Chapter 524 - - 470 The thief cries out to catch the thief_1

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“Where’s Lin Hong?” Nalan Li contacted the undercover agent at Imperial University right away.

“At the training ground.” The undercover agent paused, glanced at the training ground, “He’s been in there all day, modifying the Windwalker mecha, and he hasn’t rested yet!”

“Has he left at any point in the middle?” Nalan Li asked.

“No!” the undercover agent replied. “His life is very simple. Besides the time he left with you before, he’s either in his dorm studying mecha materials or fiddling with mecha at the training ground, basically not interacting with the outside world.”

“Are you certain he hasn’t left at all?” Nalan Li asked.

“Positive,” the undercover agent replied. “Li Tao and I have been watching outside; he’s been at the training ground all along. Nalan, what happened?”

“Contact Tang Houming as quickly as possible and send me the surveillance footage from the training ground,” Nalan Li said, frowning.

…

Duge listened to everyone’s conversation, shook his head with a smile, and let them transfer the surveillance.

A moment later.

Nalan Li’s call came: “Lin Hong, between 1:57 a.m. and 2:05 a.m., what were you doing?”

“Nalan Li, are you spying on me?” Duge was taken aback and countered.

“Tell me, what were you doing?” Nalan Li asked.

“Going to the bathroom,” Duge snorted coldly. “Nalan Li, is this the attitude you have towards cooperation with me? Do I need to be under your watch all the time for you to feel secure? If that’s necessary, then there’s no need for us to cooperate any further.”

“Lin Hong, I need you to come to the National Defense Bureau,” Nalan Li said.

“I won’t go,” Duge replied. “Nalan Li, who do you think you are? I cooperate with you because I want to live a peaceful life. If you can’t even meet this requirement, we might as well part ways. I think, here on Green Star, there are plenty who understand reason better than you; changing another President isn’t impossible.”

“…” Nalan Li suddenly froze.

“Nalan Li, who do you think you are? Do you think I really care about this planet?” Duge said. “Green Star could be in chaos by the gamers, and I could still live just fine, but you should be able to imagine what would become of Green Star in the end.”

“…” Holding her phone, Nalan Li was silent for a long time.

“I’m busy right now, don’t bother me if there’s nothing important,” Duge huffed impatiently and hung up the phone with a snap.

Holding her phone, Nalan Li stood dazed for a moment, then left the National Defense Bureau and drove straight for Imperial University.

On her way to Imperial University, she received news of the underground organization’s destruction. She stopped by the roadside for a moment to watch a video of the gang’s crime scene and frowned, “A masked hero?”

After that, she began to pull up surveillance footage from along the route to Imperial University from the gang’s location but found no trace of any movement. However, after the masked hero left the gang, his trail was captured by the cameras heading straight to the National Defense Bureau, barely pausing; and after leaving the National Defense Bureau, the masked hero didn’t head towards Imperial University. Instead, he disappeared into the darkness once more.

“Isn’t it him?”

Looking at the masked hero’s travel path on her mini computer, Nalan Li murmured before continuing to drive to Imperial University.

It was still not dawn, and Nalan Li parked her car on the road outside the university, climbed over the wall into the campus, and went directly to the training ground to find Duge.

“Ah, coming to me directly.” When Duge spotted Nalan Li, he sneered, maneuvered the mechanical arm to mount a piece of armor on Windwalker, then took off his goggles to look at her, and asked, “Tell me, what happened?”

“Mo Shengmin is dead, suspected to be the work of the masked hero,” Nalan Li approached Duge, opened her mini-computer on her wrist, and displayed Mo Shengmin’s death footage. “One-hit kill; the person is very familiar with the National Defense Bureau’s setup.”

As she spoke,

Her nose twitched slightly.

Duge knew she was smelling blood, but he didn’t care.

Although he couldn’t use the Sea God’s Power openly, in the darkness of the night, creating a thin layer of mist to isolate the smell of blood wasn’t something people would notice.

Now his body was clean, with only the scent of lubricant and machine oil.

Duge removed his mechanical arm and asked, “So, you suspect the masked hero is me?”

