Chapitre 3968: Chapter 3081: Mercury Chronicles (31)

The students observing in the small classroom were stunned.

They were in the middle of a course on this very topic, and coincidentally, a case like this had emerged at the school; naturally, they made some conjectures.

Up until now, most people suspected Claude and Gonzalez because they were the last ones seen with Bono. Even though they ostensibly couldn't beat him in a fair fight, what if they had used some scheming tricks?

Of course, some had thought of something more deeply. They had a suspect in mind and confidently believed that Professor Shearer would arrive at the same conclusion.

Let's talk about their speculations.

The crux of the locked room lay in how the murderer had managed to sneak in and how they had left.

The only apparent entry into this locked room—comprising the small classroom and the corridor—seemed to be one way.

There were many devices in the electrical room, which led to some blind spots in the surveillance, and although the blind spots weren't big enough to fit a person, there might be a way if one really thought about it.

So the murderer could enter through the window of the electrical room, into the storeroom, and while the elevator door was closing and the camera couldn't see, come out of the storeroom, cross in front of the elevator doors, and into the small classroom opposite.

But there was a problem: there was no door between the electrical room and the storeroom.

There was no door between the large and small classrooms either, meaning to enter another classroom, one had to go out the door into the corridor and then open another door to enter.

Whether between the electrical room and the storeroom, or between the large and the small classroom, there was just a glass window.

This meant that anyone who could only pass through doors had their suspicion negated.

Let's now consider the suspects.

Gonzalez definitely couldn't do it—he was just an ordinary human without any superpowers, so crossing through was completely out of the question for him.

That's why the most obvious suspect was Claude.

He was a student of the Magic Academy, and Flash, an introductory course at the academy, although he had only been studying for just over a year, he was a fast learner due to his talent, and he could already barely use Flash.

But the clever students had eliminated him as a suspect.

Because his timeline under surveillance was complete.

He entered the small classroom immediately after getting out of the elevator. At that time, the elevator doors hadn't closed yet, and the camera inside recorded him entering the small classroom, including his subsequent movements to the large classroom and back to the small one, leaving no time for him to use Flash.

Some students used external information to conclude it couldn't be Claude because they knew he had only mastered short-distance ground Flash till now, meaning he couldn't pass through obstacles.

That unfortunate soul trapped in the wall had been trying to practice Flash to penetrate barriers, and Claude was still a long way from that step. Even a blade of grass in his path could cause him to take a hefty fall, let alone a solid wall.

Considering these two points, Claude's suspicion was also reduced.

But the gifted top students could always notice things others couldn't; they fixed their attention onto Zan.

Zan's ability was to turn into water.

Many had seen his ability to transform, not into water molecules, but just ordinary liquid water flow.

If it were a solid metal wall, such a water flow couldn't pass through. Most of the walls in the base were made of Molten Steel Alloy; but on this level, two of the four rooms had glass panes embedded in two of their walls.

This directly compromised the integrity of the wall, creating gaps that were penetrable; humans could not pass through, but water might just be able to.

It meant that although there were no doors between the large and small rooms, someone could pass through a window.

As a result, Zan's suspicion soared to the top of the list.

If others couldn't pass through, but you could, that naturally means your suspicion is greater. Many students thought Professor Shearer would opt for a strategy that aims for the heart, trying to make Zan reveal his flaws.

But, unexpectedly, Shearer gave a completely surprising answer.

But after all, this place was never short of clever minds.

"Blue Beetle!" someone immediately called out.

But others, confused, asked, "What's going on? How could the murderer be Ted?"

"No, not Ted, but Blue Beetle," someone said: "Have you forgotten? That bug doesn't listen to him at all!"

It dawned on everyone at that moment that there appeared to be six suspects in the room, but in reality, there were seven because the Blue Beetle was not as simple as a weapon or tool; it was independent.

The Blue Beetle, actually named Scarab, was a powerful espionage weapon created by an Alien race for infiltration into other planets; it usually accompanied a native of the home planet but secretly controlled them and could even influence their minds, making them do things contrary to their own beliefs—First Generation Blue Beetle had been influenced by it before.

Indeed, this thing was a spy device, and its technological content was beyond imagination.

So how could a spy device have been allowed into the tightly guarded Mercury Base?

The main reason is that the device was Ted's superpower, if you didn't let it in, then Ted Code would become an ordinary person, totally incapable of being a young superhero. The security personnel took it for granted that this was Ted's accessory and naturally let it through.

Moreover, Ted had undergone a complete psychological test before entering. He was not under anyone's control, even now he had not been influenced by the Blue Beetle, which had consistently looked down on him and had never bothered with him.

This resulted in Ted not communicating much with his own superpowers, he didn't even know what abilities this beetle on his body had. Even if he had seen the teachers demonstrate a few times before, his understanding was very limited and he had never experienced it personally.

Many students were curious and wanted him to show off, but Ted couldn't summon the Blue Beetle, so the other students also didn't know what superpowers Ted had, they knew very little about the beetle on his body.

