Starry Sky Railway: I Intruded with the Heart of God

"Hehe, let's go thank the owner here. But before that, we have to return the things first." Mo Li suddenly seemed like a different person.

"What is that?" Xingmei asked, puzzled.

She had indeed forgotten what she had borrowed and hadn't returned.

Mo Li's next sentence made her suddenly realize something.

"Do you remember the light cone you took from the office on the second floor of the analysis room?" Mo Li asked.

“Analysis room... second floor... ah, I remember now,” Xingmei said.

"Let's go, let's return their things."

In the office on the second floor of the analysis room, the light cone that used to be there is gone, and the containment cabinet is empty.

Xing walked to the containment cabinet, carefully removed the light cone from her body, and put it back in.

The light cone emitted a dazzling light on the containment cabinet.

Xing raised her hand to block the dazzling light.

Soon, the light dimmed.

But an old man appeared beside her without warning.

Mo Li watched as the old man, hunched over with his hands behind his back, slowly walked over.

Xing's vision was affected by the light cone, so she didn't notice how the old man got there.

She was startled when she saw the old man.

"Hey, young man, did you just put a light cone back into the storage locker?"

I'm getting old and my eyesight isn't good anymore. Tell me, what kind of light cone did you put in?

Is it a "light cone inlaid with jewels and eight hearts and eight arrows," or a "light cone exuding an aura of dominance"?

“Uh…I’ll be honest…it’s neither,” Xing said.

The old gentleman nodded and said, "Not bad, not bad! You truly deserve the young man I've chosen. Honesty and reliability are your most valuable qualities, and I will reward you handsomely..."

However... the "Eight Hearts and Eight Arrows Jewel-Inlaid Cone" is utterly vulgar and doesn't do justice to your outstanding temperament.

The "light cone exuding an aura of dominance" is extremely arrogant and unworthy of your superb skills.

In my humble opinion, given your reluctant expression, I might as well return your light cone to you! Haha, that would be doing you a favor!

"No, sir, that's not mine. I only borrowed it because I had no other choice. Now it's back where it belongs," Xing explained.

"Oh? Hehe, what a good child. Well then, these are for you." The old man took out a jar of condensed ether, 20 Black Tower Coins, and something that looked like a balance scale that appeared out of nowhere.

The two scales vanished from Xing and Mo Li's sight. However, it was as if something had been added to Xing and Mo Li's bodies.

"What is that?" Mo Li asked, puzzled.

“A morally noble commendation…” Xing replied.

"How did you know?"

"I don't know, but I just know that's its name."

"That's strange. Alright, let's go find Estádio next."

Main control warehouse section.

Estella, who was working on some documents, noticed footsteps behind her.

After saving the file, turn around.

"Mo Li, Xing, what do you need me for?" Aster asked.

Xing took a step back, probably wanting to watch Mo Li perform.

Mo Li cleared his throat: "Ahem, my dearest, most ...

"Huh? Huh! You...you went into that room?" Estella's face was completely red.

“That’s right. To be precise, she collected all three access cards without my knowledge,” Mo Li said.

“So that means…” Estella turned around, checking the “Black Tower Panoramic System” while waiting for her face to return to normal.

“As expected, it’s a message sent to Xing,” Estádio said.

“However, although it’s something I don’t use, it’s still a precious memory for me. Now that you’ve obtained that light cone, it belongs to you,” Estádio said.

"By the way, Xing's phone case...you used to use it?" Mo Li asked, voicing her doubts.

“Yes,” Estádio said.

"No wonder."

"what happened?"

"nothing."

Xing then stepped forward, placed her hand on her chest, and said, "Thank you, Estádio."

Estelle nodded and said, "You're welcome. I don't actually need that light cone."

“We’ve put everything back in its original place,” Mo Li added.

“Well, actually… it doesn’t matter whether those things are put back or not. That used to be my private office, but I’ve moved here now,” Estádio said.

"No wonder the access control system in that office hasn't been back for a long time."

"There was nothing left in that office except some letters, so I never went back."

"By the way, I took Peipei out yesterday, but she ran away on her own. Has she come back yet?" Mo Li asked.

“Pepe is very smart, she’s back,” Estádio said.

"That's good."

“By the way, Estádio, Xing’s phone received a text message earlier, sent by someone named ‘Laughter in the Snail’,” Mo Li said.

"Ah, I didn't expect you guys to have received the 'Laughter in the Snail' text message too."

I originally wanted to ask Alan to handle it, but he was busy, so...

I would like to ask for your help in investigating the source of the memetic virus that caused the "laughter in the snail" infection. Is that possible?

““Memevirus”?” Xingmei didn’t know what that was.

"It is an information particle that can spread continuously like a virus, and it will bring about changes and pollution to the host's thinking."

Unfortunately, it can spread to non-living matter and has changed the outward appearance of the "snail laughter"... It no longer tells jokes, but instead keeps telling smelly and strange things.

Phrases like "Step out of your comfort zone, or you'll be useless" and "The hardships you've endured will light your way"... these kinds of toxic motivational quotes are really not relaxing.

"Laughter from the snail?" Xingmei was even more puzzled.

"It's a rare item in our collection. It looks like an ordinary conch shell, but if you get close, you can hear low-brow jokes coming from inside."

As long as the user can resist laughing, they can slowly acquire the mysterious power contained within. Of course, no one has succeeded so far, so we only use it during interrogations.

“I have a general understanding,” Mo Li said.

“I understand,” Hoshino said.

Estelle continued, "I sent people to check it out, and they found that it was a mutation caused by a memetic virus infection. But the containment of 'Laughter in the Snail' was normal, which means it couldn't have been infected on its own."

The only possibility is... that some staff members were already infected with the virus, and the infection occurred incidentally during contact with it. So I checked the list of people who had recently been in contact with it and identified three suspects.

"Well, you probably understand what's coming next, right? I just want your help investigating these three suspicious individuals."