by <unknown>
Judging from the bulging muscles and the rising temples of Speaker Cui's impersonator, he must be a rather tough battle-type Cultivator. If the fake Professor Luo De was truly an assassin and attacked him abruptly just now, it was very possible that the assassin would have been captured on the spot.
In the worst case-scenario, even if the assassin's attempt succeeded, the only victim would have been a stand-in. The real Speaker Cui would still be entirely unharmed.
It seemed that this 'Speaker Cui' was quite paranoid. He was prudent enough when he was only dealing with an old, strengthless refiner.
Li Yao was wondering why he had been summoned there. It was definitely much more than simply interpreting the scarlet ball, which could have been done remotely through a video chat. It would have been unnecessary to bring him there.
Thinking quickly, Li Yao eyed the surroundings without alarming anyone, especially the intimidating-looking fellows among the bodyguards and the officers of the secret police around Speaker Cui.
His eyes soon stopped on a tall, slender woman.
There were three bloody crystal cameras in what should've been her left eye. Such a distinctive feature could only belong to Cheng Xuansu, the leader of the secret police of the Internal Affairs Division.
Li Yao's eyes passed Cheng Xuansu quickly.
But Cheng Xuansu stared at him for a long time, especially his smooth, fresh hands.
Pretending that he did not notice it, Li Yao frowned and looked at Speaker Cui in a daze. "Speaker Cui, do you want me to repeat what I said in the shuttle?"
"That will be unnecessary. As expected of the best super-minute carving specialist on Firefly, your interpretation and operations are quite spectacular. I was watching a live stream of it just now."
The real Speaker Cui was sunnier and more outspoken. He smiled at Li Yao's resistance and mockery before he walked up to Li Yao with his hands behind his back. "Today, we've invited you here for something else, Professor Luo De."
Chapter 1611: Unexpected Appointment |
Looking at Li Yao, Cui Lingfeng pointed at a piece of magical equipment with complicated crystal processors and units and said, "I would like Professor Luo De to help me take a look at this 'polygraph'. Just like how you analyzed the tracking and localization magical equipment, I want you to completely dismantle and scrutinize it."
Li Yao was slightly dazed, but before he opened his mouth, Cheng Xuansu, the head of the secret police who was standing next to him, asked in astonishment, "Speaker, what's the meaning of this?"
There was apparent shock on her face. It appeared that Cui Lingfeng had made the decision only just now, and even his most trusted subordinate did not get a word in advance.
"Today," Cui Lingfeng said, "we are going to hold the most important trial. We cannot keep Captain Tang in prison for too long. The riot outside is getting larger and larger. The more we postpone it, the more likely the whole of Firefly will be mired in chaos!
"We have to reach a conclusion as quickly as possible. That's why I'm here to speak to Captain Tang in person.
"However, your interrogation a few days back offered no satisfactory answers. Captain Tang's performance has been immaculate. It has been bothering me which procedure went wrong. Today, we are finally crossing the line and applying a polygraph to the captain of Firefly
"However, is it possible that somebody played tricks on the polygraph a long time ago? If even the polygraph detects nothing abnormal, we will be caught in a very passive position!"
A weird expression flashed on Cheng Xuansu's face. "The specialists of the Internal Affairs Division have already performed a full examination on the polygraph. It is absolutely good! They are all experts in that regard, and it is what Professor Luo De is least good at. He is an outsider after all!"
"What I'm appreciating right now is the fact that he is an outsider!" Cui Lingfeng countered. "Xuansu, has it ever occurred to you that, if Captain Tang turned into an Immortal Cultivator since a long time ago and is indeed up to a great scheme, how deep and far must his hands have reached? Is it possible for him to have bribed certain workers in the Internal Affairs Division or asked the specialists of the Internal Affairs Division to play tricks on the polygraph?
"After all, Captain Tang belongs to the technical staff. The specialists of the Internal Affairs Division are technical staff, too. Even if they are doing something in secret, it will be practically impossible for us to notice anything."
