Chapter 13 The Infinite Boss Invites You to "Eat Melon" 13. Pei Yan...

Of course, the outlaw Ji Chengchuan didn't send out players.

He knew that his somewhat unscientific popularity might only work on players, but there was something in this world that was even more popular than him.

That's money.

Money talks. Hiring a minor thug to steal a phone on a motorcycle for two thousand dollars is quite easy. "Fool's Kingdom" is also a complete world, where players aren't the only ones. The best approach is to stay behind the scenes and fully utilize NPCs to achieve your goals.

Other players are somewhat afraid of getting too deeply involved with the NPCs of "Fool's Kingdom" and becoming corrupted, but Ji Chengchuan, who has two divine fragments, is not afraid.

On a rainy night, a black motorcycle sped past, splashing mud and water everywhere.

Lu Yu was holding his phone in one hand and an umbrella in the other. He had only taken a few steps when a shadow suddenly appeared very close behind him. The streetlights were momentarily blocked, and Lu Yu instinctively turned his head. Before he could see what was happening, his umbrella was knocked askew, and his hand was yanked away with great force, his phone gone.

"Ooh ooh ooh—!"

A motorcycle carrying two men in black and helmets sped into the rain. The man on the back, who was robbing the victim, held up his phone and made a monkey-like cry after the robbery.

Lu Yu: "..."

He straightened his umbrella, watched the motorcycle disappear around the corner ahead, and then continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Lin Xiaoman, not far away: "..."

Is that correct?

Is it right for someone to be so calm after having their phone snatched by a motorcycle thief in the middle of the night?

Lin Xiaoman could tell from the two bikers' behavior that they were definitely not players, but they were also definitely connected to players. Of the six teams that came to Lu Yu's side, only Ji Chengchuan dared to act so lawlessly. She guessed that he was the one who instigated it, but she didn't expect Lu Yu's reaction after his phone was stolen.

How could he be so calm? Did he already know about the players' existence and had countermeasures in place, and was everything within his expectations?

Lin Xiaoman became wary and hesitated for a moment about her original plan to test the waters.

Her original plan was to pretend to be a new resident who had just moved to the neighborhood, walk her dog, and bump into Lu Yu.

Lu Yu is friendly to small animals. She let the dog rush up to play with Lu Yu, and then, taking advantage of his inattention, snatched the phone and ran away.

She pretended to apologize and explain, but actually she was trying to stop them. By the time she led Lu Yu to the dog, the dog had already used some strange object that could sever the mental link with its owner to confirm whether the work badge was a fragment of divinity.

Once a monster is subdued, it generally needs a mental link with its master to unleash its abilities and gain energy.

These kinds of disconnectable artifacts are rare even for S-level players, and each one used reduces their supply. Although not as valuable as exploration points, they are still consumables and must be used wisely. The work badge is one of the most likely items that Lin Xiaoman has currently selected.

Lin Xiaoman believed her plan was very reasonable and would not disrupt Lu Yu's daily life or arouse his suspicion. The only difficulty was how to make the dog so obedient and complete a series of operations that ordinary animals could not do.

But this difficulty wasn't actually that difficult for their team, because—

"Captain, Boss's badge has been stolen. Should we still make a move?"

At Lin Xiaoman's feet, a husky wearing a transparent raincoat suddenly slyly approached and whispered in human language.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't some kind of fairy, ghost, demon, or magical creature.

The husky, nicknamed "Brave Mai," is a 23-year-old male, an S-level player, and Lin Xiaoman's teammate. His special ability is that he can transform into any animal for a period of time. His favorite transformation is into a bird because he can fly, and he also enjoys the thrill of pooping on the heads of people he dislikes.

But due to mission requirements, he turned into a dog this time. After all, walking a dog in the middle of the night in the rain is normal enough, just the bitter tears of a dog owner forced into it. But walking a bird is really strange.

Lin Xiaoman snapped out of her daze and lowered her voice, saying, "Yes. The main purpose of our operation this time is to make a name for ourselves in front of the Boss, to make him recognize me as his dog-walking neighbor, which will facilitate our operations in the next three days and when we acquire the second and third godhood fragments. We've lost our work badges, so this is something we still need to do."

"Besides, who says that the work badge is necessarily a fragment of divinity? I don't think it's that simple."

The husky glanced at her with its bright blue eyes: "Then why aren't you doing anything yet?"

“I suspect Boss knows something. His reaction to having his phone snatched is a bit abnormal…” Lin Xiaoman frowned.

“But if we hesitate any longer, the Boss will be home soon,” the husky said.

Lin Xiaoman glanced around, weighed her options, and decided to take action. She would try to bump into him by chance and test the waters. Once she had tested him, she would know exactly what kind of person Lu Yu was.

Having made up her mind, Lin Xiaoman took Mai Dadan's hand, and the two of them—oh no, the two of them quickened their pace and headed towards Lu Yu.

"Hello, sir... sir!"

Lin Xiaoman caught up with Lu Yu.

Lu Yu stopped in his tracks upon hearing the voice and turned around to look: "Hello, you are...?"

Lin Xiaoman asked with concern, "Hello, I live nearby and was just walking my dog. I saw you were robbed earlier? Do you need help calling the police?"

Lu Yu glanced down at the husky wrapped in a small raincoat. The husky smiled and winked at him, trying to be cute. But Mai Dadan really had no experience transforming into a dog. As he opened his mouth wide, he accidentally spilled his tongue out, which, along with his charming eyes, made him look rather wise.

Lu Yu: "Dogs... are quite cute."

Mai DaDa: "..."

