Choosing not to call her out on it, Lin Qi silently walked into the room.

Once inside, Lin Qi looked around.

Compared to his previous residence, this single room was three times the size of his entire former home.

The room was also fully equipped. It had a bathroom, a kitchen, and even a storage room. If he hadn’t known this room was in Liu Xuan’s villa, he would have thought it was a self-contained apartment just from the layout.

However...

’Is it really reasonable for a villa to have a room this self-contained?’

’What was the architect who designed this villa thinking?’

’Were they planning to split the villa up for rent?’

’Is this the kind of structure a high-end villa should have?’

’It’s completely unreasonable!’

Moreover, Lin Qi couldn’t shake the feeling that the room’s renovations were a bit... new!

’She’s not even trying to hide it anymore.’

Even a fool could see that Liu Xuan was clearly up to no good.

He shook his head, walked into the bathroom, and began to think as he faced the mirror.

’What exactly is Liu Xuan after by doing all this?’

Lin Qi first ruled out the most seemingly reasonable possibility: that she was after his body.

Once he discarded that possibility, many other lines of thought opened up.

First was his value to the company. A rapidly advancing researcher, especially one with a high chance of becoming S-Class, was certainly worth courting by upper management. But it was unlikely to warrant this kind of approach from Liu Xuan.

Before he knew it, his thoughts strayed back to the very possibility he had just ruled out.

Lin Qi quickly shook his head. ’This is the Cyber World. I might consider Liu Xuan a friend, but she’s still a member of the Liu Clan. I can’t afford to look at everything through rose-colored glasses.’

To survive long in the Cyber World, Lin Qi had to remain rational.

He’d already acted impulsively once. Now that he was in a relatively safe environment, he had to remain vigilant even in times of peace.

’Arranging for me to live here must satisfy some need. If I disregard the emotional value, the breakthrough might lie in...’

’The Suppressor. The essence of Liu Xuan’s prosthetic left eye is a Suppressor.’

As an L-Class Prosthetic Engineering researcher, Lin Qi could of course recognize a Suppressor.

It was a very common prosthetic component that came in many forms.

Anyone whose prosthetic integration level exceeded twenty percent had to use a Suppressor.

’A Suppressor has two functions. The first is to regulate the body’s immune response and prevent excessive rejection of prosthetics.’

’The second is to suppress mental abnormalities and prevent the onset of cyber psychosis.’

Apart from that Suppressor in her left eye, Liu Xuan had no other prosthetics in her body whatsoever.

She definitely had no use for the first function.

’In other words, Liu Xuan has some kind of psychological issue, and it has something to do with me.’

He recalled every memory he had of Liu Xuan.

He recalled every time her Suppressor had glowed.

Lin Qi quickly arrived at this conclusion.

He even figured out the source of Liu Xuan’s psychological issue.

’It all started with that experiment years ago. What kind of experiment was it? From my current perspective, even a Tier Two Wizard would have a hard time triggering a mental storm of that magnitude.’

Lin Qi gleaned a wealth of information from these various details.

He even deduced a critical conclusion.

His very presence could significantly alleviate the psychological issues Liu Xuan was facing.

In other words, he himself could somehow substitute for some of the Suppressor’s functions.

The principles behind it were beyond his current understanding, but it was a conclusion he had reached through logical deduction.

’In that case, all of Liu Xuan’s "chance" encounters with me, and her asking me to live here today, can all be explained.’

’As long as I disregard the effects of dopamine on the human mind, the conclusion is perfectly logical.’

After figuring all this out, Lin Qi felt a bit melancholy.

Over the years, Liu Xuan had helped him more than a few times, and Lin Qi had long come to consider her a friend.

’There’s no need to overthink this. Thinking too far ahead is just borrowing trouble.’ 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

For now, Liu Xuan didn’t seem to harbor any ill will toward him. In fact, judging by her actions, she clearly didn’t see him as just some disposable tool.

For example, in Greenfield City, Liu Xuan had used herself as bait, but not before specifically telling Lin Qi to stay inside and wait to return to Red Fruit City on the Red and Green after everything was over.

Words can be deceiving, but Liu Xuan had never been one for many words with Lin Qi.

Only actions were real and objective. A person’s actions always reflect their true inner thoughts.

He turned on the faucet, letting the water run silently.

Before he could be sure his theory was correct, Lin Qi needed to run an experiment.

Using the electrode behind his ear to connect to the Intelligent Brain, he composed an email and sent it to Guang Ling.

"Guang Ling, if I wanted to hire you to search for any surveillance devices within my current residence, how many Credit Points would it cost?"

Lin Qi had already figured out how Guang Ling operated.

Help was available, but it came at a price.

Sure enough, Guang Ling replied instantly. "Five hundred thousand Credit Points."

’A mere five hundred thousand!’

It wasn’t like he was going to spend the money sitting in his account anytime soon anyway.

"Done. Please run the check."

If Liu Xuan wasn’t lying, the level of privacy here would be just as she’d described.

That would prove she truly harbored no ill will.

Lin Qi wouldn’t need to be overly concerned about her motives.

About thirty seconds later, Guang Ling’s reply came.

"Your current location is under Red Fruit City’s highest level of privacy protection. I detect no traces of any networked surveillance devices, nor do I detect any internal network signals."

Guang Ling’s reply confirmed two things for Lin Qi.

First, Liu Xuan hadn’t lied. She most likely held no ill will toward him—at least for the time being.

And second...

Not even this level of security could stop Guang Ling from prying!

A simple request, and it could scan and search at will!

In the entire Cyber World, who could possibly have any privacy from Guang Ling?

If an entity like that were ever exposed, Guang Ling would instantly have the highest bounty on the entire Black Market.

No one would want a being like Guang Ling to continue existing peacefully.

A being like that was a massive threat just by existing.

Lin Qi had once again confirmed the extent of Guang Ling’s abilities.

They were terrifyingly powerful; for now, he could see nothing that could possibly restrain Guang Ling.

He gently scooped up some water and washed his face.

Then, Lin Qi opened the weapons compartment in his left arm and took out a wristband.

Even Guang Ling had confirmed the privacy of this place. To worry any further would be to disrespect Guang Ling’s capabilities.

Through the wristband, Lin Qi saw the messages King Arthur had sent today.

"Things are really heating up over in Greenfield City. I hear the Holy Relic Legion has already sent people. Supposedly for revenge? When did the Si Clan manage to piss off a T0-level Mercenary Corps?"

"Wizard, speaking of which, how’s your research on the new A-Class Potion coming along? I’m being serious, I really need it."

"So intense! I heard Greenfield City’s Iron Curtain got nuked again. That’s the third time, right? At this rate, the Eastern Alliance might not be able to stabilize the Asian Administrative Region. The Big Business Alliance is just watching from the sidelines. I’m guessing a corporate war is about to break out in the Asian Administrative Region."

The messages provided Lin Qi with a wealth of intelligence.

But they also exposed King Arthur’s true nature as a chatterbox.

Thankfully, King Arthur was a chatterbox. Otherwise, stuck in Red Fruit City where accessing the cyber network was too risky, Lin Qi would have no way of getting news from the outside world.

Lin Qi composed a reply to King Arthur: "The research on the new A-Class Potion has reached a critical stage. It won’t be long before I can send you a sample."

"Once you receive the sample, I’d like to get some data feedback, specifically a comparison against data from an S-Class Potion. If you can help collect that, I’ll send you an extra sample of the new A-Class Potion for free."

King Arthur didn’t reply immediately. Lin Qi put the wristband away, walked out of the bathroom, and lay down on the bed.