Seeing the message from Fu Luo, Lin Yu was quite surprised.
How did the situation change so suddenly?!
Fu Luo's ability to get into trouble was really something else.
His distress call was sent at 11:15... meaning it hadn't been long since then.
Scrolling up further, Fu Luo had sent a message around 11:00.
[Furbollo: I found a private cinema, I'll go in and watch a movie while waiting for you.]
Fu Luo sent Lin Yu a photo.
It showed "White Moon Cinema Cafe" - Lin Yu searched it up, the place was about a ten-minute drive from Jiangcheng Bus Terminal, located in a commercial area.
"Why did he go to that damn place."
Although he knew Fu Luo was likely attacked near that area, beyond that, Lin Yu had no other information or clues.
Who attacked him?
The fact that he asked me for help probably means it wasn't a non-Player.
No matter how cowardly Fu Luo was, he was still a Player with [Items] for protection, and he had even completed his [Promotion].
To put it bluntly, the guy at least had size on his side!
In Lin Yu's view, considering this country had fairly good gun control, Fu Luo probably encountered an attack from a Player.
So...
Lin Yu immediately screenshotted this chat and sent it to "High Mountain."
"Brother Shan, could you please help me contact the [Order] here in Jiangcheng."
Then, he called Gao Shan with a voice chat and immediately hung up.
After getting in the car, Gao Shan replied.
"Notified them, someone will lead a team to check it out."
After Gao Shan's reply, Lin Yu felt slightly relieved.
With [Order] support, things would be much easier to handle.
But... how was Fu Luo attacked?
Lin Yu had checked the bounty on this guy in the [Hunters' Association] - it was only over five hundred yuan.
Seemed like it was all people he pissed off on the forum posting ten or eight yuan just to vent.
So, it absolutely couldn't have been bounty hunters.
Lin Yu speculated...
"Could it be people from the [Psychological Society]? After all, this guy said he offended the [Psychological Society] too!"
"But his trip to Jiangcheng was decided the day before yesterday for today, the only person who likely knew was me... even I just found out when he arrived."
"How was his location pinpointed?"
Lin Yu rapidly pondered in the car, the more he thought about it, the more suspicious points piled up.
But if...
If Fu Luo's [forum] account was really as insecure as he suspected?
Someone monitored Fu Luo's chat records with him, thus tracking both his and Fu Luo's locations in real time.
Even...
What if this distress call was fake, and it was actually targeting him?
Although Fu Luo didn't have any mortal enemies, Lin Yu was certain his identity as [May May] had enemies.
Not to mention the [Heavenly Artisan] he impersonated, the entire [Marauders] faction definitely held major grudges against him.
Lin Yu had to consider this possibility.
And precisely because of that...
Lin Yu set the car's destination to a shopping district entrance one intersection away.
And, after arriving...
Lin Yu didn't choose to confront them as [May May].
He found a public restroom, transformed into the dark, skinny appearance of [Old Yao], and casually sent a message to Tycoon.
"Big bro, my friend seems to be cornered around Xinbei Road, don't know the specifics yet, can you see if any brothers are available to help?"
After sending the message, Lin Yu then located the "White Moon Cinema Cafe."
The shop was on the second floor of street-side stores.
Contrary to Lin Yu's expectations...
There wasn't any noisy commotion inside.
Looking at the scattered pedestrians and dozing shopkeepers around, it didn't seem like any disturbance had occurred here.
Lin Yu boldly made two guesses...
One was that Fu Luo left silently.
The other...
Lin Yu walked into the "White Moon Cinema Cafe," bought a voucher on the app, and got a room from the front desk.
He took the key and went up to the second floor himself...
But didn't head straight to his room.
Lin Yu sneakily peeked around the corridor, looking through the glass on each door into the occupied rooms one by one.
He looked like a creep preparing to spy on couples, or a thief casing the place - which fit his current persona quite well.
And just as Lin Yu was carefully peeking and eavesdropping like this...
He actually saw what he wanted in one of the rooms.
Just as Lin Yu expected...
Although Fu Luo sent a distress call, he hadn't even managed to leave his room.
In the private room at the end of the corridor, the projection screen was playing a Detective Conan movie.
On the sofa inside, Fu Luo sat right in the middle.
And in the private room...
There were three people who had clearly taken Fu Luo hostage.
Two men and one woman.
Both men were quite tall, sitting on either side of Fu Luo, squeezing him in the middle of the sofa, not daring to move.
And the woman...
Although he only saw her back, Lin Yu recognized her.
"[Almond]... so it's the [Marauders] guys?"
Lin Yu pondered, then frowned.
Looking at it this way, it was likely indeed targeting [May May]... Of course, it could also be simply wanting revenge on Fu Luo.
After all, if you asked around about the [Heavenly Artisan] attack incident, you'd know this guy contributed significantly too.
But Lin Yu was curious why [Almond] would act alone on this matter without [Heavenly Artisan].
And...
How did she know Fu Luo's whereabouts?
But Lin Yu understood that just thinking about it wouldn't provide answers.
So...
Lin Yu directly pushed the door open and entered.
After the door opened, all four people in the room naturally looked toward Lin Yu.
But before they could speak, Lin Yu took the initiative.
"Hey—what are you doing in my room!"
The appearance of "Old Yao" looking like an unemployed social loafer, with vulgar tone and manner, momentarily disrupted their train of thought.
Lin Yu continued firing off words rapidly.
"Oh... wait, did the shop make a mistake? Damn it, what's going on here!"
Lin Yu scratched his head, Almond frowned, made a subtle hand gesture to stop one of the men who wanted to stand up.
She seemed planning to resolve this through "negotiation."
But Lin Yu caught all these small movements, his observational skills wouldn't miss such details.
This was enough for Lin Yu to confirm...
[Almond] was indeed the leader of this operation!
If this woman could lead, it meant the other two's combat abilities were probably nothing special.
So...
Lin Yu made a decisive move, almost instantly pouncing forward, while simultaneously forming a small knife with [Counterfeit], directly pressing it against Almond's neck.
"Don't move!"
Lin Yu shouted loudly, taking advantage of Almond being startled by the shout and the glint of the knife to pull her in front of him, aiming the knife tip at her carotid artery.
"Know what [Swift Blade] is? Be careful or I'll stab you to death!"
"[Marauders]... I advise you to be sensible and cooperate!"