Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Chapter 877: A Fair Treasure Hunt

The moment those words fell, just as Lin Yu had expected, the calm and saintly Lord of the Sixth Island showed her first ”ripple” of emotion.

She looked at Lin Yu, her gaze brighter than it had ever been.

”You...”

She started to speak, then fell into silence again.

It was a long while before she spoke once more, her tone carrying a hint of probing hesitation.

”You seem to know something about him, donʼt you?”

Lin Yu looked at her cautious demeanor and nodded slightly. ”Since Iʼve come to take over what he left behind, itʼs only natural that Iʼm not completely ignorant about him.”

”Although Iʼve never met His Excellency ʼFreudʼ in person, to me... he is a predecessor worthy of great respect. Iʼve learned many things from him.”

Lin Yu carefully measured his words, releasing a sliver of mental energy as he spoke.

If his words had merely stirred something in the Lord of the Sixth Island before, the moment that mental energy appeared...

The Lord of the Sixth Island could no longer maintain her composure.

Lin Yu saw a flash of light before him, and then the Lord of the Sixth Island flowed like a streak of radiance to stand right in front of him.

”Why do you know this, outsider?”

The Lord of the Sixth Island stood almost face-to-face with Lin Yu. From a distance, he hadnʼt noticed, but up close, he realized she was actually slightly taller than him.

”I learned it from some of the things he left behind in our world,” Lin Yu said softly. ”Is this a very rare technique? I assumed heʼd picked it up here in the Misty Islands.”

As Lin Yu spoke, the Lord of the Sixth Island gently raised her hand. Her incandescent white hair, like strands of glowing filaments, drifted upward, resembling luminous jellyfish floating in the deepest reaches of the distant ocean.

Then...

Lin Yu felt tendril-like mental energy coil around the vague mental energy he had released.

The Lord of the Sixth Island was using the same technique of releasing mental energy, and her level of finesse was far higher than Old Zhengʼs.

”Of course he learned it here, but this technique is extremely rare even in the Misty Islands. Releasing oneʼs purest mental energy without any medium... this is a pre-Cataclysm technique. Only a very small number of Federation people ever mastered it,” the Lord of the Sixth Island said in a low, gentle voice. ”In the entire Misty Islands, the only ones who still command this technique now... should be just me and him.”

”After all, the best way to learn pure mental energy manipulation is to be directly guided and taught by someone who has already mastered it through the use of their own mental energy. And I have no intention of spreading this technique.”

Lin Yu was somewhat surprised. ”So, he learned this technique from you?”

”No. He learned it before he ever met me, deciphering the written instructions on his own from the ruins of another site,” the Lord of the Sixth Island said with a slight shake of her head. ”So... no matter what records he left behind, being able to master this on your own without ever seeing someone use it in practice or receiving guided instruction... your talent is in no way inferior to his.”

Lin Yu felt a bit embarrassed by the praise, since he hadnʼt actually mastered it on his own. His method of learning had been even more direct than ”guidance.”

Heʼd simply been possessed by Old Zheng, and after Old Zheng used his body to perform the mental energy technique once, Lin Yu had naturally learned it himself.

It was practically equivalent to hand-holding instruction.

However, constrained by his current persona, Lin Yu couldnʼt exactly explain that. For now, he had no choice but to accept the undeserved title of ”genius.”

”I didnʼt find it particularly difficult. Perhaps itʼs because his notes were quite thorough,” Lin Yu said.

The Lord of the Sixth Island nodded at his words, then withdrew her mental energy.

She looked at Lin Yu and spoke again. ”You learned this technique from him, so you share a connection with him. You wish to claim his inheritance, and youʼre hoping to obtain the ʼitemsʼ that assist with this technique, arenʼt you?”

Lin Yu nodded again. ”Yes, Lady of the Island.”

”I understand... Although I respect his wishes and wonʼt provide you with any substantial assistance, if you manage to obtain his legacy through your own abilities, you may bring his ʼitemsʼ to me for an exchange... I might have some things here that suit you better,” the Lord of the Sixth Island said, taking a step back and speaking softly. ”Moreover, your mental energy usage has some minor flaws. I could offer you some guidance on that as well.”

”However, all of that is a matter for later,” she said, having circled around the topic extensively before finally hesitating and asking the question that was, without a doubt, the one she cared about most. ”How did you know that I was the one ʼof utmost importanceʼ to him?”

”I guessed it. When he mentioned you, his tone was clearly different from how he spoke of any other person, place, or thing,” Lin Yu said, looking at her softly. ”Iʼm not an especially perceptive person, but I could still detect that careful, guarded tenderness.”

”People only walk with light, delicate steps when theyʼre cradling something beautiful and fragile.”

As Lin Yu spoke, the Lord of the Sixth Island looked at him. The light in her eyes flickered and dimmed, alternating back and forth for a moment. Then, the corners of her lips curled upward slightly.

”I see... I see...”

”What a pity,” she murmured. Though her words carried regret, her tone held a hint of a smile. ”Truly... what a pity.”

Lin Yu didnʼt continue that topic. Instead, he paused briefly before asking, ”But from what I understand... he never truly died back then, did he? Although he disappeared from our world, he continued to exist in your world for a very long time afterward, didnʼt he?”

”So why does it seem like the two of you hadnʼt seen each other for so long?”

The Lord of the Sixth Island was taken aback for a moment, then sighed and spoke. ”I remember that he was on the Thirty-Seventh Island. I know this much... that place isnʼt far from here.”

”But I knew that if I went to see him, he would truly die. Because at that time, he was sustaining his existence through a ʼdeception,ʼ and I would certainly see through that deception the moment I arrived. When that happened, he would be gone completely.”

”If I never went to see him, he might be able to keep living,” the Lord of the Sixth Island murmured. ”Rather than seeing him, I preferred knowing he was still alive. Just thinking that we were under the same sky, watching the same tide of mist rise and fall, that the wind blowing across the sea would carry the water vapor past me before settling upon him, and that the sound of the waves he heard would faintly drift into my ears as well... that was enough.”

”Although... although he eventually faded away in the end, having had that stretch of time together in the same world was enough to make me content.”

”Besides, today youʼve told me something even more important,” the Lord of the Sixth Island whispered. ”Something Iʼd never been certain about, today I can finally be sure of it... Iʼm very happy. Thank you, outsider.”

”I wish you good fortune, and that you may smoothly find the ʼinheritanceʼ he sank into the island.”

As the Lord of the Sixth Island spoke, Lin Yu looked at her with surprise.

Then, the Lady of the Island gave a gentle wink.

”I havenʼt influenced the fairness of the game, you know.”