章 374: Unescapable Net
'Calm down, calm down, calm down, and think logically,' Charles repeated in his mind. He looked around at his surroundings, and everything appeared like a routine police interrogation. The only anomaly was that the female agent was no longer present.
'In the short time I lost consciousness, many things could happen. For example, they could have searched my soul or given me Veritaserum. If not, there might be magical items that could detect lies.
' So, I need to use my words carefully.'
"You have infringed on my rights," said Charles, going on the offensive.
"Oh, how is that?" asked Agent Amir.
"You gave me Veritaserum. According to the Empire's laws, this is illegal."
All the Empire's citizens must take political science classes to understand the Empire's laws and regulations. And any individuals who want to vote for any positions–including the Council Elders–have to pass a test to show they have a certain understanding of politics and government bodies.
And the previous Charles also had to take the course.
"Because of the Wartime Mobilization Act, these rights can be removed to any individuals suspected of being spies–as long as sufficient evidence is proven."
"And what evidence do you have? Just because my soul has some mutation?"
"Some mutation?" asked Agent Amir with a sneer. "Tell me, how is above mediocre Tier 1 Arcanist can resist the power of Veritaserum that could work on a Tier 6 Arcanist?"
Charles's heart skipped a beat, but he did his best to resist changes in his facial expression. "As I said, a mutation. I'm probably one of the Awakeners that appeared due to the recent resurgence of mana."
"The mutation of Awakeners is not as drastic as yours. Plus, one thing they have in common is Primordial Runes inside their Soul Dimension. Where is yours?"
'Damn it,' thought Charles. He told himself repeatedly to calm down. As he felt his heartbeat, he also tried his best to control himself and reduce the frequency. For all he knew, the agent had a spell to hear it.
"I don't know; my mutation must be unique," he replied calmly.
"Is that so? Then, what kind of ability did you get?"
"I'm not very sure. All I know is that I appeared to be smarter. A lot of things I previously did not understand became easier. I could absorb knowledge at a faster rate."
"That would explain why you spent two weeks in the library and the sudden qualification to reach Tier 2," commented Amir. "I will ask you a few questions. Please answer truthfully.
"Are you Charles Wentworth?"
"Yes, I am."
"Are you a spy sent to infiltrate the Empire?"
"No."
"Do you mean any harm to the Empire and its people?"
"No."
"Who is beyond your sudden change?"
"My awakened talent and nothing else."
Amir looked him straight in the eyes for a good minute without blinking, and Charles stared back without removing his eyes. Then, the agent calmly stood up from his chair and walked out.
He soon walked to a room full of holographic screens.
"How is it?"
"The equipment indicates he is telling the truth," replied Agent Naya. "He might be innocent.
"This is not enough to acquit him. Since he is immune to Veritaserum, he could also be immune to our Truth Detecting Enchantments."
"True."
"Where are the new results?"
Amir already searched through Charles' mind and soul. But, he did not like the result and wanted more accurate information. So, he requested the test be conducted with more advanced equipment. Under normal circumstances, this would not be possible–at least not so easily. But with the war, many things have become easier to accomplish.
"They have not arrived yet," she replied. Amir nodded before looking at a video recording of Charles' actions for the past month.
"Look," pointed Naya.
"I see it."
They found an anomaly when he was in the library. After taking a nap, he woke up all confused about his surrounding. Then, he screamed in pain while holding his head.
"What did he mutter?"
Naya typed a few buttons in the air keyboard before they heard Charles say: "I'm not dead?..."
"What about after that?"
"There is no sound. And his lips cannot be read from the angle."
Amir frowned as he knew this was the result of a poor-quality camera. University students have protested the lack of privacy in certain campus areas. And a concession was made not to spy on students' private study areas.
However, some cameras were still needed if students destroyed the library's public properties or tried to do illegal things inside these rooms. However, the camera's quality was subpar compared to the current Empire's standard.
After that, nothing odd appeared in the recordings until Charles hurried to search for something on his watch. The technology of the watch is designed for only the owner to see the screens, so the camera cannot see anything.
However, Naya had high-level access, so she pulled out Charles' search history.
"This kid is really suspicions," she commented. The history indicates Charles looked up information about the royal family, specific individuals who had great powers in the Empire, and the history of the old era.
In her career as a Counter-Intelligence Agent, she has caught many people whose soul was taken over by foreign lifeforms. And usually, their next step of action is to use the web to search for basic information about the Empire.
Ding!
"The results are in," Naya said as she opened the new file. "According to the result, the mutation in his soul, mana, and aura is rapidly reverting to the original state on our data."
"This could mean the Body Possession Spell used on him is very advanced. And after a while, our system would not be able to detect anything, and the spy could live as Charles," said Amir.
"It could also mean the mutation was only temporary, and things will revert to normal," said Naya to play devil's advocate. This was not the first time they had experienced a case like that.
"Look out for this anomaly," he pointed to a spot on the data. After reading, Naya frowned as it was regarding Charles' memory. Their equipment could not read his memories; this was another part of his unnatural immunity.
However, they detected a fluctuation indicating that Charles had received many memories in the past few weeks. And this was another indicator of people whose bodies were possessed.
"Submit the evidence." Naya typed something, and the two waited. About five minutes later, they received a notification: [Approved.]
A slight smile appeared on Amir's stoic face for the first time. His department has many restrictions to prevent corruption and abuse of power. One of them is that they have to submit evidence to an Artificial Intelligence that will analyze the information and determine if there is enough evidence to treat a suspect as a foreign spy.
And once he receives the approval notice, he can treat Charles as a spy and not care about his rights.
With his calm demeanor, he walked back to the interrogation room.
"Charles Wentworth, you are under arrest for espionage."
"What? There is no evidence to prove that."
"No, we have plenty of evidence. No, I recommend you cooperate to get a more lenient sentence. If not…"
Charles gritted his teeth, his eyes almost burning in flame. "If not?"
"You will get a taste of the torture chambers. I will get the information one way or the other."
Charles opened his mouth and closed it; he then repeated the process three times before closing them for good.
'This is not good. I need a way to get out of this situation.'
His mind worked rapidly as he thought of a feasible way to escape the situation.
'My ability. Maybe it can send me back 24 hours into the past.'
This was a far-fetched idea, but he wanted to try since this might be his last chance at survival. So, Charles closed his eyes, an act that put Amir on guard.
Charles suddenly felt like everything was spinning as if he was in a washing machine. After what felt like an eternity, everything stopped, and he slowly opened his eyes.
He found himself in the library just finishing his last book. He did not react but calmly looked at the time on his watch.
'It worked,' he thought. 'I'm back to before I was suspected as a spy.'
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