Gold Dust let out a deep sigh: "...How did you find out?"

"I never expected that a certain detail I learned by accident would become the key to connecting everything."

Gold Dust: "It's about 【that person's】 identity, isn't it?"

"It seems you are also aware."

"I couldn't be sure, but I was willing to bet on that possibility." Gold Dust nodded. "...A homicide is a good excuse, but it's far from enough. Even if a murder or two really occurred in Penacony, it would only affect a tiny minority; it wouldn't cause a stir."

"This dreamscape isn't a vast ocean, but an isolated island. The Family uses the 【Harmony】 to build embankments and high walls, cutting off the outside world and protecting people from drowning in the sea..."

"At the same time, they use this barrier that 【excludes】 Death to bury unspeakable secrets in the deep sea. In a dreamscape without pain or Death, those secrets will never see the light of day. Unless..."

Acheron finished his sentence: "Unless someone goes to the other side of the barrier... and manages to return alive."

Gold Dust nodded: "Someone has already done it."

——

Mob Psycho 100.

"Ah?? Who did it? Has someone already been resurrected after Death?"

Reigen's mouth was open wide enough to fit three eggs. Although others besides Robin and Firefly had been taken by 【Death】, that was a long time ago, and those ordinary people couldn't have had any intersection with Gold Dust.

Could it be Robin? Or perhaps Firefly?

However, hearing that "Death" wasn't a person's final destination, Reigen finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Didn't these words mean that Firefly wasn't actually dead, but had simply gone to the true "Penacony" Gold Dust spoke of? And if someone could return alive, it meant Firefly would also have a day when she could reunite with Stelle.

At the thought of this, Reigen felt his mood brighten.

After enduring Gold Dust's heavy and desperate past, he could finally taste something beautiful in the world.

"The Watchmaker's legacy isn't in Penacony; only through Death can one reach that promised land." Dimple keenly spotted a blind spot. "If the Watchmaker did this, does he intend to start a rebellion?"

"Rebellion? What do you mean?"

"Think about it... ordinary people can't reach the promised land. Those who can must be those who don't believe the Family's promises and dare to accept 【Death】. The Watchmaker is gathering these people, just as they targeted and resisted the IPC a thousand years ago. Now, they plan to resist the Family and overthrow everything to start over."

——

"I received a hint early on: If the 'mute' doesn't refer to 【someone who cannot make a sound】, then it can only be 【someone who cannot speak】... That person who has already survived the deep sea but can no longer step onto the stage to speak—I am glad to learn she is still in Penacony and is safe and sound."

Acheron: "A hint... not evidence?"

"Regrettably, I have no evidence." Gold Dust spread his hands. "The only thing that corroborates these conjectures is the Family's 'honesty' when facing 【Death】. They are too generous to outsiders, which instead seems like they're trying to hide something."

"But doubting something doesn't require evidence; uncovering the truth does—for me, the former is enough. I don't even need to find that Memory Zone Meme, as long as someone can 【kill】 me just like it does."

"In my view, you didn't actually have full confidence. Making a city-wide broadcast to try and pull more people into the game... was also because you were betting on the possibility that'someone can break the barrier'."

"You are indeed lucky. Fate caused our paths to cross, and I happen to possess a blade—sharp enough to slash through the curtains of the dreamscape and, at the same time, sever the brand of 【Harmony】 on you with a single strike..."

"You are also cunning, deliberately designing it so we stood on opposite sides, constantly repeating the 【Emanator】 rhetoric in front of others, leaving me no way to retreat but to draw my sword against you."

At this point, Acheron couldn't help but marvel: "That is why you could win. Luck and strategy, neither could be missing. And in your arrangement, the IPC is always the winner. Even if you lost the bet in the end... to the Family, the life of an envoy is expensive enough."

Gold Dust finally smiled: "A high-stakes gamble, isn't it? But allow me to point out an error: the IPC did not have a guaranteed victory. On one vital matter, I indeed had no backup plan."

"Detonating a Stellaron... I couldn't do it. The 【Gold Dust】 stone was already too shattered to even protect me enough to withdraw from the stage unscathed. If you hadn't drawn that sword in the end... I would have lost everything."

——

A Certain Scientific Railgun.

"Eh? The 【Harmony】 brand on Gold Dust disappeared?? Shouldn't he thank Miss Acheron for that?"

Misaka Mikoto couldn't help but roll her eyes at Kuroko: "Thank her for hacking him to Death with a sword, you mean?"

"But looking at the result, Gold Dust should thank Acheron for hacking him. If she hadn't, he would have lost his gamble." At this point, Shirai Kuroko also couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Before he fought Stelle and the others, he said he bet he would win because he had never lost... To have calculated to this extent, one can only say this victory is well-deserved. He earned a hearty triumph."

"It's just a pity that wing-boy is going to be disappointed..." Kuroko let out a "hehe" laugh and suddenly leaned a bit closer to Misaka Mikoto. "Sissy, think about it. Sunday wakes up to find the 【Harmony】 barrier over all of Penacony slashed to pieces, and then an IPC envoy is dead... Hahaha... what kind of expression will he have?"

"He's probably completely overwhelmed by now, right? I bet even at the end, he won't understand how Gold Dust hid the Aventurine Stone from him." Misaka Mikoto took a bite of her ice cream. "What I'm curious about now is how the Family will 'handle' Acheron?"

"Handle? Where would they get the authority to handle an Emanator-level powerhouse?"

"But this is the territory of the 【Harmony】 after all. The Family has operated here for a thousand years; they surely have their own trump cards... I don't think they'll fear Acheron. Besides, logically speaking, a dangerous element like Acheron, who destroyed public facilities, shouldn't stay in Penacony anymore."

——

"Discussing 'what ifs' is meaningless. You won; you won yourself an admission ticket to that deep sea." Acheron paused. "And after this, whether you can return from the abyss... will be another high-stakes gamble for you. Did you never hesitate?"

Gold Dust smiled gently: "Hesitate... of course. But I can only trust my luck. Because besides that, I have nothing."