F-class thief? Sorry, I can steal anything.

Chapter 370 The Touch of Honesty

Mao Tu's voice wasn't loud, but every word he uttered was delivered with great force.

The room was so quiet that you could hear the dust falling from the ancient device.

Chen Yifan stood in front of the device, his hand still suspended in mid-air, maintaining the posture he had just touched.

They got caught red-handed.

My mind raced for a moment.

An explanation? Saying you got lost?

Nonsense, the leader of the Lamplighters' operations team can't even spot a hidden door?

Lying? Saying you didn't find anything? That's even more ridiculous. Even a blind person could feel the energy fluctuations from that device just now.

Then...

No explanation.

Do not lie.

Tell the truth.

The truth is often the best weapon.

"Usagi-sama."

Chen Yifan turned around, put his hands on his chest, faced the rabbit, and bowed slightly.

This action was unexpected by Mao Tu.

She was already poised to strike and subdue the other party at the slightest sign of trouble. But the other party's action made her frown slightly.

"When I was retrieving the files, I sensed an unusual energy fluctuation underground."

Chen Yifan lowered his head, speaking steadily with just the right amount of urgency.

"Based on my understanding of the 'Pioneer' incident, this fluctuation is most likely related to the Star Gate. The situation is urgent, and I didn't have time to report to you before taking the initiative to break through the formation and enter."

He paused for a moment, then looked up and stared directly at the rabbit.

"My lord, I have discovered... extremely important information."

The rabbit didn't speak, but it didn't make a move either.

This is enough.

Chen Yifan stood up and recited the mental imprint of the "Pioneer No. 7 Experiment Subject" word for word.

From "The world engine is not a gift".

"The Outer Gods outside the Star Gate intend to find their nest."

And then there's the final sentence, "Remember, do not become a god. Never become the perfect vessel."

The air in the sealed room visibly changed its smell.

Mao Tu's expression changed from icy cold to solemn, to shocked, and then to... a complex emotion that was hard to describe.

She remained silent for a full ten seconds.

"What you're saying...was read from that device?"

"Yes." Chen Yifan nodded. "When I got close, it suddenly activated, and a mental imprint was directly injected into my mind. I... couldn't control it."

He changed the subject, his tone becoming somewhat "annoyed".

"During the infusion, the energy impacted my mental strength, causing me to lose control for a moment. I suspect it's directly related to the 'Pioneer' project from back then, but I can't determine the specifics. So I wanted to get the files as soon as possible and report to you."

This passage is a mixture of truth and falsehood, reality and illusion.

The "Pioneer's" message was true, the surge in mental power was true, and the inability to "control it" was also true, since the Purple Gold Pagoda absorbed it automatically.

The only lie was his identity.

And this is precisely the part that is most difficult to verify.

Rabbit stared at him for a long time.

It took so long that Chen Yifan began to estimate how many seconds it would take him to break out of the secret room if she made a move.

"You have this personality."

Rabbit finally spoke, his tone carrying something indescribable.

"Just like Lord Chenlong, impulsive, willing to touch anything and risk anything."

"Your subordinate... knows his mistake."

"You admit your mistake?" Rabbit sneered. "If you truly knew your mistake, you wouldn't cause these kinds of trouble every time you go on a mission. Last time in Kangcheng, you were almost blown to bits by the Order Council's bombs. This time you trespassed into a restricted area. Are you going to have to collect your corpse next time?"

Chen Yifan remained silent, maintaining his "being scolded" posture.

But I felt a sense of relief.

She's swearing, which means her emotions have shifted from "doubt" to "annoyance." That's a good thing.

But this only relieved half of his anxiety.

The rabbit's next move made his heart leap into his throat again.

She took out a silver bracelet from her sleeve.

The bracelet is inlaid with fine rune lines, and in the center is a crystal the size of a thumb, which is emitting a pale blue glow.

"Do you know what this is?"

Chen Yifan glanced at it and extracted the corresponding information from the star official's memories.

"The Touch of Honesty"

"That's right. The mental fluctuation detector, the highest-level lie detection method within the Lamplighters."

Rabbit handed the bracelet to him.

"I need you to wear this and say every single word you just said."

Chen Yifan's hand did not move.

It wasn't out of fear, but rather because they were waiting for the right opportunity.

If he responds too quickly, it wouldn't be like the personality of a star official. That guy has an inherent arrogance, and he would be somewhat resistant to being interrogated with a lie detector.

"My lord, my loyalty to Lord Chenlong..."

"I wasn't asking you about loyalty," Rabbit interrupted him. "Put it on."

Chen Yifan was silent for two seconds, as if he had swallowed something, and then reached out his hand.

The moment the bracelet fastened to his wrist, he felt an extremely fine spiritual thread seeping into his skin, attempting to probe into his consciousness.

It was like an extremely fine needle tentatively pricking his spiritual ocean.

Oh.

He smiled inwardly.

He was very familiar with the principles behind this thing.

Essentially, it involves monitoring the frequency and amplitude of mental fluctuations to determine whether the subject is lying. When lying, subtle disturbances and abnormal peaks in mental fluctuations will appear.

