Chapter 452 - Impressions of Professor Dodge_1

Chapter 452: 452 Chapter Impressions of Professor Dodge_1

Professor Dodge found a cloned shell of his son from the Harvest Mother Cult...

Was it to seek solace for himself?

So, his son really died?

Aiden pondered again and again, always feeling that matters couldn’t be that simple.

"During your destruction of the Empire’s military base, did you discover one conducting special experiments?" Aiden said, lowering his voice, "The inhumane kind of forbidden experiments?"

Father Bales thought for a moment, then shook his head: "Not clear. We only carried out some simple terrorist attacks and didn’t pay much attention to what was being done inside the base. We successfully destroyed two small bases and looted some materials; as for the other bases, we just organized sabotage operations from time to time. After all, Mother was merely venting her own desire for vengeance. That man probably just took advantage of this fact... or should I say, he shared Mother’s foul stench."

"You seem to have a clear insight," Aiden chuckled.

"After all, unlike Mother, I don’t have a tangible feeling about the destruction of the Kingdom, nor am I particularly interested in reviving that long-lost Kingdom. In fact, I’d say I detest it," Father Bales replied indifferently, "It was for this impossible ’great cause’ that Mother gave birth to me as a tool."

"I understand; otherwise, you wouldn’t have killed her yourself," Aiden nodded, "So, was that the extent of your contact with Harrison Dodge?"

"A good while after our first meeting, maybe six months or ten, he sought us out again, requesting that we create another of the same body for him," Father Bales answered.

"The same request again..." Aiden murmured thoughtfully, "Anything else?"

Father Bales struggled to recall: "Ah, at the time, he seemed to consult me on a question. He asked if there was a way to remove life fusion?"

"Life fusion?" Aiden narrowed his eyes.

"To separate the special bloodlines from the beastly, dragonkin, and demonkin, making them normal people," Father Bales said with a self-deprecating chuckle, "Huh, an interesting question, because I’ve considered it myself."

"How did you answer him?"

"I told the truth. As far as we know, only the ’Throne of Life’ could directly influence genetic conditions like beastliness and dragonkin, as well as synthetic creatures, and it requires a very high standard close to the throne. As for the ’proliferation’ authority, it could only affect the offspring, making the monster’s descendants return to normal, but the requirements are also high. But that man seemed more fixated on demonkin, which I’m not very clear about."

"Are demonkin different from the other two?" Aiden asked in surprise.

"A bit different, because demons seem not to be normal life forms but constructions of some special energy, fundamentally different from ordinary life. Although I also don’t know why, they are not directly affected by the authorities under the Throne of Life," Father Bales shook his head.

"But..."

"I know you want to mention the pinnacle witch; we studied her," Father Bales raised his hand interrupting Aiden’s inquiry, "She only used the authority to remodel her body to accommodate demon magic power, then used a demon contract to invade herself and then strengthened her body to resist the demon’s corruption, making it controllable. Simply put, she was just using power to mimic demonkin, a non-heritable force."

"And the ’proliferation’ authority?"

"Mother tried many times to cultivate demonkin offspring, but all failed," Father Bales shook his head, "First-generation could be barely cultivated using the ’evolution’ power to merge with demon offspring, but the melding wasn’t stable, and in most cases, the demon part would quickly separate and disappear from the body, and it couldn’t be passed on. In the end, she turned to dragonkin... but failed there too, so she opted for the unsightly synthetic beasts."

"I see..." Aiden’s expression grew grave.

So, the source of the demonkin doesn’t fall under the Throne of Life’s authorities?

The Empire’s past Demon Project and Gistas’ current "Infection" plan might also involve the power of other authorities?

After a good while, Aiden came back to his senses and continued to inquire: "Aside from these, did Dodge ask anything else?"

"No more. After fulfilling his request the second time, we never met again. After being active in the Empire for a while, the Empire substantially intensified its pursuit of us, and we left the Empire, moving to Gistas," Father Bales replied.

Aiden thought it seems this guy knew only so much, but he still posed a question: "Personally speaking, what’s your impression of Harrison Dodge?"

Father Bales was the first person he had found who had had face-to-face contact with Professor Dodge, and he wanted to gather as much information as possible. What kind of person was Professor Dodge—radical or composed, forthright, or cunning...

"A personal assessment?" Father Bales pondered upon this request before hesitantly providing his answer after a long while, "From what I see, that man... must have valued his child a lot."

"Hmm?" Aiden was taken aback.

"I mean, he seems to be a good father, at least that’s how it appears," Father Bales thought Aiden didn’t understand.

"I’m surprised by your point of focus," Aiden explained.

"Is that so?" Father Bales chuckled, shaking his head, "I can’t explain it clearly, but that’s the impression that stuck with me."

This impression did coincide with what Heinz and the others had gathered.

On deeper consideration, Aiden found it not so hard to understand why Father Bales would have that impression. Benedict Bales’ life tragedy began with his mother; born as a tool to oversee the Cult under Sister Neve and granted a synthetic beast’s body, he lost the chance to be a normal person right from the start – his entire existence was defined by executing Sister Neve’s orders.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

One cannot choose their parents, and his tragedy started from this point. It was not surprising that his attention fell upon Harrison Dodge’s attitude as a father.

"Alright, thank you for answering my questions truthfully," Aiden concluded the interrogation, "I took the liberty of bringing some things for you, which you’ll receive later. I checked with the jailers here, and it seems you’ve been quite obedient in prison."

"Thank you," Father Bales smiled faintly, "Life here definitely can’t be called free, but compared to before... it’s much better. I’m also looking forward to life after release, although it’s still a long way off."

Having said that, he pressed the call bell; a jailer entered, saluted Aiden, then gestured for Benedict Barres to return to his cell – although the visit was arranged through normal procedure, Aiden used his influence to claim it was for a confidential investigation, diverting the jailer who would have stayed in the room to eavesdrop.

Aiden doffed his cap in salute, watching as Bales departed.