Show Me the Money

Chapter 194 – Wind-Up

“A Citizen of Black Tortoise?” Lei Ao looked at Fatty with a faint smile, his eyes resting on Fatty’s inventory pack.

“I’m saving this for City Lord Lin, don’t even think about it,” Fatty hastily covered up the pack in his arms.

Still smiling blankly, Lei Ao disregarded Fatty’s words and extended his hand. The Divinity of Malediction flew straight to him. Without the divinity, Sevik’s body listlessly fell and vanished into ashes.

Watching Lei Ao’s practiced action, Fatty gulped. A city lord is indeed a grand being.

Imprisoned in Lei Ao’s palm, the divinity trembled and resonated, sending out extremely resentful and vile curses. The crystal wanted to tear apart the air and escape but was unable to do so in the end due to Lei Ao’s harshly suppressing it.

“A damaged Heart of Malediction and Nation of Malediction, along with a nearly exhausted divinity. Very interesting,” Lei Ao chuckled.

“Erm, my lord, if there isn’t anything else, this humble one will take my leave. My family is waiting for me to have our meal,” Fatty couldn’t wait to leave.

“You can leave on your own?” Lei Ao asked aloofly.

“Er… This one wishes to know if you may assist me in leaving, my lord. I would be very grateful, extremely grateful,” Fatty smiled fawningly.

“It just so happens that I need to visit Black Tortoise City at this time. I’ll accompany you,” Lei Ao glanced at Fatty then waved his hand. A strange fluctuation spread out with the City Lord at the epicenter, and Fatty saw the surroundings change in the blink of an eye. Azure Dragon City could be spotted in the distance. As for the Nation of Misfortune, Lei Ao directly retrieved it.

“Let’s go,” Lei Ao said blandly and flew toward the direction of Black Tortoise City. Fatty was dragged along and forced to experience the feeling of air travel once again.

“Do all you City Lords have this much free time? You seem to run out and about for every small matter. You can have your subordinates do it, you know?” Fatty was feeling downtrodden, so he started a conversation.

“You’re right; it is because our subordinates are too busy while we City Lords are too idle. We take on any work that we happen to come across,” Lei Ao shot Fatty a glance.

Fatty was speechless.

“Now this is an infrequent visitor. Your presence brings light to our humble dwelling.” When Lei Ao landed inside the Black Tortoise City Lord’s manor, Lin Xi came to welcome them with a big smile. He didn’t forget to give Fatty a surprised glance. “Lad, you actually wormed your way to Azure Dragon City? Mhm, how did you become like this?”

“Don’t talk about that. I almost got killed, but, hehe, my lord, this little me got you something good.” It seems I won’t be able to keep the Heart of Malediction anyway. Let’s just exchange it for some benefits.

“Such a strong evil force,” exclaimed Lin Xi. Fatty only needed to open the pack a little for Lin Xi to feel the energy seeping out from the heart.

With the heart removed from the bag, Fatty’s serious injury got even worse. Lin Xi creased his brows and raised a hand. An earthen yellow light shot at Fatty’s body and slightly relieved the damage.

“It seems you have suffered a great deal for this,” Lin Xi nodded. “Come, let’s talk inside.”

This time, Fatty got a seat to himself thanks to the Heart of Malediction. Lin Xi held the heart with one hand while listening to Fatty talk about his experience in the Paradise of Misfortune. After that, he said, “The Gods of Malediction and Misfortune have been off the grids for years. It’s unexpected that they fought each other to the death. What a pity.”

“Humph, simply two evil gods. Good riddance,” said Lei Ao.

“Heheh, no need to be like that, Brother Lei. While they were our enemies, those who could reach God Tier are still to be admired by people like us,” Lin Xi smiled faintly and stowed away the heart.

"I’ll definitely reach the realm of the gods in the future. I don’t need to look up to them,” Lei Ao knitted his brows upon seeing Lin Xi put away the heart. “The Divinity and the Nation of Malediction are both with me. Why are you keeping the heart? You might as well give it to me.”

“What do you want this for? To raise another God of Malediction?” Lin Xi waved his hand dismissively. “My beloved citizen has shed blood and tears to acquire it. Actually, you should give the divinity and the nation to me.”

“If it weren’t for me, your beloved citizen would have died long ago, and you wouldn’t have gotten anything,” Lei Ao snorted.

“Not necessarily,” Lin Xi disagreed with a slight smile.

“I won’t bother with all the nonsense. What do you want in return for the heart?” Lei Ao cut straight to the point.

“A condition? I haven’t thought about it yet. I’ll tell you when I do,” Lin Xi chuckled.

“Despicable.” After giving Lin Xi a long and deep gaze, Lei Ao spat out this word. “The previous city lords of Black Tortoise were all honest people, but it’s all shamelessness when it’s you.”

“Hahaha, thanks for the compliment, Brother Lei,” Lin Xi laughed loudly and stood up, turning to Fatty. “Your current condition is ridiculously poor. Only a Holy Mage of at least the Grand Magus rank can dispel the curses.”

Fatty looked helplessly at Lin Xi without a word. Lin Xi pondered for a bit, then said, “Ah, well, since you turned in the heart, I won’t mistreat you. I’ll write a letter; take it to find Grand Magus Laurent in the Imperial Capital. Let’s hope he’ll give me some face and help you with this little favor.”

Lin Li walked to the table and quickly wrote a letter before handing it to Fatty. Receiving the paper, Fatty first expressed his gratitude for Lin Xi, then turned to Lei Ao with a pitiful gaze.

