Although it was still a Wanderer's Inn, the Black Tower City branch was much larger than the one in Kalang City, something Mo Tan had already investigated when he came online previously.
Whether it was the area, the interior decoration, or the service staff, this place was clearly several tiers higher than the small place Jun Wu was in charge of in Kalang City. While the style didn't differ much, both the number of guests and the Mandarin proficiency of the waiters were many times better than the latter.
“It seems Jun Wu’s previous boss wasn’t just transferred; he actually got a substantial promotion. Tsk, tsk, I suddenly feel a bit embarrassed, what should I do?”
Following behind a generic-looking waiter who was leading the way, Mo Tan couldn’t help but think this, then proceeded to nail several rows of nails into the theoretical, non-existent coffin of his conscience, seeking peace of mind.
Because he currently had no conscience, the effect was outstanding.
“Little brother,” Mo Tan suddenly chuckled lightly at the generic-looking young man leading the way in front of him, asking as if distracted, “Have we met somewhere before?”
The other person’s steps hesitated slightly, then he turned to look at him, shaking his head, “I’m sorry, I don’t seem to have any impression of you.”
“That’s true.” Mo Tan blinked at him, a hint of apology on his face, “Sorry, it might be because you look too ordinary…”
There was no hint of apology in his words.
And the other person was quite magnanimous, merely replying unenthusiastically, “Everyone says that,” before continuing to lead Mo Tan.
As mentioned earlier, this place was much larger than Jun Wu’s. Although the layout wasn’t complicated, there were at least a few independent offices upstairs. The second floor, where the local person in charge was located, was not a public area, so it wasn’t uncommon to have a waiter lead the way.
As for one of Mo Tan’s collaborators… forget offices, he didn’t even have a second floor.
Two minutes later.
“It’s truly a hardship to have traveled so far. Breen is waiting for you.”
A young human man appeared at a corner on the second floor, giving Mo Tan a friendly smile, then nodded to the guiding waiter, “You can go back now. I’ll take it from here.”
“Understood, Sir Lanz.” The generic-looking man bowed, then slowly turned and went downstairs.
Mo Tan followed the man named Lanz further inside.
The second floor was not much smaller than the inn’s lobby, but the layout was completely different. Decorative musical instruments and green plants used to set the mood were almost nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were bookshelves piled high with numerous dossiers and small rooms, making the walkways somewhat cramped. Yet, it didn’t feel empty despite the sparse staff.
“This is more like a ‘valuable’ Wanderer's Inn, or rather, a qualified intelligence organization outpost. The one in Kalang City was at most a makeshift operation. If we’re talking status, even this guy in front of me is probably several tiers higher than Jun Wu…”
Mo Tan thought sarcastically, guessing the purpose of those rooms, while quickly constructing the structure of this inn in his mind, then subconsciously comparing it with the surrounding environment, finally concluding that there were no secret rooms.
“We’ve arrived.” Soon, Lanz, whom Mo Tan suspected was a high-ranking executive or the boss’s personal secretary, stopped, turned sideways, and pulled open a nearby door, “Please.”
An ordinary room, an ordinary layout, bookshelves that were probably just for show, a cleanliness that was less than perfect, a long table covered with a large amount of intelligence, and an honest person sitting behind the long table.
This was Mo Tan’s first impression of the place…
The last impression might be a bit subjective, as in his current eyes, almost everyone could be called an “honest person,” including the distracted, ill-intentioned, restless, generic-looking waiter from before—all honest people.
“Welcome to the inn.” The bald, chubby dwarf with a big beard stood up and said with a chuckle to Mo Tan, “Did that child Jun Wu send you?”
Mo Tan nodded, walked forward, and placed the small box in his hand on the long table, “Yes, this is something he asked me to bring to you.”
“You can call me Old Breen.” Breen, Jun Wu’s former boss and now the person in charge of the Black Tower City Wanderer's Inn, smiled kindly at Mo Tan, then raised an eyebrow at the quiet Lanz beside him, “Help brew a cup of tea.”
The latter immediately walked to the other side of the room and started to busy himself.
“Sit.” Breen picked up the small box in front of him and examined it carefully for several moments, then pointed to the chair opposite him and smiled at Mo Tan, “I thought Jun Wu would come himself. He’s always been a meticulous child.”
