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“What do you think of a dragon that can barely defeat a bamboo rat?”
Reconnecting...
“Tsk tsk, how heartless~”
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“I’m very curious, after all, even the NPCs here are so intelligent, so as the sys...”
Welcome back, Tan Mo, the chaotic neutral. Innocent World will now load. Good night.
Black Tower City, Liuli Pavilion Room 11.
“This time, the loading speed is half a second faster than before...”
Mo Tan appeared smiling in the lounge of the room, muttering softly with a slight smile. Then, he slowly walked to a bookshelf not far away, took out a few sheets of paper and a quill, and quickly wrote something on the low table...
Two minutes later.
“Cor.” Mo Tan put down the quill, snapped his fingers, and called out loudly from outside the lounge, “Come in.”
Cor, who had not dared to disturb Mo Tan since he came online, quickly pushed the door open. His face, which was stiff from constantly trying to train his 'swagger', twitched, “Sir, you called for me?”
Mo Tan raised an eyebrow, “Are you deaf?”
Cor froze for a moment, then shook his head in confusion.
“If you’re not deaf, don’t ask such pointless questions. Time is precious, young man.” Mo Tan stretched, a slender dagger appearing in his hand at some point. He walked up to Cor, “Did you remember everything I told you before?”
The latter nodded vigorously, “I remember everything, I’ll do it well.”
“Very good.” Mo Tan patted his shoulder and chuckled, “Then, good luck to you...”
Half an hour later.
A staggering figure stumbled into the Thieves' Guild.
Then he bumped head-on into a tall Orc dressed in night clothes...
Although it was already past midnight, for a place like the Thieves' Guild, it was the peak time for various 'activities'. It was not strange to meet a few people at the entrance.
No one knew what their fellow thieves were going to do, and no one was interested in such things. Every night was the Darkness Goddess Diliya’s, brief grace. No one who entered or exited here during this time wanted to waste it.
But Scarface obviously didn't mind wasting a little time, firstly because he had nothing urgent on hand, and secondly...
He knew the young man covered in injuries in front of him.
“Mr. Cordova?” The Orc exaggeratedly waved an arm and laughed loudly, “What happened to you? You seem to be in great need of help. Do you need me to accompany you to the church?”
Evidently, he wasn't particularly fond of this Mid-Tier Thief he had met before, but even so, Scarface reluctantly helped the cool guy named Cordova. This short-tempered Orc was not so cold-blooded after all, or perhaps it was because of Golden Tooth Tatami’s warning to him yesterday. In any case, he did not leave this young man, who seemed to be in an extremely dire situation, to his own devices.
How dire was it, exactly?
Roughly, he had about twenty to thirty wounds all over his body, and he was like a walking blood fountain. To be honest, if it were Scarface himself, he wasn't sure he could survive with that degree of injury.
Just the scale of the bleeding alone was enough to be fatal!
“Stop talking nonsense.” Cor (since we all know he is Cor) shook his head with difficulty, his face pale from excessive blood loss and covered in cold sweat. He stared intently at Scarface’s scarred face, “Take me to see Golden Tooth, now!”
The latter glanced at the shocking large wounds on Cor’s body and chuckled dryly, “Let me kindly remind you, the emergency medical care here isn’t very extensive. If you don’t get treatment immediately in your current state, there’s a very high chance you’ll kick the bucket.”
Clang!
A sharp short blade sprang from Cor’s sleeve. He gave Scarface a cold look and said in a low voice, “Take me to see Golden Tooth immediately! I know where the guild’s desired item is...”
“What did you say? Hey! Hey! Kid, are you alright?!”
Five minutes later.
Thieves' Guild, Shadow Hall, Lounge.
Tatami cast a gloomy look at Cor, who lay unconscious on the bed, then coldly glared at Scarface beside her, saying in a chilling voice, “You’re certain this has nothing to do with you, right?”
