Zhu Ming and Old Yao, Li Nian and Tycoon

Jiang City, early morning.

Li Nian sat in the living room, looking at the messages on her phone, her brows furrowed.

"Huh? The 'Marauders' actually came knocking on our door?"

"This Heavenly Artisan by Tiangong is more ambitious than I imagined... Really?"

Although the "Freedom Alliance" was removed from the forum, as the most well-known organization within the Player community, they naturally have their own information channels.

On the "Marauders '" side, Lin Yu and the other five members had just arrived in Jiang City after a night of hard work when Li Nian received an internal message from the "Freedom Alliance".

[God of Cookery: Anyway, I heard it wasn't entirely aimed at you. The "Marauders" from Yu Province suffered a huge loss, apparently because Heavenly Artisan was being targeted.]

[God of Cookery: And the guy who attacked Heavenly Artisan happened to be from Jiang City.]

[Divine Thief A Nian: Tsk, then I'm truly an innocent victim.]

[Magician: Regardless of the reason, please be careful—according to intelligence, besides "Heavenly Artisan," there are also two other Tier 1: "Red Fuji" and "Almond."]

[Magician: I've already uploaded the information to the group.]

Li Nian opened the file sent by the Magician on her phone.

Just as I was watching, a slight sound suddenly came from the courtyard.

"Hey--"

Looking up, I unsurprisingly saw the figure I had met once before.

Hearing that the dog at home didn't bark, Li Nian guessed who had come in.

"Oh, Zhu Ming... really?"

She got up from the sofa and put her hands on her chest.

"Although I've said I'm quite interested in you, my house isn't some public toilet—you can't just come and go as you please!"

The veterinarian, Zhu Ming, also known as Lin Yu, revealed a gentle smile.

"Don't be angry, A Nian, I have a reason for coming."

"I've received some information—a group of 'Marauders' have infiltrated Jiang City and might be a threat to you."

"The members of the 'Freedom Alliance' must be quite scattered, so I was wondering... do you need any help?"

Li Nian was somewhat surprised.

"You know about this too? You're quite well-informed."

"But don't worry—they only have three Tier 1 members, I can handle them perfectly well."

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, could it be...?"

"Of course, I am 'Tier 2'."

Li Nian answered directly, with a hint of pride in her voice.

Lin Yu was secretly astonished.

I realized I had underestimated this Master Thief Miss along!

"That was an unnecessary worry of mine," Lin Yu said, stroking his chin. "However, Miss A Nian ... since the other side has three Tier 1 this time, it means that one of them should have a bounty of more than 3,000 points or 500,000, right?"

"How about we try to use this as a test for me? Let's see if I can help you solve this problem?"

Li Nian raised an eyebrow. "You haven't Tier Advancement yet... The other side has three Tier 1 opponents. You mean you're going to try to kill them and resolve this?"

"Of course, it won't be a direct confrontation," Lin Yu chuckled. "Anyway, if you trust me... please do me a favor."

"What?"

Li Nian looked at Lin Yu with great interest.

"Lend me the Heavenly Artisan's [Bone Crusher] for a moment."

Lin Yu said calmly.

Li Nian was stunned for a moment, then narrowed her eyes. "Oh dear, it seems you know more about my grudge with the Marauders than I thought."

"I'm starting to suspect you might be an undercover agent for 'The Marauders'."

As she spoke, Lin Yu nodded.

"Yes, so... why not give it a try and trust me?"

Lin Yu's answer was a black hammer that had been thrown at him.

Lin Yu caught it, and then Item prompt appeared in front of him.

[Bone Crusher: Enhances destructive power against living beings, revealing their "weak points," which can inflict massive damage upon impact.]

Lin Yu casually tucked it into his sleeve, then looked at Li Nian: "Thank you for your trust, Miss A Nian... So, next, around 2 PM this afternoon, if you don't want to get into trouble, please make sure the 'Marauders' can confirm that you are not present."

"It would be best to invite someone from the 'Marauders' group in Jiang City for tea or something."

Lin Yu said with a smile.

Li Nian was taken aback for a moment. Although she didn't know why Lin Yu said that, she finally nodded slowly.

"It sounds like you should be putting on a really big project that won't disappoint me..."

"Although I'm not familiar with the 'Marauders' here, meeting them shouldn't be a problem."

I look forward to your good news.

Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu smiled broadly and bowed slightly.

"You definitely won't be disappointed."

Then, he picked up the Heavenly Artisan's hammer and turned to leave.

After leaving, Lin Yu timed it perfectly and, after an hour, turned into a newly opened shopping mall.

When he came out again, he had transformed from a gentle young girl and "veterinarian" Zhu Ming into a dark-skinned, thin, and furtive young man.

Lin Yu soon arrived at the "Jiang'an Hall" stronghold, the Tycoon's abandoned restaurant.

After entering the abandoned restaurant, Lin Yu took out the phone belonging to the "Old Yao" identity, opened the app, and sent a message.

"Boss, I've got some really important information. The Master Thief from the 'Freedom Alliance' and a group of out-of-town 'Marauders' are planning to negotiate. Should we take advantage of this and pull off a heist? Tycoon"

Soon, the once calm Group Chat exploded with activity.

"The Freedom Alliance and the Marauders? What an exciting combination!"

What are these two organizations plotting?

"Old Yao was talking about negotiations... he probably doesn't mean we're going to do something bad together, right?"

"Boss, what do you think?"

The group chat was buzzing with messages, all expressing astonishment at the news Lin Yu had revealed.

Lin Yu, looking at the reaction of the "Jiang'an Hall" internal APP, was not surprised.

"Hmm... as expected, the Jiang'an Hall's information network isn't as good as the 'Freedom Alliance'."

"Top organizations do have their reasons for being top-tier..."

A few minutes after the Group Chat exploded, the Tycoon also chimed in.

He replied to Lin Yu.

[The Tycoon: Come to my office when you have time, and let's talk face-to-face @Old Yao]

[Old Yao: Received.]

After replying, Lin Yu went straight up the stairs and knocked on the Tycoon's door.

The Tycoon opened the door in surprise, looked at Lin Yu standing in the doorway, and exclaimed in astonishment, "So fast?"

Lin Yu scratched his head, a sly look appearing on his furtive face. "I've been waiting outside your office since early this morning. After all, I overheard such big news and was afraid someone would beat me to it."

"I really want to improve, Tycoon!"

The Tycoon laughed, "I've also heard that a group of 'Marauders' from Zhengcheng have come to our Jiang City. The people from 'Order' told me last night... but I haven't found out the reason yet."

"I didn't expect you to have already figured it out, you're after the 'Master Thief'!"

"I overheard it by accident at a breakfast stall this morning," Lin Yu reiterated. "And it wasn't just targeting the Master Thief; I heard... it was to kill someone—a 'Doctor,' also Tier 1, from Jiang City, who caused the 'Marauders' of Zhengcheng to suffer a great loss."

Lin Yu said solemnly.

The Tycoon was even more surprised upon hearing this.

Then, he looked at Lin Yu and pondered for a moment before asking, "You rushed here to report all this to me, do you have any thoughts on this?"

Lin Yu nodded.

"Of course, I have a rough plan, but... it might require some of your support, Tycoon."