Chapter 157: What is empty appears full, and what is full appears empty

Andy felt as though he had been suffering from a mild form of neurasthenia over the past couple of days. Ever since he discovered that his spiritual power had inexplicably increased by a notch the other day, he had been trying to figure out the exact reason behind the growth, yet he had found absolutely nothing so far!

He had once suspected that the automatic, unperceived growth of his spiritual power might be related to his fusion with that demon heart. However, when he checked his spiritual power from time to time over the past two days, he realized there was no discernible pattern to its increase. He had also tried meditating, but the efficiency of his meditation remained as slow as before. Even after popping pills and utilizing the meditation chamber, the results of his meditation were fundamentally no different from the past.

This left Andy completely baffled. How on earth was his spiritual power growing? The only thing he could recall doing differently in the two days leading up to the increase, compared to any other time, was visiting an entertainment establishment called the Fragrant Scent Courtyard. Could going to a place like that actually boost spiritual power? No wonder men all loved going there!

Andy shared this analytical conclusion with Catherine, which promptly earned him a flurry of cat scratches.

In the end, he still failed to find the exact cause of his spiritual power's growth, but these past two days he had contracted a strange habit: checking his spiritual space every now and then to see if his spiritual power had increased. It left him looking completely listless and exhausted.

Aside from the issue of his spiritual power plaguing him, he had encountered another vexing matter over the last couple of days—a wave of rumors concerning him was suddenly spreading throughout the academy.

When he first heard the rumors, Andy was startled, fearing that his killing of Peter had been exposed. But once the precise details of the rumors reached his ears, Andy was certain that the fellows spreading them definitely did not know the truth!

What did it mean to say that Stein had burst into three loud shouts before vomiting blood and dying? That was way too fake and exaggerated! It completely lacked the vivid, profound imagery of "suddenly sitting up from a dying bed."

What did it mean that Andy was funded by his great-uncle? The money he spent was earned through his own hard-earned sweat and toil, thank you very much! Although it involved a bit of opportunism, wasn't that the embodiment of wisdom? They made him sound like a good-for-nothing who knew nothing except how to rely on others!

Of course, regarding this matter of a great-uncle, Andy still had some lingering doubts. Gritting his teeth against the heartache, he used the magic mirror to check up on Sherlock from back in the day, discovering that the original owner indeed had such a relative as a great-uncle. However, Andy felt no particular attachment to this relative. If one talked about relatives, the original owner had quite a few in the Charles family—third grand-uncles, second grandfathers, great-grandmothers, and the like—yet Andy had no interest in paying them any mind. They were the original owner's relatives, not his own, so Andy figured he would just let them continue being relatives on their own!

Upon learning that his own secrets had not been exposed, but rather that someone was simply spreading rumors, Andy's suspended heart did not settle down. He felt that if things went on like this, something was bound to happen sooner or later...

And sure enough, just as he feared, the moment Andy stepped out of his door today, he saw Byron from the Disciplinary Committee walking straight toward him!

In fact, these rumors had reached the ears of the Disciplinary Committee members as early as a day prior. They had even sparked a minor dispute among the committee's three team leaders.

Yes, three team leaders. Aside from Byron and Diner, there was also "Duke," who had recently won the deep trust of the head of the Disciplinary Committee!

When the rumors reached Byron's ears, he felt it necessary to investigate Andy once more. Although that case had already been closed, Byron had still found numerous suspicious points within it. He always felt that the truth of the matter might be completely different from the conclusion they had reached!

Therefore, he brought up his idea of reopening the investigation to Diner.

To his surprise, Diner flew into a rage. Slamming the documents in his hand down onto the desk with a loud bang, he snapped, "Investigate what? Is there any need to investigate a case that was closed long ago? I refuse to believe you haven't received word about the identity of the group spreading those rumors. This is merely an internal feud within the Charles family—only fools would meddle in that!"

Then, with a bitter and resentful tone, he added, "That bastard Xazol! Just when the coffin lid has been nailed shut on the matter, he goes and stirs up trouble again. What is he trying to say? Is he implying that our Disciplinary Committee and the Royal Capital Law Enforcement Team are incompetent? If we were foolish enough to actually investigate, wouldn't that play right into his hands and leave us dancing to his tune?"

At this point, Diner suddenly noticed that the newly promoted team leader, "Duke," was slumped over the desk looking utterly listless, so he shifted the topic abruptly. "Ain't that right, Team Leader Duke?"

He bit down heavily on the words "Team Leader," making them sound both emphasized and sarcastic.

To his surprise, the so-called "Duke" gave him zero face. He simply stretched lazily, let out a yawn, and muttered, "None of my damn business!" Then he resumed his half-asleep posture, slumped over the desk once more...

