On the way to the fake Father’s holding cell, Shang Jianyao spoke, calling a spade a spade. “He’s so hypocritical. He was clearly very tempted, but he still said that he wanted to consider it.”
He was referring to Weed City’s Castellan, Xu Liyan.
Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao. “It’s very normal. He would’ve appeared unprincipled if he agreed too quickly.”
“What’s important between brothers is sincerity.” Shang Jianyao objected.
Jiang Baimian followed his logic and said, “Just because you’re brothers with him doesn’t mean that the company is brothers with him.”
Jiang Baimian originally wanted to tease him by saying, “If you have the ability to make all the board’s directors become your brother, it will be equivalent to the company and Xu Liyan becoming brothers.” However, she dismissed the idea in time when she considered how Shang Jianyao was a man of action.
As they spoke, they arrived at the holding cell and met the in-charge.
After showing Xu Liyan’s warrant, the two of them were ushered into a small room.
The room’s main body was a control console. There were many screens above the control console.
At this moment, all the screens showed one scene: a small room with only one bed and one chair.
In the small room, the sickly fake Father was sitting in a chair and looking at the wall opposite him. A large screen seemed to be there as well.
“He has powerful Hypnosis abilities; it’s best if the two of you don’t have any close contact with him. It’s safer with an electronic product between you.” The in-charge briefly explained the reason for the holding cell’s current design.
Jiang Baimian naturally couldn’t tell the person-in-charge that Shang Jianyao was also an Awakened and could make friends with the fake Father. Hence, she only nodded and said, “That’s good.”
After she and Shang Jianyao sat down, the scene on the screens connected with one another as the person-in-charge ran the terminal.
This gave people the feeling that there was only a piece of glass between them.
The door to the small room opened, and a silver-gray metal robot walked in. It then switched on the screen opposite the fake Father.
Clearly, humans couldn’t hypnotize machines.
The power of technology... Jiang Baimian sighed.
Before long, the fake Father saw the situation in the surveillance room through the screen.
“It’s you,” said the sickly man calmly as he leaned back in his chair.
Jiang Baimian immediately smiled. “You sure are calm.”
The fake Father raised his head slightly and said, “Since I have the nickname ‘Father,’ I definitely would’ve prepared to die for the cause long ago.”
His tone was calm as if Jiang Baimian and the others were locked up instead of him.
Jiang Baimian knew that such people had very strong self-logic. If one followed their pace and ended up subscribing to their logic, it would be very difficult to delve deeper and ask them for valuable details.
Of course, if it really didn’t work out, they could still get Shang Jianyao’s Brotherhood member— Oudick—to help. But this was relatively troublesome because dream guidance was clearly directional. It didn’t cover a wide range, so Oudick would have to try again and again.
Jiang Baimian then turned her head and signaled for Shang Jianyao to ask the questions.
This was her strategy; she wanted the unconventional Shang Jianyao to disrupt the fake Father’s rhythm.
Shang Jianyao didn’t hesitate to ask, “What’s your Anti-intellectualism Church’s Holy Communion?”
Shang Jianyao had a rather serious expression as if he were asking an important question.
The fake Father was stunned, having the feeling that the momentum he built up had come to an end.
This question wasn’t something worth paying attention to, so the fake Father casually replied, “Things like rice soup, lotus root starch, and stewed eggs that are easier to digest.”
“Do all of you treat yourselves as infants?” Shang Jianyao questioned suddenly.
The fake Father was stunned again. He thought for a moment before saying, “Humans are born with instincts. Our goal is to make most people only have instincts and experience.”
“It’s fine for a baby to eat such Holy Communion, but it doesn’t give adults a sense of satiety. They can only experience this occasionally.” Shang Jianyao completely ignored the fake Father’s response and spoke to himself. “Really, you should communicate more with the parishioners that believe in the Arbiter of Fate.”
The fake Father couldn’t keep up with this fellow’s train of thought at all. Thus, he chose to give up and shut his mouth.
“I think you religious organizations are too insular. If we can communicate, exchange views, and absorb each other’s strengths often, you will definitely be able to attract more believers than you do now. At the very least, I will consider it,” Shang Jianyao suggested.
The veins on the fake Father’s forehead twitched as he resisted the urge to retort.
“Speaking of which, are all the people of your religion stupid? For example, you spent so much effort but failed to do anything and even ended up being locked up here.” Shang Jianyao looked like he wanted to discuss the failure of the Anti-intellectualism Church’s education with the fake Father.
The fake Father’s breathing became slightly heavier as he replied in a deep voice. “I was just unlucky to encounter you and Oudick together.”
“Luck?” Jiang Baimian seized the opportunity and said with a smile, “When you learned that Lei Yunsong and the others were from Pangu Biology and chose to use them as scapegoats, you should’ve realized that Pangu Biology would definitely send people to investigate. Furthermore, these investigators would be more capable ones. In such a situation, shouldn’t you carry out the plan as soon as possible?
“Who knew that you guys would drag it out for a month and a half until we arrived before officially starting? Do you have a problem with procrastination, or do you subconsciously have suicidal tendencies? If it’s none of the above, then I can only regretfully believe that your brain has been sacrificed to Last Man.”
The fake Father took a deep breath and said sullenly, “We waited for the weather to get colder so that a large number of wilderness nomads would be gathered.”
“You could’ve totally changed your plan; why were you so rigid? Your goal was to assassinate Xu Liyan, not to mess up Weed City.” Jiang Baimian was like an instructor, sharply striking at the student’s confidence.
She then changed the topic and asked with a smile, “Did someone instill in you the idea that you had to do so?”
The fake Father trembled slightly, and his eyes widened unconsciously.
Jiang Baimian didn’t give the fake Father a chance to find a reason. She laughed and pressed on. “Do you still not know that Xu Liyan was attacked when you were dealing with Oudick and that he almost died?”
“What?” The fake Father’s expression changed significantly.
Jiang Baimian smiled and recounted the attack conducted by the real Father and the goal he wanted to achieve. Finally, she asked, “If it weren’t for the coincidence, all of Weed City’s nobles would’ve been blown to smithereens with a bang. First City’s regular army would’ve then used the excuse of ‘quelling the riots’ to station themselves in Weed City.
“Isn’t this crazier, more imaginative, and closer to success than your plan?”
The fake Father lowered his head with a gloomy expression. He didn’t respond, and his thoughts were unknown.