novelden Chapter 1392 The Fern Advances to Tier 3
Chapter 1392 The Fern Advances to Tier 3
"The 'time of death' was 4 a.m.?"
Lin Yu was quite surprised to hear Zuo Xi's words.
Although sometimes the metaphors and insights that a 'writer' derives from their own abilities are not so obvious, Lin Yu believes that Zuo Xi, as the strongest 'writer,' will certainly not have any major deviations in her understanding of her own abilities.
So, Zuo Xi said they died at four in the morning... that's probably true.
But if one chooses to believe Zuo Xi, it means...
My previous "perception" was wrong.
When Lin Yu met the group of "Iced Americano", he did not realize that they had "died".
Their spirit and soul still exist vividly in their bodies, and their thoughts and behaviors do not resemble those of the dead.
If they were already dead at the time and were just puppets manipulated by some kind of "tool", how could they be so vivid?
Lin Yu looked at Zuo Xi, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Although I believe you are right, but... when I met them at seven o'clock, I didn't notice this at all. What methods did they use to do this?"
“Not only me… but also ‘Dionysus’ and ‘Good Night’ were with me when they met them, and neither of them noticed anything unusual.”
"Are there any more specific hints?"
Lin Yu chose to question Zuo Xi, the provider of the clue.
Zuo Xi looked at Lin Yu and shook his head: "There are no more clues—the only noteworthy piece of information I have here is the time of death."
"On another note, you're a really strange person. You attacked me right away, and after recognizing me, you showed hostility towards me. But now you're asking me for information."
Even if things are prioritized, my matter... isn't it a bit too unimportant?
Zuo Xi looked at Lin Yu and said with a slightly teasing tone.
Lin Yu shook his head: "There was never any irreconcilable conflict between us."
Zuo Xi asked in return, "Really?"
Lin Yu spoke sincerely: "Of course, do you have any compelling reason to kill me?"
“I only have admiration, curiosity, and affection for you,” Zuo Xi said without any pretense. “But do you really have no reason to kill me? If I gave you a button right now, and pressing it would kill me, you would press it without hesitation, wouldn’t you?”
Lin Yu looked at Zuo Xi with great surprise. Finally, he sighed and said, "But unfortunately, there isn't such a convenient button."
He didn't know how the other party could see through his murderous intent, after all, Lin Yu was confident that he could hide it quite well.
Could it be because of the writer's abilities?
However, Zuo Xi seemed to have guessed what Lin Yu was speculating about, and directly said, "The reason you want to kill me is because I am investigating you, and my 'understanding' of you has gone too far... So, of course, I can also guess your opinion of me based on this 'overstepping' understanding."
Lin Yu looked at Zuo Xi and realized that he no longer needed to pretend: "Then shouldn't you have nipped a threat like me in the bud?"
"I'll strike first before I make a move against you."
He said provocatively to Zuo Xi.
Zuo Xi did not respond to the provocation: "I don't really mind being killed by you... I'm not that resistant to death."
Lin Yu looked at Zuo Xi, who spoke frankly, and sneered, "Are you kidding me? A player who doesn't resist 'death' in the 'Death Game'?"
“I only resist meaningless death, but being killed by you might be meaningful.”
Zuo Xi looked at Lin Yu and said calmly.
“'Perhaps,'” Lin Yu pondered the words the other person uttered, then shook his head, “Forget it, I don’t have time to accompany you here in your pursuit of a meaningful death…”
“I have to go back to investigate the case. Excuse me—as this is the information you provided me with, I will not report your existence to ‘Order’.”
Zuo Xi clasped his hands together and said, "Thank you so much, esteemed 'Director' comrade."
Lin Yu didn't say goodbye to this lunatic. He got up and walked towards the door, preparing to leave the room directly.
However, Zuo Xi called out to him.
"Although the revelation only relates to 'time of death,' I do have some other thoughts of my own. Would you like to hear them?"
Lin Yu stopped at the door: "Go ahead and say it."
"They were not in the venue at four o'clock, but the suspects are still everyone who has arrived at the venue now, and that has not changed."
As Zuo Xi spoke, Lin Yu paused for a moment, then nodded.
"I see."
He left the room.
Then, Lin Yu couldn't help but sigh.
"I never expected that 'Su Muzhe,' who was just chosen to make up the numbers, would not only catch a hidden guy but also get a very important clue."
The fact that the time of death was corrected to "4 a.m." is already a crucial clue.
Later, Zuo Xi mentioned that "the scope of suspects has not changed." Although Zuo Xi claimed that it was only his opinion, Lin Yu understood the other party's implication.
