If it were the Patrol Lu of the past, he wouldn’t have been so tactless as to press his own concerns when the other party was clearly weakened.

  But now, he was different.

  Perhaps because the Oddities and the Heart Seeds were so closely tied to his obsession—the Humanitarian Order and the Creator of Oddity—he had lost his usual composure, acting with an uncharacteristic persistence.

  "It’s just a unique ability of mine," Ma Zao replied, eyeing Patrol Lu warily and offering no further details.

  "An ability…?" Patrol Lu studied her thoughtfully.

  "Did your soul take damage? Is your detention of the Heart Seed temporary, or is it permanent?"

  After a brief moment of contemption, Ma Zao answered, "…The source of this Oddity’s power is still trying to escape. If I were at full strength, I could easily detain it permanently, but in my current state, I can only suppress it for two or three hours at most."

  "Two or three hours, huh… For an interrogation, that’s already more than enough." Patrol Lu let out a sigh before continuing, "Your soul injury—after this, Mount Luo can help you heal. Of course, it will take a long time. Once you’ve recovered, would you be willing to help us capture other Oddities?"

  "This wound was left by a Great Demon. Without a technique of the same level, it cannot be healed," Ma Zao stated calmly.

  "In the terms of your era, unless it is a Great Wuchang, my injury cannot be cured."

  "Great Demon? Great Wuchang?" Patrol Lu frowned.

  I was a little surprised.

  Seeing Ma Zao in much better condition than when we first met, I had assumed her soul injury would gradually heal over time.

  But from what she was saying now, it seemed my assumption was completely off the mark.

  Unfortunately, with Patrol Lu still here, I couldn't ask for more details no matter how concerned I was.

  I would have to wait until ter to discuss it with her in private.

  "By the way, that sword in your hand—it looks a lot like Zhu Shi’s sword." I decided to change the subject.

  "This?" Patrol Lu held up his sword for dispy.

  "This is called the 'Wuchang Sword.' It is a magical weapon granted to those who become Wuchang of Mount Luo. It enhances physical abilities and serves as a symbol of the Wuchang identity. Although I have since transferred to the Patrol division, I was allowed to keep my Wuchang Sword."

  "Once you complete the process of becoming an External Wuchang in Mount Luo, they will also equip you with an 'External Wuchang Sword.' You can look forward to it."

  Hearing that I would receive a magical weapon—especially a sword—I was genuinely excited.

  So I asked, "But earlier, it didn’t seem like you had that sword with you. Where did you take it out from?"

  "The Wuchang Sword can remain hidden under normal circumstances and can be summoned when needed."

  As Patrol Lu spoke, he casually tossed the Wuchang Sword to the side.

  The sharp bde vanished into thin air, dissolving like a wisp of smoke.

  At first, I nodded in understanding, but then a question popped into my mind.

  Wait a minute—if the Wuchang Sword has a built-in concealment function, then why does Zhu Shi always carry his own Wuchang Sword around in a bck guitar case?

  Isn’t that incredibly inconvenient?

  Zhu Shi did not join the conversation about the Wuchang Sword but instead returned to the main topic.

  “We only have two to three hours to deal with the Oddity. Is there really no way for our technology to detain the Heart Seed?”

  “No way,” Patrol Lu shook his head regretfully.

  “To Mount Luo, the Heart Seed is still an unknown technology. Especially with our current conditions here, there’s no way we can figure out how to detain it in just two or three hours.”

  “So that means… we’ll have to kill it after the interrogation,” Zhu Shi said.

  “Then let’s hurry up and start questioning the Shadow Swap Oddity.”

  “Alright.” Patrol Lu sighed once again.

  He stepped up to the Shadow Swap Oddity, who was still struggling to accept reality, and once more pressed the supposed mind-reading, human-skin glove against its head.

  “Let’s test the effectiveness of the tool first,” Patrol Lu said, pointing at me with his free left hand.

  “Just now, why did you attack him first instead of me?”

  The Shadow Swap Oddity tightly shut its eyes and kept its mouth closed.

  However, Patrol Lu merely nodded, then turned to look at me.

  “I see. The reason he attacked you first was that you were restraining him with fire. So he wanted to eliminate you first before making his escape…” He first spoke with understanding, then added with admiration, “I’ve been meaning to say this since earlier—your fmes can actually restrain a target like solid matter. That’s impressive.”

  It seemed the Oddity’s resistance was completely futile.

  “Just a little trick,” I said.

  Normally, even if fmes were shaped like a hand, they wouldn’t be able to grasp objects like an actual hand or even throw things.

  But this was just like when I used fire to create vocal cords earlier in front of Chang’an and Jin Yu.

