Chapter 194: Favors and Connections

Lin Yu never expected that...

After circling around with the four members of the Free Alliance, he actually ended up back at the hotel on the top floor of Shengjiang Tower.

Although it wasn’t the same room, Li Nian had also booked here.

There was still almost a whole day before Thursday night, and since the four members of the Free Alliance weren’t from the Order, they didn’t need to set up checkpoints near the abandoned overpass in the southern part of the city in advance.

However...

Lin Yu originally thought these people would at least hold some kind of battle meeting or something...

But these people...

were a bit too free-spirited.

Old Zhou, the guy in the tank top, was exercising there. Having just finished a set of Russian push-ups, he was now doing clapping push-ups.

On his back sat Xiaoyun, the girl in the black dress who was watching beauty videos.

Meanwhile, Qianhuan and Li Nian were playing blackjack with a deck of cards.

None of these four even cared about Lin Yu in the room, as if he had really opened the door and left...

And no one tried to stop him either.

“Is this what relaxation feels like?”

Lin Yu couldn’t help but sigh aloud.

Hearing Lin Yu’s words, Old Zhou raised his head while doing the clapping push-ups.

“This is exactly how we Free Alliance operate. Interested now?”

“I still quite like you. Want to consider joining us?”

This was the second time Lin Yu had received such a warm invitation from the Free Alliance.

Lin Yu smiled and politely declined.

“No thanks, everyone... Besides, I’ve already said, I have a near-obsessive desire to ‘become a hero.’”

“The organization that can best fulfill my pursuit among players is still the Order.”

Lin Yu emphasized again.

Xiaoyun, who was sitting on Old Zhou’s back, paused the video and blinked. “But to be able to dissect that ‘desire’ so clearly and say it so calmly, maybe the Free Alliance suits you well too.”

“After all... we won’t stop you from pursuing justice.”

Lin Yu still refused politely.

“Better to pass.”

Li Nian seemed to have a bad hand and took this opportunity to toss down her cards and bounced over to Lin Yu.

“You dare refuse us again and again when you’re in our hands? Aren’t you afraid we’ll just kill you outright?”

“Although we don’t want to expose ourselves, we’re not especially scared of those two guys... If we were afraid, none of us would have gotten involved in this mess!”

Li Nian’s tone was teasing but carried a hint of menace.

Lin Yu looked at Li Nian, expression unchanged.

“I can still tell the difference between threats and jokes;

your words don’t scare me.”

“Of course... the most important thing is that joining the Free Alliance would be a ‘good thing’ from your perspective. I refuse your benefits, but of course, I won’t make you angry.”

Qianhuan threw the cards on the floor and spoke lazily, “I disagree with them. I think you really belong in the Order...”

“And precisely because of that, I’m a bit reluctant to let you go.”

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Qianhuan spoke casually, but compared to Li Nian just now, he was now more like a genuine threat.

Hearing Qianhuan’s words, the other three members of the Free Alliance stopped what they were doing and showed interested expressions.

Although all three somewhat admired Lin Yu, and even had some fondness for the “May” persona Lin Yu was playing, the Free Alliance members indeed enjoyed a very high degree of freedom among themselves.

And for trivial matters like this, they wouldn’t interfere with each other’s decisions.

Qianhuan walked straight toward Lin Yu.

“If I said I was willing to risk being hunted by Li Hua and Tycoon to kill you right here... what would you do?”

“Sacrifice yourself like a ‘real hero’?”

As Qianhuan spoke, he flipped a sharp playing card between his fingers and pressed it against Lin Yu’s throat.

The razor-sharp edge of the card emitted a chilling coldness.

Without the cover of the Fluoxetine identity and the game rules inside the dungeon as a buffer,

Lin Yu clearly realized at this moment when facing Qianhuan directly...

Qianhuan was someone he absolutely could not confront head-on at this time.

But life and death were never determined solely by the difference in “power.”

Although Lin Yu, as May May, had given reasons for staying because of a “hero complex,”

Lin Yu himself did not have such a complex!

The real reason he stayed as Lin Yu was most importantly...

With Li Nian and Qianhuan present, Lin Yu had too many ways to guarantee he wouldn’t die.

He only needed to casually throw out some “information.”

Looking into Qianhuan’s eyes, Lin Yu spoke calmly.

“You are the one who cannot kill me because...”

“You owe me a favor.”

Lin Yu said this, and Qianhuan narrowed his eyes.

“I owe you a favor? This is the first time I’ve met you!”

Lin Yu silently pulled out his phone from his pocket and lit up the screen.

Earlier in the restaurant, he had secretly sent a message.

That message was not a call for help but was forging “evidence.”

On the phone belonging to May May, there was a text from Zhu Ming.

“The answer is correct. If needed, tell me. This answer is worth one favor from the Magician.”

Lin Yu looked at Qianhuan and said,

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of Furbollo;

he’s my friend—he’s willing to be friends with me because my puzzle-solving ability is not inferior to his.”

“So... the answer to the ‘time and place’ riddle was solved by me.”

“Zhu Ming asked me to do it.”

Qianhuan looked at Li Nian, who was somewhat surprised and stepped forward to take Lin Yu’s phone, checking the number.

“It really is... Hey, what’s your relationship with Zhu Ming?!”

Lin Yu took the phone back from Li Nian.

“I am under no obligation to tell you that.”

He looked at Qianhuan and smiled, “If I’m not mistaken, the person who needs to rush to the abandoned overpass in the southern part of the city on Thursday night... is also you, Mr. Magician.”

Qianhuan put away the playing cards.

“You got it right... What a surprise, didn’t expect to randomly grab a hostage from the Order and find someone I owe a favor to!”

Qianhuan looked at the other three.

“Hey, can I be the one to make the call and repay the favor... and just let this guy go?”

“No problem,” Li Nian said, resting her chin on her hand, “It’s just changing hotels after all—if we release him, according to what he said, we won’t be the primary target.”

“As long as we don’t go too far, the Order will definitely still be more concerned about the Marauders first.”

Old Zhou and Xiaoyun had no objections either.

However, Lin Yu shook his head.

“No, I’m not planning to leave yet.”