Chapter 323: Investigation

Rudy still could not believe his own conclusion, but his A-rank talent, ’Intuition’, was practically screaming at him in the dark.

He threw off his silk blankets and sat up. Moving to his desk, he fired up his secure police terminal and began processing his scattered thoughts. He pulled up the official intelligence reports regarding Solomon and spent the next few hours meticulously scrubbing through the boy’s massive catalog of live stream clips hosted on the ’SilverKnight_Chronicles’ network.

Rudy paused the playback on several different videos, noting a series of glaring inconsistencies. The explanations Solomon provided for his miraculous feats technically made logical sense, but they fit together far too conveniently to be brushed off as mere coincidences.

’He claims his talent only heals his injuries, and that the S-rank holy relic is doing all the heavy lifting,’ Rudy analyzed, tapping a pen against his desk. ’But he literally beat three elite, aura-wielding assassins into the dirt using only his bare hands in that underground fighting ring. He did not even draw the sword until the very end. The sheer physical output required to shatter an aura construct with a bare knuckle punch cannot be explained by a simple healing factor.’

Rudy scrubbed further back into the archives, specifically focusing on the Eden Kingdom labyrinth run. He noticed a distinct, jarring shift in Solomon’s combat methodology right after his initial, disastrous encounter with the Undead Paladin.

Before getting blasted into unconsciousness, Solomon’s fighting style was barbaric, relying heavily on unpredictable street-brawling tactics and unrefined agility.

However, after he woke up from his brief coma and returned to challenge the boss monster alongside Princess Lune, his sword style had completely transformed. It had become incredibly refined, calculated, and surprisingly precise.

The mechanical structure of his strikes perfectly mirrored the same sword style the Undead Paladin had been using against him.

’Did he just study the boss’s attack patterns during their first clash and somehow perfectly copy his ancient sword style?’ Rudy wondered, watching the footage on a loop. ’Or did he simply realize the severity of the situation and force himself to fight more carefully?’

Rudy paused a clip of Solomon executing a devastating downward chop. "To be honest, they just look like normal, heavy sword swings to me," Rudy muttered, rubbing his tired eyes. "I am a detective, not a swordsman. I would probably need to consult an actual Swordmaster to verify if those specific stances are a recognized technique... which I am absolutely not going to do."

He closed the video player and pulled up an encrypted, archived police file from three years ago. The file contained the official casualty list and the detailed civilian profiles of every single adventurer who had died in the District Seven dungeon tragedy. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

He was unofficially investigating the cold case on his own time. Even though it was painfully obvious to anyone with half a brain that the tragedy was a calculated corporate scheme orchestrated by The BlueYorker’s Shield, he had never been able to secure legitimate, undeniable proof to bring them down legally.

He scrolled down the list until he found his daughter’s profile. He stared at her smiling face, noting her registered C-rank talent.

He vividly recalled the exact day she had manifested that talent. She had been so upset, crying for hours because she thought a C-rank talent meant she would never become a great adventurer. He remembered how he and his wife had held her, comforting her and giving her hope.

They had reassured her by recounting the legendary tales of his own grandfather, who had also awakened a humble C-rank talent but still managed to fight his way to the top and become one of the most respected, top-ranked adventurers in the country.

Rudy swallowed the lump in his throat, forcefully dragged the digital file to the side of the screen, and focused on the task at hand.

By cross-referencing the public guild registries with the casual confessions Solomon had made during his various live streams, Rudy managed to confirm a solid connection. Solomon used to be a trainee member for ’District Guild 7’ which was one of the smaller, unnamed factions that had been wiped out during the dungeon tragedy.

’The kid orchestrated this entire corporate massacre purely for his own personal revenge,’ Rudy concluded, staring at the screen. ’He waited three years, gained the necessary strength, and systematically destroyed the guild responsible for getting his friends killed. But this is not something that can be done with just strength alone. He obviously planned everything and then executed it perfectly. It’s unfortunate that he got caught in the end.’

The realization should have horrified a seasoned police interrogator. Instead, Rudy felt a profound sense of respect. He still considered the silver-haired teenager a hero.

Rudy closed all the open tabs, permanently deleting his search history, the downloaded video clips, and his compiled investigation notes from the secure terminal. He scrubbed the data completely clean.

"No matter what happens during the rest of these interrogations," Rudy promised himself, turning off the monitor, "I will do everything in my power to save Solomon. I will make sure they never find enough concrete evidence to prove he was the culprit. Don’t you worry kid, I will get you out of there!"

What Rudy did not know, however, was that Solomon had intentionally gotten himself caught at the crime scene. The teenager wasn’t looking for an escape, but for someone very specific to hunt inside the heavily fortified walls of Tartarus Penitentiary.

Meanwhile, deep inside Tartarus Penitentiary, Solomon was sleeping on the cold metal floor. His titanium bracers had been swapped out for a set of cuffs connected by long, reinforced chains, allowing him to move his hands and legs relatively freely around the cell.

Furthermore, he could feel that the Mana-Nullification suppression field had been entirely deactivated.

’What is happening?’ Solomon thought, completely confused by the sudden leniency. He had fully expected them to press him hard for a confession, try various aggressive interrogation tactics, and perhaps even resort to physical torture. But they had done absolutely none of that.

’Are they actually just good guys who strictly follow police procedure, maintain legal boundaries, and refuse to abuse suspects?’ Solomon wondered, slightly disappointed.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he heard the heavy mechanical locks on his cell door disengage with a loud clank. The door slid open, and three men stepped inside.

’Oh! Finally!’ Solomon cheered inwardly.