How could Ethan possibly dare say no?
Right now, he wasn’t feeling grateful in the slightest.
He hadn’t even had time to properly understand the system.
Whether he survived depended entirely on whether he could bluff these people successfully.
Judging from what he remembered of the movie, these Atala militants weren’t exactly highly educated.
They should be relatively easy to fool.
Ethan immediately put on an utterly confident expression.
“That’s right.
I have intelligence.
If you kill me, you’ll be causing yourselves a major loss.” The junior Atala commander who had questioned him turned and rapidly exchanged a few words with several other militants in their local Afghan language.
Ethan was then taken into a small room that resembled an interrogation chamber.
The commander who had spoken to him earlier entered along with two other militants who also appeared to hold positions of authority.
A moment ago, the man had looked as though he’d stumbled upon a major achievement.
Now his expression turned cold and threatening.
“Tell us what you know, agent of Uncle Sam!” Faced with the interrogation of several terrorists, Ethan showed no fear.
He spoke calmly and confidently.
“I’m an agent of an organization called the Anomaly Control Foundation.
I was commissioned by the United States federal government to investigate anomalous incidents in the mountains of Afghanistan.” “According to reports, an anomaly has appeared somewhere in the Afghan mountains near Bagram Air Base.” “My mission was to come here, locate the suspected anomaly, and contain it.” The three Atala commanders exchanged glances.
One of them narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“We searched you.
We found nothing that proves your identity.
How are we supposed to know whether anything you’re saying is true?” Ethan looked at him with something resembling pity.
As expected, another commander immediately smacked the man on the back of the head.
“Are you an idiot?
With the way the Americans operate, why would an undercover agent carry something that proves his identity while conducting a mission overseas?” [Ding!
You have fabricated the existence of the Foundation.] [Rumor Points obtained: 200.] So that was how it worked?
If he fabricated a lie and someone believed it, his Rumor Points would increase.
In that case, he needed to reach 1,000 points before he could have any chance of escaping.
One of the commanders leaned forward with a serious expression.
“What exactly is an anomaly?” “And I’ve never heard of this Foundation organization.
How are we supposed to verify whether your information is real?” Ethan pointed toward his already cracked lips.
“Can I have some water?” “Give it to him.” The small test worked.
They were willing to grant a minor request.
That meant the Atala commanders had already begun to believe at least part of his fabricated story.
A short while later, a militant entered with a bottle of purified water.
Ethan didn’t stand on ceremony.
He raised it and gulped the entire bottle down.
Having suffered severe injuries and lost a significant amount of fluid, he finally felt as though he’d recovered a little strength.
Looking at the fierce expressions on the militants’ faces, Ethan continued his explanation.
“An anomalies are subjects designated for containment.
Generally speaking, an anomaly refers to a supernatural creature, object, or phenomenon capable of threatening—or severely threatening—human existence.” “The appearance of even a single anomaly can potentially cause massive casualties.” “That’s why the Foundation dispatches agents to investigate anomalous incidents.” “Once the existence of a dangerous anomaly has been confirmed, the Foundation evaluates its threat level and determines whether a Mobile Task Force needs to be deployed to contain it.” [Ding!
You have fabricated information concerning anomalies and caused others to believe in their existence.] [Rumor Points obtained: 300.] Hearing the system notification, Ethan finally relaxed slightly.
They believed him.
He already had 500 Rumor Points?
These people really were easier to fool than he’d expected.
Then again, it wasn’t entirely surprising.
They were militants operating in the Afghan mountains and had limited exposure to the wider world.
More importantly, Ethan spoke with complete confidence.
An ordinary person couldn’t casually invent an entire organization, operational structure, and supernatural containment framework on the spot with this much detail.
Especially not when they were about to be executed.
Even if someone tried to fabricate a story under those circumstances, panic alone would make it difficult to produce something so elaborate and internally consistent.
Although the militants now believed most of what he’d said, the commander in charge still maintained a skeptical expression.
“So you’re saying you came here solely to deal with this so-called anomaly?” “You didn’t have any other military mission?” Ethan adopted an indifferent expression, as though he couldn’t care less whether they believed him.
“I’m a Foundation agent.
Naturally, I wouldn’t be deployed for ordinary military operations.” “If you don’t believe me, investigate it yourselves.” The commander thought it over.
It did make sense.
If these so-called anomalies truly possessed supernatural powers, then they would certainly be far more valuable and attractive to the Americans than conventional military operations.
If the United States could somehow obtain such supernatural entities and put their abilities to use…
Ordinary humans would have no way to compete against that kind of power.
Although the commander was already mostly convinced, there was no chance he would show it openly.
“We’ll send people to verify the intelligence you’ve given us.” “If even part of it turns out to be false, you know what will happen.” Ethan deliberately adopted the tone of someone offering a warning.
“I’m not looking down on you, but investigating anomalies is extremely dangerous.” “You could suffer serious losses.” Hearing his warning, the commander’s eyes flashed with a look of understanding.
Trying to scare the Atala organization away from investigating the anomaly because we might suffer casualties?
So that’s your plan.
You don’t want us getting our hands on supernatural power.
Heh.
You think I can’t see through such an obvious trick from one of Uncle Sam’s agents?
He gave a cold snort.
“That’s none of your concern!” “Take him away!” [Ding!
The Atala organization has developed significant interest in anomalies.] [Rumor Points increased by 500.] [Ding!
Rumor Points have reached 1,000.] [The host may now use accumulated Rumor Points to summon an uncontained anomaly within the fabricated area.] Ethan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
For the moment…
He was safe.