Hush money

"..."

Gallows Sauron Lorry refrained from saying, "I didn't realize you enjoyed being with us so much," feeling it was too sarcastic.

He took a sip of his cocktail and continued:

"This eleven-year-old boy boldly sold off the property left by his father and dismissed most of the servants and guards."

He took a group of servants who had served the Percival Family for generations and sailed across the ocean to Intis, the capital of Intis Trier, to seek refuge with his aunt.

"The lover of an important member of the Sauron Family."

At this point, Gallows Sauron Lorry casually explained, "The Sauron Family is the former Royal Family of Intis, and they control the ' Hunter ' Pathway."

This Pathway is also called the "Red Priest" Pathway.

He ignored Hugh's obvious curiosity about the word, sat down opposite her with his cocktail, and began to speak to himself:

Percival gave his father's entire inheritance to his uncle-in-law.

"Under the influence of money and the pleas of his lover, this important member of the Sauron Family decided to provide some support and protection."

"So he sent one of his subordinates ahead to help Percival carry out his revenge. Of course, he had other motives, but they were unrelated to this matter."

Gallows Sauron Lorry glanced in the direction where the West Borough and Empress Borough meet, then quickly looked away without offering any further explanation:

"I knew about this a long time ago, from one of the masterminds behind that political conspiracy, but unfortunately, he didn't know much either."

He smiled, his gaze sweeping over Hugh's face, and said slowly:

"I've always wanted to eliminate this threat, but as you know, Backlund is the 'City of Hope,' with a permanent population of over five million."

"Without sufficient information, divination, hiring Private Detective, and other methods are all ineffective, so I can only wait for the right opportunity."

"Fors ' help inspired me."

I want to find them, and they want to find me just as much.

"So, I thought of using a secret that both sides know, but most people don't, as Bait to lure them out like fish."

Hugh was silent for a few seconds, then said with some dissatisfaction:

"No wonder your reward was so generous; you were using me all along!"

"How can you call it exploitation..." Gallows Sauron Lorry sighed, "I could easily have found someone else to do the same thing."

"For example, Private Detective, or Gang, that way you can save some money. You should be able to tell that I've been protecting you secretly all along."

"What's the point of saying so much..." Hugh muttered under his breath.

"It doesn't change the nature of this matter; you're still deliberately making me Bait without me knowing anything... I want to..."

"Fine, I won't hold it against you this time." Her eyes flickered a few times, and she suddenly realized that what he said wasn't entirely unreasonable.

"But next time, you could have told me in advance."

"If I told you beforehand, would your reaction still be as natural as if you didn't know?" Gallows Sauron Lorry retorted.

Xiu pursed her lips but didn't answer, instead changing the subject:

"How are you providing protection? Why can't I feel it?"

"My Sequence 4 on this Pathway is called ' Parasite,'" Gallows Sauron Lorry explained simply. "You can think of it as splitting your consciousness into a tiny, transparent worm, Parasitism without your knowledge, and completely taking control of its body."

"Something like a clone?" Xiu understood immediately.

"So, you left one of these little worms on me beforehand, and then secretly Parasitism the most powerful one in this group, right?"

As she spoke, her expression suddenly changed:

uuɡu. First update, no typos. You won't see the pinyin suffix in the address input. You can then access the first update site.

"Wait, when did you leave this worm on me?!"

"When you were nagging me about only buying Desi Pie and not Sweet Iced Tea," Gallows Sauron Lorry gave her a disgruntled look.

"Excuse me! Which shop sells Sweet Iced Tea Door Opening in the early morning?"

Thanks to the nail fragments Hugh brought back, Lorry concocted Potion overnight and fed it to the "Parasite" ring. Together with the Beyonder Characteristic that were already present within, it created a Worm of Time.

Otherwise, his true form would not have left Backlund with peace of mind.

Xiu blushed slightly, realizing she was overthinking things.

"But they taste really good together..."

After muttering this vaguely, she coughed and said, "Anyway, it's just that you and they are scheming against each other, and in the end, you win again, right?"

"That's amazing..."

Hearing these insincere words, Gallows Sauron Lorry remarked, "Indeed, but it would have been better if you had spoken more sincerely."

He didn't continue the Awkwardness topic, and shook his head with a smile:

Now you know where you went wrong, right?

"Don't you feel that there's a unique literary beauty in the Conspirer ' ultimately dying because of his own scheme?"

Hugh was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and looked around:

Who are you talking to?

The dim lighting and the sudden, eerie conversation created a sense of dread, causing her to instinctively shrink back and open her mouth to try and communicate.

"The scheming loser, the original owner of this body," Gallows Sauron Lorry said with a smirk as he walked toward the three unusual charred corpses.

He bent down and picked up three clumps of dark red, jelly-like substance, tossing them to Hugh.

"The Hunter's Beyonder Characteristic, your spoils as Bait and hush money, can probably be sold to a connoisseur for three or four hundred pounds."

"If there's a reliable channel, you can also find someone to make it into Sealed Artifact."

"Or, without using a certain method to seal it, place it together with other similar Sealed Artifact that you wish to obtain."

"If nothing unexpected happens, they will merge after a while and become a Sealed Artifact, although there is a lot of randomness involved."

After a moment's thought, Xiu didn't refuse, and put away his "Hunter" traits, asking:

"High randomness" means what?

"Beyonder Ability are random, negative effects are random," Gallows Sauron Lorry casually remarked. "If you think you're lucky, you can give it a try."

Hugh remained silent for seven or eight seconds, then suddenly realized that the guy seemed to be reminding him to seal it in time to avoid any accidents. He muttered to himself, annoyed:

"Can't you even speak properly like a human being..."

As she was thinking, she heard the sound of a key being used to Door Opening the door outside. Soon, an elderly man in a tuxedo came in and placed the things he was carrying on the Tea Table.

She glanced at it and saw that it was the codfish cake she had bought earlier.

"They ate the one you bought," Gallows Sauron Lorry said calmly, "So I had him buy another one."

Looking at the expressionless old man in the tuxedo, Xiu sensed something strange about his behavior, but before he could observe him closely, he heard someone urging him on:

"Take it home, Fors will worry if it gets too late."

"Aren't you going back?" she asked, turning her head.

Gallows Sauron Lorry shook his head. "I don't want to see her with someone else's face, and this body has its own mission."

"By the way, I've seen his memories and know that the Vagrant they murdered had a brother of about the same age in the Poorhouse."

"You can look into this when you have time."

"Okay." Hugh stood up, picked up the paper bag, nodded, and turned to leave.