The Diviner's investment

"What... it really isn't Brother Zhan?"

Upon hearing Lin Yu's words, A'yu's face showed a surprised expression.

Then, her surprise turned into a kind of joy.

"Oh, right... I knew it couldn't be Brother Zhan."

The Celestial King's voice drifted over. "You didn't seem to think it wasn't Brother Zhan just now... Well, I can say this frankly, I really do think it was Brother Zhan who did it."

The Diviner sighed, "It's one thing for 'Order' to portray me as a ruthless villain, but you should know... I'm not that kind of person without any moral compass."

"Although I am indeed a 'villain' in the worldly sense, and may stop at nothing to achieve my goals, I am not a heartless stone or a madman."

Even setting aside my feelings for the "Marauders"... what good would it do me to do this?

A'yu scratched his head. "Sorry, Brother Zhan, I was just really angry..."

Then, A'yu looked at Lin Yu: "So, what exactly happened in the [Instance]? Tell us about it."

"I was immediately logged out of the [Instance]... I have no idea what happened!"

Lin Yu looked at A'yu, then glanced at the Diviner, and calmly said, "Nothing too complicated happened. Brother Zhan actually prepared the same 'Clearance Conditions' for us as for you... It's just that because our strength was lower, the 'Living Beings' prepared for us were more fragile—after all, many of our lower-level members were already seriously injured and might not even have the strength to kill a chicken."

"Moreover, Brother Zhan had actually considered the possibility of them coming back to steal them, so he made sure to keep our Living Beings somewhat hidden, but... he didn't expect that those Living Beings would still be 'stolen'."

As Lin Yu spoke, A'yu exclaimed in surprise, "So Brother Zhan really did prepare an Escape plan for you..."

She turned to the Diviner, glaring at him angrily, and said, "Brother Zhan, why didn't you say so earlier?!"

The Diviner calmly said, "Oh, you were angry just now... Even if I explained, you might not believe me."

Ling Xian chimed in, "Hmm... but why would 'Order' say that all members of 'Marauders' died from 'soul collapse'? This kind of framing is actually quite easy to expose, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yu pondered for a moment and immediately said, "Because that's really how they died— 'Schreiber' killed them."

"At the same time, 'Schreiber' also robbed those weak Living Beings that Brother Zhan had prepared for us, draining their Life Force..."

"He probably did it on purpose—perhaps he also hoped the 'Diviner' would be misunderstood."

Lin Yu spoke seriously, Ling Xian stroked her chin as she spoke.

"Oh... I see. So, in that case, 'Order' might not have been intentionally provoking us. They might genuinely believe it was Brother Zhan who did it."

"After all, while 'Schreiber' has demonstrated abilities related to the mind and soul... judging from 'Order's' assessment, perhaps he doesn't possess the ability to directly cause the souls of many people to dissipate simultaneously—in many people's eyes, this is Brother Zhan's unique method."

"After all, even the Second Generation 'Freud,' who specializes in playing with souls, couldn't do that."

Ling Xian analyzed.

The Celestial King frowned. "Wow, this 'Schreiber' is really insidious... But why would he do this? Isn't he afraid of offending people?"

Ling Xian shrugged. "Do you even need to guess his reasons for doing this? He claims to be the 'Orthodoxy successor' of the Founder the 'Psychology Society,' and you can just think of him as the most extreme member of the 'Psychology Society' —this guy probably thinks he's putting pressure on Brother Zhan or something, right? Maybe he even thinks that our 'Marauders' organization... is holding Brother Zhan back."

"In this way, killing off some of the weaker ones will make those of us who are stronger suspicious of Brother Zhan. He probably thinks this will help Brother Zhan become stronger."

Ling Xian's analysis was very logical and reasonable.

A'yu's face darkened with anger. "That damned 'Schreiber'..."

"That's not all."

Lin Yu spoke.

"That's not all?"

A'yu asked in surprise again.

Lin Yu nodded. "Yes, that's not all... I rushed here because I saw the 'meeting point,' so I headed here as soon as I recovered from my injuries."

"On the other hand, it's because I also learned some important information."

"Schreiber... will now cooperate with 'Order'."

"I don't know the specifics of the cooperation, but the two sides will definitely cooperate—that's why I'm in a hurry to report this."

As Lin Yu spoke, A'yu was shocked.

"Ah, so in that case, it's possible that 'Schreiber' wasn't trying to 'Trial' Brother Zhan, but rather was simply cooperating with 'Order' to deliberately frame him?"

Lin Yu did not deny it.

