After a long while, a cold, emotionless voice finally echoed down from the high platform.
“Raise your heads.”
Old John and Lucien slowly lifted their heads, still not daring to look directly at that dazzling holy light.
Fan Zhuo raised his head as well.
And then, he met those eyes.
They were golden eyes, as sharp as a hawk’s.
The moment their gazes met, Fan Zhuo felt as if his soul was being laid bare under the scorching sun, every crease and every thought exposed with nowhere to hide.
No! Don’t think! Stockings! Stockings! Black and white! Garter belts! Shiny ones! Over-the-knee! Fishnets! Ripped ones…
Just as his mind ran wild, he seemed to catch a glimmer of… interest? in those golden eyes.
Warden Hecate’s gaze lingered on Fan Zhuo’s face for a full three seconds before finally moving away to settle on Lucien.
The instant that gaze landed, Lucien’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly, but he quickly regained his composure.
The woman on the platform didn’t seem to notice this small detail. She merely swept her eyes over him and didn’t linger.
“Judicator of the Valois family,” Hecate’s voice was calm. “What did you find in Zone B?”
Lucien stepped forward and bowed slightly.
“Warden Hecate, the heretical energy fluctuation in Zone B’s forest has disappeared. I led a search party all night, but found no suspicious traces, nor could we locate the energy source…”
Though his tone was polite, there was a smoldering frustration beneath his words.
Clearly, coming up empty-handed had left this Judicator quite defeated.
“Gone?” Hecate’s fingertips tapped rhythmically on the massive white jade table, the crisp “tap, tap” sound ringing out. “John.”
“Here!” Old John shuddered and quickly replied.
“You’re the Warden of Zone C, more familiar with Zone B’s situation than the rest of us. What’s your view?”
“This… Warden, ma’am,” Old John wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking troubled,
“You know, these things… have happened before. Every few years, strange energy fluctuations pop up somewhere on the island… it’s an old issue, happens from time to time.”
Hecate said nothing, simply watching him quietly, her golden eyes betraying no emotion.
Under that gaze, Old John felt a chill run down his spine.
Gritting his teeth, he continued, “But this time, the energy fluctuation didn’t feel like previous heretical activities… hmm… it was odd. Even the holy force monitoring system didn’t pick up anything unusual…”
He finished, sneaking a glance at Fan Zhuo, only to find the boy had his head lowered, lost in thought.
Finally, Hecate’s eyes turned to Fan Zhuo, who had been silent since the start.
“Assistant Warden Fan Zhuo.”
“Uh… here.” Fan Zhuo replied hurriedly, his heart skipping a beat beyond his control.
“According to the records, you’d already finished your routine patrol of Zone B when the energy fluctuation occurred yesterday.”
Hecate’s voice was as calm as water. “So during your inspection… did you see anything?”
Here it comes.
Fan Zhuo could feel cold sweat soaking through his shirt.
He forced himself to stay calm, his mind racing to filter out any suspicious thoughts.
“Well… Warden, ma’am, after I finished the patrol in Zone B yesterday, I didn’t notice any abnormal energy fluctuations… I recorded everything…”
“It’s just… the plant life in the forest seemed a bit more active than usual. At the time, I thought it was just a normal seasonal phenomenon, and didn’t…”
His words were half true, half false—pushing everything onto “natural causes.”
“Is that so?” Hecate neither confirmed nor denied. Her tall, curvaceous figure leaned forward slightly, emphasizing her softness, while those golden eyes seemed to pierce right through him.
“You seem… a bit nervous?”
Huh?
Fan Zhuo’s heart leapt into his throat.
Of c-course… No, wait, the Warden is speaking to me… Stockings, stockings… the Warden wears stockings… huh?
Hecate’s gaze at Fan Zhuo suddenly turned complicated, then her tone shifted. “Mika, you may come out now.”
As soon as the words fell, a petite figure stepped out from behind the temple’s archway.
It was that elf—the Zone A Chief Assistant, Mika.
Today, she still wore that elaborate black gothic dress, a dainty hat perched on her head, and in her arms she hugged what looked like a black tablet-like display.
She walked gracefully to the foot of the platform, executed a flawless curtsy to Hecate, then lifted her head.
Her heterochromatic eyes swept over the three, finally lingering on Fan Zhuo’s face with a mischievous, almost sinister smile.
At the sight of her, Fan Zhuo’s thoughts stalled for a moment.
He had a faint sense of… foreboding.
“Warden, ma’am, you called for me.” Mika’s voice was sweet, but carried a hint of maturity beyond her years.
“Pull up all of Zone B’s records from yesterday, along with all access data from the unmanned monitoring stations,” Hecate commanded.
“Check the exact period when the energy fluctuation occurred, and provide detailed information on everyone who entered or exited.”
Mika’s fingers danced rapidly over the black terminal, and a giant holographic screen blossomed in the temple’s center.
Countless complex data panels flashed quickly across the screen.
Fan Zhuo’s heart plummeted.
Even with his mind full of stockings, his instincts screamed at him…
If Mika wanted to, she could pull up the raw data at any moment.
He could even sense Mika’s prankish gaze darting toward him from time to time, as if she was savoring the last desperate struggle of prey caught in a trap.
“Warden, ma’am,” Mika said with a playful lilt, “There’s just too much data—going through it all would be a pain. Why don’t I just call out the recording Terminal Lina and ask her directly?”
Hecate only gave a faint “Mm.”
Mika’s smile grew even brighter.
She tapped her terminal, and at once, a familiar, languidly seductive female hologram appeared in the center of the screen.
It was the notoriously sassy Terminal Lina.
“Aiya~ Which big shot is calling for me this time?” Lina stretched lazily, her holographic curves full of allure.
“Eh? So many people… Oh—”
Lina quickly realized something was off, and bit her tongue.
“Lina,” Mika cleared her throat. “The Warden has questions for you. I’m activating ‘Inquiry’ mode now. You must answer every question truthfully—no hiding, no embellishing.”
As she finished speaking, a red light flashed over Lina’s holographic projection.
Fan Zhuo’s heart leapt to his throat.
This was the worst-case scenario…
“Yesterday morning, how long did Assistant Warden Fan Zhuo stay in Zone B? When did he actually leave?”
“In ‘Inquiry’ mode, you can only speak the truth…”