God's Imitator

Night.

Lu Bingjun and Lin Sizhi went to the third floor, casually found a small room in the corner, and each sat down.

"Lawyer Lin, there’s something I’d like to consult with you.

"Specifically, which tier did your previous community’s community fund reach?

"I’ve already asked Shen Bowen the same question, and she said her original community only unlocked the Immunity Coupon.

"Initially, I thought your previous community might be in a similar situation, but now I feel such an assumption might be a bit rash.

"Of course, if you feel this question is somewhat sensitive, you can choose not to answer."

Lin Sizhi intertwined his fingers and said meaningfully, "Then let’s use secrets to exchange.

"An equal trade, no deception."

Lu Bingjun was momentarily stunned, unable to respond immediately, and pondered seriously for a while.

But eventually, he said, "Alright.

"Then I’ll ask first; among the items previously unlocked in your community, is there any special item that impressed you?"

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

"The privilege is that after holding the Identity Card for a month, you get 2,000 minutes of visa time daily. The timer resets when the holder changes."

Lu Bingjun was noticeably surprised: "Price?"

Lin Sizhi said, "120,000."

Lu Bingjun’s expression looked somewhat heavy, his brow furrowed, but soon he relaxed again: "Not expensive. You could even say it’s quite cheap."

He continued to ask, "Approximately what tier does it unlock?"

Lin Sizhi observed his expression: "1.8 million community fund."

This time, Lu Bingjun’s brow furrowed again, clearly a number somewhat beyond his psychological expectation.

"Your community already raised 1.8 million community fund in the first stage?

"Furthermore, this also means you are well aware that after achieving the 900,000 tier, you can unlock the ’Immunity Coupon cooldown permanently reduced by 7 days’ item."

Lin Sizhi didn’t answer directly: "These are two different questions; decide which one you specifically want to ask.

"Afterward, you must also provide enough substantial information for it to be considered an equal exchange."

Lu Bingjun thought carefully for a moment, then said, "The latter one."

Lin Sizhi nodded: "Yes, I’m well aware that a donation of 900,000 to the community fund can reduce the Immunity Coupon cooldown by 7 days.

"But I haven’t mentioned it to anyone in the community.

"As for the reason, you can think for yourself.

"Your turn."

Lu Bingjun pondered for a long time: "I suspect you might either not want to alert anyone or wait for a suitable bargaining chip.

"Regardless, since you’re willing to share this information with me now, I should express my gratitude."

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

"I suspect the second community has a deeply hidden Imitator.

"’One Word Breaks the Prison’ is his doing, and his real aim was to kill me, Deng Xiao just happened to take the bullet for me.

"Or you might also consider... to protect myself, I somewhat used Deng Xiao to take the bullet for me.

"Lawyer Lin, you’re a smart person, so I don’t need to hide some things from you: in fact, I am afraid of death and it’s my first time experiencing Judgment games as a sinner.

"In this game, I’m far less relaxed than I appear. Honestly saying, I indeed had the thought of letting Deng Xiao share my risk.

"But I absolutely do not want to see Deng Xiao truly die, because in the community, he has always been my staunch supporter.

"So, I want to find this Imitator.

"Not just to avenge Deng Xiao, but also for myself—so long as this Imitator continues living, he might keep using other games to kill me; I could never eat or sleep in peace.

"It’s just that he’s too well hidden, I don’t have a clue."

Lin Sizhi nodded: "Continue."

Lu Bingjun sighed somewhat helplessly: "In the early days of stage one, our community caught a not-so-clever Imitator.

"But he died rather suddenly in the game, so we didn’t get much information from him.

"After that, our community underwent many personnel changes, but there hasn’t been an outright, new Imitator appearing.

"I know this isn’t very normal. According to Walkway’s usual style, after an Imitator’s death, a new one is likely selected immediately.

"Moreover, the rules never said a community can only have one Imitator.

"But we haven’t found a new suspect, so we can only assume ’there’s no other Imitator in the community’ or ’the Imitator is too scared to design games anymore.’

"But you’ve seen the situation with ’One Word Breaks the Prison.’

"This Imitator is very likely in the second community, right beside us."

He paused slightly, but Lin Sizhi didn’t say anything.

Clearly, this information doesn’t carry enough weight.

Lu Bingjun continued: "Actually, the original leader of this community was someone else.

"But he died in the last Judgment game of the first stage."

Lin Sizhi nodded: "I had guessed all of this."

Lu Bingjun raised his eyebrows: "Guessed all of it?"

Lin Sizhi explained: "This isn’t a hard fact to guess.

"You should have at least prepared three game cores; even if new members perform well and replace old cores, it’s better than only arranging two cores.

"Moreover, this should also be apparent to others; players slightly sensitive to the community’s ecology should be able to see it.

"I also think there’s likely a hidden Imitator in this community for a simple reason: you haven’t extracted enough information from the Imitator.

"Walkway probably wouldn’t allow a community without any Imitators.

"Therefore, if you caught an Imitator in the last one or two games of stage one, assume the old members are roughly reliable; if not, then there’s surely an Imitator among the old members, and deeply hidden.

"Of course, new members are not excluded from potentially being Imitators.

"I’m more curious about the original leader’s name, what his crimes were, and the content of his Judgment game. His death might also relate to that Imitator.

"If I had this information, perhaps I could try to find the Imitator within the community.

"Though I can’t guarantee to find it."

Lu Bingjun bowed his head, silent for a while: "Hmm... it’s an attractive condition, but I’m sorry.

"Our interests aren’t yet deeply bound.

"I can only tell you the original number one player was Wei Changfeng, nothing else to disclose for now.

"However, since we’ve agreed to exchange sufficiently valuable information, I will certainly keep my promise.

"I can exchange another piece of information: telling you my vision for this community’s future.

"I will structure the community like this: besides me, you, Yao Yuan, Qin Cheng, and Wen Wan, the five of us will become the actual managers of the community.

"Of course, I’ve reserved a sixth position, but there’s currently no clear candidate.

"If it comes time to choose the sixth person, I’ll fully consider your opinion.

"As long as this vision can be realized, under the premise of maintaining this structure, you can do whatever you want.

"I’ve now endured the greatest crisis: whichever way it went, the Judgment game targeting me has ended.

"Once I successfully unlock the new feature of the First Player Identity Card, I can refuse most game invitations. Without Judgment games, the risk level drops significantly.

"Even if a hidden Imitator in the community still wants to plot against me, they may not find a suitable opportunity.

"So, I’ll have more time to maintain a stable ecosystem within the community, ensuring steady progress towards this goal."

Lin Sizhi thought for a moment and nodded: "This information barely resembles something of substance, but I’ll still need time to observe.

"Confirm its authenticity and feasibility.

"Frankly, your management skills in the community are considerably weaker than your gaming skills."

Lu Bingjun was silent for a moment: "I admit, my political skills aren’t the finest.

"But within the community, that’s not a fatal problem.

"A deficiency in political skills can completely be compensated by other means.

"Often, people possess power because they’re in a specific position, rather than having power to be in a specific position.

"In reality, there are many people lacking ability yet still safely holding high positions and even retiring smoothly.

"Once in that position, many problems naturally get solved."

Lin Sizhi nodded: "That’s not wrong."

Neither spoke again, merely leaving the third floor separately and returning to their own rooms.