Chapter 166

"Yang Shu, you really are a master of schemes. That Rascal is truly wicked—how could someone be so wicked…? 'The Fisherman's Case' is such a good book, and he said he'd tear it, and he did. So infuriating." March Seven said, huffing and puffing.

"March, calm down first. I think Rascal…… isn't that immature of a person."

The only one still calmly analyzing, Walter, succinctly pointed out the core problem: "The earliest concern of the Harmony Authority was——whether anyone had brought dangerous goods into Luofu. Da Hao might not know what dangerous goods are, but we all know—it's the Stellaron."

Walter's guess was simple: Rascal has an insider on the Astral Express, and tearing the book is precisely how he communicates with that insider.

But this was merely his own speculation, unverifiable. Just as several people were again frustrated by the broken leads, Jingyuan suddenly sent a message saying the image restoration had made new progress.

The footage showed Rascal leaving after entering the open space for an hour, and now the question shifted direction: What on earth was he doing in such a tiny open space that required two hours?

Since there was no more related footage, everyone still didn't know what Rascal was doing inside—it was simply the more they investigated, the more suspicious it became.

"Our Yang Shu never shows his emotions on his face, but I feel he might be…… a bit uneasy?" March Seven whispered, leaning close to Star Ear.

Star scratched his head, also bewildered by Walter's unusual attitude: "I'm guessing he has a deep grudge against someone who grew up like that…"

Honkai 3——

If Star and March Seven knew him, they'd understand that any wariness toward him is warranted.

Walter pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose; for some reason, seeing Rascal's current sneaky demeanor actually made him feel a bit more at ease.

Although Himeko said Rascal's isotope could very well be a good person, he believed more that Rascal's 'kindness' was a 'disguise' he had to put on to achieve some goal, and now that elaborate disguise was about to come off… he could finally no longer hide!

Given his behavior, those two men in black are definitely his lackeys, no doubt… the thing in the coffin is the Stellaron.

To avoid leaving evidence, those two were probably secretly dealt with by him afterward, right?

Although Walter didn't know Rascal well, he understood Otto—this person always acts without scruples and would never give anyone a 'handle'.

Since he's connected to the Stellaron, he must be linked to the Lord of Ravagement; could it be that he lingered so long in the open space to discuss with the illusory Phantasy‑formed Stopover a concrete plan to destroy Luofu?

... No, it shouldn't be that simple; that guy's plan definitely isn't something you can guess so easily." Walter took a deep breath; although he could roughly guess Rascal's ill intentions, learning the full scheme from him would likely require General Jing Yuan to step in personally.

Compared to Kafka, he's the one most worthy of deploying the Purging Formation, right…

"To figure out exactly what Rascal did during that hour, Little March Seven decided to compile the clues and start reasoning aloud!"

The scene shifted, and Rascal appeared before an open space.

("All right, next I'll adopt the Fisherman's reasoning method and put myself in the villain's perspective.")

Rascal put her hands on her hips, lifted her chin proudly, and said: "Now, I am Rascal~"

Cough cough cough!!

In an office of the Heavenly Command Headquarters, De Li Sha, who was drinking water, nearly spat it out and suddenly began coughing.

Seeing this, Su Sha Na panicked: "De Li Sha, what's wrong? Should I fetch your respirator?"

"Not…… not needed yet." De Li Sha drew a deep breath and only after a long while recovered from the shock.

That voice—three parts playful, seven parts smug, and ninety parts adorable—was… Grandpa?!

Wait…… could she actually hear that?!

And, is that even reasonable?!

... Upon further thought, it actually makes sense—after all, the person in the light curtain who looks almost exactly like Grandpa is his isotope, not his true self. Even so, using Grandpa's voice to produce such a cute sound… also gave De Li Sha a peculiar sense of satisfaction.

Come to think of it, I've never seen a playful, cute version of Grandpa before??

After accepting the unexpected super‑super development in the light curtain, De Li Sha's lips began to curl into a hehe smile. This kind of Grandpa… isn't bad, right?

("Yang Shu, I'm scared……" Star trembled.)

("Don't mess around, I'm thinking hard." March Seven rested her chin, then suddenly realized, "Oh right, I almost forgot about that torn flyleaf…… he took that sheet with him, and it's probably very useful……")

("Next… Yang Shu, let me look at the on‑site map. Hmm… he must have gone through that front door; there's no way he'd be wandering aimlessly for two hours in such a tiny place.")

("But…" Walter raised a question, "Miss Jingyuan also said that door is military property and has been locked tight for years.")

("Mr. Rascal surely has a way to pick the lock—if he can't even open a door, why would he be dreaming of smuggling a Stellaron?")

The scene returned to color, Rascal lifted her head haughtily, her cute trailing tone practically soaring to the heavens: "Hmph, you think a lock of this level can stop me?"

("Star pressed a hand to her forehead: "…I really can't get into character like that."")

("March Seven gave an embarrassed, goofy grin: "Heh heh, I'm used to it. Well, from now on you just imagine what lines Rascal's face would say—I'll stay out of it.")

(Walter: "Even if Rascal can unlock the door, what's his purpose for going in?")

(March Seven, full of confidence and certainty: "The shady characters he's meeting to exchange the Stellaron are hiding here; he's come to see them.")

(Walter furrowed his brow, feeling it wasn't that simple: "After thinking, that doesn't seem right—how would they meet in a top‑secret military zone?")

("Ah… this……" March Seven's mind raced, "It's because we usually follow the rules, so we struggle to grasp the villains' logic.")

(Walter, lost in thought: "……Could it be that the more dangerous the place, the safer it is?")

(Rascal continued forward; as she was about to pass through a door, Walter suddenly interrupted: "Wait a minute, this route is too smooth.")

Rascal's tone suddenly shifted, and she said coldly: "What do you mean? Isn't going smoothly a good thing?"