Inside the vast main hall of the Flying Theatre, the performance on stage continued. Although Adele's prolonged absence had started to show some resentment among the audience, during the intervals between acts, many spectators began shouting Adele's name, urging her to come out quickly, while some more sensitive audience members vaguely felt that something might be wrong.
Although the audience's resentment was growing due to Adele's prolonged absence, the quality of the current performance itself was still quite good, so there were no instances of people leaving. However, if Adele didn't appear soon, things might take a further turn.
In the main hall, most of the area was seating for the audience, and around the edges of the full auditorium, further away from the stage, were private boxes surrounding the seating area. Those who could afford a box at Adele's performance had a certain status, even in Tivian.
Byron was one such person. He was the son of the major director of Prit Haibo Shipping Company, a true wealthy young master. Young, rich, and handsome, having lived a carefree life since childhood, he enjoyed seeking all sorts of excitement and fun, thus frequenting various nightclubs year-round. It was during another accidental opportunity that he found the most extreme thrill and pleasure.
Wearing a fitting suit, with his golden hair neatly slicked back, Byron sat on the sofa in a box at the edge of the hall, sipping a glass of red wine while gazing at the performance on the distant stage. His expression held a hint of indifference.
"It doesn't feel good to be plagued by trouble, Adele."
Inside the box, Byron muttered as he ate dried fruits. On the coffee table in front of him were fine wine and desserts, the delicacies provided in the luxurious box.
Just then, the door to the box opened, and a man dressed as a servant walked in. After closing the door, he came to Byron's side and bowed respectfully, saying.
"Young master..."
"What's the situation outside now?" Turning his head to look at the servant beside him, Byron asked, and the servant immediately replied.
"The police seem to have taken over the scene. The site where Maria died has been sealed off, and it's impossible to go there. Theatre staff and police are patrolling everywhere, and the theatre doors are heavily guarded. No one is allowed to leave yet; they say it's until the performance ends."
The servant reported the information he had gathered to Byron. After listening, Byron nodded slightly, then continued to ask.
"What about Adele?"
"I haven't seen Adele. With this situation, she might be under close police watch." The servant replied, and Byron continued to mutter in a deep voice.
"Probably. If something like this happened and she ran or attacked the police, the reputation she worked so hard to build would be gone. Although it's a pity I couldn't kill her this time, at least I have to damage her reputation. This is the minimum requirement."
"Hmph... but thinking about it is still quite annoying. I patiently approached that bitch, spending a lot of time, flowers, and money to make her happy, all for the sake of using her to get close to Adele and assassinate her. I didn't expect that at the last moment, this thing would actually start malfunctioning. How disappointing!"
As he spoke, Byron looked at his hand. What he held there was a small, button-like ornament. On the ornament was printed a circle of small figures holding hands and dancing. This was the Extraordinary item Byron used to control Corpse Puppets, which he obtained from the society.
Originally according to the plan, he should have used this item to control Maria, who was a Corpse Puppet, to stab Adele in the back. But he didn't expect that at the most critical moment, Maria's Corpse Puppet would actually stop obeying orders. This made Byron temporarily think that there was something wrong with the button, or that Adele had some Extraordinary item that could interfere with Corpse Puppet control.
After the assassination failed due to the sudden unexpected situation, Byron immediately manipulated Maria to stage a scene of a brutal murder in the washroom. This was his fallback plan after failing to assassinate Adele, all in order to ruin Adele's reputation.
Byron, who had received the mission from the society, was very clear about the importance of reputation to Adele. Once Maria's situation was exposed, regardless of whether Adele could actually be convicted, the media would definitely report on it extensively.
"Famous Dance Star Adele's Partner Dies Gruesomely in Washroom, Death Points Directly to Adele Herself." Reporters wouldn't let go of such an eye-catching and sensational news topic. By then, news would be everywhere. Even if there wasn't enough evidence to prove Adele's guilt in the end, as long as the real killer wasn't found, Adele would forever be under suspicion. These negative news reports would always follow Adele, severely damaging her reputation.
