Hearing Cifera's words, Liu Shanhe finally spoke, his voice grave:
"Cifera, you don't need to say such impulsive things. We're a team; mutual trust is the foundation!"
"Exactly, Cifera," Wang Lei chimed in, eager to reassure her. "No one here suspects you. Didn't Little Lin say himself you couldn't possibly be the mole? Just let him finish speaking."
"Old Liu and Teacher Wang Lei are right, Cifera. Please, let me explain," Lin Zhiyuan said, his voice laced with exasperation. Despite Cifera's smile, anyone could tell she was genuinely annoyed.
After all, she had worked tirelessly to gather such precise and efficient intelligence for everyone, only to be suspected of being the mole. Any normal person would be upset; refraining from snapping outright already showed remarkable restraint.
What they didn't realize was that this forced, strained cheerfulness was also part of Cifera's act.
"Everyone knows you're not the mole, but if we don't address the elephant in the room, lingering doubts will persist. Even if we refuse to admit it, it will inevitably affect our future judgments."
"The reason I brought up the possibility of you being the mole earlier was precisely to completely eliminate that suspicion from everyone's minds!
"Cifera's earlier statement wasn't entirely accurate. There's one possibility we haven't ruled out: the Commander himself might be the Grandchild of the Phantom Thief."
"That's right! We completely forgot about that mysterious contestant!" Wang Lei exclaimed.
"Teacher Wang Lei, I think you're the only one who forgot," Nie Bing retorted, her meticulous nature kicking in.
"Ugh... Even if you know, you don't have to say it out loud, Little Nie. Cut me some slack, okay?"
"Just stating the facts. Face has nothing to do with it."
"..."
The brief exchange between Nie Bing and Wang Lei quickly faded. Lin Zhiyuan cleared his throat and continued:
"If this contestant is the Grandchild of the Phantom Thief, he's definitely no ordinary opponent. He's a true master, several levels above the other contestants.
"Such a person, at their best, is highly confident; at their worst, arrogant and conceited."
"When competing against amateur players, he's likely to disdain petty thievery like the others. Instead, he'll want to deliver a stunning opening blow to the Pursuit Team as a grand introduction.
"What kind of 'greeting' would align with the show's theme of theft, yet still shock the Pursuit Team and even leave us humiliated?
"Considering our current situation, I suspect it's... intelligence! Intelligence about our Pursuit Team's movements and locations.
"As we've all experienced firsthand recently, the theft of intelligence has severely hampered our capture efforts. Clearly, the enemy has already achieved their objective.
"How exactly he's managed this remains uncertain, but given his background, we have reason to believe he's leveraging the resources of his Phantom Thief Family. He's likely arranged for skilled operatives to monitor each of us, relaying real-time intelligence to the other players.
"The Production Team's rules don't explicitly prohibit contestants from using external assistance. Since he's been able to consistently steal our intelligence, his methods must fall within the show's permissible boundaries.
"That's my theory. If anyone disagrees, please voice your concerns."
As Lin Zhiyuan spoke, the bullet comments flooded the screen with a single phrase: "Completely right! Yet completely wrong!"
"Completely right" praised Lin Zhiyuan for correctly deducing the Commander's strategy of stealing intelligence. "Completely wrong," however, stemmed from his initial misidentification of the culprit.
[My heart aches for Lord Lin!]
[Actually, Lin Zhiyuan's deductions were remarkably accurate, but due to the information gap, the puzzle was unsolvable.]
[Little Grandchild: I was just slacking off, so how did I suddenly get pinned with such a huge blame?]
[Honestly, it's not even a blame anymore. I think it's actually elevating Little Grandchild to a position he doesn't deserve.]
[True. If Little Grandchild were to face a Hell Start scenario, with his Chuunii-like overbearing CEO personality, he'd probably charge headfirst into the Pursuit Team.]
[Enough about Little Grandchild. Let's go back to pitying Lord Lin.]