Even Professor Shearer, who knew the comic book plots, couldn't be sure what abilities the Blue Beetle actually had; after all, this superhero persona had a long history, dating back to the era when Batman and Superman were created. It had passed through several comic book companies, leading to quite different versions in each. The abilities displayed by the beetle in the first-generation and the second-generation were not the same either.

But synthesizing various comic and cinematic depictions, Professor Shearer knew that the Blue Beetle could use energy weapons - it could create something like a blue holographic projection, but this thing had a physical form. Whether it changed into a sword or a shield, it could be used in battle, and it was very strong.

This technology was somewhat similar to Green lantern energy, both capable of transforming the intangible into tangible, only that one was green and the other was blue.

And, Professor Shearer believed that, as an alien spy device, it should be able to pass through walls, and due to its smaller size and more concealment, it might even be equipped with a cloaking system. It could go through walls much more easily than Zan.

After all, even Zan had to transform into water and find a blind spot in the surveillance to do so, and his large human body required a much larger surveillance blind spot than that required for a tiny beetle.

That is to say, among all the suspects present, he was the one with the greatest suspicion.

But that did not mean that he was the only one who had lied.

After saying this, Professor Shearer did not look at Ted again but turned to look at Zan. The moment he was stared at by those golden vertical pupils, Zan instinctively grabbed hold of the Water Prison's railings.

"Do you think that you and your sister's mind communication is flawless, but I've told her, right after the murder occurred, all related ambiance is an important clue. Did you think I wouldn't notice her panic at the time?"

As soon as it involved Jenna, Zan became a little flustered and could even hear his own thundering heartbeat.

Behind the glass, Jenna also clenched her fists.

For her, the answer had been written in the question - Professor Shearer had already demonstrated the power of Psychoanalysis Method.

Professor Shearer looked up over the glass at Jenna's eyes, the alien girl sighed as if resigning to her fate, and stepped out from the crowd, then pushed the door and entered the large classroom.

Zan looked concernedly at his sister.

"Right before class ended, precisely around the time Bono died, I sensed my brother's emotions - he felt panic, fear, and despair."

"Our Mind Sense Ability becomes clearer when emotions are intense. Through communicating with him, I learned that he accidentally killed an Atlantean woman."

Discussions started to stir in the small classroom again, "Wasn't it the Blue Beetle who was said to be the murderer? How come Zan is confessing now?"

Just after Jenna finished speaking, Zan quickly said, "It's not true, I didn't want to kill her, it wasn't me who killed her. I did indeed attack her but..."

Zan's mental state was clearly not as strong as Jenna's, or perhaps he hadn't figured out the situation yet, and his various emotions echoed in his heart, making him unable to defend himself logically.

Luckily they could communicate with their minds, and Jenna spoke again, "This is a conspiracy, someone forced my brother to kill Bono."

The situation became more and more complicated, everyone looked to Professor Shearer, Bruce and Oliver also came into the door, and Professor Shearer turned his head towards Bruce, "Are you confident you can decode the program carried by the beetle?"

No sooner had he said this than Ted cried out, "Don't, Professor, this is a memento left to me by my teacher! I can't lose it!"

Professor Shearer looked at Ted with some admiration, for he realized that when Ted said this it was sincere. He didn't want to keep the beetle because of the Blue Beetle's powerful abilities that allowed him to be a superhero, but rather because it might have been the only thing left to him by his teacher.

At this point, Bruce shook his head, "I can dismantle it, but I can't guarantee a perfect decryption, which means, dismantling and analyzing it might be a one-time thing."

Of course, Professor Shearer understood that this was the nature of scientific principles. During various experiments, it was difficult to avoid destructive investigation. Even if handed over to Iron Man, he might not be able to handle it.

And then Professor Shearer called Arthur up. Arthur was somewhat puzzled, "I completely don't understand alien technology, you expect me to decode it?"

"But your Water Prison trapped it," said Professor Shearer. "Clearly, the beetle doesn't seem to do well against magic, otherwise it wouldn't stay obediently in the Water Prison."

He had another sentence he didn't say though, if it were good against magic, it wouldn't have been controlled by Witch Circe either.

It was obvious that Witch Circe who created this chaotic situation was the instigator. If the Blue Beetle had wanted to cause trouble by itself, it would have had plenty of opportunities to flee before being discovered by everyone, it wouldn't have stayed.

It staying only added to the complexity of the situation, creating more trouble for the professors and students, and served no benefit to itself.

Let's see what trouble it could cause by staying.

This device was a memento left to Ted by his teacher, and he would not let go easily. If they had to force him to reveal the truth, he would inevitably feel very sad, which could dishearten the young superheroes.

But if they didn't get to the bottom of the truth, then Bono might as well have died in vain, and the Atlanteans would definitely not be satisfied.

And Zan said that he was being manipulated and wronged. If they didn't investigate the Blue Beetle, there was no way to clear his name, and he would have to bear the accusation of killing a classmate, inevitably leading people to associate him with being an alien, and making other non-human alien visitors feel endangered.

This trick could be said to be a series of linked mischief. If not handled properly, it could split the student community into factions in an instant.

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