Chapter 125: Merchant! Thief! Swindler! Friend!

The chicken flew through the air at high speed. She arrived above the Hundred-Womb Ganges, where a dense, black mass of Flying Titan Hybrids formed what looked like a forbidden zone of death. The most severe situation was at the Giant Defense Line, where these Flying Titan Hybrids constantly tried to break through the walls to allow the Nemean Forest’s Diffusion outward.

The fate of those Flying Titan Hybrids was to be mercilessly blasted to pieces by the City Defense Crossbow Cannons, turned into merchandise, and displayed in shops.

These flying Titans noticed the speeding chicken and swarmed over with bloodthirsty expressions.

"Wild Beasts who have forsaken your souls, get lost." The chicken was incomparably cold. She disdained speaking to these foul-souled existences, so she wasn’t simply shouting them down.

She was merely issuing a high-and-mighty death sentence.

The three Skills—[Divine Speed Magic], [Supersonic Flight], and [Perfect Dive]—turned the chicken into a Long Spear Piercing through the dark clouds. She effortlessly tore through the obstructing Titan Hybrids, and not a single drop of their filthy blood stained her beautiful feathers.

She took a deliberate detour, passing the Hundred-Womb Ganges and heading toward the Arcadia Territory, until she arrived in the sky above Lai Kaion City.

She could see the little one, carrying a massive pile of documents with a face full of gloom, yet still skipping along.

She was going to be the despicable scoundrel who dragged someone else down with her.

Herbie was suffering from a headache, struggling with her own conscience. She had always known that Foreigners were cheap labor, but it wasn’t until today that she realized Foreigners were practically an infinite source of energy. Even if she did nothing, the Foreigners would continuously squeeze out their own value.

Those six Vice Aliens were one thing—after all, they could only receive commissioned quests from her. But the other Foreigners were also incredibly obedient, doing everything from going up into the mountains to hunt tigers, to going down into the fields to farm and hand over grain. They did everything.

Herbie had to fight against the little conscience she had left. Only then could she stop viewing the Foreigners as livestock. They were her important clients; how could they be treated as livestock!

"At this rate, the theater’s losses will soon be covered. Hehehe, Lord Herbie’s financial future is full of Light, hiyaa!"

The sudden appearance of a dark Shadow startled Herbie. She was just an unarmed, aggrieved commoner of Arcadia—weak, pitiful, and helpless. However, she had a special-grade Defense artifact offered by the six Vice Aliens. Not only could it withstand ten minutes of attacks when she was in danger, but it could also send an Emergency Assistance signal and teleportation coordinates to the six Vice Aliens.

Even the Vice Aliens who were not currently in this world could receive this distress signal and appear at her location.

So who dared to ambush the incredibly wealthy Lord Herbie Hermes!

Herbie glared fiercely. It was a tall bird; its high-raised head unmistakably expressed pride and nobility, as if a great soul were merely settling for this already sufficiently beautiful body.

"Are you... the chicken? You’ve grown so big in just a few days."

Herbie recognized her and immediately started teasing, circling around the chicken.

"Did Blaze ask you to deliver a letter? Ahem! If you want to send a letter to Lady Audrey, it must go through me, the Minister of Finance..."

Herbie awkwardly stopped her antics because the chicken didn’t say a word, not even looking at her.

"Um... have we still not made up?"

"My name is Vidforlir, the rooster of High Heaven."

The chicken’s voice was serious and solemn, causing Herbie to stiffen in fright, but in the next moment, she was stunned.

Because this proud Bird of High Heaven spread her wings toward her and bowed her body.

"My flesh and my soul bow to you here. I hope you can give up your own dream and lend a helping hand to my Lion."

Herbie’s expression turned cold. Suppressing her anger, she whispered.

"Did something happen to Blaze?"

The chicken explained Blaze’s intention to crusade against the Nemean Giant, without fabricating any of Blaze’s heroism or righteousness. She simply provided a rational summary of the entire process from a third-party perspective.