Seeing "Duke's" half-dead appearance, Diner felt a wave of profound annoyance. He simply couldn't understand why the committee head would promote such a kid to team leader. He had never once seen this fellow handle official business properly. The guy always slept in the Disciplinary Committee office during the day, only to run off at night to perform some frivolous "graveyard-watching" task.

As far as Diner knew, "graveyard-watching" was a fairly relaxing gig. Once the early-warning wizard array was set up, you could sleep however you pleased inside the graveyard keeper's hut.

Yet look at him—every time he took on this assignment, he came back as exhausted and wilted as if he'd spent the entire night toiling away, with heaven knows what he was actually up to.

Could he have some bizarre fetish? Diner shivered involuntarily, disgusted by his own train of thought.

At that moment, a team member suddenly knocked on the door. Upon being granted entry, the man walked straight up to the fake Duke and said, "Team Leader Duke, Miss Carol is here looking for you again."

Alvis, currently impersonating Duke, lazily opened one eye and waved a hand impatiently. "Tell her I'm out on a mission, I'm not here!" With that, he buried his face back into the desk, acting as though the wooden surface were far more endearing than any delicate beauty.

The team member stepped outside for a moment before returning, placing an exquisitely crafted spatial pouch on Alvis's desk and explaining that Carol had left it behind upon her departure.

Seeing that spatial pouch, Diner's pupils contracted once more. That was an extra-large-capacity spatial pouch of the kind only sold in the boutique section of the Dark Moon Chamber of Commerce. Last time, he had scrimped together two years' worth of salary, supplemented by various forms of skimming and flattery, and still couldn't bring himself to buy one. Yet this guy had already received two of them within a single week, not to mention the value of the items stored inside, which was simply incalculable!

Diner roared internally in madness: "Why isn't the wealthy female patron looking at me?! How is this dead fatty better than me?!"

Filled with inexplicable anger, he prepared to flick his sleeves and leave the place to find somewhere to calm down. Right at that moment, he saw Byron beside him flick his own sleeve, push the door open, and walk straight out...

Diner was amused. He hadn't expected that this guy, who usually acted so aloof and noble, was capable of jealousy after all. He suddenly felt a bit more balanced in his heart.

Byron simply couldn't stand the other two people he shared a workspace with anymore. He felt that being around them every single day was a form of torture. Because those two lied constantly from morning till night, the "Ring of Truth and Lies" on his finger would vibrate so much by the end of the day that it would practically scald his skin!

He had somewhat gotten used to Diner's hypocrisy—the man could toss out three parts truth and seven parts falsehood every day without feeling the least bit exhausted by it. But who would have expected that the Disciplinary Committee would welcome an even more extreme specimen who couldn't utter a single true sentence day in and day out? Byron found it hard to comprehend what kind of existence this fellow even was.

By the end of every workday, Byron felt his head throbbing. He no longer possessed that effortless, smooth feeling he used to have when solving cases with the help of his ring. This made him harbor thoughts of leaving the Disciplinary Committee altogether. Furthermore, a few days ago, a Queen's Secret Guard had contacted him, expressing deep admiration and asking if he would be interested in becoming Her Majesty's steadfast shield!

Byron had already thought it through; he was planning to talk to the committee head tomorrow. However, there was still one loose end regarding his work in the Disciplinary Committee that he couldn't let go of—the suspicious points in the Peter case he had just mentioned. Ever since he earned the reputation of a master detective, Byron had developed a mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder: if a matter wasn't thoroughly cleared up, he simply couldn't sleep...

This time, Byron decided to cut through the Gordian knot with a swift blow. He was going to go straight to Andy Charles!

Therefore, the moment Byron laid eyes on Andy, he got straight to the point. "Andy, I've heard some rumors. I wonder if you have anything to do with Peter's death?"

The second Byron spoke, Andy knew those rumors had finally drawn attention, which deeply displeased him. Stiffening his tone, he shot back at Byron: "Well, well! If I heard correctly, since when does the Disciplinary Committee handle cases based on street gossip rather than evidence?"

He continued, "You want to know if I have anything to do with Peter's death? Fine, I'll tell you: I'm the one who killed that old bastard with my own hands! How's that? Do you believe it? If you believe it, come and arrest me. Come on!"

Andy knew that at a time like this, showing a guilty conscience and hesitating only made it easy to leave a trail of clues, whereas acting righteous and defiant minimized the likelihood of being suspected. Hence, he put on a strong front. This was known as making the false appear true and the true appear false!

While Andy was intoxicated by his own cleverness, he noticed Byron staring blankly at his hand like a fool, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on his ring. Following his line of sight, Andy realized Byron was looking at the ring on his finger. Andy couldn't help but wonder if the ring had some special meaning—surely this kid wasn't falling in love with him, was he?

Just then, Byron suddenly raised his head, gave Andy a deep, meaningful look, and turned on his heel to walk away.

Case solved!