Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Chapter 260: The Hidden Truth

”Is it really a locked room... that might not necessarily be the case.”

After Fu Luo made his judgment and conclusion, Lin Yu actually refuted him.

”Donʼt forget, Furbollo, this isnʼt some orthodox mystery. Using our value system as reference... this is ʼsetting-basedʼ deduction.”

The so-called ”setting-based” refers to mystery works set in story backgrounds with special settings, supernatural or surreal powers.

The dungeon worlds of the ʼDeath Gameʼ undoubtedly contain various supernatural elements.

Even though Sleepless City appears similar to a near-future society and ʼTruth Corporationʼ looks like some technology company...

At its core, itʼs still built upon the foundation of ʼEmotion Conversionʼ - a completely counter-intuitive, supernatural power.

They even—worship gods!

But facing Lin Yuʼs reminder, Fu Luo remained calm.

”Iʼm well aware of this, Zhu Ming, so I havenʼt overlooked this possibility. Rather, Iʼve reached this conclusion after re-evaluating based on existing ʼlogicʼ and known conditions.”
”The reason I determined this is a ʼlocked room murderʼ type... is precisely because even with the most advanced technology available, after I became a murder suspect as a high-ranking official, they still couldnʼt find a second suspect, or even provide evidence that a second suspect might exist.”

”This is enough to show... that with their current ʼknowledge,ʼ they believe no second person could bypass their ʼdetectionʼ through more advanced technology or some loophole.”

Fu Luo had now put his Straw Hat back on, speaking while adjusting the brim.

”All locked rooms are never truly locked rooms—theyʼre deceptions constructed using some trick,” he said calmly. ”Since their own investigation department made this judgment, I believe this isnʼt the work of some more advanced technology, but rather some ʼtrick.ʼ”

Seeing the confident Fu Luo, Lin Yu felt he might be able to slack off: ”Since youʼre so certain, Iʼll leave it to you then, great detective.”

”Iʼm not good at puzzles... especially this kind of case solving, itʼs completely outside my capabilities.”

As Lin Yu spoke, he walked over to Pang Kedo who was waiting nearby, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

Pang Kedo frowned.

”This laboratory looks very familiar.”

”Of course itʼs familiar, you were the one responsible for sealing the scene and collecting evidence back then,” Baron Coleman sighed. ”And precisely because you were the one who sealed the scene, I believed no one deliberately destroyed evidence favorable to me or evidence of othersʼ presence during the scene investigation phase.”

By now, Fu Luo had walked over to the deceased Reed Christopher.

This was an elderly man with completely white hair, lying face down on the experimental table with his arms spread out.

Blood had flowed down his body, pooling at his feet.

”Looks like he was caught off guard by the knife—only one stab wound, fatal injury, but not immediately lethal.”

”The victim was standing at the time, probably very focused on doing something... from this angle, he was observing reagent reactions.”

As Fu Luo spoke, he stood by the table, simulating Reed Christopherʼs position and posture from back then.

”Then at that moment, he heard two footsteps sounds from behind—there was only one person in the laboratory, so Reedʼs first reaction was surprise and wanting to turn around.”

”But the turning motion was too slow, his body only tilted slightly—this caused the knife entry wound to also be somewhat slanted, and such a sharp knife wound had some discordant ʼtearingʼ at the end.”

”But the killer was indeed professional—this slight deviation didnʼt affect the knife accurately piercing his right back—this single stab pierced through the bottom of his lung and a major vein.”

”So, Reed no longer had the strength to turn around. His body lost strength, his hands braced on the table trying to keep himself from falling, lifting his head with effort—the sealed metal main door was ahead of the experimental table...”

”Reed probably knew he couldnʼt escape. As a high-ranking Truth Corporation official, he was intelligent and understood human anatomy well... so when he looked at the door, it wasnʼt to escape, but to try to use the doorʼs reflection to see the killerʼs face.”

”But unfortunately, he might have seen it or might not have. In any case... Reed Christopher was no longer in a condition to leave any useful information—rapid blood loss and lung injury had left him without enough strength to write something in blood or similar. He just lay face down on the experimental table and died.”

After speaking, Fu Luo exhaled.

”The murder reconstruction is complete, no special techniques... just a single backstab ambush. The only remarkable thing is how clean the knife strike was—doesnʼt look like a first-time killer, and this dagger also seems like something specialized combat personnel would use.”

Fu Luo looked at Baron Coleman, who sighed.

”Yes, I received similar training... although I never worked in the field operations department, before entering Truth Corporation through family arrangements, I went through a rebellious phase and joined gangs in Sleepless Cityʼs lower districts.”

”There, I learned how to kill... I became quite skilled in using knives and fists.”

Lin Yu suddenly understood: ”Oh, no wonder youʼre suspected. This murder method matches your style too.”

”Not just that,” Fu Luoʼs eyes became unprecedentedly sharp after entering case-solving mode as he looked at Baron Coleman, ”Thereʼs more, isnʼt there? Baron?”

”Youʼre hiding something very important, arenʼt you.”

Baron Coleman remained quite calm when Fu Luo said this.

”What makes you say that? I donʼt think Iʼm hiding anything very important related to this case.”

He questioned Fu Luo in return.

Hearing Fu Luoʼs words, Lin Yu instantly trusted this detective.

Hearing Baron Colemanʼs counter-question, Lin Yu immediately supported Fu Luo.

”Youʼve already openly shared your memories, why not be more candid?”

”Weʼre here to help investigate the truth too. Hiding things will also create difficulties for our investigation.”

As Lin Yu spoke, Baron Coleman remained silent.

”Iʼm truly not hiding anything.”

He said again.

”Iʼm not an idiot, Your Lordship Baron,” Fu Luo didnʼt back down at all, lifting the brim of his Straw Hat slightly, ”Even though all evidence pointed to you as the only suspect back then, you just mentioned... that without the company convicting you, all of this ʼReed Christopherʼsʼ friends and relatives almost universally regarded you as the murderer. There must be something crucial youʼre hiding about this.”

”Compared to objective evidence, what could make ʼinsidersʼ make such nearly certain judgments must be something more subjective, something that might not even be recorded in the files...”

Hearing Fu Luo say this, Lin Yu also reacted.

”Itʼs ʼmotiveʼ!”

”They must believe youʼre the murderer because you had ʼsome kind of motiveʼ!”