Cheng Xuansu's face was gloomy. "That's—that's impossible! I trust the loyalty of every member of the Internal Affairs Division!"
"It's a very likely possibility," Cui Lingfeng said coldly. "Xuansu, do not underestimate our enemy. You of all people should know what Captain Tang is capable of! In another few years, he will seize all power on Firefly! Would it have been strange at all that he bought the support of a few technical officers and refiners of the Internal Affairs Division?
"Therefore, I've been pondering how exactly we should resolve the dilemma over the last couple of days. The critical problem right now is to find a person that we can trust. Eventually, I found the answer—an outsider!
"Captain Tang definitely has the capability to bribe certain fellows of the Internal Affairs Division, and he also has the motivation to play tricks on the polygraph. Any specialists could be an Immortal Cultivator. In only a few days, it is hard for us to decide who is trustworthy and who is not.
"We can invite a specialist of the Internal Affairs Division here right now and have the polygraph examined on the spot, but if the specialist turned into an Immortal Cultivator a long time ago, it is absolutely possible for him to conceal the truth about the polygraph from us.
"Professor Luo De, on the other hand, is different. Before Captain Tang was arrested by us, he was completely an outsider who had nothing to do with the critical magical equipment such as the 'polygraph'.
"The idea to ask him to examine the polygraph occurred to me only when I read his analysis report just now. Until Professor Luo De stood right in front of me, I never told anybody else. Therefore, there is absolutely no risk that the secret has been leaked. You all thought that he was invited here to interpret the scarlet ball analysis.
"Therefore, as long as Captain Tang does not boast the technique of prophecy, it is impossible that he could have foreseen that Professor Luo De would be involved and bribe him in advance, isn't it?
"Besides, didn't you run a thorough investigation on Professor Luo De when you visited him last time and proved that he is not related to Captain Tang whatsoever and his loyalty to the Star Ocean Republic is unquestionable? Who is a better candidate than him?"
Cheng Xuansu turned her face. A drop of cold sweat popped up on the half forehead that Cui Lingfeng could not see. "But Professor Luo De does not know the first thing about the polygraph."
"I don't think that it is necessarily true." Looking at Li Yao's hands, Cui Lingfeng smiled and said, "I believe that the arts of refining definitely have something in common when they have been trained to the highest level. The difficulty in analyzing such a huge polygraph should be much lower than the difficulty in analyzing a piece of tracking and localization magical equipment the size of millet. Show the production and maintenance manuals of the polygraph to Professor Luo De. Even if his judgement may be flawed, I still would like to take the chance!
"Professor Luo De, what do you say?"
Cui Lingfeng, Cheng Xuansu, and a number of officers of the secret police all stared at Li Yao with weird, complicated expressions.
Tilting his head and thinking for a while, Li Yao intentionally slowed down his voice and said, "I can have a try, but I'll need some time to read the production and maintenance manuals of the polygraph, and I cannot guarantee that I will find any abnormalities."
"It's alright. I can wait." Cui Lingfeng made a gesture toward Cheng Xuansu. "Bring Professor Luo De all the files related to the polygraph and make him a good pot of tea. It is my understanding that Professor Luo De's favori
te tea is 'Green Dragon Ball', right?"
"It's the 'Purple Dragon Ball," Li Yao replied without raising his head.
"Should we escort Professor Luo De to go back to fetch his personal refining equipment?" Cheng Xuansu asked in a low voice. "All the masters of refining are used to their own tools and magical equipment."
"Whatever magical equipment Professor Luo De needs, just have some bring the gear here for him." Cui Lingfeng sat majestically right across Li Yao like an overwhelming mountain. "But Professor Luo De must stay here within my eyesight, not to be away for so much as one second, in case somebody else learns the news and does anything to him."
"I'm fine." Li Yao glanced at Cheng Xuansu and waved his hands. "The super-minute carving knives that I'm used to are not usable for such a piece of huge magical equipment like a polygraph. Just prepare the corresponding maintenance and examination tools of the polygraph. That will do."
"Understood!" Cheng Xuansu nodded heavily, like a switchblade that had been folded.