“Auntie Jin!” Scarface shrugged helplessly, “How many times have I told you? I just happened to run into this kid at the guild entrance. Not to mention whether I, as a Mid-Tier Thief, could beat him, just look at those wounds...”
Tatami shrugged, “I’ve seen them. A total of twenty-seven wounds, all avoiding vital points, all sharp cuts from the same short weapon. Twenty-seven attacks, and they didn’t even give this kid a chance to counterattack. Someone of your skill level certainly couldn’t do that.”
“You know I couldn’t do it!” Scarface said with a wry smile, “Then why keep asking so many times?!”
Tatami snorted, “Because you’ve always been a troublemaker. Alright, get out.”
Scarface gave an awkward smile and quickly turned to leave.
“Wait.” But Tatami called out to him again, saying in a low voice, “Almost forgot, call Vice-President Muse. I need to see him about...”
“No need.” A low voice sounded from the corner, and a slender figure slowly emerged from the darkness, “I’m already here.”
Scarface instantly froze as if startled, while Tatami immediately bowed and saluted, “Lord Muse.”
“Mm.” The figure, vaguely visible in the darkness, nodded, then looked at Scarface gently and said softly, “You may leave first.”
Only then did the latter finally manage to react, quickly bowing and leaving the lounge without looking back.
Muse, completely shrouded in dark leather armor, walked up to the unconscious Cor. The eyes behind his mask flickered slightly, and he turned to the female Dwarf beside him, chuckling softly, “You missed a rather important point just now, Tatami.”
“My deepest apologies!” Golden Tooth said without hesitation, apologizing, “Please tell me where I was negligent?”
Muse gently ran a finger over a wound on Cor’s ribcage, saying in a low voice, “Twenty-seven wounds are correct, but the person who attacked this young man made fifty-four attacks, using an ordinary dagger that was neither enchanted nor poisoned. The size and depth of the wounds from the first round of attacks were completely identical, while the second round further inflicted secondary damage at the previous locations, creating what you see based on the different body parts...”
Tatami’s cold sweat immediately started to pour.
“Not lethal, but enough to make one wish for death.” Muse gently stroked the short blade at his waist, saying in a low voice, “And to inflict such injuries, the interval between those two rounds of attacks must have been extremely short, so short that this young man couldn’t react at all. Heh heh... Not only is he a strong individual, but he’s also a strong individual skilled in interrogation or torture...”
Tatami carefully glanced at the unfathomably powerful Vice-President in front of her, whispering, “Scarface told me earlier that this young man said he had found clues to that item before he fainted.”
“An obvious fact.” Muse waved his hand, “Go notify Blood Chain, Zhen Ji, Ye Yin, and Snake Flower to get ready. Have them wait for me in the hall.”
Tatami stood dazed for a while after hearing those names, then stammered, “Call all four of those Lords...?”
“Exactly, they are all in the guild right now.” Muse turned to look at her, his eyes hidden in shadow radiating a chilling coldness, “Since the other party spared this young man’s life, it’s clear they are intentionally targeting us. Although I personally prefer to solve problems with money, if the other party has malicious intentions or demands an exorbitant price...”
He shook his head, not continuing his sentence.
And Tatami no longer asked, bowing and quickly leaving.
Five minutes later.
Cor opened his eyes amidst a hazy green light, then found a stranger he had never seen before standing in front of him.
“Who are you? How did my injuries heal?” He looked at the person warily, slowly moving his right hand behind his back, only to find nothing there.
The latter shrugged, pointed to a table piled with a full set of weapons and equipment, and smiled, “All your things are here, untouched, so please don’t worry.”
Cor silently stood up, surprised as he clenched his fist, finding that the extensive injuries on his body had all vanished, which left him somewhat stunned.
“Allow me to introduce myself, I am Muse, Vice-President of the Black Tower City Thieves' Guild.” Muse said cheerfully, then spread out his right hand, revealing a slightly dull green fruit, “This is a Bilong Fruit. Combined with certain nature-based spells, it can effectively alleviate any injury. It’s a specialty of the Forest Sprite territory and has been selling for 3000 gold coins per fruit on the black market.”
