Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

One of the believers said, "[Robert Schumann]... I've never seen this man before. That ship outside seems to be his. After we get rid of him, we'll use his ship to escape."

“No,” said the person who made the suggestion. “Right now, the person claims to have found ‘evidence’ of Beethoven’s murder and is currently using it to prepare for the arrest of the real culprit.”

"—!"

Inside the door, strange noises came from... but the believers ignored them and continued their conversation:

"Yeah, who would have thought it would be 'that kind of thing'..."

"Indeed, even believers in the 'Painted Skin' sect would not consider it a dangerous weapon if it were used as a murder weapon."

Bang-!

A knocking sound came from the iron gate beside them, and a resolute face appeared in the small window above it; it was none other than [Bach].

"Hey!" He stared intently at the group of people chatting idly outside his door. "Are you telling the truth? What's the evidence? Where is it?"

"..."

The group seemed used to Bach's erratic behavior.

"Ignore this guy, he was banging on the door half the night yesterday."

"We finally had a moment of peace, and now it's happening again?"

Bach continued staring at them, asking, "Is it true?! Did that guy really find evidence?"

The group exchanged glances, but the person who had brought it up frowned and said:

"You mean he's framing you again? They've already placed the 'evidence' at the scene of Beethoven's murder, how could it be fake?!"

【bach】:"……"

After closing the observation window on the iron gate, Bach's expression lost its previous resolve, and he sat down against the door as if all his strength had left him.

(No, that's impossible... I definitely disposed of it!)

A roar was raging deep within him.

(This is a trap...this must be a trap!)

However, whether it's a trap or not, it's not something Bach can afford to gamble on.

One wrong step and he will fall into an abyss.

Therefore, he had to take the risk, otherwise there was absolutely no chance of turning his life around.

Inside Beethoven's room, everything remained exactly as it was.

The door was locked from the outside, and two drowsy guards stood watch absentmindedly. Everything was put back in its place, even the manuscript that [Bach] had taken away lay quietly on the table.

On the table lay Beethoven's already stiff corpse, his 'comical' death covered with a white cloth to prevent anyone from accidentally disturbing the scene.

An object that had never appeared before... was now lying horizontally on the white sheet; it was the newly discovered 'murder weapon' evidence.

A lithe figure leaped down from above.

As for how he got here, I'm sure you all already know the answer in your hearts.

That's right, it's through the ventilation ducts.

Everyone believed that the ventilation ducts at the Vienna site were the most dangerous place in the world because they had been the site of a previous terrorist attack and were filled with deadly biological and chemical weapons.

"..."

However, some people don't think so... For example, anyone with a little knowledge of biology knows that the condition for bacteria or viruses to be active is that there must be water.

Without water, even the most potent viruses will go dormant, and even the deadliest bacteria will be unable to multiply.

Water is the origin of all carbon-based life... and that's why people came to Europa.

Ironically, the ventilation duct is a place that absolutely will not leak water.

It can be reached from any room through the ventilation ducts.

"..."

The moment he jumped down... he immediately saw the 'murder weapon' placed on the white sheet.

Without any hesitation, the man rushed forward and grabbed the murder weapon that was not considered a 'weapon'; the blade on it was almost identical to the wounds on the corpse.

Clutching the murder weapon, he… [Bach] exclaimed, “How could this be?! I clearly threw it away!”

"Wait, something's not right... The feel of this handle! It's not the same one?!"

Click—!

The iron gate opened instantly, and the bright beam of the flashlight immediately shone on [Bach]'s face.

At the doorway stood Luo Tianming, who had forcefully kicked the door open. He said with a 'I knew it' expression on his face:

"Can you put down the 'murder weapon' now, you real killer of Beethoven?"

【bach】:"……"

His knuckles, gripping the murder weapon, turned slightly white: "I knew it was you!"

"You've concocted a 'fake document' to mislead people, and now you're spouting nonsense here!! This time, nothing you say will matter, Missionary. I'm going to put you in torture, and I won't let you cause any more trouble."

Seeing Bach's stubborn expression, Luo Tianming shrugged and said:

"You just let it slip yourself, and besides—how can you prove it's fake?"

"You're not going to say you've seen the real thing, are you?"

【bach】"……"

Although his face was expressionless, his joints were cracking from the exertion.

Luo Tianming: "Even if you want to destroy the evidence, it's useless, because that thing... is everywhere, and no one will care about it."

He gave a sarcastic smile.

Who could have imagined that the 'weapon' held in Bach's hand was actually an inconspicuous section of a thorn?

Or it could be more accurately called a "shell-like parasite stinger".

I've introduced this before; it's a chitinous stinger produced from the body of a parasite that creates the "Painted Skin" (or "Painted Skin") worm.

It looks about the size of a dagger, but it's not as sharp as a regular dagger.

