Li Hua's appearance shocked everyone present except Lin Yu.
"It's the Gambler!"
"The Game Master from Haicheng came personally?!"
"What's really going on here?"
Only Lin Yu remained unsurprised.
After all, Li Hua had been one of the recipients of "Fluoxetine's" invitation - there was no way he wouldn't show up.
Under everyone's suspicious gazes, Li Hua began his explanation.
"Everyone, I'm here because..."
"During the last dungeon, I received an invitation from a member of the Psychological Society - someone as skilled as me, but also an extremely dangerous madman."
"'I'll be waiting for you above the rainbows during Jiangcheng's twilight, on the night when thirty silver coins jingle' - those were her exact words."
Li Hua spoke unhurriedly, then wrote the phrase on a whiteboard he produced and placed it on the round table.
"Based on analysis by me and several others in our organization, the time should be 'Thursday evening'."
"But we still don't know the location."
"Others who received this same invitation include Fish from the Marauders, Radish from the Player Mutual Aid Association, Robin from the Night Watchmen, the Magician from the Free Alliance... and the bounty hunter Mosin-Nagant."
As Li Hua listed name after name, the regular Order members and most of the temporary recruits were shocked yet again, though they didn't grasp the full gravity of the situation.
But all six squad leaders including High Mountain immediately turned deadly serious.
Originally they had thought this large-scale mobilization was just Order's typical overprepared response...
But now it seemed even this might not be enough.
The leader of Jiangcheng's First Squad - a nearly fifty-year-old man with thinning hair and thick eyebrows - spoke up.
"Comrade Li Hua, were all these people invited simultaneously with you?"
Li Hua nodded.
"We were all in the same dungeon when she issued the invitations, which means the Psychological Society is planning something major this time."
High Mountain looked horrified upon hearing this.
"So many elite players... Gambler, your last dungeon must have been incredibly dangerous!"
As he spoke, Lin Yu nodded in agreement.
Indeed it had been dangerous - the Gambler had nearly died.
At this point, another squad leader who seemed to be on loan from Haicheng spoke up angrily.
"Captain Li, you kept this information too close to your chest - you should have told us earlier so we could bring more people from Haicheng!"
"If it were just the Psychological Society, fine... but even that bastard Phantom might show up... shouldn't we round them all up?"
This Haicheng squad leader was about Lin Yu's age but seemed much more hotheaded.
His words also suggested he and Li Hua went way back.
Li Hua glared at him.
"Crazy Blade, shut your mouth!"
"Even after becoming squad leader you're still so unreliable - seems you're tired of being captain and want to return to the grunt work!"
Under Li Hua's scolding, Crazy Blade immediately deflated.
He rubbed his buzz cut and hunched his shoulders. "Captain Li, I just think since they're clearly planning something, we came to support Jiangcheng... without proper preparation, even our squad members were hastily assembled..."
As soon as Crazy Blade said this, the dozen or so players around Lin Yu who had been similarly recruited on short notice clearly took offense.
Especially those Crazy Blade himself had brought.
Before any of them could protest, Li Hua quickly smoothed things over with a sigh.
"How many of your squad members are First-Tier? Bring them here to cause trouble or die?"
"You know how dangerous Jiangcheng is right now... the situation here is special - the Chief Squad Leader position has been vacant for two months since the last one died, and Jiangcheng's Game Master rarely intervenes."
"Getting three squad leaders transferred here was already pushing it... if we moved large forces to Jiangcheng, how do you know the Marauders and Psychological Society wouldn't use it as a diversion to attack elsewhere?"
"That's why we have to rely on these justice-minded experts for help!"
With just a few words from Li Hua, Crazy Blade immediately quieted down.
The other players, having been given this face-saving explanation, also cooled their tempers and even felt somewhat flattered.
After all, though they weren't Order members, being invited here today showed they had good relations with Order's squad leaders.
Most did have a sense of justice, and many were actually undergoing Order's recruitment assessments.
Lin Yu couldn't help but admire this.
His previous dungeon encounter with Li Hua had clearly been too limited.
He'd only seen the Gambler's coldly rational, just and responsible side...
Now he saw Li Hua was also a master of social navigation.
Seizing this moment, Lin Yu raised his hand.
"Excuse me, Mr. Li Hua, I have a question."
"How did you confirm the meeting time was Thursday evening?"
Facing Lin Yu's question, Li Hua looked pleased to return to the main topic.
"Simple - because this riddle isn't actually that difficult. She didn't mean to deliberately stump us."
"'Thirty silver coins' very clearly points to a specific religious reference..."
"Judas betraying Jesus," Lin Yu immediately answered.
"Exactly - 'Judas betraying Jesus'," Li Hua nodded. "And since most players are used to counting days by weekdays due to the dungeon cycle..."
"There are many references to Jesus that specify days of the week."
"For example, Good Friday - looking at Easter-related holidays, it falls on a Friday!"
"While we don't know exactly which day Judas betrayed Jesus, there's one famous evening event matching 'thirty silver coins jingling'..."
"'The Last Supper'!"
"This corresponds to Christianity's Maundy Thursday, a major holiday called 'Thursday of Passion'."
As Li Hua calmly explained, everyone present was convinced.
"Makes sense!"
Lin Yu understood well that such riddles couldn't stump Order members.
But the location...
Might require more work.
Li Hua cleared his throat. "So having confirmed the time as 'Thursday evening', we still need to solve the location riddle in our limited remaining time!"
"The answer should be hidden in the first half of that riddle."
"If anyone can solve it or has ideas, please inform me... there will be additional rewards."
Hearing this, Lin Yu rested his chin on his hand.
"Should I try to earn that reward?"
After all, as the one who set the riddle, he definitely knew the answer!