Chapter 43: The Dust Settles in Pato

The evening sunset was gathering its last threads of light, and a few starlight gleams were gradually emerging across the dim vault of heaven. Everything appeared so peaceful, as if the farce from shortly before had never existed at all.

Of course, this was not the truth. It was simply that Mo Tan, standing not far outside the city of Pato at this moment, could not hear the noise and clamor within the city. The shock brought to this small town by the recent cultist incident was no less than an earthquake, and there was simply no possibility of it calming down in the short term. Even as time passed, it was quite likely that a large number of related personnel would come here in the future to gather intelligence or fish in troubled waters.

Therefore, there was no longer any reason to continue staying here.

"Besides, those holy tricksters must have noticed me by now," Mo Tan chuckled softly. "Although they might not necessarily focus too much attention on some minor character for long, or perhaps they didn't care right from the start, I should still keep a somewhat low profile lately..."

Honestly, even he didn't believe those words.

Although having the Thieves' Guild deliver the heavily exaggerated news—that the 'Evil God had descended upon Pato City'—to the Sanctum would certainly cause Mo Tan a lot of trouble, he had just obtained plenty of interesting intelligence and had no intention of resting just yet. At least, while he was in his current persona, he didn't want to at all.

Mo Tan gave a satisfying stretch and continued walking south through the forest, far away from the main road. The fresh scent of soil always invigorated his spirit, the crisp air felt comfortable, and the continent of ‘Innocence’ apparently lacked legendary monsters like 'mosquitoes'. Thus, being able to stroll leisurely through the woods like this made him feel quite pleasant.

A few minutes later...

Four figures suddenly stepped out from behind the trees not far ahead of Mo Tan. Two of them greeted him with affectionate smiles, while the other two, who were somewhat older, wore rather complex yet still friendly expressions.

Cole, little Ai, Bayes, and Redo had been waiting here for a long time...

"Sorry, I'm late~" Mo Tan showed no surprise whatsoever, merely raising an eyebrow and offering an insincere apology. Then, casting a glance at Bayes and Redo, he smiled, "I thought you two would be in such a fiery rush to return together after dropping the kids off here."

Bayes looked away with a slightly reddened face, while Redo, as a woman, completely abandoned the refined and elegant image she had maintained for many years. Rolling her eyes, she said, "That can wait. We were just a bit worried about these two children."

"Two?" Mo Tan glanced at little Ai, noticing the young priestess's expression was firm and resolute, and immediately gave her a faint, knowing smile. "I hope you'll reconsider carefully, young lady."

The young priestess, who had once been as innocent as a blank sheet of paper, shook her head. "I have thought it through very well, sir. This place is not suited for me, and there is nothing left here worth lingering for."

Mo Tan looked toward Cole again, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I believe I only agreed to take you away alone."

"I tried," Cole smiled bitterly. "But the effect... was almost nonexistent."

"You saved my life," Ai Fanye revealed the most earnest expression of her life, speaking softly to Mo Tan. "And you avenged my companions. In the name of the Sun God Tisu, I am willing to follow your footsteps forever and serve by your side."

She uttered this declaration, which was practically an oath, almost without hesitation. One had to know that declarations made in the name of the gods in this world were incomparably solemn and sacred, let alone coming from the mouth of a member of the clergy. The consequences of breaking such an oath would definitely be no better than Dave's fate.

Mo Tan shrugged. "I thought believers of the various gods didn't hold any favorable impressions of me."

Little Ai smiled. "Then does that mean you agree?"

"No." Unexpectedly, Mo Tan shook his head immediately, then raised an index finger and wagged it. "I'm not particularly fond of what you just said, unless..."

He paused slightly. "Unless you swear to follow me in your own name."

"Alright!" Little Ai was immediately overjoyed. "I—"

"Wait a minute!" Bayes suddenly interrupted her at this point. Crossing his arms, he looked at Mo Tan and said in a deep voice, "Before that, I want to know who on earth you are... Otherwise, I don't intend to let Cole and that girl leave with you."

Cole was instantly startled. "Uncle!"

Little Ai also looked at him with some confusion. "Uncle Bayes?"

