The group was led to the Golden Hour. On the skybridge, Sunday silently stared toward the Grand Theater.
Right as he brooded, Pei Guang's group arrived.
The hounds brought them over. Sunday waved his hand without looking back, dismissing the hounds instantly, then turned with a smile.
Before he could speak, Pei Guang acted first. He took out a table and placed it between them.
"Mr. Sunday, you definitely want to ask why we were at your sister's crime scene, right? Don't talk: let me explain."
Pei Guang lifted the container holding Robin's blue liquid remains. "This is your sister. Turned into goo after dying. She went to a new world."
Sunday opened his mouth, but Pei Guang calmly pulled out more items and started introducing them.
"Look! This is a gift from Madam Herta. This one's a reward from Mr. Screwllum. This is a favor item from Dr. Ratio… oh wait no, from Ruan Mei."
Seeing all the curios, mechanical parts, and pastries laid out, Sunday held his tongue. After holding back for a long time, he stared at Pei Guang.
"You're threatening me?"
Pei Guang kept taking things out. "This is a reward from Xianzhou Luofu. This one's from one of the Generals of Xianzhou. Oh, this one's rare: we tore it off the Lord Ravager. And this? A treasure Bucket brought me from a long-range expedition. But those aren't the main point. This is."
Pei Guang pulled out the Star Destroyer authorization. The golden permit shone even in the dream world.
Sunday's face froze, and Pei Guang casually explained, "This is the Star Destroyer access permit. I captured a Lord Ravager as an engine. It can instantly destroy any planet without path protection or even cleanse the surface of one that does."
He refused to fall into a "prove your innocence" trap. He didn't want Sunday using this to force him to investigate Robin's "death."
Sure, he would investigate, but being forced and choosing to do it yourself felt completely different: he preferred the latter.
After showing everything, Pei Guang packed it all away and looked at Sunday.
"Alright. Now say what you wanted to say."
Sunday was silent—because he didn't know what to say anymore.
He had been furious about his sister's death. Knowing outsiders were at the scene made him want to question them harshly.
But after seeing what Pei Guang pulled out and hearing what they were, he calmed down.
He couldn't verify whether many things were true or not: but the connection between Bucket and Pei Guang was real, and the Trailblazer's relationship with the Xianzhou Alliance… was also real.
Those confirmed facts cooled the anger that had been burning in him, because they proved one thing: Pei Guang definitely wasn't the killer.
His sister was indeed famous, and if the man before him really wanted to harm her, there were countless ways to do it.
Not to mention, judging by the fact that she dreamt of Pei Guang after seeing a trash can appear in her room, you could tell how good Pei Guang was at… charming women.
He even silently decided that from now on, he must never let Pei Guang near his sister, and never give himself a chance to become Pei Guang's brother-in-law.
But in this moment, a strange idea flashed through Sunday's mind: that even becoming Pei Guang's brother-in-law would be better than losing his sister forever.
As soon as that thought appeared, he immediately kicked it out of his head and looked at Pei Guang. "I believe you are not…"
Sunday glanced at Stelle. "...not the murderer who killed my sister. But what about them?"
His eyes moved to Firefly, then to Acheron, Black Swan, and Aventurine.
Except for Pei Guang and Stelle, everyone else had reasons—and theoretically, the capability.
Feeling Sunday's gaze, Firefly's expression turned serious. She knew what her identity was now, and she knew how much trouble it could bring Pei Guang.
She knew she wasn't the one, but the other side might not believe that.
Facing Sunday's questioning look, Pei Guang calmly put his arm around Firefly.
"Her? She's my girlfriend. Problem? Besides, she was also chased by the thing that attacked your sister. We almost counter-killed it, but she's also a victim. And when your sister died, she was with me the whole time. She has a complete alibi."
Firefly's eyes widened. At that moment, she only felt that Sam seemed to be leaking electricity, which made her stunned.
She understood why Pei Guang said that: he was clearing suspicion for her.
To support him, Firefly quietly held his hand.
Looking at Firefly's face and figure, Sunday fell silent for a moment and then accepted Pei Guang's words. Since she had that "identity," he looked to the others, and Pei Guang followed his gaze and introduced them one by one.
"She's my girlfriend's best friend. And she's my girlfriend's best friend's best friend."
If this were a game of Werewolf, then Pei Guang was distributing roles.
Whether the two really did it: Pei Guang wasn't sure. But he was sure that Robin wasn't actually dead. And if she wasn't dead, then nobody killed her, meaning there was no murderer.
Unless in Robin's later actions she actually died, only then could a real culprit be determined.
What Pei Guang needed to do now was find Robin.
In his view, Robin most likely reached a deeper layer of the dream through "death." But he wasn't certain whether arriving there via special-means-"death" was truly possible: so he was planning to test it at some point.
Hearing Pei Guang's explanation for Acheron and Black Swan, Sunday almost wanted to applaud, but he suppressed it.
"Everyone has quite the identity, I see. Since you said so, I believe they had nothing to do with killing my sister. If they didn't: then what about him? Aventurine of the IPC Strategic Investment Department."
Sunday smiled at Aventurine.
Aventurine smiled and spread his hands. "I'm not the one who killed your sister."
Pei Guang replied, "Him? Also not."
Aventurine originally thought Pei Guang would never speak for him. Even though he himself denied it, he never expected Pei Guang, or Sunday, to believe him.
But Pei Guang's firm answer stunned him. He looked at Pei Guang in disbelief.
He never imagined someone who disliked the IPC would trust an IPC employee like him.
Feeling Aventurine's stunned gaze, Pei Guang smiled and raised his favorability score toward him. "I don't like the company, and I hate company dogs, but I believe what you said."
"Believe me? Believe me, a gambler full of lies? You said you've been deceived countless times. Aren't you afraid I'm lying to you this time?"
Pei Guang stroked his chin and looked Aventurine up and down.
"Because you told me you didn't do it, so I believe you. If it really was you, I'll just kill you later. But before I know the truth, I'll trust you. If it turns out you really did it, then go ahead and obstruct me from investigating Robin going to another world."
Since Robin wasn't dead, how could Pei Guang believe Aventurine killed her? Just tagging her with "very much alive" was enough for him to rule Aventurine out entirely.
If Robin really died later, then he could suspect him.
"Heh…"
Aventurine lowered his head and played with a chip.
He could clearly hear Pei Guang's certainty: Pei Guang absolutely believed he wasn't the one who killed Robin.
Trust.
Aventurine had obtained trust from many people through his own means—but someone who trusted him after only meeting a few times? He'd met them before.
And every single one of those was a gambler like him.
But Pei Guang was different. In his words, Aventurine felt… genuine trust.
A new chip appeared in his hand. He turned it slowly, and a smile returned to his face.
For a gambler like him, the greatest joy was going all-in: lose everything or take everything. To him, chips had no good or bad: only useful or useless.
But among all chips, sometimes there were ones he favored… and this one felt like that.
Aventurine's mood shifted quickly. Combined with the fact that he lowered his head immediately, most people wouldn't notice the emotional change, and even if they did, they wouldn't think too much about it.
But Firefly sharply caught it, and she saw a strange emotion in Aventurine's eyes.
What kind of walking succubus was she attracted to? They'd spoken only a few lines, and the man already showed that expression?!
Then Firefly lowered her head too. Because she also heard the absolute trust in Pei Guang's voice.
Forget Aventurine: even she couldn't resist the temptation of that kind of trust.
Some might say that someone who gives such trust so easily is a fool, but in this world, there are also those who desperately crave that trust.