Hearing Yuto's words, Neuvillette tapped his cane lightly on the ground, and the silently rotating wheel behind him, like an energy meter, burst forth with a blue light.
Not only that, but the empty slots near the Opera House ceiling also gradually surged with blue "Indemnity Energy" and emitted a blue halo.
Buzz—
Before long, the interior of the Opera House was instantly enveloped by a light veil woven from blue light. As a sound of gears meshing echoed, an ornate envelope emerged from a recess in front of Neuvillette.
He gently opened the envelope, read the text on it carefully, and then declared loudly:
"Therefore, I officially declare Lyney and Lynette innocent!"
Listening to the applause from below the Opera House stage, Neuvillette's face showed no sign of relaxation.
He looked at Vaughn, who was being escorted up by other police officers, nodded slightly, and did not say anything immediately.
And the audience below the stage, as he expected, began a new round of discussions.
"Eh? Didn't they say it was all over? Why are they still bringing someone up...?"
"Uh... no, no, my brain isn't enough for today, if this continues, it might completely burn out..."
"That police officer mentioned earlier that Cowell had a partner in his notes, could it be...?"
Everyone's gaze gathered on the police officer who was being escorted up with his head lowered, and Neuvillette said at this moment:
"When Miss Ying was analyzing Cowell's modus operandi earlier... this officer named Vaughn claimed to have found original sea water in Lyney's luggage, but..."
"The police force thoroughly searched Lyney's backpack and luggage yesterday and found no hidden compartments or other interlayers used for hiding items."
"So, Officer Vaughn, how did you find original sea water in Lyney's luggage?"
Hearing this, Furina's expression instantly turned serious, and then she thoughtfully looked at the police officer named Vaughn, seemingly pondering something.
"A companion... then?"
Furina murmured involuntarily, then turned her gaze to Yuto, whose expression was equally grim.
"Yuto... after all these years, have you found out?"
Just as Furina seemed to be contemplating some of Yuto's previous actions, Vaughn, standing on the stage, could no longer bear the pressure from Neuvillette.
"Mr. Vaughn, you should be very clear... how to lighten your sentence."
"If Mr. Vaughn wants to 'act righteously' and cover up the organization that has been manufacturing illicit drugs and causing the Serial Disappearance of Young Girls..."
"I don't mind personally handing you over to the Duke, so you can spend your life with 'Special Permits'!"
Yuto, abandoning his usual calm, shouted loudly.
Under the dual pressure of the Judge and the Assistant Administrator, Vaughn, who had intended to be stubborn, instantly broke down and said with a trembling voice:
"I, I was just following orders!"
"We had to pin the Serial Disappearance of Young Girls on Lyney and push all the suspicion onto the Fatui. The higher-ups said this was the best opportunity!"
Hearing this, Neuvillette snorted coldly and said with an indifferent expression:
"The plan has been exposed, and the secret of the primordial sea water has now been made public. Your leader must already consider you a thorn in their side."
"Your wisest choice is to confess everything to seek the protection of the police force."
Neuvillette's words were like a battering ram, completely shattering Vaughn's psychological defense, which was on the verge of collapse under the oppression of Fontaine's two high-ranking officials. He said with a trembling voice:
"I'll talk, I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
"The primordial sea water can dissolve people... our boss discovered it!"
"This thing can also be made into a potion. When diluted very, very thinly, drinking it can make people very excited and they'll never forget it."
"We've been doing this business and earning a lot of mora. The Serial Disappearance of Young Girls was also our boss's plan. Oh, our boss is that... that..."
At this point, Vaughn suddenly clasped his hands over his head and knelt on the stage, and his body at this moment... gradually turned into water.
Seeing this scene, Yuto's face showed no ripples whatsoever. Those who knew understood that he was not surprised, while those who didn't might think he was the true mastermind.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
As a painful wail echoed, screams of terror suddenly erupted from the audience.
Looking at the hat and police uniform soaked in water, Lyney couldn't help but murmur:
"This is... being silenced, isn't it...?"
Neuvillette's face, which could almost be described as a perpetually frozen mountain, showed a hint of anger at this moment.
In his view, this was contempt for the law, and contempt for the lives of Fontaine citizens.
He lightly tapped the ground, and police officers and steam automatons surged in from the Opera House entrance. Then, Neuvillette declared loudly:
"Utterly arrogant! All present must immediately submit to interrogation!"
...
Yuto did not know that his utterly unsurprised expression was given a close-up shot.
This led to... an uproar in the real world.
Nonomi's live stream comments were all question marks and expressions of horror, and on the trending list of the video platform where Nonomi was, a comment suddenly appeared.
"Fontaine Vice-Minister, a seemingly gentle and mild-mannered mastermind."
Nonomi frowned at this and immediately began to analyze the situation.
"Vaughn was silenced. If we think darkly, perhaps Yuto really is the culprit, but I always feel something is off..."
"According to Navia and Lyney's previous descriptions, Yuto has been the Assistant Administrator in Fontaine for nearly five hundred years. If he really harbored ill intentions... he would have already started planning long ago, it couldn't possibly be now."
"So to say Yuto is the mastermind is still a bit... too rash, really."
"I think there's still something big coming in the Subsequent plot, it definitely can't stop here, absolutely."
"But I'll stick to my view: I won't give in until the Fontaine plot ends!"
After saying this, Nonomi glanced at the time displayed on the screen, then picked up a small notebook and began to showcase her signature skill.
She needed to organize the current in-game information...
From this very crude and direct statement... there are many suspicious points about Yuto, and these suspicious points could lead to two completely different endings...
Whether from the perspective of a character fan or a video hot topic... she couldn't let this go.
Her first instinct told her that Yuto was definitely not as simple as he currently appeared.