Appraisal: Gore Slater, Tier 1 Transcendent, a death-seeking member of the "Environmentalist" organization. Extraordinary Characteristics: Danger Warning. He had once taken part in an expedition to the Great Lakes ruins in Michigan. After making it out alive, he became one of the targets hunted by the Carnival Convoy.
As for the Rose Hotel,
Su Wen knew at once it was no respectable place.
But what Gore meant was that he had no money.
He was just saying pretty things.
Su Wen admired the shamelessness of these people.
Not wanting to waste time, Su Wen decided to advance the main quest and calmly said,
"I heard there's a Freezing Point Bar nearby. Buy me a whiskey, and I won't need any other payment."
"Are you sure? I suspect the owner sells counterfeit liquor."
Su Wen now understood why the system had recommended bartender or mixologist as his identity.
(Difficulty: Low)
It really did make sense.
Gore looked at the two corpses being washed by the torrential rain.
In the end,
he chose to lead Su Wen through the downpour to a small bar lit by deep-blue light strips. The sign above read Freezing Bar.
Inside the Freezing Point Bar,
there were very few customers drinking.
A silver-haired middle-aged white man was wiping down the counter.
Appraisal: Fern Onions, Tier 2 Transcendent, White Hound. Extraordinary Characteristics: Pursuit. Former security director of the Leisangton Company in Detroit, who chose to leave after witnessing certain events.
"Hey, Fern, get me and my new friend two whiskeys. The most authentic English whiskey."
The moment he saw who it was,
Fern Onions said hoarsely,
"Gore, in Michigan, you can only buy American whiskey."
"If we count the distillers in Pennsylvania who, under a law enacted by George Washington in the eighteenth century, produced Monongahela whiskey using English imported techniques,
then the two actually share the same historical origin."
Su Wen spoke.
He needed to earn the White Hound's trust through the identity of a bartender.
In that case, alcohol was probably the best possible opening topic.
"Gore, the friend you brought this time is a little different from the previous ones."
Onions raised his head. A striking scar ran across his chiseled face.
"How much money did you bring this time?"
"Ten—no, five dollars."
Twenty seconds later,
with the dim bar lights reflecting ripples across the counter,
Su Wen received a watered-down glass of inferior whiskey.
You obtained an achievement: Equivalent Exchange Achievement Description: The counterfeit liquor bought for five dollars probably tasted just as intoxicating as its cheap price.
He finally understood why Gore had said the Freezing Point Bar sold fake liquor.
The next moment,
just as Su Wen was about to finish the drink
and give a professional critique before recommending himself as a bartender,
a card flew in through the window of the Freezing Point Bar and embedded itself neatly in the black-brown hardwood of the bar counter.
Appraisal: A letter from a stranger.
Fern Onions opened the envelope.
Then his eyes gradually turned cold.
"Those bastards.
Gore, how many people can the Environmentalist organization mobilize right now?"
"Counting me, three. The rest of the members all went on vacation in Hawaii."
Gore Slater shrugged.
"You know how it is—summer, beaches, surfing. Those things are unavoidable. Besides, because of that bill proposed by the Duke of Bavaria, all Transcendents have started slacking off and taking vacations."
"I'm hiring you to accompany me to Fals Casino."
"How much are you offering?"
"One thousand dollars."
"Two thousand. That's my bottom line."
"One thousand five hundred."
"Fine, deal."
After hiring Gore, Fern, the silver-haired middle-aged shop owner, looked at Su Wen again.
But before he could ask,
Su Wen calmly gave his answer.
"Ten thousand dollars, plus a genuine whiskey from Pennsylvania."
Gore glanced at "Rhine Mr.," who remained expressionless despite tasting the inferior counterfeit liquor, and added with immense admiration,
"He's stronger than I am. If it weren't for Rhine Mr., I'd probably be lying by the roadside right now."
Fern the White Hound gave Su Wen a long look.
Then he nodded hoarsely.
"I hope you can bring me an unexpected surprise."
Because of Gore's praise, the White Hound has expectations of your strength. Favorability with the "Freezing Point Bar" faction +30. Current player buff acquired: Tequila Sunrise Buff Effect: Your attack power increases by 10. You experienced an event: Beginning of Anger You have gained one opportunity to draw a temporary Ability Card for this round of the game.
Su Wen recalled that he still had not used the card-drawing opportunity he had received last time.
He drew twice in a row.
Skill Card: Disguise Level 1 (Energy Consumption 23%) (When not under attack, disguise yourself as another person.) Skill Card: Confuser Level 2 (Energy Consumption 43%): Make someone temporarily believe your lie.
At this moment,
looking at the skill descriptions,
Su Wen, who had been exploring whether this game had an easy way to clear it, suddenly had some ideas.
"Compared to active skills, the favorability buffs from Detroit's different factions may be more useful."
He thought of a bold idea.
After pondering it for a while, he finally smiled and said,
"If this line of thought works, then this game may become very simple."
On the screen,
the three of them had already arrived at the entrance of Fals Casino in disguise.
Compared to the sparsely populated Freezing Point Bar, this was probably the condensed essence of Detroit's nightlife.
Fern walked to the front desk, heavily slapped his hand on it, and told the staff,
"Tell Old York to come see me. Otherwise, this place will become ruins in ten minutes."
"Sir, you need an appointment to see Mr. York. Do you have an appointment letter?"
the receptionist asked.
While Fern drew the attention of most of the guards,
Su Wen also walked over to a senior security officer who appeared to be some sort of manager.
In the hand tucked inside his pocket, a playing card engraved with an image of a grinning clown appeared.
Then,
as the playing card turned into a wisp of green smoke and vanished,
his voice gained a mental suggestion strong enough to inspire trust.
"Someone from the Leisangton Company wants your boss dead. Do you see that silver-haired man up ahead?
He's a deserter from Leisangton's security department, and he's also my companion.
He's risking his life to deliver this information to you.
Are you sure you don't want to notify York?"
Amid words that were half truth and half lie,
Su Wen sensed the prompt provided by the screen.
Because you proactively stated your purpose, and the clown card's Confuser effect has taken effect, favorability with the "Fals Casino" faction +15. Current player buff acquired: Seventeen-Sided Dice Buff Effect: The damage you deal will trigger a dice roll during calculation and be multiplied according to the result. (A result above 9 is a positive calculation; a result below 9 is a negative calculation.) You experienced an event: Person Who Forges Secrets You have gained one opportunity to draw a temporary Ability Card for this round of the game.
The ability was interesting.
But upon seeing those prompts,
Su Wen received the answer he cared about most.
"Positive faction favorability is not restricted. It can even be fabricated."
It seemed
that muddying the waters and stirring up the silt was the true method hidden behind the City of Chaos.
He thought
he had probably found the path for the rest of the game.
Before you continue