Shedding the shell

"Indeed, you're right."

After hearing Lin Yu's speech, the "Chancellor" did not refute it, but instead echoed Lin Yu's words.

But... the "Chancellor" said this not because he actually had a problem with his head.

Therefore, after agreeing to Lin Yu's request, the Chancellor went on to explain his reasons.

"But... if I die here, and you confirm my identity through this process of elimination, then you will have no 'evidence' to prove that I am a member of 'Copper Furnace'."

"Is this... acceptable to you as well?"

The Chancellor looked at Lin Yu and asked seriously.

Hearing the Chancellor's words, Lin Yu sighed softly, "What's unacceptable about it? Procedural justice, substantive justice... they're actually not important to me."

"To be honest, I don't even really care who you are within the 'Order' —I'm not the 'Director.' To me, all I need to do is make sure that you, this 'threat,' are eliminated."

"If you continue to use such foolish rhetoric to try and wear down my patience, I will even temporarily disregard the 'Director's' feelings and make a decision based solely on my own judgment."

Lin Yu looked at the Chancellor and spoke calmly.

"So, if you want to fight for your chance to survive... then offer something more useful—like the information the 'Diviner' just gave us."

"And you'd better hurry—because you've reminded me that time is running out."

Without a doubt, he was blatantly threatening the Chancellor.

Upon hearing Lin Yu's words, the Chancellor asked, "How can I be sure you won't go back on your word again?"

Lin Yu said in a low voice, "That's not my problem to consider, it's your problem to consider: how to use the information you have to make me willing to let you go."

The Chancellor continued to ponder, then suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"Wait a minute, I'm just realizing something now. I don't think I need to convince you, 'Beast Master' —though it may seem like you're in control right now, it's your 'performance' that's misleading me into this conclusion."

"Actually, the person I should be trying to persuade most isn't you, but the one who is truly making the decision right now."

As the Chancellor spoke, he turned his gaze to the Second Generation "Freud".

Lin Yu was somewhat surprised by the Chancellor's change of direction.

"As expected of a key member of 'Copper Furnace'... they reacted so quickly."

Although the Second Generation "Freud" was planted here by Lin Yu in his identity as "Schreiber," Lin Yu did not have a very meticulous plan that allowed him to anticipate that the Second Generation "Freud" would help him ambush the "Chancellor" here!

He is not a "Diviner" and does not have the ability to predict the future—even if he could glimpse the future, he could not be so accurate.

Therefore, Lin Yu has never liked making plans that are interconnected, highly precise, and have very low tolerance for error.

He is better at and more confident in his ability to adapt to changing circumstances and handle unexpected situations.

Lin Yu used the identity of "Schreiber" to place the Second Generation "Freud" here, simply because he knew that this was a "Emergency Exit" reserved by "The Diviner" and "The Copper Furnace" to leave Shenzhen. Therefore, after Shenzhen became chaotic, it was very likely that members of "The Copper Furnace" or confidants of "The Diviner" who knew this would evacuate from here.

Therefore, the situation on the field... was not entirely under Lin Yu's control.

He had been using Zhu Ming's assertive personality to take the lead in the conversation, and relying on Old Zheng's portrayal of Schreiber to cooperate with him. In addition, his own Actor skills made it easy to subtly implant the idea in the already Desperate Plight "Chancellor" that "the Beast Master is now in control of the situation."

But...

Just now, the Chancellor suddenly realized something.

This made Lin Yu sigh in admiration; indeed, the Chancellor was intelligent enough and remained Leng Jing enough in such a critical moment.

"My acting skills aren't always a magic bullet..."

Even so, Lin Yu was not too worried, because he still had a high margin for error.

Sure enough, the Second Generation "Freud" also noticed the "Chancellor's" gaze, but she did not show any particular interest.

What are you trying to say?

The Chancellor said in a low voice, "The 'Beast Master' just mentioned the First Generation 'Jung,' and indeed, he is now our Partner... So, if you leave me here, I can provide you with his current location afterward!"

"You want complete Soul Authority, don't you—and as the successor to the First Generation 'Freud,' I also have some secret information about the First Generation 'Freud' —aren't you curious about why the First Generation 'Jung' turned against the First Generation 'Freud,' and why the First Generation 'Freud' risked his life on Mist Island... I know all of this!"

Upon hearing this, the Second Generation "Freud" did not reply, but Old Zheng used his Mental Power to complain to Lin Yu.

"Why does this guy seem to know me so well? Why does everyone seem to know me so well these days?"

Lin Yu thought to himself, "He's bluffing, trying to deceive the Second Generation 'Freud'..."

