Chapter 379

"Two murder cases?!" Shajin rarely showed a shocked expression, then suddenly realized: "I said that nameless guest's reaction was off; she must have stumbled onto another incident..."

This murderer is truly a lunatic… but I have to admit, the case is an excellent breakthrough; we can charge the family with malfeasance and let the company intervene under this pretext. However, their tactics are far tougher than I imagined—they even prepared a stand-in for Zhigengniao… These two cases will definitely be suppressed.

Shajin, lost in thought, murmured: "What should I do? Let me think… This opportunity is rare, cannot afford to fail; I must be very careful."

"Impressive, gambler. You've already run out of options?" Laatio snorted sarcastically.

There are many chips, but we must pick carefully. The most straightforward choice… is still Zhigengniao. Remember, that Masked Fool had me 'find a mute to be friends with.' Shajin gave a faint smile, spreading his hands: "Zhigengniao is the mute she spoke of. She has lost her voice; ordinary people wouldn't notice, but you and I can hear it—it's not the vocal organs producing sound, but the resonance of harmony."

Also "harmony" appears in brackets 【harmony】. That's a term, maybe a technique or concept. It's inside brackets, likely a term meaning "harmony" or "consonance". It's a cultivation term? Could be a technique name. It's not a person name. Should we translate? It's a term in brackets, likely a concept. According to rules, cultivation/technique terms must be translated by meaning, never romanized. So we translate "harmony" as "harmony" or "consonance". Not a named entity for glossary.

He noticed something odd about her voice when he first came into contact with Zhigengniao. He wanted to meet her, but now she lies dead before him.

Laatio said calmly: "You've lost it all—I've even sent you to the interrogation stand. There are eyewitnesses; the family tentatively believes your alibi, but from now on you'll likely have to spend your time under the watch of the hounds."

In Laatio's view, the chances of a turnaround are virtually nil. Still, he has brought one piece of news this time: Xingqiri wants to meet him again on Sunday.

Shajin sighed and asked, "... Is it a public trial or a private hearing?"

If that's the case, then there's no need for me to pass along a message.

Shajin nodded satisfactorily: "All right… that's correct, everything's correct. Look, the dead don't speak, but the living do—Laatio, I can now be certain that there's something wrong within the family. Just wait and see: that man's sister is dead… he won't be able to sit still."

: —— (just a separator line). No entities.

Chainsaw person.

"Private trial…… Surely the next step won't be some torture‑for‑confession interrogation segment, right?" Pawa's mouth formed an O, his eyes almost shining, "I wanna see it!!"

"Pawa, you're really an idiot, huh? How could the interrogation company's people possibly work?" Denji gave Pawa a contemptuous look.

"Huh? The last thing I want is for you to say that! I'm the kind of person who's gonna win a Nobel Prize!" Pawa grabbed the toast in front of him that he'd taken two bites of and flung it at Denji's face with a "smack", then said, "So tell me, what should that chicken‑wing guy do?"

"Simple." Denji stuffed whatever was on his face into his mouth, then made a tightening motion with his hand around his neck.

"Of course it's to silence them~"

"Silence…? How do you silence someone in a dream? That big‑eyed guy isn't the chicken‑wing guy's pet, so how can you silence him?"

"In reality you can go to the Daydream Hotel to silence them." Denji spread his hands, "Just wipe out Shajin's body outright, then fake a missing‑person case! Ding ding dang~ Whether or not we help his sister get revenge, at least we've eliminated a major threat from the company."

"……"

Pawa unexpectedly began seriously considering the feasibility of this step: "Makes sense, but what if the company sends a fleet to wipe out the whole family?"

"Just sell that chicken‑wing guy to the company, right? He looks like a sly, smart‑aleck type, so let him take Shajin's place—after all, the company's full of cold‑blooded money‑chasers, right?"

Pawa narrowed his eyes, nodded as if realizing something: "I get it—from now on, whenever the company sends high‑level officials to the family, the family can use this method to kill the company's envoys, then compensate the company with some of the family's elite… That way, before long, the company will be reverse‑taken over by the family, and its power will expand straight across the universe!"

Pawa excitedly slapped his thigh: "Great idea, Denji! Too bad we weren't born into the family—otherwise we'd have helped them grow big and strong long ago."

"Um, you guys……"

Akiyama Hayakawa covered his face in pain with his hand, unable to guess whether these two idiots could survive three days once they left Earth.

——

"The two arrived at Morning Dew Manor, where the security was even tighter than that of a warlord's synchronous orbital estate."

Laatio said lightly, "This manor nominally belongs to Xingqiri; without his invitation, ordinary guests never get a chance to set foot here in a lifetime. Take a good look while you still have a moment of freedom."

"Hey, professor—what side are you actually on with that comment?"

Laatio crossed his arms and said, "Who can guarantee I won't betray you?"

Shajin said easily, "We'll see. When I meet that oak‑family head whose desire for control overflows, I'll have a way to pry the answer out of his mouth."

The two entered the first room, but all they faced was a thick wall and a few statues. After seeing the statues' original orientation in the other rooms, they quickly aligned the hidden night thrushes' direction accordingly—and sure enough, the wall in front of them vanished instantly, revealing a wide avenue.

"As expected, this is the correct answer."

Laatio rolled his eyes boredly: "What a great discovery—how about I give you my chance to join the Genius Club?"

"Really? I thought you'd already let it go."

Laatio glared at him annoyed: "This is just a damn joke—can't you even tell?"

——

War of the Twin Cities.

"Hearing that tone, could it be that Professor Laatio actually wanted to join the Genius Club before?"

"Getting recognized by the Broad Knowledge Sovereign—maybe that's the highest honor for geniuses in the universe? Who wouldn't want that?" Jes put down his pen, bound the organized experimental logs, and said, "By the way… has anyone on this continent ever received the Broad Knowledge Sovereign's recognition in history?"

"I doubt it. If there were, that genius could probably easily alter the ecology of the entire Rune Continent." Viktor's voice sounded bitter, "Even now the continent remains like this—some people starve in the gutters, struggling to survive, while others openly enjoy the conveniences brought by progress…"

Jes detected the slight dissatisfaction in Viktor's tone; Piiertewofu and Zaun have long harbored grudges, so he didn't want to delve deeper into the topic and instead steered the conversation toward his own teacher.

"The person in Piiertewofu closest to the Broad Knowledge Sovereign is probably Professor Heimerdinger, right? He's the founder of the City of Progress—if even he can't catch the Sovereign's eye, then—"

"How's that, Jes? You're not still thinking about joining the Genius Club, are you?"

Jes instantly raised both hands: "I wouldn't dare say that, Viktor. People ought to know their limits… I get that much. Even Professor Laatio can't meet that threshold, so we have no chance at all."