What Jiang Baimian felt fortunate about was that because the wilderness wanderers were blocking the central square and attacking North Street, Odick couldn't return to the Hunter's Guild and was stuck in the City Lord's Mansion.
This way, they could not only return the car, but also didn't need to go through roundabout contacts to seek an opportunity to interrogate the fake "Father".
This wasn't something that could be done with just a special pass.
After entering the City Lord's Mansion and meeting Odick in the side hall, Jiang Baimian threw the car keys over while directly asking:
"Is the fake 'Father' awake?"
Her subtext was, "Have you completed the first round of interrogation?"
Odick nodded slightly:
"He undoubtedly believes that he is the 'Father'. His prepared plan was to lure us in, find an opportunity to 'hypnotize' me, and make me his accomplice. During this process, relying on pre-planted seeds, he would stir up a huge riot to create the most suitable environment for the final assassination."
"If I didn't know that City Lord Xu almost died at the Hunter's Guild, this plan would sound quite real at first," Jiang Baimian commented.
Shang Jianyao immediately added:
"It's a pity he's too weak to undertake such a plan."
These words made Odick suddenly feel a little embarrassed, because facing such a "weak" opponent, he barely played any role, falling into sneeze hell shortly after the beginning.
Jiang Baimian didn't waste time glaring at Shang Jianyao, and instead asked:
"Have you figured out the whereabouts of Lei Yunsong, Lin Feifei, and their companions?"
This was her biggest concern.
Odick shook his head:
"The fake 'Father' handed them over to someone nicknamed 'Dumb,' preparing to use them to frame someone after the assassination succeeded.
"He doesn't know what that 'Dumb' looks like or where he lives. He only communicates through the 'Anti-intellect Church' internal contact methods. Now, it's too chaotic outside North Street, and we can't use the corresponding means to contact them."
After listening, Jiang Baimian said thoughtfully:
"Could this 'Dumb' be the real 'Father'?
"Is the contact and communication between him and the fake 'Father' actually a kind of 'hypnosis'?"
"It's possible." Odick also had this suspicion.
Their current consensus was:
The fake "Father" was an Awakened being who had been hypnotized or had his memory altered by the real "Father." Therefore, he sincerely believed that he was the real "Father" and was completing various tasks according to the instructions of the church's higher-ups.
And that higher-up was likely the real "Father".
At the same time, he might also be the collaborator, "Dumb."
At this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly asked:
"Why can the fake 'Father' also 'hypnotize'?"
"Does the real 'Father' specifically look for Awakened beings who can 'hypnotize'? Only in this way can he create perfect doubles," Jiang Baimian guessed.
If the fake "Father" couldn't "hypnotize," not only would others not believe that he was the real "Father," but he himself would also doubt it, thereby shaking his corresponding understanding.
Odick subconsciously said:
"How to accurately find Awakened beings who can 'hypnotize'..."
Not only are there very few Awakened beings, but they also tend to conceal the characteristics of their abilities.
Before he could finish speaking, Odick suddenly stopped, because he had already thought of the answer.
Shang Jianyao then said with great excitement:
"Every time the 'Anti-intellect Church' gives birth to a batch of Awakened beings, they have to decide on a 'Father'."
The domain of the Third Month Arbiter "Last Man" is in hypnosis and memory. Within the church that believes in Him, although the number of Awakened beings in the corresponding fields can't be said to definitely occupy an absolute advantage, it certainly won't be small.
"After a certain number of Awakened beings with 'hypnosis' abilities is reached, they are put together, locked in a certain place, and 'killed' each other? In the end, the one who walks out is a real 'Father' and multiple fake 'Fathers'?" Jiang Baimian tried to translate Shang Jianyao's words.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt this might be true.
This perfectly conformed to the "Anti-intellect Church's" teachings!
"Most people don't need brains, they are just puppets, just Last Men. The task of thinking is left to the corresponding chosen ones..." Jiang Baimian said with a mix of emotion and amusement, "I previously had too shallow an understanding of the 'Anti-intellect Church.' They even do this within the Awakened being group that serves as the backbone of the church. They truly practice what they preach..."
What spirit is this!
While sighing, Jiang Baimian caught Shang Jianyao out of the corner of her eye, sensing that he was a little eager to try.
She had ample reason to suspect that this guy wanted to compete for the identity of the real "Father."
Although Jiang Baimian didn't think he could definitely deal with the real "Father" using "Reasoning Clown," and might even be "hypnotized" or have his memory altered in reverse, the final result might be that the real "Father" would work hard to clean up the mess for this fake "Father." After many times, he would decide to kick him out of the "Father" team with extreme disgust, and then be surprised to find that this guy had taken away all the fake "Fathers" and re-established a "Father Brotherhood," leaving the real "Father" alone and lonely in place.
Huff... Jiang Baimian exhaled and decided to put these wild thoughts out of her mind.
