Chen Le's catch brought fleeting joy; Li Nian's keen eye identified the orb

Lin Yu simply smiled at Chen Le and Li Nian's shock, remaining noncommittal and maintaining an air of mystery.

"Putting that aside, I'm still far from reaching the 'Tier 3'... After all, even if I do pass the Trial, crafting the [Exclusive item] will be no easy feat."

He said modestly.

However, this response can already be considered a disguised answer.

Li Nian clutched her head. "Oh no... I've become the last 'Tier 2'! What am I going to do?!"

As she spoke, she suddenly clasped her hands together. "I wish Brother Wang would fail to Tier Advancement... Hmm, no, that's too much. Let's wish for Brother Wang's [Exclusive item] to have stricter crafting requirements, which would slow down his progress by one or two months."

Hearing Li Nian's words, Chen Le chuckled and said, "What, you think you can win over Yu Yang in two months?"

Are you sure you can pass your "Rank Advancement Trial"?

Li Nian looked at Chen Le with dissatisfaction. "Don't look down on me, Brother Le —I'm sure... there's a high probability I'll pass!"

"Okay, okay, good luck... but please be careful."

As Chen Le spoke, he then looked at Lin Yu and said, "If you encounter any trouble with the crafting of your [Exclusive item], feel free to tell me. I'll definitely help if I can."

Lin Yu nodded. "Okay, if I encounter a problem I can't solve, I'll definitely tell you."

He still acted as if he didn't really need help—after all, that was in line with "Zhu Ming's" character.

This character's underlying nature carries an almost arrogant pride, which naturally manifests as a strong personality and a reluctance to accept help from others.

Even though Zhu Ming already considers the Freedom Alliance as her comrades, she won't easily ask for help unless absolutely necessary.

Of course, the main reason Lin Yu is maintaining his mystery is...

He really hadn't figured out what kind of [Exclusive item] he would get after his "Zhu Ming" identity advanced to "Tier 3".

After all, this was not part of Lin Yu's plan— Lin Yu had no intention of revealing "Zhu Ming"'s advancement to "Tier 3" in the near future.

The reason Lin Yu brought this up to Chen Le and Li Nian was simply because things had gotten to this point, and Lin Yu realized it was appropriate to lay the groundwork here, so he mentioned it casually.

Moreover, he planned to create a new "Exclusive item" based on his own abilities, specifically the "Empty Shell" or "Exclusive item," after he had nearly finished building it. He would then design a different type of powerful "Item" based on which of his abilities he lacked and what kind of powerful prop he would need, taking into account the character traits of "Zhu Ming."

So...

Rather than hastily creating an "Exclusive item" and wasting a spot, it's better to leave it blank here for now.

Li Nian and Chen Le were also sensible; since Lin Yu didn't bring it up himself, they naturally didn't ask any further questions.

And...

It was almost time for our casual chat.

The ripples that had appeared out of thin air when Chen Le cast his Fishing Rod reappeared, and the fishing line that had suddenly disappeared in mid-air was taut and began to tremble.

As the float bobbed up and down, Chen Le's eyes lit up.

"Wow, the goods have arrived!"

He gripped the bar tightly with both hands, his forearm muscles clenching and veins bulging.

"It's heavier than I expected!"

Chen Le muttered to himself as he continued reeling in the line and raising the pole.

Soon...

From the water's surface, which didn't exist and led to another space, Chen Le fished out a golden fish head.

When Chen Le saw that what he had caught was indeed a fish that had taken the bait, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Holy crap, it really is a fish!"

Li Nian exclaimed in surprise, "And it's huge!"

Chen Le's expression became more serious than ever before—he hadn't shown this attitude when facing the "Celestial King" in the God of Banquets's restaurant.

He assumed a horse stance, tightened his waist and abdomen, lowered his elbows and tucked his shoulders, and leaned his body slightly backward.

Although the golden fish was huge, it was clearly no match for a Fishing Man like Chen Le, and was quickly worn out.

Then, Chen Le realized that the big fish had no chance of fighting back, so he gave a low shout.

"Whoosh--!"

With a sharp sound as the water broke open, the giant fish, taller than a person, burst out of the non-existent water and drew a golden arc in the air.

Chen Le immediately dropped his Fishing Rod and rushed forward to grab the big fish. After removing the hook from its mouth, he weighed the golden fish, which was almost as big as him, and smiled with satisfaction.

"This must weigh at least 500 jin... I didn't even know, it must be 600 jin, yes, yes, some of it."

Chen Le had an incredibly bright smile on his face, Lin Yu could clearly see all of Chen Le's teeth when he glanced at him.

Li Nian also clapped. "Congratulations, congratulations-- Brother Le!"

"But... what does this big fish represent?"

