Chapter 428: The Lure of the Elite Gear

“Sir, are you saying you need the weapon of an Elite Ghost Hunter?!”

“Impossible! I just can’t get my hands on one!”

Late at night, on the top floor of the Security Building, in a dimly lit monitoring room, Chen Fan kept wiping the cold sweat off his forehead.

Even though the Dungeon was always cold, watching the figure at the monitoring screen made him break out in nervous sweats.

Too many people were dying…

Under Yenir’s orchestration, a series of accidents disguised as mishaps kept happening. The purpose seemed to be to funnel rewards to a specific small team on screen.

“Can’t get it?”

“All you have to do is tell me who has it.”

Seated in his chair, Yenir calmly spun around to face the Deputy Director.

After three days, he had already arranged six missions for Yinglong and his crew. Of course, behind each of these missions lay a massive sacrifice of alternate human lives kept in reserve.

Or deliberately causing a vehicle malfunction for a Ghost Hunter squad, getting them chased by the undead, only to be rescued by Yinglong and his group.

Or even sending a dozen survivors to their doom, only to have Yinglong intercept them by chance.

To avoid Yinglong noticing the coincidences, each so-called ‘mission’ was composed of at least three unforeseen incidents. If one were to look at the personnel positions Yenir had set up, they’d be shocked to see that, based on Yinglong’s movement, hundreds of red dots formed a giant web enclosing him.

Listening to Yenir’s calm tone, the Middle-Aged Man’s face darkened with displeasure.

Although they had only worked together for three days, having witnessed Yenir’s ruthlessness, he clearly understood Yenir’s implied orders.

Tell me who has it—then seize it by force!

The more it went this way, the more terrified he became.

“Sir… I’m really not capable!”

“Every piece of elite gear for the Demon Hunters is in the hands of Third-Stage cultivators! Even if a few trickle into the auction market, their security is frighteningly high!”

He scrambled to explain, almost begging Yenir to spare him from creating an enormous breach.

It’s far too dangerous…

If it were the tasks Yenir had ordered before, they might have been discreet enough.

But if Yenir went after these ‘treasures’ by killing and seizing them, once his involvement was uncovered, everything would be lost!

He didn’t know how strong Yenir truly was—perhaps also a Third-Stage… However, the owners of this gear were all Third-Stage cultivators. At that level, they were big players in the Dungeon!

Ignoring Chen Fan’s desperate pleading, Yenir leaned forward with a soft laugh and said:

“In ten minutes, get me the latest Third-Stage intel.”

“Just follow orders. I promise there won’t be any trouble.”

After speaking, Yenir’s gaze shifted to the corner, eyeing Liang Lie.

“Uncle Liang, I need your help.”

The Middle-Aged Man shivered so violently his face turned pale. After issuing his brief command, Yenir continued to focus on the monitoring screen.

With his deliberate delays and constant mission arrangements, Yinglong’s crew was still only at the eighth floor.

This location was the limit of his surveillance capabilities.

If it weren’t for Blood Nightingale acting as an insider, he would have almost lost track of Yinglong.

However, their routine had been well established by now…

“It’s time to bait the fish…”

“Just offering credit points as a reward won’t suffice. Without providing better incentives, Yinglong won’t be interested…”

“Only if the bait is irresistible will they let their guard down…”

Habitually caressing his ring, Yenir silently watched the grayish screen where Yinglong and his team battled the undead.

He had to admit, he was grateful for Yinglong’s meticulous caution; it allowed the mission NPCs he had set up as part of the ‘routine’ to delay Yinglong’s progress long enough for him to arrange everything.

Over these three days, he had clearly realized that Yinglong placed extreme value on this Dungeon run, intent on exhausting every bit of progress.

They completed every mission and cleared every undead—they just wanted to secure all the Dungeon rewards.

Recognizing this, Yenir commenced subtly hinting in subsequent arrangements that his missions would also contribute to bonus progress.

“Elite gear is essentially equivalent to system Blue-Grade Gear…”

“Though its value might not be sky-high, it should be enough to tempt Yinglong’s underlings…”

“Uncle Liang, with your strength and swift kill rate, snatching these elite Blue-Grade items will leave no trace back to me for a while.”

His eyes flickered as he reviewed the bait list he had arranged, deep in thought.

Yinglong and his team had come to expect that every new location meant another ‘mission.’ Although the rewards meant little to Third-Stage cultivators, they were still a bonus.

With that mindset, scattering a few extra NPC encounters around Yinglong would likely raise no suspicions.

His only chance was this one, and Li Dafu’s involvement was a one-off opportunity.

As it concerned the advancement materials for the Sword God System, Yenir had to be completely prepared! If Li Dafu failed to secure the materials, there would be little chance of obtaining the Renmane later!

“Unless…”

“We kill Yinglong!”

Exhaling lightly, Yenir pre-rehearsed the next move with a weary rub of his brow.

Despite never having to act personally, his endless behind-the-scenes arrangements were the most exhausting part.

Every detail had to be flawless, ensuring the arranged NPCs never aroused Yinglong’s suspicions—as if directing a play without the cast being aware.

“Such a pity…”

“If not for my own gear being an immediate giveaway, I’d gladly offer something far better…”

“High-grade Blue-Grade Gear would likely move Yinglong, wouldn’t it?”

“Keep feeding him, and eventually he’ll start imagining even richer rewards for later tasks…”

Shaking his head, Yenir sighed softly.

Inside his ring were plenty of Blue-Grade Gear pieces he snatched from the Military warehouse. Although he kept the finest on himself, these items were still highly valuable if put out there.

You can’t catch a wolf if you’re too attached to your child.

He didn’t mind losing some bait if it increased Li Dafu’s chance of success.

“We’ll play it step by step.”

“If I brought my real gear over, Yinglong would immediately notice extra players in the mix.”

“But if I have Blood Nightingale cooperate, we can deliberately trick Yinglong with the promise of high rewards.”

Refining his plan, Yenir seemed to have an epiphany and quickly sent a message to Blood Nightingale.

He arranged for an NPC to contact Blood Nightingale, pretending to have a mission.

Afterward, Blood Nightingale would deceive Yinglong by claiming to have obtained a system reward—maybe an upgrade to invisible, intangible appraisal points or attribute bonuses?

With that, there’s no way Yinglong’s going to resist!

Just as Yenir reached for his Communicator to ping Blood Nightingale, a surveillance feed watching Yinglong caught his attention.

“What the—!?”