The group of "Iced Americano" died at four in the morning, when they were probably not even in the venue.
Therefore, what Zuo Xi said meant... Although she might not know exactly how the murderer kept the five people active after death and kept it from everyone's eyes, she should know some general principles and directions, and be able to know what kind of ability did all this.
Zuo Xi's hint was telling Lin Yu that although the "murder" that occurred around 7:30 was a "death" that was delayed by nearly three hours... their "death" would still surface around 7:30, and the murderer was still inside the venue.
This might be a limitation of the other party's abilities—if he wants to maintain their activities, or to kill the "Ice Americano" group at a specific time, he needs to maintain a physical distance from them and cannot be too far apart.
With this clue, the direction of the investigation became much clearer.
Lin Yu pondered these clues, then went down the stairs to the first floor.
He didn't want to go back to the scene again—after all, Lin Yu had already memorized almost all the details of the scene.
Lin Yu didn't feel he needed to see that scene again.
His current goal is still to find the 'Ginkgo'—or rather, to find the 'Fern'.
Although the rest area of the 'Xi Chen' campaign team was right next to the 'Mi Gan' team, according to information from the 'Order' internal affairs team, 'Ginkgo' was not in the rest area but was active in Zone 1, mainly responsible for supervising the setup of 'Xi Chen''s promotional booth.
With the information confirmed, Lin Yu went down to the lobby on the first floor and easily found the "Ginkgo" exhibit in front of an unfinished display.
Judging from the outfit alone, Lin Yu felt that the other person was dressed like "Zao" – after all, the other person was dressed very neutrally at the moment, with jeans, a long sweatshirt, and a pair of thick-soled boots, which was very much in the style of "Zao".
However, seeing the other party's earnest expression as he instructed other campaign team members on how to do their jobs, Lin Yuyou felt that he was a bit like "Fern".
Could it be that "Ginkgo" is actually a completely new personality?
Lin Yu pondered for a moment, then walked over and patted the other person on the shoulder.
"Oh, it's 'Ginkgo'."
Lin Yu's silent approach from behind clearly startled her. She tilted her head back at a sharp angle and saw Lin Yu's face. A hint of panic flashed across her face, but she quickly calmed down.
Then, a somewhat confused expression appeared on her face, and she spoke as if she did not recognize Lin Yu.
"You are... the 'director' of 'Order'?"
This made Lin Yu almost certain that it was 'fern'.
"His expressions later on were pretty good, which can be considered decent acting... It's a pity that his facial expressions at the beginning were a bit out of control."
Lin Yu commented in his heart.
Seeing Lin Yu's ambiguous smile, Jue knew she couldn't hide it any longer, so she turned to the other members of the campaign team beside her and coughed lightly twice.
"Ahem, everyone, it seems the director of 'Order' has something to discuss with me. You all go about your business for now, I'd like to have a quick chat with the director!"
Then, Jue pulled Lin Yu to a corner of the booth and spoke in a low voice.
"Why did you come all this way to my door... or rather, how did you recognize me?"
Lin Yu looked at the other person's simple change in appearance, which was just a nose contouring, colored contact lenses, and a fringe, and sighed: "Because I'm not blind, I'm quite curious... how did you dare to sneak into the venue with so little change in your appearance?"
Fern paused for a moment, then realized: "I forgot again... I don't have any more [tools] to cover my appearance. Tsk, since Moss has always been in charge of this, I always forget."
"However, it's actually normal that no one else recognizes me except you—after all, you can count the number of people who know me on one hand."
“In fact… for many people, my look corresponds to the ‘ginkgo’.”
Fern spoke frankly, and Lin Yu nodded.
"That's true, we couldn't even find any information about you in the 'Order'... You usually protect your personal privacy quite well."
"Also, although I already have a good idea, I'll confirm again—who are you now? You're 'Fern,' right?"
Fern nodded: "Yes, you recognize me quite accurately. I am 'Fern'... After all, this activity is within my scope of responsibility, so it is only right that I handle it."
Lin Yu looked the fern up and down: "Anyway, congratulations on advancing to 'Tier 3'... Have the moss and algae also reached 'Tier 3'?"
"Yes, the three of us went through the same [dungeon] for our 'Advancement Trial'... I thought we would get three [exclusive items] as well, but in the end we only got a blueprint. How infuriating."
"Fortunately, there's only one blueprint, so it's relatively easy to craft... Therefore, we just recently crafted our [exclusive item]!"