Ordinary people, and even most third-tier powerhouses, cannot fool this device.

But he is not "the majority".

His spiritual power had long since escaped the jurisdiction of the World Engine.

His Purple Gold Pagoda could even crush and devour the remnant soul of a Star Soul Venerable.

This broken bracelet, you want to test him?

It's like taking a cotton swab to give the ocean a physical exam.

Chen Yifan activated the Purple Gold Pagoda deep within his sea of ​​consciousness, turning it slightly.

The runes on the pagoda's surface dimmed for a moment, then released an extremely thin layer of spiritual membrane, enveloping the probing tendril.

From this moment on, he had complete control over all the feedback received by the filaments.

It can only receive the waveform it wants to output.

All preparations are complete.

"Ask away." Chen Yifan raised his hand, which was wearing a bracelet, and said calmly.

Rabbit looked at the crystal on the bracelet; it was a bright blue, stable, and showed no abnormal fluctuations.

"What's your name?"

"Star Officer. Belongs to Lord Chenlong's direct action team, number seven."

Crystal: Luminous blue.

"Why did you enter the secret room?"

"Sensing abnormal energy fluctuations, we determined that it might be related to the Stargate crisis and took it upon ourselves to enter."

Crystal: Luminous blue.

"Has all the information you obtained from the device been truthfully reported?"

"Yes. The spiritual imprint of 'Pioneer 7' is, in essence, 'Remember, do not become a god, do not become the perfect vessel.'"

Crystal: Luminous blue.

It was as stable as a stagnant pool.

Rabbit's brows furrowed.

It wasn't because of doubt, but because... it was too sure.

"One last question."

She raised her head, her phoenix eyes slightly narrowed.

"Are you absolutely loyal to Lord Chenlong?"

This is the real killer move.

The first three questions are all preparatory steps to establish the waveform baseline.

This last question was what she really wanted to test, because the abstract concept of "loyalty" is most likely to trigger mental instability.

Chen Yifan quickly recalled all the emotional fragments about Chenlong from the Star Official's memories.

That kind of worship, following, and even fanaticism that comes from the very core of one's being.

He pieced these emotional fragments together and, through the Purple Gold Pagoda, precisely mapped them onto the surface of his mind.

"Lord Chenlong is the goal I will follow my whole life. I would not hesitate to die for him."

Crystal: Luminous blue.

Not only is it a bright blue, but it also has a slight warm tint. This is the highest rating of "Touch of Honesty," which means that when the test subject said this sentence, not only was he not lying, but it was also accompanied by a strong positive emotional fluctuation.

In layman's terms...

What he said was more real than the truth itself.

The rabbit's expression underwent a subtle change.

She took off the bracelet, looked down at the lingering warm glow on the crystal, and remained silent for several seconds.

"Alright, get up."

Chen Yifan straightened up.

Rabbit put away the bracelet, turned and headed towards the exit of the secret room. After taking two steps, it stopped.

"The matter of the 'container' is to be kept to yourself. It must not be mentioned to anyone until Lord Chenlong makes his judgment."

"Understood."

"besides."

The rabbit paused for a moment.

"When that device released energy, did your mental strength show any abnormal increase?"

Chen Yifan had expected her to ask this.

"It strengthened briefly, but quickly subsided. It should just be a temporary stimulus response."

Mao Tu didn't turn around, but simply hummed softly and continued walking outside.

Chen Yifan followed behind her, his expression calm.

The two passed through a hidden door, returned to the archives, and then walked out of the library from the archives.

After being refracted by a certain force field, the sunlight becomes cold white and dazzling.

Rabbit didn't say anything more along the way.

Chen Yifan didn't speak up, perfectly playing the role of a subordinate who had just been scolded by his superior, looking a bit dejected and unconvinced.

Until the special shuttle took off again and flew towards the Sky Dome headquarters.

Rabbit, sitting in the front row, suddenly spoke.

His tone revealed neither joy nor anger.

"Star Lord, you absorbed the energy from that device, do you feel... any aftereffects?"

"No," Chen Yifan replied quickly.

"Sure?"

"I'm sure. My head is a little throbbing, but nothing else."

Rabbit turned its head and glanced at him.

There was a lot to say in that look, but Chen Yifan couldn't decipher it all.

"for example……"

Mao Tu lowered his voice by half a degree.

"Did you see something you shouldn't have?"

Chen Yifan's heart skipped a beat.

The emphasis of this sentence is not on "seeing," but on "what shouldn't be seen."

What is she implying?

Was he testing whether he had uncovered more secrets about the Lamp Holder?

Or……

Besides the message from "Pioneer 7", there was something else hidden in that device.

But what was the real reason that Mao Tu sent him to the archives?

Oh shit.

What exactly is this woman playing at?

Chen Yifan remained expressionless and replied in the tone of a star official.

"What does Your Excellency mean?"

The rabbit did not answer.

She turned back to look at the surging sea of ​​clouds outside the porthole, her voice becoming very soft.

"Lord Chenlong has woken up."

He specifically asked to see you.

"Not in my capacity as the action team leader..."

She paused for a moment.

"Instead, it exists as a 'candidate container'."