Chapter Thirty-Four: Money Can Buy...

Zheng Fan, acting as an invisible spectral phantom, wove through the mansion, surveying its layout and the movements of its inhabitants, reporting everything he saw to Lin Yilin. With his guidance, Lin Yilin never hesitated, pressing forward despite the dizzying complexity of the secret passages and corridors.

With Zheng Fan serving as an all-seeing map hack, Lin Yilin was playing hide-and-seek in enemy territory, clearly destined to be the best player in the game.

Zheng Fan? He was the cheat code.

"There is so much 'currency' here; the casino in that locked-down community I visited before pales in comparison," Zheng Fan remarked from time to time, sharing his observations.

"Coupled with how they’ve arranged their personnel, the answer is already obvious."

As she spoke, Lin Yilin suddenly sensed something. She pulled a small knife from her bag and lightly sliced her arm. Watching the bright red blood flow, her pupils trembled slightly.

"What’s wrong?" Zheng Fan noticed her emotional shift.

"We’ve arrived," Lin Yilin took a deep breath. "The small world of that illusion."

Abnormal conceptual intrusions were already invading her mind; as she looked at her own blood, it began to blur into the concept of gold and wealth. She was certain she hadn't yet fully connected with the property illusion, but she was already under its influence. This indicated that the illusion had concentrated significant power here, reaching the level of a phenomenon distortion. It was as different from the previous knocking illusion—which only affected hearing—as clouds are from mud.

Lin Yilin took a dose of her own concocted medicine, performed a few hand seals, and looked at her wound again when she opened her eyes.

"I’ve stabilized for now."

"If you can't handle it, I'll take over. Don't force yourself," Zheng Fan said.

"I know my limits, Mr. Phantom."

After walking a bit further, Zheng Fan made a discovery. "Hm? There’s something here?"

"What is it?"

"So many people... what are they doing?" Judging by his voice, Zheng Fan seemed stunned by the scene before him.

Lin Yilin followed the passage, opened a hidden door, and peered through the gap.

In a large room, a crowd of people were embracing masses of flesh. Their eyes were vacant and dazed, yet their expressions were filled with immense satisfaction and bliss.

"I have finally attained the ultimate wealth... I can buy anything, hahahaha!" one person shouted in a corner, clutching a pile of bloody remains, oblivious to the gore staining their body.

"Luxury cars! Yachts! I have it all!" another yelled, patting two lumps of flesh beside him that vaguely resembled a vehicle and a yacht.

"As long as you have money, women are easily had!" the man saying this was venting his desires upon a sickening mass of flesh.

Others claimed to be living in grand mansions, even as they were being submerged by flesh, their noses and mouths blocked, on the verge of suffocation, yet entirely unaware.

Lin Yilin’s pupils widened. After confirming there was no one else in the room, she stepped inside cautiously. The gray-eyed bat that Zheng Fan had transformed into landed on her shoulder, bringing a sense of calm to her slightly agitated heart.

"Lin De is over there. I see him," Zheng Fan said, lifting a wing to point.

Lin Yilin looked. Had it not been for her keen observation, it would have been difficult to recognize the man as Lin De, even with the photo in hand. In the picture provided by Kabbis, Lin De was a refined, promising young elite.

Now, his hair was gray and sparse, his body gaunt and skeletal, and his clothes were in rags. He bore many wounds—likely sustained while out "earning money"—but they had been crudely patched with flesh. He smiled foolishly, a mature humanoid figure made of flesh nestled against him, as they watched two smaller flesh-creatures playing happily.

After a while, the small flesh-creatures ran to him and hugged his legs. Lin De didn't even notice the blood smearing onto him; instead, he reached out and patted their heads tenderly. "Good children, good children..."

Lin Yilin walked up to him, opening her mouth to call his name, but the words caught in her throat. Everyone here lived in their own world, blind to her presence and actions. They were living their "wealthy" lives.

Lin Yilin’s appearance was like an incongruous hallucination in this world.

The room’s door suddenly swung open.

A man walked in slowly. He, too, was disheveled, wearing a suit woven from flesh, his eyes bloodshot and wretched, yet his posture absurdly gave off an air of a dignified gentleman.

"Darochi Canneton," Lin Yilin said slowly, naming him.

The third son of the Canneton family, a once-lazy gangster heir, now the last direct survivor after his family’s collapse.

"Which firm are you from, little mouse?" Darochi looked at Lin Yilin with surprise.

"Zero-One Agency."

"Never heard of it."

"Fair enough. A small agency, completely beneath your status... provided your family still existed."

Darochi narrowed his eyes. "Are you provoking me, little girl?"

"If that’s how you see it, then I suppose so." Lin Yilin raised her gun at Darochi. "Trying to stage a comeback with a black enterprise built on illusions? You fallen little prince of the underworld?"

"Your talent for provocation is indeed not bad, little girl from an unknown agency. However, I have a slight disagreement with your description of a 'black enterprise,'" Darochi said with a mocking laugh, ignoring the cat-themed gun.

"Father always said I was good for nothing, and my brothers never took me seriously. But the result is that I survived, and they are all dead. They said I could only play around and would never build an empire. But this—this is my empire now!"

He spread his arms, showcasing his achievement, with the madness of countless people as his backdrop.

"These are all obtained through 'legitimate trade.' After all, money can buy anything, can't it?" he laughed.

"Can it buy back your family’s legacy?"

"Of course it can. Although the Shenlai Agency is a bit of a nuisance, I have prepared many contingencies. My men will intercept them and distract them. By the time they realize it and find this place, we will have long since vanished. With the 'Bloody Consortium,' a little setback is nothing. My wealth will only grow infinitely, allowing more people to enjoy the happiness of being rich and join us. The only surprise is... a small, unremarkable creature like you found this place before those idiots at Shenlai, and even managed to cross layers of defense to hunt me down in this paradise."

Darochi scrutinized Lin Yilin and realized, "I see. It seems we are the same."

Lin Yilin raised an eyebrow.

"I use illusions to earn wealth, and you use illusions to reap benefits. We are all the same. Courageous, daring, and willing to fight. Haha, I believe you will succeed, on one condition... if you can make it out alive."

As Darochi spoke, the flesh suit on his body shifted, coalescing into a large blade on one arm.

"We could actually make a deal. Would you like to try our new currency? It is definitely more valuable than the money in the metropolis! Do you want your small agency to grow and thrive? The Bloody Consortium can satisfy all your desires, as long as you earn enough..."

A bullet streaked toward Darochi’s face, only to be blocked by his raised flesh blade. He had expected to deflect it easily, but the impact was exceptionally powerful, shattering his blade and sending him staggering back several steps.

Her shadow split in two, tear stains spread down her cheeks, and a grayish-white hue covered her eyes.

"Kid, you'd better recognize reality," "Lin Yilin" said, twirling the cat-themed gun with her fingers, a look of contemptuous disdain on her flat face.

Two overlapping voices echoed through the room.

"Ants shouldn't be peddling their jelly beans in front of an elephant."