Recaps

Lin Yu told Good Night and Li Hua about the Feng Shui Master's offer and the Marauders' planned attack, then reviewed the Order's preparations for the election. The chapter ended with Lin Yu assessing that A'yu would likely face the Order's field group.

• Lin Yu explained that the Feng Shui Master had contacted him with a Fragment of Fate and that he had agreed to cooperate in disrupting the Diviner's plans; Li Hua approved after hearing his reasoning.
• Lin Yu reported that the Marauders planned to attack during the election on the fifth day, with Ling Xian and A'yu restraining defenders while the Celestial King targeted the venue and a Benevolent King's Item.
• Li Hua said the All-around Mercenary King had been hired by candidate Mikan and was unlikely to work for the Marauders, and he instructed Lin Yu to investigate the Feng Shui Master discreetly with the Swordsman.
• Lin Yu and Good Night reviewed Li Hua's plan dividing the Order's forces into internal affairs, field, reserve, and support groups.
• Lin Yu concluded that A'yu would probably face the Order's field group, leaving Yayu to choose an opponent from among its fifty-plus members.

Lin Yu studied Li Hua’s operation plan and recognized that Dionysus and Knight had been assigned to support as part of a cautious strategy to limit and monitor their movements. When Yin Lan confronted Good Night about the assignment, he improvised an explanation that convinced her, leaving Lin Yu eager to build a closer relationship with her.

• Lin Yu reviewed the operation groups and realized Li Hua had placed trusted members in reserve so they could respond to emergencies or inspect Copper Furnace members who exposed themselves.
• Lin Yu inferred that the support assignments for Dionysus and Knight were meant to restrict their movements while making the arrangement appear like sidelining them.
• Yin Lan confronted Good Night about making her, a Tier 3 fighter, lead a support team instead of joining internal operations.
• Good Night hastily claimed the support team was a second reserve group meant to keep Dionysus and Knight ready for emergencies and provide them with dedicated medical and logistical support.
• Yin Lan accepted Good Night’s explanation and regretted accusing him, while Lin Yu decided Dionysus would be a valuable person to befriend.

Lin Yu and Good Night told Yin Lan that an informant had revealed the Marauders’ large-scale operation would happen on the fourth or fifth day. Yin Lan accepted their explanation and insisted on accompanying them to protect them as they went to meet the Night Watchers and the Player Mutual Aid Society.

• Yin Lan said she would follow Lin Yu and Good Night because the election venue could be dangerous and the Marauders might act unpredictably.
• Lin Yu revealed that an informant had reported the Marauders’ operation was planned for the fourth or fifth day.
• Lin Yu and Good Night explained that they had kept the information restricted so the Marauders would not realize their plans had been exposed.
• Yin Lan accepted their judgment but warned that Marauders might ignore orders and attack them, then insisted on protecting them.
• Lin Yu welcomed Yin Lan’s company and said her presence eased his nerves as they headed to the meeting.

Lin Yu, Good Night, and Yin Lan arrived at the Player Mutual Aid Society’s election venue, where candidate Iced Americano presented them with expensive gifts. Yin Lan accused him of trying to bribe them, but he denied it and claimed the gifts were only an expression of gratitude.

• Yin Lan explained that Knight stayed behind to lead the support teams while she accompanied Lin Yu and Good Night to the convention center.
• Drumstick from the Player Mutual Aid Society escorted the three Order members to a conference room, where the society’s members welcomed them.
• Iced Americano presented Lin Yu, Good Night, and Yin Lan with personal gifts and powerful items.
• Lin Yu recognized Iced Americano as an election candidate and questioned why he was giving them gifts.
• Yin Lan slammed the table and accused Iced Americano of trying to bribe the Order, but he said he only wanted to express gratitude and establish a connection.

