Chapter Twenty-Four: A Perverse Sense of Humor

Dave Sager came from an nameless small town on the outskirts of Pato City. His parents were ordinary merchants, and his family background was entirely unremarkable. He had never displayed any extraordinary talent or ability; by all conventional metrics, Dave was destined to lead a life of insignificance, let alone have the opportunity to study at the Pato Knight Academy—a heavyweight institution (at least when compared to the village-level counterparts of his hometown) that was far (or, in truth, not quite that far) from home.

None of this came easily.

Thirteen years ago, a plague descended without warning upon that town of fewer than three hundred households. In less than two days, almost everyone perished in a sequence as strict and ritualistic as an execution. Their corpses did not decay, yet their faces were frozen in an eerie, grotesque smile, as if they had experienced the ultimate pleasure amidst their agony.

Although the Holy Church Alliance dispatched personnel as quickly as possible, it was all in vain. It is said that when the lead high priest arrived, there were still dozens of survivors, yet the moment he stepped into the town’s boundary, they all simultaneously exploded—or rather, died instantly.

Of the two hundred and ninety-six people in the town, only a seven-year-old boy survived.

That child was Dave Sager.

Discovered in a haystack, he was taken back to the headquarters of the Holy Church Alliance—the City of Light, located downstream of the Golden River in the northeast of the continent. After some time, he was eventually transferred to the Pato City branch of the Holy Church Alliance.

"Take good care of this child, even if he is not particularly gifted," a regional bishop had instructed the Pato City high priest at the time. "As the sole survivor, he carries the hopes and burdens of two hundred and ninety-five departed souls."

Thus, Dave grew up within the United Church. At fourteen, he underwent baptism and naturally became a believer, swearing his faith to Hemer, the God of Justice and Courage.

"The Holy Church Alliance..." Mo Tan whispered, repeating the information he had learned from Mag’s notes. "An organization formed by the believers and sects of many deities, including the Goddess of Dawn Pakoce, the God of Justice and Law Hemer, the Goddess of Harvest Serela, the Sun God Tisu, and the God of Creation Elen. It is also one of the most influential forces in the northeast of the continent. Heh, I wonder how those so-called 'gods' view this deformed and bloated alliance?"

Despite Mo Tan’s seemingly casual and flippant remarks, he had already noticed an anomaly—one that, at least to him, was glaringly out of place.

"A follower of the God of Justice and Courage?" He rolled his eyes. "If that young man who can kill his companions without hesitation can believe in him, then I could certainly be considered a person of upright morals by any standard."

It seemed Mo Tan was aware that his own moral compass was currently anything but upright.

His comment was no joke. Although the character Mo Tan had been tagged by the system as a "Non-Believer" and could not worship any deity, the absolutely neutral Mo Fan had long since become a follower of the Goddess of Dawn, Pakoce—a decision that had cost him 20 copper coins.

Mo Tan clearly remembered the two system prompts:
[Do you agree to become a follower of the Goddess of Dawn, Pakoce?]
[Warning: Betraying your faith will come at a great cost.]

Regardless of what that cost might specifically entail, one thing was certain: it would be nothing good.

Although no one had told him what a "betrayal of faith" looked like, it didn’t stop Mo Tan from speculating.

First, the direct approach—this was the easiest to explain. For instance, someone suddenly goes insane, curses their deity, smashes churches, tramples icons, kills priests, or toys with saints. This would be the ultimate taboo, and the price paid would likely be immense—perhaps being struck by lightning on the spot.

Of course, if you were a Lancer, you might get struck by lightning under any circumstances. Well, because weapons that are long, sharp, and conductive are simply prone to that, and it has nothing to do with superstitious nonsense like "luck stats"... probably.

Then there was the indirect approach. Mo Tan felt another possibility existed: two friendly sects might engage in internal integration, leading to a "peaceful breakup." The probability of this was low, but not zero. If two deities (regardless of their followers) were on genuinely good terms, perhaps there would be no cost to pay.

