Chapter 160: Now, this young lady is Loucha~
「 "Uncle Yang, instinct was right all along— Luocha is a villain! How could he do this? Tearing up a book as well-written as The Angler Mystery... Unacceptable!" March 7th fumed, her cheeks puffed out.
"Calm down a moment, you two. I don't think Luocha has anything against the book."
Welt, the only one still calmly analyzing the situation, succinctly pinpointed the core issue: "The first suspicious point the Realm-Keeping Commission focused on was whether someone had brought dangerous goods into the Luofu. Dan Heng might not have known what these dangerous goods were, but we all do: it's a Stellaron."
Welt's conjecture was simple: Luocha had an accomplice on the Xianzhou, and tearing the book was their method of communication.
But this was merely his personal theory, impossible to confirm. Just as the group once again despaired at the trail running cold, Jingyan suddenly sent a message, indicating new progress in image restoration.
The footage showed Luocha leaving an hour after entering the empty lot. Now, the question shifted direction: what could Luocha possibly have been doing for two hours in such a small, empty space?
With no further related footage, everyone remained clueless about Luocha's activities inside, making him seem increasingly suspicious with every lead.
"Our Uncle Yang never shows his emotions, but I feel like he might be… uneasy?" March 7th whispered, leaning close to Stelle's ear.
Stelle scratched her head, equally bewildered by Welt's uncharacteristic demeanor: "Perhaps he has a deep-seated grudge against someone who looks like that…" 」
「 .....」
〜Honkai: Impact 3rd World〜
"If Stelle and March knew more about him, they would understand that any amount of vigilance is warranted."
Welt adjusted the glasses on his nose. For some reason, seeing Luocha in his current furtive state actually brought him a measure of peace.
Though Himeko had suggested that Luocha's counterpart might indeed be a good person, Welt was more inclined to believe that Luocha's "goodwill" was merely a "disguise" he was forced to adopt to achieve some ulterior motive. Now, with this intricate facade about to crumble… he was finally unable to hide!
"Given this fellow's modus operandi, those two black-clad figures must be his subordinates, no doubt about it… The object in the coffin is the Stellaron."
"To leave no evidence, those two were likely secretly dealt with by him afterwards, weren't they?"
Though Welt didn't know Luocha intimately, he understood Otto perfectly. That man always acted unscrupulously, never leaving any "leverage" for others to seize.
"Since he's involved with the Stellaron, he must have ties to the Lord Ravager. Could his prolonged stay in the empty lot have been to discuss the specific plan for the Luofu's destruction with Tingyun, who was merely a phantom created by Phantylia?"
"…No, it shouldn't be that simple. That fellow's plans are never so easily guessed."
Welt took a deep breath. While he could roughly surmise Luocha's malicious intent, extracting his full scheme would likely require General Jing Yuan's personal intervention.
Compared to Kafka, he was the one most deserving of the Divination Commission's full scrutiny…
—
「 To uncover what Luocha had done during that hour, little March decided to consolidate the clues and begin her public deduction!
The scene shifted, showing Luocha standing before an empty lot.
("Right. I'll be using the angler's deductive method: reconstruct what happened from the bad guy's perspective.")
Luocha placed his hands on his hips, raising his chin proudly: "Aaaand now, this maiden is Luocha~" 」
「 .....」
〜Honkai: Impact 3rd World〜
"Cough, cough, cough…!"
In an office at Schicksal Headquarters, Theresa, who was drinking water, nearly spat it all out, erupting into a violent fit of coughing.
Seeing this, Sushang immediately became flustered:
"Lady Theresa, what's wrong? Should I fetch your automatic respirator?"
"Not… not yet."
Theresa took a deep breath, taking a long moment to recover from her shock.
That three-parts playful, seven-parts smug, and ninety-parts adorable voice was… Grandpa?!
Wait… was she even allowed to hear this?!
And was this even logical?!
…On second thought, it seemed quite reasonable. After all, the person in the projection who looked almost identical to her grandpa was his counterpart, not his grandpa himself.
But even so, hearing such an adorable voice using her grandpa's vocal cords… filled Theresa with a unique sense of satisfaction.
Come to think of it, she had never seen a playful and adorable version of Grandpa before, had she??
After accepting the unexpected, super-duper development on the screen, a sly grin slowly began to creep onto Theresa's face. It seemed this kind of Grandpa… wasn't so bad after all?
—
「 ("Uncle Yang, I'm scared…" Stelle shivered.)
("Quit messing around, I'm thinking." March 7th, cupped her chin, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, I almost forgot about this torn title page… He took this paper with him, so it must be extremely important…")
("Next… Uncle Yang, let me see the site map. Mhm mhm… He definitely went through that door ahead; he couldn't have just aimlessly wandered around for two hours in such a small area.")
("But…" Welt raised a question, "Miss Jingyan also said that the door is military property, locked year-round.")
("Mr. Luocha must have a way to open locks. If he can't even open a door, how can he plot to smuggle a Stellaron?")
The screen returned to full color, Luocha proudly tossed his head, his adorable inflection almost soaring to the heavens: "Hmph, you think a lock like this can stop a maiden like me!?"
(Stelle pressed a hand to her forehead: "…I think I'm actually going insane. I'm losing the immersion..")
(March 7th gave an embarrassed, goofy chuckle: "Hehe, I'm used to it. Alright, from now on, you guys imagine what Luocha's face would say, I won't interfere."
(Welt: "Even if Luocha could unlock the door, what was his purpose in going inside?")
(March 7th was brimming with confidence, sure of herself: "The villains he's exchanging the Stellaron with are hiding in there. He's going to meet them.")
(Welt frowned, sensing things weren't so simple: "Thinking about it, that doesn't quite add up, does it? Why would they meet in a highly restricted military area?")
("Ah… this…" March 7th's mind raced. "It's because we usually abide by the law, so it's hard for us to understand the logic of bad guys.")
(Welt mused: "…The most dangerous place is the safest, then?")
(Luocha continued forward. As he passed through a doorway, Welt suddenly interrupted: "Hold on... this would've been too quick a route.")
Luocha's tone suddenly shifted, growing cold: "And? What's wrong with a quick route, hmm?" 」
「 .....」