I created the Bureau of Anomaly Control

Chapter 554 552. "Maen's Old Friends" (Seeking June Monthly Tickets in Advance~)

Shadow opened his eyes.

Disordered colors and noisy sounds simultaneously assaulted his senses, but Shadow was long accustomed to such sudden bombardments of information and did not display any unusual emotions.

"I said, we can't give this guy a good look. Remember how he treated us back then? The Federation gave him a chance to start over, but he deceived us. We haven't settled the score with him yet!"

"He's a dangerous ability user. We shouldn't push him so hard. I think we should slowly erode his defenses with the 'boiling frog' method, luring him into the pot first. By then, he won't have a chance to escape."

"It's not like we can't afford to be rejected. We shouldn't make concessions to these lawless, wild ability users. The Federation's image is more important than these life-extending tools."

"We have to consider the existence of the Secret Alliance. You should have stalled for time earlier, so we could properly discuss how to deal with him. We shouldn't have let him leave here at all."

"Shadow, didn't you hear what we just said? Why did you suddenly take it upon yourself to let him go?"

These chattering voices were far more commonplace to Shadow than sensory assaults. He expressionlessly looked at the politicians who came up to him to question him, without truly answering their questions.

"I don't think there's anything left to discuss with him," Shadow said. "And if I really wanted to stall for time by beating around the bush, it would definitely arouse his suspicion, so I could only let him leave first."

In reality, his answer was somewhat irrelevant, but Shadow knew very well that these politicians ate that up. What these people, who were flaunting their power in front of him, wanted wasn't a real answer, but just an 'explanation'.

Shadow turned his gaze to a politician further away who was coldly watching. This politician didn't have any intention of showing off in front of him, even though that was also the job of politicians—only by creating a terrible environment would they have a suitable reason when they really wanted to target him, but he didn't intend to do such an offensive job.

In fact, this wasn't really wisdom. He didn't need to run up to him and say these meaningless words because he had the highest status among these politicians. If those seemingly annoying guys were in his position at this moment, they would also play such a 'friendly' role.

This division of labor was actually particularly useful, because it could create various reasons and conditions for them, and also ensure that the person being made difficult wouldn't ultimately get angry. The only problem was that they were doing this to him.

Because Shadow didn't care about the impact of these words at all, but these politicians had long formed a conditioned reflex like well-trained dogs, unable to resist the eager impulse in their bodies. However, Shadow also knew very well that what truly shaped them wasn't their desires, but this machine-like Federation.

The space that the Federation provided to these politicians was fixed, and the soft flesh would slowly change into the shape of screws and nails over time, becoming a part of this terrifying machine.

The Federation was devouring everything.

And the politician he was currently watching actually realized this as well. From this, he could be considered outstanding among these politicians, but even he could only accept this cruel reality. Even those politicians who realized this didn't try to struggle, after all, even the Divine Firmament had been crushed by the Federation.

Of course, the 'rationality' of these politicians was also the reason why the Federation would choose them.

Seeing that he still hadn't spoken, Shadow finally spoke first:

"Nie Chengyu, you've also met Maen, what do you think?"

This politician was the one who, as a representative of the Federation, went to negotiate with Maen and jointly witnessed the emergence of the Secret Alliance with Shadow. When the Secret Alliance appeared at the time, he also quickly and sensibly represented the Federation in rapidly reconciling with Maen.

After hearing Shadow's words, Nie Chengyu didn't answer immediately, but looked at several other Federation members who were also standing in the corner and hadn't actively spoken, then opened his mouth and asked:

"You have also had contact with Maen. How do you view his answer? Which of his words do you think are lies, which words need to be treated with caution, and how should we treat his proposal?"

Among these Federation members was a research institute member named Kania. At this moment, she did indeed have some opinions about the situation just now, but for some reason, she didn't really want to say what was in her heart.

So she simply said:

"I don't know Maen well enough. I made judgments about him in the past, but the results proved that my judgments obviously had a considerable discrepancy with the facts. I don't have the confidence to evaluate the current situation."

Nie Chengyu asked:

"So you don't know?"

Kania frankly admitted:

"I don't know."

Nie Chengyu nodded slightly, seemingly not having any objections to this answer. In fact, this was also an attitude that many researchers would display—the more knowledge they had, the more they could maintain awe for the fields they didn't understand.