She also relayed, word for word, Blaze’s statement about not wanting to use the promise.

"That—that l-little Ghost! How dare he—how dare he look down on me!" Herbie’s voice trembled with anger.

"My friend, raise your head, and come with me to a place."

The chicken raised her head. Herbie took off her [Hermes’ Travel Hat] badge and plucked a feather from it. It was a Teleportation Artifact, and its destination was unknown.

The feather in Herbie’s hand ignited on its own, and a pitch-black Teleportation Gate appeared before them.

"Where are we going?"

"Headquarters."

Herbie tossed the documents in her hands aside, puffing out her chest, and walked in. The chicken followed closely behind.

Behind the Teleportation Gate was an even more massive dark space, where the only source of Light was a giant round table. There were many people in the darkness; even the chicken’s eyes were incapable of Piercing the darkness.

Those were the partners of [Hermes’ Travel Hat], and sitting at the head of the round table was the ruler of [Hermes’ Travel Hat].

The chicken remained Silent and unconsciously tensed her body.

She could understand only one thing: Herbie was the only Human here.

"I have decided to assist the Giant Defense Line in their crusade against the Nemean Giant."

Herbie got straight to the point. The quiet darkness erupted into a commotion over these short words, as it was the first time any of them had heard the term "Nemean Giant."

"You should know how much loss the failure of the Epidaurus Theater project caused us, right? Even though you quickly made up for it."

"But this is muddy water, and a noble, uncompensated endeavor at that. I imagine you must have a reasonable explanation." Finally, the person at the highest seat used his voice to summarize all the clamor.

It was the somewhat frivolous voice of a young man.

Herbie slowly laid out her plan. Her tone was flat, but the chicken widened her eyes in disbelief.

Those calm words formed a plan of utter Madness, yet Herbie spoke of it as if it were a matter of course.

Using beautiful fantasies to cover up the risks in the plan, using sweet words to make people forget the previous failure, and using massive profits to incite the desires of Greed.

The entire dark room was filled with Herbie’s lies, and to succeed, she needed to throw in some emotion at the very end.

"This is the once-in-a-lifetime gamble of me, Herbie Hermes! Please approve this investment!"

It was incredibly quiet in the darkness, and then the young man sitting at the head of the table was the first to laugh. Eventually, the laughter rose and fell in waves.

"Ha."

"Haha."

"Hahaha—"

That was definitely not mocking laughter; mocking laughter would never be this hearty and unrestrained.

"The last time someone said something like this to us was the previous president of [Hermes’ Travel Hat]. That man built those tall teleportation towers, but unfortunately, he didn’t live to see its ultimate success." The young man stopped laughing and propped his head on his hand in the dark.

"Humans are truly fragile and short-lived. Fortunately, this time, it won’t take that many years."

"Then I’ll take that as your approval." Herbie raised her eyebrows, the corners of her mouth curling into a true Gambler’s smile.

"Then you might as well lend [That] to me too."

"Alright! Herbie Hermes!"

The young man’s voice rose high. He raised both hands, and the people in the surrounding darkness shouted in unison.

"Liar! Swindle the trust from our hands with your lies!"

"Thief! Steal the wealth from our hands with your tricks!"

"You only have to pay one price!"

"And that is to live to witness the very end!"

Herbie shrugged, not fully understanding, and simply pushed her luck with a joke.

"Did you mean that if this succeeds, I can become the named partner of [Hermes’ Travel Hat]?"

"Heh." The young man reached his hand out of the darkness and snapped his fingers.

The floor beneath Herbie gave way, and she fell, landing flat on her rear inside an even more massive space.

The chicken stood beside her, staring blankly at the colossal object before them.

"Th-this is!"

Herbie smiled smugly. Still sitting on the ground, she threw an arm around the chicken, pointed at the colossus with her other hand, and declared proudly,

"It’s Vienna, the secret weapon we will use to help Blaze and the Foreigners."