The one who initially proposed killing Bo Jingmo was none other than Xing Yuan.

The reason he gave was that Bo Jingmo possessed the same skill as Limu, and that Limu's skill might have transferred to Bo Jingmo.

Yet he clearly knew that the game allowed two people to have identical skills - even within his own Peace team, such special cases existed.

Realizing this, Yu Jiao's expression froze.

So... was Xing Yuan deliberately shifting the conflict onto Bo Jingmo?

Did he also want Bo Jingmo dead?

Why? When had Bo Jingmo ever had any feud with Peace?

As she pondered this, Xing Yuan continued smiling while rejecting Bai Shaodong's suggestion.

"Our two members have only recently advanced to intermediate players. No matter what, we should give them time to grow."

Bai Shaodong remained unhurried: "I heard one of your Peace members named Qi Mai died in the last dungeon? And that person was in the same dungeon as Bo Jingmo. Since he's already targeting your Peace members, are you just going to sit back and do nothing?"

Hearing this, Yu Jiao stiffened again, pressing her lips together.

The players in that dungeon hadn't been killed by Bo Jingmo at all.

As the only person who knew the truth, she uncharacteristically chose to remain silent now.

How did Bai Shaodong know Peace members could kill Bo Jingmo? And why did Xing Yuan want Bo Jingmo dead?

And... who exactly was that woman?

Yu Jiao exhaled softly, lowering her eyes as she stood quietly to the side.

Xing Yuan's smile froze: "I'll naturally take countermeasures, but this is Peace's internal affair. No need for President Bai to concern himself."

Hmph.

Seeing the negotiation fail, Bai Shaodong's mouth twisted into a sneer, his expression growing uglier.

He stood up. "Then don't blame me for being impolite."

After they left, Tian Jianmu happened to return from outside.

Hands in pockets, he glanced at Bai Shaodong's group, his eyes briefly meeting Yu Jiao's.

Only after they were gone did he speak: "Were those people from Deva just now?"

Xing Yuan sat back down, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mmm."

"Did you discover anything while following Jiang Xi's group?"

Tian Jianmu sat on the sofa, crossing his legs. "There was something interesting. Remember how Wu Bei said he saw someone who looked like an NPC? I saw her yesterday."

Xing Yuan opened his eyes. "Oh? You saw her?"

"Yeah." Tian Jianmu chuckled. "Guess what? She's actually a player who hid her system."

Xing Yuan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Could you gauge her strength?"

Unfortunately, Tian Jianmu shook his head. "Not really. Probably an intermediate player. If she were advanced, I'd likely have seen her before."

Tilting his head back, he recalled the scene and muttered, "But... that girl is actually Bo Jingmo's girlfriend, and she didn't seem to like us much. Could she be from Deva?"

"No." Xing Yuan's tone was certain. "If that girl were sent by Bai Shaodong, he wouldn't have come to see me today."

"Yu Li..." He narrowed his eyes, slowly repeating the name.

This woman was an unexpected variable he hadn't anticipated.

An unreadable glint flashed in Xing Yuan's eyes. "Never mind. Just focus on protecting Jiang Xi and Hou Liang for now."

Tian Jianmu raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, why go to such lengths to protect two newcomers? They're not somehow related to you, are you?"

Xing Yuan simply gave him a sidelong glance.

"Mind your own business. Less curiosity."

Tian Jianmu shrugged. "Fine, fine. I'm off then."

Meanwhile, in the car.

Yu Jiao sat in front, watching the man in the backseat through the rearview mirror. "President Bai, how did you know those two from Peace could kill Bo Jingmo?"

Bai Shaodong only chuckled.

"Naturally, I have my ways."

Yu Jiao averted her gaze, speaking as if making casual conversation: "Actually, I think... we might not necessarily need to kill Bo Jingmo. During the meeting earlier—"

Before she could finish, the car was plunged into an eerie silence.

Sensing something, she looked up to find Bai Shaodong's eyes open, staring at her from the backseat.

Rong Fan beside him also cast her a complicated look.

The man's dangerous gaze was like a venomous snake. His tone betrayed no emotion: "Yu Jiao, what do you mean by that?"

"I..." Yu Jiao hesitated momentarily before speaking slowly, "Originally, we wanted to kill Bo Jingmo to bring Limu back, right? I just thought... maybe that idea was mistaken."

The car grew even quieter.

After what felt like an eternity, Bai Shaodong finally spoke cryptically:

"Right or wrong, Bo Jingmo must die."

Yu Jiao instantly tightened her grip on her bag strap. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly relaxed her hold.

"President Bai, may I ask you a question?"

Bai Shaodong kept his eyes closed, giving no response, making his thoughts inscrutable.

"When I joined your team, you told me Limu wasn't truly dead—that you had a way to bring her back. Now I want to confirm with you again: can you really bring Limu back? Even back then, when you had us investigate Bo Jingmo, the reason you gave was his connection to Limu."

In the silent car, the woman's voice was calm yet seemed to suppress something, carrying an air of impending storm.

Rong Fan stared blankly out the window, his gaze unfocused, clearly lost in thought.

Bai Shaodong: "Hasn't Limu already returned? And didn't you verify it with your skill? Everything I said was true."

"Is that so?" Yu Jiao's voice turned faint. "So this is what you meant by her return. In that case, what's the point of killing Bo Jingmo now?"

Bai Shaodong only said coldly: "Yu Jiao, just focus on doing your job."

Her job?

For the first time, Yu Jiao felt lost. She no longer knew what she was supposed to do.

Even a sense of powerlessness from being deceived began to surface.

Noticing her unusual behavior, Bai Shaodong slowly opened his eyes, scrutinizing her intently.

"Yu Jiao, what's wrong with you today? Are you hiding something from me?"

After a few seconds of silence, Yu Jiao forced a faint smile. "No, you're overthinking it."

She looked out the window, then suddenly spoke after another pause:

"President Bai, for the next dungeon... I want to go personally."