The Secretary's Strategy, the Diviner's Madness

The Party Secretary is dead.

Although Li Hua did not kill him, in the final moments, after realizing that he had no hope of "turning the tables," he chose to give up the chance to live.

And...

Li Hua and Lin Yu both heard the "Secretary's" last words.

He wasn't "going to his death" after knowing victory was hopeless; rather, he was "sacrificing himself."

Everything is willing to be sacrificed, including one's own life.

And "sacrifice" means that... the secretary is convinced that his "death" can bring about some change.

But...

Neither Lin Yu nor Li Hua noticed anything.

There wasn't even any energy fluctuation.

In a sense... his deliberate act of seeking death was even advantageous to Lin Yu!

Because at this moment, Lin Yu could feel...

As the secretary died and the seal fell to the ground, the ink marks and imprints quickly disappeared.

This undoubtedly accelerated Lin Yu's recovery process considerably.

Lin Yu stared at the secretary's body, which resembled an ice sculpture and was so badly injured that it was unrecognizable. He was even more confused as to why the body remained frozen in its previous posture.

"Is he... bluffing and trying to scare us?"

Li Hua, leaning on his cane with one hand, also gazed at the secretary's standing figure, remained silent for a long time, and then shook his head.

"No, he's not that kind of person with a perverse sense of humor... and he wouldn't do something so pointless."

"I'm not trying to excuse him. Although he wanted to kill us... in his eyes, we probably weren't even 'enemies,' so he wouldn't have said those things intentionally to make us 'uneasy.'"

"The secretary must be convinced that his death will indeed lead to some changes."

Lin Yu nodded. "I think so too... and I don't believe that the lack of change means he made a wrong judgment before he died—a cautious person like him wouldn't make a 'misjudgment' even at the last moment of his life."

Li Hua agreed with Lin Yu's statement, "We must be careful. We need to be wary of some hidden changes brought about by his death taking effect at any time, and it would be best if we could deduce what his 'death' actually concealed."

Lin Yu said, "I don't know, but the way you put it... I do feel there's something strange about this from the very beginning."

"That is, although I initially subdued the 'Secretary,' he still retained the ability to retaliate if he made a 'significant sacrifice.' However, before I launched into my long speech, when he didn't know you were there, he didn't choose to fight to the death and kill me directly. Instead, he only made his move after you appeared and he was in a more unfavorable situation."

"Furthermore, before that, he even proactively revealed a lot of information to us and talked with us for a long time... If someone else had done this, it would be one thing, but since it was the 'Secretary,' I feel there's something unreasonable about it."

Listening to Lin Yu's analysis, Li Hua adjusted his glasses. "For him, this is highly illogical... unless he's also 'buying time'."

Lin Yu said in a low voice, "He previously claimed that the 'Diviner' would use a 'loophole' to drag the entire Shenzhen into the Ten Realms, at which time the 'Emperor' would be able to fully unleash his power. Could he be waiting for that moment to arrive?"

"But... why didn't he wait any longer? The Full Descent is still a few minutes away," Lin Yu checked the status of the vulnerability beneath the Shenzhen again, "Although the Shenzhen has already begun to change at the 'world' level, it should still be a few minutes before it truly affects the 'Player'... If he wanted to survive, why didn't he wait a little longer?"

Li Hua frowned and pondered for a moment, then suddenly Li Hua.

"What if... he was prepared to 'sacrifice' from the very beginning? What if he intended to achieve some goal with his own life from the start?"

"He wasn't doing it to survive, but to... choose the time of his death."

Lin Yu asked, "What's the point?"

Li Hua looked at everything on the ground—although the "Official Seal" style [Exclusive item] had disappeared, the secretary's other [Item], the "Brush Pen" and the "Short Sword," were still scattered around his body, unchanged.

"It's meaningful... You just said that some 'world-level' changes have occurred in 'Shenzhen'... The judgment of the 'Death game' has indeed been interfered with."

"His [Item] didn't disappear immediately—if he died in the 'Real World,' some of his ordinary [Item] would become our 'spoils,' and the rest would disappear."

"Because the 'Death game' has too little impact on our Real World... I didn't know why before, but today I know why. But no matter what, unclaimed [Item] can't exist in the Real World for long; those [Item] must rely on the [Item Space]," Li Hua said, pointing to the [Item] on the ground. "But now... the 'Death game's' judgment is clearly based on the mechanism of dying in the world and [Instance], not in the Real World."

