In life, there are some lessons that you can learn from reading books or talking to people. But, most of the time, it's your experience that teaches you the best.
Oliver, who fought tooth and nail, would never forget what he learned in his past life. If he forgets, it would be the greatest betrayal to himself.
So, his general mistrust towards others didn't stem from malice, but as a reaction to protect himself.
That was why he never trusted a single word uttered by the researchers.
Those who lie in critical situations without respecting the lives of others were the worst according to him. And the researchers fit perfectly into this description.
They knew their lies could get someone killed and yet they lied.
How messed up were they?
As a villain, who knew about the hypocritical two-faced nature of humanity, he was not surprised.
There will always be people who do bad things. And he would never be able to fix humanity as a whole even if he was a god.
The world was like that.
Even then, it didn't mean he would sit back and accept it, as it is.
Accepting the cruelty of the world and suffering the pain without striking back was something heroes would do.
And he certainly was not a hero.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was his life motto.
You can lie to those who lie.
You can cheat those who cheat.
You can kill those who kill.
Retaliation, in his view, was not only justified but necessary. He reasoned that fear of reprisal was the sole deterrent against repeated offences.
Therefore, the researchers who lie, cheat and potentially cause them to die were soon put on his hit list.
If only the soldiers and Achara were not there, he would have shown them what the repercussions were.
Unfortunately, he was in the presence of people who he wanted to make a good impression on. So, he had to hide his thoughts and bury his feelings.
That was why he was taking the initiative to make it obviously clear to the rest that the researchers were lying.
"Do you have anything more to add, chief?" He asked with a mocking smirk.
One might think that clearly explaining something is a way to convince a person. However, that was not the case, most of the time.
Oliver knew this exact fact and was poisoning the mind of rest with doubt.
"The only people who seemed to have survived this tragedy are your research team. What do you have to tell me about that? Why was there not even one soldier among you?"
"Don't blatantly accuse us. What proof do you have?" The chief replied in irritation.
At the same time, he was avoiding the question by not saying anything that could rid them of the doubt.
Oliver smirked.
This was exactly what he was hoping for.
"Team leader. I have something to say." He suddenly turned his attention to the side and said.
"Yes,"
"Do you have a map of the internal structure of the base?"
"I do."
"Can you show it to me?"
Soon, a real map which showed the internal schematics of the outpost was placed in front of Oliver. It was made out of some kind of polyethene film and paper.
The soldiers always carry a physical map with them because of the high failure rate of technology in the mana-rich environment of Second Earth.
The map was soon spread onto a table in the command centre.
"Excuse me for a second," Oliver said and walked up to the chief of research.
His composed and confident expressions caused the chief to tense up.
He bent down to hold the collar of the chief and yanked, lifting his body off the chair.
The sudden action caused the chief to whimper.
He never expected Oliver to treat him like that.
Although he accused him of many crimes, they didn't have a single proof. So, he believed his life was safe. His confidence stemmed from the fact that he was a highly respected researcher in an extremely difficult field of study. His death and loss of his expertise would negatively impact humanity as a whole.
However, all his assumptions were based on dealing with normal people.
Oliver didn't give a rat's ass about any of that. He was a machine, a methodical, precise and cruel robot with no sympathy towards people in general.
Unlike others, he possessed a keen understanding of deception. His experience allowed him to decipher expressions and body language, rendering subtle cues transparent. A twitch, an averted gaze, and a slight blush, he was observing everything as he deeply thought about the underlying meaning.
And all of it was pointing him towards a single conclusion. The researchers were liars.
Proving it might be difficult, but he could do one better than that.
He grabbed the chief by his collar and dragged him towards the table. He pointed his fingers at the schematics of the base and asked, "Where is block 9?"
Anyone who could read could know where block 9 was. His purpose was not to find it.
According to the researchers, block nine was the place the demons occupied. Thus, it is according to reason to believe it was the most dangerous region.
Immediately, the chief's eyes scanned the map. He read it quickly and pointed at block 9, a large segment of the map.
Block 9 was situated halfway into the mountain, right in the middle. All other blocks were spread out in a circle around it and were connected by long tunnels.
As the chief pointed at it, Oliver's eyes glanced over at another space.
When he was asked to point to block 9, the chief had made a subtle pause looking at the furthest part of the outpost.
The block was numbered 5 and was labelled cold storage. It was a small, isolated unit tucked into the mountain's furthest corner.
Oliver noted it down in his mind and paused to compile all the information he had at hand.
He flicked his hand to the side, pushed away the chief standing next to him and smiled.
"It's block 5. Whatever he is trying to hide is in block 5." Oliver spoke with a smirk.
The chief was smart and intelligent, but he was not as well-versed at lying. Oliver quickly found the next place they had to investigate and quickly informed the rest.
He didn't say everything in his mind. He only spoke about the most important link connecting them.
"Why do you think so?" Achara asked.
She had been passive for the better part of the conversation by only observing and listening.
"His eyes told me. When I asked about block 9, his eyes were lingering over block 5. There is something of interest in it."
"Are you sure?"
"I always stand by my words."
"Team leader, what do you think?" Achara asked the team leader.
"He doesn't seem like an idiot," He said, glancing over at Oliver and then looked over at the panicking chief and continued, "and he seems more than suspicious."
The chief felt his heart tighten. It was getting difficult to breathe.
The rest of the researchers were in a similar situation.
Block 5 had something they couldn't let the world know about.
"NO, there is nothing in block 5. The demons are really in block 9." The chief screamed as he was out of his mind.
There was no better proof than that.
The chief himself proved they were lying.
'Now that I have established that they are lying, it is time to get some real information.'
Oliver said in his mind and walked towards the chief. Before anyone could react, his combat knife slashed upwards.
One arm of the chief flew into the air, splattering blood everywhere.