When Chinatsu pushed the door and entered, appearing with a completely different, arrogant posture, the entire Fraxinus bridge instantly erupted!
"Target sighted! Identification Codename—[Heavenly Judgment]! The spiritual energy waveform highly matches the previous 'Herrscher of Reason' and 'Phoenix-in Chinatsu'!"
The operator's voice carried incredible shock.
"How can she be here?!"
"Didn't she leave?"
"She just said 'Tohka'? She knows this Spirit?!"
The crew burst into an uproar, with various speculations and exclamations rising and falling.
However, what truly plunged the bridge into silence was Tohka's earth-shattering statement that followed—
"It's this smell! Last time, this boy had your smell on him!"
This sentence was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand ripples!
Kotori abruptly stood up from the commander's chair, her precious jewel nearly falling out of her mouth.
She stared intently at Tohka, who was tightly embracing Chinatsu on the main screen, and Shido, who was completely stunned nearby. Her brain began working at an unprecedented speed.
"The smell... Shido had her smell on him..." Kotori murmured to herself, her eyes sharp as an eagle's.
"Last time they met... she means the day of the Spatial Quake alert! Where did Shido and she come into contact?!"
She immediately turned to the control panel and commanded sharply: "Retrieve all records of Shido's movements and related reports from that day! Hurry!"
Data streams scrolled rapidly. Previous reports and intelligence were quickly retrieved and integrated:
*Timeline:* Day of the Spatial Quake alert, Shido, Kotori, and Koushi meet on the way to school -> Alert sounds -> Shido, Koushi, Hiroto, and others head to the evacuation shelter -> Shido leaves the shelter without authorization due to Kotori's signal locating her at a family restaurant -> After Shido leaves, Koushi, confirmed by his classmate Hiroto, also leaves the shelter, claiming he went to chase Shido -> Shido encounters the Princess, Welt, and Ellen Mathers -> The next day, Chinatsu appears, claiming she and her brother Koushi hid in a safe place during the Spatial Quake and talked, confirming their sibling relationship. Koushi was injured saving her and is recuperating at home.
*Key Contradiction:* After Shido left the shelter, he was not with Koushi. Yet Chinatsu claimed she was with Koushi.
Reine pushed up her glasses, the gaze behind the lenses flickering with calm analytical light. She picked up Kotori's train of thought and spoke slowly:
"Based on Tohka's perception and this timeline... the only point of intersection is the path Shido took from the shelter to the family restaurant."
"If what the Princess smelled is true, then at that time, Shido must have had an extremely brief, perhaps even just a fleeting, contact with Chinatsu, who was 'emitting the spiritual energy of space and lightning.'"
"This means..."
Reine's voice carried a hint of gravity, "Phoenix-in Chinatsu was already a Spirit even then."
This conclusion caused a collective gasp of shock on the bridge.
Kotori slammed her fist onto the control panel, her eyes burning with the fury of having been deceived:
"So! The spiritual wave reaction detected during the home economics class wasn't Welt possibly lurking nearby at all! It was Chinatsu herself! She was right beside Shido the entire time!"
"The so-called 'Welt Inheritance,' the 'tragic history,' and even the sudden appearance and disappearance of 'Welt Yang'... was it all a performance she orchestrated herself?! Is Chinatsu Welt?!"
This speculation was too startling. If true, then all their previous analysis, their sympathy for Chinatsu, and their shock at the story of Welt would become a joke of them being fooled!
However, Reine slightly shook her head and proposed another possibility. Her voice remained steady as she tried to untangle the messy threads:
"...There is another possibility. Chinatsu has displayed two completely different power systems—the 'rational' Understanding and construction, and the'spatial and thunderous' destruction and domination."
"If the story of 'Welt Yang' and his inheritance is true, then the aura left behind when Shido brushed past someone should have been the spatial and lightning power belonging to the core of Heavenly Judgment. And the one the Princess is currently sensing and confirming is Chinatsu, who is using precisely that power."
"Therefore, 'Welt' is highly likely a real, independent individual. It's just that while Chinatsu inherited the power of the Herrscher of Reason, she originally possessed another complete set of Heavenly Judgment power. She has two cores, two inheritances."
Reine paused, then added a supporting point: "Moreover, if 'Welt' was entirely impersonated by Chinatsu, then when 'Welt' appeared and fought intensely with Ellen Mathers last time, the keenly perceptive Princess should have pointed it out immediately, instead of waiting until now to confirm the smell."
"More importantly, if Welt were Heavenly Judgment, given Heavenly Judgment's arrogance, Welt wouldn't have been forced to run around; it's far more likely that it would have simply destroyed the AST and Ellen, and perhaps the entire Amamiya City."
This analysis was relatively moderate, preserving some truth in the "Welt" story, but it also elevated Chinatsu's danger and complexity to a whole new level—an existence possessing dual Authorities!
However, at this moment, whether it was Kotori, Reine, or the other analysts on the bridge, they all subconsciously ignored or perhaps avoided another simple possibility:
During the dazzling, high-speed battle between "Welt" and Ellen Mathers last time, which involved intense energy bursts, Tohka might simply not have had the time, or been able, to clearly distinguish and lock onto that specific spiritual energy aura on "Welt" amid such a chaotic energy environment.
Preconceived notions, curiosity regarding Chinatsu's many mysteries, and the shock brought by Tohka's accusation caused their brains to automatically piece the clues together in the most complex way possible—the way that best explained "Chinatsu's actions."
Kotori placed both hands on the control panel, her gaze locked on Chinatsu, who was awkwardly trying to soothe Tohka on the screen while simultaneously radiating a cold, arrogant aura. She gritted her teeth and said:
"No matter which truth it is, one fact remains—this woman is far more dangerous and complicated than we imagined! She possesses powers unknown to us, weaves lies we can't discern, and... her influence on Shido is likely much deeper than we estimated!"
"Immediately adjust all countermeasures against the Heavenly Judgment Herrscher! Raise the priority to the highest level! At the same time, closely monitor her interactions with the Princess!"
Fraxinus, due to Chinatsu's reappearance and Tohka's single "testimony," plunged into unprecedented tension and suspicion.
And this deduction centered around the "smell" brought their vigilance and investigation of Phoenix-in Chinatsu to its peak.
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