Few people would use this as a weapon... and it is almost never regarded as a 'weapon' by any followers of the Painted Skin Cult.

These people almost worship the painted skin parasite as a god, and often seek out things from the painted skin as amulets.

Typically, it's a statue of a parasitic worm or an emblem with twisted tentacles.

People with limited funds may occasionally choose to carry a bottle of eggs or a [parasite stinger] as a talisman.

Even if you pull this out in front of a member of the "Painted Skin" cult, they will only regard it as a prayer tool.

Luo Tianming said sarcastically, "It was this 'carelessness' that led to Beethoven's death."

"He never expected that the person who came in through the ventilation duct to discuss things with him would instead deliver a fatal gift."

[Bach] roared with an expression that looked like he wanted to pounce on someone:

"Don't make baseless accusations... These are all your 'inferences,' not real evidence!"

"You say I killed him, where's the evidence?! You think you can convince people with a broken scythe?!"

Luo Tianming shook his head: "I didn't intend to use that thing as false evidence, because the real murder weapon... was initially hidden in your beard, right?"

"There's no better place to hide it than there; this thing is small and lightweight..."

[Bach] gave a nonchalant look: "Sure, go ahead and search!"

Luo Tianming: "There's no need for that... The worst thing we could have done this time was to lock you and me up separately."

"I'm afraid you disposed of it long ago when we parted ways. The real 'murder weapon' is probably mixed with hundreds of kilograms of sewage right now."

[Bach]: "Hmph, I thought you were going to say something."

Luo Tianming continued, "Don't rush, there's more than just that one piece of evidence... Although you've disposed of the murder weapon, there's something else you can't get rid of completely."

"That's—blood."

He flashed what he considered a "friendly" smile: "Would it be convenient for us to cut off a bit of our beard for testing? I think there's probably still Beethoven's blood in it, you can't deny that, can you?"

"...!"

Without any warning, [Bach] suddenly charged towards Luo Tianming.

This is almost tantamount to him admitting that he was the murderer of Beethoven.

However, just as he was about to take the final step, a Beretta gun was pressed against his head.

Levi stepped out from behind Luo Tianming and said in a cruel voice:

"What a pity, big bearded man~ If you move any more, your skull will be saying goodbye to you!"

【bach】:"……"

Knowing he was no match for Bach, his body stiffened.

He looked at Luo Tianming fiercely and said:

"Don't think this is the end of it! I'm the murderer of Beethoven, but what about the other lives! You murderer who killed three people!!"

Luo Tianming: "Who said this is the end... The real show has just begun."

"I'll tell you something... that is: Schubert also died of dimethylmercury poisoning."

【bach】:"!"

His neck twisted and turned like a rusty toy, his teeth chattering as he stammered, "...What did you say?"

Without any warning, Luo Tianming suddenly turned around and looked at the figure shrouded in black robes in what should have been an empty space, saying:

"It's time for the real culprit to make his appearance this time."

Chapter 125 The Truth

Upon hearing the words "mastermind," Bach's expression was filled with disbelief...

How could it be His Excellency the Missionary? Aren't he in cahoots with Luo Tianming?

…………

The sudden questioning drew everyone's attention to him.

The missionary chuckled hoarsely, "Hiss... Captain Luo, I remember you were locked up in the next room. And Lord Bach, you were locked up on the other side, weren't you?"

"Injuring guards, forcibly breaking into cells, and spreading rumors on the site without authorization..."

"What, are you all trying to run away together?"

Bach stared at Luo Tianming with a look of utter surprise, as if to say: You're not with the missionaries, are you?

Luo Tianming shrugged and said casually:

"You're not like this guy, insisting I produce evidence before you'll honestly admit your guilt, are you?"

'Missionary': 'That's not the case... May I ask why you suspect me?'

Luo Tianming:

“There are three suspicious points: First, your way of addressing him. Before, you referred to Mozart as Jeffrey, but after his death, you switched back to his code name... This is very unusual.”

"..."

'Missionary': 'That alone doesn't prove anything, does it?'

Luo Tianming: "Secondly, there is the issue of [Liszt]'s body. If it's just a matter of removing the lungs, there's no need to cut the trachea in the neck... I've already had a specialist examine that wound."

"The knife marks suggest that an old wound was deliberately removed; the neck of the corpse had an open wound that could not heal."

'missionary':"……"

Luo Tianming's eyes sharpened: "Thirdly, you know the answer to this question better than anyone else... Why did [Bach] survive?"

"Originally, the order in which the bodies were discovered should have been [Beethoven] - [Bach] - [Schubert] - [Mozart] - [Liszt]... and they died in the order in which they arrived at the station."

"But... [Bach] did not die."

While Luo Tianming was talking about this, Bach, who was standing next to him, was sweating profusely.

I was supposed to be the 'second' to die?!