Old Chun Yi quickly waved his hand as he dared not command Yu Wenzhou. "No need, Captain. Is there something you wanted to ask me?"
"Do you know Lord Grim?" Yu Wenzhou inquired.
Old Chun Yi was momentarily stunned, then nodded. "Yes, the legendary figure of the Tenth Server."
"Then can you tell me what this legendary figure has been up to since the server launched?" Yu Wenzhou asked.
He needed to study Ye Qiu's unspecialised character, which required more detailed intelligence, something that Huang Shaotian likely didn't know. Huang Shaotian hadn't even realised that Ye Qiu was planning a comeback.
Obediently, Old Chun Yi recounted everything he knew about Lord Grim, including how Lord Grim had scammed their guild of rare materials and how the nine major guilds had tried to hunt down Lord Grim, with Blue Brook Guild being the only one not participating.
Yu Wenzhou glanced at the awkwardly silent Huang Shaotian nearby. Logically, Blue Brook Guild should have been involved in the hunt for Lord Grim, and their absence likely had something to do with Huang Shaotian's influence.
Since Huang Shaotian knew that Lord Grim was Ye Qiu, it made sense that he wouldn't stand in the way of Ye Qiu's return.
When Old Chun Yi mentioned the incredible dungeon records set by Lord Grim, Yu Wenzhou reviewed the leaderboards for three specific dungeons.
Yu Wenzhou immediately concluded two things: first, Ye Qiu had definitely developed a new playstyle; second, the player Windy Rain must be Su Mucheng.
Both Huang Shaotian and Old Chun Yi were left with their mouths agape in shock. Could Captain Yu even deduce the identities of the players behind the character?
"Wait!" Old Chun Yi suddenly realised something was off. "Does Lord Grim know Su Mucheng?"
Yu Wenzhou understood the confusion in Old Chun Yi's mind. After all, this revelation was akin to a celebrity romance scandal for Old Chun Yi.
"Lord Grim is actually Ye Qiu," Yu Wenzhou said calmly.
"..." Old Chun Yi was so shocked he couldn't speak. Was the shameless Lord Grim actually the retired legend Ye Qiu?
The mysterious Battle God Ye Qiu and that greedy, shameless scoundrel were the same person? Old Chun Yi found it hard to accept.
"How much do you know about that person's weapon?" Yu Wenzhou asked again.
Old Chun Yi had indeed studied Lord Grim's weapon in detail and immediately responded:
"That character hasn't changed classes; he's an unspecialised. Also, his weapon is extraordinary—it can change its shape at will and allows him to use low-level skills from multiple classes."
The secret of the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella couldn't be hidden. As long as skilled players in the guild studied it seriously, they could figure it out.
"That's quite a fascinating weapon," Yu Wenzhou smiled.
Huang Shaotian couldn't help but interject, "Captain, I clearly just told you all of this!"
"You know how you talk too much and tend to miss the key points," Yu Wenzhou shrugged.
Huang Shaotian immediately felt wronged. After all, he had closely observed the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, so he was more informed about Lord Grim's situation than Old Chun Yi:
"The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella was specifically designed for the unspecialised character, fully exploiting its strengths. Early unspecialised characters had significant flaws in attack continuity due to the cooldowns and heavy weight of weapon switches, which made it impossible to link low-level skills from multiple classes seamlessly. But the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella perfectly solves this problem. With the skill continuity of an unspecialised character, a team with such a character would naturally have a higher output than ordinary teams."
Yu Wenzhou nodded in appreciation at Huang Shaotian, who had surprisingly offered such a concise and precise evaluation. "If only you could always be so brief and to the point."
Just then, Yu Wenzhou noticed two familiar IDs frequently appearing in Lord Grim's mercenary squad.
"Who are Soft Mist and Steamed Bun Invasion?" Yu Wenzhou asked.
Old Chun Yi looked embarrassed. "We don't know much about Soft Mist, but Steamed Bun Invasion is a newcomer whom Ye Qiu just met. Despite being a rookie, he has improved so rapidly that our core players can no longer defeat him."
After pondering for a moment, Yu Wenzhou confirmed his suspicions, "Soft Mist and Steamed Bun Invasion are likely teammates that Ye Qiu has recruited or trained."
"But why did Lord Grim's mercenary plan fail so quickly?" Yu Wenzhou wondered aloud.
"It's like this," Old Chun Yi explained, "because of Lord Grim, the competition for dungeon records became especially intense. Lord Grim was like a cheat manual—whoever had him would dominate the records. But the problem was that Lord Grim would work for anyone, which meant that everyone had access to the cheat manual. If you didn't use it, you couldn't win against anyone, and dungeon records were out of reach. But if you ruthlessly committed to it, only to find out that everyone else had done the same, it was still difficult to claim the dungeon records."
"And then one day, someone realised and informed everyone that the leader of the martial world didn't win using the Zixia Divine Skill but by using the cheat manual."
Old Chun Yi was stunned. "Captain, your foresight is truly amazing. The story did indeed unfold this way—the players from the Excellent Era Dynasty were the first to question the legitimacy of Tyrannical Ambition's records. Then public opinion erupted, leading to Tyrannical Ambition's reputation collapsing. That's why we didn't dare use Lord Grim anymore."
"This isn't foresight; I was just thinking from the perspective of the guild," Yu Wenzhou's eyes suddenly lit up. "Did you say the information came from the Excellent Era Dynasty?"
"Yes, why?" Old Chun Yi was puzzled.
"I've thought of a possibility, though it's doubtful," Yu Wenzhou frowned. "Ye Qiu's plan was doomed to fail, but it shouldn't have failed so quickly. I suspect that Liu Hao was the one who stirred up public opinion."
"Liu Hao? Why?" Huang Shaotian didn't understand.
"Liu Hao has been targeting Ye Qiu. Didn't you know?" Yu Wenzhou said.
"Yeah, but hasn't Ye Qiu retired? So why is Liu Hao still targeting him?" Huang Shaotian asked.
"Wait, targeting Ye Qiu? What's this all about?" Old Chun Yi was utterly confused. Was the Liu Hao that fans now idolized actually someone who had been targeting and oppressing Ye Qiu?
Yu Wenzhou glanced at Old Chun Yi and patiently explained, "Liu Hao debuted in the fifth season, along with Zhou Zekai. Liu Hao is a highly talented player. Even if he isn't top-tier, he's at least above average."
"Above average? But now Liu Hao is known as Lord Hao, the one who Excellent Era Dynasty fans believe will surpass Zhou Zekai. And you're saying he's just above average?"
"Let me finish," Yu Wenzhou said. "It wasn't apparent in the fifth and sixth seasons, but in the seventh season, Liu Hao began to collaborate with his teammates to isolate Ye Qiu and Su Mucheng, leading to Excellent Era Dynasty's failure to make the playoffs. While others might not have noticed, those with a strong tactical sense immediately saw that Excellent Era Dynasty's teamwork had serious flaws. The same is true this season. Even before Ye Qiu retired, Liu Hao repeatedly put Ye Qiu in difficult situations..."
Yu Wenzhou paused. "There were even rumours of discord within the Excellent Era Dynasty. Although the Excellent Era Dynasty repeatedly denied the rumours, I believe the internal conflict was real."
Yu Wenzhou, being a tactical genius, could even read people's minds. From an outsider's perspective, he had seen through the Excellent Era Dynasty's internal dynamics and deduced that Liu Hao orchestrated everything Ye Qiu had faced in the new server…
(End of Chapter)