Li Yao was given five jade chips, which he pretended to study for half an hour.
During the precious half hour, Speaker Cui, who should have been dedicated to national affairs, simply stood opposite him without doing anything. The guy's thoughtful eyes passed over everyone present in the secret chamber.
If there was truly an Immortal Cultivator among them, they would very likely have revealed loopholes under his stare!
Half an hour later, Li Yao felt that he had dawdled long enough. Nodding at Cui Lingfeng, he warmed up his fingers and began testing the polygraph while everyone else was observing him.
The polygraph-type magical equipment was an 'old friend' to him. Years ago, back when he was still on Iron Plateau, it was by taking advantage of the weakness of the Truth Cabinet, an ancient polygraph, that he had been able to unveil the Temple of Immortals' scheme and settled the conflicts within Iron Plateau and between the Iron Plateau natives and the space residents.
At that time, the Truth Cabinet had been called marvelous and faultless. It was told that no lie could ever pass its test.
However, Li Yao had realized that the so-called 'polygraph' or Truth Cabinet was essentially very precise magical equipment that had its own flaws and weaknesses. As long as the test-taker had a level high enough and knew sufficient tricks, it was totally possible to bypass the machine.
Even the polygraph of the highest level could only have an accuracy rate of ninety-nine percent. The result could not be guaranteed to be correct.
If somebody had played tricks on the polygraph internally, the result would be even more dubious.
Holding his breath, Li Yao recalled Professor Luo De's style of refining. He dismantled the arced shell of the polygraph softly, revealing the components that were even more delicate than the parts of a clock. His telepathic thoughts snuck into the machine like soft smoke and flowed slowly over every component and every rune array.
Everybody stared at him and his hands without blinking!
Suddenly, Li Yao's hands came to an abrupt halt. Then, his eyes froze. His eyebrows were bouncing, and he was mumbling something to himself. Very soon, from the deepest part of the polygraph, he slowly picked out a chip the size of a fingernail. Holding it on his palm, he studied it carefully for a long time.
"The polygraph seems fine," Li Yao said to Cui Lingfeng. "But an additional remote-control rune array has been installed on the chip that controls the sensitivity of the polygraph."
"Oh?" Cui Lingfeng was utterly expressionless. There was not the slightest surprise or confusion on his face. "What does it control?"
"It can receive a very feeble telepathic thought remotely and adjust the sensitivity of the polygraph," Li Yao explained. "I once studied certain lie-testing and meditation-related magical equipment. The mechanism of such magical equipment is basically the same. Some of them collect a series of biophysical parameters based on the changes of heartbeat, breathing, flow of blood, and facial muscles, before they run comparisons with the baseline. Generally speaking, the biophysical parameters of a person are different when they are speaking the truth and when they are telling a lie. For example, accelerated heartbeat, constriction of the pores, enlargement of the pupils, etc.
"However, for experts who can control the biophysical parameters precisely, such machines can be fooled easily.
"Another approach is to scan one's brainwaves and monitor the most active part in their brain when they are speaking.
"Generally speaking, when we are speaking the truth, especially when we are recalling the experiences of the past, the cells of the memory area in the head will be activated. But when we are lying, which requires creativity and new designs, different zones will be activated. The active zones are different, and so are the brainwaves they release. The veracity of the statement can then be decided.
"The polygraph adopts both of these mechanisms. The perception parts, chips, and rune arrays are all highly sensitive because they are designed to deal with the strongest experts with the most powerful souls. Those people's heads are like impregnable fortresses that can hardly be breached!
"But as I said, with an extremely feeble, bordering on unrecognizable, telepathic thought, the sensitivity of the polygraph can be increased by ten times or lowered by ninety percent."
Cui Lingfeng squinted, "So what?"
"If the sensitivity is ten times higher, even if Captain Tang is speaking the truth, it may be mistaken for a lie when his brainwaves are overly expanded," Li Yao said. "If the sensitivity is reduced to one tenth, the polygraph will become the most sluggish lie-testing machine ever. Experts like Captain Tang can fool it easily!"
