Chapter 148 - 147: Truth Discernment

Chapter 148: Chapter 147: Truth Discernment

"Aragon, we’re from the same world. We should work together to survive in this strange one." Li Ye not killing her immediately gave Fiona a glimmer of hope. Her lips moved, struggling to plead for her life. "If you’re willing, I can be your assistant, your servant. I’ll do whatever you tell me..."

Li Ye tugged on one end of the roll of toilet paper, looking at Fiona, who was wrapped up like a mummy. He sighed to himself. ’The red Chaotic Heaven Silk is definitely more impressive, even if Nezha only wears a stomach wrap!’

"Aragon, I have three Derived Skills," Fiona continued. "One is Auditory Enhancement, just like Matthew Murdoch. I can listen to the sounds of an entire city, far beyond my normal perception range."

’Completely useless!’

’Even without Auditory Enhancement, my own perception extends beyond a single city. This woman is so weak. She must have survived her last world on pure luck!’

Li Ye shook his head and asked, "What else?"

Seeing the disdain in Li Ye’s eyes, Fiona hesitated for a moment before saying, "Another is Truth Discernment. I can easily tell if someone is telling the truth or lying."

’Oh?’

’This skill is a bit interesting. It’s more direct than my Stars Surrounding the Moon.’

Li Ye looked at Fiona with interest and asked, "Did you awaken these two Derived Skills in your last world?"

"Yes," Fiona said. "In the last world, the demonic object I used was a stethoscope. It helped me awaken these two skills."

"How many Time Travelers does Pandora Headquarters have right now?" Li Ye suddenly changed the subject.

"..." Fiona paused. "Aragon, that’s classified national information."

The toilet paper tightened in response.

Fiona let out a pained scream. "585! Most of them are dead! When I came to this world, there were still over two hundred on active missions."

The toilet paper loosened slightly. It was clever, able to work in perfect concert with him even without a direct command from Li Ye.

Fiona gasped for air.

Li Ye continued to press, "How many of the long-term Time Travelers are left? The ones who have survived all their missions?"

To know oneself and one’s enemy is the path to victory in a hundred battles.

Fiona was a rookie, but it was impossible that everyone else was one, too.

What if he encountered other Time Travelers when crossing between worlds?

It was always right to be prepared. Of course, this also served as a reminder to Li Ye that after he returned, he had to get Yang Feng to hide his information.

Li Ye was fully confident he could make it back from this world alive.

"Not unless you promise to let me go back alive," Fiona said after a moment’s hesitation. "Otherwise, I’d rather die right now. Don’t even think about tricking me. I have the ability to tell truth from lies."

"You’re overthinking it. We might not even be able to defeat the Skeleton Monarch," Li Ye said after a brief hesitation, speaking an absolute truth.

"..." After a moment of silence, Fiona said, "If we can defeat the Skeleton Monarch, you have to guarantee I can return alive."

"First, you have to promise to give your all in the fight against the Skeleton Monarch," Li Ye said, speaking another truth. "And all the information you give me must be true, and you can’t betray me."

"Of course," Fiona said.

"If you violate any of those conditions, I can take your life at any moment," Li Ye continued, adding more restrictions.

’What’s truth, and what’s a lie?’

’If I set harsh enough conditions, it won’t matter even if she’s telling the truth.’

’In a way, her ability is more of a restriction on herself.’

"..." Fiona’s tone clearly lost some confidence. She quickly added, "Aragon, I can’t guarantee that every single word I say is true. In fact, almost no one I’ve ever met tells the truth. Most of the time, they’re spouting endless lies."

"What about me?" Li Ye asked with a smile.

"Ever since you showed up, you’ve just been asking me questions. How can I judge the truth of a question?" Fiona said.

"I am Aragon, disciple of Gandalf," Li Ye said.

"A lie," Fiona said, rolling her eyes. "I don’t even need my skill for that one. That would only fool the natives of this world."

"Heh," Li Ye chuckled. "The previous conditions still stand. I’ll allow you to change any information you’ve told me so far. In fact, I also have the ability to distinguish lies from truth. Every lie you tell will become a noose tightening around your neck in the future."

"..."

A trace of terror appeared in Fiona’s eyes. She realized that what Li Ye just said was actually true.

Despair washed over her once again.

’No wonder Aragon added so many restrictive conditions. So he has the ability to tell truth from lies, too...’

’Is he even giving me a chance to live?’

"My Derived Skills are real," Fiona said bitterly. "But the number of Time Travelers was a lie. I don’t know the exact number either, because the director who guided me was lying himself and showed me fake data."

’Ah!’

’Just as I thought!’

Li Ye sighed. He had felt from the very beginning that the number of Time Travelers seemed off. The Demon Hunting Bureau was basically just using Time Travelers as cannon fodder from the start.

"What’s the name of the director who guided you?" Li Ye asked.

"Stilwell. Stevie Neil," Fiona replied.

"Are the things he told you about Pandora’s Box true?" Li Ye asked.

"Some were, some weren’t," Fiona said. "He told me that Pandora’s Box appeared after the Demon Qi outbreak. That part was a lie. I suspect they knew about the Demon Qi outbreak long before it happened..."

