Star Railway: I'm developing the Star Railway mobile game at my company.

Suddenly, everything went black, and he fell into a coma.

When Xing woke up again, she seemed to be sitting in a chair, and when she opened her eyes she saw her own thighs.

At that moment, Estella's voice came from the side.

[Mr. Screw Goom, this is a premeditated attack...]

[Conclusion: The enemy's target is the space station. But the method... we don't yet know.]

As the two were talking, Ladio suddenly appeared and spoke.

Yes, that's why we need her.

As he slowly emerged from the shadows, this was the first time viewers had seen Professor Ladio without his plastered head in the story.

At this moment, Ladio was twirling his fingers, his eyes, tinged with red eyeshadow, looking down at Xing.

[The last person to see the Black Tower before its attack... was her.]

Xing looked at the familiar figure with a puzzled expression.

【Who are you...?】

A barrage of comments immediately flooded the live stream chat.

"Godfather! It's my godfather!"

"He looks so handsome in this photo!"

"Is the storyline about the godfather finally coming?!"

Then Estelle introduced herself to him.

This is Mr. Latio, the company's academic representative from the Academy of Social Sciences.

[After all, she has just regained consciousness and her mind is still not clear; she needs...some prompting.]

As he spoke, Ladio turned around and put on the plaster head he had worn before, and the familiar music started playing again.

We meet again. Do you remember me? — It doesn't matter if you don't, I have no expectations.

Estella then explained the current situation.

Several system times ago, one of Lady Black Tower's dolls was attacked by an unknown force and its whereabouts are unknown.

Heita didn't take it to heart at all, since she had just accepted the company's invitation to collaborate and didn't have time to deal with such trivial matters.

Therefore, the only way for the group to find out what happened is to find out from Xing, who was the last person to see the Black Tower doll.

Xing then began to recall, and past memories surfaced.

"...Oh, by the way, do me one more thing. That strange object is lost, and I can't just leave it there. Could you help me look for it when you have time? You should be able to do it."

[Just in case you don't remember, let me describe it again: It was a kind of [unclear], without a physical form, but possessing life.]

It's like when you're taking an exam, you remember everything except the key knowledge points.

So Xing began to gather clues from fragments of memory: the Black Tower told him to find Estella, and Estella told him to find the World Seeds.

As Xing continued her search, she encountered Alan and a security guard, who appeared to be talking.

What?! He took Peipei to the scene all by himself?! How could you let him...?

Don't worry, big brother, although I know you're anxious.

During their conversation, the two noticed Xing standing to the side. When Xing asked a question, they quickly changed the subject.

Alan: [I...I'm walking my dog...]

Clerk: [I...I was taking a walk...]

The two exchanged a glance at each other, and then continued speaking.

Alan: [I'm walking the dog.]

Clerk: [I'm a dog.]

This incredible dialogue amused the audience.

"Haha, you're really decisive, bro!"

"Perhaps I could get to know Scott!"

Finally, the three of them found Adler and Pepe, and Xing began to ask Adler about the strange object.

So, what kind of strange object would you like to learn about?

[It has no physical form, but it possesses life.]

[Is that all the clues you have? That's too abstract.]

[That's what the Black Tower said.]

Upon hearing the name of the Black Tower, Adler's attitude immediately underwent a 180-degree turn.

Ah, even abstraction has its own beauty.

"Hahaha, what chameleon!"

"When they heard it was Black Tower who said it, their attitude changed instantly!"

"So young, yet this young man has two faces!"

As the investigation progressed, memories of the events gradually became clearer.

It turned out that there had been a series of disappearances of staff members recently, causing widespread anxiety. Estella tried to cover up the news while having Alan investigate secretly.

The disappearances of these clerks were all accompanied by bizarre fires, much like spontaneous human combustion.

And the existence of something without a physical form but possessing life also revealed a clue: the Immortal Boat Alliance has such life forms.

Finally back to reality, Latio sighed, rubbing his forehead.

[Thank you for this long and tedious narration; you must be tired—I certainly am.]

So, your last encounter with the Black Tower was in her office. You accepted the commission and rushed around searching for the artifact, completely unaware of everything else, until Miss Estádio contacted you.

If that's your claim, then it's my turn to ask: Can anyone verify this?

Compared to believing, questioning is the most efficient and simplest approach.

Seeking knowledge with a negative mindset is also a form of seeking knowledge.

Thus began a debate with Ladio in the game, during which Ladio displayed his stern side.

Whenever the player chooses to recall and argue, Ladio ruthlessly interrupts.

I remember now, back then...back then...

Stop pretending, please shut up.

Fortunately, through questioning, both parties concluded that the incident was likely committed by the same person as the previous incident involving a staff member, based on the fact that a fire extinguishing device also appeared in the system when the Black Tower doll was attacked.

