["Uncle Yang, you're a genius! Luocha's really bad. How could someone be this bad… The Fisherman's Case is such a great book, and he just tore it up. So infuriating!" March 7th huffed.]
["March, calm down. I don't think Luocha… is that childish."]
[Welt, the only one still analyzing calmly, pointed out the core issue succinctly. "The Commissioner's Office's initial concern was whether someone brought a dangerous item onto the Luofu. Da Hao may not know what it is, but we all know—it's the Stellaron."]
[Welt's theory was simple: Luocha had an accomplice on the Xianzhou, and tearing the book was a way to communicate with them.]
[But this was just his speculation, unproven. As they hit another dead end, Jing Yan suddenly sent a message saying there was new progress in restoring the footage.]
[The footage showed Luocha leaving the clearing an hour after entering. Now, the question shifted: what was Luocha doing in such a small clearing for two hours?]
[With no further relevant footage, they still didn't know what Luocha was up to, making him increasingly suspicious.]
["Uncle Yang never shows his emotions, but I feel like he's… a bit uneasy?" March 7th whispered to Stelle.]
[Stelle scratched her head, equally puzzled by Welt's unusual behavior. "Maybe he has a deep grudge with someone who looks like that…"]
Honkai Impact 3rd——
"If Stelle and March knew him better, they'd understand that no amount of caution is too much."
Welt adjusted his glasses. For some reason, seeing Luocha's sneaky behavior now actually put him at ease.
Though Himeko suggested that Luocha's counterpart could be a good person, Welt believed Luocha's "kindness" was a facade for some ulterior motive. Now, that carefully crafted mask was slipping… he could no longer hide!
"Based on his methods, those two men in black are definitely his subordinates, no doubt… The thing in the coffin is the Stellaron."
"To leave no evidence, he probably dealt with those two afterward, didn't he?"
Though Welt didn't know Luocha, he knew Otto well. That man never hesitated to use any means necessary, never leaving a "handle" for others to grasp.
"Since he's tied to the Stellaron, he must be connected to the Lords of Extinction. Did he linger in the clearing so long to discuss plans to destroy the Luofu with Phantylia disguised as Tingyun?"
"…No, it's probably not that simple. His plans aren't so easily guessed," Welt took a deep breath. Though he could sense Luocha's ill intentions, uncovering his full scheme would likely require General Jing Yuan's personal intervention.
Compared to Kafka, Luocha was the one most worth investigating with the Matrix of Prescience Ultima…
[To figure out what Luocha was doing during that hour, March decided to consolidate the clues and start deducing in front of everyone!]
[The scene shifted, showing Luocha standing before a clearing.]
["Alright, I'll use the Fisherman's deduction method and put myself in the bad guy's perspective."]
[Luocha put his hands on his hips, smugly tilting his chin. "Now, this lady is Luocha~"]
"Cough, cough, cough…!"
In an office at Destiny's headquarters, Theresa, who was drinking water, nearly choked, coughing violently.
Seeing this, Susanna scrambled in a panic. "Lady Theresa, what's wrong? Should I get your automatic respirator?"
"No… no need for now," Theresa gasped, taking a moment to recover from the shock.
That voice—three parts playful, seven parts smug, and ninety parts adorable—was… Grandpa?!
Wait… was this something she should be hearing?!
And was this reasonable?!
…On second thought, it seemed kind of reasonable. After all, the person in the screen who looked almost identical to Grandpa was his counterpart, not the real him. Still, hearing such a cute voice with Grandpa's tone… gave Theresa a peculiar sense of satisfaction.
Come to think of it, she'd never seen a playful, cute version of Grandpa, had she?
After accepting the screen's unexpected twist, a sly smile crept onto Theresa's lips. A Grandpa with this personality… didn't seem half bad?
["Uncle Yang, I'm scared…" Stelle shivered.]
["Stop messing around, I'm thinking at high speed," March 7th said, holding her chin, then suddenly remembering something. "Oh, right, I almost forgot about the torn title page… He took that page, so it must be important…"]
["Next… Uncle Yang, let me see the site map. Hm, hm… He definitely went through that door up ahead. No way he wandered around a tiny place like that for two hours."]
["But…" Welt raised a question, "Miss Jing Yan said that door is military property, always locked."]
["Luocha definitely has a way to pick the lock. If he can't even open a door, how's he planning to smuggle a Stellaron?"]
[The scene returned to color, with Luocha haughtily tossing his head, his cute tone practically soaring. "Hmph, a lock of this level thinks it can stop this lady?"]
[Stelle held her forehead. "…I really can't get into this."]
[March 7th gave an embarrassed grin. "Hehe, force of habit. Alright, next, just imagine what someone with Luocha's face would say. I'll stay out of it."]
[Welt: "Even if Luocha could unlock the door, what was his purpose for going inside?"]
[March 7th, brimming with confidence: "The bad guy he was meeting to hand off the Stellaron was hiding there. He went to meet them."]
[Welt frowned, sensing it wasn't that simple. "On second thought, that doesn't add up. Why would they meet in a heavily guarded military area?"]
["Uh… well…" March 7th's mind raced. "It's because we law-abiding folks can't understand the logic of bad guys."]
[Welt mused, "…The more dangerous the place, the safer it is?"]
[Luocha kept moving forward. As he passed through a door, Welt suddenly interrupted. "Wait, this path is too smooth."]
[Luocha's tone shifted abruptly, turning cold. "What's that supposed to mean? Isn't smooth a good thing?"]