"..." Li Ye frowned slightly. ’So there really is a conspiracy behind it all!’

"What else do you know?" Li Ye asked.

"I didn’t dare ask too much about what’s behind Pandora’s Box, for fear they’d discover I was different," Fiona said. "Because I hid my Truth Discernment Derived Skill. Being able to easily tell if someone is lying would make a lot of people wary. I was afraid they would kill me."

Li Ye glanced at Fiona, and for a moment, couldn’t decide if she was clever or foolish.

She was foolish for wasting over a month without improving her Demon Qi.

But she was clever enough to know how to protect herself...

"Aragon, I know you’re a powerful person. If you want to resist the Demon Suppression Tower or Pandora’s Box, we have all the more reason to cooperate." Fiona struck while the iron was hot. "I can help you gather more intelligence. I know there are many other Time Travelers who are dissatisfied with them..."

"I have no interest in the secrets behind the Demon Suppression Tower and Pandora’s Box, nor do I want to resist them," Li Ye refused her flatly.

’Are you kidding me? The Gods themselves may have fallen because of this. How hard-headed would I have to be to try and fight the master behind the Demon Suppression Tower?’

’I can live just fine by keeping my head down and acting like a footsoldier!’

’A lie!’

Fiona scoffed internally but didn’t expose Li Ye’s lie.

In fact, after getting so used to her Truth Discernment skill, she had become quite good at masking her own expressions.

"Alright!" Fiona nodded. "What else would you like to ask?"

’At this point, I’m eighty percent sure I’ll survive.’

’So what if Aragon is powerful? He looks like just a kid in his early twenties, maybe even eighteen or nineteen. At that age, his thinking won’t be mature. He’ll be easy to fool.’

Fiona didn’t know that eastern Spiritual Power had the effect of preserving one’s youth.

"Same question as before," Li Ye said. "At Pandora Headquarters, how many people have survived the most worlds?"

"Levin Xavier and Zane Egg. They’re the only two who have survived from the beginning," Fiona said. "They’ve each survived three worlds. Levin brought back a complete Dark Warlock legacy, and Zane brought back a complete White Magic legacy."

"What about their Derived Skills?" Li Ye asked.

"That’s classified," Fiona said. "But I know the demonic objects they’ve used. Levin has used a dagger, a violin, and a wig. Zane has used a hoe, a pair of walkie-talkies, and a football."

’The awakening of Derived Skills is random, so it’s impossible to determine their skills based on the demonic objects they’ve used.’

’But on average, if they survived three worlds and awakened two Derived Skills per world, they’d each have at least six skills. Any single Derived Skill would be a pain to deal with. I’d better hope I don’t run into them anytime soon.’

"How many demonic objects has Pandora Headquarters lost?" Li Ye continued asking.

"Over two hundred, I think," Fiona said. "That’s what I saw in the files, but I have no way of knowing if the data in those files is real or fake."

’The Time Travelers have lost more demonic objects than they’ve managed to suppress.’

’Is the Demon Suppression Tower actually catching Demon Qi, or is it releasing it?’

Li Ye complained inwardly, "Do you remember what any of them were?"

"A lot. Cutlery, a frisbee, a Thomas the Tank Engine toy, a coffee maker, a milk bottle..." Fiona answered honestly. "I really don’t get why any Time Traveler would choose to cross worlds with a coffee maker and a milk bottle. They must have had water on the brain." ℴℴ𝗺

Every Time Traveler had a good memory. Fiona clearly recited the names of the lost demonic objects and the Time Travelers who had carried them, and Li Ye silently committed them to memory.

Although it was likely that most of those Time Travelers had perished along with the demonic objects they carried, there was always that "what if" to consider.

Li Ye asked a few more questions about Pandora Headquarters.

Fiona told him everything she knew, but the information she could provide was very limited.

In reality, Li Ye’s situation was no different. What the Demon Hunting Bureau had revealed to him was just the tip of the iceberg; he’d had to dig up most of the information himself.

"Fiona, I remember you still have one more Derived Skill you haven’t mentioned. What is it?" Li Ye steered the conversation back.

"Spring of Joy," Fiona said. "Any creature struck by my whip will instantly reach the peak of ecstasy, forgetting everything around them. I’ve tested it. The effect lasts for about three to five seconds. During that time, you could kill them, and they wouldn’t even notice..."

"Any creature?" Li Ye was taken aback for a second. "Including the Undead?"

"I’ve never whipped a corpse." Fiona froze, looking at Li Ye strangely. "I could try it next time, but I don’t think the Undead count as ’creatures,’ do they?"

"Have you ever asked about the origin of that whip in your hand?" Li Ye asked with a smile.

"No," Fiona said.

"You can ask it now," Li Ye said. "After all, you can easily tell if it’s telling the truth or not, can’t you?"

...

The two of them went back and forth, as pleasant as a pair of old friends catching up after a long time.

Fiona even forgot that Li Ye had, from beginning to end, never once given her a definite promise to spare her life.