Cor narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a low voice, “I didn’t ask you to save me.”
“Of course, I was merely answering your question about ‘how your injuries healed’ just now, with no other intentions.” Muse casually put the fruit into his pocket and chuckled, “Of course, if young Mr. Cordova can understand my good intentions and perhaps owe the Black Tower City Thieves' Guild a favor, that would be for the best.”
Cor silently walked to the table, slowly put on his equipment, and then turned to Muse, saying, “Very well, I’ve noted it.”
Muse nodded.
“Want to know where your item is?” Cor sheathed a dagger with countless nicks on it and asked Muse in a low voice, “You should be able to make the decision, right?”
The latter chuckled, “Of course, but if it’s for repaying a favor, the weight of this information is indeed a bit heavy.”
“Then add a spot on the ruins exploration team.” Cor was not at all polite, directly forcing the favor into what was originally promised as their reward.
However, Muse didn’t mind in the slightest and nodded readily, “No problem.”
“I think I need to warn you beforehand.” The corner of Cor’s mouth twisted into what was likely a ‘smile’, and he said coldly, “That guy is not someone who can be dealt with easily. He’s very strong, extremely strong...”
Muse shrugged, and a light gold note suddenly appeared in his hand, “This is a Gold Coin Merchant Guild voucher, containing two hundred and fifty thousand gold coins. I think this should be a satisfactory reward, of course...”
He raised his other hand, where a completely silver-white short blade was spinning lightly.
“We’re not philanthropists, after all.” Muse said softly, “So now, can you tell me the information you know? Mr. Cordova...”
An hour later.
Black Tower City, Liuli Pavilion.
Muse, Cor, and four other people dressed in different styles appeared outside Room 11.
“I should have said it’s better to Stealth over...” A tall Lizardman with blood-red chains wrapped around his hands sighed, rubbing his forehead, “Snake Flower, what have you done?”
Beside him, a beautiful, alluring, and equally alluring Tree Elf woman with a seductive appearance pursed her lips and smiled, “This is my Stealth method, are you unhappy?”
“Like poisoning all the witnesses?” A plain-looking Goblin pouted and snorted, “If you get us blacklisted, I’ll stab you to death!”
The four-fold alluring ‘Snake Flower’ Mi Mi glanced at him, smiling charmingly, “Yes, yes, your little needle can only ‘stab’ me to death, I’m so scared~”
“Are you looking for death?” Zhen Ji’s expression instantly turned cold.
Then...
“You two~”
Muse, who had been standing at the very front, appeared behind the two at some point, two pitch-black daggers resting lightly on their shoulders. He sighed leisurely, “If you want to die, it’s actually not difficult at all...”
Blood splattered, and both of their necks simultaneously developed shallow blood wounds.
And Muse’s figure had returned to his previous position at some unknown time, his daggers neatly tucked at his waist.
The series of actions before had made no sound, not even the sound of blood splattering.
“I knew it...” A sigh came from the air, a very pleasant female voice.
“In short, no one is allowed to act until I give the order.” Muse said softly, then smiled slightly at Cor beside him, “Excuse the display, this is the right place, isn’t it?”
Cor shrugged, “I can’t be sure, but it’s most likely here.”
“Let me try, please step back a little.” Muse whispered to Cor, stepped forward, and gently knocked on the door, and then...
The door opened.
Not locked?
The powerful Vice-President of the Thieves' Guild narrowed his eyes slightly, cautiously stepping back half a pace.
Immediately after, he heard a playful laugh from not far away.
“I’ve long heard of your esteemed names, and seeing you today...”
A human male with a cold, stern face, dressed in a black robe, slowly turned around and said softly with a half-smile...
“Turns out you’re just third-rate ruffians.”
Chapter 139: End
