Lin Nuo laid everything out clearly, stripping away all the layers, and asked more straightforwardly, “If you were the Magic Whale, what would you do?”
“Buzz!”
…Insanity!
An unprecedented shock swept over Yulilian’s almost overwhelmed mind.
Before Lin Nuo suggested this method, absolutely no one had ever thought that someone could outsmart the Magic Whale, that ancient magical beast…
No, it’s not that no one had thought of it…
It’s that no one ever dared to think in this direction!
All sorts of possibilities flashed through Yulilian’s mind.
She opened her mouth to say, “You absolutely cannot use magic power inside the Washing Magic Array at Silver Tears Lake!”
But… this metal, which looks so similar to silver, contains no magic power at all!
She wanted to say, “Trying to startle the Magic Whale with an explosion — even a whole cartload of this metal wouldn’t be nearly enough!”
Yet, Yulilian realized once again that Lin Nuo was far from lacking servants who could help produce such metal…
In the brief hesitation, the sodium metal, extracted through electrolysis, oxidized in the air and then coated with a dark layer, making it even harder to distinguish from silver ingots…
Yulilian took the remaining half chunk of sodium metal from Lin Nuo’s hand, weighed it in her palm, her face growing increasingly curious.
Before she could ask, Lin Nuo spoke first, “You want to say the weight of this stuff doesn’t match silver, right?”
“What you’re worried about is that if those elves escorting the silver get controlled, they’ll report the silver’s problem to Parkes.”
“But,” Lin Nuo revealed the last piece of the puzzle, “Do you really think those elves, on their very first silver escort mission, would notice that the silver’s weight is off?”
Boom!
It was like a muffled thunderclap struck her brain — as if she was meeting a completely different Lin Nuo from the spoiled brat she remembered.
Yulilian stared at him, her apricot eyes shining with astonishment and shock.
“Those elves were captured and raised from childhood to carry out combat missions like arresting Princess Amidina.”
Lin Nuo shrugged, “How many times have these elves had the chance to see silver before?”
“Honestly, I don’t think they even know the exact weight of copper coins.”
Yulilian couldn’t help but finish his thought, “You mean… these elves haven’t seen much silver — and at least never once transported such a huge amount of silver at a time. It’s very likely they wouldn’t be able to tell the weight is actually off.”
“So even if they are magically controlled, the escort elves won’t reveal a single hint of suspicion… On the contrary, the silver they deliver will make the other side trust it unconditionally!”
Reverse thinking!
Finally, would the proud, disdainful, and even contemptuous Parkes personally check every silver ingot those ‘slave elves’ touched?
No, Yulilian knew clearly — he wouldn’t.
“Besides, the entire cart doesn’t need to be filled with this metal. You must have thought of mixing the silver ingots and this metal sodium together!”
Her childish voice trembled with excitement.
Clutching her Frost Soul Bow, Yulilian unconsciously tightened her grip.
Unbelievably, unbelievably…
They had found a glimmer of hope in this deadlock that was supposed to leave them no chance!
“Well said,” Lin Nuo concluded, “Those twenty-three kids are my greatest trump card.”
“You’re actually pretty smart when you’re not being stupid.”
“Th-That’s obvious!”
With just a few brief prompts, Yulilian’s eyes suddenly brightened.
Her apricot eyes trembled as they stayed fixed on Lin Nuo’s back, unable to come to her senses for a long time.
This was a person without magic — not only in old man Parkes’s eyes, but in the eyes of countless mages, definitely a waste — who had come up with a method that even those who’d tried to help Princess Amidina for seven years hadn’t thought of!
This was… nearly insane — risking everything with almost nothing, fighting the strong with the weak!
But can this gamble really fail?
No…
Even Princess Amidina would say it’s uncertain!
“Swish—”
Lin Nuo walked over to the broken window that hadn’t been repaired yet and pulled back the curtains.
The sky, washed clean by a night of rain, was a pure, clear blue.
The morning light poured in, casting a soft glow over his lightly curled golden hair.
Facing such a high-level problem at first, it was hard not to feel powerless, like someone saying, “You’ve mastered the basics; now go try to slay a god.”
Thinking of Feng Aotian grinding through small monsters while he tackled the boss directly, it was definitely an uneven feeling,
But who said Lin Nuo couldn’t find that faint possibility…
“Pitter-patter—boom!”
The sound of quick footsteps came from behind.
Lin Nuo turned, and the small figure suddenly threw herself into his arms like a koala.
“I know you and my sister will never get along, so I never properly addressed you as anything,” Yulilian said, rubbing her tear-streaked face against him, “Although I still don’t want to call you brother-in-law… Your engagement looks fake as hell anyway.”
She wiped her tears on him, then asked softly, “Can I just call you Lin Nuo, or Lin Nuo-gege from now on? Sis said she feels like she’s definitely going to die, but I don’t want her to… and I really don’t want you to either…”
When Yulilian finally loosened her tight embrace around Lin Nuo’s waist, he saw the preserved fruit she loved most had already been stuffed into his arms.
Her small fist was raised to cheer him on, and in her clear apricot eyes was the unspoken hope, “Come back safely.”
“It’s rare to see you being serious, but bribing me with your favorite snacks still doesn’t seem like enough,” he said.
No officer could resist such a test.
Before Yulilian proudly explained how reluctant she was to part with the snacks, Lin Nuo placed his hand on her fluffy head and rubbed it gently:
“Of course, I’ll come back. With your sister.”
“Remember how it felt just now pulling out that Thunder Magic Arrow? The voltage… in short, channeling thunder magic through those crystals is extremely difficult to control. Now, it’s all up to you.
“Also, thanks for blocking that attack for me just now… really, thank you, Yulilian.”