The lightning flashed across my mind, and it seemed that a dark hall or a cave appeared before my eyes? That scene flashed by for just a moment, and I couldn't see clearly. I also couldn't recall where it was.
I wiped my eyes, and the baby in front of me was no different from an ordinary child. It was just a little dirty, but its eyes were still very clear, and its skin was very tender. There was really nothing wrong with it. However, why? I always felt a sense of unease in my heart.
Jean smiled: "Does the lord think this child is cute? I know that in Tianlun City, a ceremony for identifying relatives can be held. Since my money is still enough, after you help him naturalize, I will take him there to recognize him as a godson."
I forced a smile: "Yes, it's a good idea. But don't you think you should find a mother for him?"
Jean smiled, but before he could speak, one of his companions nearby laughed: "Xiao Tang just has bad intentions. He just wants to use this cute godson to attract girls' attention in the game and deceive a wife back. Ha ha!"
Everyone laughed, and I temporarily forgot the unease in my heart and registered the child. The child's attributes said "Unnamed, Unknown Attributes."
Perhaps after the adoption ceremony, Jean would give him a name. Jean and his team then said goodbye.
Build a small transceiver that can cover Friendship Town, and I ran out of the materials I brought. I didn't rush back right away. I rode a horse to find the "Ming Meng" monster and peeled off a large amount of the Ming Meng skin that I had been longing for. In this plastic-free world, this kind of skin was very useful.
When I returned to Friendship Town, most of the brothers had logged off. Only the ones who were on duty because his family didn't allow him to stay up late were coming during the day. Louison was also very tired from the journey. I bought the medicine and took him to level up.
The game time in the Infinite World has changed. There is no longer a daily mandatory game limit for players. However, if you exceed the daily limit, the experience and items gained in the remaining time will be reduced significantly.
At this time, Baxter brothers emerged from the teleportation array. Now they have become our town's suppliers and investigators. After all, they are naturally good at doing business. Besides, they have been to many places before and know many people.
Also because they were running around outside all day, the Baxter brothers' levels were rising more slowly than others.
Baxter saw me and said: "Quick, quickly take out the money. I found something good. It costs 100 gold coins!"
I said, "I just built the Haza Village, and the money is all used up. Tell me, what's this good thing?"
Baxter said: "It's a large dice machine. It was made by a player by accident. There is only one. I plan to use it to set up a casino in our village!"
I exclaimed: "There's such a thing? But casinos have a bad reputation. We are the 'Civilized Town'. Why not do a lottery instead?"
So we agreed. Everyone would take out some equipment as prizes. Those who came to draw the lottery only needed to pay one silver coin to participate in the dice rolling. The highest prize was the growth magic wand that I brought out. Of course, this magic wand was basically impossible to be taken away. It required that all twelve dice show a 6 at the same time. This dice was completely genuine.
After the discussion, Baxter brothers would first take out the money to pay for the cost of the dice machine and at the same time, go to various places to promote this event.
At the same time, Baxter brothers would look for two things. One is fast-growing excellent grass seeds, and the other is cows. These are all to be used in the Haza Village.
I saw new hope again, and I just let out a breath. The Ministry of Defense sent officers to collect the horses.
Please wait for a moment, these officers. I came to the Haza Village with a nervous heart and called the herdsmen to prepare over a thousand horses. Two herdsmen led them back to Friendship Town. Fortunately, the herdsmen didn't show obvious dissatisfaction this time. The officer in charge of receiving the horses had grown impatient. After taking the horses, he handed over the reward given to me by the king: "1000 points of merit, promoted to First Earl, and the Friendship Town will be exempt from military service for one year."
Damn it, there's nothing practical? I'm in desperate need of money now, boss!
The day before yesterday, a war broke out between the ship nation at the eastern end and the Swallow Nation. After the war, more than ten players who participated in the battle were awarded titles. Three of them were given territories, and the one with the highest military merit, that is, the "Holy Demon King", who is currently the top-ranked player in the game, directly received the "Second Lieutenant" military rank, the "Count" title, and the position of City Lord from the court.
Now, all the players in the infinite world are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the war. It's a golden opportunity, but unfortunately, our town is exempt from military service. Isn't this cutting off our source of income?
I was about to ask the officer to report this to the higher-ups and change the prize for the next time. But the officer, with a stern face, said: "Before leaving, the Minister of State also asked me to warn you. Hurry up and carry out the task given to you by the king. Although there is no time limit for that task, if you don't start it, it is a serious offense against the king!"
Watching the officers lead the horses away, I was so angry. As a lord, I also suffered so much. Look at ordinary people who take on a task. They can do it whenever they want. If they can't do it, they can cancel it. But I had to do it!
However, thinking about the temptation of the SSS-level task, and considering that the lottery promotion still needs some time for publicity, I decided to finish the task now.
Taking out the materials of the ancient city "Yiu", I studied them carefully.
In ancient times, the continent was a unified country, and the civilization was very advanced. There were hundreds of major cities on the continent, and "Yiu" was one of them.
Due to a god-marauder war later, the continent was filled with wars. Although the gods ultimately won, the "Yiu" city and most of the cities were destroyed by the wars.
However, "Yiu" city was a city that had been magically repaired by many high-ranking priests and monks. For some reason, it never recovered.
