"Xiang Nan, walk us through exactly what happened between you and the Association members—Marco and the others. According to our investigation, those four died during a conflict involving the underground world. Based on the report you submitted, you were directly responsible for their deaths. Another person died at the hands of a different underground faction and has no connection to you. Is that right?"

Inside a hotel suite, Cheadle Yorkshire and her team had finally tracked down Xiang Nan.

Without wasting time, Cheadle—acting as the Association's investigator—jumped straight into the interrogation.

Nearby, staff were recording everything between Xiang Nan and Pariston from multiple angles.

Xiang Nan and Pariston were seated on separate couches.

Cheadle started with Xiang Nan.

"Yeah, that's right," he replied casually.

Then, step by step, he laid out how the four Hunters had tried to ambush him.

He glossed over the stuff involving the Ten Dons and the Shadow Beasts—barely mentioning it—and simply admitted that he had some involvement with certain mafia groups.

That was already public knowledge to someone like Pariston. No need to pretend.

As Xiang Nan spoke, Ox (Mizaistom Nana), a two-star Crime Hunter and lawyer, quietly observed his micro-expressions and the flow of his aura.

Ox was trained to read people, and he was good at spotting lies.

Another staffer, a Nen user, reached his hand into Xiang Nan's body and slowly pulled out a Nen-generated cassette. These tapes could be played on specialized equipment to visually recreate the scenes a person described.

If the tape skipped, glitched, or froze mid-playback—it meant something didn't add up. A lie, or at least a misdirection.

This was not a routine questioning. The Association was taking the whole thing very seriously.

Xiang Nan's narrative was solid—detailed, natural, believable.

Soon, Mizaistom exchanged a look with Cheadle. Their brief eye contact said enough: Xiang Nan checked out. No red flags.

One of the staff hit play on the cassette.

Everyone turned to the screen.

The footage clearly showed Xiang Nan facing off against Marco and his crew. As for other players—like the Shadow Beasts—they showed up only as blurry silhouettes. Xiang Nan had clearly filtered them out.

But since those individuals weren't directly tied to the case, and it fell within Xiang Nan's right to withhold personal matters, neither of the Zodiacs pushed further.

After the playback ended, Xiang Nan stood up and left.

Then came Pariston—cool as ever—walking over with a smile and sitting where Xiang Nan had just been.

Cheadle began questioning him just as thoroughly.

"They came to me," Pariston said with an easy smile.

"They were digging for info on Xiang Nan. I assumed they were members of No-Name Town trying to connect, so I shared his public Association record with them. It wasn't like I was intentionally leaking anything."

"Looking back, yeah... maybe I acted a little too casually. I didn't think it would cause this kind of mess for him. For that, I owe him an apology."

He passed the test easily—calm, composed, nothing suspicious.

According to the evidence, Marco and his team acted on their own. Pariston wasn't involved.

Cheadle's face darkened.

Classic Pariston. Too smooth to ever leave evidence.

And just as she suspected, the whole investigation was going to end with… nothing. Pointless.

Still, she had a gut feeling.

The more she listened, the more she felt it: Pariston had set this up. He threw bait, lured Marco and the others in, and used their ambition to turn them against Xiang Nan.

But that was just her theory—and she had no proof. She couldn't convict someone over a hunch.

Then, out of nowhere, Pariston raised a hand and spoke with that signature friendly tone:

"As Vice Chairman, letting a new recruit get pulled into something like this is on me. I take full responsibility. I'll be filing a formal request to be punished—even if it means losing my title."

That caught both Cheadle and Mizaistom completely off guard.

What the hell is this move?

Cheadle had expected Pariston to deflect or turn the blame back onto Xiang Nan.

Instead, he just… owned it?

"No need for that," Xiang Nan suddenly chimed in from the side, arms crossed, watching Pariston's little performance.

"If the Vice Chairman already recognizes his mistake, then as the person who brought the complaint, I'm satisfied. No need to strip you of your position. That'd be overkill. I'm not unreasonable."

Pariston looked at him and said softly:

"Still... my actions did cause you trouble. I may not have pulled the trigger, but I did hand the gun to someone who did. The Chairman put me in this role to lead, not to create problems."

Cheadle sat there in total confusion.

What were they doing? Pariston was taking the blame—and Xiang Nan, who had been demanding an investigation just a day ago, was now defending him?

What changed?

"Let's wrap this up," Pariston said, standing up calmly.

"Once we're back at HQ, I'll report directly to the Chairman."

Xiang Nan cut in again:

"Actually, the Chairman gave the authority to Agent Cheadle. It's her call."

"That said, I now believe I misunderstood the Vice Chairman. And as the accuser, I should take responsibility for that."

"The entire upper management already knows about this case. To avoid any further damage to his reputation, I'm officially asking you, Agent Cheadle, to continue investigating everything Marco and his crew did while plotting my assassination. Once you've proven that the Vice Chairman had nothing to do with it, I'll personally apologize in front of the entire Association board. And if my actions still caused lasting damage, I'll resign from the Hunter Association myself."

He sounded completely sincere.

"I can't let my recklessness, or some tiny smear, be a burden on the Vice Chairman. And I don't want to set an example where members think it's okay to just accuse upper management whenever they feel like it. That's not the kind of culture the Association needs."

"This is all on me."

Xiang Nan took a deep breath, his tone solemn and steady.

It sounded like he was bending over backward just to clear Pariston's name.

Cheadle watched the two of them, stunned.

No… something doesn't add up here. What the hell are they playing at?

BAM.

Cheadle slammed her palm on the table and stood up, furious.

"What the hell are you two doing?! Are you treating this whole investigation like a game?!"

"Xiang Nan—you're the one who filed this report, and now you want to drop it like it's nothing? You're wasting time, effort, manpower—absolutely ridiculous!"

"And you—Pariston! Don't think I don't know about your shady crap! I don't care what kind of stunt you two are pulling. I'm the one handling this investigation. What happens next is my decision, not yours!"

With that, she turned and stormed out of the room.

The rest of the team sat there in silence, looking at each other.

Before leaving, Mizaistom gave both men one last glance—Pariston still grinning, Xiang Nan stone-faced—and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Then he turned and walked out, quietly closing the door behind him.