"Wow, do you want to remind her? To be honest, although Qiao Ke is a bit impatient, she's actually not easily fooled," Old Zheng paused for a moment, "But not because I'm bragging or overly self-conscious, I just feel... well, at least at this stage, when it comes to things involving me, her judgment might not be so accurate—she tends to be more emotional."

Lin Yu immediately responded, "I don't think it's necessary. At least we can listen to the 'Chancellor' say a few more words. Besides, her Soul Power has now penetrated deep into the Chancellor's soul, so... wait, oh no!"

Lin Yu suddenly realized something, and seeing the almost imperceptible twitching at the corner of the Second Generation Freud's eye, he stopped his conversation with Old Zheng and shouted out.

"Wait, Freud... don't kill him..."

"Snap!"

Before Lin Yu could finish speaking, a crisp sound was heard coming from the Chancellor's body.

Subsequently, the Chancellor's body was extinguished of its life force and his soul was shattered.

A flicker of anger crossed the eyes of the Second Generation "Freud," and she took her glasses out of her pocket and put them back on.

"Trying to fool me, and even trying to use things related to Mr. Zheng to fool me... You're really being looked down upon. Do you think I need to learn about Mr. Zheng through a nobody like you who worked with the First Generation 'Jung'?"

The Chancellor's body went limp and he collapsed to the ground. The Second Generation Freud spat on the ground.

"Pooh!"

What Old Zheng said was not "excessive ego." The Second Generation Freud was indeed prone to misjudgment and emotionality when it came to matters involving him.

Therefore, when she used her Soul Power to realize that the Chancellor was lying, she immediately... killed Chancellor.

Looking at the Chancellor's corpse, the Second Generation Freud realized that she seemed to have lost her composure. She gently patted her cheeks with both hands and then exhaled.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself just now. I hate these self-righteous bastards... Hmm, but it seems you originally planned to kill him too, right?"

The Second Generation Freud spoke, glancing at Lin Yu and Old Zheng.

Although she apologized politely and in a courteous tone, she didn't actually mean it.

Therefore, Lin Yu nodded.

"Hmm... it's alright, I did want him to die anyway."

"However," Lin Yu looked at the corpse on the ground, "Are you sure he's really dead?"

Although the Chancellor's body had completely lost its life and soul, Lin Yu sensed something was amiss—a hidden, fleeting, extraordinary aura had momentarily surfaced on his corpse.

Lin Yu looked at the Chancellor's corpse, and the Second Generation "Freud" frowned.

"How could a 'Tier 3' possibly feign death under my attack? Even a 'Diviner' would be seriously injured for months if they took that blow head-on..."

Old Zheng spoke up, reminding him, "I also feel something's not right. Although he's only 'Tier 3,' he's still a 'Player' from the Previous Version, and he can still act as a 'Player' now... so he might have some special survival skills."

"Besides, ever since this happened, I've felt that this guy has been too calm—although he's actively trying not to die here, he doesn't show the panic one would see in a life-or-death situation... not at all, not even a forced attempt to calm himself down."

"And after you killed him just now, his dying reaction confirmed it even more. Rather than being afraid of death, what he was actively fighting for was more like being afraid of 'loss'... So, deep down, he probably didn't think he would die, but being 'killed' here might be a very troublesome thing for him, consuming some of his precious life-saving means, so he didn't directly express the attitude of 'you can just kill me'... Hmm, now that you mention it, he even seems to have vaguely expressed that attitude at one point."

Old Zheng analyzed the situation, Second Generation Freud looked at him, then immediately said, "That makes sense, I figured that out too... He does seem very confident, and his mental state isn't like that of a dying man! I see, he might really have run away!"

The Second Generation Freud spoke, then thoroughly probed his Soul Power into the lifeless "corpse," before pausing for a moment.

"Ha... this is interesting. There's Formation inside his 'body'... uh, this isn't even a 'Player's' body. This should be the body of some Native from the Prison Mountain Realm —his body has innate spiritual veins, Dantian meridians, and some spiritual and demonic power from the Prison Mountain Realm that has caused contamination."

"Although 'Player' who frequently operate in the Prison Mountain Realm and practice corresponding Martial Arts Daoist Arts will experience similar changes in their bodies, but... hmm, this is too natural; it must be the body of Native!"

"More importantly, this corpse was probably dead a long time ago; the Formation carved inside were for 'preservation'!"

The Second Generation Freud spoke, using his Soul Power to destroy the internal structure of his body, and then...

The corpse's flesh and blood quickly dried up, transforming into a texture that resembled even a fossil.