The kings who ruled this land in successive generations all sent many people to try to repair it, but all failed. These people also contracted strange diseases and died there. Now, "Yiu" has become a place where ghosts appear during the day.
Damn it, could I possibly complete such a task? I don't know how many centuries or millennia it will take. All the various talents from different kingdoms that passed through there couldn't do it. How could I, a relatively "novice" level person?
Anyway, I'll go and check it out first.
This task is not insignificant. It requires some investment. Since it's a place haunted by ghosts, you can't do without dark-element-resistant equipment. I searched the Sunset City and couldn't find such equipment. So I had to go to the black market to look for it.
Although the black market is full of tricks, there are also many strange things. On the various pockets, the basic characteristics of the items are still marked. For example, "Warrior's Companion, with additional agility", "Warrior's Hat, with additional strength." At first, I was looking for the hands that had these additional attributes. As a result, all I found were stone-level equipment with a bonus of 1 point.
Now it's different. There are no dark-element-resistant equipment outside, so even if I only find 1% of the dark-element-resistant equipment in the black market, I'm satisfied.
The Shepherd God Set and the Fire God's Eye do not need to be exchanged. The Life Necklace is also a good thing. I only look for arm guards, shields, and cloaks. Swords and bows and arrows, even if they have an additional attack bonus against dark elements, if they are only of wood or stone level, it's meaningless, so I don't need to look for them.
It cost six or seven gold coins to get a silver-level shield with 3% dark-element resistance, two stone-level arm guards with 1% dark-element resistance each. There are no other options left in the market. I'm a little disappointed. I'm preparing to leave.
Suddenly, a voice came from my ear: "Lord, where are you going?" It startled me. I turned around and saw that it was quite familiar. After thinking for a moment, I finally remembered: "Thief, Calandra!"
I leapt forward a few steps. I couldn't let this guy steal from me!
Calandra looked at me with a sneering expression and said, "Lord, outside here, I'm already wanted. Do you really think you can avoid being hunted down in the black market?"
I thought about it and nodded. "But you shouldn't get so close if you're not okay!"
Calandra couldn't resist and moved closer to me, lowering his voice and saying, "Lord, you've been collecting anti-dark equipment. Do you think these two items are suitable for you?"
My heart skipped a beat. There might be good things on the thief's body.
I said, "But, I don't have much money now. Only a few dozen gold coins."
Calandra chuckled, "I don't want money. As long as you take me out of the city, I'll give you these two things."
I frowned, "How can I possibly get a wanted criminal out of the city?"
Calandra said, "As long as you hire me, with your justice value, it's enough to offset my evil value. The guards won't be able to detect it."
I thought for a moment, "Let's see how these things are."
Calandra pulled me to the corner, looked around, and then took out two items: "This one is the 'Night Mask', a platinum-level equipment. We use it for night walks. Wearing it, your anti-dark ability increases by 10%."
I hummed in response. This mask, apart from anti-dark, only has 10 points of physical defense. It's actually quite trashy, but since I needed it this time, just for this, I could consider taking Calandra out of the city.
The other one was something in the shape of a wine jug. Calandra said, "This is the 'Dream Soul Jar', a special item. It can summon ghosts. It's a royal burial item. I was caught with this item once and gained 100 points of evil value, which led to my being wanted!"
Summoning ghosts was exactly what I needed. I even wondered if it was because I accepted the "Yi" City mission that triggered this thief mission!
I was already very satisfied with Calandra's conditions. However, there's always an abundance of things, and as long as Calandra doesn't have me with him, he can never get out to clear his evil value and earn money. With this advantage, I quickly forced Calandra to hand over his thief skills: Thieving Technique, Disassembly Technique, Concealment Technique, Copying Technique, Climbing Technique... These are things that the library doesn't have.
Seeing Calandra's expression of sadness and anger, I saw the good opportunity and stopped him. I signed an employment agreement with him, of course, only paying him a copper coin symbolically.
Calandra's evil value was 109. If it weren't for stealing the Dream Soul Jar, he couldn't even reach the minimum standard of 10 for being wanted.
I took Calandra out of the city under the watchful eyes of the city guards, worried and anxious. After walking a few miles, I finally let out a sigh of relief.
Calandra was also extremely excited. Just about to thank me, I grabbed his hand: "Bring the things here."
Calandra opened his mouth wide: "Lord, I can tell from your appearance that you have a heroic spirit and are a hero or a dignified person. How can you act like us members of the underworld? Just now, you cheated me and now you don't believe me."
I smiled calmly, letting him think whatever he wanted. If I didn't be tough, my 2 million plan wouldn't be mentioned, and even the town's finances couldn't be maintained. Now I must think of every possible way to earn money. Learning thief skills is for having more opportunities to earn money. To get his things is to complete the mission and win the prize.
Calandra was still a thief. If he changed his mind and lost those two items, my chances of completing the mission would be much smaller.
Calandra handed over two items, but my hand didn't let go.
A sinister smile appeared on my face: "Calandra, you must have many valuable things on you, and also, there must be quite a lot of rewards for the task of hunting you down."
Calandra shivered.
I continued: "Although you are at level 55, but as a thief, you have no combat skills. And now, since I have you in my hands, if I were to act... "