NOVEL NEXT Chapter 289: The True Master
"Well, the 'God of Wealth' has become the deity of the 'Thieves Guild,'" Tao Yu murmured, "No wonder the guild is tolerated by the corporations. After all, the upper limit of power is closely related to the strength of the 'Thieves Guild' itself. If Gu Qiu suppresses the Thieves Guild, they just cancel the mission then and there. You eat as much as you work for..."
Tao Yu even wondered if it wasn't just the 'Thieves Guild,' but many of these shady and loose organizations that might rely on this thing.
Always a law-abiding citizen, Tao Yu had never visited the black market before. This time was his first encounter with this 'God of Wealth.'
"Perhaps even the followers of the Heretic God exchange trust with it. It's like a cure-all salve."
Tao Yu sighed, and then the look in his eyes beneath the mask became a bit nuanced.
"But to hang up my mission just like that, does that mean I'm being underestimated..."
This was a dried-up sewer, about two meters high. Although it smelled awful, it was relatively dry with no mud to speak of.
Despite the darkness that made it impossible to see your own hand, Tao Yu's vision was unaffected here. Turning a corner, he saw a door resembling that of a tool shed and pulled it open, walking in.
There was no one keeping watch; indeed, it was a loosely organized operation.
But this was just one of many passageways; they formed an intricate web with multiple exits to choose from.
Due to frequent changes, there were almost no fixed installations here.
Upon entering the 'hall' of the Thieves Guild, he could see it was almost an 'open-air' space.
The only seats were some sturdy metal pipes nearby. At that moment, three or four people were sitting far apart on those pipes, flipping through something with glowsticks in hand.
There was a bar with an LED screen and a statue representing the 'God of Wealth.'
Behind the simple bar stood a bartender wearing a mask, dressed differently than others who were covered head to toe, likely a staff member of the Thieves Guild. Judging by the contours of her figure, she was a woman.
The first thing that caught Tao Yu's attention was the statue of the God of Wealth, which was only a little over a meter tall. Similar to the statues in the plaza, the 'God of Wealth' had no face, but the attire was distinctively merchant-like, holding a pair of scales in hand.
"Scales? The symbol of 'Authority: Price' is also a pair of scales. I wonder if there's a connection."
Tao Yu pondered internally, but that wasn't the main point. The crux was that he actually saw a bounty notice about himself on the LED screen!
'Bounty target, Tao Yu, Outsider, partner code 'Eight-Armed Vajra,' currently residing at 1702 No. 17 Starlight Apartment, Orange Street, South City. Estimated strength between initial and mid-level high-grade partner, has a preliminary grasp of Gang Qi, a practitioner of the Way of Myriad Forms, and also possesses excellent shooting skills.
Studying a newly emerged Inner Strength cultivation system, extent unknown. Registered as having Grade A Dynamic Vision talent, suspected of hiding abilities.'
'Completed five six-figure bounties in one month, supposedly the Inner Strength system has methods to find people by sound. Dominated numerous young Inner City prodigies in the Development Zone. Mission conditions: public execution with evidence left behind, or video documentation of the killing, or bring the head of the target to the bounty placer. Bounty amount: Three hundred thousand.'
That amounted to being totally exposed.
This made Tao Yu furious. Am I only worth three hundred thousand?!
And someone accepted the job?!
But on second thought, he was currently 'in the open,' far easier to find than those on bounty missions. Moreover, had he not found out about this from the Thieves Guild first, he might have been caught by someone with a plan.
For instance, this poisoning attempt came so suddenly, and if it weren't for his Spirit Perception and recognition abilities, he would have been utterly unprepared.
This public bounty announcement meant that Yuan Force was already paid in advance and stored in the hands of the God of Wealth.
Even if the bounty were retracted, the God of Wealth would take a ten percent cut, showing a firm resolve.
Convenient as it may be, the 'God of Wealth' would take a cut of the Yuan Force, probably to fortify the World Will—it seemed to be one of the ways the World Will gathered Yuan Force.
"Judging by the situation with the Chosen One, the World Will's cut is much more than just that..."
The efficiency of Yuan Force usage by Pioneers, and the fact that the fallen don't drop Yuan Force, all these little things, are likely the manifestations of the rules of the World Will.
It's also probably why this decayed environment has been patched up and persisted until now.
But for the moment, all this was still too far removed from Tao Yu. He was merely speculating, and right now, there were more pressing matters to attend to...
Once he confirmed that the LED screen was scrolling his information, Tao Yu stepped up to the bar and said, in a deep voice,
"The task is complete, verify it, the method was poisoning, and the location 'Pavilion of Eats'."
"Do you have any corroborative evidence, sir? We will verify it."
The bartender behind the shabby bar, wearing a clown mask, emitted a softly sinister voice.
"It was carried out in a public place; I have confirmed that he was poisoned to death, and I'm the first one to come and claim it. Isn't that confirmation enough?"
"That is possible, but we still need to verify this, and then contact the employer to get the secret key. As it was carried out in a public place, we should be able to reply within a day. Now, sir, you can leave your mark with the token, and you should be able to receive it by tomorrow."
The bartender in the clown mask didn't ask further questions.
Verifying public information like this is very quick.
But Tao Yu had barely finished speaking when a figure who had been observing something with fluorescent sticks at the scene spoke up in a sharp voice,
"My friend, are you out of line? Was it you who poisoned them?"
In fact, Tao Yu had only said it offhandedly, not expecting to actually come across the culprit!
With his own Spirit Perception, Tao Yu began to use the advantage of the Meditation Technique to deduce that at least within the restaurant, there was no malice.
Also, with the intervention of the security team, the villain who had secretly poisoned and run away, even upon discovering that the security team had arrived, probably wouldn't dare to find out exactly what happened afterward for fear of leaving any clues.
Yet, Tao Yu didn't expect that this person would actually come to the Thieves Guild and hide here.
"Why couldn't it be me? I didn't particularly follow him; it just so happened that I ran into him on the way, so I killed a waiter, sneaked in, and successfully poisoned him. What, do you have any objections?"
Tao Yu's voice remained hoarse, which made the person who called him out quite uncertain and apprehensive. Continue your journey on empire
Are you kidding me? That's what I was going to say!
Why do I feel like I've become a stand-in...
But quickly, his heart grew cold, and he turned on his heels to run.
Tao Yu chuckled; it really was him!
"The Thieves Guild is a demilitarized zone; let him go."
A cold voice came from behind Tao Yu, as if the bartender already knew Tao Yu had come specifically to probe.
Whether the victim or someone hired by the victim, he intervened directly.
My Thieves Guild is not a place where just anyone can act recklessly!
However, almost as soon as those words were finished, Tao Yu flicked his fingers, and the head of the man who had just started to flee exploded on cue.
Brain matter and blood were scattered all over the floor and splattered on the nearby pipes everywhere.
The other figures in black robes still at the scene, after a brief moment of shock, immediately took to their heels.
What a place of trouble!
But as they just began to move, Tao Yu showed no mercy and continued flicking his fingers, heads burst in succession.
Finger-flicking divine powers guided by psychic abilities were definitely an effective tool against this rabble.
In a place shrouded in darkness, Tao Yu had absolutely no reservations!
"Sorry, they're already dead, you spoke a bit too slow," Tao Yu said with a hint of apology in his tone, seemingly very polite...