Chapter 938: Yayu... First-Tier?

After finishing her conversation with Sea Cucumber, Fish's own hands were itching for action. She couldn't resist finding a sandbag to warm up on.

After receiving Heavenly Artisan's recommendation, Fish had told Pluto about the matter, and had asked another Marauders Deputy Chief of the Yanjing HQ at her same level, Lingxian, to investigate whether this "Yayu" had any problems.

The reply she got was...

"This guy is very cautious, hasn't left any trace at all. Even the Order hasn't been able to catch this person."

Since she was certain Heavenly Artisan couldn't, and wouldn't dare, and had no reason to deceive her, and since Fish had already added that "Yayu" on Social, she could only conclude...

This guy really was mysterious.

And mysterious meant there was at least a one percent chance that this guy actually had strength beyond her expectations.

After all...

Although the name Yayu, once you knew the classical allusion, felt a bit "unlucky," and wasn't exactly a stylish killer's name, after Fish typed it out and stared at it for a while, she felt those two characters carried a powerful aura!

"That said, Sister Fish, what kind of person is this guy really? Do you have any more intel?" Sea Cucumber asked, leaning on the ropes at the edge of the arena after finishing his warm-up. "Heavenly Artisan couldn't have only told you there's an expert, right?"

"He really did only tell me there's an expert. I don't even know if the person is male or female, tall or short, fat or thin. Once they arrive, it won't be too late to wait for them to introduce themselves anyway." Fish pursed her lips. "But he did mention... this guy has knowledge of Pure Abyss, though their main system is Night Valley, and they're also a close-combat expert."

At this point, Fish looked at Sea Cucumber. "That's exactly why I called you in to assess them. I'll watch from the sidelines and maybe pick up on some clues about this guy's background."

"A close-combat expert? Then this is right up my alley." Sea Cucumber nodded. "But learning a system centered on Night Valley Realm... not studying spells, but instead choosing to learn Night Valley Realm's close-combat techniques?"

"Circumstantial luck, I suppose," Fish shrugged. "Anyway, Night Valley's Church Knight system and the adventurer schools specializing in close combat are no weaker at the top levels."

Sea Cucumber nodded. "Fair point. The Black Marsh world is so brutish and primal, almost entirely filled with muscle-brained brutes, and yet it still has a very powerful witchcraft system."

After all...

If you examined any single one of the Ten Realms as a whole, it definitely wouldn't have only one single power system in existence.

After all, the development of a world is always complex, and reality is always diverse.

Perhaps every realm had a "mainstream" system and a system destined to have a "higher ceiling," but there would absolutely never be just one.

While the two were chatting...

Fish suddenly received a notification popping up in Social.

"I've arrived."

Fish raised an eyebrow. Just as she was about to reply and ask "arrived where exactly," the iron door at the basement entrance resounded with heavy knocking.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Aha." Fish stopped her warm-up and headed toward the iron door. "Our guest has arrived. Get ready, Sea Cucumber. Do your best to draw out every last bit of this person's strength!"

"No problem!"

Amid Sea Cucumber's vigorous reply, Fish opened the basement's iron door.

Then...

Looking at the figure standing at the doorway, Fish squinted slightly.

"Oh my, oh my..."

Even though the other party had already sent a Social message, even though unrelated people couldn't possibly have found this place, Fish still instinctively asked when she saw the person before her.

"Are you 'Yayu'?"

The person standing outside the door nodded. "Yes, that's me."

Fish let out a breath. "Wow, you really are different from what I imagined, but also kind of what I expected."

The "Yayu" standing outside the door, Lin Yu's newest role, indeed had a... somewhat distinctive appearance.

It was a young woman in a wide, dark blue hoodie with a single ponytail.

The corners of her eyes tilted slightly upward, and the gaze from her pitch-black pupils was fierce and sharp. Though her hair was tied in a ponytail, it still looked somewhat messy due to its coarse, stiff texture refusing to lie smooth. Combined with her high nose bridge, thin flat lips, and the freckles on her face, she looked less like a human and more like a wild beast that had wandered into the city from the mountains and wilds.