Lin Yu and Yin Lan confronted Iced Americano after he offered gifts to win Order’s favor in the Player Mutual Aid Society election, and Yin Lan knocked him unconscious. Lin Yu then went with Yin Lan to find the Society’s coordinator, Hongmu, while Good Night stayed behind to settle the commotion.

• Iced Americano offered an expensive Item and a ticket to Lin Yu’s group, and Good Night briefly accepted the ticket before Yin Lan ordered him to put it down.
• Yin Lan accused Iced Americano of attempting to bribe Order, struck the table, and sent him crashing unconscious into the wall.
• Good Night stayed behind to calm the Player Mutual Aid Society members, while Lin Yu followed Yin Lan and agreed that Iced Americano should not become president.
• Lin Yu persuaded Yin Lan to consider that Good Night might not have understood the offer as a bribe, though she still planned to report his actions.
• Lin Yu and Yin Lan found Loquat Candy, who offered to take them to the Society’s main coordinator, Hongmu, on the convention center’s second floor.

Lin Yu, Yin Lan, Loquat Candy, and Good Night coordinated with Hongmu on security arrangements for the Player Mutual Aid Society election. Lin Yu asked Hongmu to obtain information about the candidates’ hired helpers, and Good Night’s urgent request turned out to be lunch for the logistics team.

• Loquat Candy, Lin Yu, and Yin Lan arrived at Hongmu’s office after Yan Guang stormed out, and they learned he had argued with Hongmu over an unknown matter.
• Hongmu outlined the election schedule, including candidate speeches and Benevolent King’s planned appearance, and asked Lin Yu and Yin Lan whether they had concerns.
• Lin Yu asked Hongmu to collect records of the candidates’ unregistered helpers, though Hongmu doubted he could persuade them to disclose that information.
• Good Night arrived after Lin Yu summoned him, then asked Hongmu to provide lunch for the logistics group because he had skipped breakfast.
• Loquat Candy explained that Order had arranged a buffet downstairs, while the Player Mutual Aid Society had ordered boxed meals, and the group prepared to leave.

Good Night revealed that Iced Americano was working with Shang Gen to covertly build support in the Player Mutual Aid Society election. Lin Yu and Yin Lan considered why Shang Gen, despite his popularity, needed such tactics, and Lin Yu suspected he might be cooperating with other unlikely candidates too.

• Good Night explained that he had accepted Iced Americano's concert tickets to uncover Iced Americano's partnership with Shang Gen and their plan to win over Society members.
• Yin Lan apologized for misjudging Good Night, then confiscated the tickets as evidence; Good Night protested losing them.
• Lin Yu praised Good Night for uncovering the secret cooperation and reasoned that Shang Gen's apparent bribery scheme was a deliberate distraction.
• Yin Lan reviewed the leading presidential candidates, including Monica, Mikan, and Shang Gen, and asked why Shang Gen would use underhanded tactics despite his popularity.
• Lin Yu explained that Shang Gen lacked an established core group and influential backers, and suggested he might have allied with several low-chance candidates besides Iced Americano.

Lin Yu, Good Night, and Yin Lan discussed how to influence the Player Mutual Aid Society election and prevent Monica from winning, then rushed to the conference room after a mass killing was discovered. The chapter ended with Lin Yu calling for the entire International Convention Center to be sealed off.

• Lin Yu, Good Night, and Yin Lan agreed to investigate the candidates and steer the election away from unreliable choices, especially Monica.
• Good Night revealed that Iced Americano had offered intelligence on the expelled organizations in exchange for support, and Lin Yu urged him to continue investigating.
• Lin Yu explained that the Professor considered killing Monica an acceptable last resort if she was certain to win and no other option remained.
• A commotion spread through the venue when people discovered a murder, and Lin Yu, Good Night, and Yin Lan followed the crowd to Iced Americano's conference room.
• Lin Yu and the others found Iced Americano and four campaign-team members dead, while Loquat Candy treated three unconscious survivors and the shaken Drumstick.
• Loquat Candy ordered the room sealed and authorities notified, while Lin Yu said the entire International Convention Center needed to be locked down.

