Academic Fraud Exposed  

The back alleys of Port Ormos reeked of incense and conspiracy. Ling Feng adjusted his fake beard behind cargo crates, the elemental resonance compass hidden under his desert robe going haywire—a counterfeit detector specially made by Lumine. Three days prior, the Eremites had tipped them off: someone was selling "Akademiya-exclusive blind boxes" on the black market containing forged blueprints of King Deshret's technology. 

"Are you sure about being the bait?" Lumine pulled her hood lower, retracting her *Assassin's Creed*-style hidden blade into her wristguard. "Last time you posed as a Liyue antique dealer, you nearly got dumped into the sea as a Treasure Hoarder." 

"This time we have professional backup." Ling Feng nodded toward the shadows. Alhaitham leaned against the wall reading *Sherlock Holmes*, a discreet obsidian earring doubling as a voice modulator. 

Suddenly, camel bells chimed like coded signals at the alley entrance. Three gray-robed figures carried in a gilded chest, their leader's sleeves embroidered with Haravatat insignias. "The goods are here," the scholar hissed like a snake slithering through sand. "Thirty million Mora for the Mausoleum's energy core schematics." 

Ling Feng deliberately jingled the coin pouch. "We need to inspect them first." He opened the chest and froze—inside lay a replica of the *StarCraft* probe, its core entwined with the Abyss Order's corrupt aura. 

"The schematics are encrypted in the Akasha Terminal," the gray-robed scholar produced an authorization key. "Requires the Grand Sage's voiceprint." His accomplice presented a box resembling an Akasha Terminal, triggering Lumine's detector—a forbidden knowledge storage device disguised as academic equipment. 

Alhaitham's earring glowed faintly. When he spoke, the Akasha projected Grand Sage Azar's aged voice: "Haravatat Project SD-1145 requesting Mausoleum data access." The scholar inserted the key without suspicion, unleashing encrypted data streams in the air. 

"So that's it," Alhaitham reverted to his normal voice. "You disassembled the protoss tech from real blind boxes, infused them with Abyss sigils, and sold them at markup." His finger traced the corrupt patterns in the hologram. "Even altered research logs using *Naruto*-style sealing jutsu." 

The scholar leaped back, throwing poisoned daggers from his sleeves. "Damn Matra dogs!" Ling Feng hurled *Monster Hunter*-style paralysis daggers, but the scholar tore open a *Baldur's Gate*-style dimensional portal. 

"Don't let the evidence escape!" Lumine hooked the chest with her grapple. Cyno descended from above, the *Demon Slayer*-style crow messenger's camera flashing red. "Seventh Seat Scholar Hajani, charged with trafficking forbidden knowledge, embezzling research funds..." 

Before he finished, flames erupted from the chest's seams. Ling Feng smelled the distinct chakra burn of explosive tags and tackled Lumine. "Get down!" 

The blast flipped the entire alley, the fake probe warping grotesquely in the flames. Cyno's crow darted through smoke, its feed filled with static—someone had planted a *Matrix*-style EMP device. 

"Cough... The core data's gone." Ling Feng dug out a charred blueprint from the rubble. 

Lumine wiped blood from her cheek, tracing the parchment's edge. "Wait—this paper batch was produced just two months ago." She suddenly remembered something and rummaged through the chest. Sure enough, a *Phoenix Wright*-style evidence tag hid in the lining—its serial number matched the Akademiya archives theft case. 

Alhaitham kicked the smoldering portal debris. "They used low-grade explosives to destroy surface evidence while preserving the core." He held up an access card looted from the scholar. "The real trading site is..." 

"...in the Restricted Archives seven floors under the Akademiya." Cyno's lightning spear pinned the last fleeing accomplice. "Matra reported energy anomalies there three days ago, but approvals were delayed." He tore off the mask, revealing a scholar supposedly "killed" in the Mausoleum incident. 

Ling Feng toyed with the voice-modulating earring. "Seems higher-ups are playing both sides." He pressed the earring to the Restricted Archives' lock. Azar's voice echoed again: "Special approval granted for cross-Darshan collaboration." 

The steel door opened to Lumine's detector shrieking. Rows of forbidden knowledge containers glowed in the dark, each labeled: "Mausoleum Special Blind Box - Akademiya Certified." 

"You think we didn't prepare?" Hajani sneered as guards restrained him. "All transaction records are..." 

"...backed up in a *Death Note*-style Shinigami ledger?" Ling Feng waved a black notebook from the vault. "Funny—I just made a deal with an apple-loving death god." He flipped to a blank page where Hajani's name slowly materialized. 

Cyno clamped chains on the prisoner. "Under *Akasha Judicial Code*, you may remain silent—though we'd prefer you discuss your 'high-level collaborator.'" The crow's camera captured the fading imprint of an Akademiya seal. 

Lumine nudged Ling Feng discreetly. Through elemental sight, the seal's pattern matched the encrypted runes on Alhaitham's access card. Night winds scattered Port Ormos' smoke as someone in the Restricted Archives adjusted a *Detective Conan*-style voice-changing bowtie to "Gin" mode.