Chapter 319: Tartarus Penitentiary (2)

The screen displayed every single piece of known, unclassified information regarding the silver-haired boy.

"His name is Solomon Ketzer," Valerina briefed him, keeping pace. "He is currently eighteen years old, turning nineteen next month."

Vane scrolled through the digital file. He stopped reading, his eyes locking onto the designated talent classification. "An SSS-rank talent," Vane muttered, letting out a heavy sigh. "Well, that certainly explains it. No wonder he was capable of pulling off a massacre like that entirely by himself."

Valerina did not offer a personal comment, simply continuing her objective report as the Commissioner scrolled through the remaining data.

"According to public records and earlier guild evaluations, even after officially awakening his SSS-rank talent, he was unable to activate or utilize it," Valerina continued. "He was widely ridiculed by the local guilds and the media, earning the public moniker of the ’Strongest Loser’."

She paused for a brief second before delivering the final, most crucial piece of intelligence. "He is also currently enrolled as an official student at the Live Streaming Academy."

Hearing that detail, Commissioner Vane stopped walking instantly. His polished shoes screeched to a halt against the linoleum floor.

He stared blankly at the wall. "The Live Streaming Academy," Vane muttered. He rubbed his face and let out a long, exhausted groan. "This is going to get incredibly big, heavily politicized, and absolutely exhausting."

They resumed walking, their pace slightly more hurried. Valerina pressed the call button for the executive elevator and waited.

As they stood in front of the metal doors, Vane looked at the tablet again. "Is he currently streaming all of this?"

Valerina shook her head. "No, Sir."

Vane raised an eyebrow, looking at his deputy for confirmation. "Are all LSA students not strictly required by their enrollment contracts to broadcast their lives twenty-four-seven? That mandate breaks quite a few privacy laws, but no one opposes it, except for a few isolated kingdoms and foreign territories that force the academy to comply with regional blackout zones."

Valerina nodded. "That is correct, Commissioner. However, he was not carrying his designated broadcasting owl when we apprehended him. According to the network logs and the footage from his last active stream, his drone was destroyed during a high-tier dungeon mission in the Eastern Realms."

Vane hummed and muttered, "It would have been much easier if he was streaming. But I guess, no one would be stupid enough to stream themselves committing crimes."

Just then, the elevator arrived with a soft chime. The metal doors slid open, and the two officers stepped inside to descend into the depths of Tartarus.

"Since he is the only one with an SSS-rank talent, we will watch his interrogation live." While descending in the cargo elevator, Commissioner Vane turned to his deputy. "What else do I need to know about this kid before the interrogation begins? I need to crosscheck all his background information so I am not caught off guard."

Deputy Chief Valerina pondered for a few seconds, mentally gathering the most crucial points from the extensive intelligence report.

She raised a finger. "He apparently has deep, personal connections with multiple foreign kingdoms."

Vane raised a curious brow. He scrolled down the digital tablet and spotted a specific flag. "The Bririth Kingdom?"

He scoffed, shaking his head in confusion. "I cannot believe this. The King of Bririth is a notoriously ruthless tyrant. Wait... did that tyrant king intentionally send this kid here to destabilize our country? Is this an act of corporate espionage?"

Valerina smiled, clearly amused by the wild leap in logic. "You are severely overthinking it, Commissioner. He has a connection with the princess of that kingdom, not the king. In fact, rumors strongly suggest he has the princess as his lover."

"Does her father know about this?" Vane asked. "Perhaps that bastard promised this kid that he would let him marry his daughter if he commits a terrorist attack in our country? I have heard that people can do stupid things in love, so maybe this is it?"

Valerina simply shrugged her shoulders.

Vane frowned, his expression turning serious. "It does not matter if the King of Bririth is secretly behind this. They are not our allies. They constantly vote against our country in the Global Dungeon Assemblies, and we have absolutely zero active trade relations with them. Even if this kid is dating their princess, this case should not trigger any diplomatic fallout with Bririth."

Valerina nodded repeatedly as he spoke, but then she held up a second finger. "He also seems to have very strong, personal connections with the Lumiere Dynasty."

Vane instantly began sweating. He stared directly into Valerina’s eyes, desperately hoping she was just kidding.

"The Lumiere Dynasty is one thing," Vane muttered, his voice dropping. "But... the Emperor, Alexander, is a different beast. What kind of relationship does Solomon have with the Emperor?"

"With the princess of the Lumiere Dynasty, to be exact," Valerina corrected.

Vane was utterly baffled. "Is he two-timing them?! Are you seriously telling me this teenager has two royal princesses dancing around him right now? How the hell is a commoner able to pull something like that off?"

"Well, he does look incredibly hot and handsome in person, so it is understandable," Valerina muttered under her breath.

"I am going to pretend I did not just hear you say that," Vane deadpanned.

He scrolled further down the report, finding the section detailing his interactions with Lune. He read the first few lines, immediately turned the tablet off, and shoved the device back into Valerina’s hands.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose tightly.

"Princess Lune von Lumiere is the first and eldest child of Emperor Alexander," Vane stated, reciting the geopolitical facts from memory. "The Emperor has eight children in total, and Lune is his only daughter. So clearly, he adores her to death."

Vane shook his head, a wave of exhaustion washing over him. "I was scheduled to retire next week. But now, the mayor and the board are not going to let me leave until this political landmine of a case is completely solved."

Valerina gave him a cheerful thumbs-up. "Then you just have to solve it quickly, Commissioner!"

Vane let out a heavy sigh. "If Emperor Alexander decides to get personally involved in this investigation because of his daughter, we are completely finished. Do you know what happened the last time his daughter was slightly inconvenienced?"

Valerina shook her head.

"Princess Lune was once denied entry into a public dungeon during a diplomatic visit," Vane explained grimly. "Emperor Alexander forced every single head of state from that country, including every government official, private organization leader, and dungeon regulator, to issue a public, televised apology in front of the entire world."

"That does not sound too extreme for an emperor," Valerina noted.

"He then proceeded to buy the entire country outright," Vane added, his tone entirely flat. "He kicked every single person involved in the denial out of the borders, appointed his own qualified officials, and annexed the territory. That country is now a permanent province of the Lumiere Dynasty."

Vane leaned his head against the cool metal of the elevator wall. "This kid is going to turn the entire world upside down."

The elevator finally chimed and the doors slid open. They stepped out into the secure basement observation deck. Through the reinforced, one-way glass, they could see the specialized interrogation team had just entered the containment chamber.

Four heavily armored interrogators surrounded the sleeping teenager.

Vane, Valerina, and several other high-ranking detectives watched the feed from the monitors above.

It was time for the interrogation.