The latter spread his hands helplessly, “Business has been booming in Kalang City recently. Jun Wu and Wei Yang are a bit too busy, so I had to make the trip.”
“Hmm, then you must be someone Jun Wu trusts deeply.” Breen casually placed the Epic-quality small box aside and asked with some curiosity, “Are you good friends?”
Mo Tan shook his head, saying with a serious expression, “No, I’m his great-uncle.”
“Great-un… ” Breen stared at Mo Tan dumbfounded, and after a long while, he twitched his mouth, “Alright, the age of you The half elf really is hard to tell.”
“It’s alright.” Mo Tan shook his head, looking profound as he tilted his head forty-five degrees, “It’s all because I’m too handsome.”
Breen: “…”
“Breen, the tea is ready.”
Fortunately, Lanz had just finished brewing the tea and walked over, resolving the awkwardness… of course, it was Breen’s unilateral awkwardness.
“Hmm, well, this great-uncle.” Breen didn’t know how to address Mo Tan for a moment, so he vaguely asked, “Was the journey smooth?”
Mo Tan took a sip of tea, looking unperturbed, “It was alright, except the box almost got lost.”
“What!” Breen was startled and murmured, “Could it be those Thiev… ”
“Just kidding.” Mo Tan smiled, “No one would be so bored as to want to take Jun Wu’s performance report from last month, right?”
“Little Jun Wu is quite clever. He must have guessed this was something important, not even telling his great-uncle the truth… By the way, I didn’t know he had a great-uncle before.”
Breen gave Jun Wu a mental thumbs-up and immediately felt relieved.
“Brother Breen.” Mo Tan, with a distinctly great-uncle-like demeanor, nodded to the old dwarf, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going. Jun Wu’s great-aunt is waiting for me at home.”
Breen tugged at his beard, thought for a long time, and couldn’t think of anything to say. Finally, he gave two dry chuckles and said to Lanz, who was also somewhat stunned beside him, “Then you can see this… hmm, how should I address you?”
“Grand Fard.” Mo Tan blurted out.
“Alright, then please see Grand Fard out.” Breen nodded.
“Understood.”
“Quest: Aged Storage Box, Completed”
The pleasant system prompt sounded in Mo Tan’s ear.
…
Two minutes later.
Mo Tan and Lanz appeared at the entrance of the Wanderer's Inn.
“Thank you for your hard work, Grand Fard.” Lanz bowed to Mo Tan, “This… uh… performance report from Jun Wu is very important. It’s excellent that it was safely delivered to Breen.”
“It’s nothing.” Mo Tan replied distractedly, “I was just passing by. No need for thanks. Just tell Breen to take good care of little Jun Wu.”
Lanz immediately nodded, “No problem, Grand Fard.”
Mo Tan, who had already turned away, looked back and smiled slightly, “Don’t be so formal, just call me Fard.”
“Understood, Fard.” Lanz was adaptable.
He didn’t notice that the remarkably young-looking great-uncle in front of him secretly made a strange gesture behind his back, while his other hand was gently rubbing a piece of leather-like material.
“What a cynical and good man.”
Watching Mo Tan’s receding figure, Lanz, standing at the inn’s entrance, couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.
And then…
He suddenly felt a pain in the back of his neck, and then, as he lost balance and was about to fall, someone caught him.
“Hey! Tom! What’s wrong with you? Tom? Hold on, I’ll take you to…”
This was the last thing Lanz heard before he fainted.
“Who the hell are you? Where are you taking me?”
He wanted to say this but couldn’t.
…
A moment later, in an alley near the Black Tower City Wanderer's Inn.
Humming a tune, Mo Tan turned into the alley with a smile, giving the young man in front of him a thumbs-up, “Well done!”
“You flatter me.” Cole shook his head, glancing at the large water vat beside him, “This person’s physical quality is very average; knocking him out wasn’t difficult.”
“When I praise you, just listen. Why so much nonsense.” Mo Tan rolled his eyes at him, then tapped the water vat beside him, telling Cole, “Time is limited, strip him as quickly as possible.”
Cole immediately took a bundle of clothes from behind some wooden planks at his feet and smiled shyly, “For you.”