However, this hypothesis did not apply to Dave. The evidence lay in Mo Tan’s third, most confident speculation.

An indirect yet intuitive betrayal!

The game *World of Innocence* divided player stances in extreme ways, and this extremity likely applied to its NPCs, including the gods. The God of Justice and Courage, Hemer, seemed like a champion of the Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good alignment, and Dave’s actions could never satisfy the standards of such a faith. So, the question arose...

Don't worry, I have no intention of talking about excavators.

Would any deity permit their followers to act in direct contradiction to their own core values?

Absolutely not!

No matter how tolerant or honest a god Hemer might be, Dave’s actions had definitely violated a large number of the rules dictated by his doctrine!

"This is getting interesting~" A sinister smile crept across Mo Tan’s lips. He subconsciously tapped the low table in front of him, looking intrigued. "I thought that with the witness secured, collecting some physical evidence would wrap this up, but it seems things aren't that simple after all..."

***

Seemingly invigorated by a surge of motivation, Mo Tan spent the next ten minutes reviewing all of Dave Sager’s files with rare intensity, then closed his eyes to contemplate.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, reined in his slightly malevolent smile, tossed the documents aside, and picked up the small black leather pouch to examine it.

[Intermediate Poison Set]
Quality: Excellent
Weight: 1.3kg
Contents: Paralytic Poison x1, Lacerating Poison x1, Slowing Poison x1, Silence Poison x1, Purified Toadstool Toxin x1, Colored Lizard Corrosive Poison x1
[Note: What you really need for home travel and killing witnesses is a kitchen knife, not these trinkets. They are only used for more technical tasks! ...What! How much!? Fine, I’d bet I could even poison the village chicken god in the dark just to show you!]

"Hmm..." Mo Tan shook his head, trying to forget some of the experiences he had in Riverwood back when he played a certain old game, then clicked the hyperlink of the poison set and nodded in satisfaction.

Four status-reducing poisons and two high-potency toxic damage vials—it seemed the dim-witted bald man hadn't tried to pull any tricks here.

It is worth noting for the sake of Bauderson’s peace of mind: if he had truly held the attitude of "this kid probably won't notice" and provided Mo Tan with inferior goods, Mo Tan, who could see the item attributes, would have undoubtedly used it as an excuse to subject him to another round of brutal extortion.

Humming a tune, Mo Tan put away the poison set and continued to tally his spoils—the handwritten pages Bauderson had just finished.

They contained some techniques that an apprentice-level thief could master. In a martial arts world, these would be low-tier secret manuals; in a game, they were reusable skill books.

There were two skills that particularly piqued Mo Tan’s interest:

[Backhand Spin Strike]
Active Skill: Cunning School
Mastery Requirement: Cunning School Level 3, Dexterity 10
Cost/Restriction: 60 Acuity, Dual-wielding melee weapons
Effect: Blocks one physical attack from the front, reducing the damage taken by 50%, and executes a spin-pierce of at least 90° at high speed. Grants a theoretical double inertia impact bonus and deals an additional 20% damage. Cooldown: 1 minute.
[Note: Swing your arm around and stab it in! White blade in, red blade out! Red blade in, red blade out again!]

This skill offered great value, combining both block and counter-attack traits, and with a short cooldown, it was very useful for Cunning-based professions that were weak in head-on combat.

And then there was...

[Kidney Strike]
Active Skill: Cunning School
Mastery Requirement: Cunning School Level 5, Dexterity 7
Cost/Restriction: 10 Acuity, Sharp Eyes, a degree of dynamic vision, and a ruthless disposition.
Effect: A fierce strike with an elbow or knee to the target’s (humanoid only) kidney. 100% chance to interrupt a spell cast. If your Strength is greater than one-third of the target’s Constitution, there is a high probability of triggering a 1-5 second stun. There is a chance to cause permanent, irreversible damage to NPCs and generate massive aggro. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
[Note: Mmm... kidney... I love kidneys...]

