Facing Andrew, a guy who has worked in the national security agency for a long time, Luke simply couldn't bear Andrew's scrutinizing gaze for too long.

The young painter avoided the sight, and the smiling expression on his face suddenly restrained, and it was obvious that something was wrong.

Looking at the silent Luke, Andrew took out his ID and slapped it in front of him.

He had to know what was going on with that painting.

The investigation and questioning in Taos Town has been mostly completed. The results of the investigation he received from his subordinates on his mobile phone are that most people were asleep during that early morning period.

The few who did not sleep did not find anything abnormal.

Andrew was mentally prepared for this. No matter how much commotion occurred in that manor, it would not necessarily affect the town of Taos.

After all, Taos Town is said to be near the manor, but it is actually some distance away, and the noise is not so loud that you would hardly notice anything.

However, this painter is very likely to become a breakthrough at the moment.

"You left Taos early this morning and did some painting in the San Cristobal Coniferous Forest."

"Then, you saw or heard something."

"Is that so?"

Andrew approached Luke's face and stared closely at the young painter.

In response to Andrew's questioning, Luke swallowed and was a little overwhelmed, and subconsciously lowered his head further.

Seeing that Luke still lowered his head and said nothing.

Andrew said in a threatening tone, "This is a matter involving national security. I hope you can understand the situation and not hide anything."

His voice rose slowly but steadily.

Luke trembled subconsciously, then slowly looked up at Andrew: "This is indeed the painting I did early this morning."

Andrew nodded with satisfaction, took out his notebook and began to patiently record Luke's words.

"Last night, I couldn't sleep and wanted to continue my creation. I went out to look for the right scenery."

"After searching for a long time, I chose to go to the San Cristo coniferous forest. Although it is forbidden to enter because of a private estate, I think it would be nice to paint the dense forest in the dark outside."

"Then……"

At this point, Luke swallowed.

Andrew could clearly see Luke's pupils dilate slightly, and he understood that this was a physiological reaction of humans when they feel fear and tension.

What Luke encountered next must have been a shock to him.

"Speak, don't be afraid."

Andrew pulled a piece of milk-flavored candy from his pocket and handed it to Luke.

Sugar represents energy and is extremely necessary from the basic biological logic, so it always gives people a sense of security and happiness.

Andrew often brings some milk-flavored candies when he goes out.

Luke took the candy and put it in his mouth, savoring the sweetness carefully.

After a long pause, he continued:

"Then, I heard explosions one after another and the roar of something like a wild beast."

"The roar of that monster is definitely not something that any known creature can make. Just listening to it makes me feel terrified."

Speaking of this, Luke had some fear.

He slowly raised his head, stared at the calm Andrew in front of him, and then looked at the portrait he had drawn for the passerby.

It seemed like I had found some comfort, which slowly calmed my panicked mood.

The story continued.

"Then, there was silence."

"Until dawn came, a golden pillar of light rose up to the sky, and infinite warmth suddenly surged into my heart, making me forget my fear."

“Along with it, there was also the monster’s scream. I could hear fear in that scream.”

"It was as if it knew that it was facing a god that it knew it could not defeat but could not escape from. It could only cry helplessly."

"After that, I didn't know anything. Everything fell into complete silence."

"I don't dare to find out what happened."

"I came back here in a daze and drew what I saw."

"Then I wanted to pretend that nothing had happened, but then I met you."

Luke fell silent at this point.

That was the end of his story.

Andrew, who heard and recorded the relevant words, subconsciously fell silent.

There are no surveillance cameras in that manor and forest, but there are some surveillance cameras in the town of Taos.

Whether Luke had ever left Taos at night could be discovered through investigation.

Moreover, when investigating in the manor and the dense forest, there was indeed an investigation information: [A huge circular high-temperature burn mark was found on the ground of the manor]. Regarding this very suspicious information, he thought about it for a long time.

Now it seems that it was probably the trace left by the golden light column.

So if Andrew took Luke's words as true, he could probably infer a fact that made him think deeply.

First, a monster suddenly appeared and engaged in a firefight with the people in the manor.

This corresponds to what Luke said [successive explosions and some kind of beast-like roar]. The explosion residues, gunpowder residues, and bullet shells they found in the manor and the forest can confirm this.

Then the monster rushed into the dense forest and killed all the escapees, and then slowly returned to the manor.

This corresponds to what Luke said, "Then, everything was quiet." From the suspected monster footprints they found in the manor and the forest, we can infer that this multi-legged monster did indeed rush into the forest in a hurry, and then slowly returned to the manor at a leisurely pace, but all traces suddenly disappeared at a certain place.

The last point made Andrew really fall into deep thought.

According to what Luke said - [a golden pillar of light rose up to the sky, and the monster let out a mournful wail, as if it knew it was going to die].

A simple guess can lead to a conclusion: the monster was rampant and all the people in the manor were slaughtered. But something so powerful that the monster could not resist suddenly appeared and defeated the monster.

Judging from the fact that there was only one scream, that thing not only used a golden beam of light to kill the monster, but it was also most likely an instant kill.

Andrew understood that perhaps they did not find the monster after searching everywhere because this thing that suddenly appeared directly took away or destroyed the monster's body and cleaned up all traces of its own appearance.

Andrew knew very well what this meant, and it gave him a headache.

This means that what happened in the manor in the early morning was not just monsters slaughtering humans, but a new third party was involved in solving the monsters.

Investigating monsters is troublesome enough.

As a result, a mysterious force hostile to the monsters appeared.

This third-party force undoubtedly needs to be thoroughly investigated.

Andrew frowned and couldn't help but take out a milk-flavored candy and put it in his mouth.

The spreading sweet smell eased his anxious mood.

"Next, you may need to cooperate with us for a while."

"I want to take this painting too."

Andrew stood up and picked up the painting with the golden beam of light.

(End of this chapter)