It was the weekend.
Qianda Plaza was packed with people, bustling with activity.
To celebrate finally resolving a major matter today, the clone, and with Ning Xi's help, extending the clone's duration from three days all the way to thirty days, enough to carry out Lin Mo's later plans of gathering allies and building a force, Lin Mo treated Ning Xi and her younger brother Ning Fei to hotpot.
After finishing the meal and checking the time, it was already 8:30.
Lin Mo said to Ning Fei, "Xiao Fei, keep your sister company and walk around the mall. I'll go online to handle something."
Ning Xi quickly said, "Brother Lin Mo, I'll go with you."
Ning Fei deliberately sighed, "Sigh! Sis, your eyes are full of brother-in-law now. You've completely forgotten about your little brother."
"No way…", Ning Xi's face flushed red.
Lin Mo smiled and said to Ning Xi, "Although the clone doesn't have a control range limit, the premise is that I have to be online to control it with my thoughts."
"Don't worry. I'll just stay in the city and remotely control the clone to connect with Black Night. Once I'm done, I'll come back."
Ning Xi nodded, looking at Lin Mo, a trace of reluctance in her eyes, "Then… come back quickly."
Lin Mo took out three movie tickets from his pocket.
"They're for 9:20. I'll definitely be back before then."
Ning Xi's modd instantly brightened, "Brother Lin Mo, when did you buy the tickets?"
Lin Mo smiled without answering, "Wait for me. Be good."
After handing the tickets to Ning Xi, Lin Mo turned and left.
Watching his back, Ning Fei couldn't help but imitate Lin Mo's tone and teased Ning Xi, "Wait for me, okay? Be good~"
Ning Xi glared at Ning Fei, "Ning Fei!"
"Ahem!", Ning Fei turned serious, "But honestly, sis, this Lin Mo guy is pretty good."
"He's capable, responsible, and most importantly, loyal. I really like this brother-in-law."
"I bet Mom will like him too."
"As for Dad, who cares. If he has any objections, I'll hack his phone and play ghost noises for him every night at midnight."
Ning Xi couldn't help but laugh, "You really are such a filial son!"
Ning Fei puffed up with pride, "That's because he never treated us like people when we were kids. I was okay, I dared to fight back. At worst I'd just get beaten. But you were gentle and didn't dare provoke him. You had to endure everything, who knows how much you suffered."
"If Ning Zhigang dares to bully you again, sis, I'll beat him to death for you."
A relieved smile spread across Ning Xi's fair face.
Before, she felt the only man in this world she could rely on was her younger brother Ning Fei.
But now, she had two men who could protect her.
———
After leaving Qianda Plaza, on the way back to the residential complex, Lin Mo suddenly received a message from the Divine Nation guild core group.
[Ming Yuexin: "@All Members Emergency guild operation. Everyone must gather at the north gate of Inferno City within five minutes."]
"An emergency operation?"
"Could it be more urgent than setting up my clone?"
Just then, Ling Xue sent Lin Mo a private message, ["Lin Mo, are you free to participate in tonight's operation?"]
Lin Mo frowned slightly.
He had originally planned to ignore the group message.
But since Ling Xue specifically messaged him, and thinking, 'As long as I'm online, I can remotely control the clone anyway. It won't affect my plan.'
So Lin Mo agreed, ["Alright, I'll log in."]
Ling Xue: ["Mm, I'll wait for you."]
———
[In-Game]
[Beast Race Level 2 main city, Inferno City, North Gate]
Zhao Jun, He Xiao, Lin Miaomiao, and dozens of other Divine Nation core members gathered here.
Tonight's operation seemed to be something especially important.
At this moment, He Xiao looked around, "Where's that brat Sun Yang? Slacking off again?"
"He disappears whenever there's a mission. But when he was looking at Ling Xue earlier, I didn't see him slacking at all?"
Zhao Jun said, "Rulebound assigned him a task this morning, told him to lead people to the [Blood Mine] to mine Blood Crystals."
Lin Miaomiao frowned slightly and sighed softly, "Sigh… could it really be like we thought?"
"Is Lin Mo really treating our Divine Nation as his umbrella? Not only using our protection to secretly build his own power, but even using our manpower to profit for himself?"
Ling Xue was silent for a moment, then said, "Right now, it's all just speculation. It doesn't mean anything."
"Same as before, whether it's true or not, we'll know tonight."
Outwardly, she seemed fair and selfless. But inwardly, Ling Xue was quietly praying, 'Lin Mo… I hope you're not what we think you are…'
Before long, Lin Mo arrived as promised.
All the core members of Divine Nation, along with a thousand elite guild players, left the city and advanced north of Inferno City.
Lin Mo noticed that this direction was also the path leading to Desire Island.
But at first, he didn't pay much attention.
Until they went farther and farther, and he realized they were heading straight toward Desire Island.
'Could it really be such a coincidence?'
Lin Mo casually asked, "President Ling, what's the specific mission tonight?"
"Do you remember the hidden class user you were with last time in Inferno Forest, the Shadow Sword God, Black Night?"
Ling Xue looked at Lin Mo and said, "Our people found his location on an uninhabited island. I want to recruit him into Divine Nation. But it's said this person is extremely lethal. I'm afraid we can't suppress him, so I called you here."
Buzz!
Lin Mo's heart suddenly trembled.
'So Black Night's whereabouts have really been exposed.'
But from Ling Xue's gaze, Lin Mo faintly sensed a trace of probing.
So Lin Mo stayed calm and nodded, analyzing, "His strength is indeed very strong."
"That day in Inferno Forest, I went to connect with him to get a skill book, and happened to be targeted by the Storm Guild. If not for him, I probably wouldn't have lasted until President Ling came to support me."
Hearing this, Ling Xue felt a sense of relief, 'So the reason he appeared together with Black Night that day was because of the skill book transaction… I hope the next verification proves that I was overthinking.'
At the same time, Lin Mo thought to himself, 'Looks like Ming Yuexin has already become suspicious of me.'
'Tonight's operation is actually a test for me.'
'Looks like tonight, I'll have to adapt to the situation. I can't fall into her trap.'
Soon, the group arrived at Desire Island.
Countless wooden rafts were docked along the shore.
Players could paddle themselves to the island using the rafts.
Just as Ling Xue was about to order everyone to board the island, Lin Miaomiao suddenly pointed toward the sea ahead and shouted, "There are people in the water!"
Following her gaze, under the moonlight, sure enough, at a position between the shore and the island, a large group of players were paddling rafts toward Desire Island.
The distance wasn't far.
And at night, white IDs were especially noticeable in the dark.
Faintly, it could be seen that all those players' IDs began with the character "Storm", Storm Guild.
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