Chapter 850: Clues Pointing to the Gray Domain
The next day, the bus slowly pulled away from the hotel. Lin Yu, sitting on board, let out a yawn.
Shen Bingmiao sat cross-legged, glancing sideways at Lin Yu.
"Didn't get enough rest last night?"
"How could I sleep soundly with such a hefty bounty on my head?" Lin Yu countered. "So, who placed the bounty? Any results?"
"That bounty post was made by a rookie Player who hasn't undergone Promotion yet and has only cleared four dungeons. They were probably placed under a psychological suggestion. Their past four dungeon worlds were Pure Abyss, Misty Islands, Wasteland, and Pure Abyss. They likely picked up some kind of influence from within the dungeon. The other party probably knew I'd be monitoring those high-level Players closely at all times, so they deliberately chose this newcomer," Shen Bingmiao said, resting her chin on her hand. "This is fairly easy to do for anyone with a bit of experience among Players."
Lin Yu was somewhat surprised by Shen Bingmiao's account. "In that case, could it possibly be that 'hidden organization' you mentioned?"
Shen Bingmiao shook her head. "Not necessarily. Anyone trying to put a bounty on an Order member while hiding their identity would basically take precautions against me."
"After all, the General and I have a deep working relationship. If he asked me to investigate something, I'd just directly do a point-to-point box opening for him."
As Shen Bingmiao spoke, Lin Yu let out a breath. "So, you don't have any leads for now either?"
He'd checked his messages again this morning. Both Li Hua and the Free Alliance had made no progress so far, no leads turned up.
After all, since the other party posted an anonymous bounty, they must have come prepared.
They definitely knew how highly the Director was valued. And given how generous that bounty was, the other party might even have some vague inkling of the strength Lin Yu was hiding.
Coming up empty after one night was only to be expected.
For Lin Yu, he wasn't in a hurry either. As long as his safety could be more or less guaranteed, he didn't mind waiting a bit.
But then...
Facing Lin Yu's question, Shen Bingmiao instead wore a smug expression.
"Ha! How could I possibly have no leads at all!"
She said proudly, "Sure, I couldn't find a way to crack that Hunters' Association post, but that doesn't mean I'm completely clueless."
"The Echo of Mu Continent, the Earth Scroll, and the Deed to the Twelfth Island. These three items are all quite precious and rare... By the same logic, these three items are much easier to trace than that post!"
"I spent last night pulling up all the past information about these three items... and I found some clues."
"Although their appearances were all well-hidden, they only fell into Players' hands in the past few months. The original owners probably had nothing to do with the poster. They were all Players with some experience, but not particularly strong ones."
"Through layer after layer of transactions, these three items flowed into the market. And then, their last known appearances... were all in trades conducted within dungeons."
"The location of those trades was the Gray Domain."
Lin Yu frowned. "Isn't the Gray Domain extremely uncontrollable for Players? Why would anyone choose to trade there?"
"Once the Player population grows large enough, even in that uncontrollable 'Gray Domain,' there are always some formidable figures who can grasp certain patterns. Fully utilizing and controlling the Gray Domain is impossible, but knowing some of its rules well enough to use it as a trading venue isn't entirely out of the question."
Lin Yu nodded. "So... we absolutely have to go to this 'Gray Domain'?"
Shen Bingmiao rested her chin on her hand. "Think a bit more flexibly, my dear ace. It doesn't necessarily have to be you going there in person!"
"Don't you know someone who frequents the Gray Domain?"
Shen Bingmiao asked, and Lin Yu paused for a moment before realizing who she was talking about.
"Li Nian?"
"Of course. Her next dungeon is almost certainly going to be in the Gray Domain. Have her see if she can gather some clues... I think she'd be more than happy to work for you. After all, she's gotten along quite well with you through that Veterinarian identity of yours."
Shen Bingmiao said teasingly.
"That's true enough, but didn't you also say she might suffer memory loss? Even if she finds something, there's no guarantee she'd be able to bring it out... Besides, the Gray Domain is a complicated place. She might not even be able to find anything."
As Lin Yu spoke, Shen Bingmiao snapped her fingers.
"Let me ask you, if you were going to a place like the Gray Domain where you lose your memories, what would you plan to do?"
"I'd use the Ancient Notebook, of course," Lin Yu said without hesitation. "That item is specifically designed to counter things that mess with cognition."
In the asylum on Misty Islands, Old Zheng had also used the former Misty Islands Master and the island's owner combined with his own residual abilities to create a mechanism that forced people into infinite cycles of memory loss.
So Lin Yu wasn't entirely inexperienced with this kind of situation.
Though the Gray Domain seemed to have the rules of the entire "world" causing memory loss, its rank was certainly higher than Old Zheng's design...
Plus, the Gray Domain was a world capable of standing up to the Death Game's rules, so its difficulty was easy to imagine.
But Lin Yu believed...
No matter how bizarre and unique the Gray Domain was, the Ancient Notebook in his possession was definitely no ordinary mortal item!
The more he studied it, the more extraordinary it seemed. It even functioned perfectly on the God of Judgement's turf.
The "will not be lost, will not be damaged, will not lose recorded content" written in the item description by the Death Game was something Lin Yu felt he could fully trust.
Shen Bingmiao spread her hands. "Then isn't the solution to this problem obvious? Just give her the Ancient Notebook."
"After all, in the next dungeon, you're going to be playing a First-Tier Thief... You won't need the Ancient Notebook anyway."
"You can't catch a wolf without risking the child."
Shen Bingmiao said, and Lin Yu nodded. "Senior, what you said makes a lot of sense."
Because Lin Yu rarely ever let items out of his hands, he'd fallen into a habitual way of thinking and forgotten that his items could be traded and lent out.
As for whether Li Nian might not return it... Lin Yu wasn't worried about that.
Shen Bingmiao had just teased him about his relationship with Li Nian through his Zhu Ming identity.
But Lin Yu knew better. His relationship with Li Nian as Zhu Ming was far more than just "getting along pretty well."
Li Nian's trust and goodwill toward Zhu Ming was probably among the highest in the entire Free Alliance.
However, before lending out the Ancient Notebook, Lin Yu still needed to take some precautions.
After all...
He had used the Ancient Notebook quite a few times, and it contained many "records" he'd left behind in various forms.
Those absolutely could not be seen by Li Nian.