Chapter 273: Chapter 206: Capitalist: Why Is He Running Around Randomly?
Jingang was completely unaware that he was being observed by Lin Qi’s Spiritual Vision.
In fact, not even Capitalist was clear on the specifics of a Wizard’s Abilities. She only knew that Wizards possessed an incredibly powerful Investigation Ability.
But that wasn’t important. For Capitalist, having Jingang keep an eye on Lin Qi was merely a matter of convenience.
Jingang used an implanted chip to communicate with Capitalist remotely over a special frequency.
It was something akin to a chat window, but the interface style clearly showed the handiwork of Guang Ling.
Moreover, this chat window was always active.
It was clear that Guang Ling treated all members of the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps equally, showing no favoritism.
As long as the client paid, providing technical support was a simple task for Guang Ling.
What’s more, Capitalist didn’t just pay the fees—she covered the cost of the servers as well, making things even easier for Guang Ling.
Jingang: "Target is on the move. This guy is the Wizard? He doesn’t look like it. What kind of Wizard is decked out in an A-Class Prosthetic Body?"
Capitalist: "Just keep a close eye on him. Let me know if you have anything to report."
Theoretically, Capitalist thought the probability of Lin Qi being the "Wizard" was extremely low, but she had a strange gut feeling.
This was despite Lin Qi having once taken a direct hit from Holy Light.
But Capitalist felt that while an ordinary Wizard might not withstand Holy Light, the one from the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps might be a different story. This Wizard was just too mysterious.
’He has ties to the Eastern Alliance, so it’s perfectly reasonable that he could withstand Holy Light!’
That was why Capitalist had Jingang tail Lin Qi, with the secondary task of moving on to Director Aishwarya’s family members after a while.
If Lin Qi truly was the Wizard, then this itinerary wouldn’t create a conflict.
Jingang didn’t know Capitalist’s true thoughts, but he was completely obedient to her. He could be considered her most capable assistant, someone she could almost completely trust.
After all, Capitalist had the upper hand, holding all the information on Jingang’s identity.
Even if Jingang guessed that Capitalist was Qiao Xi, he had no proof.
Under these circumstances, Jingang continued to track Lin Qi’s movements.
He relayed them in real-time in the chat window.
Jingang: "Target is heading towards the core district of Alliance City, which matches your prediction. If he really is the Wizard, he would indeed head to the core district to place Director Aishwarya’s family members under surveillance."
Jingang: "Target has deviated from the predicted path. He entered a flagship Prosthetic Clinic belonging to Liu’s Heavy Industries. Looks like he’s meeting someone."
Jingang: "Target’s guest has arrived. Running a check now... It’s Xiao Gu from Rotor Pharmaceutical. Intel shows the target joined the Medical Small Business Alliance—the same one Rotor Pharmaceutical is in—just yesterday. The two parties are partners."
Jingang: "Per the plan, I’m preparing to move on to Director Aishwarya’s other family members. I don’t think this target is the Wizard."
Jingang’s initial reports had led Capitalist to believe her suspicions were correct—that Lin Qi was perhaps the Wizard’s public-facing identity.
But the subsequent messages veered off course.
Lin Qi had indeed gone out for a legitimate reason, but his purpose was to meet someone else, not one of Director Aishwarya’s family members.
Capitalist asked the key question: "How far is the target’s current position from the nearest of Director Aishwarya’s family members?"
Jingang immediately pulled up a map from his chip data and measured.
Jingang: "Two streets away. A straight-line distance of nine hundred and sixty meters."
This distance seemed to be beyond the effective range of a Wizard’s Ability, based on past mission data. This gave Capitalist pause.
But monitoring Lin Qi was just a side job; Capitalist’s true objective was still Director Aishwarya.
That was the main event—an event that could potentially shift the internal power dynamics of the Big Business Alliance.
Capitalist’s actual plan was far less perfunctory than what she had told Liu Xuan.
The version she gave Liu Xuan was actually a message she wanted to pass on to the "Wizard"; Capitalist was hoping to bait the Wizard into revealing their identity.
Unfortunately for her, Lin Qi had managed his own actions so perfectly that he gave Capitalist no openings to exploit.
...
Inside the Prosthetic Clinic, Xiao Gu sat across from Lin Qi, completely baffled.
He couldn’t figure out why Lin Qi had asked him to meet so far away.
But when Xiao Gu noticed the clinic belonged to Liu’s Heavy Industries and was filled with flagship Prosthetic Bodies, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy toward Lin Qi.
’God damn it! It must be nice to come from a big corporation! Having a powerful backer makes all the difference!’
Lin Qi looked at Xiao Gu, choosing his words carefully before he spoke.
Asking Xiao Gu to meet him at the Prosthetic Clinic had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, and he had used email to arrange it.
According to intel Lin Qi had paid a hefty sum for, this was a relatively secure method of contact.
Not even a standing director of the Big Business Alliance could access the records freely; it would cost them.
’Capitalist isn’t going to pay that price to investigate me over something so trivial.’
’Even if she did investigate, the most she’d find is that the timing of my meeting with Xiao Gu was slightly off. She’d never guess the real reason.’
In short, it was all part of Lin Qi’s plan to create a diversion.
But Lin Qi did have a specific purpose for meeting with Xiao Gu.
He hadn’t dragged Xiao Gu all the way out here for nothing.
"Xiao Gu, I’ll be frank with you. I need some intel on Director Aishwarya. Any kind of intel at all."
Lin Qi was moving up his plans for the evening to this afternoon.
Time to rattle the cage!
He would leverage the inherently leaky, non-confidential nature of the Medical Small Business Alliance to rattle the cage.
He was making it clear to Director Aishwarya that he—or rather, Liu’s Heavy Industries—had picked up on some clues and was launching an investigation into her.
