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Before he could finish speaking, the door behind him suddenly opened, and a fat man wearing a chef's hat poked his head in, cursing and shouting:
"Tusda, what the hell are you yelling about, you piece of trash! Get the goods moving!"
After the chef finished cursing, he slammed the door shut. The scarred man picked at his ear, sighed, straightened the crooked door, and turned to you, who were staring in disbelief, to complain:
"See? It's all your fault, I got scolded again."
Through the scarred man's sighing and groaning explanations, you gradually learn what exactly happened.
According to him, this is the town of Pandora, and his name is Tusita. Because of his striking boxer ears, many people jokingly call him "Big-Eared Tutu."
The incident began when he, a retired adventurer, accepted a job. The client required him to slaughter and sacrifice twenty heretics. He was naturally unconcerned about this; although most adventurers have faith, they generally accept the power of gods without question, and there's no taboo surrounding things like "Is this religion an ally of my lord?" So he happily accepted the job.
Although he didn't delve into which god the main character worshipped, whether it was on the side of order or chaos, his extensive knowledge meant that if the promise to the god wasn't fulfilled, something would definitely go wrong during the sacrificial ritual. Therefore, when he saw that only two of you had teleported over, he immediately thought of abandoning the mission.
[Anyway, the Yaniumi have never had a sense of contractual obligation, so at worst they'll be forced into hard labor by the Inquisition, most likely slaughtering pigs.]
Yes, he was slaughtering a pig. You watched as he grabbed an unknown carcass from a shelf by the wall and started chopping it up, only then realizing that all those rows hanging there were pork pieces.
"Don't kill people at a pig slaughterhouse, the diners will complain..." you muttered, seemingly out of nowhere, then shook your head and asked, "So, we're leaving? Just like that?"
"Uh..." Tusda put down his knife, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Then... shall I have some tea with you after get off work before I leave?"
"...No need." Sometimes you really feel like you're getting old. Why is it that even in this strange world, your thought process often can't keep up with these natives... Sigh, a local Titan from another world, so abstract and bewildering!
Before leaving, Tusdar tells you not to cause any trouble in Pandora Town unless absolutely necessary. It's a chaotic place, home to dozens, even hundreds, of different factions, and extremely dangerous.
It's truly hard to imagine that one moment the butcher is sharpening his knife, ready to slaughter you, and the next he's chopping pork while giving instructions and planning to run away if the client comes to question him. Is this what adventurers in Janium are like?
You can't help but feel sorry for the gods of Janium. Recruiting followers here isn't easy. It's better to recruit a piece of char siu as a follower than these adventurers with no faith or commitment; at least char siu tastes good.
However, as you stepped out of the kitchen and into the house, you stroked your chin and fell into deep thought. "Knowing that this is Pandora Town, it shouldn't be difficult to get back to the border if we know the location. The problem is whether I should investigate that little god who teleported us here..."
You discussed this idea with Jennifer, and her suggestion was: "Why don't you ask the great God of Light?"
"The God of Light isn't the Magic Conch Shell..." you muttered speechlessly, then you understood Jennifer's meaning. Just as the Magic Conch Shell doesn't respond, the God of Light doesn't speak. When you start asking him, you've already gotten the answer from him.
"Okay, I get it!" You looked at Jennifer, who was winking at you with a mysterious expression, raised an eyebrow, slapped her bottom twice, and said, "Little thing, you're getting more and more like a charlatan!"
[You immediately set off for the Adventurers' Guild in Pandora Town. According to Big-Eared Tutu, he received the order there. Although you find it hard to understand why a believer would go to the guild of non-believers to place a request, perhaps that's just a characteristic of Yanium!]
[You retrieved two hooded coats similar to Art's from the dimensional rift, draped them over yourself and Jennifer, then observed your appearance from the path outside the kitchen. After a moment's hesitation, you pulled out some meaningless lace-up jewelry and small knives, which you then draped over your body.]
"This actually looks just like the image of a legendary adventurer!" Jennifer exclaimed in surprise. "Lazi, where did you learn that?"
"It's just an outfit that smells like porridge." You shook off the various props that were rattling around you and walked out of the alley with Jennifer.
