"Are all the guys in the list the ones who were present in the cities even the guy appeared?

" The old man asked curiously.

"Yeah. I only included the names who were either in the city or nearby at that time. The only other people who are included are the ones that we weren't able to locate at that time,

" Mark explained.

"So you found 200 people suspicious. This list is of 200 people, and you're saying his phone had a number of 200 people who happened to match the locations?

" The old man inquired.

"No, the two hundred people include the ones whose locations we weren't able to find and who were suspicious. Amongst the ones whose locations we were able to verify, only the top twenty in the list are under suspicion,

" Mark explained further.

"I am not here for a lift. I am here to find the identity of the person. How do you expect to find which of these two hundred people is the one? Or are you expecting me to do all the work and interrogate them myself?

" The old man asked as he squinted his eyes.

As he became serious, the entire atmosphere became heavy. Even Ryder could feel the man's aura. From what he could feel, the man gave him a similar feeling to the one he had received from the twelfth king and Thirteenth King.

That made Ryder confident that the Kings were the leaders of the Uprising, and they had some incredible strength. He was sure that the man was going to have incredible strength like the others.

No matter what it took, he couldn't attack now since the man was most probably unaffected by bullets as well.

The aura was so powerful that Mark had already started sweating. As Ryder had previously already faced the Thirteenth King, he encountered something similar to this aura as well. He wasn't as much intimidated as well, but he also pretended to be suffocated under the aura.

All he needed, for now, was to wait for the man to leave before shooting Mark and leaving. He just needed to bid his time.

"Is that what you want? If I need to do all the work myself, why do we even have you?

" The old man said, placing his hand on the table.

His finger tapped on the table in a specific rhythm that seemed to be matching with the heartbeat of Mark.

Ryder didn't know about it, but when he had entered Bastion's house to search for Alice last time, Shu was standing outside, tapping on the car with his fingers.

Strangely enough, this man's beating rhythm was precisely the same when matched with the rhythm of Shu as both of them were using the same melody.

As Shu had stopped doing this when Ryder had come out, he didn't manage to hear it, or he would have realized how these two tunes were precisely the same.

"N-no, your Highness. I didn't mean for you to do it. I was just showing our progress. Within a few days, I'll find the person who is responsible for it. I assure you,

" Mark explained as he used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"I don't have that much time. Since I already came here, I'll handle the rest. Take me to this, Ray. I will get the answers from him,

" the old man said sternly as he stood up.

"Ah, meeting you here is fine, but taking you there might cause suspicions on the ones that aren't involved with us,

" Mark expressed with hesitation as he stood up.

The old man didn't say anything and just gazed at Mark, but the intimidation of that gaze in itself was enough for Mark to drop down on his knees.

He hit his forehead on the ground as he started apologizing.

"Please forgive me for my mistake. I didn't intend to do that. I'll take you there right away!

"

"Good,

" the old man muttered as he shifted his gaze.

Mark pushed his body upwards as he stood up.

"Please follow me,

" he said as he walked towards the door. He also wiped his forehead to hide any dust that might have stayed there because he had touched his forehead on the ground to apologize.

The old man picked up his cane and started following Mark.

Ryder followed after the two of them.

'Are they going to torture Ray to get answers? No matter how corrupt they are, they shouldn't have done this. If they did something, I'd have to make my move,' he thought as he kept his expressions unnoticeable.

The door was opened as the three of them stepped out of the room.

They walked towards the lift. The three of them entered the lift. Mark pressed the button of the tenth floor.

The lift started going down.

Mark was looking at the floor. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn't have the courage.

After some time, he raised his eyes, and he gazed at the old man.

" Ray is a trained agent. He wouldn't break in pain. And if he realized why we need the information, he'll be even more strict.

" He expressed his concern.

"I know how to get answers from him,

" the old man muttered under his breath.

"P-please don't kill him. I'll have a hard time explaining his death,

" Mark replied, understanding that the man wasn't guaranteeing anything.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to handle the aftermath,

" the old man answered without any expression on his face.

The more Ryder heard their conversation, the more he worried for Ray's safety.

It was also an excellent chance to see Ray's loyalty, though. He wondered if Ray would give Ryder's name to save his life. If he did, Ryder wouldn't even think about saving him, but if he was prepared to die without exposing Ryder, he was prepared to do something.

Ting!

With a light notification, the door of the lift opened.

Mark stepped out first, and the others followed after him.

The old man was led to a room which had number fifteen written on it.

There were two agents standing in front of the door.

"Open the door,

" Mark commanded the men.

"Yes, sir.

" The men immediately opened the doors as per the orders of Ryder.

Mark, Ryder, and the old man stepped inside the room before the door was closed once again.

"Director and Assistant Director entered. That was normal, but who was the old man? Why was he allowed inside?

" One of the two guards asked his partner

"Maybe he is from some government authority here to test the living conditions of Ray? You know how the human rights department and various other troublesome agencies work. They always create trouble for us law enforcement,

" the other man smiled wryly as he answered.

*****

Ray was lying on the bed when he saw the door open. He opened his eyes slowly as he gazed to the side.

He sat up after he saw that it was the Director and Handerson. He did find the third person to be suspicious. Who was this old man? Why was he here?

"Ray, we already have a list of the people who might have given you the information. Please tell us who that person is, or you might be in deep trouble. We have sufficient reason to believe that the person is working for the evil organization. That's why he fooled us and made us waste our resources. Give the name, or you'll suffer the charge of treason,

" Mark let out as he stepped forward.

He wanted to get the answers before the old man needed to since that would mean things could be handled in a civil manner.

"I told you, I don't know who that person is. He only left letters in front of my doors. He only used an offline method of information sharing. I never knew who he was myself. All I know is that he helped me a lot in the past with information. He couldn't have joined the enemy,

" Ray answered softly, sticking to his excuse.

Mark sighed as he shook his head.

He was about to give up when he thought of an idea.

Since he wasn't going to get an answer anyway, he decided to at least try his luck and tell a random name from the list. He was sure that Ray's expression would expose the truth if his guess were right.

If he were wrong, that would only mean that the old man would take over. This was the only thing he knew.

The old man raised his right feet to step forward, but before his feet could land on the ground, Mark utilized his plan.

"Hah, you really thought you could fool us, right? You think we wouldn't know who he is? I was only asking to test if you were willing to be loyal to your country in the end or not. Albeit you didn't choose,

" Mark let out, laughing.

"He is Ryder Flynn, isn't he?

" He asked.