By the latter half of the night, the rain had finally eased a little.
The fire at Class A's base burned more steadily than those elsewhere.
The tarps were secured tightly.
The supplies were neatly stacked.
Even the muddy water only pooled around the outer perimeter.
Sakayanagi Arisu sat farther inside, a blanket draped over her knees, her terminal within reach.
She had not gone outside.
But the mud Hashimoto had tracked back in, along with his news, was enough for her to piece together most of the situation in the middle section of the uninhabited island.
"Finished?"
She looked up at Hashimoto.
Hashimoto rolled up his soaked cuffs and chuckled.
"More or less."
"That shift rotation system in Class D's central area isn't just them gritting their teeth and holding on anymore."
"Gu Heng turned the situation around."
Sakayanagi did not respond immediately.
She first went over the points Hashimoto had just reported in her mind.
Horikita had been publicly designated as the visible person responsible.
Class D's route page had been replaced.
Class C had pounced on the fake locations several times.
Ryuuen had started tracing the substitute chain through the people involved.
Gu Heng had not rushed to catch Kushida, nor had he stubbornly defended any one position.
He had first released false charts.
Then dismantled the situation piece by piece.
Then linked the substitutes and shifts together layer by layer.
Seeing that she remained silent, Hashimoto smiled first.
"Your reaction's different from what I expected."
"How is it different?" Sakayanagi asked.
"I thought you'd be more excited."
"After all, hadn't you been saying he was just a new face who could stir things up a little?"
Sakayanagi lightly ran a fingertip along the edge of her terminal.
"That was before."
"It isn't now."
Hashimoto raised a