Howard rushed forward, grabbed Scott by the shoulders, and started shaking him violently.
"Who died? Say it again. Who died?"
Scott felt like his brain was about to be shaken smooth.
"Didn't you say we should stay calm, keep our emotions stable when something happens?"
Slap. Slap.
Howard answered with two hard slaps across Scott's face, roaring angrily.
"Stop the damn nonsense. Talk. What happened? Who's dead?"
"Da… Dano," Scott stammered. "It's the underground king, Dano. From what we know so far, he and everyone in his underground black market are probably all dead."
Howard released Scott. He staggered backward several steps and only barely steadied himself when he hit the edge of his desk.
Howard was a Lie Detector by profession. He could clearly tell that the rookie in front of him was not lying.
And yet, at this moment, he desperately wished Scott were lying.
The one who died was Dano.
And not just Dano. The entire underground black market had been wiped out, right inside the city.
This was a disaster of catastrophic proportions.
Forget what Dano really was behind the scenes. On the surface, he was one of Old Shipyard Port's Top Ten Outstanding Philanthropists, a public figure with status and influence.
If someone like that died, the entire city could fall into chaos.
"Move. We're going to the scene."
The veins on Howard's forehead bulged. The college entrance trial was starting tomorrow. Old Shipyard Port absolutely could not afford any incidents right now.
When the two of them arrived, the Hellfire had not fully gone out. Purple red flames still flared up from time to time.
Howard strode forward, but Scott hurriedly grabbed him.
"Don't rush in. That fire is weird. Once it touches you, it won't go out. It's dangerous."
"I know. You don't need to stop me."
Howard's face turned extremely grim.
The exact same scene. The exact same Hellfire.
All the evidence had been burned away. Nothing remained. Not even bones. Only scorched earth.
The farmhouse incident had been the same. This black market was just a version scaled up countless times.
"That damn Dano," Howard muttered under his breath.
If Dano had not obstructed their investigation back then, maybe tonight would never have happened.
At this point, Howard fully believed what Nia had said. Zayne and Shadowcaster were not the same person.
A level sixteen could never have slaughtered an entire black market.
Others might not know, but the Investigation Bureau knew very well that Dano was actually a level fifty Transcendent.
So was this all done by that mysterious Shadowcaster again?
But that didn't add up. According to Nia, she had encountered Shadowcaster in the Novice Realm. That meant Shadowcaster couldn't be the real killer.
Unless Shadowcaster was only responsible for destroying the evidence, and the true culprit was someone else entirely.
Howard's head throbbed.
Just then, Scott ran over in a panic and delivered another piece of news that made Howard frown deeply.
Ten minutes later, inside the Old Shipyard Port Investigation Bureau, Howard met Blake.
"Mr. Ward."
Howard extended his hand to shake Blake's, but Blake gave a bitter smile and raised his left side, which was now missing an arm.
Howard's mouth twitched slightly.
"Mr. Ward, given the urgency, I'll skip formalities. At around ten tonight, your Ward family estate was attacked by Dano and his men. Is that correct?"
"Yes," Blake replied, closing his eyes in pain. "Everyone else is dead. My son and his classmate were outside at the time. That's how they survived."
Howard activated his professional ability to sense deception. Blake was telling the truth.
Howard frowned.
"Mr. Ward, can you explain how you survived? I mean no offense, but as far as I know, you are an ordinary person, not a Transcendent."
The implication was obvious. The Transcendents were all dead. Why were you, a normal man, still alive?
"It was Ben."
Blake lit a cigarette. His eyes were full of sorrow.
"Ben was an orphan I adopted. My personal bodyguard. He traded his life for my chance to escape."
"And what happened after that?" Howard pressed.
"I lost consciousness," Blake said, taking a drag. "My son's classmate, Zayne, found me and saved me. After that, I came straight here to report the incident."
"Do you know that Dano is dead?" Howard stared at Blake without blinking.
"Yes. I heard about it on the way here," Blake replied viciously. "Good riddance. If he hadn't died, I would have found a way to kill him myself. Damn it."
Howard frowned.
Up to this point, everything Blake had said was true. Not a single lie.
And that was exactly the problem.
From Blake's calm way of flicking ash from his cigarette, Howard was certain Blake knew something about Dano's death.
The most skilled liars never lie outright. Every sentence they speak is true. But when those truths are pieced together, they form a massive falsehood.
For example, the national football team is world famous. No team in the world has ever defeated them head on in the World Cup.
Or for example, my girlfriend was cheated on by her best friend. I was furious, so I went and taught her best friend a harsh lesson.
This was montage deception. Using truths to lie.
Even with his lie detection ability, Howard was helpless against someone like this.
"Alright, Mr. Ward. Thank you for your cooperation. I've got a general understanding of the situation," Howard said. "I'd like to speak with your son Francis and his classmate Zayne as well. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not," Blake said with a smile. "Please go ahead."
He had already gone over their stories with Francis and Zayne at home. He was confident Howard wouldn't uncover anything.
Soon, Francis and Zayne were brought into the bureau.
Zayne looked around nervously, acting like someone with a guilty conscience. Howard's gaze immediately locked onto him.
Both of them were high school students. They could never compare to Blake's depth and experience. Naturally, Howard saw them as the breakthrough.
And on top of that, Zayne had been the prime suspect in the farmhouse incident.
Howard had wanted to talk to him for a long time.
"Hello, Zayne. You can call me Howard."
Howard reached out and shook Zayne's hand.
"I'm going to ask you a few simple questions. Just answer them. No extra explanations. Understood?"