Chapter 232: Reporting the Mastermind Behind the Scenes, This Is Also Documented in Lord of Mysteries

In an empty gymnasium.

Thump, thump, thump.

As he walked in, the dull, dense sound of basketballs bouncing echoed back and forth through the vast venue, with the occasional sound of a shot being taken.

"......"

But at this moment.

Even Lin Guang's composure gave way to a look of speechlessness.

Because the one holding the ball right now wasn't human at all, it was a fiery red bird about the same size as a cockatiel.

Except her strength was astonishing, she could actually flap her wings to hover while dribbling the ball, weaving through the basketball court with it.

She could even easily toss up a basketball nearly as large as her wingspan and sink a shot.

Seeing such an absurd scene, any normal person would probably think they were dreaming.

Another precise three-pointer dropped through the hoop, and the bird seemed to have had her fill of fun, letting out a sigh: "Enough, enough... it doesn't feel all that entertaining anyway."

The next moment, a slender hand had already caught the ball.

Lin Guang stood beneath the hoop, looking at Phoenix.

"Don't you want me to play a bit with you?"

"Ah, you wouldn't understand. This bird body is closer to condensed magic power, it never gets tired."

"And you're even less likely to get tired, like a perpetual motion machine, an iron man."

Phoenix flapped her wings and descended from mid-air, folding her wings as she landed on Lin Guang's shoulder.

She complained: "The charm of so-called competitive sports... it's only fun when you keep playing until you're panting, energy drastically consumed, blood boiling with excitement."

"Only that feeling of exhaustion from completely using up your strength is the best proof of being alive."

"I've never played before, but I've seen on the Ethernet that's what everyone says."

"Especially... back when I was still outside, I saw those people outside my window who could run and jump, and I envied them terribly. I always fantasized that one day my illness would be cured, that I could run until my legs were sore, until my lungs burned like fire from sheer exhaustion."

"Originally in this world, I wanted to use my original appearance like Amber did, but somehow I ended up choosing this bird body that matches my code name... Maybe it's because I envy the immortal bird's rebirth from flames, envy its wings that can fly freely."

"Of course, I don't dislike it now either."

Lin Guang didn't reply, he simply fixed the basketball against his knee with one hand and turned his head to look at her.

Like the others, today it was Phoenix and Amber who had taken the initiative to contact him, hoping for some time alone.

So, she probably also had something she wanted to say to Lin Guang.

However...

After she herself had started the conversation, this bird, who was usually so chatty and talkative, suddenly seemed to have fallen into extremely deep reminiscence.

Dozens of seconds later, she suddenly snapped back to reality and said with self-deprecation: "Ha, the moment the topic turns to myself, I get a bit stuck."

"But then again, you probably already understand most of it by now."

"Me... I'm an executive at L Corp, code name Phoenix, real name Hythesla."

"There's not much to say about my past in the outside world, you could probably guess it."

"The spell I awakened as a child had tremendous potential in the soul, it would autonomously absorb magic power to advance, but my Magic Aptitude wasn't sufficient, which placed an extremely heavy burden on my body. Even going full cyborg didn't help."

"It's actually somewhat similar to Su Fang's mother's situation, except hers was acquired later in life, while I was born with this curse and binding."

Lin Guang listened quietly to her rambling.

"Basically, this kind of illness would be a terminal disease anywhere. When I was outside, even walking a couple steps would leave me gasping for breath, I had to rely on vehicles to get around."

"But in exchange, my spell's performance was also incredibly strong."

"Even without systematic training, I still became a superhuman, and I even secretly taught myself countless hacking techniques using my spell."

"I used my abilities to make money while doing a lot of outrageous things, stirring up plenty of trouble, and even offending many powerful superhumans..."

"I thought I didn't have long to live back then, so I dug up scandals about big corporations and celebrities all over the place and exposed them to the public, which even got me onto the hit lists of certain assassination websites."

"But afterwards, a turning point came."

Phoenix tilted her head up and said softly: "You can roughly understand it as... L Corp discovered my talent and specially recruited me."

"Actually, at first, I didn't think L Corp was anything good either, but later I realized... this place is really interesting, different from what I imagined."

"Most of the people here have dreams, they're not that cold-hearted... although overall they still chase profits like other companies, at least they have a bit of human warmth."

"Rumor has it that the chairman of L Corp is also an idealistic eccentric... but that's just hearsay. I, or rather, the vast majority of the company's employees have never seen him, we've only heard that he's a very powerful superhuman."

"Anyway, everything a strong person does must have their reasons."

"Well... after telling you all that, what I actually want to tell you is very simple."

Phoenix shook her head, nudged the basketball off Lin Guang's knee, pressed the tip of one wing against the bottom of the ball, and gave it a light flick. The basketball began spinning rapidly on her fiery red feather tips, producing a faint rubbing sound.

Her golden-red eyes looked at Lin Guang, and she seriously stated the reason she had called him here today.

"After this world ends, you can't just walk out without knowing anything, you must have some understanding of the outside world."

"Although, as long as you can be properly born as an A-rank magical girl with Domain, then even that massive world out there won't have many beings that can threaten you."

"Aside from the Universal Megacorps with their titles, every other faction before you would be nothing more than slightly larger ants."

"But..."

"Since that person on the board of directors set up this scheme in advance, they must have also prepared for the Witch King's birth. Who knows, they might pull some despicable sneak attack or sealing tricks."

"I can't guess exactly what they'll do, but I've made some preparations for you as well."

As she spoke, Phoenix used her other wing to point at a few notebooks resting on a chair not far away.

"All my account credentials and passwords are there, and the magic key is stored in there too."

She instructed with the utmost seriousness: "Memorize all of it, and then..."

"The moment you get out, first protect yourself, then directly connect to the company's internal Ethernet, and use my authority and account to file the highest-level unconditional report."

"My account does have that supervisory authority."

Hearing this, even Lin Guang couldn't help but pause for a moment: "Report?"