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Chapter 154: Open and Candid
During Indahl autumns, the sky turned dark slightly after six.
An official from the Indahl Revenue Office, accompanied by two clerks, rode robust lizard horses along a small path outside the north city gate, galloping toward the gate.
Rural workers who had spent their day working in the city and were returning home hastily made way upon recognizing the uniforms. Not until the trio from the revenue office disappeared from sight did these apprehensive workers dare to spit and mutter under their breaths, "Damn bad luck, seeing those yellow dogs!"
The uniform of the revenue office was primarily a golden yellow, loathed by both city dwellers and rural folk. Nobody liked having to hand over their hard-earned income to these officials.
Of course, the officials of the revenue office never cared about their popularity. Being liked by the public wouldn't add a single copper to their salaries.
Turning off the small road and sighting the towering north city gate, the slightly overweight tax officer slowed down his whipping of the lizard horse.
Despite the animal's high endurance and carrying capacity, its comfort for riders was no better than a regular horse. After just over an hour in the saddle, the officer felt a soreness in his inner thighs.
Noticing there was still time before the gates closed for the night, the officer, grumbling about the annoying tax-resistant farmers, stopped his horse by the roadside to relieve himself. Having drunk quite a bit of rum on the way back from town, he had been feeling the urge for a while.
His two clerks, also having indulged in rum, followed suit. The three men faced a nearby woodland, and the sounds of flowing water ensued.
After finishing, they were about to remount and head into the city when one of the clerks caught a glimpse of something and turned around abruptly. In the depths of the woods, a shadow flicked and disappeared.
"Who's there?!"
The clerk instantly drew his revolver from his waist and strode into the woods. Unlike other departments, each official clerk in the revenue office, besides bearing standard blades, was also equipped with firearms.
Like on Earth, the development of firearms in this world came about in an age of industrial revolution due to wartime needs.
However, unlike Earth, firearm technology didn't advance further. After the advent of cartridge ammunition and firing mechanisms, there was no significant progress.
The reason was simple: firearms, relying purely on physical attacks, weren't suitable for the complex warfare environment of this world. Most non-human creatures hardly cared about the penetration wounds from small bullets. Lining up for a firing squad had far less effect on large monsters than a heavy cavalry charge.
Even in human wars, the role of firearms was limited. Most spellcasters possessed a mental domain that could influence the physical laws within a specific area. Bullets shot from a gun, carrying only kinetic energy, struggled to penetrate the mental domain of a spellcaster.
Unfit for frontline warfare but ideal for maintaining civil order, firearms remained a potent weapon against civilians and unadvanced professionals.
Revenue office clerks equipped with firearms imposed a greater deterrent on civilians than even church officials, even though an armed clerk was no match for any night watchman.
The two gun-toting clerks who had boldly entered the forest soon found the sneaky figure that had been lurking. Upon seeing this "person," their initial aggression turned into short, sharp screams, and they retreated out of the woods even faster than they had entered.
In the woods stood a headless monster!
Fleeing the forest, the clerks wasted no time mounting their steeds and galloping away. Such a bizarre incident, beyond the capabilities of their firearms, wasn't their responsibility.
The "monster" in the woods silently watched as the lizard horses made a hasty retreat. Then, it slowly squatted down, picked up a glossy skull from under a luxuriantly growing bush by a large tree, and put it back on.
"I've got to log out further away from the road next time," muttered Zhao Zhenzhen as she rummaged through the bush a second time and dragged out a backpack.
After securing her backpack and covering her conspicuous skull with the hood attached to her cloak, Zhao Zhenzhen gazed in the direction of Indahl and sighed. "Shaping 'Von Alphonse' into a tragic hero wouldn't be hard but wouldn't matters back in town be delayed?"
Ben had already returned to Weisshem before her last log out, leaving her without company. However, after her laments there was actually a response from someone.
A familiar mature male voice spoke, directly transmitted to Zhao Zhenzhen via the imprint matrix, It wouldn't be delayed. Trust the others.
Upon hearing this voice, Zhao Zhenzhen fell silent.
"Yang, you aren't an NPC, right?" she asked softly.
A day before in game time, when Yang assigned her a suicide mission, he had stuck to his NPC role, sending a quest text
But once she boarded the carriage and left town, Yang abandoned even the formality of quest texts and directly communicated with her through a form of telepathy, instructing her to shape the exorcist persona "Von Alphonse" into a tragic "hero" and solidify the fact that "Von Alphonse" had cooperated with the Church of Lady Gold Coin's night watchmen.
This had already raised her suspicions.
Now, when she logged back into the "game" at night, Yang communicated with her in a very un-NPC-like, casual manner Evidently, he was ready to reveal more.
