Chapter 521 325: Lin Qi's Dirty Tricks, "The People's Hearts" in Hand

'Don't advance to Tier Four?'

'Why?'

Lin Qi hated how Liu Xingyuan spoke in riddles.

But having dealt with his fair share of riddlers, Lin Qi knew not to get too hung up on their words.

He would just have to wait for the right opportunity to find the relevant information elsewhere.

Lin Qi showed no hint of doubt or worry, simply replying, "Alright. I can agree to that."

'Tier Four isn't far off, by my estimation.'

'But before I take that final step, I'll figure out what Liu Xingyuan meant by that last sentence.'

Liu Xingyuan smiled and stood up. "Since you've agreed, my purpose for meeting you today has been achieved. If you need anything in Red Fruit City in the future, you can contact me or Xinglu directly."

From his posture, it was clear Liu Xingyuan was about to leave.

Lin Qi stood up as well. It was only polite to see them to the door.

Beside them, Liu Xinglu was shocked by the content of their conversation and surprised that Lin Qi was actually a Wizard. But seeing that the atmosphere between the two men had grown more harmonious, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

'At least now I'll have something to report to Liu Xuan when I get back.'

Liu Xinglu said to Lin Qi, "If you need anything in Red Fruit City, just let me know. For my niece Liu Xuan's sake, I'll definitely help you out."

Lin Qi nodded without saying much.

'Liu Xingyuan and Liu Xinglu are only acting this way for Liu Xuan's sake. No point in me dwelling on it.'

He walked them to the door and waited until they had both left in the elevator before returning to his office.

He gazed out the floor-to-ceiling window, mentally replaying his conversation with Liu Xingyuan.

'Between the lines, his concern for profits was secondary. His main focus was on my relationship with Liu Xuan.'

Lin Qi had to admit that Liu Xingyuan wasn't entirely lying. Anyone could see that something was wrong with Liu Xuan.

The Suppressor that activated from time to time was proof that Liu Xuan was unwell.

But...

'But to say Liu Xuan's decisions are entirely because of her 'illness' would be jumping to conclusions.'

'Before the Greenfield City incident, Liu Xuan was actually keeping her distance from me. Despite the years of 'chance' encounters and her arranging my job, she always remained restrained in our private interactions.'

'I refuse to believe it's all in my head!'

Now that Liu Xingyuan had brought everything into the open, Lin Qi confronted his own feelings.

He had feelings for Liu Xuan. Of that, there was no doubt!

'If Liu Xingyuan thinks Liu Xuan is a patient, then I'll just... cure her!'

'I can even develop an S-Class Potion. Curing an atypical case of cyber psychosis? I'll figure it out sooner or later.'

'Cyber psychosis caused by Extraordinary Power? Once I become Tier Four, I'll get to the bottom of her condition for sure!'

'Once she's cured, we'll see what that old fogey Liu Xingyuan, with his airs of seniority, has to say for himself.'

Lin Qi felt that Liu Xuan's actions after the Greenfield City incident were by no means entirely influenced by her cyber psychosis.

With his Spiritual Vision, Lin Qi had always been a good judge of character.

He quietly added this to his mental to-do list, then stopped dwelling on Liu Xingyuan's words.

His gaze passed through the floor-to-ceiling window, locking onto the ruins of the H4 Skyscraper below.

'Good thing I came to the H3 Skyscraper to meet Liu Xingyuan today. Otherwise, I would've had to find another way to get this close.'

He activated his Spiritual Vision and quickly locked onto the object he had seen last night.

The S-Artemis Neuro-Driven Storage Prosthetic Body. After King Arthur had ripped it from Ning Hao's head, he'd tossed it into the crimson cyclops eye.

At the time, Lin Qi had seen it transform into a Tier Three Extraordinary Item, but the circumstances had made it impossible for him to retrieve it.

Now, however, the Eastern Alliance's top experts had withdrawn, leaving only a single Tier Three Extraordinary on-site to handle the cleanup with the Liu Clan.

The item was at the top of the ruins, inside the collapsed cyclops eye.

The cleanup crew was still a long way from reaching the top floor.

The massive, several-hundred-meter-tall flesh-and-blood construct Lin Qi had left behind—which had consumed nearly all the Spiritual Power of two Tier Four masters—was taking up the vast majority of the cleanup crew's resources.

Since no one had yet seen the S-Artemis Neuro-Driven Storage Prosthetic Body, it was the perfect opportunity for Lin Qi to retrieve it.

With a mere thought, a patch of bloodstain inside the H4 Skyscraper suddenly stirred.

It melted from its coagulated state, pooling together and beginning to flow once more.

The location was extremely well-hidden; even the HGPD members clearing Zombies from the ruins failed to notice.

The blood converged, flowing rapidly toward the top of the ruins before plunging into the collapsed, crimson cyclops eye.

Its direction was clear, heading straight for the S-Artemis Neuro-Driven Storage Prosthetic Body.

It made contact, enveloped the object, then quickly detached from the crimson cyclops eye, snaking down a channel in the ruins and into the underground pipes.

Next, Lin Qi used his Spiritual Vision to track the layout of the pipes below. After less than five minutes of maneuvering, the Prosthetic Body silently emerged in the public parking garage beneath the H3 Skyscraper.

A manhole cover directly beneath Lin Qi's flying vehicle slid open, and the Prosthetic Body, roughly half the size of a fist, silently attached itself to the vehicle's undercarriage.

But it wasn't over. The blood transformed into a set of precision tools and began disassembling a panel on the vehicle's chassis.

In less than fifteen minutes, the Prosthetic Body was stowed securely inside Lin Qi's flying vehicle.