I set you up on a blind date, and you've managed to overcome all the weirdness?

Lin Yan clicked his tongue in amazement.

Although the Folklore Bureau's attempt to cover up the situation is indeed professional, the truth can't be hidden forever.

Old Zhao is probably going to have something to worry about.

Lin Yan suddenly recalled the tense scene between Lao Zhao and Shen Qinglan in the command post last night.

Old Zhao is the field operations captain of the Jiangcheng branch, in charge of all the officers from groups one through seven who are working tirelessly on the front lines.

In the branch office, apart from the elusive director, Lao Zhao was the undisputed second-in-command.

Shen Qinglan was originally just the deputy leader of Group One.

However, she has a very powerful background. When she returned from her training at headquarters, the Nanhu District incident broke out. She was parachuted in with a special mission from headquarters and became the temporary supreme commander of that operation.

One is a veteran captain with high prestige on the front line, and the other is an imperial envoy who was parachuted in with a sword of authority and a ruthless approach.

The two were already at odds, and Shen Qinglan's behavior last night completely angered Lao Zhao and his subordinates.

The Jiangcheng branch will likely face a lot of open and covert struggles in the future.

However, none of this has much to do with Lin Yan anymore.

He is now a special envoy of the Provincial Bureau's "Hunter God" task force, directly under Chen Feng's command.

Moreover, Su Qinghan's casual way of producing classified information just now made Lin Yan realize that things were not so simple within the bureau.

This unassuming analyst from Group Seven is probably the biggest fish hiding deep within this branch.

"This place is a small temple with a lot of evil winds, and shallow water with many turtles."

Lin Yan shook his head, walked out of the bureau building, and hailed a taxi to go home.

For him, the most important thing now is how to take down that organization and, incidentally, earn some affinity points for himself.

Back home, Lin Yan had just closed the bathroom door, preparing to wash her face and clear her head.

With a hiss, the bathroom ceiling light suddenly went out, and the sensor light on the smart toilet also went black.

All electronic devices in the restroom were powered off.

Lin Yan immediately sensed something was wrong. Hearing the sound of flowing water, he looked up.

The faucet started running water on its own, and the water didn't fall into the drain due to gravity.

Instead, it flowed backwards in a bizarre way, gathering into a water mass in mid-air.

Then the water ball suddenly changed, transforming into a mermaid's face.

"Sister Tsunami?"

Lin Yan raised an eyebrow, but quickly calmed down. She had just owed him a big favor last night, so she shouldn't be in any danger.

"Don't worry, I just blocked the signal here."

The mermaid's voice came from the water clump.

"I don't like having a disgusting electronic bug eavesdropping on our conversations."

Lin Yan understood instantly.

Chu Chu's all-pervasive spying ability was clearly unbearable not only for herself, but also for other freaks.

"I understand, Sister Haixiao, your water control skills are truly beautiful," Lin Yan said, going along with the compliment.

"Were you satisfied last night?"

The water in mid-air rippled slightly, and said angrily:

"I told you not to call me Sister Tsunami!"

Then, as if savoring something, he said:

"It was delicious."

"The power remaining in that empty shell far exceeded my expectations; I have indeed touched the threshold of advancement."

Lin Yan raised an eyebrow.

As expected, the mermaid is trying to forcefully break through the shackles of the half-step advancement and catch up with Saya's footsteps.

My bluff yesterday was actually right!

"Live streaming seems...very interesting."

"Despite being so far away and never even seeing each other, it still managed to gather the gaze and fear of tens of millions of living people."

"The taste was pure, much cleaner than my dirty and narrow sewer."

"So?" A sense of foreboding rose in Lin Yan's heart.

Suddenly, Shui Liu's face leaned closer to Lin Yan and said with utmost seriousness:

"I want one of those things."

"So that millions of living people can hear my singing at the same time."

"I will not show myself; they are not worthy to see me. I only want them to listen, only want them to tremble."

"What?!" Lin Yan's eyes widened, almost thinking he had misheard.

Not showing their face.

Just sing.

Are you going to sing online?

Holy crap! Isn't that just a suited man?

A high-level monster who dwells deep in the sewers and kills and extracts souls at will has actually figured out the answer for the Internet age and wants to become a virtual singer?

This is such a stark contrast!

"I've figured out how that organization works," the mermaid said, ignoring Lin Yan's shock.

"If more people can hear my singing, I can see the possibility of promotion."

"This is very important to me, Lin Yan. You are the only human in the group. You can help me sort out all those messy rules that you humans follow."

Lin Yan felt a chill run down his spine.

A high-class freak is going to sing online?

If millions of people in that live stream listened, they'd probably all be drooling like Ah Feng!

This is creating a cyber crisis!

However, after the initial shock, Lin Yan came to his senses.

This person is begging me now.

Is this the kind of attitude one should have when asking someone for a favor?

"Mermaid sister, you have quite an appetite."

Lin Yan crossed his arms and leaned against the bathroom door frame, speaking slowly and deliberately:

"Setting up a secret live streaming channel isn't hard, and I can handle counter-tracking too, but there are countless ways to have fun online, why should anyone want to listen to you sing?"

Lin Yan looked at the mermaid and smiled knowingly:

"To succeed on the internet, you need a professional image and effective marketing."

"You need to establish a persona and do publicity; it's not something you can just do by humming a few tunes in a pipe and expecting to get traffic."

The mermaid's watery face seemed somewhat malfunctioning; she clearly had no concept of these new-era things.

"What do you want to say?" The mermaid's voice turned cold.

"I want to say that this is a huge project with extremely high risks. I'm risking being labeled a traitor by the authorities to help you start your business."

Lin Yan shrugged, adopting a business-oriented attitude.

"I'll pave the way for you, shield you from disaster, and even guarantee you a direct path to a half-step promotion... So, Mermaid, what's the price?"

In the past, the mermaid would have thought this human was courting death.

But after last night's battle, she knew that Lin Yan had a slit-mouthed woman behind him, and that the cyber bug Chu Chu was also in his hands.

Lin Yan had the leverage to negotiate with her.

The water flowed silently for a moment.

"Take it with you."

"In this Jiangcheng, wherever there's a water pipe connection, I'll help you unconditionally once."

"No matter who you want to kill, even if you want to kill that crazy woman in the mask, I will do my best to help you this once."

"This is a deposit; there will be a generous reward after the deal is done."

As the water droplets in the air gradually dissipated, a transparent pearl fell from the sky and was caught by Lin Yan.

Lin Yan also sensed a warning in the mermaid's final promise.

The mermaid still needs this pearl to achieve her goal, after she advances...

Everyone in this city who is showering, drinking water, or even using the toilet may be under his gaze.

Lin Yan shuddered; this was too Cthulhu-esque.

No, we have to find some way to protect ourselves.

The bathroom lights came back on, and Chu Chu's voice immediately rang out:

"Brother! The signal just dropped! Was it that old woman who smells like a dead fish coming to see you?"

"Is she trying to seduce you behind Chu Chu's back?!"

"What are you thinking about?" Lin Yan said casually as he walked out of the bathroom.

He has more important things to do now.

Lin Yan took out a frog brooch from his pocket and placed it on the table. Seeing this, Chu Chu wisely shut her mouth.

Chen Shu, Chen Shu, it's been so long, you should be done by now.