Regarding the situation where Twenty and Fern encountered each other as enemies, it could be said this was the exact scenario Lin Yu most wanted to see.

In fact, if the two had no natural opportunity to meet, Lin Yu was prepared to find a suitable moment to actively facilitate their meeting.

Like pretending to be someone controlled by Twenty himself...

Fortunately, though, things developed smoothly. The unlikely event of Twenty and Fern completely failing to notice each other didn't occur.

After all... even though the scale of this dungeon is considered large, it's ultimately just a closed environment.

Among the twenty players, Twenty came specifically for Lin Yu, so his objective can be abstracted as "finding a smart, suspicious player who is hiding himself."

And although Lin Yu doesn't know Fern's motives... he is very certain she happens to be a smart player who is also hiding herself.

With these two gathered in the same dungeon, while Lin Yu fully understands both their existence and that they are hiding well...

Twenty finding Fern, who isn't specifically guarding against him, was almost an inevitable occurrence.

It's like a hunter planning to go into the mountains;if he can't find deer, he's more likely to run into other large animals.

Of course, Lin Yu didn't expect Fern to kill Twenty.

Fern's actual class is Fraudster, which Lin Yu can confirm.

Although Fern has also demonstrated considerable combat prowess—her swordsmanship and archery are both excellent, and Twenty's actual class is Detective, which isn't particularly suited for direct combat either.

Still, no matter what, Twenty is a listed Third Tier player, a top expert ranked seventy-seventh.

Judging by this ranking, Twenty's combat ability is even stronger than Lin Yu's own captain, Good Night!

Therefore, Lin Yu's expectations for Fern were also simple.

To cause some trouble for Twenty.

After all, no matter how "lengthy" this dungeon is, it ultimately only lasts ten days.

It's already the third day now;time is nearly half over.

As long as she drags things out long enough, Fern's mission can be considered accomplished.

Holding such expectations...

Lin Yu continued maintaining his surveillance of Fern.

Perhaps having received a sufficiently clear answer from the Crow, Fern's subsequent route became extremely definite and precise, almost as if she had turned on navigation.

This forced Lin Yu to once again reassess "Fern's" capabilities.

"Even the most precise answer ultimately exists in the form of 'language.' To traverse this kind of dense forest and swamp terrain so seamlessly without pause... either this person has a naturally freakish grasp of direction and distance, or she possesses some ability or item similar to 'mental mapping' or 'wide-range perception'..."

Considering Fern's previous performance, Lin Yu felt the latter wasn't impossible—when she first accurately found him, it was already a bit too suspicious.

"Truly worthy of being a Fraudster, hiding things deep enough."

Lin Yu sighed with admiration.

But regardless, Fern having more abilities and methods is good news for Lin Yu.

Because...

Right now, Fern is going to cause trouble for Twenty.

Not long after, Lin Yu saw Fern stop walking.

She arrived at a certain spot in the Dense Forest, where there were several dead trees.

Although dead, these trees hadn't fallen over.

Fern stopped in front of one tree. Without almost any time spent pausing or searching, she used her sword to pry open what seemed like roots buried underground.

Behind those roots, a pitch-black opening was revealed, seemingly a downward passage.

"Found it."

Fern muttered, then jumped straight down.

Standing before the opening, Lin Yu stopped.

"This is really strange..."

He followed Fern here himself, but at this moment, Fern's behavior was far too bizarre.

A self-proclaimed Fraudster who "dislikes high-risk behavior" just jumped straight into this unknown hole without hesitation.

Putting himself in her shoes, Lin Yu felt he wouldn't do this.

Her actions were far too smooth, without even a moment for thought—even if driven by revenge, this was completely different from the behavioral pattern Fern displayed when Lin Yu previously encountered her.

Crouching on a treetop not far away, Lin Yu couldn't think of any good answers or explanations for Fern's abnormal behavior for the time being.

So...

Lin Yu decided to seek someone else's opinion.

To reduce the target, Stiller had already been "put away" by him. Currently, Lin Yu personally carried Hannah and Old Zheng.

However, Old Zheng seemed to have been helping continuously, leading to excessive consumption. His glow had become very faint now, as if he was "resting."

Lin Yu picked up Old Zheng and shook him vigorously.

"Wake up, Old Zheng!"

Old Zheng immediately responded, "Wake up what? I wasn't asleep!"

"I just switched to power-saving mode, that's all. My external perception is still active."

Lin Yu was quite surprised, "You, a brain, have a power-saving mode?"

"Of course! My current life form has lost many things... Since God closed so many doors and windows for me, he must have left me a vent, right?"

"So, I can slightly control my remaining brain to enter a state similar to hibernation—while still retaining all external perception."

Old Zheng said proudly.

Lin Yu nodded, "That is indeed useful. Does this mean you saw and heard everything just now?"

"Help me analyze why that 'Fern' suddenly acted so abnormally and recklessly jumped in there."

Old Zheng pondered for a moment before analyzing, "Judging from everything seen so far and the known conditions, I think the situation might be this."

"Twenty and Fern were in cahoots from the start. The two actually saw through your deception all along, colluded to lure you here, set up an inescapable net, and then pounce to kill you."

"Because you've already reached their territory, in their view, it doesn't matter if things get a bit rough now." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Probably in a little while, the two of them will appear, humiliate and mock you, then crush you to dust!"

After hearing Old Zheng's words, Lin Yu sighed.

"Although I considered that possibility, maybe less than one in ten thousand... but, you're lying to me, right?"

"Of course, I guessed you'd have this doubt," Old Zheng said calmly. "That's why I said it—after actually hearing it once, you should think it's impossible now, right?"

"Indeed. After all, trying to deceive me at every step of such a lengthy plan would be far too inefficient."

As Lin Yu spoke, his gaze returned to where Fern disappeared.

"So... what's the reason then?"

Old Zheng spoke again.

"After eliminating the impossible scenarios, the one that sounds most 'coincidental' and 'unbelievable' often turns out to be the real answer."

"Have you heard of Hanlon's razor?"

Lin Yu nodded, "Roughly know—never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity, right?"

"Yes. The world doesn't have that many flawless geniuses and intricately woven conspiracies. So, that Fraudster jumping down..."

"Is simply because there's something wrong with her head."