I suspect you're insulting me, but I have no proof.

Lin Xiaoman: "Oh, thank you. So, should I call the police? I have my phone with me..."

Lin Xiaoman raised her hand, intending to hand the phone to Lu Yu, but to her surprise, Lu Yu had no intention of taking the phone.

"Thank you," he said, "but I'm not used to borrowing things from strangers. Please be vigilant and don't talk to strangers, especially strange men late at night. There are many bad people around, so even if you have a large dog with you, don't let your guard down. If you need to call the police, I can just borrow a phone from the convenience store."

Lin Xiaoman's hand holding the phone froze.

Looking at Lu Yu's righteous expression, she was momentarily speechless, managing only two words: "Thank you?"

"You're welcome." Lu Yu nodded politely, a black lanyard around his neck swaying slightly, revealing a brand-new waterproof bag through the open collar of his shirt jacket. The light from the 24-hour convenience store next door illuminated the unwrapped work badge inside the waterproof bag, a badge that was extremely familiar to S-level players.

Lin Xiaoman: "!"

Just as he had sucked his tongue back in, he was so shocked by what he saw that his mouth dropped open and his tongue fell out: "!"

No! This work badge—

Caught off guard, Lin Xiaoman only had time to control her expression. As for the words she was about to say, they were interrupted by the casually waving work badge, leaving her unsure how to utter them. But Lin Xiaoman, being a veteran captain who had dominated dungeons for three years, only hesitated for a moment before preparing a new explanation.

Before she could even speak, Lu Yu darted into the convenience store like a gust of wind.

The speed was so fast that even Mai Dadan's tongue twitched a little.

Lin Xiaoman subconsciously reached out, but only grabbed a handful of cold rainwater, just like her cold and confused heart at that moment.

Mai Dadan, who was trying to suck his tongue back in again, asked, "...Captain, am I seeing things?"

“No, I saw it too,” Lin Xiaoman shook the rain off her hands and stepped back into the shadows. “This is not right… We have been monitoring Boss using various methods. In the subway, his work badge was clearly still in his phone case, we could see it clearly. But how come it is now in a new waterproof bag? When did he take out the new waterproof bag and move the work badge from his phone case into the waterproof bag?”

Does Ji Chengchuan know about this?

Ji Chengchuan didn't know.

So when he saw this scene at the convenience store entrance through special surveillance, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot for a moment.

This is certainly not because he invested too much and it went down the drain—because he didn't invest much at all—but because he felt he had been tricked.

"Tieshan, what exactly happened?!"

He lashed out at the bronze-skinned man.

The man hadn't expected this either. His brow furrowed, and he said in a low voice, "Our surveillance isn't like installing cameras on the Boss; it's not that tight. It's normal for there to be some oversights..."

"Get out!" Ji Chengchuan kicked the man away. "If you don't find a way to get the stuff over here, don't bother coming back!"

The man was kicked to the ground, but he wasn't angry. Instead, he stroked the shoe print Ji Chengchuan had left on him with a look of ecstasy, and said with a guilty expression, "Captain, don't be angry. Be careful not to hurt yourself. Tomorrow, no, tonight, at the latest tonight, I will definitely succeed in verifying that work badge..."

Lin Xiaoman's thoughts were similar to Tieshan's, of course, not in terms of being fascinated by the shoe prints, but rather in terms of suspecting a lapse in surveillance.

"Captain, should we... try again?" Mai asked boldly. "Brave Dog, go all out and grab the work badge?"

Lin Xiaoman sighed wearily, "We're already here. Judging from what happened just now, we think he didn't notice anything amiss, but it would be strange to just chase him into the convenience store. Let's wait a bit longer and wait for him to come out. He can make a phone call at the convenience store; it won't take long."

Mai boldly agreed.

So the two of them, one holding an umbrella and the other wearing a raincoat, one on two feet and the other on four, started wandering around the convenience store.

Wandering around for half an hour, the two-legged creature didn't react, but the four-legged creature collapsed first.

Mai Dadan, panting and sticking out his tongue, said, "Captain, is it possible that we can just pretend and not actually go for a walk? I'm used to flying like a bird, and I haven't had this much exercise in ages... Also, is Boss living in a convenience store? It's been half an hour, why hasn't he come out yet?"

“Your stamina isn’t up to par. Go back and train more,” Lin Xiaoman said coldly, while also wondering, “Does calling the police take this long?”

Mai Dadan sighed, then struggled to prop himself up on his dog's leg. The dog, looking furtive, suggested boldly, "Captain, just sitting here waiting like this isn't going to work. If all else fails, let's go into the convenience store and take a look. We won't talk to him, we'll just pretend to go in and buy something too..."

Lin Xiaoman stroked her chin, thinking it made sense. Just as she was about to lead the dog forward, her phone suddenly lit up and vibrated.

Jiang Yan: [I advise you not to go.]

Lin Xiaoman paused, then asked, "What do you mean?"

Jiang Yan: [Pei Yanzhi is inside.]

Lin Xiaoman: [...Is this why Lu Yu hasn't come out for half an hour?]

Rumors circulated that Pei Yanzhi had allegedly risked his innocence and life for an SSS-level dungeon, getting involved with the dungeon boss. Many S-level players, including Lin Xiaoman, knew about this.

Jiang Yan: [Yes.]

Lin Xiaoman: [What are they doing in there?]

Jiang Yan: [I ate instant noodles, grilled sausages, hot and sour noodles, oden, and braised chicken legs. Oh right, Lu Yu just bought two cups of watermelon juice; it seems he ate too much salt.]

Lin Xiaoman: [...]

A note from the author:

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