According to the information, Duke Inferno, Ifrit, possessed a special ability.
The flames he burned had the power of phase traversal.
Leon pondered: "The curio Herta wants to find has no physical form but possesses life. Don't you think Duke Inferno fits a similar condition?"
Stelle froze. Her gaze landed on four words in the information: "Phase Traversal!"
Leon: "Did Herta ever mention Genius Society #29: Siskar to you?"
"No." Stelle shook her head.
Leon: "Siskar is a spider. Like her seat number, she only lived for 29 days. After her death, she left behind some creations."
"One of those creations possesses the phase transformation technology that represented her achievements while alive. It is called Phase Spirit Fire."
"I'm thinking that the curio Herta asked you to find is this thing."
Stelle was puzzled. "But what does this have to do with Duke Inferno?"
Leon: "After Siskar's death, it has remained in a state of constantly changing phases, burning across the realms and leaving flame offspring everywhere."
"I boldly guess: Duke Inferno may be one of the offspring of the Phase Spirit Fire."
"The true Phase Spirit Fire has long since lost its traces, leaving only a wisp of fire circulating through the myriad realms."
"What Herta wants you to find should be that wisp of fire. She previously lent the Spirit Fire to Ruan Mei for research, but it was lost at some point without her knowledge."
"Wanting to make people disappear without anyone noticing would not be difficult for Duke Inferno, who shares the same origin."
"As a flame lifeform, seizing the child fire would be easy. He could directly resonate at the same frequency and perform a phase transfer…"
However…
Leon did not finish everything he wanted to say.
Earlier, he had accused Dr. Ratio of using the incident as an excuse for a reason.
As he had said, the attack on one of Herta's dolls was not a big deal. As a scholar of the Genius Society, Dr. Ratio lacked a deep motive to participate in the investigation.
With Herta's ability, she could mass-produce dozens of dolls in a short time.
The loss of a doll was more of a matter of face.
But the face Herta cared about had never been in this area.
The owner who possessed ownership and control of the dolls wasn't anxious, yet Dr. Ratio was.
He was almost no different from those people who were using the incident to attack the space station's management.
So the question became—
What was Dr. Ratio's purpose in doing this?
It was hard to guess before, but when Duke Inferno declared responsibility for the matter, it became easy to guess.
There were several possibilities.
The rest wasn't important. Before Duke Inferno announced responsibility, Dr. Ratio's insistence on treating Stelle as the primary suspect now clearly seemed deliberate.
He really had guts.
As soon as Duke Inferno announced responsibility, he quickly apologized.
Could it be…
Leon looked at Stelle's side profile.
Could it be that Dr. Ratio's original plan was to have Stelle accompany him, using her to cover up what he really wanted to do?
What to do… Leon fell into deep thought.
Recalling Dr. Ratio's every action and every word, Leon filtered through more than a dozen possibilities in his mind.
In the end, he locked onto the most likely ones.
Either he wanted to obtain the Phase Spirit Fire, or he was issuing a challenge to the Genius.
He couldn't stand fools and wanted them dead when he saw them… Hmm, or did he also want to fix the brains of the people on the space station?
Leon revealed a meaningful expression.
Or perhaps all of the above. Heh…
Stelle didn't know Leon was thinking so much. She suddenly clapped her hands.
"That's it! Wen Shiling mentioned that Adler often muttered the word 'fragrance.'"
"Now it seems it wasn't fragrance. She misheard—it was phase!"
"That Herta, if she had just told me those two words before she slipped away, half of the current doubts could have been automatically resolved."
Having cleared up a previously unsolvable doubt, Stelle's thoughts raced.
"Adler researched many curios. Through the point of energy lifeforms, he confirmed that human spontaneous combustion has an inseparable relationship with the Phase Spirit Fire."
"But if that's the case, then the people transported away by Duke Inferno should have already lost their lives long ago, right?"
"Also, where is Duke Inferno hiding?"
Leon provided the information he knew: "There is no trace of Duke Inferno's aura on Herta Space Station. It seems he is not here."
"Being an offspring of the Phase Spirit Fire does not mean he possesses the true phase transformation ability."
Stelle: "You mean, Duke Inferno's so-called traversal ability is at best a knockoff version?"
"Yes. It's more appropriate to call it spatial transfer. I think I've roughly guessed Duke Inferno's plan."
"How so?"
"First, use phase transfer to make several staff members disappear, causing panic among the rest of the space station's personnel."
Leon narrowed his eyes slightly. What he said next made Stelle's hair stand on end.
"Then attack Herta's doll. At the right time, declare responsibility for the matter and direct public opinion toward the management's incompetence…"
"Does this underhanded way of doing things feel somewhat familiar?"
Stelle thought for a moment. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Phantylia!"
Leon: "Once the situation ferments to an uncontrollable degree, restrict the management's freedom so they cannot clarify. At that time—"
Stelle's heart skipped a beat. She blurted out: "Oh no, Asta!"
She quickly opened her phone and scanned the group chat.
The thing she had been worried about earlier had become reality. The common points among the missing staff members had already been dug up and forwarded to various space station group chats.
A large portion of the space station's staff were in a state of panic, afraid that the next person to disappear would be themselves.
Conflicts erupted along with the panic, and voices demanding the management step down—especially Asta—began to appear.
Then the next step—
A communication suddenly connected, and Screwllum's voice came through.
"Lady Stelle, Asta just spontaneously combusted in front of me and disappeared from her original spot."
"…"
Stelle fell silent.
She had figured out the truth a little too late. The restriction of the management's freedom that Leon mentioned earlier had also become reality.
"From close range, I sensed spatial fluctuations. I judge that Asta was only transported away and is not in life-threatening danger."
"And I confirmed one fact—"
"Ifrit's flames are merely sparks from the original Spirit Fire and do not possess phase transformation ability. Conclusion: Asta is still inside the space station."
"I used special means to block the other party's transfer, sealing him within the space station, and notified Professor Ratio."
"Currently, Professor Ratio is searching for traces."
Stelle: "Then there's no time to lose. I'll set off from my side as well."
The communication ended.
Leon: "I didn't find any aura fluctuations from Duke Inferno. It seems his main body is not here. He merely sent a flame avatar to stir up trouble."
Stelle: "Can you locate that flame avatar?"
"Follow me. The game of cat and mouse officially begins." Leon revealed a smile that showed everything was under control.
The plot dialogue ended. Ah Xian did not head to the next quest marker. Instead, she muttered as she opened the database and entered the relic interface.
"I said it sounded familiar. Look, when this set of outer relics is combined, doesn't it look like Duke Inferno?"
The live room audience compared it and found it really was.
Looking at the relic description Ah Xian opened, they discovered it was also related to Duke Inferno.
"Relics, relics. Duke Inferno probably won't be smashed in the future, right?"
[Most likely. Just don't know who will smash him.]
[It probably won't be Leon, unless the later plot wants to kill grandpa.]
[It could also be that Asta hired someone to do it. What he did doesn't just want to destroy the space station, but also Asta's life.]
The players discussed fervently.
Unfortunately… no one could guess the correct future.