One had to admit—Skott, by pure accident, had struck right at Sylvester's weakness.
That was: Sylvester had no idea what lay inside his trash cans. Only at the very moment the lid was opened would the system notify him of an item's use.
Which meant he had no way to display a couple of high-grade curios to prove his innocence.
At that moment, even the livestream chat began to waver under Skott's words.
[Unlicensed Pilot: "Although this guy is kind of annoying, what he says does make sense. I've been watching all afternoon, and not a single high-grade curio like Master Fu Xuan had has shown up. Could he really be a fraud?"]
[Rear Wheel Spins: "Just trust Master Fu Xuan's judgment. Otherwise, what else is left worth believing in on the Luofu?"]
[Definitely Is a New Nickname: "I wouldn't be so sure. The rebellion at the Alchemy Commission was such a big deal and went unnoticed—what's strange about this? The Luofu's practically a leaking sieve by now."]
Guinaifen looked at the livestream chat, beads of cold sweat dripping from her forehead.
Please, guys, don't talk about the Luofu like that. If the stream gets shut down, we're finished.
Even Qingque, usually carefree and unbothered, was starting to panic. If things kept going like this, it wouldn't just tarnish this shop's reputation—it might ruin the Luofu's as well.
But—
Qingque looked toward Sylvester.
Is he really trustworthy?
If he is, then hurry up and pull yourself together!
Feeling the weight of countless eyes upon him, Sylvester remained calm under pressure.
True, he had no way to prove his innocence. But proving oneself was always a vicious cycle. From years of arguing with lunatics, he knew that no matter how logical or reasonable you were, you'd still lose to someone shameless enough to twist everything.
Rather than patching up his own flaws, it was better to disrupt the enemy.
He had weaknesses, yes—but so did Skott.
And this particular weakness? Skott had exposed it himself.
"Specialist Skott, isn't it? You want to prove whether I'm a fraud? Simple. Just open a few trash cans, isn't that enough? As for free? Hmph, don't even dream about it. It's always money up front, goods in hand—not a single credit less."
"You won't pay? Fine, go ahead and sue me in court. But too bad—the court's already closed for the day." Sylvester smirked. "No problem, though. You can go tomorrow."
His eyes narrowed, voice dropping low and solemn. "But you'd better think carefully. If something happens tomorrow and you can't buy even a single trash can, then fail your assignment… that's got nothing to do with me."
"Hahaha, what a joke. I just can't stand you scamming people, that's all. What assignment would I possibly have? Hahaha." Skott gave a couple of forced laughs, but his voice lacked its former confidence, and behind the sunglasses his eyes burned with fury.
Damn bastard.
"Oh, right—what was your rank again, Specialist? P30, was it? Took you quite a while to get there, didn't it?" Sylvester said lazily.
But those casual words rang differently in Skott's ears.
P30 was the result of blood, sweat, and countless backstabbings. No one knew better than he how much it had cost him.
And no one knew better than him that the ones he had robbed of opportunities were waiting—eyes red with hatred—for him to stumble. If he fell now, the revenge would be endless. He'd never rise again.
He was a lone wolf who had already burned every bridge behind him.
"Hahaha. Very good." Skott clapped slowly. "Sharp insight."
Though he laughed, his expression grew darker still.
That this man had seen through his mission enraged him.
"But so, what? Just a bit of money. Fine, as you said—a million each. I'll buy them all!"
Kid, so what if you saw through me? As long as I get the trash cans, the credit's mine!
Promotion to P33 would be within reach. Once he became the local director, he'd crush this shabby little shop without a second thought.
More comments scrolled across the livestream.
[Unlicensed Pilot: "Huh? What's going on? Did this guy just back down?"]
[Comedic Duo A: "Told you it'd be fine. Thank heavens, looks like I still have a shot at becoming an Emanator."]
[Rear Wheel Spins: I don't buy it. The way these two are acting, it's like they struck some shady deal."]
[Comedic Duo B: "Just don't let him be a fraud… I just mortgaged my house. Even told Old Wu next door, planned the whole celebration, gifts are already delivered."]
[Comedic Duo A: "Better luck next life."]
Guinaifen exhaled in relief. "Finally, we're past the worst of it."
"Not that easy," Qingque muttered, far less optimistic.
To Sylvester, this only meant sparing himself the hassle of arguing further with Skott. But letting Skott take away all the curios? The loss to the Luofu would be unimaginable.
Qingque didn't know what curios Fu Xuan had obtained aside from [Zafkiel's Sixth Bullet – Vav].
But considering how she had, at closing time, urgently summoned two generals for discussion, then called for the Trailblazer and Lady Yukong as well—
There was no way this was a trivial matter.
