The Shadow Swap Oddities dispyed a despair unlike before.

  Previously, while he might have intellectually realized that his fate was sealed, emotionally, he still clung to a desire to live.

  But now, even that st bit of will had completely vanished.

  As if all the bones in his body had been extracted, he lost the strength to support himself.

  If not for the fming hand still gripping him, he would have already colpsed to the ground.

  His true form exposed, his escape route cut off, his secrets revealed—now, even his strength was gone.

  He had truly lost all will to live, his face covered in a thick yer of despondency.

  "Sorry, but you'll still have to face the questions ahead." Patrol Lu said coldly.

  "It's time for you to answer us—where is the Creator of Oddities?"

  The Shadow Swap Oddities' lips moved on their own as he said, "I don't know."

  "After you became an Oddities, the Creator of Oddities must have met with you several times for checkups, right?" Patrol Lu said.

  "Have you really never tried to uncover his true identity or origins? Even if you don’t know about the Tribunal, you should at least have some understanding of him. Think carefully! There must be some clues."

  "...I don’t know." The Shadow Swap Oddities replied in a daze.

  Patrol Lu frowned.

  "Does he really have no clues?" I asked.

  "No, that shouldn’t be the case. It’s just that his willingness to think is very low right now. He simply doesn’t have a ready-made answer to my question. He needs to seriously think before he can give me a response… Something like that."

  After pondering for a moment, Patrol Lu spoke to the Shadow Swap Oddities once again.

  This time, he finally seemed to be demonstrating his expertise in interrogation techniques.

  "Don't you want to drag the Creator of Oddities down with you?" he asked.

  "…" Upon hearing this, the Shadow Swap Oddities' expression flickered slightly.

  "You should be well aware that the Creator of Oddities is no different from the nobles who once treated you like a dog or a mere tool," Patrol Lu’s voice took on a subtly persuasive tone.

  "He’s not some benevolent phinthropist. The only reason he granted you power was to use you as nothing more than a test subject."

  "You must have imagined it many times, haven’t you? That one day… you would drag that arrogant man, the one who hides behind his ridiculous metal mask and speaks with such an affected air, down from his pedestal. To make him crawl before you like a dog, repenting for everything he’s done to you…"

  Zhu Shi furrowed her brows, took two steps to the side of Ma Zao, raised her hand slightly, then put it down again.

  It felt as if she wanted to cover Ma Zao’s ears—just like how adults try to shield an innocent child from dark conversations.

  Zhu Shi’s concern for Ma Zao often resembled the way one would care for a child, even though there was only a four- or five-year age gap between them.

  While I also saw Ma Zao as a younger girl, it was difficult to view her purely as a child.

  "If…" the Shadow Swap Oddities finally spoke, "if I cooperate with you, will you let me go?"

  "No, you're dead for sure." Patrol Lu’s voice was as cold as solid ice.

  "Then why should I help you?" the Shadow Swap Oddities retorted.

  "Because in the end, you’ll have the chance to drag that bastard down with you!" Patrol Lu said firmly.

  "Now, I’ll ask you again—where is the Creator of Oddities?"

  "…Probably in the old district." The Shadow Swap Oddities finally spoke the words out loud.

  Although the Truth-Telling Spell likely pyed a role, he was clearly much more forthcoming than before.

  "There’s a pce that looks like a high-end clinic. Every time, he would send me a message two days in advance, instructing me to go there on my own. Once there, he would collect tissue samples from my body and conduct various other tests."

  "But that pce is always desote and covered in dust. He probably only brings people there when necessary."

  "I see. Conducting medical examinations on Oddities would require specialized equipment and a facility to store them… That makes sense." Patrol Lu nodded.

  "So, where exactly is this pce in the old district?"

  The Shadow Swap Oddities shook his head.

  "He pced a seal on my memories. I can only recall the location under specific conditions and at a designated time."

  "What time? What conditions?" Patrol Lu asked.

  "As for the time, it’s the night of my scheduled examination—which happens to be tonight." The Shadow Swap Oddities answered.

  "As for the conditions, I must go to that location alone and cannot reveal it to anyone else."

  Upon hearing this, Patrol Lu’s eyes lit up.

  "So that means the Creator of Oddities will appear there tonight!?"

  "Yes." The Shadow Swap Oddities nodded.

  "Excellent. You mentioned that your memory was sealed… Let me take a look!"

  Patrol Lu kept his grip on the Oddities' head, closed his eyes, and appeared to be reading his thoughts—perhaps even attempting to extract his memories.

  A moment ter, he opened his eyes but remained silent.

  Without a word, he pulled out several white talismans from his robe and pressed them onto the Shadow Swap Oddities’ forehead.

  Then, he closed his eyes again.

  At the same time, his left hand continuously formed intricate hand seals, as if performing a complex and obscure divination.

  After a long while, he furrowed his brows and opened his eyes.

  "It won’t work. The Creator of Oddities didn’t just tamper with his memories—he also set up powerful anti-divination measures in advance. I can’t determine where he’s going."

