Chapter 126: Clues and Deduction

“As expected, these are all my things.”

Fran was inspecting the eavesdropping and surveillance devices in Clara’s guest room.

“Huh? Yours?”

“Yes. After I got to the island yesterday, a lot of things were stolen from my suitcase. I asked the resort staff to check the surveillance footage this morning, but no one was caught on camera.”

Still, Fran didn’t remove the devices.

Nyx hacked into these tiny devices and sent back fake footage. As long as they stayed, there was a chance to reverse track the culprit.

Fran then suggested, “I think we should check other people’s rooms as well. Maybe you’re not the only one being watched. After all, I lost more than just these three items… Although, originally, I wanted to use these to spy on the Sigma Hero myself.”

Just how much did you bring? You’re practically no different from that paparazzi! Well, though it’s still unclear if the other party really is a paparazzo.

Clara once again realized—

Lucia’s moral standards fit perfectly for a researcher from an evil organization. She would stop at nothing to steal technology.

“These devices send back their footage every twelve hours and then delete what they previously recorded. The default time is noon. We need to wait until then to act…”

“I’ll be participating in the midday activities around then, right?”

There was a beach volleyball event in the afternoon.

Clara was the ball.

Damn it, can a variety show like this really boost my popularity?

But Lucia flexed her arm as if tossing a tile and confidently declared, “Leave this to us! We don’t have any plans~”

“You two are just ordinary people. If the other party is some kind of freak, the two of you alone couldn’t possibly stand a chance…”

But Fran said, “Hey, don’t underestimate me! As long as the opponent is still flesh and blood, I have confidence I can take them down…”

As she said this, she pulled out her syringe pistol from her thigh and spun it smoothly in her hand.

“Don’t be so cocky,” Clara reminded her softly.

Is Fran’s most powerful weapon that portable medicine-mixing pistol?

No.

Her strongest weapon was her blessed tongue.

Clara wriggled free from between them and stood up.

“I’ll leave the rest to you. Contact me through Nyx if anything happens. I’m heading back to the recording site.”

“Oh, looks like they’ve already gone to the rainforest.”

Fran’s phone was connected to the quantum network, so she could watch the livestream even on this isolated, disconnected island. Though the service was quite expensive, she could afford it.

“They said they want to film the rainforest during the day for contrast, to bring out the horror at night and get ready for tonight’s courage test.”

“Oh, so they’ve gone up the mountain? I’ll head over too~”

Clara muttered as she walked out, looking up at the gentle slopes covered in tropical plants. From afar, the scenery was beautiful, but up close, you’d see plenty of huge tropical bugs.

Could that paparazzo be hiding up in the mountain too?

“Nyx, you know where they are, right? Lead the way.”

[Received. Beginning navigation.]

After Clara left, only Lucia and Fran were left in the guest room.

“Miss Fran, should we check the other guests’ rooms?” Lucia asked.

“No rush. Since someone stole my things, naturally I have a way to track the signals and regain control… For now, let’s just go back to our own room, alright?”

Fran Livka stretched lazily as she spoke, then asked back, “Aren’t you curious what secret is hidden in the Sigma Hero’s exoskeleton technology?”

Lucia nodded immediately.

“Rested enough?”

When Clara arrived at the livestream site, the short-haired manager found her right away.

“Who the culprit is isn’t important. We need to figure out their goal first.”

Clearly, Sista had already told her about the mysterious person.

“Huh? Their goal? Isn’t it just a paparazzo?”

“No. Without sufficient evidence, don’t assume their position.”

Ogata Dharma was calm and used to this sort of thing.

The Sigma Series were popular heroes, so it was likely they’d encountered this before…

So, they should be quite experienced in handling it, right?

“How do you usually deal with this sort of thing?” Clara asked.

“In Central City, we could mobilize more resources, but at this resort…”

With so few people, Ogata Dharma looked troubled.

Clara asked again, “Since the island’s so small and the culprit couldn’t possibly leave during a solar storm, how about we have the staff help us search the place thoroughly?”

Ogata Dharma still shook her head.

“That’s not wise. The culprit could very well be among the staff. This can only be handled by our own people.”

It seemed she didn’t trust the island staff at all.

In fact, Clara felt the same way. Asking staff for help would just tip off the culprit—she’d only asked on purpose.

She didn’t even fully trust the Sigma Hero’s people.

Clara asked, “Does Dark Sigma’s equipment have any wide-area search functions? Like radar that can scan a dozen meters underground from the air?”

“Hmm? Well, you’ll have to ask Anya… She’s our company’s mechanic.”

“You don’t even know what equipment your heroes have?”

“I’m just not that clear.”

Ogata Dharma was a manager, only responsible for operations. As for battles and gear, she didn’t ask or interfere.

Everyone had their own duties. Doing your own job well was enough; worrying about unnecessary things didn’t make the job any easier.

“Can’t you just ask them directly?”

“They’re still livestreaming. We can’t let the audience know about this, right? Though hyping it as a topic isn’t impossible, but until we understand more, it’s better to save it for later.”

Clara’s gaze toward Ogata Dharma became disdainful.

This woman really wanted to use the paparazzo as a show gimmick?!

“So, where’s Miss Anya?”

It was nearly noon—she still wasn’t up?

Ogata Dharma lit a cigarette. Lighting up in the rainforest seemed dangerous no matter how you looked at it.

“She pulled an all-nighter fixing the exoskeleton and only slept this morning. She must be sound asleep now… Hoo~”

A swirl of smoke rose, and she continued, “You go join the livestream for now. After all, this is a crossover, and the Sigma Series alone isn’t enough. They’re all over there by the river, fishing. They left a rod for you.”

A gentle hillside sloped down to a meandering stream. Since Fran called this spot a tiny ecological bottle, it made sense the river would have fish.

But they were put there by people. Whether this really counted as “wild fishing” was questionable.

“Wouldn’t livestreaming fishing be too boring?”

Though Clara was at the age to appreciate fishing, she didn’t find it fun. Sitting still fishing wasn’t entertaining to watch, either.

…

“The point isn’t the fishing, it’s who’s fishing.”

Ogata Dharma gave Clara a little push.

“Alright, go on.”

Urged along like this, Clara walked toward the river.