CHAPTER 414: CHAPTER 29: INVESTIGATION

"So, can we talk now?"

Back in the dark room of the Underground Thief Guild, Aske asked in front of the other girls.

Agrippina did not answer; she just looked around uneasily. Under the suppression of the Anti-Demon Magnetic Field, this Demigod appeared extra cautious and suspicious:

"Is this place safe?"

"Don’t forget, we came all the way disguised." Aske pointed to the veil and hood she had just removed.

"Disguise isn’t omnipotent," Agrippina worriedly stated. "There are many Extraordinary Abilities that can peek..."

"What Extraordinary Abilities exist under the Anti-Demon Magnetic Field?" Aske retorted.

Agrippina: .........

Okay, she was hit while fighting the Demigod earlier and forgot about that.

"What do you want to know?" Agrippina leisurely crossed one leg. After all, under the Anti-Demon Magnetic Field, apart from the physically strong men, most Demigods had been downgraded to no different from ordinary people.

As a Weapon Master, Aske was exactly such a physically strong man, naturally possessing an aura of safety in the current environment.

"Why did you hang the Governor of Venice?" Aske asked.

"I don’t know," Agrippina answered.

"Don’t know?"

"You should know that both the Mind System and the Dream System have the ability to implant thoughts," Agrippina sighed, gaze falling on Medea. "People generate thoughts through logical thinking and drive actions with thoughts, but Mind related abilities can skip ’thinking’ and directly generate ’thoughts.’"

"In such a case, you would unconsciously do something. Like closing the door automatically when leaving, or eating while reading the newspaper. Even though you performed the actions, there are no similar memories in your mind..."

"Hold on," Medea interjected. "A person’s Mind Body has the ability to introspect, even if a thought is implanted and you unconsciously act, there’s a chance you could suddenly realize it. Moreover, hanging the Governor of Venice isn’t something that can be explained by subconsciousness—did you really not realize you were committing murder the whole time?"

"However, that is exactly what happened," Agrippina revealed a bitter, helpless smile. "Not until he was hanging dead on the tower, losing the strength to struggle, did I suddenly come to my senses... I have all my previous memories, there are no gaps, no blanks, only I don’t clearly know why I killed, just like you don’t think about why you lead with your left foot instead of your right when you walk—it’s all naturally occurring behavior."

"It sounds like a high-rank Mind Power," Aske commented.

"I have no idea that a Mind Ability could go to such lengths," Medea still expressed skepticism. "That’s not just mind suggestion; that’s brainwashing."

"But who has the capacity to brainwash a Demigod?"

"Gentlemen." Agrippina hesitated for a long while, then suddenly asked, "Have you ever heard of a term?"

"Anti-Christ."

————————

"Anti-Christ." In the mansion of the Venice City Councilman, Councilman Petro addressed the girls, each with a complex background, in a candid manner, "It’s not that we wish to be enemies with the Empire, but we do not want any association with the Anti-Christ."

"The Anti-Christ is a noun." He explained in detail, with utter sincerity, "It could be a person, or it could be a force; it might be some kind of mutant, or it might be some kind of Law. The only certainty is that the Anti-Christ has been the subject of the Church Court’s monitoring and search for nearly a thousand years, and any person or organization associated with the Anti-Christ will be subjected to unprecedented strikes or control from the Church Court."

"During the recent period of civilization’s restoration, the Church Court once suffered an attack, I cannot reveal more to you, but I can say that this attack was related to the Pure Blood Monastery, and the Church Court suspects that it was largely connected with the Anti-Christ."

"For this reason, when the Pure Blood Monastery hanged our poor former Governor, we had already entered the Church Court’s list of suspects. If under these circumstances, Venice still chooses to collaborate with the Empire, it is very likely that our relationship with the Church Court would deteriorate rapidly, and that is a cost we cannot afford."

"I have some doubts, Councilman Petro," Nora said politely, "According to what you’ve said, the Pure Blood Monastery recently attacked the Church Court and thus is considered related to the Anti-Christ. In that case, their attack on Venice too, can’t that be interpreted that Venice’s existence is a threat to the Anti-Christ?"

"That’s just an unverifiable possibility," Councilman Petro explained, "However, the Pure Blood Monastery did not attack the Venice City State but merely hung the former Governor of Venice—those are essentially two different matters."

"From the perspective of conspiracy theories, perhaps the former Governor of Venice was cooperating with the Pure Blood Monastery behind the City Council’s back, and was killed later to keep him quiet... Although there is no solid evidence, we cannot gamble that the cardinals of the Church Court won’t suspect as much; thus, we either clear our names proactively or must lay low, avoiding any dealings with the Empire."

Girls: ......

The counterpart’s meaning was also very clear, we’ve recently lost a governor, we don’t want to attract the Church Court’s attention, we need to discreetly develop.

Such thinking is not unfounded, but it places the Emperor Camp in a difficult position. Forcing a Venice City State, which is determined to remain uninvolved, could definitely provoke animosity.

However, since they had made their intentions clear, the girls could not continue to insist. Just when Nora was about to excuse themselves with some formalities, a sudden rush of siren sounds came from outside.

The girls immediately felt a tangible constricting sensation in the air, as if suddenly burdened with a heavy load, not only was their spirituality not flowing smoothly, but even their will started to feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Is this... an Anti-Demon Magnetic Field?" Nora, who came from Solomon City, quickly realized what was happening, only to hear Councilman Petro say:

"Sorry, something has happened in the city, I need to deal with it promptly."

He called over the mansion’s butler and had the girls and their accompanying knights escorted out.

Albrecht, who had been silently listening all this while, only after leaving the Councilman Mansion did he nonchalantly ask:

"So, what do you plan to do next?"

Through the day’s visits and investigations, this team of girls had already clearly understood the political affiliations and tendencies of the upper echelons of Venice.

Councilman Petro was the leader of the Conservative Party, diplomatically inclined towards the Church Court, and not very fond of the Empire—his approach failing was expected.

If they approached some of the younger councilors from the New Party and promised certain benefits on behalf of the Emperor, perhaps they could garner enough support.

However, in the city council bereft of the Governor, the foreign policy resolution was hanging by division caused by the tug-of-war between the Conservative Party and the New Party. If they couldn’t persuade the Conservative Party to change their stance, just getting support from the New Party wouldn’t change the overall situation dramatically, would it?

Even the astute Thira found this situation headache-inducing. After all, their bargaining chips were extremely limited. Trying to persuade someone with mere words was incredibly difficult.

"We should head back first and consult with Aske," she finally suggested, "Perhaps there has been some progress on his side."