03 and 04 were now bound tightly and were dragged into a clearing and thrown to the ground in front of Lucius. Both assassins weren't conscious, as Lucius and Liora had made sure that they passed out.
Lucius stepped forward and was thinking of something as he looked at the unconscious state of the assassins. "Pitiful. They were tools sent to kill me but they could not even manage to scratch the surface of my power."
Although the assassins were 4-Star tamer, they had already weakened so much that Lucius, who was only 3-Star tamer, could hack them.
He then turned toward the system as he began to hack 03. "Hack his mind to make him answer all of my questions truthfully for the next hour."
---
[Hack Initiation: Mind Manipulation]
[Effect: Hypnotize Target to Answer All Questions Truthfully for 1 Hour]
[Cost Required: 10 Hack Points]
[Execute Mind Hack?]
[YES] [NO]
---
Lucius chose yes and the system began to execute the hack. 03 immediately woke up, but this time, his eyes were blank and his movement was stiff.
Liora was surprised as he watched the strangeness on 03. She was curious about it and asked Lucius, "Master, what are you doing to him?"
Lucius didn't look at her as his attention focused entirely on 03 but he still answered her. "Extracting information... the easy way."
Liora still didn't understand what Lucius meant, so she only stood aside while glancing at Lucius. Lucius then crouched down and stared at 03's blank eyes. He smirked and began his question, "Where are you from?"
03's voice was flat and emotionless as he answered truthfully without any resistance. "The Shadow Corps of the Kryndal family."
Lucius chuckled, as he had already somewhat expected it. "The Kryndals, huh... I already suspected as much, but I want to know who sent you."
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03 opened his mouth and answered without hesitation. "The man who sent me to kill you is Kaltrik Kryndal of the Kryndal family."
Lucius raised his eyebrow as he didn't know who that was, but he knew that this guy was related to Kaelix. "Who is this Kaltrik Kryndal?"
03's answer was immediate. "The older brother of Kaelix Kryndal. He is a 4-Star Evolist and a prominent member of the Kryndal family."
Lucius chuckled as he shook his head slightly after hearing that name again. "Kaelix... so the coward went crying to his brother. How typical."
Lucius then continued the questioning. "Tell me about the Kryndal family. What is their status in this empire that made them so fearless?"
03 then answered it again. "They are one of the Duke families of the Astranean Empire. They specialize in training and supporting Evolists."
Lucius paused as he was interested in hearing about it. "The Astranean Empire, huh? So the empire we are in is called Astranean. Now, tell me about the other Duke families that are as strong as Kryndals."
03 answered again. "Another duke family is the Volcaria family. They excelled in raw power. The third Duke family remains shrouded in mystery. They are said to operate from the shadows, their influence vast but unseen."
Lucius nodded as he began to absorb the information. He then smirked again and said, "Write down everything you know about the nobles."
Lucius then made it clear, "I want details—every name, every connection, every secret from all the nobles—Dukes, Counts, Barons, etc."
Lucius handed 03 a pen and paper and 03 immediately wrote down everything he knew about the empire and the nobles, but he was a low one so his information was limited, but still it was enough for Lucius.
When 03 finished, he handed the completed document to Lucius; his movements were still stiff. Lucius scanned the paper briefly and was quite satisfied as he put them into his Eternal Vault.
Lucius smirked as he turned back to 03 again and said, "Well done. You have proven yourself to be useful—for now."
Luna stepped forward while twirling her daggers lazily in her hands. She smirked as she glanced at the two bound assassins. "Shall we finish them off, Master? Or do you have something more... creative in mind?"
Lucius turned to Luna and smirked. "Of course, Luna. I am your master, so I always have something creative in mind and you will like it so much."
Liora tilted her head as she was quite curious after hearing that Lucius had something creative in his mind. "What do you plan to do, Master?"
Lucius didn't answer immediately. Instead, he crouched and asked 03. "Tell me, how far is the place where most of the Kryndals' 1-Star to 3-Star Evolists gather and if you go there, how long will it take?"
03, with his blank face, answered, "There is a secret teleportation platform nearby. It would take six hours to reach the location on foot."
Lucius smirked as he began to think about the plan that he had been thinking about just now. He then looked at his remaining points.
There was about 1,000 HP left that made him frown, as the next plan required quite a lot of HP. "Not a lot, but more than enough for my plan."
Liora and Luna exchanged a glance. Luna raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You're planning something big, aren't you, Master?"
Lucius chuckled as he turned back to the system as he began to initiate a new hack. "Big? Of course not. Devastating? Absolutely yes."
He then made his hack to the system. "System, hack these two assassins. Hypnotize them for the next 12 hours, and assign them a mission: assassinate the targets I specify later on."
Lucius also didn't stop as he put another hack. "I also wanted to put an additional safeguard, ensuring that if they are discovered or run out of time, they will kill themselves. No loose ends."
---
[Hack Initiation: Mind Manipulation]
[Targets: Two Assassins]
[Effect: Hypnotize Targets to:]
[Eliminate all assigned targets within 12 hours.]
[Self-terminate 10 minutes before hypnosis ends or upon capture.]
[Duration: 12 Hours]
[Cost Required: 480 Hack Points]
[Execute Mind Hack?]
[YES] [NO]
---
Lucius smirked as he told the system to execute and murmured, "Kryndals, don't blame me for this. Blame yourselves for daring to mess with me."
The system then began the hack and instantly, the assassins' bodies began to stiffen and kneel down. Both 03 and 04, with their blank eyes, were waiting for Lucius to specify the targets they needed to kill.