At one hundred seventy-five centimeters, she was considered tall among women, considerably taller than Fish, and her frame looked solid, even sturdy.

But what was truly impossible to ignore...

Was the hideous scar on this woman's neck.

A horizontal scar that ran across her throat, as though her entire head had once been severed, and she displayed it without any attempt to cover it.

Such a striking figure, one that anyone would remember after a single glance, yet the Order had never taken notice of her, and she hadn't even left any traces. This only made Fish more curious.

Fish turned sideways to clear the doorway and invited the other party into the stronghold.

"You look like you're very strong, but why do you have no reputation?"

Fish asked directly.

She had always been the type to speak her mind without much regard for social niceties.

And looking at this "Yayu" who had appeared before her, Fish had a gut feeling, this was also the type of person who wouldn't need to be treated too politely.

Yayu, that is, Lin Yu, looked at Fish and didn't directly answer this somewhat rude question.

Instead, he surveyed the underground environment, then spoke on his own initiative.

"Not bad at all, this place is quite good. You must be Your Excellency Fish. Let me introduce myself."

"My code name is 'Yayu.' Heavenly Artisan introduced me to take on a mission. Currently I have no fixed residence and haven't joined any organization, but at present I'm hoping to join the Marauders. My 'Class' is 'Reporter.'"

Fish was surprised once again. "You're a 'Reporter'? You don't look like one at all."

"Actually, my original profession was closer to photographer, a wildlife photographer. But for some reason it ended up presenting as 'Reporter,'" Lin Yu explained, then asked in return. "By the way... Heavenly Artisan said this mission requires 'Second Tier,' is that right?"

"What, are you not 'Second Tier'?"

Fish was surprised once again.

Lin Yu nodded. "My strength is 'Second Tier'."

Fish frowned. "What do you mean? You're 'First-Tier'?"

She was getting annoyed. "And here I was actually looking forward to you. This Heavenly Artisan really is brainless, wasting my time... I didn't want a 'First-Tier'! Even if you're strong among 'First-Tier,' what I want is someone strong even among 'Second Tier'!"

Hearing Fish's somewhat angry tone, Lin Yu spoke without haste.

"Don't blame Heavenly Artisan. I told him I was already 'Second Tier,' because I figured there wasn't much difference, and he didn't notice either."

"'First-Tier' has strong people too, like 'Furbollo'... it's just one piece of Specialized Item. Through accumulation in other areas, it can be fully compensated for."

Hearing this, Fish suppressed her anger. "You're saying you're as strong as 'Furbollo'?"

Although Fish had caught Fu Luo before and seen just how useless he seemed, after hearing Nineteen's remarks upon her return this time, Fish was now certain that Fu Luo had been feigning weakness back then.

Besides Fu Luo's recent exploits being too resounding, Fish was also quite confident. After all, no matter how spectacular a single 'First-Tier' Furbollo was, he definitely couldn't match her.

So... if it were her in that situation, she would have just committed to it and pretended to be utterly useless.

"No, I'm far stronger than him," Lin Yu spoke as if calmly stating a fact, declaring a truth. "My current strength may very well be enough to threaten you."

Fish looked at Yayu, her anger slowly subsiding. "Then, prove it to me."

The instant her words fell...

Fish suddenly felt all her hairs stand on end. Even when facing other experts of the same 'Third Tier,' she'd rarely sensed danger like this, and it suddenly appeared.

"Bang!"

She drew out her Meteor Iron Talismans and held them before her, blocking an attack that came like a flash of lightning.

Amid the short blade that glowed with flowing mana, it was less than half an inch from her brow.

"Interesting, interesting," Fish exclaimed. "You weren't actually bragging, Yayu!"

"Sea Cucumber, bring out your full strength, don't hold back. Let's see if you can draw out the limits of this 'First-Tier'!"