Locke: I rely on intelligence to dominate the world and ensure the survival of my nation.

"Young Master Zhao, we really sealed off every entrance..." one of his men said cautiously. "We've guarded the public entrances, the side alleys, and even the cracks that aren't marked on the map. But Lin Chen seems to have vanished into thin air; we can't find him at all."

Zhao Tianyu punched a nearby reef.

His knuckles were bleeding, but he seemed not to feel any pain.

"Keep guarding," he said through gritted teeth. "I don't believe he won't come for the water-type badge."

"But Young Master Zhao..." Another subordinate hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the team behind him, "The brothers have been guarding the entrance for two days and two nights."

The monsters here are too high-level; I get driven back several times a day. I've used up most of my potions, and my pets are badly injured. If I keep guarding this place…”

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was already quite clear.

If we keep holding on, the team will collapse.

Zhao Tianyu gritted his teeth and remained silent.

He turned and looked at the inflatable rafts on the distant sea—all the resources they had plundered from their territory. To blockade the deep sea, he had transferred the fifty most elite men in his team here; potions, gooballs, rations—all supplies were being poured into this area.

After two days, the lockdown had no effect whatsoever; on the contrary, the team suffered heavy losses due to frequent attacks from wild monsters.

Three pets were on the verge of death, more than a dozen bottles of medicine were exhausted, and more than twenty people were injured.

Lin Chen, however, did not appear at all.

"Young Master Zhao, someone's looking for you." A subordinate ran over with a strange expression on his face. "It's Li Kai."

Zhao Tianyu raised an eyebrow.

Li Kai. The streamer who was defeated by Lin Chen without taking any damage, and whose live stream room was completely destroyed.

"Let him come over."

Li Kai emerged from the crowd, his expression even more somber than Zhao Tianyu's. His left arm was bandaged, and he walked with a limp, suggesting he hadn't been having an easy time lately either.

"Young Master Zhao." Li Kai stopped, his gaze sweeping over his exhausted subordinates. "You've been guarding for two days, and haven't even spotted Lin Chen?"

Zhao Tianyu's eyes turned cold: "If you're here to laugh at us, you can get lost now."

Li Kai shook his head.

"I'm not here to laugh at you. I'm here to collaborate."

He took out his phone from his pocket and opened a screenshot—a blurry photo of Lin Chen taken outside a hidden cave in the deep sea of ​​Genos. He didn't know who took it; the angle was off, but Lin Chen's back was clearly recognizable.

"I have an informant who told me that Lin Chen didn't use the public entrance at all." Li Kai handed his phone to Zhao Tianyu. "He used a hidden passage. There's an entrance hidden by illusion magic in the eastern reefs of the Genos Deep Sea."

Zhao Tianyu took the phone and stared at the photo for a long time.

What do you want?

"First, I want to be part of your core team," Li Kai said calmly. "Second, I want 30% of Lin Chen's assets."

Zhao Tianyu remained silent for three seconds.

Then he reached out his hand.

"make a deal."

The two people held hands.

Genos is deep in the ocean, hidden deep within caves.

Lin Chen stood by the pool, looking at the dark red moon reflected on the water.

He was unaware that Zhao Tianyu and Li Kai had joined forces.

But he knew that day would come sooner or later.

He opened the system interface, and after using up his intelligence points, he only had 3 left.

There are still several hours until midnight every day.

And in the deepest part of the sea, something was emitting a faint call that only he could hear.

Lin Chen closed the interface and turned to look at Wang Hao and Su Muxue, who were resting.

"Tomorrow, we'll go to the third floor."

"The third floor?" Wang Hao's voice trembled. "Isn't that area not open yet?"

Lin Chen did not answer.

He simply looked into the depths of the pool, at the bottomless expanse of dark water.

Something was waiting for him there.

Li Kai's live stream has never been this lively.

The number of online viewers exceeded 500,000, and the barrage of comments was so fast that it was impossible to read them all. But Li Kai didn't need to read every single comment, because he knew that the emotions in those comments were all ignited by him.

"Brothers, what I'm about to say concerns the vital interests of every lord in China."

Li Kai sat in front of the camera with a carefully crafted "heavy" expression. His eyes were slightly red, and his voice had a just-right hoarseness, as if he had been up for several nights and was restless over some important truth.

"Have you guys noticed that ever since that guy named Lin Chen appeared, ordinary players haven't been able to get any of the good stuff from the Plata Grasslands, the Pet Park, or even the Genos Deep Sea?"

The comments started scrolling.

"It seems that's true. I can't even pick up a regular Gulu ball anymore."

"Who is Lin Chen? That big shot who's trending at number one on social media?"

"That's the guy who beat Li Kai without taking any damage."

"Heh, they're big shots, we commoners are just destined to eat dirt."

Li Kai glanced at the comments section, a slight smile playing on his lips from an angle out of the camera's view. But he quickly suppressed that smile, replacing it with an even more somber expression.

"I didn't want to say it. After all, he's now the official chief pioneering consultant, he has connections and backing, and I'm just an ordinary streamer, I can't afford to offend him."

"but--"

He took a deep breath, as if he had made a major decision.

"But brothers, I can't just stand by and watch ordinary Chinese players get exploited!"

He picked up a tablet from the table; the screen displayed an edited video. The video showed Lin Chen, Su Muxue, and Wang Hao entering a hidden cave in the deep sea of ​​Genos, with accompanying text annotations.

"Everyone, look carefully. This cave isn't marked on the map, the system didn't give any hints, and no ordinary player could find it. But Lin Chen just walked right in."

"When he came out, he took five intermediate-level Gulu Balls, one thousand Rock Dollars, and a water-type skill stone with a power of ninety."

Li Kai's voice rose eight octaves.

"Why? Why does he get all this stuff? We ordinary players can't even get a sip of soup!"

There is only one answer—

He stared at the camera and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Lin Chen colluded with the authorities and monopolized all the hidden resources in the territory. In their eyes, ordinary players are just cannon fodder and consumables in this game of national destiny."

The live chat exploded.

"Holy crap! Really?"

"I knew it! How could anyone level up so fast! Turns out, the official team is giving them special help!"

"Boycott Lin Chen! Boycott official monopoly!"

"This is unfair! We demand Lin Chen be kicked out of the Management Bureau!"

"Everyone, calm down. Is it possible that they're just really strong?"

"Are you Lin Chen's paid shill? Get out!"

Li Kai watched the barrage of comments and was extremely satisfied. He put down his tablet, clasped his hands together, and made a "please" gesture towards the camera.

"Brothers, my strength is limited on my own. But if we all speak out together, the authorities can't pretend not to see it."

"Repost this live stream recording to the official account of the Locke National Development Administration, so the whole world knows—Lin Chen is unworthy to be China's chief pioneering advisor!"

In the live stream, gifts started flooding the screen.

What Li Kai didn't know was that while he was live streaming, a much larger public opinion offensive was unfolding across the entire internet.

Zhao Tianyu sat in his office, with more than a dozen windows open simultaneously on his computer screen. Each window contained the backend of a different news website, social media platform, or short video app.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Has the press release been issued?"

"It's out. Twelve mainstream media outlets and thirty-seven self-media accounts all pushed it out simultaneously."