The streets of Pandora were undoubtedly a manifestation of filth and disorder, with dried traces of excrement and bloodstains imprinted on every surface of the streets and walls, gradually turning yellow and black over time, covered with murky mold.
It was afternoon, and only a few figures who looked like merchants wandered the streets. There were no homeless people, or rather, no real homeless people. In this place, no one was an ordinary person without powerful backers. However, perhaps for this reason, there were no overt organizations in this town, except for the courthouse of the Janium rulers.
"I'm starting to regret not learning purification magic from the Pope before I left..." Jennifer's voice came from beside you. She clutched her longsword to her chest, moving with sinister steps, almost as if she were completely immersed in her role, hurrying along the wall, and whispered:
"I'm beginning to understand the meaning of what the Pope meant when he said, 'If a place makes you feel disgusted, cast a purification spell; if that doesn't work, cast another one...'"
"Don't be so extreme! Even Paradox Interactive players have good people..." You thought for a moment, then rationally refrained from speaking up for Paradox Interactive players, and instead said:
“Jennifer, don’t rush things. We’re not familiar with this town yet. What if there are good people inside?”
Two minutes later, you see a densely packed list of wanted posters on the sign at the market entrance. You roughly count them, and there are a hundred or even ninety wanted posters on this small sign, not to mention the old ones that are faintly visible beneath the new ones.
"You're absolutely right, Jennifer." Looking at the different bounty amounts on the wanted posters, you silently calculated the approximate total in your mind, swallowed hard, and said righteously:
"Purify! Purify! Purify everything!"
Before long, guided by the road signs, you arrived at the Adventurers' Guild. Looking at the dilapidated signboard swaying in the wind, you frowned slightly and stepped into the rather spacious lobby.
The Adventurers' Guild isn't as lively as a tavern; you're not sure if this is true for all Adventurers' Guilds, or just because this is Pandora Town.
Your gaze swept past the adventurers scattered across the tables in the lobby, landing on the relaxed signboard guy behind the counter. You glanced around, making sure everyone made eye contact and turned away, before leading Jennifer to the counter.
The guy on the signboard showed no inclination to speak, so you were happy to have some peace and quiet. You carefully examined the available quests displayed on the signboard, but didn't find the one you were looking for. So you knocked on the counter in front of him and asked, "Brother, can I check which quests others have already accepted?"
"That depends on the type of request," the signboard guy said expressionlessly. "Some we can investigate, but for the sake of your business, it's best not to."
"Hey, how did investigating something get involved with my gang? Do you even know who I am?" you said defiantly. "I need to investigate Big Ear TuTu, the case that Tusda accepted."
A hush fell over the room. The signboard guy's eyes widened in disbelief. He stared at you for a few seconds before hesitantly saying:
“Uh, that was… that was a request specifically requested by the client…”
"Heh, it's alright!" A man with a flushed face suddenly stood up, looked at you as you turned back, and said with a cold smile:
"I'd like to see who's interested in the Shadow God's request!"
You raised an eyebrow, slowly walked forward, carefully observed the speaker's face, then stroked your chin and nodded, saying:
"150 Gold House, are you the strongest person in this arena right now?"
"What do you mean?!" The red-faced man's eyes widened, and he pointed a trembling right finger at you, shouting hoarsely as if he had been greatly insulted.
"You little brat, come out and fight me one-on-one!"
You shook your head, about to speak, when suddenly a man with dry, yellow hair stood up beside you. He brandished his short sword and said coldly, "Sir, putting aside your inexplicable attempt to spy on the Shadow God's commission, your arrogance in the Adventurers' Guild is utterly disrespectful to us."
He glanced at the people behind him who were nodding in agreement, nodded in satisfaction, and turned back to continue:
"Judging by your attire, wearing a bunch of nonsensical toys, and hiding your face, afraid to show your true self, you must be a scavenger recently exiled here, right? Heh, you..."
[You snapped out of your daze, and after confirming through your senses that no legendary figure was present, you raised an eyebrow and looked at the still-nagging blond man.]
Five minutes later, you look at the onlookers who have all been tied up and piled up in front of you, clap your hands, and dispel the spell of "mass suggestion."
Seeing the terrified look in the signboard guy's eyes behind the counter, you slapped the blond man hard across the face, and then said:
"250 gold houses, do you have anything to explain?"
