Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family)

Chapter 175: Orangina Surprise!

Chapter 175: Chapter 175:?Orangina Surprise!

[General POV]

Edward wore shorts, sandals, and an unbuttoned white t-shirt, showcasing his attractive physique to the partygoers. As he strolled by the pool, he took occasional sips from a bottle of 'Orangina.'

Suddenly, a boy attempted to tackle Edward into the pool, seeking revenge for a previous prank Edward did on him. However, Edward skillfully evaded the tackle by deftly spinning his body.

Though the first attempt failed, a few more boys tried the same tactic, but Edward managed to avoid their tackles each time. As the boys fell into the pool, bikini-clad girls stood on Edward's left and right, cheering him on.

"Nice second try, but still...poor execution. Maybe you can try again later," Edward taunted the attackers with a mischievous expression.

"Damn it!" The boys laughed and wanted to splash water at Edward, but he quickly left the poolside to prevent getting wet. He went back to his original intention, that was to reach the snack bar located in the living room.

Before this, he was inside one of the bedrooms, he and Sean engaged in a private conversation while Jessica and Ashley discreetly listened. It wasn't anything sexual, but just talking about career paths.

"Look, he's looking at you again," A delusional (Delulu) girl who resembled Emma Stone whispered to her friend as they stood near the snack bar.

"Shut up! No, he's not!" replied the other girl with cat-like eyes and blonde hair, shyly tucking her hair behind her ear. She maintained her gaze on Edward as he approached them.

"Umm... Hi?" Edward greeted them while grabbing a plate for snacks. He temporarily placed his Orangina bottle on the side of the table.

The girls squealed and whispered to each other, "He said 'hi' to me!"

Edward felt somewhat helpless. After becoming a celebrity, most people didn't treat him like he was part of the same species anymore. It was something that he needed to adapt to soon, but he wanted to see how much longer he could be in denial.

"Hi-HI! Edward! I'm your biggest fan!" the blonde girl stammered. Her breathing quickened and her face flushed.

Edward smiled and replied, "I'm not sure if you're the 'biggest,' but you're definitely one of the pretty ones-"

The girl's brain seemed to short-circuit, and she instantly grabbed Edward's arm, surprising him.

"Should we go to the bathroom? You can take my first time! Ravage me-"

"Amelia!" The Emma Stone-like girl pulled her friend back and profusely apologized to Edward, explaining that her friend's behavior stemmed from her deep infatuation. "Sorry, Edward! She's just deeply in love with you! She means no harm!"

Amelia was escorted away by her friend, who continued apologizing to Edward. Sean, who had been following Edward, laughed at the situation and teased, "That's why you shouldn't be too friendly with people!"

"What do you want me to do? Spit on them? I don't mind these kinds of things. Unless my safety is at risk, I can simply ignore it," Edward replied. Sean smiled and remained silent, knowing it was futile to argue.

Most celebrities who recently gained fame behaved similarly to Edward. However, many of them eventually crumbled under the pressure and difficulties that accompanied excessive fame. Sean could only remind Edward of this fact.

"Hey, is this yours?" Sean asked, grabbing the Orangina bottle near the chocolate fountain.

"Yeah," Edward replied. Sean glanced at the drink station, decided it was too far to walk ten meters away, and took a sip from Edward's drink. Suddenly, he spat out the drink, causing it to splatter on the ground.

Edward managed to avoid the splatter and looked at Sean in astonishment. "What—"

"PISS! WHY IS THIS PISS!?" Sean shouted, drawing the attention of the partygoers.

Edward was shocked. He thought that Sean was playing, "What—I mean, it's not soda, but it wasn't piss—"

"I KNOW THAT!!" Sean shouted in disbelief and agitation. Based on Edward's reaction, he instinctively realized that it wasn't a prank from Edward, as Edward had never gone too far with his teasing.

"Someone swapped the drink," Edward said, noticing that the mark he made on the drink's label was missing. He looked at the crowd suspiciously and told Sean, "We need to get this checked out."

"SECURITY!" Sean quickly called over his muscular buddies to cordon off the area. His manager contacted the police, resulting in the shutdown of the entire party.

The severe reaction to a single drink of urine stemmed from not knowing its exact contents. It could contain viruses or be mixed with drugs. The act of discreetly swapping the drink without anyone noticing raised significant suspicions for Edward.