"You are too dangerous..." Bayes ignored the two of them, instead walking up to Mo Tan and looking straight into his eyes as he spoke in a low voice. "Honestly, I have never seen someone like you. You are like a wise man, a gambler, a madman, a demon, and even a bit like a hero."

Mo Tan tilted his head. "And then?"

"I don't know which one is the real you," sighed the uncle who clearly had a story of his own. "So I really can't rest easy letting my only nephew and another inexperienced young girl leave with you. That's why I want you to tell me with your own mouth: just who on earth are you!"

"Don't you already have your own answer?" Mo Tan smiled at the somewhat bewildered Bayes. "Wise man, gambler, madman, demon, hero... I can be any of them, and of course I can be none of them. It all depends on the surrounding environment and my mood."

After listening, Bayes remained stunned for a long time, finally letting out a bitter smile as he looked at Cole. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Cole nodded. "I've never been this serious."

Little Ai immediately chimed in from the side, "Me too!"

Meanwhile, Mo Tan spread his hands toward Bayes. "If you want to forcefully drag them back, I have no objections. Of course, even if I did have objections, it wouldn't do any good anyway—my strength is terribly weak, you see~"

"Yeah, you're pretty weak, I can tell." Bayes rolled his eyes. "But that didn't stop you from effortlessly entrapping and killing two Rongers—whom I couldn't beat combined—along with a whole bunch of mumbo-jumbo cultists. Sigh..."

He gave Cole a deep look, then turned toward the direction of Pato City. "If you won't regret it, then go on as you please."

With that, he walked away into the distance without looking back, while Redo offered the three of them a faint smile before briskly catching up to him.

"If you don't want to trouble yourselves," Mo Tan called out with a smile behind the two of them, "if anyone asks, just spill everything about me honestly. Trust me, it's quite harmless."

Bayes's steps paused for a fraction of a second, still without turning back. "We'll weigh those things ourselves."

"He's just acting cool~" Redo looked back with a radiant smile. "This time, thank you. Don't worry about us."

Shortly after, the two figures quickly vanished into the quietly descending night.

Perhaps the two of them had far too many words to say to one another...

"This night~" Mo Tan watched the direction the two had left, chuckling softly, "Perhaps for many people, it will be very, very long..."

Cole and little Ai could not help but exchange a knowing smile, accompanied largely by a sense of release.

The difference was that Cole's release carried a trace of anticipation, while little Ai's smile appeared somewhat desolate.

However, Mo Tan had no intention of giving them much time for reminiscence...

"Take these." Mo Tan tossed two money pouches to them. "Head straight for Kalan City now. No need to rush too much; you can casually find villages, towns, or small groves along the way to rest. I will catch up and rendezvous with you within three days, and we'll talk about what comes next then."

Little Ai froze slightly. "Then you..."

"I have other things to do," Mo Tan smiled. "Ask fewer stupid questions."

...

Soon, Mo Tan was reduced to being by himself once again. He casually found a spot to sit and began taking stock of his spoils.

Tossing Cole and the others two bags of money casually was not without reason; the loot he had plundered from the Whispering Cult's stronghold in Pato City was simply unimaginably bountiful.

First was a large amount of worldly possessions, totaling around two thousand gold coins. Thanks to the out-of-spec game system, once these rather heavy metals went into his inventory, they transformed directly into a string of numbers, allowing him to withdraw and use them in the form of a small money pouch at any time.

This could definitely be considered a massive fortune. Mo Tan still remembered that the compensation fee for Yaya demolishing half someone's house back then was less than a hundred gold coins.

Next were various potions, which would not be listed one by one here. Generally, they were commonly used recovery potions and strengthening potions, along with a small amount of high-quality slow-acting poison.

As for equipment, there were some gains as well. Mo Tan dug out quite a few weapons and armor pieces, though there wasn't much he could use himself. There were only a few he could equip immediately, which could wait until the next time he logged in...

Then, the most important part of all was...

The intelligence regarding the Whispering Cult!

The contents made Mo Tan extremely happy, because this was not some weakling cult organization operating on a mere city-by-city scale. In fact, a figure like Rong at best held a lower-middle management position within the Whispering Cult, and the Pato City branch that Mo Tan had just destroyed was merely the tip of the iceberg...

