Chapter 563: Confirmation
(Planet Vorthas, Su Pei’s POV)
After finishing his interrogation of the first private investigator, Su Pei made his way toward the office of the second man who had worked on the case, the one who had also submitted a report nearly identical to the first.
He had hoped that this visit might reveal a thread leading away from the Cult Elder’s office, something that would prove that the involvement of the Cult leadership in this case was a mere coincidence rather than deliberate action.
But unfortunately, that hope proved to be short-lived, as the second investigator’s account mirrored the first almost word for word.
According to him, there was a woman named Mu Fan who worked directly under the Twelfth Elder’s office, and she had been personally responsible for altering the reports.
Worse still, from the way he described it, she had not acted alone, but had done so under the explicit direction of the Twelfth Elder himself, as she convinced the two private investigators that this was for the greater good of the Cult.
"Oh no... oh nononono," Su Pei muttered with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose before shaking his head slowly.
This was not the outcome he had wanted to uncover, because if it was true, then Luke was entangled in a matter that reached far beyond a simple investigation.
This was no longer just about identifying who had hurt him, but rather about understanding why the Cult’s upper echelons would go to such lengths to bury the truth?
And as Su Pei mulled over the possibilities, one explanation rose to the surface like oil over water, stubborn and impossible to ignore.
The only reason the Cult leadership would fabricate an entirely false version of events... was if they themselves were responsible for the injuries.
Su Pei could not see another possibility.
If the Red Army had truly been the culprits, there would have been no need to tamper with physical evidence or rewrite witness statements.
The Cult would have paraded the truth as proof of their enemies’ cruelty, using it to rally their own forces and inspire loyalty among the masses.
But instead, they had chosen to hide it — to erase every sign of what had really happened — and that decision alone told him everything he needed to know.
"Messing with the Shadow Dragon’s family? How is that a smart decision?" he wondered aloud, his voice carrying a note of disbelief as he continued to shake his head.
The Dragons were supposed to be the messiahs of the Cult, figures of near-divine reverence among the common folk.
Their victories were celebrated like holy days, their words carried as gospel, and their presence on the battlefield turned tides that no ordinary general could move.
To harm the family of a Dragon, especially one as feared and respected as Leo, was to invite chaos into the heart of the Cult itself.
It risked not only political scandal, but the erosion of the public’s faith in their leadership.
And yet, the Twelfth Elder’s office had done it.
So.... Why?
The question gnawed at Su Pei as he considered the possibilities.
Was it a personal vendetta? A power struggle within the Cult’s hierarchy? Or had Luke stumbled into something so sensitive, so dangerous, that eliminating him outright had seemed less risky than letting him speak?
Whatever the reason, it was reckless, and now the truth was about to come back to haunt them all.
"Well... I wonder how the Master will react to this news?" Su Pei murmured, his sigh long and weary as he imagined the possible fallout.
Leo was not the kind of man who took betrayals lightly, and Su Pei could only imagine how he would respond once he learned the truth.
If the Twelfth Elder truly was behind this, then the Cult might have just set into motion a chain of events they would not be able to stop.
For now, Su Pei decided to delve deeper into this matter and find out more about this ’Mu Fan’ character, as she seemed central to the chain of events.
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(Meanwhile, Mu Fan)
Ever since Amanda had changed Ben’s body, Mu Fan had been in a quiet state of panic, because since that moment, she had lost her eyes and ears inside the Skyshard Mansion.
On one hand, she told herself she had done a thorough job covering the Cult’s tracks, sealing away Luke’s true memories and replacing them with something far more convenient.
On the other hand, the fear of being found out refused to leave her mind, whispering to her at every idle moment that someone might already be pulling at the edges of her work.
"I reported to the Twelfth Elder days ago that we have lost our surveillance inside the Mansion," she muttered under her breath, flicking through the external camera feeds with restless fingers, "and yet there has been no response... no replacement plan... nothing. It’s like he doesn’t think we can be caught anymore at all."
She leaned back in her chair, exhaling sharply.
It would be too obvious to plant new microphones or monitoring devices inside the house, yet leaving it unwatched was equally unacceptable.
Her eyes lingered on one feed showing the street outside, a shadow crossing the edge of the frame before vanishing from view.
For reasons she couldn’t name, a faint chill crept up her spine, as she replayed the feed frame by frame.
"Su Pei...." She muttered, recognising the previous Commander’s face, as she shivered once more.
A couple days ago, she had received a report that Su Pei would arrive at the Skyshard Mansion to help Luke with his recovery back to peak strength, and somehow, since that very day her anxiety about their wrongdoings being uncovered flared.
She did not like the idea of a Monarch level entity spending too much time with Luke, as the more time they spent together, the greater the risk was for their secret to be uncovered.
However, with the Twelfth Elder not caring too much about the situation, all she could do was bite her nails and pray, since she had no actual power of her own to make any independent decisions.