'Someone capable of eluding my counter-surveillance skills couldn't be considered an ordinary person. What is their aim? What is their purpose?' Edward thought with a flash of excitement in his eyes.

...

The police arrived shortly after, and the urine-filled drink was sent to the urinalysis lab.

The female detective, Chloe Decker, retrieved her rubber gloves from the pocket of her leather jacket and began examining the crime scene. Edward observed her with furrowed brows while he comforted Sean, who was visibly shaken by the incident. Edward placed blankets on Sean's back as he sat down and handed him a cup of calming tea.

"Mr. Newgate, Mr. Kingston, I'm Detective Chloe Decker, and I'm the lead detective assigned to this case," Chloe introduced herself, her voice filled with authority. She paused as she noticed Edward's actions and inquired, "Um... what are you doing?"

Chloe was confused when she saw Edward kept putting blankets on Sean's back.

"In the movies, they comforted the victims like this." Edward explained while Sean sipped his tea in distress. After taking a big sip, he exhaled and said, "It seems to be working. I am calming down now."

Chloe's eyes twitched as she desperately held herself back from rolling her eyes.

"I feel like I know you." Edward asked her with furrowed brows. "But I'm not quite sure where I got you from. Has I seen you nake– Have we ever met before?"

"Hmm? Umm...You can think about it later." Chloe said urgently while keeping a calm look on the surface. Her heart was beating quickly, and she desperately wanted to change the topic right now.

"Now that you mentioned it, I feel like I know her too." Sean said while rubbing his chin.

Chloe asked, "Have you seen a suspicious person at this party?"

"Well a lot...And Uh... Just to be clear, if you find any lines in the bathroom, it surely wasn't ours!" Sean said with a hint of fear in his tone.

"Pfft-" Edward held back his laughter and then replied to the detective, "If you are talking about a 'suspicious' person, I have no idea, because there were a lot of suspicious looking people in this party."

Chloe was confused and she turned around. There was a mime nearby, a few pale-skinned goth girls with tattoos all over, piercing and satanic outfits, and the Turkish ice-cream man nearby.

"Ah. Got it. Do you have any idea who would have put out a hit on you?" She asked as she took out her notebook.

"Lady, we have no idea. Shouldn't you investigate things for us, instead of asking us?!" Sean asked, aggrieved.

Chloe was helpless, but she couldn't be impolite as she was just following the normal procedure. Besides, responding to a case that included the new top tier Hollywood brats and other difficult guys in the industry was something that the Captain had given her as punishment for not following his orders. It was a career killer for her, and she knew it.

Edward however, slapped Sean's bald head from behind and said, "She's just asking questions dude. It's normal stuff. Don't look guilty if you've done nothing wrong."

Chloe raised her eyebrow at Edward who were smiling at her, and then said, "Alright. A couple of officers will come to take your statements-"

"Detective Chloe."

"Detective Decker." Chloe corrected Edward's call instantly.

"Ahh, sorry, forgot we weren't close enough for that...yet." Edward replied, not minding the attitude. "I just wanted to ask you if you had any leads?"

This time, Chloe rolled her eyes, "The investigation has just begun-"

"No. I wasn't trying to urge you. I just think that...the culprit wasn't aiming for Sean."

Sean tilted his head to look at Edward in astonishment, "Not targeting me? But I was the one who drank the piss!!"

"Yeah. On accident. But...that was supposed to be my drink...right?" Edward said in a calm manner. Sean was taken aback when he heard it, and then he stood up as a surge of anger washed over him.

"YOU MEAN I DRANK YOUR PISS!?"

"Idiot! Not mine! But it was aimed at me!" Edward replied while looking at Sean like he was an idiot.

"No-No- That's what I mean. I just couldn't arrange the words in a proper sentence."

Edward nodded in understanding, "So. whoever the culprit is, he or she knew what I was drinking. I just picked up the Orangina from the poolside table, so they only had a few minutes to act."

"And when I was talking to the girls at the concession stand, they swapped the drink while I wasn't looking. I think there should have been a camera by the pool right? So we can start from there, and see if there was anyone following me, or someone who picked up the drink after me. They might not run after me immediately as they would need to fill the bottle first, but we can find a few suspects from it."

