Lin Yu, having read the "Professor's" information, knew that this "Diving Merchant" was far from simple.
First, despite being an apparently friendly NPC who had interacted with many Players, he had never formed any "deep connections" with a single one of them.
He had never revealed his True Name or shown his true face, so there was no such person in any Player's [Social] network.
So...
The reason Lin Yu wanted him to remove his helmet was naturally so he could add this mysterious and powerful "Diving Merchant" to his [Social] network.
Although he seemed to have his own plans, harbored some hostility toward Players, and was also extremely at odds with Old Zheng...
Lin Yu did not care about any of that—after all, this guy looked useful.
However, the instant he saw the other party's appearance, Lin Yu was still somewhat surprised.
Although he knew the other party must be hiding a secret, he had never expected...
This guy was a puppet.
An iron-gray head, a neck made of telescoping tubular structures...
This was the most common type of "puppet" among the "buildings" on Mist Island that had not been occupied by various Island Dwellers monsters—the kind of puppet that had no consciousness and could only repeat simple commands.
Thus, the metal diving suit had not been "worn" by the Diving Merchant. It was closer to being "assembled" onto him.
Lin Yu could see mechanical structures resembling buckles at the other party's shoulders, securing the components of the diving suit in place.
But the other party was clearly no ordinary automatic guard or alchemical puppet. After all, his behavior was far too "complicated."
He was entirely an individual with advanced intelligence and fully developed sapience.
Even if he looked like an ordinary puppet...that level of intelligence should have determined