I'm not just human!

"See? I told you to just trust Xia Fa, now you understand, haha!"

Chestnut, however, glanced over those in the Silver Church and the Natural Church who had once secretly cricketed in Xiafa.

But all of these people, regardless of gender, clenched their fists, their faces full of excitement and admiration as they looked at Xia Fa's back, as if they had completely forgotten that they had once secretly slept with Xia Fa.

Seeing this, Chestnut could only sigh softly and shake his head helplessly.

That's human nature. As my grandfather once said, when a person is strong enough, all doubts will naturally disappear. Before that, any argument is useless. It's hard to convince a prejudiced person.

The storyteller put down his pickaxe, his eyes regaining their worldly wisdom, and smiled as he said:

“Xia Fa, just like last time, you need to explain your reasoning process. Of course, this time, there will be no punishment for not being able to explain. I will give you what you deserve, including the small gift I promised.”

After a slight pause, what this entity said next made everyone genuinely envious of Xia Fa.

"But if you can tell me, I will give you two extra smart chips."

Chapter 148 An Unbelievable Gift! A Real Surprise!

Give me two more smart chips?

Xia Fa admitted that even he was feeling excited at this moment.

Although it is said that each person is only useful when absorbing the first smart chip, the effect of the second chip will be much less.

However, a significant difference doesn't mean it's completely ineffective!

The effect of the second one is thirty percent of that of the first one.

The effect of the third one is thirty percent of that of the second one.

And so on.

Adding them together like this should increase the effect by at least half!

It's even possible to advance your understanding to 20% and master a new secret ability within the Gate of Stars!

What if you obtained the "time concealment" you desired most?

Especially now, he urgently needs to advance his understanding of the Star Gate, a supreme-level contract, so that he can sign the eighth supreme-level contract, "Mystic Singularity," as soon as possible.

That's an unknown, overlord-level secret contract that even a being like the "Sage," comparable to the nine great gods, is searching for!

If I sign it, I will possess a supreme-level secret contract that is completely confidential and unknown to the vast majority of my enemies, along with all the secret contract abilities!

It's easy to imagine how much of an advantage this would provide when facing an enemy.

Therefore, Xia Fa certainly wanted those two extra smart chips, and one could even say he was quite eager for them.

"Cough cough."

After clearing his throat slightly and clearing the jumbled thoughts in his mind, Xia Fa spoke in a deep voice.

In that instant, he failed to notice that all the noble students and church elites behind him were staring at his back, eagerly anticipating his reasoning.

Because of this, they could at least be closer to Xia Fa in terms of intelligence, so they wouldn't feel completely crushed...

Moreover, it offers a glimpse into the thought process of geniuses.

"The reason is simple."

Xia Fa began with this routine, but didn't see that many of his peers behind him twitched their faces slightly.

"First of all, Mr. Storyteller, you mentioned at the beginning of your story that your pen pal 'claimed to be from afar'."

Upon hearing this, many people present frowned, clearly recalling this small detail.

At first, they thought it was a pen pal introducing himself as coming from afar in a letter to the story reader, hence the "self-identification."

But unexpectedly, this... turned out to be a logical trap?

Moreover, Xia Fafei not only noticed it, but also followed the clues and found the answer.

Xia Fa continued:

"Secondly, when home wireless telegraph machines were first invented, they could not conduct ultra-long-distance communication like they do now."

"By combining these two clues, we can deduce that your pen pal is not in the Kingdom of Augu at all, but is very likely... in the neighborhood near you!"

For some reason, these words sent chills down the spines of many people.

It seems that some kind of conspiracy is brewing in that story, a conspiracy by the pen pal against the person in the story.

Xia Fa then sighed and slowly said:

“Originally, this clue alone was not enough, but just now, during the discussion, someone mentioned a real key.”

"The key is that more than a hundred years ago, in the Boyue Empire... there was a serial killer who caused widespread panic but then mysteriously disappeared!"

At this point, Daponz, one of the people present, showed a hint of realization, as if he had grasped something.

But the others were puzzled, especially Auf, whose young face was full of distress, as if she couldn't figure it out.

Upon hearing this, the storyteller smiled slightly.

As Xia Fayue spoke, his thoughts became increasingly clear, and he continued:

"When I heard this background, everything became clear."

"First of all, you at that time, or rather, the you in the story, should have been above middle class, or even relatively wealthy within the middle class."

"Only under such circumstances can you afford a home camera and a home wireless telegraph machine."

"And one day, you are suddenly targeted by that serial killer. Maybe he is after your money, or maybe he has his eye on your detached house where you live alone. Killing you would not easily expose him."