The Diviner cleared his throat and said, "Ahem... I think it's about 50/50 whether 'Order' deliberately framed me, and whether 'Schreiber' kept 'Order' informed about framing me."

"However, their subsequent cooperation seems genuine; I will investigate."

The Diviner paused, then said, "However, I'm a little curious— 'Yayu,' why did everyone else die, but you survived?"

Lin Yu looked at the Diviner and said calmly, "Because 'Schreiber' overlooked one thing, which is that although he launched the attack on 'Tier 2' and below 'Marauders' members, he didn't know that I have 'Benevolent King's' [Item] set."

"That kind of soul attack targeting 'Tier 2' characters, and it's a group attack... obviously can't break through 'Benevolent King's' [Item] set."

As Lin Yu spoke, the Diviner nodded.

"I see, I see... That's amazing."

"To have survived that ordeal and brought back such vital intelligence, I should reward you—tell me, what reward do you desire?"

Diviner spoke, Lin Yu whispered.

"I want... the vacant position of Shenzhen Branch Director."

As Lin Yu spoke, the Diviner raised an eyebrow.

"To be honest, this position was vacant, and you're still alive; it should have been yours anyway."

Is there anything else?

Lin Yu looked at the Diviner: "Besides, there's something else I want to ask you... about a secret of the Ten Realms that I might need."

"I think you should already know."

Ling Xian said, "Even if Brother Zhan doesn't know, he can still calculate it for you."

"However, since it's a 'secret of the Ten Realms,' I won't eavesdrop here."

Ling Xian spoke, she patted the Celestial King beside her.

"Let's go, Sister Tian, are you trying to freeload off someone else's 'Tier 1' reward?"

The Celestial King rose gracefully from her chair; she was now wearing a black and blue fitted dress with a cinched waist, making her movements much easier than before.

"Keep quiet, I'll avoid it even if you don't say anything."

Seeing the two walk towards the door, A'yu naturally followed them out.

Reaching the door, A'yu gently waved to Lin Yu before slowly closing the door behind her.

A'yu slipped out through the crack in the door before it was completely shut.

Click.

The door was completely closed, leaving only the sound of waves coming through the cracks in the porthole.

"Splash--Splash--"

The complex expression of approval and appreciation on the Diviner's face vanished instantly, replaced by a faint smile.

This smile appears gentle at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one discovers that it contains more mockery and a kind of coldness hidden beneath a veneer.

"You didn't hide far away, you dare to come back... Aren't you afraid I'll kill you and find a chance to eliminate any future trouble?"

Lin Yu looked at the Diviner and said calmly, "I don't understand why you want to kill me."

The Diviner sat in his chair, legs slightly crossed, twirling his long pipe in his hand. "Honestly, if you hadn't helped me cover up the lie so perfectly, I might have actually doubted whether you knew the 'Truth' at all."

"Only by knowing all the correct answers can you get a zero... You don't doubt me at all; instead, it makes me realize that you know how others 'died.'"

"Yayu, I didn't realize you were so cunning last time."

Lin Yu looked at the Diviner, walked straight to his side, and sat down. "Sophistication? I think it's just... a product of weighing the pros and cons."

The Diviner said, "Then you should know that I won't let one secret feed me for a lifetime."

"I didn't intend to do that either. This is just a 'stepping stone,' Brother Zhan," Lin Yu said calmly. "I don't need to 'blackmail' you with my abilities—I can help you cover up your lies so well, I think I've already proven that I'm not a fool."

"My ability to weigh the pros and cons is quite good, isn't it?"

Lin Yu looked at the Diviner.

The Diviner chuckled softly, "Indeed... but what about you? If I were to kill you, wouldn't you resent me? Wouldn't you want revenge?"

"I'm not dead."

Lin Yu answered calmly.

The Diviner paused for a moment, then said, "That's true."

Lin Yu then added, "Besides, you weren't targeting me specifically."

The Diviner nodded. "That's true."

"So, I have no reason to take revenge on you, and I have no interest in dealing with 'hatred'... I'd rather move forward and become stronger," Lin Yu looked at the Diviner, "So I also believe you won't 'silence' me—because you'll find that letting me live and making me stronger is also valuable to you."

"While perhaps that wasn't your intention, killing everyone else was essentially a form of 'selection.' Those 'Tier 2' and 'Tier 1' beings died... but I didn't."

"From another perspective, I actually passed the 'screening'—a surviving discarded pawn, a lone soldier returning to the team, shouldn't that itself be a reflection of my ability?"

"I'm worth your investment," the Diviner.

Lin Yu said calmly.