Chapter 426: Deceptive Bait

He furrowed his brows slightly.

Looking at the man in a suit who suddenly rushed over to interrupt him, Yinglong immediately recognized the other as a subordinate human.

Noticing the excitement and apprehension in the man’s eyes, he almost didn’t need a word to guess what was coming.

An NPC seeking his help?

It seemed their commander didn’t want to bother with this NPC, since one of the Third-Stage Awakened had already impatiently spoken up:

“What do you need?”

“It’s like this! Oh, great Ghost Hunters!”

“I’m Zhang Tao. I want to hire you to hunt down a strange ghost!”

“I’ll pay—please, I beg you, help me get revenge!”

“That strange ghost isn’t strong. It’s hiding on the 7th Floor! In the old Commercial Building of Section C! I know where it injured itself while I was escaping last time!”

Unfazed by the impatience of Yinglong and his team, the suited man urgently continued, pulling a photo from his clothes as he spoke.

The photo showed a happy family of three, all smiling sweetly.

His words came out in a jumble, perhaps too excited, and after speaking he looked at them with hopeful eyes.

Though he had some Credit Points, the reward was far too little to hire high-level Ghost Hunters—few low-level ones would even take on such a specified task.

But Yinglong’s team, clearly just minted as Ghost Hunters, might consider it!

However, before his hope could build further, an Awakener at the front coldly cut him off with a glance.

Though they were a bit surprised by an NPC suddenly asking for help, perhaps it was part of the dungeon’s mechanism—a side quest?

If they were low-level, they might even accept it.

Yet, judging by the meager reward offered by the suited man, it seemed pitifully small.

This trash task wasn’t worth their time; after all, their target was the Peak Third-Stage strange ghost!

“Find someone else; we’re not interested…”

Instinctively, the Awakener at the front moved to decline. But before he could finish, another Third-Stage Awakened beside him, eyes flickering with surprise, whispered to Yinglong:

“Commander, the location this guy mentioned seems to be on our route…”

“Shall we take it? Feels like it’s on the way,” Yinglong replied.

Meanwhile, Yinglong, who had been silent until now, raised an eyebrow and scrutinized the subordinate human.

If it was on the way, there was no harm in taking it.

Side quest rewards might be small, but they usually bump up the dungeon’s completion rate.

If he aimed for a perfect dungeon run, a side task like this was acceptable.

Yet his gut told him the coincidence was too neat—without any system prompt, the suited man’s actions were entirely voluntary.

Maybe it counted as a side quest, or just a minor subplot.

“When you entered the dungeon earlier, did you come across any subordinate humans like this?”

Almost instinctively, Yinglong asked the subordinate next to him.

Several of those he had brought along had experienced the previous dungeon.

Facing Yinglong’s question, the subordinate hesitated for a moment:

“Commander… I don’t think so…”

“This dungeon has no quests—it’s just one path leading to a slaughter at the end.”

“But maybe you performed so exceptionally that you inadvertently attracted these subordinate humans? After all, your power is unmatched—surely the system treats you differently,” he added flatteringly.

Compared to Yinglong’s caution, the subordinate noticed nothing amiss in his words.

Only they had entered this dungeon; no other Awakeners would join them.

He had confirmed this personally. Moreover, it was normal for NPCs to seek help…

Listening to his subordinate, Yinglong pondered for a moment and agreed there was no obvious issue.

It was just a detour to finish a minor task…

“Find out the exact location. We’ll take on the task,” he ordered.

Then, Yinglong dismissed the trivial matter, his mind already turning to the upcoming battle.

Meanwhile, Blood Nightingale, who had been silent since entering the dungeon, appraised the suddenly appearing suited man with calm detachment.

Like Yinglong, she found it odd, but not necessarily problematic.

Just an ordinary interlude…

Still, she couldn’t help but wonder what Yenir was up to.

That bastard—ever since he asked about their coordinates, he had vanished without so much as a glance in her direction…

……………

Top-floor office of the Security Building.

Yenir calmly observed hundreds of camera feeds. After watching the grateful suited man depart, a smile played on his lips.

Perfect. Everything went off without a hitch.

As expected from numerous rehearsals, although Yinglong remained cautious, he saw no issues and accepted the ‘task’ outright.

But that was normal—there really was nothing amiss.

Under his instruction, Chen Fan sifted through data on tens of thousands of people, quickly identifying over forty subordinate humans to serve as bait.

No extra contact or special arrangements were made.

He simply had Chen Fan order a Security Officer to issue an official message that a new batch of Ghost Hunters would pass the test today.

For those who had lost loved ones, each one longed for a Ghost Hunter to avenge their kin.

To be cautious, Yenir had selected these people from those who had long lingered near the Testing Building.

Just like the suited man earlier—he had arranged no fewer than twenty people!

Each of them had ample reason to seek out a rookie Ghost Hunter like Yinglong, and all came voluntarily!

Even if Yinglong grew overly suspicious and tied them up for questioning, they wouldn’t reveal a scrap of evidence!

At best, they could only mention that they knew about today’s Ghost Hunter test and hoped to hire one on a tight budget to exact vengeance—no extra details.

“A good lie is half-truth,” someone remarked.

“And the best lie is a blend of all truths… only exploding at the final moment…”

Habitually fiddling with his Ring, Yenir chuckled softly, like a fisherman patiently awaiting a bite.

His strategy wasn’t complex.

He started by having a few subordinate humans pose as quest NPCs, continuously issuing trivial tasks so that Yinglong’s team would get used to them.

Then he released the bait—a high-value task reward designed to deceive Yinglong into believing the rewards would progressively increase.

Once Yinglong became accustomed to these ‘task rewards,’ he arranged for Li Dafu to make his entrance!

It wasn’t complicated, but Yenir was certain that with continuous setups, even the most cautious Yinglong would eventually fall for it.

After all.

Who would have thought that an NPC from another dungeon could be brought in here? Who else could be so deceptive?

Not to mention the careful calculations and having Blood Nightingale as an insider…

If Yinglong couldn’t be ensnared by all this, Yenir might as well end it all himself…