Black Phoenix Heir
Chapter 164 — The Interrogation
About ten minutes later, a man appeared in the doorway.
He wore a dark uniform and a hat with the insignia of the Tower's law enforcement division.
Victor glanced at him.
Law enforcement.
The man walked over to the Quartermaster clerk and spoke with him for several minutes.
Eventually, the clerk pointed toward Victor.
The man's eyes followed.
Their gazes met.
Victor took a slow breath.
Alright.
Here we go.
The man walked toward him.
When he reached Victor, he stopped.
"Excuse me. You're Victor Ashcroft, right?"
Victor nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"Good."
The man offered a polite smile.
"My name is Tony Gibberani. I'm an agent with the Tower's law enforcement division. It seems I'm going to need to ask you a few questions to get your story straight."
Victor nodded.
"I understand."
"Good."
Tony gestured toward the hallway.
"Would you mind following me? We'll go to my office."
"Of course."
Victor stood and followed him.
1
They left the Quartermaster Office and made several turns through the Tower's corridors.
After roughly five or six minutes, they arrived at another door.
Tony opened it.
Victor stepped inside.
He immediately stopped for a moment.
The room looked strangely familiar.
There were people everywhere.
Fifteen or twenty officers were scattered throughout the large room. Some sat behind desks, sorting through folders and documents. Others stood in small groups, talking quietly.
The entire place reminded Victor of a police station back on Earth.
It was almost funny seeing something so familiar in a world like this.
Tony turned left and walked toward a smaller office.
Victor followed.
"Take a seat anywhere."
Victor sat down.
"I'll need a moment to get a few things together."
Tony stepped outside and closed the door.
Victor was alone.
He looked around the office.
Then his eyes landed on the table.
Cookies.
Victor stared at them.
He knew this trick.
A small snack placed in front of someone during an interrogation could make them more comfortable. If they started eating, they might subconsciously relax and become more willing to talk.
It was a psychological tactic.
1
Victor almost laughed.
"So that's what we're doing."
He reached down.
Picked up a cookie.
And ate it.
If Tony wanted him to become comfortable, there was no reason to let the cookies go to waste.
1
Victor took another bite.
The small act actually helped.
His shoulders relaxed slightly.
A few moments later, the door opened.
Tony walked inside.
He smiled when he saw the cookie in Victor's hand.
"Good. Looks like you're already getting into the cookies."
Victor finished chewing.
He smiled.
"They're pretty good."
Tony sat across from him.
He placed a folder on the table and began flipping through the paperwork.
His expression gradually became more serious.
"So…"
He looked down at the file.
"It seems you disappeared in Region G roughly six months ago with Team Fifteen."
Victor nodded.
Tony continued.
"It appears the rest of the team died."
He looked up.
"Do you know exactly what happened?"
Victor took a slow breath.
Then he began telling the story.
"A Beast Soldier appeared."
He paused.
"It attacked the entire team."
Victor explained how the Ravager Beast Soldier had appeared in Region G and immediately began killing everyone.
He told Tony that he had been the only one who managed to survive.
When the Beast Soldier came after him, Victor had made a desperate escape toward a hole in the cavern.
He jumped.
And that was where his story began.
By the time Victor finished, Tony was staring at him.
His expression was difficult to read.
"So let me make sure I understand this."
Tony leaned back slightly.
"You were a Rank 4 Body Tempering cultivator."
Victor nodded.
"You escaped from a Beast Soldier that was strong enough to kill your entire team."
Another nod.
"Then you jumped into a hole."
Victor nodded again.
"And inside that hole, you somehow discovered a miraculous pool that increased your cultivation from Rank 4 Body Tempering all the way to Spirit Gathering Rank One."
Tony paused.
"You woke up two weeks ago."
Victor remained silent.
"And after waking up, you simply made your way back to the Tower."
1
He stared at Victor.
"That's the story you're going with?"
Victor nodded.
"Exactly."
He paused.
"Honestly, I'm as surprised as you are."
Tony stared at him.
"I couldn't believe it either."
Tony didn't respond.
His gaze slowly moved toward the cookies.
He stared at them for several seconds.
Then he looked back at Victor.
Tony sighed.
"I'm sorry, but I'll be honest."
He closed the folder.
"That story couldn't sound any more fabricated than it does."
Victor's expression remained calm.
Tony continued.
"If you told that story to almost anyone, their first thought would be that you're lying."
Victor's stomach tightened.
For the first time since entering the office, he began to feel genuine pressure.
If Tony didn't believe him, what happened next?
Could they somehow discover where he had really been?
No.
There was no way they knew.
Victor forced himself to calm down.
His story might have been far-fetched, but that didn't mean it was impossible.
He looked at Tony.
"Sir, I understand that the story sounds a little out there."
He paused.
"But crazy things happen."
Tony watched him.
"It's not the first time someone has stumbled across a heaven-defying treasure."
Victor shrugged slightly.
"Just because something is difficult to believe doesn't mean it can't be true."
Tony nodded slowly.
"I understand what you're saying."
He tapped his fingers lightly against the table.
"But it's not that simple."
His eyes dropped back to the paperwork.
He flipped through several pages.
Then he stopped.
"It looks like there was another slave with you."
Victor's expression changed slightly.
Tony looked up.
"I believe his name was Jacob."
Victor's expression immediately became more somber.
"Yeah."
He looked down.
"Jacob was one of my really good friends."
Victor's voice became quieter.
"Watching that Ravager tear him in half was one of the hardest things I've ever had to see."
It was a lie.
At least partly.
Victor knew Jacob hadn't died that way.
But the grief behind his words was real.
The memory wasn't difficult to imitate.
It was simply painful.
Tony's expression shifted.
For the first time, there was uncertainty in his eyes.
He looked at Victor for several seconds.
The answer wasn't obvious anymore.
Tony eventually sighed.
"I'm sorry."
He closed the folder.
"But your story is still too unbelievable."
Victor remained silent.
"I'm probably going to have to place you in one of our cells until we can clarify whether what you're saying is true."
Victor's heart dropped.
A cell?
No.
He couldn't allow that.
If they locked him up, they would investigate everything.
They would search for evidence of the treasure.
They wouldn't find anything.
And eventually, someone would start asking the wrong questions.
Victor's mind raced.
There was only one option left.
His backup plan.
Victor slowly reached into his pocket.
His fingers closed around something.
He pulled it out.
A small token.
Elder Benton's token.
Victor placed it on the table.
"I need you to get a hold of Elder Benton."
Tony froze.
His eyes dropped to the token.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Then his expression changed completely.
Shock.
Elder Benton.
The name carried enormous weight within the Tower.
His influence reached far beyond what an ordinary Elder possessed.
Tony carefully looked from the token to Victor.
Then back to the token.
"I'll alert Elder Benton at once."
He immediately stood.
He left the room.
The door closed behind him.
Victor stared at it.
That had worked much better than he expected.
He leaned back in his chair.
Then the realization hit him.
His expression slowly changed.
Wait.
How was he going to explain everything to Elder Benton?
Victor rubbed his forehead.
He had escaped one problem.
And created another.
He stared at the closed door.
"From the frying pan…"
He sighed.
"…into the fire."
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