After five members of Iced Americano’s team were murdered at the international venue, Lin Yu and Order investigated while Dionysus became the prime suspect. The Player Mutual Society demanded that Order not lead the investigation, setting up a tense dispute before the afternoon election.

• Ren Gu arrived at the sealed venue and learned that Dionysus was suspected because she had argued with Iced Americano and the scene bore traces of her killing intent.
• Lin Yu found that the victims were close members of Iced Americano’s team, while the survivors had been left alive and one repeatedly said, “We are guilty.”
• Order’s preliminary examination showed that five victims had died simultaneously from penetrating head injuries, prompting Lin Yu to suggest compiling a list of the Tier 3 experts at the venue.
• Yan Guang arrived with six people, including Monica, Xi Chen, and Yu Linling, and insisted that the election proceed that afternoon despite the murders.
• Monica argued that Order could not investigate while its members were suspects, and Ren Gu and Loquat Candy agreed to consider a fair process while warning the Player Mutual Society against using the investigation to attack one another.

The Order and the Player Mutual Aid Society agreed to let the Night Watchers investigate Iced Americano’s murder, while Lin Yu and his companions planned to pursue the case secretly as well. They suspected the killing was tied to the Society’s internal factional conflict and discovered that Paper Kite, one of their possible suspects, had arrived at the convention center.

• Monica challenged Chief Commander Good Night’s involvement in the investigation, and Good Night agreed to recuse himself.
• Ren Gu proposed that the Night Watchers investigate, and Yan Guang accepted, asking the Order to share its evidence with Seagull and Robin.
• After the Player Mutual Aid Society’s members left, Ren Gu, Loquat Candy, Good Night, and Lin Yu agreed to continue investigating secretly and considered who might have killed Iced Americano.
• Lin Yu, Good Night, and Loquat Candy went to the fourth-floor lounge to find Seagull and Robin, but encountered Paper Kite in the corridor.
• Paper Kite said he had arrived at four in the morning, put away his pistol, and approached Lin Yu and the others with bloodstains on his jacket.

After Iced Americano was murdered, Lin Yu and the others questioned Paper Kite, whose methods and arrival made him a suspect, though he denied involvement. The Order began the official investigation handover to the Night Watcher, and the chapter ended with Lin Yu noticing Zhigeng quietly drawing in the Night Watcher’s lounge.

• Liang Ye told Paper Kite that Iced Americano had been murdered, and Paper Kite showed notes indicating he had not judged Iced Americano worthy of execution.
• Ren Gu and Loquat Candy warned Paper Kite that his notes and comments could make him look suspicious, while Paper Kite offered his arrival time and a bloodstain explanation.
• Lin Yu urged Paper Kite to prepare for questioning and privately considered how Paper Kite’s willingness to target Monica could help his plans.
• The Order members agreed to keep Paper Kite out of sight while they tracked the investigation behind the scenes, then went to the Night Watcher’s lounge to handle the handover.
• Seagull greeted the Order members, and Lin Yu spotted Zhigeng drawing quietly in a corner of the lounge.

Lin Yu and Order assigned Robin and Seagull to publicly investigate the murders while secretly checking the Tier 3 suspects themselves. Lin Yu chose Ginkgo and Su Muzhe as his targets, recognizing Ginkgo as an old acquaintance, and headed to Mikan’s campaign lounge to meet Su Muzhe.

• Lin Yu told Robin and Seagull that Iced Americano and several campaign assistants had been murdered, and asked them to investigate officially on Order’s behalf.
• Robin resisted the assignment, but relaxed after Ren Gu explained that Order would investigate secretly and share its findings with them first.
• Ren Gu listed fourteen Tier 3 players as suspects and divided them among himself, Lin Yu, Loquat Candy, and Good Night.
• Lin Yu chose Ginkgo and Su Muzhe to investigate, recognizing Ginkgo as an old acquaintance who had used several other identities.
• Lin Yu went to Mikan’s campaign lounge to meet Su Muzhe and learn more about Mikan.

