The time was exactly midnight, March 6th, 2089. Lin Qi received the meeting invitation right on schedule.

After accepting it, Lin Qi entered the conference room from a first-person perspective.

The conference room was the same as always: a dark, black-toned space with chairs arranged around a long table.

In front of Lin Qi was the Roman numeral "V." Guang Ling was always the first to connect to the meeting, waiting well in advance.

Master Ma, the Capitalist, and King Arthur came online in succession.

"This is the fourth meeting this week. It’s far too frequent."

The one who spoke was the Capitalist, who had already mentioned this during the last meeting.

Lin Qi sat bolt upright, shrouded in shadow, but the way he touched his nose revealed a hint of guilt.

All three emergency meetings had been at Lin Qi’s request.

Guang Ling’s steady voice was now tinged with a bit of helplessness. "The meetings are indeed too frequent. I’m under a lot of pressure; maintaining the conference room’s concealment requires a massive amount of computing power."

"Using that much computing power too often could lead to exposure to certain corporations. Fortunately, the Mercenary Corps has no missions next week, so tomorrow’s routine meeting is canceled for now. If something unexpected happens, I’ll ask about scheduling another emergency meeting."

Guang Ling’s words took everyone by surprise.

Until now, Guang Ling had always projected an image of being omnipotent in the digital world.

’Yet now he’s feeling immense pressure just from frequent meetings? To the point of canceling the regular Monday meeting?’

Sensing the gazes of the four members, Guang Ling guided the meeting to the main topic. "This is another emergency meeting requested by Wizard. It seems establishing contact with King Arthur hasn’t alleviated your troubles."

His face hidden in the shadows, Lin Qi slowly nodded.

"The actions taken by various factions in Greenfield City against the Si Clan and the Liu Clan have created huge obstacles for me."

Lin Qi stated this simply, without mentioning any details.

"I need a little help from all of you."

Having made his statement, Lin Qi got straight to the point.

Lin Qi hadn’t forgotten his purpose for calling today’s meeting. He needed to use the resources of the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps to deal with the trouble that was Si Ying.

King Arthur didn’t speak, seeming to still be preoccupied with the matter of the Potion Lin Qi had just mentioned.

As usual, Guang Ling waited for the other members to voice their opinions first.

The Capitalist was the first to speak. "Wizard, you’re in Greenfield City, so you probably have the best understanding of the current situation there among all of us. You should be aware that since we aren’t in Greenfield City, it’s difficult for us to provide you with any effective help."

"Furthermore, we don’t have sufficient Driving Force to help you."

The Capitalist’s words were extremely direct.

Driving Force simply meant benefit.

In previous meetings, the Capitalist had already provided a good deal of intelligence from the Big Business Alliance. That was a favor based on their relationship as teammates.

But three consecutive meetings unrelated to the Mercenary Corps or his own interests were gradually depleting that so-called goodwill.

Lin Qi understood this. In his original plan, he had been prepared to offer the Extraordinary Items abundant in the Doomsday World as payment for their help.

But after the appearance of the over-spec Potion, Lin Qi had a few more chips to play.

"The research institute I’m with has developed a new type of Potion. It’s M-Class, and its effect is to strengthen the human body up to the Tier One Limit."

"We can trade through the channel provided by Guang Ling. I can offer twelve vials of this new Potion per person as payment."

"Twelve vials of the Potion is enough to complete one full limit enhancement."

He couldn’t trade the over-spec Potion only with King Arthur, of course.

Just as Lin Qi had anticipated, Master Ma spoke up immediately. "This is a major breakthrough in Pharmacy! If the existing technological limitations can be broken for even High Level Potions, it will completely change the ecosystem for Extraordinary Professions like Martial Artists."

The Capitalist was silent for a moment before speaking. "Before a Potion like this is officially in circulation, twelve vials would be worth over a million Credit Points. If someone could reverse-engineer the production technology and process from a sample, it’d be worth over ten million."

The Capitalist’s judgment was spot-on. The Potion itself might not be worth a million, but its research value was extremely high. It could potentially trigger a mad scramble among all the pharmaceutical corporations.

Guang Ling looked at Lin Qi. Even through the network, Lin Qi could feel the astonishment in Guang Ling’s gaze.

A moment later, Guang Ling spoke. "It seems everyone is sufficiently satisfied with the ’Driving Force’ Wizard has provided. Wizard, why don’t you tell us what help you need."

Guang Ling used the Capitalist’s term, "Driving Force," which sounded much more amicable than phrases like "exchange of benefits."

Lin Qi laid out the plan he had prepared. "I need all of you to use your respective covert channels to help me spread a piece of intelligence regarding the true identity of the Si Clan’s heir."

"The heir the Si Clan has put on display is a fake. The real decoy was the now-deceased Si Ranran. The true heir of the Si Clan is Si Ying."

"The Si Clan has been putting on an act ever since the day Si Ranran died."

The killing intent was finally revealed.

The intelligence was, of course, fabricated by Lin Qi.

Lin Qi’s idea was very simple.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

He didn’t need to kill Si Ying himself. Lin Qi just needed to give the various factions lurking in Greenfield City a reason to make a move.

"The Si Clan is really playing a game like that?" King Arthur couldn’t help but ask, seeming to believe the intelligence Lin Qi provided was real.

The Capitalist and Master Ma, however, remained silent.

The Capitalist even briefly left the conference room, only reconnecting two minutes later.

"This intelligence has a certain degree of credibility. Is it true?"

The Capitalist’s tone was laced with suspicion. ’Could it be that Wizard is actually an insider from the Si Clan?’

The Si Clan was among the most powerful pharmaceutical corporations in the Asian Administrative Region. If any corporation could develop the kind of Potion Wizard described, the Si Clan was definitely one of the most likely candidates.

’What is Wizard’s goal?’

’To backstab the Si Clan?’

Master Ma didn’t speak, waiting for Lin Qi to answer the Capitalist’s question.

"It’s fake." Lin Qi chose not to lie, but he did invent a reason for his actions. "The Si Clan has caused us considerable trouble. This is simple retaliation. Besides, I need an Extraordinary Item that the Si Clan possesses."

The reason was a complete fabrication on Lin Qi’s part, but it sounded plausible enough.

Lin Qi admitted to himself that using such a crudely fabricated reason carried a slight risk of exposing his identity, but he was confident he could use his gains from the Doomsday World to create more smokescreens.

More importantly, in the short term, the risk posed by Si Ying far outweighed the risk from the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps.

Lin Qi chose to take Si Ying out from the shadows first.

"Understood. I can help with this favor."

"I agree as well."

The Capitalist and Master Ma agreed to Lin Qi’s request one after the other.

Lin Qi looked toward Guang Ling. In his plan, Guang Ling was the most crucial person.

Compared to the Capitalist and Master Ma, Lin Qi had more faith in Guang Ling’s abilities.

Unfortunately, Guang Ling had no intention of getting involved. He merely provided the platform for transactions between the Mercenary Corps members.