The male voice in her head chuckled. With regards to that, your think tank must have already made some judgments, right?
Once more, Zhao Zhenzhen fell silent.
This was not because she had nothing to say, but because the information she possessed was insufficient to gauge Yang's limits.
After weighing her options, Zhao Zhenzhen decided not to probe into Yang's secrets for now. Since he showed a willingness to communicate, further mutual understanding and honest interactions (revealing their cards) were inevitable; hasty probing and risking alienation would be counterproductive.
The Chinese had no lack of patience.
With her approach determined, Zhao Zhenzhen quickly found her position in maintaining a friendly cooperation with Yang. Since he had gone to such lengths to disguise this world as a game, she should give friendly signals and offer corresponding cooperation as an ally.
In other words, maintaining the status quo.
Thus, Zhao Zhenzhen refrained from inquiring about Yang's true identity, instead asking, "Is the key to this quest the Church of Lady Gold Coin?"
When she previously discarded the exorcist persona, Yang had indicated to her that young Brooke should inform the Church of Lady Gold Coin that the "sealed artifact" had been taken by him.
With her intuition, Zhao Zhenzhen could deduce two key points: first, the "sealed artifact" was extremely important to the natives of this world, and only in Yang's hands would the Church of Lady Gold Coin give up hope.
Second, the Church of Lady Gold Coin would undoubtedly blame the exorcist persona "Von Alphonse," which was Yang's intention.
Yang Qiu appreciated this lady's precise grasp of the cooperative boundaries between them and candidly said, Correct. Due to certain issues in the past, the Church of Lady Gold Coin is reluctant to get involved with me, but I need their friendship, even if it's just a superficial one.
Zhao Zhenzhen: ""
Describing as if it were just a matter of making friends It was a waste that such shamelessness wasn't used to run for the United States' presidency.
"So, in short, I just need to forcibly associate myself with the Church of Lady Gold Coin, right?" Zhao Zhenzhen veered off the main road and trudged toward Indahl's north gate.
Exactly. The voice in her head seemed to appreciate Zhao Zhenzhen's comprehension and cheerfully continued. The Church of Lady Gold Coin isn't much better than other faiths of this world, but they have qualities I personally admirepracticality and adaptability. As long as the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, their priests are willing to hold their noses and tolerate.
With the phrase "this world," Yang essentially admitted he was from Earth.
Zhao Zhenzhen suppressed the urge to ask if he was a Chinese person and instead inquired about another matter she was very curious about, "Are there really gods in this world?"
Yes, Yang almost immediately responded to her question. But these so-called gods are merely some powerful extraordinary existences, unlike the fictional omnipotent beings extolled by Earth's religions.
These remarks, which could be considered blasphemous, would probably terrify another listener, but Zhao Zhenzhen took them well in stride.
"What about these so-called evil gods, then?" Zhao Zhenzhen inquired further.
If evil gods were merely a fabrication by Yang, existing only in the narrative understood by players, then Zhao Zhenzhen wouldn't have asked this question.
However, there have been newspaper reports about cult activities, not just one or two editions but many. Even Exile Town's Town Hall archives contained two decades-old records of local cult sacrifices. This went beyond any "fabricated game background."
You've seen the Indahl Daily, right? This year is marked as New Era 1032. In this world, the calendar was reset to mark the period after the War of Gods, when new ones emerged to replace the old, Yang responded promptly.
Gods are not eternal; during the War of Gods, which occurs every thousand or several thousand years, several gods fall. Their divine essence dissolves, returning to the world's laws as magical elements, while their consciousness plunges into the endless void.
Once a god loses its status and a significant number of followers, it gradually loses its divinity over time and descends into madness, regardless of its previous domain.
Gods that have gone mad still instinctively project their will onto the material plane and gather followers. Their madness corrupts these followers. For fragile humans, the mad will imposed by these fallen gods is irresistible.
These fallen elder gods are what we call evil gods.
Zhao Zhenzhen broke into a cold sweat when she heard this.
With Yang admitting his Earthly origin, there was no reason for him to lie.
In other words this was not a narrative he created but reality!
"Doesn't that mean there are countless real evil gods?" asked Zhao Zhenzhen.
Countless, Yang replied succinctly.
After a pause, Yang added, Besides worshipping evil gods, for beings living in this world, absorbing magical energy, contact with the contaminated, or touching forbidden objects can also lead to mental corruption.
Zhao Zhenzhen exhaled sharply
She clearly understood what Yang was implyingthe enthusiastic plans of the younger expert task force members to "one day set foot on this alien world" could officially be declared over.
Such a bizarre world should never be visited in person!