"Ugh...ugh!" The blond man's face swelled up rapidly, his mouth stuffed with a rag. He nodded frantically, his body writhing on the ground as he shouted, "Ugh! Ugh!"
"You're not going to talk, are you?" You sighed, grabbed his collar, and tossed him to the ground. You said to Jennifer, "Put it on! 250 gold houses!"
After letting the two onlookers who were indeed adventurers go, you tortured the remaining people and finally learned their situation from them.
[It turns out that none of the dozen or so onlookers present were followers of the so-called God of Shadow, nor did any of their respective factions share the same allegiance. Their reason for brazenly revealing the deity behind their client and publicly provoke you was twofold: first, they were wary of a newcomer; second, they knew they could profit from whatever you ultimately did to the God of Shadow.]
The entanglement of these forces is giving you a headache. Of the dozen or so people present, four or five pairs are openly hostile, four or five pairs are openly allied, four or five pairs have mutual interests, and four or five pairs are secretly persecuting each other. You've managed to create forty or fifty group chats from just a dozen or so people, and you can't help but marvel at this.
"Damn, what a unique love triangle!"
[But figuring out exactly how to deal with these people is troubling you. You learned from the "Banner Brother" that these people are basically the overt eyes and ears of the forces involved. Generally speaking, if one of them is targeted, it will have a domino effect, affecting allies, adversaries, those who want to profit from the situation, those who want to muddy the waters, and all sorts of other strange and monstrous individuals.]
"It's only because the Adventurers' Guild has its own niche that I can stand aside and observe these things," the signboard guy said worriedly. "I recommend you release them all and quickly change into a disguise; that might save you from trouble."
[You stroked your chin and pondered for a long time. Amidst the rising and falling murmurs, you finally realized that you couldn't find the best way to involve the forces related to the God of Shadows in this tangled web of relationships, so in the end you decided...]
"Did you release them all?" Half an hour later, the signboard guy looked at you and Jennifer as they returned and couldn't help but ask.
"Well, it's about the same." You looked at the large gold house in your hand, silently criticizing its quality as being far inferior to the gold white one, then stuffed it back into the dimensional gap, looked up, and grinned:
"They're all in court now; a family should be together, right?"
Chapter 182 is so good, it's a pity I've never been in a relationship.
[God knows what the warden of the court just went through. At your wild shout of "Hey, come out!", he was dragged out of bed, still half asleep. Then, a dozen burly men, all bound hand and foot, were thrown onto him. While cursing, "I haven't even had a day off, why should the court be resting?", you took two thousand four hundred gold houses from the safe, according to Jennifer's calculations…]
[The signboard guy was still thankfully saying how lucky you were that you were alright, unaware that the suddenly overcrowded trial hall was the real cause for concern. These people, who were essentially just decorations in this town, had suddenly rounded up half of the various factions' spies, giving the impression of a straight man suddenly revealing a huge penis under his skirt—about to fly across the faces of all the major factions…]
[You chatted with the signboard guy for a while and learned from him what exactly happened with the Shadow God's special request.]
[It turns out that the Adventurers' Guild maintains a roster that compiles information on adventurers who have been active near their base in recent years. Designated commissions, therefore, involve introducing the general abilities of different adventurers to the client without revealing their true skills.]
The client will then assign an adventurer to the task based on this crude information. This type of commission pays at least 20% more than regular commissions, so adventurers generally welcome it.
The details of such commissions are usually kept secret from outsiders. The client will tell the adventurer the target of the commission in a secluded room here. Even the Adventurers' Guild can only estimate the reward amount based on the commission deducted from their earnings; all other information remains unknown.
[However, the slate owner did manage to remember the client's appearance. After learning that Tusda might face retaliation from the God of Shadows for skipping the deal, he didn't hesitate and immediately drew a figure that looked like a thief—triangular eyes, a naturally downturned mouth, and definitely not a good person.]
[You used the Shadow Recall spell under the curious gaze of the spectator. When he saw the magical shadow you conjured, his eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he kept muttering, "How can there be such an evil class skill..."]
