After parting with Li Nian, Lin Yu once again ducked into a corner and changed his appearance.
Only this time he had taken on the face of "Old Yao."
Wearing Old Yao's face, Lin Yu of course intended to go see the Tycoon.
Soon he arrived at the Tycoon's usual grinding spot—the abandoned restaurant.
Being proper about procedure, Lin Yu first took out his phone and sent the Tycoon a message.
"Boss, are you there?"
After spending some time together, the Tycoon had apparently learned a bit about Old Yao's disposition.
He didn't reply on his phone;
instead, he opened a second-floor window.
"Come up."
Lin Yu kept a look of delighted flattery on his face, hurried up the stairs, and entered the Tycoon's office.
When he pushed the door open, the Tycoon was sitting on the sofa and smiled at "Old Yao," though the fatigue on his face was apparent.
"What's up?"
Lin Yu rubbed his hands together and put on a sheepish expression.
"These past few days Jiangcheng's been a mess—every kind of troublemaker came to make trouble. Boss, you, as Jiangcheng's stabilizing force, must be exhausted day and night. I just wanted to come check on you..."
Lin Yu paused, then added,
"Your family… should be safe, right?"
The Tycoon looked at "Old Yao" with some surprise;
his brows twitched twice, then he laughed and scolded.
"Damn it, Old Yao, I know you've got good sources… but this is a little too well-informed!"
Lin Yu grinned slyly.
"Our kind of trade, lowly and scrappy, always taught us the value of information… Now that we're in this game, one wrong step and it's eternal damnation. My abilities are limited, so I make lots of friends and build goodwill."
"Of course, clinging to a strong back is most important. Now that I have you as my support, things are a lot easier to handle."
At those words, the Tycoon nodded, not offended at all.
That confidence was Lin Yu's advantage.
Having watched the whole thing from the overpass, he knew exactly how Fluoxetine had used the Tycoon's family as leverage.
Although it seemed like only Fluoxetine knew about it, the Tycoon was normally ostentatious and upright—a brotherly figure in Jiangcheng. It wouldn't be hard for others to find out about his family.
When the Tycoon hurried home from the overpass that day, he couldn't hide from the numerous peripheral members of Order and the Marauders who were staking out near the bridge.
So it wasn't a secret.
Lin Yu also understood the Tycoon—through multiple contacts and identities, Lin Yu's knowledge of the Tycoon far exceeded the Tycoon's knowledge of Old Yao.
He knew that, coming from the relatively harmless persona of Old Yao, using a probing, purpose-driven tone to bring up potentially awkward facts for the Tycoon would not arouse resentment or suspicion.
On the contrary, the Tycoon might actually think Old Yao was being candid in some sense.
So…
The Tycoon leaned back in his chair and directly told Lin Yu the answer.
"The little brat from the Psychological Society set me up—no wonder, they do play with psychology," the Tycoon said, leaning back with a tired tone. "I rushed home only to find a single camera stuck by my front door. Not a soul around!"
He rubbed his face hard, and Lin Yu breathed out in relief as if sharing the moment.
"Well, Boss, that's a good thing… but why do you look so listless?"
"Are you really exhausted?"
The Tycoon gave a bitter laugh and shook his head.
"Bullshit, the main thing is I got into another fight with my old man when I got back. Damn it—I shouldn't have gone back!"
"And my big brother too… never mind, don't bring him up, it's unlucky!"
The Tycoon waved his hand, full of annoyance.
Looking at the Tycoon—over forty and well into middle age—Lin Yu felt like he was seeing a rebellious kid who ran away from home, surfed the internet at a cybercafe, and cursed his father with classmates.
Maybe every family has its own hard chapters, or perhaps a man remains a boy at heart until death.
Either way, Lin Yu didn't plan to pry and just laughed it off.
"As long as your family is safe, that's what matters… It's a pity, though;
without you there, those bastards probably ran far away."
"Too bad the Order friends didn't stop them!"
Lin Yu said regretfully.
Although he had not formally joined Order, he was half in the Free Alliance and a core member of the Marauders.
From the messages on the phones of Li Nian and Heavenly Artisan earlier, he could piece together roughly what had happened after he left that day.
Order, at the cost of two injured Game Masters, had forced Phantom out of his life-saving trump card;
Free Alliance had paid a huge price to rescue him;
members from the Psychological Society who came to support Fluoxetine had also been badly hurt…
As for the Marauders, although Fish fled, she captured many core Marauder members—those not killed in fierce resistance were now held together in one place.
These were details the Tycoon had not yet shared within Jiang'an Hall.
The Tycoon had grown used to Old Yao's well-informed nature, so he went on to share his own views.
"Although many ran off, there were still gains… Order is satisfied with the operation."
"So many troublemakers came, and in the end only a bridge collapsed, with not too many civilians caught up—that's the best of bad outcomes!"
The Tycoon said with feeling.
Then he waved his hand.
"That's enough about that. It doesn't concern Jiang'an Hall much in the long run… I forgot to ask you while I was busy. Old Yao, how's your Promotion going?"
"Which direction did you choose?"
Lin Yu let out a sly chuckle.
"Thanks to you and Senior Phantom Hand, I passed smoothly."
"I'm now First-Tier… and I chose the item Wonder Pouch!"
When Lin Yu said that, a fair amount of belief rose in the Tycoon.
"Not bad… you've reached First-Tier," his voice carried approval. "But why choose the Wonder Pouch? Do you have enough direct combat ability?"
Lin Yu absolutely did.
He chose the Wonder Pouch precisely because he wasn't lacking in offensive options.
But he couldn't show that. He scratched his head and said, "I have no direct combat methods at all, so I plan to avoid fighting whenever possible."
"As the saying goes, capitalize on strengths and avoid weaknesses…"
Lin Yu said it like that, and the Tycoon nodded.
"That's one way… Anyway, Promotion going smoothly is a good thing."
"At worst, I'll help you swap for a more suitable item later—your contribution to that Puzzle was huge. Besides the reward from Order, I should properly reward you!"
"But let's wait until you've fully 'digested' the benefits of Promotion."
Lin Yu was a bit surprised by those words.
The Tycoon's promise of an item reward made him eager and grateful, but he couldn't show it.
"What do you mean by 'digesting' all the benefits of Promotion?"
Isn't the career item the full benefit?
The Tycoon laughed. "You clearly don't know yet!"
"Come on, let this Fourth Tier teach you… and help you avoid detours!"
"Promotion, besides giving you more abilities, has a more important effect…"
"It deepens your connection with the many worlds of the Death Game!"