Chen Le shook his head. "I don't know, but it's definitely a good omen. Such a big, golden fish took the bait; it can't possibly mean anything bad!"

As soon as Chen Le finished speaking, the large golden fish suddenly began to tremble violently.

That wasn't the usual struggling and thrashing of a fish after it's been brought ashore; the entire fish was trembling, like a cell phone on vibrate mode.

Chen Le's expression changed slightly. "Something's not right, why is this fish getting lighter?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, then...

"Laugh!"

The entire large fish suddenly turned into a cloud of golden particles, as if it had suddenly "decomposed," and slowly dissipated.

"Ding-dong!"

Only a small object fell from Chen Le's outstretched Arms and landed on the ground.

All of this happened so fast that the joy on Chen Le's face hadn't faded before it instantly turned into despair.

"No, no... no!"

Chen Le knelt down on the ground, looking as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

He reached out in vain, trying to catch the fading golden specks of light, but...

Chen Le couldn't grasp anything.

The golden specks of light were slowly moving away from him.

The sight at that moment made even the usually mischievous Li Nian cover her mouth, revealing a look of pity.

"Oh my god... Brother Le... Oh my god!"

Lin Yu stepped forward and patted the despairing Chen Le on the shoulder.

"Brother Le, it's okay... Just think of it as releasing it back into the wild. After all, you didn't fish to display them in a collection room or eat them, right? The important thing is that you accomplished this feat—we all witnessed it, you really caught a 500-pound fish."

"Maybe more than that, maybe a thousand catties, more than a thousand," Chen Le murmured, his tone dejected. "Thank you for your comfort, Zhu Ming, but... it's really gone..."

"It's not entirely gone," Lin Yu said calmly, handing Chen Le the phone he had retrieved from Li Nian when he left the Palace —the [Cyber Ghost's Electronic Coffin]. "When you were fishing and catching the fish, I thought you might find it useful if you wanted to post it on social media, so I recorded a video—it's quite clear. You can take a few screenshots and use it."

On the phone screen, the image of Chen Le fighting the Giant Fish was clearly visible.

Chen Le visibly regained his vitality.

His hands trembled as he reached for his phone, but he lowered them before touching it.

After a long while, Chen Le stood up from the ground, looked at Zhu Ming, and uttered only two words.

"Thanks."

The heartfelt thanks were delivered with resounding conviction. After a moment, Chen Le added eight more words.

"Send me the video after you get out."

Then, this time he clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"Thanks!"

Lin Yu shrugged and put his phone away.

"Don't worry, I'll post it directly in the group chat."

"So... a big fish might just be a sign of 'good luck,' but what does it mean that the big fish just disappeared, Brother Le?"

As Lin Yu spoke, he bent down and picked up the things that had fallen from the dissipating golden fish's light from beside Chen Le's feet.

It was a translucent, pale gold bead, only the size of a palm, crystal clear and without any flaws.

Its surface is smooth, it feels cool to the touch, and there is no energy fluctuation inside.

Chen Le looked at the bead in Lin Yu's hand. Having seen the video recording, Chen Le had Leng Jing down and was now able to make a Leng Jing judgment.

"Rather than saying that the appearance and disappearance of that golden fish signifies something, it's more accurate to say... that what I caught in the first place wasn't that golden fish, but this bead—it just happens to have the ability to transform into a golden fish."

Lin Yu held up the golden bead and examined it against the light again. "Since it's related to the Nether Void Realm, could this be the core left behind by some powerful Sea Race after its death? What we saw just now was what it looked like in its former life."

"The Sea Race doesn't have this kind of setting, but the Yaomo of the Prison Mountain Realm have Inner Core or something, which can probably 'transform' into their original form," Chen Le paused, then added, "But it didn't 'transform' just now. It has weight—it could wrestle with me, and it's quite heavy to hold in my arms."

Lin Yu held the bead in his hand and twirled it with his fingers. "So, what exactly is this thing?"

Li Nian, standing to the side, spoke up, "I have a guess, Sister Zhu Ming, Brother Le... Is it possible that this bead isn't actually a golden fish that's materialized—although the three of us did see a big fish just now, is it possible that... what it manifested isn't so much a fish, but rather what Brother Le most wants to see?"

"In other words, it's because it caught Brother Le; it was in contact with Brother Le just now, so it initially appeared as a fish."

Li Nian pondered for a moment and said.

Lin Yu looked at Li Nian and raised an eyebrow. "It seems you know something about the origin of this thing, A Nian."

Li Nian nodded. "It's just a guess... because I have some knowledge of the rare and strange things in the Ten Realms, so this thing reminds me of a legendary 'treasure' I saw."

"It might be... the [Desire Orb] from the Prison Mountain Realm."