  Since my fire-element form could make direct contact with objects, all I had to do was mimic my elemental hand with fmes, and I could create the effect of “fmes that can grasp objects.”

  Even the "Firefly" ability showed traces of being modeled after my fire-element form.

  Back when I first developed the "Firefly" skill, I could sense my surroundings through it, but only in a vague manner—I couldn’t perceive colors or hear the sounds around me.

  It was only after I learned elementalization that this became possible.

  In my fire-element form, I was essentially a mass of condensed fmes and shouldn’t have had normal vision or hearing.

  Yet, I could still see and hear just fine.

  After transferring this effect to "Firefly," the sensory feedback it provided also included visual images and sounds.

  Modern technology has a branch called "bionics," which achieves incredible feats by imitating biological functions—one of the most famous examples being radar technology, which was inspired by bats' echolocation.

  I’m not sure if this is the right way to put it, but perhaps my abilities could also be considered a form of bionics.

  The only difference is that the biological model I’m imitating is my own fire-element form.

  Patrol Lu accepted my expnation for now and then focused on interrogating the Shadow Swap Oddity.

  A normal interrogation would typically involve psychological pressure and mind games, but as a Patrol of Mount Luo, Patrol Lu's methods were much more direct and forceful—he could simply use magic to compel the subject to tell the truth.

  At first, I considered whether I should temporarily return the Bck Rope Heartlock Ring to Patrol Lu, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

  He could achieve the same effect with his own magic.

  His right hand, gripping the Shadow Swap Oddity’s head, emitted a faintly twisted aura that seeped directly into the target’s skull.

  The Oddity’s eyes went bnk, unable to even maintain silence—he could only spill information like pouring beans from a jar.

  The legendary truth serum might still cause mental confusion, leaving the subject in a half-dreaming state where their words made little sense.

  But in this case, the Shadow Swap Oddity spoke clearly and coherently.

  Apart from the deep resistance in his expression, he was otherwise entirely cooperative.

  I expected Patrol Lu to immediately ask about the Humanity Division and the Creator of Oddity, but once he got into interrogation mode, he showed remarkable patience.

  He began with more foundational questions—how the Shadow Swap Oddity became what he was and his motives for committing crimes—before moving on to the more critical subjects.

  I might understand why he was doing this.

  In the past, while browsing the internet, I occasionally saw people mockingly respond to a question with, "Why not just search it on Baidu?" *Baidu is china Search Engine like google

  Most of the time, this kind of ridicule wasn't entirely unreasonable, but in some cases, it was simply unfair.

  It’s not that using a search engine is difficult.

  Many people have likely experienced this: they know what they want to look up but don’t know how to phrase their query.

  As a result, even with a search engine, they struggle to find the information they need.

  This issue is especially pronounced in specialized fields—if the person asking the question cks the necessary background knowledge, they may not even be able to accurately describe what they’re looking for.

  Interrogation, in a way, shares a simir challenge.

  Simply having the ability to force someone to answer doesn't guarantee success—"asking the right questions" is a far more intricate skill than many people realize.

  Right now, Patrol Lu was likely gathering preliminary information from the Shadow Swap Oddity to refine his approach for the more crucial questions ter.

  “Damn it…”

  The Shadow Swap Oddity's face was filled with resistance, yet he remained utterly unable to control himself, forced to reveal his past with unbearable humiliation.

  And his words completely shattered my previous impression of him.

  According to Jin Yu’s description, before becoming an Oddity, he was once a figure who navigated the underground world, ter undergoing a "clean" transformation and successfully rising to high society as a successful entrepreneur.

  At first, I saw him the same way.

  However, in his own eyes, he was never a successful person—he was nothing more than a dog without dignity.

  All of this was because of his past.

  The future is uncertain, but the past is unshakable.

  The so-called "clean transformation" is nothing more than a fool’s dream.

  The past is not something one can simply leave behind, nor can past actions be undone.

  Once someone steps into the foul, stinking swamp of filth, even if they manage to crawl onto dry nd, the stains will remain with them forever.

  Onlookers will always remember and point fingers at those who once wallowed in the dirt.

  He was once a young man struggling to make a name for himself in the city, and after "cleaning up" and becoming a businessman, he acquired great wealth.

  Yet, he remained ambitious, determined to become a true member of the city's upper css.

  However, things did not turn out as he had dreamed.

  He was never truly accepted by the upper css.

  On the contrary, the things he had done during his gang days became leverage for the local elites to control him.

  They welcomed him into high society not as an equal, but merely as a useful "tool."

  Before becoming an Oddity, he appeared to stand on equal footing with the elites, but in reality, he held the lowest position in their circle—subject to their whims, ordered around, and exploited for his value.

  Then, three months ago, he met a man wearing a silver mask.

  Support me on paetron : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz