Chapter 599: An Exchange of Information

That evening. Lu Bingjun and Lin Sizhi made their way to the third floor and settled into a small corner room, each taking a seat.

"Lawyer Lin, there's something I'd like to ask you about.

"How far did your previous community's fund reach, in terms of thresholds?

"I've already put the same question to Shen Bowen. She said her original community had only unlocked the immunity voucher.

"I initially assumed your previous community was probably in a similar position, but I've come to think that inference may have been a little hasty.

"Of course, if you feel the question is somewhat sensitive, you don't have to answer."

Lin Sizhi interlaced his fingers and said, with a meaningful air, "Then let's trade secrets.

"An equal exchange, fair to all."

Lu Bingjun paused, taken slightly aback. He did not respond immediately, but instead thought it over carefully for quite some time.

In the end, he said, "Alright.

"Then I'll ask first. Among the items your community unlocked, was there anything that stood out to you as particularly special?"

Lin Sizhi said, "The First Player Identity Card has a fourth privilege.

"The content of the privilege is that after the Identity Card has been held continuously for one month, the holder gains 2,000 minutes of visa time per day. If the holder changes, the timer resets."

Lu Bingjun was visibly surprised, "And the price?"

Lin Sizhi said, "120,000."

Lu Bingjun's expression grew slightly grave, his brow furrowing, though it smoothed out again quickly, "That's not expensive. You could even say it's quite cheap."

He asked again, "Roughly what threshold unlocked it?"

Lin Sizhi observed his expression carefully, "1,800,000 in community fund."

This time, Lu Bingjun's brow furrowed again. It was clearly a number that had exceeded his expectations.

"Your community had already accumulated 1,800,000 in community fund during the First Stage?

"And that also means you were already well aware that reaching the 900,000 threshold would unlock the item that permanently reduces the immunity voucher cooldown by seven days."

Lin Sizhi did not answer directly, "Those are two separate questions. Decide which one you actually want to ask.

"You'll also need to offer information of sufficient weight in return for it to count as an equal exchange."

Lu Bingjun considered carefully for a moment, then said, "The second one."

Lin Sizhi nodded, "Yes. I was fully aware that donating the community fund to the 900,000 threshold would reduce the immunity voucher's cooldown by seven days.

"But I never mentioned it to anyone in the community.

"As for the reason, you can work that out for yourself.

"Your turn."

Lu Bingjun thought at length, "My guess is that you either didn't want to show your hand too early, or you were waiting to use it as leverage.

"But whatever the reason, since you're willing to share that information with me now, I should thank you for it."

He paused briefly and continued, "The information I want to share with you is this.

"I suspect there is a deeply hidden Imitator in Community 2.

"'A Single Word to Settle a Case' was their design, and their true target was me. Deng Xiao was simply unlucky enough to take the bullet in my place.

"Or you might look at it another way, and say that in order to protect myself, I allowed Deng Xiao to take that bullet on my behalf to some degree.

"You're a perceptive person, Lawyer Lin, so there's no need for me to hide certain things from you. The truth is that I'm someone who fears death, and this was also my first time facing a Judgment Game as the accused.

"Throughout that game, I was far less composed than I appeared. To be frank, I did have the thought of letting Deng Xiao absorb some of the risk on my behalf.

"But I absolutely did not want to see Deng Xiao actually die, because within this community he has always been my most steadfast supporter.

"So I want to find this Imitator.

"Not only to avenge Deng Xiao, but for my own sake as well. As long as this Imitator remains alive, they will very likely keep designing games to kill me, and I can't sleep easily knowing that.

"But they've hidden themselves too well. I have no lead to follow."

Lin Sizhi nodded, "Go on."

Lu Bingjun let out a long, somewhat weary breath, "In the early period of the First Stage, our community did catch an Imitator, though not a particularly capable one.

"But they died rather suddenly during a game, so we were never able to extract much information from them.

"After that, our community went through many rounds of personnel changes, but no new Imitator ever surfaced openly.

"I know that's actually somewhat unusual. Because going by the Gallery's consistent patterns, after an Imitator dies, a new one is almost certainly selected immediately to replace them.

"Not to mention the rules have never stated that a community can only have one Imitator at a time.

"But we genuinely could not find any new suspects, so we could only assume by default that there was no other Imitator in the community, or that the Imitator was too afraid to design any more games.

"But then you saw what happened with 'A Single Word to Settle a Case.'

"This Imitator is very possibly right here in Community 2, right among us."

He paused slightly, but Lin Sizhi said nothing.

It was clear that this information did not carry sufficient weight on its own.

Lu Bingjun continued, "In fact, this community's original leader was someone else entirely.

"But they died in the final Judgment Game of the First Stage."

Lin Sizhi nodded, "I had already guessed all of that."

Lu Bingjun raised an eyebrow, "All of it?"

Lin Sizhi explained, "None of it is particularly difficult to piece together.

"You should at minimum have three core game players. Even if a new member performs well enough to replace one of the existing ones, that's still better than having only two.

"And I don't think I'm the only one who can see that. Any player with a reasonable sensitivity to community dynamics should be able to.

"I also believe this community very likely has a hidden Imitator, and the reason is simple: you simply haven't extracted enough information from any Imitator to suggest otherwise.

"The Gallery presumably wouldn't allow a community to exist with no Imitator at all.

"So if you flushed one out in the last game or two of the First Stage, the older members of the community can be considered broadly reliable. If you didn't, there is definitely an Imitator among the older members, and one who has hidden themselves very well.

"Of course, the possibility of an Imitator among the newer members can't be ruled out either.

"What I'm more curious about is the name of the community's original leader, the nature of their offence, and the content of the Judgment Game designed against them. Because their death may also have had something to do with that Imitator.

"If you can share that information, I might be able to try and identify the Imitator within the community.

"Though I make no promises."

Lu Bingjun bowed his head and was silent for a long time, "That is a very tempting offer, but I'm afraid I can't.

"Our interests are not yet bound closely enough together for that.

"All I can tell you is that the original first player's name was Wei Changfeng. Everything else is not something I can share at this time.

"That said, since we agreed to exchange information of genuine value, I will keep my word.

"I can offer something else in exchange, which is to tell you my vision for this community's future.

"This is the structure I intend to build: aside from myself, you, Yao Yuan, Qin Cheng, and Wen Wan would form the community's de facto management. The five of us together.

"Of course, I've also left room for a sixth position within that structure, though no specific candidate has been identified yet.

"When the time comes to choose a sixth, I'll give your opinion full consideration.

"As long as this vision can be realised, and as long as the structure holds, you'll be free to do whatever you want within it.

"I've now cleared the greatest danger I was facing: whatever the process was like, the Judgment Game targeting me has ended.

"Once the First Player Identity Card's new function can be properly activated, I'll be able to refuse most game invitations. Without Judgment Games in the picture, the level of danger will drop sharply.

"Even if the Imitator hidden in this community wants to keep coming after me, they won't necessarily find a suitable opportunity.

"So I'll have far more time to maintain a stable internal ecology within the community and steadily push toward that goal."

Lin Sizhi considered briefly, then gave a slight nod, "That information is just barely worth something, though I'll still need some time to observe.

"To confirm whether it's genuine, and whether it's actually achievable.

"I'll be direct with you: your community management skills fall considerably short of your game skills."

Lu Bingjun was quiet for a moment, "I'll admit that political ability is not where I'm strongest.

"But within a community, it's not a fatal weakness.

"Gaps in political ability can be compensated for by other means.

"Very often, people have power because of the position they occupy, not the other way around.

"The real world is full of people who have held high positions without exceptional ability and still managed a stable exit.

"Once you're in that position, many problems have a way of resolving themselves naturally."

Lin Sizhi nodded, "That's not wrong."

Neither of them said anything more. They each left the third floor and returned to their own rooms.