Given his current personality, if some unfortunate iceberg exposed a single corner before him, it was highly likely to be completely uprooted. He wouldn't stop until he had played to his heart's content. A certain illegal taxi syndicate years ago had perished in precisely this manner, eventually even voluntarily surrendering to the traffic police detachment and urban management courtyard just to seek refuge...

Ahem, drifting off topic.

In short, he was exceptionally, extraordinarily interested in this cult whose branches spread across the entire continent of Innocence.

He was also interested in the God of Whispers whom they worshipped!

However, the intelligence he currently grasped was still too scarce, and the power wielded by the other side far exceeded imagination. Therefore, Mo Tan had no immediate plans to make a huge fuss. This game world, filled with bizarre charms at every turn, seemed to conceal a massive number of interesting things, and so-called 'fun' could only achieve its ultimate experience when savored slowly.

After briefly sorting through the intelligence, Mo Tan's heart stirred, and he promptly chose to log out of the game...

Emerging from the gaming capsule, he casually glanced at the time, nodded with satisfaction, strolled over to the kitchen to cook himself a bowl of noodles with a nutritional value close to zero, and then swiftly swept it clean on the spot.

Then...

He chose neither to log back into the game nor to actively switch personas. Instead, he sat down at his desk, turned on the computer, and began rapidly browsing the forums.

After a long while...

"No relevant information." Mo Tan rubbed his temples and spoke in a low voice. "Still, that's within expectations. After all, [Realm of Innocence] hasn't swept the world yet, the player base isn't very large, and everyone's level is generally quite low right now, so the information they can grasp is also very limited... Whew... Was I just overthinking it..."

He dazed for a short moment before shaking his head, "No, if it's really as I suspect, then no amount of vigilance is excessive. I won't log into the game today; let's see if that time-loss phenomenon happens again this way..."

Having made up his mind, Mo Tan turned off the computer, walked into the bedroom that had gone unvisited for days, threw himself onto the bed, and prepared to get some serious sleep.

As a result, he suffered from insomnia, much to his delight...

"How boring!!" He tugged at his hair, his lips curling in depression. "I want to play so badly, is this game poisonous or what..."

...

"Sigh, I might as well reflect on my own gameplay to pass the time..."

Mo Tan closed his eyes.

[I was a bit too hasty when probing that moron Dave. Back then, I didn't have much concept of max-level stealth; if an unexpected situation had occurred, I might have died right there on the spot. It's necessary to pay attention next time...]

[The Infidel's trait didn't seem to have much impact on little Ai. The specific reason still needs to be verified again. Actually, I previously had plenty of time to learn more about the various deities through her; I seem to have been a bit careless in that regard...]

[That square-jawed paladin arrived much later than expected. It's necessary to further understand the operational procedures of the major organizations and factions within the game...]

[I was a bit too hasty when silencing that guy dressed as a civilian...]

[I put too much salt in the noodles today...]

[I haven't paid attention to Shuangye during these past few logins. It wouldn't do if that girl lost interest in 'gaming'; it's necessary to have a brief chat with her the next time I log in...]

[Mm...]

[Getting a bit sleepy...]

[That other side of me... will it really appear in the game...]

[I'm completely unable to feel any sense of anticipation for it...]

...

As dawn began to break...

Barely hitting seven o'clock, Ji Xiaodao abruptly sat straight up from her gaming capsule, her gaze somewhat vacant, and once again ignored her older sister who was wishing her a good morning...

"Your complexion doesn't look too good." This time, Ji Xiaoge truly wasn't playing a prank; she looked at her twin sister with some concern. "What happened?"

Realizing her expression was abnormal, the girl immediately shook her head, forcing a smile toward the former. "It's nothing..."

"As if it's 'nothing'!" Ji Xiaoge let out a soft huff. "I've never seen you looking so absent-minded!"

"I'm going to help Mom prepare breakfast." The sister left the room as if fleeing, and the moment she pulled the door shut behind her, she murmured in a low voice, "He... didn't show up..."

...

"I couldn't bear to let him be lonely, yet I ended up feeling lonely first..."

...

Chapter 43: End