Then he looked at a young Federation politician standing beside her. Of course, 'young' was in comparison to other politicians, after all, he was nearly ten years older than Nie Chengyu, and his status was far inferior to his. However, politicians like him were already considered promising talents, and in the future, they would be the intermediate force filling the council's space.

And this politician was Shen Zongdao, who jumped out to sing a different tune when Maen requested to obtain anti-mind metal and meet with the Divine Firmament. At the time, he was left speechless because the逍遥道人 came out to help Maen.

However, after Maen's problem was exposed, Shen Zongdao actually gained a lot of benefits. His performance of opposing Maen at the time was also regarded as a kind of foresight, and he became a "Federation hero" who saw through Maen's disguise.

Although Shen Zongdao himself knew very well what was going on, after Maen was exposed, he quickly began to vigorously promote his image as a tragic hero who was not valued, preparing to use it as his political capital.

Therefore, when asked about Maen's matter, he immediately launched an attack in accordance with his identity:

"I don't think there's a single word of truth in his mouth. Back then, he used his superb lies to deceive almost every Federation member, making them really believe that Maen wanted to join the Federation.

"But we all know what the truth is. Maen's purpose in joining the Federation was to get close to the Divine Firmament. He is an extremely cunning and clever liar. I think we should look at his every word with the most suspicious eyes.

"And I suggest that we reject his proposal and observe his and the Secret Alliance's movements from a distance, to grasp what his true purpose is through this information."

If you put aside the part where Shen Zongdao implied that he could see through Maen's disguise, what he said overall was quite reasonable, except that he overlooked one very important thing.

An elderly man who looked very old opened his mouth and said:

"What about the technology and secrets in his hands? Even if we don't want to cooperate with him, we can't shut him out at this stage. At least let him in first."

This old politician was the one who just said he wanted to "boil the frog in warm water". Shadow knew that he had used a lot of life-extending technology, which was why he was so eager to keep Maen, but it was precisely because of his eagerness that he didn't get to the point about Maen's matter.

And Shadow also spoke at this time:

"Maen may have deceived us, but the contract he signed with us is not fake. He no longer has any chance or ability to plot against the Divine Firmament, and he will not offend us for other reasons.

"He was able to succeed at the time because he was hiding in the dark, but now Maen has been brought into the daylight, and his lies can no longer deceive us, not to mention that they have enemies who are more eager to deal with than us.

"What you said is not the real problem."

Hearing this, Nie Chengyu also nodded thoughtfully, and seeing this scene, Shen Zongdao also knew that he had run into a stone and obediently closed his mouth without trying to say bad things about Maen anymore.

"Then what do you think?" Nie Chengyu turned to look at the last person. "You should be the one among us who has the most contact with Maen, and also the Federation politician who knows him best, right? What are your views?"

The person he asked was a beautiful woman who also looked quite young:

"I have indeed been in contact with him for a long time, but I may not really understand him. After all, I am still the one among us who was most thoroughly deceived by Maen, and it is also difficult for me to say that I can look at him very rationally…

"You know, he is the one who killed my sister."

The speaker was Tang Xueluan, Maen's former "partner" in the Federation. In the past, she had even placed their partnership relationship above her family several times, so she was indeed the Federation politician who knew Maen best.

Knowing this, Nie Chengyu also encouraged her very gently:

"It's okay, such an experience can instead allow you to see him more clearly."

Tang Xueluan also showed a serious look of contemplation:

"I don't think he told the truth."

Nie Chengyu looked at her expectantly and asked:

"Where?"

Tang Xueluan replied:

"First of all, he didn't tell the truth about his motives. Of course, he didn't do this out of hatred. Maen is not the kind of person who is easily controlled by hatred or anger, but I don't think he is doing it to solve some trouble in advance, and it has nothing to do with the Divine Firmament he mentioned.

"Of course, I don't have any particularly convincing evidence. These are just my feelings."

Hearing this, Shadow was a little surprised and delighted. He had also vaguely sensed that all the reasons Maen gave were smoke bombs, but he was far from as sure as Tang Xueluan.

It seems that deception really makes people grow.

Nie Chengyu then asked:

"Then what do you think his motive is?"

Tang Xueluan shook her head slightly:

"I don't know, but I think it may be related to some of his interests, and if there are no accidents, it should have nothing to do with the Federation, so if you really want to ask me whether we should accept the proposal…

"Emotionally, I am unwilling to accept it, but rationally, I don't think there is any harm in cooperating with him.

"Also, the last sentence he said may be true…

"The Maen I know is capable of doing such a thing."