to the City-state, it’s fine.”

He added, “There are more pressing matters, aren’t there?”

Anya opened her briefcase and took out a stack of documents and photos.

“Tonight’s ‘date’ didn’t go well. That gentleman had no redeeming qualities other than being handsome.”

Anya picked up a transparent sealed bag and handed it to Dailin. “It took me a lot of effort to deal with him. This was peeled from his back.”

Dailin took the sealed bag, which contained a bloody piece of skin with a tattoo on it.

A dark, sharp claw drawn with messy lines.

Anya sat wearily in a chair, picked up a mirror, and reapplied her makeup.

“The Chaos Followers have become active again in Heer City. I thought Reverse Falcon had wiped them out decades ago.”

Dailin put the sealed bag back into the briefcase, muttering, “Chaos is like a natural phenomenon. Do you think you can kill a tsunami or an earthquake?”

“No matter how many times you defeat them, they always return.”

Dailin paused, sighing, “But in this crazy era, a madman traveling with a dog is something I’ve never seen before.”

Anya chuckled a few times. “You go ahead. I’ll tidy up here.”

“Alright, thank you. I need to take this to the archive room.”

Dailin tidied Anya’s briefcase and left, pushing the door open.

Only Anya remained in the interrogation room. After a moment of silence, Anya’s gaze gradually became fervent, and she swallowed dryly.

Anya lowered her head; an empty syringe lay on the table. A trace of Sirian’s blood remained on the tip of the metal needle.

She picked up the syringe, as if to lick the bloodstain on the needle tip, a repressed sound emanating from her throat.

“Sirian…”