Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God
Chapter 273: Yet Another Layer of Truth
After this Delta Team Leader was "converted" by Lin Yu, the final trace of uncertain crisis on the train came to an end.
And at the same time, this also meant Lin Yu now held a "key" containing a vast number of Truth Corporation's secrets.
But at this moment, Lin Yu showed no intention of immediately using him.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward Baron Coleman.
"Anyway, Your Lordship, the timing should be appropriate now... regarding that question I'm curious about."
"Why they spared your life—you seemed to have mentioned it earlier."
"'Professor Dort's' legacy, correct?"
Baron Coleman calmly looked at Lin Yu, then at the armed team member now standing respectfully behind the young woman.
"'First', 'second'... now it's 'finally', isn't it."
"His existence can serve as a new 'chip' in negotiations with me and as 'verification' for the content of my words."
Lin Yu nodded.
"Yes, I believe you bear me no ill will... but I don't believe you would hold nothing back from me, esteemed Baron."
"You are a former high-ranking member of Truth Corporation, who survived both launching a rebellion and an assassination attempt."
"With someone like you, discussing good and evil is meaningless, and you would absolutely never be completely open with anyone."
"Although Your Lordship repeatedly mentions 'candor', I don't feel we've been candid enough."
It wasn't just as Lin Yu said.
Baron Coleman had already understood their group's strength—Wang Yuyang and Pan Yuqiang's earlier actions further confirmed this.
But the usage of the [Collar] that Lin Yu had just demonstrated represented "strength" in another dimension.
What methods could be employed, what convictions were held.
The formerly loyal subordinate of Baron Coleman's greatest enemy, now obedient and docile behind him, served as a kind of warning and symbol.
Baron Coleman raised his head.
"So, where do you think I haven't been candid?"
Lin Yu gave a slight nod: "Did you truly not know that President Paris was the mastermind behind it all?"
"Although I don't know the specific details of your past experiences... based on timing alone, one can deduce it."
"Not long after you were framed and then cleared your name, you became completely at odds with that President Paris."
"Even if you were 'wrongfully accused', were you truly innocent?"
"Even I'd like to ask—were you really learning for the first time that 'Pang Kedo' was the true culprit?"
He spoke softly, taking a step forward.
"You could use those sufficiently 'logical' performances to fool the detective who lives by logic, but ah..."
"I belong to the faction that trusts intuition more."
Baron Coleman looked at Lin Yu: "A woman's sixth sense?"
"Of course not, it's because your acting for shock and astonishment is terrible!"—though Lin Yu really wanted to say this, he restrained himself.
It was always like this... someone always tried to deceive him, a professional actor and Fraudster, with their amateur acting skills.
Lin Yu suppressed the urge to retort in his heart and nodded noncommittally in a manner fitting his current persona.
"Indeed, so—exactly why did you go to that laboratory, why were you framed as the murderer, how did you obtain 'Professor Dort's' legacy, and why did you turn against President Paris?"
"Moreover, since what you obtained was the legacy of 'Vale Valetti's' mentor, and you have some understanding of the [Ancient Notebook]... so you should have been able to foresee what we consider an 'accident', right?"
Lin Yu snapped his fingers and looked toward Pang Kedo, who had long been listening with astonishment.
"You're also very curious about all this, aren't you... Mr. Pang Kedo."
Pang Kedo looked at Baron Coleman: "Jerry, is it really true... I was genuinely feeling guilty for you earlier."
Baron Coleman smiled silently.
"Talking to you who's so naively like a blank slate is really quite unfamiliar, Pang Kedo."
He sighed deeply and spoke: "People always conceal facts unfavorable to themselves—I consider that simply human nature."
"Anyway, I'm indeed not some innocent person persecuted by Paris, not some idealistic, righteous, and progressive individual... that kind of person might exist in Truth Corporation, but they could absolutely never become an A-ranked supervisor, and they're absolutely not me."
"Similarly... Pang Kedo over there is the same, which is also why I was reluctant to speak of these matters."
"Rarely has he forgotten all that, I always thought it better not to bring it up."
As he spoke, he looked toward the sky—the Despair Train raced along, the night haze above Sleepless City gloomy and dull gray, stained by the bright spotlights and neon of the towering buildings.
"Anyway... back then, we were indeed allied with Paris—the Security Department Minister, A-ranked supervisor, Delta Team Leader... he helped Pang Kedo undergo the 'Calamity Series' modifications, helped me take charge of Laboratory 7."
"At that time, we had different goals—Pang Kdo wanted to investigate his great-uncle's whereabouts, I wanted to restore my family's glory, and that guy Paris came from the bottom with a seriously ill younger sister..."
"But we all shared the same objective: climbing upward within Truth Corporation."
"Although the initial starting points sounded quite noble, the higher we climbed... the more motivation 'becoming those in power' itself provided, and while our original purposes weren't forgotten, mixed in, they increasingly seemed like excuses."
"By the time the three of us 'gathered' together, everyone was already far from pure."
"So, there was a reversal of cause and effect in my words—I did indeed find evidence of the 'ghost project's' existence after entering Laboratory 7, but before entering, I actually knew Laboratory 7 might contain that evidence."
"I went there precisely for that evidence."
As Coleman narrated all this, Fu Luo was shocked.
"Damn, no wonder I felt something was off during my reasoning... the problem was here."
"If your discovery was a 'coincidence', it would indeed be too strange!"
He exclaimed in astonishment.
Pang Kedo was stunned: "So, you anticipated that I would kill Reed?"
"No, I truly didn't know it was you and Paris who did that," Coleman sighed, "When I entered the laboratory back then, I really didn't expect Paris would directly have Reed killed—because our plan at the time was for Paris to divert him away, while I entered the laboratory to steal the 'data' that would allow all three of us to climb higher."
"At that time, Paris told me this 'ghost project' was something Reed discovered privately and persuaded Director Chick to conduct secret research on, and that obtaining it—whether as an independent project for Laboratory 7 or for negotiation with Director Chick—would give us a chance to advance further."
"And that thing's value far exceeded my imagination... so at the scene, I hadn't yet realized this was a trap set by Paris, but when I returned to my own laboratory and read that data, I instantly understood."
"The content of that data far exceeded value that could lift us several levels higher... it held immense value enough for Paris to risk killing his two 'accomplices'."
"Because it was the discovery of Professor Dort and his student Researcher Vale Valetti—the truth about 'Fear'."