Now, Byron was already a little impatient to see tomorrow's news headlines.
"But speaking of which, I clearly arranged for Maria to be 'killed' in the washroom near the audience area. The body should have been discovered by unrelated audience members first, which would then spread among the audience, causing a commotion and expanding the impact... But why was this matter suppressed immediately...?"
Byron continued to ponder, saying that since his idea was to blow the matter up, he chose the washroom near the audience seating as the 'crime scene', wanting to let the most audience members see the scene immediately, spreading the impact throughout the entire auditorium and attracting reporters as quickly as possible. But he didn't expect that the impact would be suppressed as soon as the body was discovered.
"Regarding this, I heard from some theatre staff that besides the police, there seems to be a Detective involved in investigating this matter. Apparently, after Maria was discovered, it was this Detective who immediately notified the theatre staff and the police, suppressing the impact. Those who first discovered it haven't been released yet."
Listening to Byron's words, the servant replied. After hearing the servant's words, Byron frowned slightly.
"Detective? Hmph... Why did a Detective suddenly appear? It seems it will take some time to expose this matter... If only I could get a detailed grasp of the situation over there."
Byron said in a deep voice. What troubled him most now was his inability to accurately grasp Adele's situation and the extent of the police investigation into her. Byron had once wanted to use the Extraordinary item in his hand to control some small Corpse Puppets to go out and investigate, but he abandoned the idea when he remembered that Adele was a ""Cup"" of no low level.
Upon reaching Chalk, Extraordinarys would possess the Spiritual Perception abilities related to their respective Spirituality. Adele possessed ""Cup"" Spiritual Perception; she could easily sense the ""Cup"" Spirituality traces on Corpse Puppets. Larger Corpse Puppets were fine; they could wear ""Shadow"" Extraordinary items or use ""Shadow"" Sigils to shield their Spiritual Perception, just like the necklace he gave Maria.
But small Corpse Puppets couldn't do this. Passive Extraordinary items needed to be used or worn correctly to take effect. Most Extraordinary items meant for people couldn't be worn by small Corpse Puppets at all, and Byron's Corpse Puppets couldn't perform complex operations like 'using a sigil'.
So for these various reasons, Byron had almost no way of knowing the specific situation of Adele and the police, but he wasn't panicking about it.
'Paper can't wrap fire. This kind of case, no matter how much they suppress it, they can't keep it down. If the real killer isn't found, Adele will be taken to the police station for detention. Just this point alone will attract the media. The police are probably helping to suppress it because they don't want to cause a disturbance or riot in this crowded place. Once the performance here ends and the witnesses who are being watched return, I'll send people to leak some 'inside information' everywhere, then the whole matter will immediately ferment, and they won't be able to suppress it even if they want to.'
'Heh, what kind of headlines will the media use to report this matter then? "Famous Dance Star Adele Kills Partner, Reason Possibly Jealousy?"'
'Although that bitch Maria was disgusting, at least her death served some purpose this time.'
Byron thought this in his heart. He watched the performance on the distant stage, quietly waiting for the end of the show, waiting for the entire incident to ferment and explode in public opinion.
Inside the cramped box, Byron watched his watch while continuing to watch the show, occasionally eating the pastries in front of him and drinking some fine wine. However, in a corner he hadn't noticed, inside the box's ventilation duct, a pair of eyes was watching him.
That was, surprisingly, a rat hiding inside the narrow ventilation duct. And Dorothy was currently using the rat's many senses to see, hear, and smell the various information within this box.
'I finally found you, killer, Mr. B.'
Sitting in her seat, Dorothy thought this in her mind. After Ed miraculously obtained the Finding Breath Seal and Spirituality storage from Adele, he found an opportunity to transfer the Sigil and storage to the main body here, and used Spiritual Vision to confirm that there were no things like Beacon Sigils on them.