At that moment, Aistar also received a message on her phone from the Black Tower fan group, which was also a video message.

[Ms. Black Tower's Breaking News - A Breaking News Flash!]

[There's finally an update on the attack on Lady Black Tower! The Annihilation Gang claims responsibility for the entire incident and will take further action, which the Association strongly condemns...]

The sudden appearance of the words "Extinction Gang" reminded the audience of something, didn't it appear in the previous preview?

The video then shifts to a ball of flame appearing in the center of the screen.

The gods among the stars have departed from this world, detached from worldly affairs, and have no concern for the insignificant beings among them.

Only the wounded Lord will bathe all realms in the flames of destruction.

There will always be cowardly individuals who attempt to reject grace and flee from the wounds it inflicts.

Run away, run away as much as you want—no matter where you flee, oblivion will eventually come!

Chapter 214 The mastermind behind the scenes

The audience was amazed by the domineering declaration of war from the Grand Duke of the Underworld.

"Wow, the Grand Duke in this video is so handsome!"

"The Annihilation Gang has their eyes on the Black Tower Space Station. How arrogant are they?"

"I feel like there will be a lot of story about the Grand Duke of the Underworld coming up, with relics, previews, and now he's even appearing in this part of the story!"

"Let's bet on it, we'll see Grand Duke of the Underfire in Pinocchio!"

When the video ended, Ladio couldn't help but complain.

The Legion's influence is still lingering, and the Annihilation Clique is close behind. It seems your space station is more aligned with the fate of destruction than with intellect.

This Grand Duke of the Underworld is a fire demon born from a destroyed planet. Although he calls Nanuk his benefactor, he has never received a glance from the star god.

Fire Demons are inherently ferocious, and the Grand Duke of the Netherfire is especially evil and cruel. His Eternal Fire Mansion is even a mortal enemy of the Yepela Brotherhood, which is also part of the Annihilation Gang.

[A bunch of pathetic lunatics. I like Dr. Primal's assessment: Nanook's appreciation of the so-called Annihilation Gang is perhaps far less than that of a baby who deliberately breaks a vase.]

Listening to Ladio's scathing critique of the Annihilation Gang, the audience suddenly felt that the image of the Grand Duke of Darkfire had been further diminished.

"Good heavens, the faction of destruction doesn't even have the approval of the God of Destruction?"

"Interesting, this is so interesting!"

"Perhaps Nanook's destruction was more pure, like a child breaking a vase simply wanting to break it, without needing any reason."

In short, now that Grand Duke of the Underworld has his sights set on the space station, we need to find clues about them as soon as possible while controlling the continued spread of information on the space station.

Besides investigating the information of those self-igniting staff members, Xing remembered that Adler, being an elemental life form, might have clues about the other party.

Just as they were about to ask the other party about the situation, they discovered that Adler had also disappeared.

After searching for a while, Xing found Wen Shiling, a space station clerk, who was stomping her feet in anger.

[You brat! You brat! You brat!]

[You've been playing hide-and-seek! I'll teach you a lesson for that! Don't let me ever see you again!]

This sudden turn of events really caught the audience off guard.

"Haha, Shi-ling is so cute!"

"Old rules, we'll knock on any couple we see!"

"Has anyone made this part into a system-wide, pure version?"

"You know how to enjoy yourself!"

"When everyone was part of the same system, the Adlers must have become rotten!"

"You dare to make Shiling angry? Adler, you're in big trouble!"

"It's been so long since I've seen Shi-ling, I miss you!"

"Come back, my Shi-ling! My favorite activity: a bunch of trash for Xing-qiong!"

When Xing inquired about the situation, Wen Shiling revealed that she couldn't find the other person either. Fortunately, she eventually found a small booklet that Adler had been flipping through as a clue.

Subsequently, various clues began to converge, and the truth of the incident began to emerge.

Adler's pamphlet records the story of the Genius Club #29, Siskar, creating the Phase Flame.

As a descendant of this fire-based creature, the Grand Duke of the Netherfire possesses the abilities of the Phase Flame, at least enabling him to perform degraded spatial transfers.

Those clerks whose bodies were engulfed in flames did not disappear, but were transferred.

An investigation revealed that these missing staff members had all made extreme remarks targeting the space station's management on dark web sites.

The mysterious disappearance of staff members who voiced dissenting opinions makes it hard not to suspect that this was a tactic used by the space station's management to eliminate dissent.

[It was all a carefully laid trap; the goal from the very beginning was to incite internal strife on the space station!]

After listening to the analysis, Estella finally understood, but Screwgoom said while resting his chin on his hand.

No, that's not enough.

That's right, one more spark is needed.

Ladio looked at Estelle and then spoke.

If you stop here, you still have a chance to explain yourself. But if it were me... I wouldn't give you that chance.