263: Lin Yu is quite easy to talk to.

"Holy... fuck..."

A heartfelt curse squeezed through Zhong Huai's teeth.

He swore he wasn't someone who liked to curse, unless he couldn't hold it in.

Report it!

That was the first thought that popped into his head.

This matter was too big. The Abyss Domain, a massive amount of supplies, and the protagonist of the "god-making project"—any one of these three things would be enough to give him a headache. Now that they were all mixed together, it had completely exceeded the scope of what a squad leader could handle.

Actually, not necessarily, but whoever wanted to get involved in this kind of thing could go ahead. Zhong Huai's family background was also unusual, and he didn't need this kind of merit. If his identity were to be inserted into this, it would instead make things more troublesome.

He had to report this to the Commander-in-Chief immediately!

He subconsciously reached for his encrypted communicator, preparing to dial that number he knew by heart.

However, his finger suddenly froze the moment it touched the screen.

Report to whom?

Qin Zhan?

Zhong Huai's movements stopped.

He knew Qin Zhan too well.

That man was the military's sharpest blade, the absolute embodiment of force, but he had nothing in his head except missions and combat.

Social graces? Future prospects? Non-existent.

Lately, he seemed to have gained some sense, but in the end, his attitude remained ambiguous.

Once Qin Zhan found out about this, what would he do?

Would he enforce the so-called official regulations to the letter?

He wouldn't care about some Visitor from the Abyss Domain, some secret transaction, or that Lin Yu was the protagonist of the "god-making project"!

In Qin Zhan's eyes, a violation was a violation! Smuggling was smuggling!

When that happened, the Fangs would directly go to war with the Abyss Domain, pushing Lin Yu, the protagonist, right into the eye of the storm, and the entire power structure of Blue Star would be turned upside down.

Qin Zhan wouldn't care; he might even find it exciting.

But Zhong Huai cared!

He cared on behalf of that madman!

If this mess reached Qin Zhan, Qin Zhan's military career might be over!

Dammit!

Zhong Huai cursed again in his heart and pulled back his communicator.

He couldn't report it.

At least, he couldn't report it directly.

He stood up abruptly and looked around at his team members, who were still in a state of daze.

"Attention, everyone!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.

"From now on, block all external communications from the scene! Everything that happened tonight is classified as SSS-level secret! Until I rescind this order, no one is allowed to transmit a single word to the outside world in any form!"

"Violators will be charged with treason!"

The team members shuddered and stood up straight in unison.

"Yes, Captain!"

Zhong Huai's mind was racing.

Since he couldn't report it, he could only suppress it.

With the temporary supreme command he had taken over, he could entirely define this matter as an "internal exercise" or an "intelligence error."

But... just suppress it for nothing?

That wasn't Zhong Huai's style.

He never made a losing deal.

By suppressing this matter, to whom was he doing a massive favor?

Lin Yu!

It was that Young Man next door who still didn't know what had happened!

He had to make sure the other party knew about this favor!

No, it couldn't be just letting him know a favor was done.

He had to make him proactively "owe" this favor.

This could be of great use in the future!

Favors, after all, were meant to be reciprocal.

Even if Qin Zhan chose to be tough in the end, at least he could give Lin Yu a better impression of the Fangs for now.

He tidied his combat uniform, smoothing out the wrinkles caused by his shock, and then strode out of the reception room.

"Captain?"

A confused inquiry came from the team members behind him.

Zhong Huai didn't look back.

"I'm going to ask for the 'party concerned's' opinion."

...Knock. Knock. Knock.

A polite and rhythmic knocking sounded.

Lin Yu opened his eyes. So soon?

Wasn't Old Shi going to cause some trouble?

He got up from the sofa, walked over, and pulled open the door.

Standing outside was a man with a straight posture, wearing a deep black combat uniform he had never seen before, the epaulets gleaming with a cold, hard metallic luster.

When the man saw Lin Yu, he was first stunned, then immediately snapped his feet together and gave a flawless military salute.

"Greetings, Sir!"

"Zhong Huai of the Fangs Special Operations Team, Fourth Squad, reporting to you!"

Lin Yu was a bit dazed by this sudden display.

Sir?

He sized up Zhong Huai, certain he didn't know this person.

Besides, when did he become part of the military?

"You have the wrong person, don't you?"

Lin Yu's reaction was flat.

"No mistake! Ah... you might not know yet, I'm sorry, there will be a notification about this later."

Zhong Huai's voice was powerful, and he stood even straighter.

"Mr. Lin Yu, we just encountered a bit of a minor trouble outside the park. We might... need you to personally step in and coordinate."

He deliberately kept his posture very low and was extremely careful with his wording.

It was "coordinate," not "interrogate," and certainly not "investigate."

As soon as Lin Yu heard this, he roughly understood.

It must be those two guys from the Abyss Domain who, carrying the ring he gave them, were detained by these military people.

Li Mo moved so fast.

However, Lin Yu had already made up his mind not to care about this matter.

He only wanted to quietly increase his attributes now and didn't want to get involved in the mess of any faction.

"Your own trouble, handle it yourselves."

Lin Yu had no interest and was about to close the door as he spoke.

"Sir, please wait!"

Zhong Huai wasn't flustered, nor did he reach out to stop him; he just raised his volume slightly.

"What we intercepted were two unregistered high-level Professionals from the Abyss Domain, as well as a... storage ring with an energy reaction intensity reaching the strategic level."

"According to the Alliance's Supreme Wartime Regulations, I have the right to execute them on the spot and forcibly reclaim all items."

"But..."

Zhong Huai paused, showing a troubled expression at just the right moment.

"Considering the sensitivity of the matter, I have temporarily brought the situation under control. But without a reasonable explanation, my only choice is to report this to the Military Supreme Command."

"When that time comes, I'm afraid the matter will be beyond what the few of us can control."

"I am truly sorry, Mr. Lin Yu, but we only need to verify that the contents of the items fall within the scope of a normal transaction... I'm just someone trying to earn a living, so just following the process will be fine."

There was a plea in Zhong Huai's gaze; his primary goal was to bring Lin Yu to the scene.

Lin Yu didn't know the other party had already seen through his file; he just took him for a rather rigid grassroots military officer who happened to stumble upon this.

Fine.

There was no point in making things difficult for a grassroots personnel.

But it seemed this guy didn't want to follow Old Shi's script?

Now Lin Yu was quite curious about what that little old man would do once he realized his arrangements had fallen through.

"Alright."

Lin Yu let go of the doorknob.

"Lead the way."

Hearing those three words, a nearly imperceptible flash of joy crossed Zhong Huai's tense face.

It worked!

It seemed this Lin Yu was actually quite easy to talk to!