132: Chapter 132 Shadow Delivers Intelligence?

The gilded palace lanterns in the side hall cast a warm, cozy glow. Lin Zhe had just returned from the morning court; he leaned back in his rosewood chair, his fingertips tracing the heavy gold seal of the Prince Regent, while faint golden patterns of the Power of Rules shimmered around him.

Su Ninghua stood nearby, organizing the asset lists of the seventeen noble families whose properties had just been confiscated. The sleeves of her black imperial robe brushed against a jade tray, creating a crisp clinking sound.

"Tap, tap, tap—"

Extremely light footsteps of a royal guard sounded outside the hall. Through the door, they reported in a low voice, "Your Majesty, Prince Regent, there is a person wrapped in a black cloak outside the palace gate requesting an audience. They are holding the exclusive dark-patterned token of the Shadow Pavilion Master, Pavilion Master Ye Ling, and say they have important matters to discuss only with the Prince Regent."

Su Ninghua's pen paused, and her brows knitted slightly, "The Shadow forces have always been solitary, lurking in the shadows of major factions and never interacting with the open forces of the continent. Why would they take the initiative to come here this time?"

The gold seal under Lin Zhe's fingertips paused slightly. The strange, obscure aura he had perceived while leaving the morning court belonged to this Shadow messenger. He lifted his eyes indifferently and uttered two words, "Let him in."

"Yes."

The hall doors creaked open. A cold gust of wind, carrying the black dust unique to the Shadow Domain, drifted in. A person wrapped in a pure black hooded cloak walked in, hunched over. They were completely covered, not even a single strand of hair visible. As soon as they stepped inside, they dropped to one knee with a "thud," burying their head so low it was almost touching the ground. Their voice was extremely low, carrying the hoarse texture characteristic of the Shadow race, "Subordinate Shadow Seven, by order of the Pavilion Master, Her Majesty Pavilion Master Ye Ling, greets Mr. Lin Zhe and Her Majesty the Queen."

As he spoke, he raised a heavy black iron box with both hands. The box was engraved with intricate Shadow patterns and protected by three layers of secret locks that only Lin Zhe's Power of Rules could unlock, "The Pavilion Master knows that you have recently been purging the remnants of the conservative nobles and foreign forces, so she specifically ordered me to deliver this intelligence as a token of greeting."

Lin Zhe moved his fingertips slightly, and a faint golden Power of Rules swept over. The locks on the black iron box clicked open three times in succession. Inside, thick files were neatly arranged, with the top one bearing a dark purple Shadow pattern on its cover.

Shadow Seven proactively opened the files for them to see. The first book contained all the evidence of collusion between the remnants of the conservative nobles and the foreign barbarian tribes: copies of secret letters, grain transport routes, stronghold coordinates, and even the clearly written plan for their agreed-upon sneak attack on the border grain depot in half a month. The second book was a blacklist of malicious players across the entire server, listing the IDs, backend records, and hiding spots of all players involved in malicious PK, scams, or monopolizing dungeons; it even clearly marked the accomplices of Wang Dafu, the scammer from before. The third book was even more explosive: screenshots of internal chat logs from high-level officials. Several newly hired GMs were privately discussing taking advantage of a backend update to secretly submit an application to restrict Lin Zhe's permissions, aiming to downgrade his Rule permissions to the level of a normal NPC.

As Su Ninghua read on, her expression grew colder, and her fingertips turned white from gripping the edge of the file, "What a fine officialdom, what a fine group of foreign forces! To think they would engage in so many underhanded tricks behind our backs!"

After laying out all the files, Shadow Seven respectfully explained his purpose, "The Pavilion Master said that from now on, all intelligence, hidden quest clues, and private movements of various factions across the server will be provided to you with priority; there will be absolutely no concealment. She only asks that you agree to two small conditions: First, open a dedicated trade route between the Shadow Lands and the Human Empire, allowing players and merchants from the Shadow faction to come to the Human Empire to trade; Second, open basic Novice Area benefits to ordinary players of the Shadow faction, such as being able to enter the Elf Secret Realm, trade using maple coins, and collect free potions from public warehouses. We dare not ask for anything more."