Looking at the "Secretary's" corpse, Lin Yu vaguely understood something.

"You mean, this could mean that one of his [Item] is still somewhere... or even still working if he's made further Item?"

Lin Yu asked, and Li Hua nodded.

"I think the probability is not low... I might be able to use my 'ability' to calculate it later."

"But... since his target is you, perhaps you should leave Shenzhen now—whatever this arrangement may be, it could be specifically prepared for you."

Li Hua spoke, Lin Yu shook his head.

"I'm afraid it's too late."

As he spoke, Lin Yu lifted the curtain and opened the bathroom window.

Outside the window...

I don't know when it started, but the torrential rain had stopped, and the sounds of rain and wind had all dissipated.

However, although there was no wind or rain, the weather wasn't exactly clear either.

The sky over Shenzhen has turned mostly golden and mostly gray.

Li Hua looked at the strange sky and pushed up his glasses.

"This was... done by a 'Diviner'?"

Lin Yu nodded. "That's right, it was the 'Diviner' who did it—we're probably already trapped in Shenzhen."

"Or rather, we are no longer... within Shenzhen."

Lin Yu was more aware of this than Li Hua.

Because he has another piece of "evidence".

That is...

He could sense that the "distance" between himself and the Mental Power Network formed by millions of people in Shenzhen was gradually widening.

Meanwhile, within those Mental Power Network, within those perceptions belonging to ordinary people...

Typhoon and torrential rains are still present.

As those Reality Loophole continued to cause energy chaos, unbeknownst to many, all the "Player" in Shenzhen had indeed been affected.

"Falling" is ultimately just a metaphor. When all this happened... there was no sudden feeling of weightlessness, nor was there a sudden release of energy.

In a quiet and imperceptible manner, a major change occurred at the level of "the nature of the world".

Li Hua frowned. "It's worse than I imagined... The 'Diviner's' actions were indeed efficient."

"But I feel I still have a chance to get you out of here. Although everything has changed, it's definitely not 'unchangeable.' I can still sense that we're largely in the Real World... There's definitely still a chance for things to change!"

Li Hua spoke, Lin Yu shook his head again.

"Theoretically, it might be possible, but as you said yourself, Comrade Li Hua... all of this was arranged by the 'Diviner.'"

"Besides being highly efficient, another characteristic of the 'Diviner's' plan is... that he won't leave you with many opportunities or weaknesses."

As soon as he finished speaking...

In the sky, where gray and gold intertwined, a thick, heavy blood-red light appeared.

The blood-red light spread like ketchup squeezed onto a plate, gradually forming a blood-red area in the sky, resembling Stage curtain.

And a figure dressed in a green robe...

It emerged from that area!

Although the blood-red area was so far away that Lin Yu and Li Hua couldn't make out many details of the figure, they already had a guess about who would be there.

Moreover, the moment that guy appeared, people nearby immediately confirmed his identity for Lin Yu and Li Hua.

"Diviner!"

"Brute!"

"Brother Jing, we've finally arrived!"

"You're too late, Diviner!"

Several different high-ranking voices rang out simultaneously in the sky, revealing that the person's identity was not mysterious at all.

"Diviner," Leng Jing!

At this moment, in this eerie sky, all the "Player" within the Shenzhen were watching the suddenly appearing "Diviner".

Many of them, like Lin Yu and Li Hua, have already noticed the changes at the "world level".

Even if they hadn't noticed before, the appearance of the "Diviner" was enough for them to realize that something was wrong.

All "Player" are naturally curious about the source of all these changes, and what will be the ultimate "destination" of these changes.

As such questions arose in everyone's minds almost simultaneously, the voice of the "Diviner" also rang out from all directions of Shenzhen.

"I know what you're curious about, I know what you're guessing I've done... Ladies and gentlemen, don't worry, I'm about to reveal the answer."

Behind the "Diviner," the rich crimson began to surge and change, transforming from large swaths of color into regular shapes.

They coalesced into...

Blood Letters!

Then, the Diviner's voice rang out again.

"Welcome to an unprecedented, officially licensed [Instance] of the 'Death game' —designed and built by me, with over a hundred 'Player' participating!"

Welcome to [Shenzhen Pursuit]!