Chapter 2832 - 1342: Awakening and Aesthetics

The transaction went fairly smoothly; in fact, it went very smoothly, without the slightest unexpected incident.

After both parties reached a consensus, the man who seemed to be from the [Fer-de-Lance] Chamber of Commerce handed the bottle to Motan, who then very slowly put it into his backpack. Then he smiled broadly, raised his hands, and happily exclaimed: "Everyone look at me, look at me, quick—"

In the next moment, under the watchful eyes of Cole, Liz, and the girl named Ying, he lost consciousness on the spot.

Since they could barely understand the conversation between the two parties just now, Cole and Liz did not misunderstand that the man meant harm to Motan, so they only carefully supported the soulless body of the former, waiting for the situation to develop.

Afterward, the man used the same trick to draw his companions’ attention to himself and then also lost consciousness, being held by the girl with a beautiful pair of eyes whose facial features were unclear.

...

About twenty minutes later, the man shrouded entirely in a cloak, his face unseen, regained consciousness. He first got up and gently stroked Ying’s hair, then turned to Cole and Liz, nodding slightly as he said softly, "The transaction is complete, it was a pleasure working with you."

"Yes."

Cole cautiously looked at the man in front of him, who, despite not appearing to be a strong figure, exuded an eerie sense of pressure. He simply responded, a fine sweat appearing on his forehead, worried if the man might kill them after the transaction was complete.

After all, he was...

"Heh, no need to be so wary."

The man seemed to have read Cole’s thoughts, laughed, and leaned against the cold stone wall, saying flatly, "I know our [Fer-de-Lance] Chamber of Commerce never had a great reputation. To put it mildly, it’s notoriously bad. We’ve dabbled in all kinds of shady dealings, and backstabbing has been all too common for centuries. That’s why most people keep their distance from us. But... trust me, buddy, your ’friend’ knows this better than you do."

Upon hearing this, Cole still did not lower his guard, merely saying in a deep voice, "I certainly know you are a man of far-reaching plans and leave no calculation left, and I also know that the mere fact that he chose to deal with you shows you are trustworthy, but as his follower, I have my duties."

"I see~"

The man paused, then chuckled lightly, showing a bit of amusement, turned to look at the girl standing beside him, whose hands never left her twin gunblades, and teased, "You might find you have a lot in common."

Ying, the ’bodyguard’ named, shook her head, responding in her clear and pleasant voice, "Ying is different from him; Ying may not be strong, but he is too weak."

Cole’s face stiffened, and an unfathomable fury surged in his heart, yet he found himself unable to retort.

There was an objective gap between them, one that couldn’t be easily bridged.

It was no small feat to hold him at bay easily, but evading Liz, who possesses Epic Tier physical fitness, and escaping without a scratch when aimed at the vital parts, the disparity displayed was truly despair-inducing.

As the man previously mentioned, if he wished, he could have the girl easily kill all three on Cole’s side.

He was too weak...

Cole Shuren once again realized this fact, and what terrified him was that he had forgotten when exactly he lost that sense of crisis, that anxiety about his own skill level.

Perhaps it was when he compared himself to most people and thought he was advancing quickly?

Perhaps it was because he always accomplished the tasks Mr. gave him?

Perhaps it was almost never experiencing danger since following Mr.?

These are almost objective facts. As an ordinary country boy, Cole’s rapid advancement seemed unreasonable to most. His raw ability had jumped from the Primary Stage to the Advanced Stage in just six months, all steadily, with solid foundations, without any signs of overextension or weak grounding.

This rate of progress may not be too impressive before the Epic Tier players, but for an NPC, it might warrant terms like ’genius’ or ’monster.’ It certainly wouldn’t be excessive, though not at the level of Jadcax Diesel or Ruka Tifilo, who are celestial-envied characters, but he was undoubtedly a prodigy.

Moreover, as Motan’s close aide, Cole’s business skills were quite exceptional. Even when tasked with challenges that sounded daunting, he managed to solve them effectively, proving to be a reliable jack-of-all-trades, something Motan himself acknowledged.

Additionally, given Motan’s behavior under a ’Chaotic Neutral’ persona, he seldom encountered crises that required raw strength to resolve. Over time, this gave Cole an illusion that Mr. would never face danger because everything was in Mr.’s plan.

Even what just happened was the same; Mr. would certainly not have overlooked the fact that the other party had enough strength to kill all three of them easily. The fundamental reason for attending the meeting in such an almost undefended manner was Mr.’s confidence that nothing would go awry.