After getting the Finding Breath Seal, Dorothy herself released two rat Corpse Puppets from the magic box. Then she used the Sigil and, using her Puppeteer ability and consuming four points of ""Cup"", transferred the effect of the Sigil onto the rat Corpse Puppets, allowing the rat Corpse Puppets to temporarily gain an unparalleled sense of smell.
Afterward, Dorothy had the mouse Corpse Puppets identify the scent of the true culprit among a pile of letters, and manipulated them to go to various places within the theatre in secret, sniffing around discreetly.
Dorothy had previously seen the theatre's floor plan and knew the range of Miss Adele's murderous intent perception, so she had already demarcated the areas that needed searching, mainly the edges of the audience seating and various boxes.
Using the theatre's ventilation ducts, Dorothy's Corpse Puppet mice scurried around, and soon, they helped Dorothy find someone with the same scent as on the letter, in a private box, on a young Mr. named Byron.
Unlike Byron, because of the Puppeteer's ability, Dorothy's small Corpse Puppets could receive the protection effect from the ring of concealment transmitted from her main body, so she didn't have to worry about being detected by the "Cup" Spirituality perception. Therefore, she successfully confirmed Byron's location without a sound.
'The culprit has been found... now it depends on how to handle it. Since this is Miss Adele's matter, she should resolve it herself.'
Thinking this, Dorothy once again manipulated Ed, who was waiting in a corner, to walk towards Miss Adeles room. After pushing the door open and entering the room, the first thing she saw was Miss Adele' smoking on the sofa.
When she saw Ed walk in, Miss Adele was slightly surprised. She blurted out directly.
"You found him? So fast?"
"Otherwise? Your sigil is very useful, I've found that guy." Saying this, Ed closed the door behind him, then walked towards Miss Adele and sat in front of her.
"Box number seven, the person is in there right now. The scent is exactly the same as on the letter. As you said just now, it's your turn now."
Looking at Miss Adele in front of him, Ed said calmly, while Miss Adele looked at Ed playfully, then extinguished the cigarette in her hand in the ashtray.
"Box seven, that person is indeed too far from the stage, it's a place my ability is difficult to affect. Hehe... I didn't expect your efficiency to be so high, Detective. You found the person so quickly, so now it's my turn."
Saying this, Miss Adele stood up from the sofa, seemingly preparing to leave. Seeing this, Dorothy immediately manipulated Ed to ask Miss Adele.
"Wait a moment, can I ask how you plan to deal with that guy? If you two fight and make too much noise, you'll attract the An Yin Bureau, and there are so many people here, if innocent people get hurt and a few audience members die, it will be difficult for your reputation to recover."
"Don't worry~ I know what I'm doing. I'll handle him quietly with the least impact, Detective." Looking at Ed in front of her, Miss Adele said with a mysterious smile. Seeing Miss Adele's reply, Ed paused slightly, then continued to speak.
"Alright, suit yourself, but I'll mention this, if you can leave that guy a complete corpse, I might be able to help you with the police trouble."
"Help me with the police trouble... Your ability is truly beyond my expectations every time, Detective. As for a complete corpse, I'll do my best..."
Saying this, Miss Adele walked towards the door. After opening the door, she saw two police officers guarding the door. They were specifically here to watch her.
"Miss Adele, you cannot leave here yet."
Seeing Miss Adele open the door, a police officer spoke directly, while Miss Adele smiled charmingly and winked at him.
"I suddenly thought of some clues that are helpful for solving the case. Detective Ed is about to take me to find them. We'll go ourselves, you don't need to follow, okay? Mr. Police~"
Miss Adele said to the police officer. As she blinked, the expressions of the two police officers became slightly dazed. At that moment, they felt that Miss Adele, who was already beautiful, instantly became several times more charming. Miss Adele's entire body firmly attracted their gaze, and a surge of impulsive desire rose in their hearts, blurring their reason.
"Okay... Miss Adele, but please be quick."
"Thank you~ Mr. Police."