  "Then what do we do?" Zhu Shi asked.

  "We can’t keep him alive until tonight. The Heart Seed will leave his body before then, and Ma Zao won’t be able to stop it."

  After some thought, Ma Zao spoke up. "I have a way."

  "What way?" Patrol Lu asked immediately.

  "I have an ability simir to divination—I can use it on this Oddities." Ma Zao said.

  She was undoubtedly referring to the ability she had used earlier to trace the Shadow Swap Oddities’ past when investigating his severed hand.

  "But since the Heart Seed is still inside his body, its strong magical fluctuations will interfere with my perception. I need him dead first before I can use it."

  "That’s fine. As long as we can find the Creator of Oddities, you can kill him however you like." Patrol Lu said without hesitation.

  Then, he asked, "How certain are you? Do you need the whole body intact?"

  Ma Zao gnced at me discreetly before replying, "I’m very confident. Just keep the head intact. But normally, it would take me at least a week to uncover the information I need."

  "A week? That’s too te!" Patrol Lu objected.

  "The Creator of Oddities regurly interacts with Oddities. If he notices that all the Oddities in this city have been wiped out within a week, he’ll likely abandon the location and stop developing Oddities here altogether."

  But I caught something suspicious in her words—so did Zhu Shi, who paused slightly.

  "Normally"? Since when has anything about Ma Zao been "normal"? When it comes to dealing with the supernatural, clues tend to find their way to her on their own.

  In other words, she was probably capable of uncovering the information immediately but was simply being cautious around outsiders.

  Perhaps due to his unstable emotions, Patrol Lu didn’t seem to be as sharp at reading people as usual.

  In the end, he relented.

  "Fine, that works too. It’s better than finding nothing at all."

  "Then, I’ll do it." Zhu Shi stepped forward, sword in hand.

  But at that moment, I recalled something Agent Kong had once told me.

  Zhu Shi was afraid of blood.

  She was afraid of killing.

  Yet, she always tried to take these burdens upon herself—because she didn’t want those around her to experience such terrifying things.

  I decided to kill the Shadow Swap Oddities myself and stepped in front of Zhu Shi to stop her.

  She looked at me, confused.

  At that moment, two more people entered the clearing surrounded by the small grove.

  Led by Firefly, it was Chang’an and Jin Yu.

  Upon seeing the Shadow Swap Oddities, who was completely exposed, Jin Yu looked momentarily dazed.

  Meanwhile, the Oddities himself was utterly shocked to see his daughter here.

  "You… how are you here? Wait, that dress you’re wearing…"

  Without a word, Jin Yu took out a gold-red mask and put it on.

  The Shadow Swap Oddities froze.

  "That mask… You’re 'Goldfish' from that shop!?"

  "Are you pnning to kill him?" Chang’an asked me.

  "I'm about to kill him now," I said.

  "But there's still time for Jin Yu to say a few final words to him."

  "Dad, I heard you're going to die." Jin Yu removed her mask and spoke to the Shadow Swap Oddities.

  "I’m not going to plead for your life. If you have any st words for Mom, say them now. As your daughter, I can do at least that much for you. But watch your mouth—if it’s nonsense, I won’t deliver it."

  The Shadow Swap Oddities responded coldly, "Get lost. I have nothing to say."

  "Well, I have something to say to you," Jin Yu replied.

  "Then spit it out already!" The Shadow Swap Oddities snapped.

  Jin Yu seemed unfazed, as if she was used to it.

  She continued, "My original pn was to infiltrate the nightclub and use myself to frame you. Although I was interrupted by some meddler, to be honest, even if no one had interfered, I doubt I could have gotten you to choose me."

  "Because you were always so fixated on choosing someone else—specifically, that little girl who’s seven or eight years younger than me. I want to ask you, why her? Are you really just a pervert with a taste for little girls?"

  Hearing this, the Shadow Swap Oddities’s expression changed several times before he sneered.

  "And what if I am?"

  "That nightclub has already been shut down. I saw that little girl being taken into protective custody by the enforcers. I also saw her face after she took off her mask," Jin Yu said.

  The Shadow Swap Oddities's expression shifted slightly.

  Meanwhile, I recalled what that little girl looked like.

  Earlier, through Firefly, I had also seen her face after she removed the rabbit mask—just like Jin Yu had.

  The reason I could recognize her was because she hadn’t taken off that goldfish hairpin.

  To be honest, while her face was somewhat attractive, there was nothing particurly striking about it.

  Just an ordinary, oval-faced little girl.

  As I thought about it, something inside me felt… off.

  Oval face. Goldfish hairpin…

  "Why that little girl?" Jin Yu repeated her question.

  The Shadow Swap Oddities slowly closed his eyes.

  "I'm just a pervert who likes little girls. No other reason."

  Jin Yu stared at him for a long moment before finally turning to me.

  "Sorry for taking up your time. Please, kill him."

  I nodded, then turned around and pced my hand on the Shadow Swap Oddities's shoulder.

  Fmes completely consumed his body.

  He was dead.

  Support me on paetron : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz