jdhmnovel Chapter 1574 The Strategy Against the Paper Kite
Chapter 1574 The Strategy Against the Paper Kite
Seeing the suspicious and wary look in "Paper Kite's" eyes, Lin Yu understood that the other party had misunderstood something.
However, he explained it quite frankly.
"This is how I found you—otherwise, why do you think I knew you were here?"
Lin Yu asked, and after thinking for a moment, Zhiyuan believed Lin Yu's explanation.
After all, even outside the realm of "players" and in the real world, finding someone often requires knowing their personal clothing.
For example, police and rescue teams can use the scent on someone's clothing to let tracking dogs sniff it, thereby pinpointing the location of the suspect or the person being searched for.
"I see... Can I have it back?"
Lin Yu tossed the clothes to Zhiyuan, who casually draped the crew neck shirt over her shoulder and also put down the gun in her hand.
After all, once Zhiyuan realized Lin Yu's true identity, her wariness towards him decreased significantly.
This isn't because the 'director' and he both belong to 'order', but simply because... Paper Kite and Lin Yu do have a pretty good relationship.
Although they were only casual acquaintances, for Paper Kite, who was used to being alone, the "director" was indeed a trustworthy partner.
Moreover, as a super rookie in "Order", after joining "Order", Paper Kite, who is the kind of person who would target members within "Order", would naturally investigate the background of this rookie who rose so quickly after joining.
He had naturally seen the information about the 'director,' and it wasn't hard to draw the conclusion...
"This person is not only extremely talented, but also very enlightened and upright. He is a rare new player whose character and strength are both extraordinary."
So, taking advantage of the opportunity to receive the clothes, Paper Kite naturally put away her gun and then circled around to face Lin Yu.
Lin Yu looked at the clothes draped over Zhiyuan's shoulder and spoke helplessly.
"So, before we get into what happened when those three 'Player Support Group' members died, I'd like to ask a slightly different question... why were you so sensitive about me holding your clothes just now?"
Just now, the tone of the kite went beyond ordinary questioning; it carried a hint of defensiveness.
This is why, even though he knew the "director" was a trustworthy person, he only put away his gun after getting the clothes.
After thinking for a moment, and even hesitated for once, Zhiyuan finally spoke up: "Because I have a psychological trauma related to these kinds of things."
“You can see from my appearance,” Zhiyuan said, pausing as she looked at Lin Yu’s handsome and youthful face, which, even without considering his acting skills, was enough to make him the male lead in idol romance dramas and youth romance movies. She then reorganized her words, “My appearance is considered above average among ordinary people, so… I have encountered some bad things in the past.”
Lin Yu gave him a sympathetic and understanding look: "Ah, I understand... And don't be too modest. Your features are definitely considered quite handsome, not just above average—it's just that your clothes are a bit too ordinary, your hairstyle isn't well-groomed, and you don't know how to do makeup, so it doesn't look that exaggerated."
"Anyway, let's put that aside for now... I really understand what you've been through, because I've also been harassed by a crazed pursuer, which was quite terrifying—they would even sneak up during my lunch break to cut my hair," Lin Yu recalled his high school experience and sighed, "It seems they were misled by some online master who planned to use my hair to make some kind of love potion or a substitute doll, hoping that I would fall in love with her... Anyway, it was really quite scary."
Listening to Lin Yu's heartfelt sentiments, and considering Lin Yu's outstandingly handsome face that couldn't be concealed even without any fancy clothes, hairstyle, or makeup, Zhiyuan naturally felt that she and Lin Yu had a similar experience in this matter.
“Yes, yes,” Paper Kite sighed, “This must be your classmate, right?”
Lin Yu nodded: "Yes, she's a girl in my class."
“That’s really unlucky… But, although I don’t mean to compare how bad it is, mine is definitely worse,” Paper Kite said, rubbing her forehead. “My boyfriend is not only a classmate, but also my roommate who lives in the same dormitory as me—I caught him stealing my socks.”
"That's why I only lived in the dorm for a month in college before moving out to rent a place."
Lin Yu patted Zhiyuan on the shoulder: "Then you're really in a bad situation... I completely understand why you felt stressed and uncomfortable when I took your clothes just now."
Paper Kite nodded sadly: "Alright, let's focus on the 'Player Mutual Aid Association' incident first—I was near that multimedia room because I wanted to communicate with 'Redwood'."
"Redwood? Why him?"
Lin Yu asked with some curiosity.
“Because he is one of the few people in the ‘Player Mutual Aid Association’ that I have confirmed are completely ‘clean’,” Paper Kite said. “Although I haven’t found any crimes in the ‘Player Mutual Aid Association’ that I would definitely kill, there are actually very few people in the ‘Player Mutual Aid Association’ that have made a name for themselves these days who are completely clean…”
“While I wouldn’t and have no need to kill them, that doesn’t mean I would cooperate with them. It’s my ‘moral fastidiousness’ and part of my character flaws,” Paper Kite sighed. “But ‘Redwood’ is an exception—he’s a guy who perfectly meets my ‘high moral standards,’ so… if I were to seek a partner in the ‘Player Mutual Aid Association,’ I would naturally choose him.”
"This also indirectly proves that I did not do this - because if the deceased were someone else, I would suspect that I did all this and then lost that memory because of some kind of shock, but if the deceased is 'Redwood'... it is completely impossible."
"Paper Kite said with certainty."
Lin Yu listened to Zhiyuan's words and raised a question: "But if we take into account the possibility that you really did it and that you lost your memory, what if you happened to discover that 'Redwood' had committed some unforgivable crime while talking to him, or what if you stumbled upon evidence of him doing something bad when you were looking for him, so you changed your mind at the last minute, took action directly, and happened to lose your memory during the fight with him?"
After listening to Lin Yu's analysis, Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment: "If that's the case... it seems to be quite possible."
"If the truth is found to be like this in the end, I am willing to plead guilty and accept punishment."
As Zhiyuan spoke, Lin Yu waved his hand.
"It's nothing, I was just saying it offhand... We keep that possibility in mind, but we're not considering it for now because it requires a lot of 'coincidence' to happen."
Paper Kite seemed thoughtful: "That makes sense..."
Having seized control of the conversation, Lin Yu pressed on, "Anyway, you went to find 'Redwood'... and then what?"
“Then my memory started to blur, like I was sleepwalking,” Zhiyuan rubbed her temples. “The last thing I clearly remember is being at that doorway, and the moment I opened it… I think I encountered some kind of enemy, and then I felt a strong threat, and I fired a few shots…”
"Then, when I regained consciousness, several minutes had passed, and those few minutes were the most critical moment—I saw 'Redwood' and two other members of the 'Player Mutual Aid Association' whose identities I didn't quite know but who seemed somewhat familiar, lying in pools of blood. Then a figure flashed across the glass of the media room, seemingly planning to escape by some means."
"Then... I fired another shot at that figure, but missed—and looking at the scene, I realized that if I continued to stay here, I might be controlled like 'Dionysus,' so I left first and continued to track that figure—although I don't know the figure's identity or how it left, I can still temporarily lock onto its aura."
"So, based on these two considerations, I left and chased after them."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu realized something: "But after leaving the convention center... you immediately lost track of them, right?"
Paper Kite said helplessly, "That's right... I realized then that the other party probably wanted me to leave the scene as well."
"But I had already left, so I had no choice but to continue hiding."
Lin Yu listened to Zhiyuan's words and fell into deep thought: "This is very likely a trap set for you. In that case, we do need to check the surveillance footage."
Paper Kite immediately replied, "Actually, I have already found the surveillance footage from when the incident occurred—but as you said, the other party did a very clean job; the footage from that period was tampered with and was playing old footage on a loop."
"However, the reason I'm still here is because I'm looking for clues by looking at surveillance footage from other places around the same time."
Lin Yu looked at the kite and sighed. This guy was indeed a loner, and his efficiency was really high.
So he continued, "Did you find anything?"
Of course there are.
Paper Kite nodded, walked to the monitoring screen, and started operating the control panel.
He quickly pointed to one of the screens showing a replay of the footage and said, "Look here—this is the surveillance footage from the downstairs corridor directly below me at the moment I lost consciousness."
Lin Yu frowned as he looked down the quiet corridor: "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong..."
But soon, he realized why the kite was showing the video because of the irregular shaking at the edges of the monitor screen.
"I see……"
"The surveillance cameras in this corridor have also been replaced."