Chương 167: Testing Roland's Shock

"Since you've already seen through me, I won't beat around the bush anymore."

Ji Ying leaned forward slightly, his dark red eyes fixed on the old man before him.

"Director Roland, I'm here today for only one purpose."

"I want to know, in the face of the immense crisis this city is about to face, which side will you, and the Bureau of Extraordinary Events you lead, choose to stand on?"

Outside the window, the pattering rain had intensified, the raindrops pounding against the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, forming winding streaks that blurred the outline of the steel forest outside and made the office feel even darker and more oppressive.

Director Roland's expression remained unchanged when he heard Ji Ying's direct question. He picked up the cup of black coffee on the table, which had long since gone cold, and took a slow sip, seemingly not taking the question to heart at all.

After a moment, he slowly spoke, his tone still gentle, but with a hint of sarcasm: "Miss Jiying, I think you may have misunderstood something."

"The position of the Bureau of Extraordinary Events has never changed since its inception: We are committed to maintaining the stability and security of the real world, fighting against all threats from the virtual world, and providing all possible help and support to all the magical girls fighting on the front lines."

"As for myself—" He paused, gently placing his coffee cup back on the table, and spoke.

A soft "click" sound.

"Ever since my only daughter was sacrificed in the battle against the Void Realm, there has only been an irreconcilable hatred between me and the Void Realm."

"Therefore, neither I personally nor the Bureau of Extraordinary Events that I lead would ever—collud with any forces in the virtual world."

After saying this, he sat there quietly without saying another word, waiting for Jiying's reaction.

Silent Shadow stared at Roland, trying to find even the slightest trace of a lie on his calm face.

However, she couldn't see anything. The other person's expression and tone were so frank and sincere, as if what he had just said was his truest thought.

Ji Ying withdrew her scrutinizing gaze, leaned back on the soft sofa, and gently swayed the toes of her tall boots. Her posture was languid, but her tone suddenly turned cold and threatening: "It's true that you are someone we want to win over, but since you remain stubborn, you have no value to us whatsoever."

"Perhaps—after our conversation ends, the best option is to completely erase you, the highest leader of the Jiangchuan City Bureau of Extraordinary Events, from this world."

Upon hearing Ji Ying's threatening words, Director Roland's gentle expression finally underwent a subtle change.

He shook his head slightly, a bitter smile tinged with helplessness and self-mockery on his face: "Miss Jiying, since you've already put it this way, it seems—I won't be able to leave this office alive today."

His tone sounded like he was joking, but the composure and tranquility towards death hidden deep within his words stirred something within Ji Ying.

"Since that's the case, then I have nothing to hide anymore." Director Roland leaned back in his large chair, looking somewhat relaxed, as if he had completely given up resisting.

"I'm sorry, but I won't reveal a single word of any classified information about the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs to you."

"You can waste your time here, or you can choose to take action now. Either way, it makes no difference to me."

"But before that, there's something I've been wondering about, Miss Jiying—" Could you please enlighten me?

"Let's just consider it as—satisfying the last bit of curiosity of a dying man."

Ji Ying did not answer immediately, but instead changed the position of her crossed legs. The heels of her black knee-high boots lightly touched the ground, making a soft sound.

She then nodded gently: "You can tell me first."

"You deliberately let a trace of your presence slip out so I could sense it and make me decide to send Xiaoyue away, right?"

"The fact that you could predict my behavior so accurately means that you have at least a certain understanding of my personality."

"But as far as I know, we've clearly had no contact of any kind before." Director Roland's empty eyes were fixed squarely on Ji Ying.

"So, how did you learn about me?"

The answer to this question is actually very simple— Based on the two previous contacts and conversations with him under the identity of "Star Frost", Ji Ying believed that the moment Roland realized that a powerful enemy had infiltrated the office, he would definitely choose a reasonable excuse to send his secretary Qin Yue away.

But we can't give you the answer yet.

She looked at Roland's face, which was full of curiosity and composure, and her mind raced.

—Director Roland's behavior at this moment, from beginning to end, did not resemble that of a traitor who would collude with a treacherous and cunning person like Jing Jue.

— He regarded himself as a powerful enemy from the virtual world and chose a tough stance of "non-cooperation" from the very beginning.

—If he really is Mirror Lord's accomplice, then when he senses the ethereal energy fluctuations on his body that ordinary humans absolutely cannot possess, in order to win him over, or at least to keep him in check, he should more or less reveal his identity, or show some intention to cooperate.

—But he didn't. From beginning to end, he demonstrated the firm stance and resolute attitude toward the forces of the virtual world that a director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs should have.

Of course, this cannot be completely ruled out; he may simply be an exceptionally talented performer, and everything he is doing at this moment is merely a test to gauge his true abilities.

Jiying weighed the options rapidly in her mind.

Deep down, she had a strong intuition that Director Roland could not be such a despicable traitor. He should be the responsible and respected director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs, a reliable ally she could trust in the future when fighting against the threat from the Void Realm.

Let's take a gamble!

A bold idea quietly took shape in her mind.

To dispel all the old man's doubts and probing, and to convince him of your sincerity, ordinary words and threats are of no use.

Therefore, the only way to break through his tests and pretense is to use a more impactful truth that can completely overturn his perception and reveal his truest reaction.

Ji Ying took a deep breath and leaned forward slightly.

Then, she spoke slowly, her voice not loud, but enough to freeze the air in the entire office: "Director Roland, if I tell you—"

"I also know a magical girl named Starfrost."

"There's another one—an inspector named Xingxian who just arrived in this city last night."

.

"What would you think?"

After asking that question, Jiying remained silent. She simply stared intently at Roland, observing every subtle change in his expression.

She knew that her words might cause her some trouble.

She could sense the hidden information in Roland's conversation with his secretary, and knew that Roland must have made some arrangements in response to her appearance.

At this moment, she also sensed that at least several capable agents from the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs were lurking outside the office door. They should be the core security force responsible for protecting the Director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs.

She had no intention of harming these dutiful people, and if they rushed in on Roland's orders before she could ascertain Roland's stance, then without revealing more of her trump cards, she would have no choice but to retreat immediately.

However, Jiying didn't care.

She can use her ability to leap through shadows to infiltrate the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs once, and she can do it a second time, a third time. Even if this attempt fails, she has countless opportunities to try again.

Even if this meeting fails, the information leaked to Mirror Lord is merely "a being with affinity for the ethereal but whose physical characteristics are unclear, and who is an ally of the local magical girls."

Although this information was important, Mirror Lord found it difficult to immediately connect this somewhat vague description with "Silent Shadow," a fellow knight who had appeared in the form of a heavily armored knight in black and had shown him no respect.

Furthermore, with the powerful "non-interference" oath in place, she believed that she could still disguise herself as one of his kind and continue to deal with that treacherous and cunning fellow when necessary.

But if—if the other party really isn't a traitor— At that moment, Director Roland, sitting behind his desk, shattered his calm and composed demeanor the instant he heard Ji Ying's seemingly simple yet incredibly informative words.

His face, which always wore a gentle smile, was now stiff with extreme shock, and his empty eyes, which could not see anything, widened suddenly in disbelief.

Almost uncontrollably, he abruptly stood up from the large black leather chair, his hands instinctively bracing themselves on the desk, his body trembling slightly from the intense emotional turmoil.

The previous composure and poise had vanished, replaced by a near-out-of-control astonishment and urgency.

"What did you say?!"