Chapter 322: Chapter 322: Forbidden to Lie_1
One hour and fifteen minutes later, the meeting room.
Aiden sat across from the maid Susan, brought by the prison guards, separated by an iron table.
"This is a bit different from what I imagined," Susan hesitated before speaking, "why does this feel like an interrogation?"
"Prisoner." Aiden raised his hand to point at Susan, then pointed to himself, "Police. When these two ’have a chat alone,’ nine times out of ten, it’s an interrogation."
"I thought you might at least offer some hospitality, at least..." Susan sighed, "a cup of tea or something."
"Would it be better if I got you a couch to sit on and some snacks, and then we talked about the signature dishes at the Queen’s Restaurant?" Aiden laughed, "I generally only do that when I’m getting a prisoner to do something for me."
"You actually have prisoners do things for you?" Susan was surprised.
"People should use their talents, and objects their full potential," Aiden replied calmly.
"Well, this is fine too, better than coming in to find a bed laid out here." Susan cracked a joke and then looked towards the corner, "But what is that thing?"
In the corner stood a metal statue polished to an incredibly smooth finish, standing upright like a sentry.
"If you don’t do anything inappropriate to me, it’s just an ordinary piece of craftsmanship," said Aiden, without glancing at the mercury alloy golem.
"Oh, I..." Susan started to speak, then suddenly stopped.
At that moment, a command surfaced in her mind, "No lying."
The command brought Susan to a halt.
"What’s wrong?" Aiden asked knowingly.
In order to question more efficiently, he had written the command "No lying" in the Wordless Code.
Of course, due to the nature of the Wordless Code, he now couldn’t lie either, but the other person might not realize this.
However, he didn’t dare to take too much risk with this, so he hadn’t written a rule forcing the other person to answer every question; if the other person found out the rule worked for both, they could directly extract a lot of information from him.
Susan tried to speak, only to find she couldn’t open her mouth, and her throat wouldn’t make a sound—the rule written in the Wordless Code simply restricted individuals within its domain without spelling out any punishments.
"Already preparing to lie? Your next line was probably going to be something like ’What power do I have to do something inappropriate?’ Very good, you’re indeed no ordinary person. It seems locking you in the general section was a waste of your talents," said Aiden as he narrowed his eyes, "You possess special powers that ordinary people do not have, right?"
When he saw Susan on the big playground, Aiden had faintly sensed this.
That stand-up comedy act... or rather, Susan herself, had an unusual allure. When he spoke to Susan, Aiden found it hard to take his eyes off her expressive face—not that she was particularly beautiful. Strictly speaking, she actually had the face of an absolute nobody, but Aiden found her inexplicably conspicuous.
This gave Aiden an uneasy feeling, a feeling that had appeared quite frequently on him already. When witnessing the untidy workshop and cafeteria, seeing stains on the white walls, seeing prisoners not lined up properly... The frequency of this psychological discomfort had become higher and higher.
Thinking back, Aiden felt that he must be starting to feel the influence of the "Order" divine word—he was becoming much more sensitive to things he mentally perceived as not tidy enough, not rational enough.
This influence had its pros and cons. On one hand, he began to subconsciously pay attention to petty trifles that he normally shouldn’t care about, showing the beginnings of compulsive behavior. But on the other hand, his "intuition" for determining whether things were normal became much more accurate.
In the past, when Qiqimora was using her abilities to participate in the Great Witch’s gatherings, he had quickly sensed that he was missing someone through this very "intuition."
Upon seeing Susan Feng, he had a similar feeling—this time, he decidedly trusted his "intuition."
Susan was still pondering her answer when that command "no lying" echoed in her mind again.
But she quickly realized how to respond and turned the question back to Aiden, "Is this, by any chance, your—"
"I’m the one asking the questions here!" Aiden interrupted her inquiry promptly, aware that he too was compelled to tell the truth; he had to maintain strict control over the conversation.
Being forbidden from lying didn’t mean one had to confess straightforwardly; staying silent or reversing the question were both feasible.
However, some questions, when asked, betray the answer if not replied to—not with absolute certainty, but at least implying a high possibility.
Just as with Aiden’s question which Susan did not directly deny, essentially amounted to a confession—implying Susan Feng possessed extraordinary abilities that ordinary people did not have.
"Did you intentionally get yourself imprisoned?" Aiden continued to seek confirmation from Susan.
"..." Susan remained silent, not answering.
"So it was intentional," Aiden concluded from her silence before pressing on, "A week ago, I was followed outside, was that related to you?"
After being followed once near the "Phantom Moon" jewelry store, the matter had never been followed up on. Now, with a strange person voluntarily entering prison, Aiden felt there was a high probability of a connection.
"..." Susan still didn’t respond.
There’s a connection—Aiden judged in his mind, then proceeded with his questioning, "By approaching me in prison, are you planning to harm me?"
"..." Susan’s silence continued.
Aiden became alert, making a gesture.
The mercury alloy golem in the corner slowly began to move towards Susan, who heard the noise and turned to glance at the stirring "artifact," unconsciously holding her breath.
"Don’t get me wrong! I had no intention of harming you," she quickly replied, "Really!"
Aiden made another gesture to halt, and the mercury alloy golem stopped behind Susan.
Under the regulations of the Wordless Code, Susan was incapable of lying. Susan had no intention of harming him—just like the person who had followed him that day.
"The person who followed me that day..." Aiden started to inquire.
This time Susan didn’t wait for him to finish and confessed, "It was me."
"Who exactly are you, and what is your purpose? Explain everything," Aiden pressed.
"These matters, I’d prefer to discuss them in a better place," Susan suddenly began to negotiate.
"Answer the question first."
"Then let me answer the previous question first. Actually, you might have already guessed..." Susan’s face showed a hint of a smile, "Yes, I am Sophie Carter."