"So, he started to slowly approach you. This could be his fetish. He wanted to know you thoroughly before killing you to satisfy his twisted desires."

"He must have been observing you from a nearby house when he noticed you fiddling with a home wireless telegraph machine."

"And so, a perverse plan was born in his mind."

“Every day while you’re at work, he sneaks into your house and uses your home wireless telegraph to send you telegrams, pretending to be a pen pal from afar.”

"When you returned, he was watching you read your pen pal's reply with great interest from the window of a nearby house, imagining when he would kill you."

"In this way, through this back and forth, he has come to know you completely, and you have also come to know the identity of the pen pal he fabricated, but of course you know nothing about him."

“Until that day, you asked to meet him.”

"When he realized he couldn't hide the truth any longer, he prepared to kill you, but he wanted to play with you one last time and exchange photos with you as you suggested."

"Given the generally twisted psychology of serial killers, he might even be planning to kill you from behind the moment you receive the photo, which is also the moment you are most excited."

"If he were bolder, he might even dare to use his own photo."

"But he overlooked a crucial and fatal point."

"That is, on the day you took the photo, as you said, you left work early to get a haircut and a beard trim, but he didn't know you left work early."

"So when you come back, he should still be hiding in your bedroom, fiddling with that home wireless telegraph machine, continuing to pretend to be your pen pal and reply to your letters."

"At that time, he must have heard the sound of a door opening downstairs. The sound went upstairs, and in his panic, he chose to hide under your bed in your bedroom."

"He just hid there, and you were completely unaware, setting up a camera in front of the bedroom window and taking a selfie."

"It wasn't until a few days later that you received his reply."

"In your excitement at the time, you didn't really think much about it, and you didn't consider whether the reply was too short. You just opened the envelope and took out his photo."

"Although the photo shows his original appearance, cameras had only been invented more than a hundred years ago. As a serial killer, he must have been extremely skilled at counter-tracking and counter-surveillance. It's impossible that he had left his own photo before that, or even been photographed by anyone."

"So, you didn't actually make that connection at first."

"But then, you noticed something amiss in the photos he sent you."

"I guess... the clue is in his shoes, whatever they are, whether they are calfskin shoes, round-toed dress shoes, or Doc Martens, it doesn't matter."

"The key point is that you saw his shoes in the photo he provided."

"Then, in the background of your own photo, under the bed in your bedroom... you find a pair of legs wearing the same shoes!"

"You were startled and instinctively turned your head, only to find those legs and those shoes under your own bed!"

"When you first discovered this secret, you were probably quite frightened, but you quickly realized something, especially when you thought of that notorious serial killer."

"Perhaps at this point he realized you had discovered him and chose to attack, but you killed him instead. Or perhaps you pretended not to know he was hiding in your house and plotted to kill him."

"In short, in the end, he died at your hands, so from the outside world's perspective, the serial killer disappeared, right?"

As Xia Fa finished speaking, he looked directly into the eyes of the person answering the story.

He was very confident because the truth could only be this way.

The storyteller, who looked like an old miner, nodded with satisfaction, a look of reminiscence in his eyes:

"That's right, that's exactly it. The conclusion you've drawn is almost identical to the reality that happened at the time."

"At the time, I looked at his photo first, and then I immediately saw the legs hiding under the bed in the background of my own photo, and I immediately thought of that serial killer."

"Because only serial killers would be so twisted as to hide under a grown man's bed."

"Then, I found his legs under my own bed. He had actually hidden them there, so I guess he was planning to attack me."

"Because I've already seen his real face, and he likes that kind of thrill."

"But I didn't expect that this would put me on guard. I picked up the hunting rifle that was in the bedroom closet. He had just crawled out from under the bed with a knife and a sinister smile on his face. I confirmed his identity and shot him dead."

After the storyteller finished speaking, the noble students and church elites could no longer contain themselves and exclaimed in genuine amazement!

"So that's how it is!"

"No wonder the story mentions the bedroom multiple times, like fiddling with a household telegraph machine in the bedroom, or taking photos in the bedroom!"

"Yes, and it was even mentioned that the people in the story lived alone in a detached villa, which is also key!"

"And there are photos too. That makes perfect sense that he killed his pen pal as soon as he saw the photos!"

"Xia Fa, how do you even think of a brain? You're so smart!"

"I have to say, this is absolutely a fantastic suspense thriller!"

The storyteller stood up, his smile growing even more benevolent:

"Child, you are very good, very good. This is a gift for you."

With a flick of his wrist, a cone-shaped bottle flew toward Xia Fa, containing a swaying black potion.