[You're a little curious about why the two parties involved in the commission were exposed. Upon hearing your question, the admin clutches his head in anguish and says, "I can't hold it in anymore..."]
[It turns out that this wasn't something the Adventurers' Guild leaked. Their informants, lurking nearby, were so idle they started counting the time each adventurer and client spent at the guild. By comparing these times, they finally confirmed the existence of a client-client relationship between Tusda and the Shadow God's follower.]
[That's how the informants work. The Adventurers' Guild only needs to focus on concealing the information of adventurers and clients, maintaining order, and monitoring the progress of commissions, while the informants have to consider many more things.]
Although there are often more informants than adventurers here, this is actually unavoidable. The informants of various factions are like their tentacles, used to perceive every move in the outside world and also to release their own information in an unseen way.
Therefore, they might stay outside all day without gaining any useful information from the people coming and going, but if they don't come out, they will definitely miss the recent changes that other forces have been subtly revealing.
You have no time to deal with all the messy entanglements involved. You came to Pandora Town for only three things: fairness, fairness, and... damn it... oh, isn't this Goose City?
As you already know, in this chaotic town, no god dares to readily respond to the call of believers and perform a divine descent. Under these circumstances, believers can only rely on their divine power and professional skills.
[And you possess Jennifer's high-ranking divine power and your own virtually omnipotent spell list, so you have absolutely no fear of these petty villains, even without a legend present.]
In other words, you can completely overpower their followers and run away before those gods can even react.
Of course, the word "cow" is too vulgar. Although you were once known as "Brother Cow," you have to admit that to elevate the connotation of the word and make it more refined, it might require more than just legend; it would require the ruling power of a king or emperor. Or rather, to truly purify the meaning of "cow" and make it the most revered concept on this land, you would need to reach the level of Cow King, Cow Emperor, or even Cow God...
"What nonsense!" You shook your head, clearing your mind of the jumbled thoughts, and began to ponder how to find the so-called followers of the Shadow God in this chaotic town.
You and Jennifer removed the odds and ends hanging from your bodies and stepped out of the chaotic street. While you no longer resembled scavenging adventurers, you felt more at home in the town's gloomy atmosphere.
"I have an idea. I feel like we can just find a place with the strongest evil aura, cast a few spells and run away. Then, Lazi, you can cast an invisibility spell on us, and we can take advantage of the chaos."
Jennifer spoke in a low voice, but you could clearly feel her excitement for the thrilling adventure that was about to unfold. A flash of murderous intent crossed her face as she touched the sword in her hand and said:
"I can't wait to physically purify them! All evil will be slain with the sword!"
[You originally intended to spend some time here figuring out which gods are good and which are bad, but after hearing Jennifer's words, you came to your senses again. Damn it, who cares? Let's sort them all out first. In the end, keep the useful ones for incense offerings and bury the useless ones. This is the fine tradition of the Eastern people: relying on oneself is worse than relying on gods. We must pass this idea on to the Yaniumi people.]
[You and Jennifer hurried towards the town center, intending to use her divine warning to find out where evil was most prevalent. As you passed the execution ground, you paused, noticing a new wanted poster on the notice board, and glanced at it curiously.]
["Following a tip, two black-robed scavengers broke into the courthouse, injuring several staff members and stealing 5000 Gold Houses. The bounty is $500 for one person and $1500 for both."]
[“Huh?” You scratched your head in utter confusion, then took out Jennifer’s ledger again to confirm that the dozen or so informants were only worth 2400 gold houses, and that was all the money you had taken.]
No, that's not right. The important thing is that you and Jennifer are wanted! Including the amount owed, you even owe the court money!
Furthermore, judging from the arrest warrants that haven't been torn up, the court hasn't even apprehended the informants you arrested. Perhaps the entire town, from top to bottom, is already in cahoots!
"…Ah, I get it!" An exclamation mark appeared above your head, followed by a relieved smile. "Turns out, there's not a single good person in this place!"
[Since that's the case, you can go ahead and do it. While the various factions in the town are still on edge, fearing the fate of their informants, you kick open the door of a tavern and meet the eyes of the gloomy-eyed patrons.]
"Who's the best fighter here?" you asked the worshipper by the door with a hearty laugh. He ignored your question and instead brandished a dagger, lunging at you.