“I’m just here to check the possibility.” Nalan Li had seen the masked hero covered in the blood of a gang leader while writing on the wall, but she hadn’t smelled blood on Duge, thus her suspicions of him had somewhat diminished, “After all, the time when the masked hero committed the crime, you happened to be in the restroom.”

“Nalan Li, are you joking? Do you think it’s possible for me to run from Imperial University to the National Defense Bureau, kill someone, and then rush back all within a few minutes?” Duge laughed, looking at Nalan Li as if she were an idiot.

“The masked hero is very fast.” Nalan Li said, “If he maintains that speed the entire way, he indeed could accomplish these things in a few minutes.”

“Alright, let’s assume I am the masked hero, what would be my purpose in doing that?” Duge shook his head and asked.

“I don’t know.” Nalan Li said and immediately shook her head, “No, Lin Hong, don’t get me wrong, I’ve already confirmed it’s not you. I came here just to ask for your help in speculating the ability of the masked hero.”

“Is that even something to speculate about? It’s a speed-related keyword, awakening an acceleration skill.” Duge said, “His reputation in the Imperial Capital has been high recently, his attributes must have spiked, and knowing information about the National Defense Bureau through some special means isn’t hard.”

“What kind of special means are you talking about? Your perception?” Nalan Li asked.

“It could also be something else, like some technological methods.” Duge said, “Gamers have a very strong learning ability, plus, you can’t know what kind of person whose body he has taken over, or what level of knowledge they possess.”

“Why did he kill Mo Shengmin?” Nalan Li asked.

“Gamers killing each other don’t need a reason.” Duge said with a smile, looking at Nalan Li, “And he wouldn’t allow the National Strategic Defense Bureau to recruit more gamers, that’s a threat to him, so eliminating the people you recruit serves as a warning to you, and secondly, he can take the power of other gamers to grow himself; today he kills Mo Shengmin, tomorrow he might kill Xu Wan…”

Suddenly.

Duge paused for a second, his expression changing slightly, “Nalan Li, did you come here directly from the National Defense Bureau?”

“Yes.” Nalan Li nodded.

“You really are a fool, are you trying to get me exposed even faster?” Duge cursed, “Does the President use you people without testing your IQ?”

Nalan Li’s face suddenly changed, she looked at Duge, “Lin Hong, with Kill One Every Ten Steps having such a big influence online, with your ability, you shouldn’t be afraid of him, right?”

“I’m not on the combat side.” Duge said irritably, “Haven’t you seen that all my battles depend on mecha? If it weren’t for safety reasons, why would I be modifying Windwalker in the middle of the night?”

“Lin Hong, can you beat the masked hero driving Windwalker?” Nalan Li looked at the mecha behind Duge and asked.

“As long as he can’t break through the mecha’s defense, he can’t harm me.” Duge said.

Nalan Li looked at Duge and asked, “Lin Hong, can I know what your awakened skill is?”

“Tide Rises, Tide Falls.” Duge looked at Nalan Li, hesitated for a moment, and said, “The tide I summon benefits all those who go with the flow when it rises, and when it falls, everyone loses the unseen assistance.

So, Nalan Li, there’s no need for you to suspect me, a stable country is more beneficial to me, I complement Green Star. But now, it looks like you might not be able to keep the situation under control anymore…”

“Why?” Nalan Li asked.

“I can grow quickly through the War Network, and so can others.” Duge sighed and said, “Many people have been led astray by Duge. Winning an early advantage, they like to rush the game, eliminating others as quickly as possible, ending this round of the game.

The masked hero suddenly started killing people, probably belonging to this school of thought. Once he starts, he won’t stop. Nalan Li, you need to speed up, otherwise, once Green Star descends into chaos, it won’t be controllable.”

Nalan Li looked at Duge, her normally clear mind clouded with confusion, and she frowned slightly, “Lin Hong, can you help us?”

Duge smiled, “Nalan Li, what do you think I’ve been doing, from informing you about the gamers to improving mecha, I’ve been helping you all along. It’s you who have been guarding against me—I’ve got to say, I’m losing faith in you tonight. Working with you, I might as well act on my own!”

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