“Uh…” Mo Tan covered his face and cautiously stepped back, “You don’t have that kind of hobby, do you?”
“No, it’s just that knowing those few plans, I could roughly guess your intentions.” Cole immediately shook his head, “So… Huh!!”
He was horrified to find that the person standing in front of him was not his master, but the unfortunate poet who had just been ambushed.
“It’s me.” Mo Tan, already wearing Hundred Aspects, shrugged, then took the clothes from Cole’s hand and said with his own voice, “You wait for me here. Make sure this guy doesn’t wake up during this time, understood?”
Cole nodded blankly.
…
Black Tower City Wanderer's Inn, second floor, Breen’s room.
Knock, knock, knock…
“Come in.” Breen, pacing back and forth in the room, said casually.
“I’m back.” Lanz, looking respectful, pushed the door open and said softly, “The guest has been seen off.”
Breen nodded absently, then suddenly asked, “So, what do you think?”
“Hide it.” Lanz replied concisely.
“Exactly.” Breen chuckled, “We can’t let those Thiev steal it.”
Lanz nodded.
“Put it in ‘that’ place.” The old dwarf pointed to the small box on the long table and instructed, “Keep a close eye on it these next two days. You know, if they could, those guys would absolutely not want to get it through official channels.”
Lanz bowed, then walked forward and picked up the ancient small box, “You can rest assured.”
He then walked towards the door.
“Wait a moment.” Just then, Breen suddenly called out to him.
“Do you have any further instructions?” Lanz turned to his boss curiously.
“Remember to add a few more locks, and…” Breen shrugged at his deputy, “Didn’t I remind you not to use honorifics before?”
“Understood, Breen.” Lanz smiled, then lightly walked out of the room.
Just as he closed the door from the outside…
‘Lanz’ glanced at the unique Epic-quality storage box in his hand and rolled his eyes dramatically.
“Heaven knows ‘that place’ is ‘which place’. You explained it so unclearly, I can’t even put it away for you even if I wanted to~~”
‘Lanz’ showed a cunning smile, then immediately put on a serious face again and quickly walked downstairs.
…
Ten minutes later.
“Alright, Cole, no more follow-up controls.” ‘Lanz’, with a smile, appeared in the alley from before, saying to Cole, who had just opened the water vat and was about to hit it with a blunt object, “It’s done.”
Cole nodded, then slammed the stick into the water vat, and asked curiously, “That’s great, sir, but what does ‘follow-up control’ mean?”
Mo Tan: “…..Nothing.”
He took off the Hundred Aspects mask from his face, then quickly changed into a coarse cloth outfit, casually throwing Lanz’s clothes into the water vat, and smiled at Cole, “Let’s go back, take the shortcut.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Oh, right.”
“Hmm?”
“If you ever meet someone named Grand Fard, or Ma De, beat them up first without a second thought.”
“Understood, but what if I can’t beat them?”
“Kneel down and call me father.”
“Uh…”
…
At the same time, the generic-looking waiter from before stealthily appeared in front of a small door on the second floor of the Wanderer's Inn. He first looked around, then revealed a sinister smile and pulled a short staff from his pocket.
“Alohomora!”
The High-Rank Thief, who belonged to the Black Tower City Thieves' Guild, whispered.
Crack…
A crisp sound came from behind the door, and a faint purple mist emanated from it. A Mid-Tier magic restriction was instantly broken.
“Alohomora!”
Click…
Two strings of copper locks, which had been invisible, fell from the door.
“Alohomora!”
Nothing happened…
“Tsk, tsk, so it’s this simple? And here I was preparing… Hmm!?”
The generic-looking man’s ears perked up, then his expression changed, and he immediately darted into the small door.
Immediately after, a figure with a livid face appeared on the nearby stairs…
“Breen!” Lanz, with bumps all over his head, ran and yelled, “Something happened! Breen!”
…
Half an hour later, Black Tower City, a room in Liuli Pavilion.
“Sir, what should we do next?”
“Just wait and see~ Someone will soon be unable to sit still.”
Mo Tan leisurely tossed the box in his hand, his face full of delight…
“The game has only just begun.”
Chapter 108: End