The Shadow race had spent years in the dark Shadow Domain, where resources were scarce. They even had to pay high prices to middlemen just to buy basic potions. The official side had also consistently discriminated against the Shadow faction, offering no basic benefits, which had left players complaining for a long time. Pavilion Master Ye Ling's initiative to seek cooperation this time was to secure a way of survival for her people and players.

Lin Zhe glanced at the contents of the files; his Rule Perception had already verified that all the intelligence was genuine, without a shred of falsehood. He nodded indifferently, his tone devoid of any ripple, "Very well. The trade route will open tomorrow, and the basic benefits for Shadow players will take effect immediately."

[Ding! Detected that the top-tier female NPC, Shadow Pavilion Master Pavilion Master Ye Ling's favorability towards the host has increased to 20. Eighth bond trigger progress +3%, current progress: 3%!]

The cold system notification sounded in Lin Zhe's mind. He tapped his fingertips lightly on the coordinates of the foreign forces' strongholds on the file, saying nothing.

Shadow Seven was instantly overjoyed, kowtowing so hard that it made a thudding sound, his voice distorted with excitement, "Thank you, Sir! Thank you, Sir! This subordinate will return immediately to report to the Pavilion Master! From now on, the Shadow race will absolutely follow your lead and report any movements immediately!"

Afraid that staying even one more second might displease Lin Zhe, he left the black iron box behind and backed out of the side hall, hunched over. Wrapped tightly in his cloak, he slipped along the base of the wall out of the imperial palace. He rushed back to the Shadow Domain before dawn, without causing the slightest stir.

With the intelligence gripped in her hand, Su Ninghua immediately issued an order, "Pass on My decree: The Shadow Guard is to mobilize in full force. Raid the three strongholds of the foreign forces according to the coordinates above. End the battle quickly, and do not let a single person escape!"

"Yes!"

The efficiency of the Shadow Guard was extremely high. In less than two hours, they had wiped out all three strongholds, slaying two thousand remnants of the foreign barbarian tribes. They seized two thousand sets of enchanted armor, over ten thousand magic-breaking arrowss, and three million gold coins in illicit funds, without suffering a single loss.

Su Ninghua ordered on the spot that all seized supplies be deposited into the Luofeng Village public warehouse, and she issued a server-wide announcement that same day:

[Server-wide Announcement: Foreign forces colluding with the remnants of the conservative nobles planned a sneak attack on the border. They have now been completely purged, and all seized supplies have been confiscated. Starting today, all players across the server can go to the public warehouse in any Novice Area to claim 5 Intermediate Health Potions for free, with an additional 10% global drop rate buff for 3 days, effective immediately! The final interpretation of this announcement belongs to the Prince Regent, Lin Zhe!]

The entire server exploded instantly!

Messages on the world channel flooded so fast that the server lagged for half a second. Tens of millions of messages piled up, all filled with ecstatic howls:

"Holy crap? More benefits? I just finished claiming the potions from the Prince Regent's benefit week last week, and now another one? Big Boss Lin Zhe is the GOAT!"

"The foreign forces actually dared to launch a sneak attack? Good thing we had the Shadow intelligence! From now on, I will definitely not hike up prices when Shadow players come to our area to trade!"

"I just cleared a dungeon and got Blue-tier equipment! This 10% drop rate really was added! So awesome!"

Countless players rushed to the public warehouse to collect potions, their faces beaming with joy. Players who had previously had their supplies stolen by foreign forces even rushed to the world channel to spam "Lin Zhe is awesome" dozens of times. Even players from the Shadow faction specifically came to express their gratitude, saying they could finally collect free potions and no longer had to pay high prices to buy trash from middlemen.

Lin Zhe leaned back in his rosewood chair, his fingertips tapping lightly on the thick stack of intelligence files. His Rule Perception spread out slightly, and he could clearly sense that far away in the Shadow Domain, at the highest point, a figure in a pure black cloak was standing on top of a tower built of obsidian, gazing in the direction of Holy Light City. He curled the corners of his mouth into an extremely faint arc, but said nothing.

The royal guard outside the hall walked in quickly, bowing as they reported, "Sir, the envoy from the Dragon Domain has arrived again, bringing an urgent letter from Her Majesty Ao Ningshuang, requesting that you set off for the Dragon Domain to suppress the rebellion as soon as possible."