Chapter 1612: Black Wind Is Coming! |
"Show me!" Cui Lingfeng waved his hands toward Li Yao. "How did you discover it exactly? Don't worry that I might not be able to see through it. You can do it slowly."
"There's nothing confusing here. It is indeed a very delicate design, but as soon as it is exposed, everybody can notice the anomaly."
Li Yao smiled. He placed the control chip on a special floating platform. The deep blue spotlight and the ten-times-magnification lenses immediately enshrouded it.
Li Yao extended two pairs of long, narrow forceps, whose ends were as tiny as a hair, into the light. Groping on the surface of the chip for a moment, he raised the forceps and tore off a film that was as thin as paper and almost transparent.
"Please take a look, Speaker. This is an example of the rarely-seen film superposition technology. First of all, the rune arrays are stamped on the thin film with refining technology of the mustard-seed level. Then, after the thin film is pasted on the surface of the chip, it will be able to affect the normal functions of the chip.
"You can check the original production and maintenance manuals. There definitely isn't such a film.
"The greatest advantage of such a film is that it can easily be disposed of after usage. Then, nobody will be able to find any loopholes at all.
"Also, the rune arrays are carved in quite a sordid way. There's no telling what kind of special ink it adopts, but it is actually transparent under visible light. The file will only be revealed under the illumination of several types of invisible light.
"Even if it is already revealed, it will be highly difficult for an outsider to notice the film when it is hidden in such an enormous polygraph.
"It means that, even if another refiner dissects the polygraph into pieces and puts the chip right under your nose, you still wouldn't be able to see the film or the rune arrays on it!"
Li Yao rolled the film with the forceps. As he said, under the illumination of the bluish light, the film that was as thin as paper gradually displayed runes that were as complicated as a maze!
"It is indeed very delicate." Cui Lingfeng stared at the chip so attentively that two mazes popped up inside his own eyes, too. "Then, how did you notice such a carefully-hidden film, Professor Luo De?"
"It's very simple. By thickness." Li Yao grinned in a somewhat exaggerate
d way. "If it were any other refiner who is not familiar with the studies of polygraphs, they might've been incapable of discovering the film. Naturally, I failed to notice the existence of the film in the beginning, too. However, I did notice that the chip was one decimillimeter, or 0.1 millimeters, thicker than the parameter marked on the production manual. Then, I perceived the insignificant gap between the film and the chip."
Brilliance beamed out of the maze inside Cui Lingfeng's eyes. "It was truly the right decision to have invited you to examine the polygraph, Professor Luo De!"
"Of course it is the right decision. This is what they call 'luck'!" Not modest at all, Li Yao declared confidently, "I have a shallow understanding of super-minute carving. My research is all about making designs in the tiniest area. Such a trick may be able to fool the other masters, but it definitely can't escape my eyes!"
"You've been troubled, Professor Luo De." Cui Lingfeng smiled at Li Yao friendly. He then turned toward Cheng Xuansu. "Xuansu, it seems that my guess is correct. Tang Dingyuan's hands have indeed reached the Internal Affairs Division and the special investigators. Control everyone that has ever touched the polygraph in every procedure. In twenty-four hours, I want to know exactly who implanted the film on the polygraph."
"Understood!" Cheng Xuansu bowed and nodded heavily.
"Also…" Cui Lingfeng's body did not move, but his head suddenly turned ninety degrees. He stared at a worker in the room casually. "Later, you will be responsible for controlling the polygraph, right? Your heart is beating very fast. Are you anxious?"
Naturally, the worker was also a refiner and an expert Meditation Healer, considering that he was qualified to control the polygraph.
However, how could he expect to resist the overwhelming pressure released by Cui Lingfeng, one of the best admin-type Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators on Firefly?
Cui Lingfeng was still seated, not moving at all, but his neck seemed to have been lengthened all of a sudden, allowing to stare at the work right in the eyes. The worker's face was pale. His cold sweat was pouring like a storm. He was almost collapsing to the ground!