This skill could be considered the most "compatible" for Mo Tan (Chaotic Neutral) so far. Despite the seemingly high requirements—"Sharp Eyes" and "dynamic vision" were easier said than done—along with the ten-minute cooldown, he particularly loved this skill.

After all, *Kidney Strike* was low-cost, high-reward, and especially underhanded!

The other three skills were [Throat Slit], [Escape], and [Swift Stab]. Mo Tan had already automatically learned the first when he obtained the Thief profession. The other two would not be described here; they would be detailed when they were first used, as space was limited.

***

Having finished his business, Mo Tan did not linger. He returned the files to a gloomy-looking Bauderson and left immediately. After all, his online time was precious, and he had much to do.

It is worth noting that the reason Dave’s personal file existed here was because his history had special significance. Whether as the sole survivor of a town of nearly three hundred or as the only member of the Warm Sun squad to return to Pato City alive, he held intelligence value. Hence, the Thieves' Guild had the file Mo Tan had just reviewed.

As for other individuals without intelligence value, they would not be found here. After all, although *World of Innocence* was a game, its logic and rationality were sound. If you wanted to check on the "Old Wang" next door, unless he had a nickname like "Phantom Assassin" from his past, there would certainly be no relevant records.

...

A moment later, Mo Tan appeared before the gates of the Holy Church Alliance Chapel in the central district of Pato City. He looked left and right for a long time, clicked his tongue, and stepped inside.

"Please wait!" Two low-level Temple Knights in light armor blocked his path immediately. One of them stared vigilantly at Mo Tan’s currently harmless and even elegant face, asking, "What do you want?"

Mo Tan blinked, took another step forward, and pointed at his own nose, looking surprised. "Me?"

"Yes," the other nodded, his hand already on the hilt of his sword. "Who are you?"

Mo Tan scratched his hair with a wry smile. "I’m just here to pay my respects."

"Pay respects?!" The Temple Knight’s eyes widened like copper bells. "Which deity are you a follower of?"

"Is it forbidden to pay respects if you aren't a follower?" Mo Tan looked panicked and quickly stepped back. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry. No one told me that was a rule..."

"It’s not..." The other man, who looked slightly older, shook his head, his expression a bit awkward. "It’s not that non-believers can't pay their respects."

A glimmer of mischief flashed in Mo Tan’s eyes, though he feigned confusion. "Oh? Then why were you two looking so scary just now? You nearly made me think I was about to be arrested."

He was playing dumb. Their sudden vigilance was naturally due to the "Non-Believer" trait Mo Tan carried. Simply put, in the eyes of these pious believers, a guy who was essentially "insulated" from faith didn't look like a good person!

Heaven knows if this guy was carrying a stack of forbidden spell scrolls, ready to tear them open inside and stage a terrorist attack!

But...

You couldn't exactly turn someone away on the grounds of, "Your aura is off and you look like you’re here to cause trouble," could you?

"Anyone can pay their respects." The first Temple Knight’s momentum vanished as he stammered, "But..."

"But you don't want me to go in?" Mo Tan’s expression darkened instantly, and he sneered, "Not because of rules, and with no reason at all, just because of your personal mood or thoughts, you blocked me at the gate and even... reached for your weapon?"

The young man’s hand recoiled from the sword hilt as if electrocuted, his face flushing red, unable to utter a word.

"Sir!" the more mature one quickly tried to smooth things over. "We didn't..."

"Didn't what?!" Mo Tan’s gaze fixed on him like a venomous snake, filled with a chilling, tyrannical malice. "Didn't mean to? It wasn't what I thought? You were one of the ones who stepped up to block me, weren't you?"

This one was also choked into silence.

Mo Tan paused slightly, suddenly opened his arms, and looked around at the statues of the various gods. Then, he turned back to the two of them and shouted, "Which deity do you serve? Who gave you the qualification to turn away a potential believer? To even draw your weapons against him!!"

Clang!!

Both Temple Knights felt their legs go weak and collapsed to their knees simultaneously.

Chapter 24: The End