With no higher-ups around, she had no choice but to step up herself.
Before speaking, she glanced at her Jade Abacus. She had already sent out a message, but Master Diviner hadn't replied. Don't tell me they're still stuck in overtime meetings?
Still, with no other choice, Qingque said, "Hey, hey, hey. You think you can just walk away after slandering someone? As a diviner of the Divination Commission, I can't just stand by."
"I suspect you people from the Interastral Peace Corporation are trying to crush this shop and take it for yourselves after seeing its profits."
Unlicensed Pilot: Oh, that actually makes sense. Everyone knows the company's reputation. Maybe it is like that."
This Definitely Is a New Nickname: Ha, typical. Every time something goes wrong on the Luofu, just blame the company. Shouldn't the Luofu be reflecting on itself?"
Sylvester understood Qingque's thinking perfectly. He hadn't expected that someone usually so lazy would act so decisively when the Luofu's interests were on the line.
Granted, the excuse she chose wasn't that solid.
But there wasn't much else he could do either. At this point, refusing to act wasn't an option. Once someone like Skott set his sights on him, his lack of strength would eventually be exposed. Without giving him some reassurance, his situation would become dangerous fast.
Tch. Why does life in a so-called anime world feel even more dangerous than back home? Makes no sense.
"Ha, hahaha. What a joke." As expected, Skott burst into raucous laughter, nearly doubling over. "So, what if I call him a fraud? Did I harm his business? No? Then it's not slander—it's just cursing him out! I cursed him, so what?"
"You, little girl, what's your connection to him? And you two—" Skott jabbed his fingers at Stelle and Guinaifen. "From the moment you walked in, you've been ganging up on me. Bullying an honest man, that's what this is!"
"And you, especially." Both hands now pointed at Qingque. "You're from the Divination Commission. You lot are teaming up against me. Is the Luofu planning an illegal suppression of the company?"
Qingque stayed silent. From the start, she'd been on the weaker side of the argument. If not for wanting to protect the trash cans, there was no way she'd be able to spar evenly with someone like Skott.
The real problem was that her hands were tied—she couldn't argue freely.
"I think she makes a good point."
"Sylvester?" Qingque turned, surprised at his sudden interjection. A flicker of relief rose in her chest.
By all logic, he had no reason to help her. In a way, she was obstructing his sales.
Sylvester sighed. No one else knew it, but he was keenly aware—his fate was now tied to the Luofu. Without their protection, he had no resistance whatsoever.
So even if the risk was great, even if it meant drawing Skott's eye, he had to speak.
"My shop may be small and my profits few, but what I run is a legal business. You accuse me of fraud? Then sorry—all items in this shop just doubled in price. One million won't cut it. Two million minimum."
"Two million?" The veins on Skott's forehead twitched.
Just as everyone braced for his outburst, Skott instead broke into wild laughter. "So what? Pocket change! To the company, this is nothing! We've got mountains of gold and seas of silver, more than we could ever spend!"
He threw down two more Jade Abacus slips, making four total counting the first two. A staggering forty million credits slammed down on Sylvester's counter.
Sylvester glanced at Skott, then at the remaining trash cans on the shelf.
Seventy-one had already been opened. Maybe the next one would hold a high-grade curio. Handing it to someone like Skott felt unbearable—but what choice did he have? He truly had none.
Qingque swallowed hard, collapsing into her chair. "Master Diviner, I swear I wasn't slacking off this time."
"You never slacking off once would be better." A cool, clear voice suddenly echoed through the shop.
Qingque turned toward the door, joy lighting her face brighter than even a rare victory at cards.
Guinaifen looked down at her Jade Abacus just as another wave of comments swept across the screen.
[Unlicensed Pilot: "Oh my god, Master Diviner's back again? Wait—who's that foxian beauty?"]
[Comedic Duo A: "No idea, but wow, she's stunning."]
[Definitely Is a New Nickname: "Doesn't matter who she is. If the logic's not on their side, they still lose."]
Feixiao was the first to stride into the shop, glancing around. "Pretty ordinary little store. You're Sylvester, right? Here, this is my Jade Abacus—ten trash cans, just for fun."
"Welcome," Sylvester said, accepting the abacus with visible relief. To see them land in Luofu hands—that was the best outcome he could hope for.
But not everyone shared that view.
Someone had cut in line.
Fury boiled in Skott's chest. This was his cake being stolen. "What about first come, first served? Are Xianzhou people always this rude?"
Fu Xuan stepped forward, right up to Sylvester, holding out her Jade Abacus. Their eyes locked.
She spoke firmly, without hesitation. "These trash cans—are you selling them to them, or to me?"