Since there was no way to learn the whereabouts of the real "Father" and Wei Yu and the others from the fake "Father," Jiang Baimian had no choice but to ask:
"Have you seen City Lord Xu? Did you ask him for the details of the attack?"
She was thinking about whether she could find any details to trace from this matter.
Odick didn't hide anything and explained in detail what he had learned from Xu Liyan about the attack. Of course, this didn't include the ability characteristics of the mechanical monk Jingnian. Xu Liyan directly skipped this part.
By now, he quite admired Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao's abilities, but he just felt that their brains might be a little abnormal. Perhaps this was the price to pay.
Similarly, Jiang Baimian also had great trust in his ability to use dream influence to obtain confessions, and didn't make a request to personally interrogate the fake "Father" once.
As she listened, Jiang Baimian's expression gradually became serious, while Shang Jianyao's face didn't show much change.
After Odick finished speaking, Shang Jianyao excitedly asked:
"Does Zen Master Jingnian know Zen Master Jingfa?"
"He should know him..." Odick replied in an uncertain tone.
Although there weren't many mechanical monks, they mostly knew each other. But as someone who wasn't a mechanical monk, he didn't dare to make a definite judgment.
After this conversation, Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and opened her mouth:
"I think there's something wrong with this attack. At least three places seem strange."
"Which three places?" Odick also felt that this matter was weird, but he couldn't see where the problem was for a moment.
Jiang Baimian ticked off her fingers:
"First, looking at the timing of the attack and the environment at the time, it seems that the fake 'Father' side was doing useless work. Whether it's transferring you away from the guild or causing the wilderness wanderers' riot, it doesn't provide any additional help to the attack itself. Think about it, under normal circumstances, you wouldn't stay in the guild all the time. You would definitely be looking for clues outside. The riot only affects the city defense army and the city lord's guards. For Zen Master Jingnian and the four bodyguards located in the guild, it only deepens the tense atmosphere. They won't be distracted or disperse their strength because of this."
"Yeah." Odick expressed his approval.
The plan of the real and fake "Fathers" looked very sophisticated, but upon closer inspection, the fake "Father's" line didn't seem to be necessary at all.
Jiang Baimian bent another finger:
"Second, having pre-emptively grasped Zen Master Jingnian's true identity and ability characteristics through the 'True Illusion,' the real 'Father's' subsequent handling was simply, simply..."
Shang Jianyao saw this and helped to add:
"Like he doesn't have a brain."
Jiang Baimian didn't refute and continued:
"When City Lord Xu opened the door, he didn't need to answer at all. Pretending to be a real bodyguard, he should have used the 'True Illusion' to influence Zen Master Jingnian again at the first opportunity, so that the 'hypnotized' four bodyguards would be responsible for dealing with City Lord Xu, instead of letting go of the most threatening point and dealing with the target in a swarm.
"If the 'Father' had adopted this plan, you should only have seen City Lord Xu's portrait."
Odick considered it and said:
"Perhaps, in a hurry, the 'hypnosis' wasn't sufficient and needed to be guided by him before the other bodyguards would violate their duties and shoot the city lord?"
This was Zen Master Jingnian's explanation of the situation at the time.
"That's certainly possible." Jiang Baimian ticked her third finger. "Not to mention whether Christina of the Hunter's Guild is his companion or whether she was innocently involved, judging from the resources the 'Father' has and the forces behind him, his final choice to shoot was too crude.
"At that distance, throwing a grenade, using some poison gas, tying a circle of high-performance remote-controlled bombs invented by 'Orange' Company, Zen Master Jingnian wouldn't be able to protect him, or wouldn't have time to protect him."
What she meant was that the person who mixed into the ranks of the bodyguards could be someone else, a 'hypnotized' suicide bomber, not the "Father" himself. After all, the four bodyguards believed that there were five people in the team—this only required projecting the appearance of the suicide bomber during the "True Illusion" influence, rather than the "Father's" own appearance.
"That's really not right..." Odick thought carefully and felt that if it were planned by the female hunter opposite him, City Lord Xu would have died several times over without knowing it.
Just then, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands and suddenly understood:
"I get it."
Seeing Odick look at him, he said seriously:
"The 'Father' was teasing City Lord Xu!"
While Odick's mouth twitched slightly, Jiang Baimian exhaled and said:
"It looks like the 'Father' doesn't want to kill City Lord Xu.
"Then what was he painstakingly trying to do, moving his real body and attacking City Lord Xu?"
At this moment, a word appeared in Odick's mind:
"Hypnosis!"
What the "Father" was trying to do was to close the distance between himself and Xu Liyan and complete eye contact, thereby "hypnotizing" the other party!
This was also Jiang Baimian's answer. She asked urgently:
"Where is City Lord Xu now?"
"In the Aristocratic Council Hall, discussing how to deal with the wilderness wanderer riot with all the nobles..." Odick had just said this when he suddenly understood one thing.
This might be the meaning of the "Father" stirring up the wilderness wanderer riot!
"Go!" Odick suddenly turned around and rushed out of the side hall.
At the same time, he took out his phone.