Afterward, Miss Adele quickly left, and Ed also followed closely behind her. Dorothy was a little curious about the scene just now, so she had Ed ask.
"What was that just now? Hypnosis?"
"No, it's charm. It's not as effective as a Vampire's hypnosis, it can't deeply control humans, it can only reduce their judgment and make them easier to fool and have a better impression of you. But compared to hypnosis, it requires less preparation and preconditions, is easier to trigger, and is more difficult to detect. Hypnosis requires eye contact, while charm can often be triggered with just a glance, a voice, or even a gentle touch, it's very convenient~"
Miss Adele said this. Listening to her words, Dorothy's heart skipped a beat, wondering if this woman had used charm on Ed at some point just now.
This thought lasted only a moment before Dorothy refocused her thinking on the current matter. He opened his mouth to ask.
"Speaking of which, how exactly do you plan to deal with that culprit?"
"Of course... by dancing~"
"Dancing?"
"Yeah, as a dancer, I naturally have to dance. I haven't been on stage for so long, the audience must be impatient by now..."
With a hint of a smile on her lips, Miss Adele murmured, while quickening her pace, heading all the way towards the theatre's backstage.
...
In the main hall, another performance ended. The audience applauded somewhat sparsely. In this performance, Miss Adele still did not appear, which further deepened the disappointment of many audience members. Some people even prepared to leave early.
In Box Seven, far from the stage, Byron ate a dried fruit placed on the coffee table in front of him, then checked his watch. The time displayed on the watch was 9:06, and there were only just over twenty minutes left until the end of the performance.
"Almost, almost, it's about to end. Let's see how you still suppress it then. Miss Adele hasn't been here for so long... Anyone would feel something is wrong."
Looking at the host on the stage comforting the dissatisfied audience, Byron murmured. He was not in a hurry at all now, just slowly waiting for the final moment to arrive. Anyway, time was on his side.
'Although I didn't manage to successfully injure Miss Adele this time, I did damage her reputation to some extent. If her dance loses its audience, she won't be able to quickly accumulate Spirituality, right...'
Byron thought this in his heart, and at this moment, the host had finished comforting the audience and began to introduce the next program.
"Ladies and gentlemen, although Miss Adele is temporarily not with us, many programs here contain her efforts. For example, the next one, 'White Chalk Dance', please dance along with the dancers!"
After the host's loud declaration, he walked off the stage, and then the stage curtain slowly opened again. What appeared on the stage at this time were dancers standing in a line.
These dancers wore uniform white short skirt dance costumes, uniform half-masks, had their hair in buns, and wore small horn-like props on their heads. Everyone was uniformly dressed, concealing their faces, making it impossible to distinguish who was who.
After the dancers appeared, the music started again. Accompanied by the lively music, the white dancers began to dance together. Their fast-paced footsteps dotted the floor, and they danced joyfully and leaped on the stage, sometimes gathering and sometimes dispersing. With the decorations on the dancers, they seemed like a flock of sheep.
The white dancers danced joyfully on the stage, and the audience below immediately noticed that this dance seemed more exciting than the previous ones, so applause began.
Just as the audience was seriously watching the dance, the white dancers suddenly gathered at the edge of the stage, and then one by one leaped off the stage. At first, the audience thought this was an accident and stood up in surprise, but then they found that the dancers who leaped off the stage were still dancing, and they had divided into several groups, dancing along the aisles between the seats and entering deep into the audience area. The process was orderly, and the audience was able to observe the dancers' movements up close.
This was a dance that moved off the stage and interacted with the audience!
After realizing this, waves of applause sounded from the audience, praising this creative dance.
"Hmph... Quite a lot of tricks..."
In the box, looking at the dancers dancing into the audience, Byron snorted coldly, then continued to eat the desserts prepared in the luxurious box, picking up the snacks on the table one by one and putting them in his mouth, his speed and frequency gradually accelerating inadvertently.
...
Hmm... Writer's block is really uncomfortable, my schedule is getting worse and worse, I might take two days off to adjust my schedule.