Lin Yu secretly investigated Mikan’s campaign team and approached Su Muzhe under cover, offering to secure Mikan’s victory by eliminating her rivals. Su Muzhe’s reaction to Iced Americano’s death convinced Lin Yu that she was probably not the killer, though he had not established who was.

• Lin Yu watched Mikan’s campaign team from outside the rest area and spotted Su Muzhe reading alone.
• Lin Yu entered dramatically using a staged storm, frightening the campaign workers while Su Muzhe calmly recognized that someone had come to visit.
• Lin Yu offered to help Mikan win the presidency with certainty, claiming he could eliminate her competitors and knew the candidates’ movements.
• Lin Yu told Su Muzhe that Iced Americano was dead, and her first question made him conclude she likely knew nothing about the killing.

Lin Yu met with Su Muzhe under the guise of seeking an alliance, but realized she was investigating him rather than the election. Su Muzhe recognized him as Director, and Lin Yu used the moment to test her identity by hypnotizing the unconscious campaign-team members around them.

• Lin Yu told Su Muzhe that Iced Americano had defected to Shang Gen and that Shang Gen had recruited other election candidates.
• Lin Yu proposed supporting Mikan in exchange for the right to trade for one of Benevolent King's Items, while Su Muzhe focused on questioning him.
• Su Muzhe called Lin Yu Director and explained that she had identified the Water Prayer Necklace's witchcraft power.
• Su Muzhe knocked out the campaign-team bystanders so they would not hear her reveal Lin Yu's identity.
• Lin Yu dispersed the Water Mist and activated his Hypnosis Pendant on the unconscious bystanders to amplify his Mental Power and test Su Muzhe.

Lin Yu used Mental Tide to expose Su Muzhe as Zuo Xi, the writer known as Pen Name, during the Player Mutual Aid Society election. After questioning why she had joined Mikan’s campaign, he realized her real reason for coming was to find him.

• Lin Yu linked the unconscious people’s Mental Power nodes and used successive Mental Shocks to affect Su Muzhe and reveal her concealed soul.
• Lin Yu recognized Su Muzhe as Pen Name, and her ink-written disguise melted away to reveal Zuo Xi’s original face.
• Zuo Xi questioned Lin Yu about his Mental Power, and he told her he had obtained the first-generation Freud’s inheritance.
• Lin Yu demanded to know why Zuo Xi was at the election under the Su Muzhe identity and working for Mikan’s campaign.
• Zuo Xi defended her presence as legitimate, but Lin Yu concluded that she had come specifically for him.

Lin Yu questioned Zuo Xi about why she joined Mikan’s campaign team, and she admitted she had come mainly because he was there. They discussed her unexpected appearance and the murder of Iced Americano, which Zuo Xi said had occurred much earlier than Lin Yu had calculated.

• Lin Yu deduced that Zuo Xi joined Mikan’s team after learning he would participate, and Zuo Xi admitted that he was the main reason she came.
• Zuo Xi suggested she might have influenced Lin Yu’s choices, but Lin Yu recognized that she was bluffing and concluded she had not expected to meet him so soon.
• Lin Yu asked whether Iced Americano’s death had been part of Zuo Xi’s plan, and she said the deaths were unexpected and that she had only a few leads.
• Lin Yu said he had calculated Iced Americano died between 7:17 and about 7:30 in the morning.
• Zuo Xi revealed that she had received a metaphorical revelation through her writer abilities: Iced Americano and the other victims had already died around four in the morning.

Lin Yu learned that Iced Americano and the others had died at four in the morning, narrowing his investigation to the killer at the venue. He found Jue disguised as Ginkgo and confirmed that she, Moss, and Zao had all advanced to Tier 3.