“What are you looking at me for? That letter should be enough,” Lei Ao was puzzled.

“My Misfortune equipment is still with you,” Fatty spoke courageously, believing that justice was on his side.

“Your Misfortune equipment?” Lei Ao couldn’t help but chuckle.

“That’s right, mine. Sevik originally gave it to me, but you took it.” Fatty grew more and more confident as he spoke, “As a city lord, you can’t just take away us peasants’ stuff.”

“Brother Lei, this one’s on you,” Lin Xi smiled.

Offhandedly, Lei Ao was shaking his head; he didn’t intend to argue with Fatty either, “It’s useless for me to keep this useless piece of equipment anyway. You can have it.”

With those words, Lei Ao tossed the gear set to Fatty.

“Completely damaged? What a pity for a Divine equipment set,” Lin Xi briefly scanned the set and remarked with pity.

“Whatever, still useful,” Fatty mumbled as he quickly put them in his inventory.

Undergoing all those hardships for over a month and only obtaining a trashy equipment set made Fatty feel helpless as well. After Lin Xi promised to give him more benefits in the future, Fatty bid farewell to the two city lords. Exiting the manor, he started to contact his friends.

Compared to Fatty who had been saved by Lei Ao, some simply didn’t have that kind of luck. Perhaps due to the Curse of Misfortune acting up, more than half of the Fat Squad was blown to death by the energy force of the nation. As for the smaller half, they were sent on an air trip like Fatty. However, only five or six survived while the rest fell to their death.

“Damn it! This is absurd. I actually died when it was in the endgame.” TheFugitive was upset. He had soon respawned back in Black Tortoise City.

When the squad gathered, some were happy while the others were upset. In any case, the appearance of around twenty massive mounts had greatly shaken Black Tortoise City.

“Hurry, come and look. Where the f*ck did all these experts come from?”

“Aren't you ignorant? Can’t you see that half of them are guild masters? As for the other half, they’re all members of God Familia.”

“How enviable. Where did they get all those stylish mounts?”

……

“What? The Azure Dragon City Lord saved you? Damn! Why are you so lucky?” Hearing that Lei Ao saved Fatty, the rest of the squad’s eyes bulged in indignation.

“Aiii, I never would have thought that all our hard work would result in nothing,” Fatty shook his head. He took out the equipment they got from the Door of Misfortune Map for distribution.

The squad didn’t act generous and took what they need. After splitting the drops the party found useful, the remaining items were placed with Fatty. As for the Misfortune equipment set, everyone took turns to check their info before they went back to Fatty. Everyone agreed that, since Fatty had risked his life for the set, it should belong to him.

“Just consider this mission a holiday trip because we won’t have time for one very soon.” Towards Fatty’s anguish, East Gate Blowingwind only smiled with a shake of his head.

Indeed, because the system had been generous with giving out the Guild Establishment Token, new guilds were established every day, making the competition fiercer and fiercer. If a guild wanted to have a notable standing in the game, they needed leadership from their commanders in addition to constant recruitment. So it was practically impossible for the guilds’ bigwigs to go out on an over one month trip in the future.

“The Ice Rose Alliance is going to construct our city on Sunday at noon and welcoming our city’s first monster siege. We invite you all to observe the battle,” Ice Witch indifferently said her piece before cupping her fists good-bye.

“I’m leaving as well. Lots of stuff to take care of in my guild. Fatty, quickly go to the Imperial Capital and cure your body because the struggle for supremacy is about to begin,” Jiangdong’s LittleOverlord laughed loudly.

God Familiar cupped their fists and left under HeadofGod’s lead. As the top assassin guild in the game, they had many requests to process. TheFugitive went with them.

“Bro, I’m going back as well. You must recover as soon as possible,” Qian Xiaoqian looked at Fatty with a worried frown.

“No big deal, it’s just a game,” Fatty smiled. His eyes followed Qian Xiaoqian until she disappeared in the Teleportation Portal.

The last to take their leave was Xiao Jian, Han Shen, and Purple Bell. Xiao Jian had his own guild to lead, and so he dragged Han Shen to join it and raise its reputation. As for Purple Bell, Wind God’s World had called her back to assist him.

“We meet again,” Golden Scale TheMighty suddenly appeared before Fatty with a smile.

“Hmm? Isn't your main city Azure Dragon City? What did you come to Black Tortoise City for?” Fatty asked in surprise.

“To find you,” Golden Scale TheMighty stepped closer to Fatty. “Give me a price for the Heart of Malediction. It’s useless for you to keep it.”

“Too bad, you’re too late,” Fatty shook his head. “Right when we escaped through the rift, Sevik already took the heart away.”

“Sevik?” Golden Scale TheMighty scanned Fatty’s face while contemplating this name.

“No heart, but there’s still this Misfortune equipment set. You want it?” Fatty grinned meaningfully.

“Misfortune gear? You’re willing to sell it to me?” Golden Scale TheMighty was stunned.

“Of course, name a price. They used to be Divine equipment.” Fatty took out the Misfortune set and let Golden Scale TheMighty check it. The latter was immediately speechless.

“Great, really great. No wonder they ‘used to be’ Divine equipment.” Golden Scale TheMighty turned down the offer.

Without the Heart of Malediction, the torn Misfortune set was of no use anymore. Golden Scale TheMighty bid farewell to Fatty and returned to his city. Fatty chuckled wickedly. Then, he went to the bank and placed all of the new drops there. After everything was done, he walked toward the Teleportation Portal to the Imperial Capital with the Teleportation Token in hand.