Chapter 2350: Seeing through

"Boss, as you said, I tested him—sure enough, he's willing to pay with premium Raini-grade equipment in exchange for those Furelai-boosting items."

a02 spoke up. "Right now, only a few supermajor races and the Taros Red Dwarves could produce this much Raini-grade equipment. And a complete premium Raini-grade set like that is clearly newly made—so we can rule out the former. This new a11's identity is almost certain."

"He's the proxy of an outstanding craftsman among the Taros Red Dwarves—or perhaps the proxy of that God Smith himself."

Founder Number Two gave his guess, which was entirely reasonable.

Everyone had seen that set—it exceeded their understanding, clearly newly made, never seen on the market.

Only those bearded dwarves had that capability.

How could Ye Zhongming have obtained these if he weren't their proxy?

As for why he was only a proxy and not the God Smith himself—simple: his height exceeded the limit.

a01 remained silent, not expressing his view, but continuing to stare at the set before him.

Yes, the one who had provided the dried Chuanpu Beast liver was Founder Number Three, a03—but a03 had bid on behalf of Founder Number One.

"Do you know what this person did before?" a01 suddenly said.

Founders Two and Three hadn't paid much attention to the new a11. In Dark Direction's years of existence, a change of identity behind a mask wasn't rare. They had gone from rejecting it to accepting it.

They had once tried to catch and kill impostors, then find new participants.

But they later found this weakened Dark Direction for a time, reducing the resources they controlled—because the new members who met the requirements had a gap period before officially joining after vetting, during which the original member's contributions vanished.

So they began accepting "impostors," because an impostor who killed or replaced the original was, in some sense, more capable than the original.

As long as they kept the impostor from becoming an unstable factor, it was fine.

Accepting didn't mean indulging. For new members' identities, the true core—these three—had reached the point where they had to verify thoroughly.

In their view, this helped them control the overall situation.

This time, with Ye Zhongming here, they naturally paid full attention. a01 personally handled it.

"He transferred a lifeform to a place called Earth through a22, then brought back hundreds of lifeforms."

"That Earth—it's the homeworld of this novice battlefield's first place, a young man named Ye Zhongming, belonging to the Star-Eye Clan."

Hearing this, the other two understood—then frowned.

"Something doesn't add up." Founder Three said. "If this new a11 is the God Smith's proxy, they should be opposed to the Star-Eye Clan. On the novice battlefield, the two sides were enemies. In this planet hunting ground incident, the Taros Red Dwarves strongly demanded punishment for the Star-Eye Clan—they sided with the Huo'er Star people. If so, why would he help someone from Earth?"

The two sides were enemies—helping an enemy return to his homeworld and bring people back? That was absurd.

a01 smiled. "That's the interesting part. The two sides are now at daggers drawn after multiple conflicts—yet they're secretly connected through this Ye Zhongming?"

"I couldn't figure it out either, until I learned two things."

"Boss, what things?" Founder Two felt this could affect the current situation and wanted to know.

"First: the initial conflict between the Taros Red Dwarves and Ye Zhongming was because Ye Zhongming gave up his status as a Taros Red Dwarf proxy and joined the Star-Eye Clan."

"Second: Ye Zhongming and the Star-Eye Clan are now in conflict."

Everyone in the room understood.

"You mean Ye Zhongming has gone back to the Taros Red Dwarves?" Founder Two guessed.

a01 nodded, then shook his head. "That's possible. Ye Zhongming may have had conflicts with the dwarves on his homeworld—some dissatisfaction or accident. Coming up through the pickup day knowing nothing, he chose the Star-Eye Clan."

"But after some time, having learned more, knowing the Star-Eye Clan can't compare to the Taros Red Dwarves, his mindset changed, and he went back—that's normal."

Founders Two and Three nodded. People pursue maximum benefit; they might make the same choice.

a01 continued, "But I lean toward another possibility."

The other two looked at him, puzzled.

"That this is all a play—a play directed by the Taros Red Dwarves themselves!"

"What if Ye Zhongming was always the dwarves' pawn, deliberately placed in the Star-Eye Clan?"

"Deliberately placed in the Star-Eye Clan? What's so special about the Star-Eye Clan?" Founder Three didn't understand.

a01 replied, "The Star-Eye Clan itself isn't much—but they have White Robe. The one the whole race sees as their future. You both know his relationship with Jie Su and Yisewei, right?"