[Alas, why was Lord Lin born if Cifera already exists?!]
[Yay! Cifera has once again escaped danger unscathed!]
Meanwhile, upon seeing Lin Zhiyuan proactively exonerate Cifera, Liu Ruyan flew into a rage and hurled her expensive iPhone onto the ground.
With a crack, the screen shattered instantly.
Nearby onlookers winced at the sight, a testament to her reckless wealth.
"Lin Zhiyuan may look smart, but he's clearly got a pig brain! You had the duck in your hand—why let it fly away?!
"Since Cifera has already admitted there's something wrong, why waste time guessing? Just send someone back to monitor her actions!
"If the contestants suddenly become easier to capture, wouldn't that prove Cifera is the mole?!
"Even I could think of such a simple solution! How could the Expert Team miss this? From now on, they should be called the 'Brick-Head Team'!"
After her rant, Liu Ruyan opened her tablet and resumed watching the live stream. Just then, she heard Cifera speak, and what she said left Liu Ruyan completely stunned—it felt like finding a new village after passing through a dark forest.
"Little Lin, you've made some good points, but we still can't rule out the possibility that I'm the mole.
"I propose that Little Bingbing return to the base and supervise my work. That way, we'll finally know if I'm the mole or not."
No one had expected Cifera to still be obsessing over the mole issue at this point, let alone to voluntarily offer herself up for scrutiny.
"Cifera, there's no need to go to such lengths. Doesn't your willingness to do this prove your innocence?"
Liu Shanhe was exasperated. Why are all the women in this team so stubborn?
"Exactly, Cifera. We all trust you. Brother Zhang said we shouldn't bring this up again."
"That's right! We've all seen how much work you've done. How could you possibly be a mole? Brother Feng completely believes in you."
Instead of responding to the others' reassurances, Cifera turned to Nie Bing and asked, "Little Bingbing, do you want to come back?"
"... "
Nie Bing paused for a few seconds before replying decisively, "Yes!"
Hearing this, the Expert Team members knew the matter was settled.
When two stubborn women stood their ground, what chance did the men have of changing their minds?
"Then that's decided. Let's not argue about it anymore."
Though Cifera's voice still carried a hint of a smile, everyone could sense her resolve.
"Until Nie Bing returns to the base, I'll temporarily stop sharing intelligence. But I'll continue tracking the suspects—we can't let them escape our control.
"You all should take this opportunity to rest and prepare for the next round of captures.
"I'll log off the voice channel until Nie Bing is back. See you later~"
After Cifera left the voice channel, Lin Zhiyuan finally spoke up.
"Old Liu, do we really have to do this?"
"Hmm, since things have come to this, let's take a break. Everyone's hungry; we haven't had lunch. We can order takeout."
The preceding arrest operation had been so intense, there hadn't been a moment to stop for a proper meal.
Since even Liu Shanhe had no objections, the rest of the group had no choice but to comply.
The Expert Team had already started ordering food, but viewers in the live stream were once again baffled by Cifera's actions.
Lin Zhiyuan had already pinned the blame on Night Shadow for her, so why was she actively asking Nie Bing to return and supervise her?
Wasn't she just making trouble for herself?
At that moment, the director cut to a close-up of Cifera.
After leaving the voice channel, Cifera stood up and stretched languidly, accentuating her alluring curves.
Just as the viewers were feasting their eyes, Cifera suddenly flashed a wicked smile.
In that instant, Cifera reverted to her "criminal" persona, sending a chill down every viewer's spine.
And the director, ever the master of suspense, split the screen in half, simultaneously showing Nie Bing's faintly visible expression of anticipation as she headed back to base.
Oh no, the Cifera's got a trick up her sleeve!
Little Bingbing's in danger! Don't go back! Run!
Though this was just a variety show, Cifera's disturbingly genuine wicked smile and Nie Bing's heartfelt anticipation instantly maxed out everyone's immersion.