• Zuo Xi told Lin Yu that Iced Americano and the others had died at four in the morning and suggested the suspects were still among everyone at the venue.
• Lin Yu inferred that the killer had to remain near the victims when their deaths surfaced around seven-thirty, then left to look for Ginkgo.
• Lin Yu found Ginkgo supervising work at Xi Chen's promotional booth and recognized her as Jue despite her disguise.
• Jue admitted she was Jue and said the event fell within her responsibilities.
• Jue told Lin Yu that she, Moss, and Zao had advanced to Tier 3 and recently crafted their shared [Exclusive item].

Lin Yu questioned Jue about her support for Xi Chen and the killing of Iced Americano. Jue admitted she hoped to profit from Xi Chen’s rules and identified Monica and Shang Gen as the likeliest suspects, leaving Lin Yu to ask why they would target a weak candidate.

• Lin Yu asked to see Jue’s [Exclusive item], but Jue refused to reveal information about it.
• Lin Yu asked whether Jue sincerely supported Xi Chen, and Jue admitted she wanted a position in his system and hoped to exploit his access to the Benevolent King’s [Item] group.
• Lin Yu asked Jue for clues about Iced Americano’s death, and Jue denied involvement despite acknowledging that her abilities made her suspicious.
• Jue named Monica and Shang Gen as the most suspicious people, saying they may have acted themselves or instigated the killing.
• Lin Yu asked why Monica and Shang Gen would target Iced Americano, whose chances of becoming president were low.

Jue told Lin Yu that Shang Gen had likely worked with the Psychology Society through Iced Americano, who may have been killed to protect Shang Gen’s interests. She hinted that another candidate also had secret ties to an expelled organization, and Lin Yu suspected Monica.

• Jue explained that Iced Americano had acted as an intermediary between Shang Gen and the Psychology Society, based on Shang Gen’s history of carrying out anonymous assassination bounties against Players the society had assessed.
• Lin Yu concluded Shang Gen’s suspected Psychology Society ties made him an unacceptable candidate, while Jue suggested Shang Gen may have killed Iced Americano because the dead man could be more useful than the living.
• Jue described Shang Gen as cold and capable of killing to solve problems, and Lin Yu grew concerned that all three popular candidates might have connections to expelled organizations.
• Jue said another candidate likely had an unclear relationship and secret cooperation with an expelled organization, and Lin Yu guessed she meant Monica.

Lin Yu and Jue investigated who killed Iced Americano and his four teammates, comparing motives with abilities that could conceal when they died. Jue named several possible suspects, ending with Schreiber, whose involvement Lin Yu doubted.

• Jue explained that Monica had colluded with the Marauders and likely killed Iced Americano to stop him from exposing her, while Shang Gen had ordered him to investigate.
• Jue found no other clear suspects among the Player Mutual Aid Society, Order, or the Night Watchers until Lin Yu revealed that Paper Kite was present at the venue.
• Lin Yu told Jue that Iced Americano and the four other victims had actually died around four in the morning, giving Paper Kite an alibi and suggesting the culprit could delay death or preserve the dead.
• Jue said no known Player Mutual Aid Society member had shown such an ability, but suggested that someone might have kept it hidden.
• Jue named the Embalmer, Pen Name, and Schreiber as possible suspects because their abilities could explain the victims appearing alive after death; Lin Yu questioned whether Schreiber was likely.

Lin Yu questioned Jue’s theory that Schreiber killed Iced Americano, while keeping his own secrets and choosing not to expose Jue to Order. After the investigators cleared their assigned suspects, Lin Yu and Ren Gu concluded that the search might need to include hidden Players inside the venue.

