Air Hero

Investigating the incident II

“But that’s that, and this’s this! I really didn’t do anything today. Does it even make sense? They said that I beat up David Dunn till he is half-dead. Is that even possible? I know my limit very well. Defeating B-rank hero is impossible, not to mention A-rank.”

Kalina knows very well that some things don’t make sense. However, it will be useless to listen to Andy’s blabber, so she rather finds out about it herself.

Kalina points her fingers at Andy, and soon, from her finger, a green vine comes out. Just like a snake, the green vine twirled around Andy’s neck before it finally pierces Andy’s temple. If anyone saw this for the first time, they might think that Kalina is crazy as she attempted to kill Andy, who is interrogated.

However, there’s no trace of blood coming out from the wound on Andy’s temple. Even Andy himself didn’t show any reaction as if nothing happened. After that, Andy’s eye only showed all-white since his pupil is long gone.

Seeing that her ability has succeeded, Kalina then started her questioning.

“What’s your name?”

“Andy Bayer.”

“Tell me, since when you joined the evil mastermind?”

“I never joined them.”

Hearing Andy’s answer, Kalina realized that something isn’t right. The expression of the investigator who viewed it also turned strange.

“Then, why did you joined hands with the evil mastermind and getting involved in today’s incident?”

“I never joined hands with them, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Do you not remember anything at all? Today, you barge into the archery range competition. Didn’t you recall it?”

“No, I don’t remember.”

Kalina knows very well that her ability could detect lies from the target by sending the target into a semi-conscious state that her plants specially create. Like a truth serum, it is impossible for the target to lie, making things even harder to accept as Andy seemed to tell the truth.

“Then, do you remember anything from the past few days?”

Kalina is thinking quickly. As he was last seen a week before, there should be something that happened in between the time window.

“I don’t know. My memory is hazy. I remember I was drinking with my friends, after that… ugh, my head. Aaaagh! My head! It’s painful!”

Andy then clutched his head as if he was in a tremendous amount of pain. This is the first time something like this has happened in Kalina’s investigation. Usually, there is nothing wrong with her methods. She immediately stopped her plants, and it slowly returned to her finger.

She immediately summoned healing plants, but there is nothing wrong with Andy’s body. After all, what he suffered today is a shock from Alexandra’s attack that knocks him unconscious. After making sure that nothing is wrong with Andy, Kalina goes out of the room and talks with the investigator.

“Did you guys see what happened just now?”

“Yes. This has never happened before. Do you want to try on the other villain that we capture?”

Kalina nods as she feels that something is strange and needs to confirm her suspicion. However, the same thing happened when she tried to do the same method to the rest of the villains. Their body spasmed while they are clutching their head. After noticing that something isn’t right, Kalina immediately makes a call to Captain Green.

“What? You’re saying that your interrogation method doesn’t work?”

“Yes, we’ve also tried regular hypnosis, pressuring using force, none of that works. It seemed that they didn’t recall anything they have done for the past week. I can say that none of the people that we caught today is really affiliated to Evil mastermind. Somehow, they are being used by them, and someone must have put a strong restriction on their mind.”

“I can accept it if they are just paid or being hired for the attack. But this is just too absurd. It seemed that someone controlled their mind.”

“Controlling their mind? Is that even possible?”

Kalina might not know about it, but Captain Green knows that it is possible. After all, he has witnessed it once. Thinking about it, bringing a part of memory that he doesn’t want to recall.

“Yes. It is possible. I think the worst outcome has happened. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about that. Although the interrogation has ended in failure, you’ll be given free rein to do the investigation.”

Kalina wanted to ask more about it, but Captain Green’s tone seemed to be cold, and she can feel that he doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Alright, I’ll do my best to investigate this.”

After cutting off the call, Kalina is at a loss on what to do next. The clue that she got today turns out to be something that leads up to a dead-end.

While Kalina is pondering on what to do, Max, who is sleeping peacefully after his battle opened up his eye.

“Where am I?”

With an IV cable on his left hand, Max realized that he is in the intensive care unit of the United heroes association hospital. His right hand is covered in a bandage as it was damaged to the point that his skin is showing due to the backlash of the new move he executes. Although he managed to defeat Richard, it is taken a toll on his body.

Not to mention, the most dangerous wound that he suffered is the wound on his neck that he exchange for a chance of defeating Richard.

“Ugh.”

Max tried to move his right hand, but he feels stinging pain coming from it. After all, the skin has been shredded, so his flesh's friction against the bandage is causing an unbearable sensation. This kind of pain is more annoying than the pain coming from his neck. It was kind of an itch, but he couldn’t scratch it. As for his neck, it was painful, but he can bear it.

“*sigh*. I guess I spent more time recuperating than doing my job as a hero.”

Max tried to remember all the things he has gone through and indeed, he spent more time healing than fighting the villains. Just after he got his license, he got severely injured after facing Crawley. Now, he isn’t even doing a mission, but he got wounded again. He inwardly chuckled to himself because he remembers something from his childhood.

“Don’t worry, dad. If I managed to become a hero, I would be the hero that pays the most attention to their own safety first.”

That’s one of a few conversations Max’s have with his parents that he won’t forget.

“Dad, Mom, I missed you. Well, I better focus on recuperating first.”