Chloe nodded, but she asked with a smile, "And what if...the culprit already had the bottle in their hand, and just filled it in when they saw you pick up the same bottle?"

Edward smiled mischievously, "Then, you're going to have a lot of work to do to screen out the suspects. By the way, where DO I know you from? Cause I really think that I have seen you before, like a LOT."

Chloe felt a mix of frustration and curiosity as she listened to Edward's deductions. She couldn't deny that his theory made sense, and she appreciated his keen observation skills. However, his comment about recognizing her made her anxious.

"I'm not sure where you might have seen me before," Chloe replied, her tone slightly guarded. "I've been a detective for a while, so it's possible our paths crossed at some point."

Edward scratched his head, deep in thought. "Hmm, it's strange. It feels like there's something more to it, but I just can't put my finger on it."

Chloe's heart raced as she desperately tried to change the subject. "Well, we can discuss it later. Right now, let's focus on finding the person responsible for this incident."

Sean, still visibly upset over unknowingly drinking the tainted drink, interjected, "Yeah, let's catch that sicko!"

Chloe nodded in agreement. "Exactly. We'll review the poolside CCTV footage and see if we can identify anyone who may have tampered with the drink or acted suspiciously."

Unbeknownst to the detective, Edward finally realized where he knew her from. And, it wasn't from the rated mature story, 'Hot Tub High School' where she had a nude scene in it, but from a series in his past life.

'Wait. Another one? But...Lux doesn't exist in this universe! There isn't any Lucifer around. I checked...a lot...so why–'

While Edward was thinking, a black shadow– mimicking Detective Conan's universe unrevealed suspect, was becoming more and more anxious. She gazed at Edward and the detective from afar while biting her nails.

'No. My plans failed. My voodoo...doesn't work...It went to Sean instead! What would I do if Sean fell for me instead of Edward? I don't want that! I want only him! If it's revealed...then...I...should prepare for the second plan. But...I will need...Edward's...blood for that.'

...

[Edward POV]

'Curious. I got the feeling that someone was watching me right now. But, why didn't it work before?'

I glanced slightly at the downtrodden crowd, feeling their emptiness from being controlled by the police. The thought of not being able to drink and party their life and troubles away actually forced them to confront their own thoughts, and that as it turned out was truly scary for them. In fact I guess even I can understand their feelings.

"Detective, any leads on the case?" I asked Detective Chloe. She shook her head and said, "We have checked the CCTV, but so far, we got nothing. There were a few suspects, but none of them had a clear motive as to why they would want Sean to drink their piss. And the lab test isn't going to come out till tomorrow."

"I see. What did they say when you asked them about it?" I picked up a glass of water and sniffed it a bit before gulping it down...You know...just in case.

The detective saw it and let out a slight snort. Apparently she thought it was cute.

"There's 3 people who picked up the same drink as you, and their whereabouts couldn't be confirmed during the time the drink was swapped."

"I mean...specifically...what did they say?" I asked her again.

She then said, "The law dictates that I can't tell you about it, in order to avoid you developing a vendetta or anything of the sort on any of the subjects."

"Huh? Is that really true?" I asked, confused. I saw her helplessness, but it didn't mean that I couldn't figure out the situation by myself.

The law may prevent me from knowing the specifics, but it doesn't matter if I decide to question them all by myself. I checked the CCTV, and immediately figured out who the suspects were.

Before I could leave to question them, Detective Chloe grabbed my arm to stop me and asked, "Do you want to play cop now?"

"I just like to play... detective." I said with a seductive smile.

Chloe grimaced and said, "I can't let you bother the suspects."

"So the law protects the suspects, not the victims?" I asked her sarcastically, causing her to be taken aback. "Why don't you follow me then? Maybe, you can cross reference our questions to fill in the blanks later on?"

She chortled sarcastically, "Why do you think you can get any new information out of them?"

I smiled devilishly and said, "Simple. I can be very... VERY persuasive."

After constantly using my [Soul Voice] during my 2 month tour, I managed to develop the skill into part of my normal conversations. The power was lowered, but it became extremely easy for me to manipulate people with my voice– akin to a brainwashing machine, I became irresistible to them.

