Mr. Melancholy Wants To Live A Peaceful Life

CHAPTER 9

"How much of what he said was true, do you think?" When the interrogation ended, Director Xiao left behind two team members to watch Zhen Li while the others went to a soundproofed room to discuss.

Cen Xiao cleaned up the transcript of the interrogation, printed it out, and gave each person a copy. A Protector of similar age to Director Xiao said, "Truth mixed with lies, I think. He's a good liar."

He laughed lightly, seeming to be fondly remembering the past. "This is my first time seeing such a stupid 'Destroyer.' Adding in the fact that he voluntarily revealed the phone app and the final big boss without self-destructing, perhaps he really isn't a 'Destroyer.'"

The Protectors weren't so easily fooled. They were battle-tried and had seen too many Destroyers of all kinds. They had experienced every kind of trap. They wouldn't easily believe Zhen Li's story.

Director Xiao said, "I've had the technicians thoroughly test that phone countless times. They're certain the app Zhen Li told us about isn't on it. I also had a Protector who's skilled at detecting power investigate it. He also didn't find any unusual power. Either the power in that phone is one we can't access, dark matter energy that can't be detected, or it's a hallucination."

"Hallucination?" You Zhengping's younger generation of Protectors were at this meeting to look on and learn, to understand the Destroyers according to their big shot elders' thoughts. At the same time, they could also put forward some creative suggestions.

A Protector wearing a Zhongshan suit turned on a projector and played a video. There were a several different Destroyers in the video. These were some representative segments chosen from the surveillance camera records of public places when the Protectors had been tracking their movements after determining their identities. In the video, the Destroyers simultaneously began talking to themselves and pointing at empty space, as thought there was a giant screen in front of them.

"Through many years of analysis and exchanging information with each country's Protection Organization, we can determine that Destroyers really do have a sort of 'control panel' or 'system interface.' This interface is planted in their brains and can appear in front of the Destroyers' eyes when it's in use. 

Furthermore, only the Destroyers themselves can see it," Director Xiao narrated for the young Protectors. "We've never seen a Destroyer use a phone app to manipulate the interface. If everything Zhen Li says is true, then either he isn't a Destroyer, or the Destroyers' technology has deteriorated." You Zhengping's brain turned rapidly. He remembered Zhen Li's performance at the mall and instantly seized on two times.

He pulled up the surveillance from inside the mall, cutting out images from those two times. "The first time is at 10:03 AM. After eating a hamburger on the first floor, Zhen Li rubbed his belly, burped, and showed other signs of feeling full. But right after that, he went to the second floor to buy cake. After he got the cake, he didn't eat it immediately. Instead, he clicked on his phone many times, and then started eating the cake."

The resolution on the mall's cameras was very high. You Zhengping found a camera that was facing the phone and enlarged the video. Everyone saw that Zhen Li was wildly clicking and sliding on the phone's main screen, as though he were picking out a product. The main screen didn't change the whole time. When Zhen Li had clicked heavily on the phone as though he had finally made a decision, he started bolting down the cake. Then he went to third, fourth, and fifth floors to buy food.

"From this you can see that Zhen Li was already full on the first floor, but he was still unsatisfied. He wanted to eat more. So he used the phone, paid some price, and got the ability to keep eating," You Zhengping said.