Provocation

By comparison, Director Jin’s office was much quieter.

Guan En stood respectfully in front of the desk, patiently waiting for Director Jin to finish reading the information on his computer.

Zhu Yan, still invisible, saw it too.

It was a brand-new file on the Hunter. It contained a fresh assessment of the Hunter’s level, speculation about his abilities, and predictions about his personality and behavior.

“…The Hunter may possess the abilities of invisibility and teleportation.”

That was what the report said.

“Among the dungeons and shops accessible to players at present, there have been no items capable of granting invisibility—not even the Lazy Craftsman’s Shop.”

The Lazy Craftsman’s Shop was inside Boyang University.

So had the Human Alliance found a way to get inside and investigate, or had they activated the student population of Boyang University?

No, that wasn’t the point.

The point was, why hadn’t Fei Ningqingting taken a vacation?

“Based on the highest player-level assessment at the scene, his invisibility ability is at least Level 9.”

“Since this level is far higher than his known Transformation ability, we have reasonable grounds to suspect that this ability was acquired later through seizure.”

“However, after investigation, we found no registered player who matched the requirements. Therefore, we have decided to revise our assessment of the Hunter’s initial ability level.”

“…This ability may also have once belonged to Ms. Feng Yuanyuan…”

Zhu Yan nearly laughed when he saw that.

Feng Yuanyuan was his aunt’s name. His aunt’s ability card had been taken by him at the time, leaving her ability as an unknown blank.

He hadn’t expected them to fill in the blank here.

Director Jin remained silent for a long while.

The phone lying on his desk began to vibrate. The caller ID showed Jin Rongxu.

“Hello?”

Jin Rongxu’s voice sounded somewhat urgent.

Leaning against the wall, Zhu Yan clearly heard everything said over the phone.

Jin Rongxu roughly repeated what the Seer had said, then emphasized, “Director, I think we should lie low for now and follow the Seer’s instructions.”

Jin Rongxu paused. “I’m worried something might happen. What do you think?”

A trace of displeasure crossed Director Jin’s face.

The expression lasted only a moment, but Zhu Yan caught it with keen eyes.

This definitely wasn’t a coincidence. What, exactly, was Director Jin wary of?

“Why forty-eight hours?” he asked. “Did you find out why?”

“If she can see the exact length of time, shouldn’t she also be able to see the reason behind it?”

At this, Guan En raised his head slightly to observe Director Jin’s expression, then quickly lowered it again.

On the other end, Jin Rongxu hesitated.

“Director, I’m sorry. She didn’t explain that part, and I didn’t ask.”

Director Jin frowned. His mouth opened and closed, but in the end, he said nothing more.

“The Seer’s ability is rather special. We need to be especially cautious when relying on it. Since that’s what you say, have Guan En take the students there first.”

On the other end, Fog saw Jin Rongxu wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

“Yes, Director.”

Director Jin hung up.

Looking at his profile and the glittering Storage Silver Ring on his finger, Zhu Yan suddenly had a thought.

The Seer had said that within forty-eight hours, Director Jin and Jin Rongxu could not go to the Hall of Mourning, or Director Jin would suffer a loss.

But if a subordinate player took the students there instead, there would be no such risk.

Did that mean the Hunter would attack Director Jin or steal something from him?

Zhu Yan did, in fact, want to steal the Storage Silver Ring on Director Jin’s hand. Who knew what good things might be inside?

As for Zhu Zeyu, the way to buy him time was, of course, to have him perform the same sacrificial act again.

After all, Zhu Yan had a clone, didn’t he?

What if he had the Hunter attack Director Jin, injuring Director Jin and Zhu Zeyu at the same time?

The reward for this mission was a genuine Player Mark.

As long as he completed the mission and obtained the reward, he could further clear himself of suspicion—or even turn the situation around completely.

But Director Jin seemed to have been persuaded by Jin Rongxu and had decided not to go to the Hall of Mourning personally.

What could he do to change the situation?

“Xiao Guan.” Director Jin suddenly spoke.

Zhu Yan stood behind him, watching Guan En’s face.

“The Seer sent us another message.”

Director Jin seemed to trust Guan En deeply and did not conceal anything about the Seer.

“She says that neither Jin Rongxu nor I can go there in person.”

When Director Jin said this, his brows drew together like a tangled knot.

Something stirred in Zhu Yan’s heart.

Director Jin’s brows knitted together the moment the Seer was mentioned. He clearly disliked her.

Zhu Yan didn’t understand all the subtleties involved.

But time was running short. There was no need to figure everything out—as long as he could exploit this point and accomplish his objective, that would be enough.

Without revealing anything, Zhu Yan shifted slightly so he could see both of their expressions more clearly.

Guan En kept his eyes lowered and made no comment.

Director Jin let out a heavy sigh.

“Xiao Guan, proceed according to the original schedule. Organize the students at two this afternoon and take them to the Hall of Mourning.”

“Jin Rongxu and I won’t be going this time. With those players there, things shouldn’t get too far out of hand.”

Guan En nodded in agreement and turned to leave the office.

The door clicked shut behind him. Zhu Yan leaned against the wall, deep in thought.

With Zhu Zeyu’s current status as a suspect, let alone speaking to Director Jin, he would probably have trouble even getting a chance to see him.

But if Zhu Yan used Mimicry to take Guan En’s form and pretended to have returned to persuade him, there was a good chance it would work.

Fog drifted slowly out of the office.

The Seer had predicted that Director Jin would suffer a loss, which indirectly confirmed that Zhu Yan’s plan would succeed.

Since the plan would ultimately succeed, that meant Director Jin had not seen through Zhu Yan’s disguise as Guan En.

Seriously.

At his position, shouldn’t he raise his player level a little?

Outside the office, Fog condensed into Guan En’s appearance. Zhu Yan did not forget to check the surveillance-forgery device on his body.

Then he respectfully raised his hand and knocked on the door.

“Director Jin.”

“Come in.”

When he saw “Guan En,” Director Jin merely pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Xiao Guan, why have you come back?”

Zhu Yan stopped three meters away from Director Jin and imitated Guan En’s deferential, downcast posture.

“Director, I thought it over and still believe there’s a flaw in one part of the information we sent you.”

Zhu Yan came up with a perfectly natural excuse.

“I’ve fought the Hunter before. It was on the train.”

“If he could turn invisible and teleport, I don’t think he would have gone to such lengths to toy with us and leave the train carriage in that manner.”

Director Jin sighed.

“Fine. Report it to the Analysis Department.”

“By the way, Director.” “Guan En” raised his eyes. “There’s something I’d like to say…”

“Go ahead.”

“I don’t think we should blindly believe everything the Seer says.”

Zhu Yan came straight to the point.

He noticed Director Jin lift his head and lean forward slightly. His reaction was more engaged than before.

“Director, Captain Jin mentioned her previous prophecy to me.”

“She previously only foresaw Zhu Zeyu taking something from the Hunter. She didn’t see the Hunter taking something from Captain Jin.”

Guan En furrowed his brows, feigning hesitation.

In the end, he chose to speak frankly.

“Director, someone who can prophesy has far too much room to manipulate things.”

“Since she can see the future, she naturally knows what would be best for her and how to avoid getting caught up in the conflict between the two sides.”

“If she chose to hold back here and conceal something there—like last time, when Captain Jin was about to enter the dungeon and she only told him half the story, resulting in his being attacked—we would never have discovered it.”

“Besides, everything is based on her own account. Has anyone ever personally seen what her prophecies look like?”

Director Jin nodded without saying anything.

Only after a long while did he speak.

“That is precisely what worries me as well.”