Suddenly, I froze in place as I saw Chloe's smoky eyes. 'Wait...What is happening? Why do I find myself having a strong urge to bother this detective?...it can't be...that Lucifer's role...has now fallen on my head...right?"

I quickly threw out that thought far far away and went to talk with the first subject. It was a blonde, ignorant girl with a bad attitude. She was wearing a large earring, and a low cut top. While sitting on top of a tall bar stool, she spat out her chewing gum at the back of a police officer standing nearby, almost hitting him.

"Marilyn. Hi. We meet again." I smiled as I walked to Marilyn. Her eyes lit up as she saw me, but scowled when she saw the detectives.

"Fucking pig." She cursed underneath her breath. Then, she smiled fakely at me and whined, "Ed? You believe me right? I didn't do it!"

"I know. You're a good girl...aren't you?" I grabbed her chin and looked into her eyes as I proceeded to whisper in her ear. She shivered for a bit before saying, "I am a good girl."

"Then, as a good girl, you should answer my questions honestly, right?" I used a low voice, causing her eyes to become dazed. She bit her lower lip and then nodded, "Anything for you Edward."

"Good. Where did you go after picking up the Orangina bottle? I saw that you went in the opposite direction from me, so don't worry, I'm not suspecting you. I'm just curious."

Marilyn nodded with her face flushed. She wanted to confess, but as she saw the detective beside me, she became hesitant.

"What? Are you worried about Detective Chloe? Don't worry. She's okay."

"Okay? Just...okay?" The detective mumbled to herself.

"Or, would you rather me say, "She's smoking hot?" or lie and say, "She's not going to do anything to you?" Pick one."

Chloe pouted for a bit, but Marilyn smiled as she saw Chloe's subversiveness. She became a bit brazen and said, "Well, I did pick up the bottle, but I went to...um...you know, making it...a brunch...drink?"

"Ah..." I realized why she kept changing her story when facing the detective. Basically, she added some vodka in it, changing it into a Mimosa. She's only 17, so that's why she didn't want to tell the truth to the cops.

I patted her on the head and said, "Alright. You're clear."

"Wait–" The detective wanted to stop me, but Marilyn smiled and hugged me immediately, "Thanks Ed! I'm going to go meet up with my friends!"

"Hey!" Chloe shouted, but I stopped her from going after the girl.

"What are you doing? She could be lying!" Chloe asked, aggrieved.

I shook my head slightly and said, "Well, she's not that clever to trick you detective. Come on, we still have 2 more suspects to interrogate."

"WE...are not interrogating anything! It's only ME!!!" The detective yelled frustratedly, but I had already walked away and ignored her protest.

The second suspect was actually a guy. And what he did was actually turning his bottle into a bong in the next bedroom, so he didn't confess to the detective. And finally, I met with the last suspect.

The suspect was an 18 years old, petite girl with short silver hair who was sitting anxiously while shaking her legs, and her eyes kept darting around the crowd, flinching every time a cop walked past her.

"And...you're still confused as to whether she is guilty?" I joked with the detective.

"Yeah, I'm sure–"

"I DID IT!" Kiernan shouted as the detective and I approached her. Chloe was startled but I became confused.

"You did what?" I asked her calmly.

"I DID IT OKAY! I (whisper) pissed in the orange bottle! (normal voice) But it was only because someone were occupying the girl's toilet!-- I threw the bottle into the bush, but I really don't know how it got there–"

"It was YOU!?" Sean, who was within earshot, exploded as he heard the confession. He strode angrily towards Kiernan, but stopped midway as he saw her face. His tone changed to a gentle one and he said affectionately, "Well...If it's you...then I don't mind it."

"???"

"???"

"???"

All of us, including Kiernan, were confused when we heard what Sean said.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, before I realized it, and then laughed out loud!

"Sean. She's pretty for sure...I guess pretty enough that you don't mind drinking...you know...but, she didn't do it."

"What?" Kiernan and Sean were both confused. The detective then asked Kiernan, "Where did you throw your bottle?"

"Um...Into the bush near the front..." Kiernan replied, and when we went and checked, the bottle was still there. Kiernan cried in relief. Seeing her cry, Sean opened up his arm to make her hug him, but instead, she jumped towards me and hugged me from the neck while crying in my chest.

I turned to Sean and muttered apologetically, "Sorry dude. You have no chance."

"Damn it!" He cursed.