• Jue argued that Schreiber had the abilities and motive to kill Iced Americano as part of a Trial targeting the Player Mutual Aid Society, but Lin Yu privately knew Schreiber was innocent.
• Lin Yu offered to credit Jue’s analysis to Order, but Jue refused exposure and explained that her three Player identities made her want to keep her secret.
• Lin Yu decided not to report or investigate Jue, then considered whether an undiscovered Tier 3 Player could have infiltrated the venue.
• Ren Gu and Good Night reported that their assigned suspects had clear alibis, and Lin Yu said his two suspects could also be cleared.
• Ren Gu suggested expanding the search because a Tier 3 or higher Player might have disguised themselves or slipped past the initial head count.

After a murder at the Player Mutual Aid Society’s meeting venue, Lin Yu sought help from Fu Luo and Old Zheng instead of waiting for Ren Gu’s second screening. They examined a reconstruction of the crime scene and concluded that the killer likely used delayed death or reality manipulation, not corpse manipulation, and that the crime was probably unrelated to the mastermind behind Captain Shan’s condition.

• Ren Gu announced a second screening with the internal affairs team, but Lin Yu decided to investigate through other means while awaiting the results.
• Lin Yu entered the Ancient Notebook’s consciousness space and asked Fu Luo and Old Zheng to help analyze the five deaths at the election venue.
• Lin Yu reconstructed the crime scene inside the Ancient Notebook, and Fu Luo examined the victims’ wounds and timing.
• Fu Luo and Old Zheng judged that the killer’s ability was more likely delayed death or reality manipulation than corpse manipulation.
• Lin Yu said the murder was probably unrelated to the mastermind behind Captain Shan’s condition or to Copper Furnace, since the methods and circumstances differed.

Fu Luo advised Lin Yu to set aside the case’s broad political context and investigate the traces left at the scene, focusing on the lone conscious survivor, Drumstick. He suggested comparing Drumstick’s contacts with those of the five dead and three unconscious victims, giving Lin Yu a new investigative lead.

• Fu Luo agreed that the attacker was probably not the same mastermind they had encountered before and questioned why that person would target Iced Americano.
• Old Zheng offered to help Lin Yu conduct a Mental Power scan, but Lin Yu refused to risk revealing his abilities to Order.
• Fu Luo told Lin Yu that his broad knowledge of factions and conflicts had created a blind spot, and that the investigation should return to evidence at the scene.
• Fu Luo observed that the nine victims had split into five dead, three unconscious, and one mentally shattered, suggesting the killer had interacted with them in different ways.
• Fu Luo proposed investigating Drumstick’s contacts and comparing them with the people who had interacted with the other victims; Lin Yu accepted the lead.

After Ren Gu identified the impostor posing as Drumstick, Lin Yu tracked the culprit with Soul Power and confronted him in the exhibition hall. The impostor attacked Lin Yu’s soul, but his threads snapped, leaving the culprit shocked and afraid.

• Ren Gu and Loquat Candy visited the infirmary, where the impostor posing as Drumstick attacked them and escaped into the venue.
• Ren Gu warned the group that the impostor used soul-related abilities and was likely still inside the venue.
• Lin Yu released Soul Power to draw out the culprit’s perception, traced it to the first-floor exhibition hall, and summoned Good Night for support.
• Lin Yu revealed the intruder’s location amid the crowd, then charged toward the disguised Drumstick.
• The impostor struck Lin Yu with soul threads and tried to pull out his soul, but the threads broke, terrifying the attacker.

Lin Yu fought a soul-wielding assassin whose attacks failed to overcome his unusual soul and defensive Items. Zao and Jue joined the battle, and Captain Good Night knocked the assassin into the floor as Ren Gu announced a ban on soul-related abilities in the venue.

• The assassin recoiled from Lin Yu's fragmented soul, then attacked him with three soul-powered abilities that Lin Yu blocked using his Items.
• The assassin prepared to use black gel, but Zao arrived and struck him with her heavy sword.
• The assassin used soul threads to pull Zao's soul from her body, but she still moved, and Jue cut off the hand holding the black substance.
• Captain Good Night headbutted the assassin into the floor, while Ren Gu announced that soul-related abilities were temporarily prohibited in the venue.