Yi Dong had no objections to Mo Tan's decision; after all, he had nothing to do now, and there was no difference where he leveled up or did quests. Besides, it wouldn't be easy for the latter to trick him, even though Mo Tan at this moment was capable of doing anything...
'Don't worry, even if I wanted to trick you, I'd retract it myself before long~'
This private message from Mo Tan made classmate Yi Dong feel much more at ease.
Indeed, even though Mo Tan, currently in his 'chaotic neutral' state, could be said to be unrestrained, he also possessed A morally upright side. This side had saved Yi Dong countless times since childhood. Amusingly, the prerequisites for Yi Dong needing to be 'saved' were often Mo Tan's own prior schemes, including but not limited to twisting this A's sexual orientation and publishing it on major social media platforms.
"Alright, I have no objections," Yi Dong spread his hands, indicating his compliance.
"Um, I'm fine too, but..." Xiao Ai also nodded gently, then quickly glanced at Cordova, hesitating As if she wanted to say something.
The latter just stood there, unblinking, without the slightest emotional fluctuation.
"Cordova has other things to do," Mo Tan teasingly looked at the NPC girl and smiled, "Don't worry, from what I've observed, he's much better at taking care of himself than you are."
Xiao Ai quickly shook her head and said, "No, I'm not worried about him at all..."
"That's even better," Mo Tan didn't dwell on the topic, merely pulled out A bag of gold coins and tossed them to Yi Dong, "New Year's money."
The latter unceremoniously put the money bag into his inventory, gave two dry laughs, and pretended he hadn't heard anything.
"Remember to listen to that Zombie next to you on this trip. Of course, if he harasses you, just report him to any church and have someone pour some holy water on him or something," Mo Tan casually instructed Xiao Ai, then waved his hand, "You can set off now."
Yi Dong stood up unhappily and rolled his eyes at Mo Tan: "How long do you expect us to reach that Marshall Territory?"
"Later," Mo Tan yawned distractedly, "Get lost."
And so Yi Dong grumbled and left with Xiao Ai...
Only Mo Tan and Cordova remained in the room. The former was sipping the cheap tea on the table, while the latter still stood respectfully on the other side of the table.
After A while...
"Sit," Mo Tan pointed to the seat in front of him, giving Cordova an inscrutable smile, "I have something I want to discuss with you."
Cordova then pulled out A chair and sat down in front of Mo Tan, saying in A deep voice, "Yes, sir."
"Don't be too nervous, relax~" Mo Tan shrugged, placed the teacup in his hand on the table, and asked the young man sitting upright before him, "In my conversation with that Zombie just now, did you feel anything strange or difficult to understand?"
Cordova paused for A moment, then immediately nodded: "There was A little."
"Oh?" Mo Tan grinned with interest, "Tell me."
"No time to reply to messages, system, complaining, New Year's money—these are all A bit incomprehensible to me," Cordova hesitated, somewhat confused, "I haven't heard these words before. Although I can understand each character, I can't guess what they mean at all."
Mo Tan nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, excellent."
He held this young man in high regard, at least much higher than Xiao Ai. Cordova possessed A calmness and composure unbefitting his age, and his observation and judgment were both quite satisfactory. The typical youthful naivety had almost completely disappeared from Cordova after the Patto City incident. In comparison, while that young priestess was composed and sensible, she was still quite lacking...
"Beautiful things make people happy and simple," Mo Tan stood up and smiled at Cordova, "Often, only tragedy can make people grow. You are outstanding, and you are gradually becoming excellent. Although this excellence was exchanged for another young life, I still hope you will always remember this..."
Cordova's eyes dimmed somewhat, but he immediately stood up and said in A low voice, "Thank you for your praise, sir. Although I don't think I'm excellent, I can promise that I will never forget those... you said..."
"Yes, I said I would find A way to revive that child," Mo Tan shrugged, carefully examining the Soul-Guiding Bottle that had appeared in his hand at some point, then turned to Cordova and smiled softly, "I hope you can maintain this mindset even after she's revived, which is why I specifically reminded you..."
The familiar aura instantly made Cordova tremble. He gazed fixatedly at the container holding Luo Na's soul in Mo Tan's hand, then, after desperately regaining his composure, said in A deep voice, "I will."
"Very good," Mo Tan put the Soul-Guiding Bottle back into his inventory, then walked towards the door, saying leisurely without looking back, "I'll be back later, wait here first."
"Yes."
Ten minutes later, Wanderer's Inn, Kalan City.
"It's A bit deserted here today," Mo Tan said with A smile to the black-haired girl who was wiping something nearby As soon As he stepped through the door, "Is your business really this bad?"
A pair of small wings on her back fluttered slightly. The girl, who seemed to be perpetually busy, turned and gave him A smile that must have contained at least two gold coins' worth of sweetness: "It's always been A bit slow, goo. Are you here to spend, goo?"
"Being A sucker once is enough," Mo Tan shook his head, "Where's Jun Wu?"
"Stingy, goo!" Wei Yang's upturned lips immediately drooped. After glaring weakly at Mo Tan, she pointed to the counter not far away: "He's handling work in the back. The information you provided was quite useful; Junjun was praised by the higher-ups, goo."
Mo Tan smiled wryly: "So, can you treat me to A meal with public funds or something?"
"Get lost, goo..."
So, after A friendly chat with Wei Yang, Mo Tan went around to the back of the inn's counter. Sure enough, he saw Jun Wu organizing A large stack of papers in front of him, his eyes behind the plain gold-rimmed glasses looking listless and sleepy.
"Busy?" Mo Tan unceremoniously sat on the table in front of Jun Wu and asked him with A smile.
"Not bad. This is what you asked for last time," Jun Wu replied casually, then slowly pulled out two sheets from the stack of papers. As he handed them to Mo Tan, he asked expectantly, "Do you want anything? How about A 5% discount on the drinks from last time?"
Mo Tan took the two papers, then waved his hand seriously: "No, thank you."
"Oh, then do you have any new information that could get me A promotion and A raise?"
"If I did, I'd just send it to you via friend message."
"Alright, no money, no information," Jun Wu sighed, then glared at Mo Tan, "Then get lost."
Mo Tan pretended not to hear. He flipped through the papers in his hand and exclaimed, "I didn't expect you to be so efficient."
"It's alright," Jun Wu didn't take his previous joke seriously. He just continued to organize the stack of items in front of him for A while, neatly arranging them before spreading his hands and saying, "I reported the information you gave me earlier, along with the things you wanted to investigate, and I got the results quickly."
Mo Tan had already finished reading the two pages detailing A recent anecdote from the Northeast Continent. He casually returned them to Jun Wu and nodded, "Thank you for your trouble. I'm just here to say goodbye today."
"Oh?" Jun Wu pushed up his glasses: "Are you leaving? Where are you going?"
Mo Tan raised his hand and pointed outside: "To the south."
Jun Wu: "But that's north..."
Mo Tan looked indifferent: "Then to the north it is."
"Are you ever serious?" Jun Wu gave A dry laugh, then pulled A small box from his inventory and placed it on the table: "If you're going south, can you help me deliver something?"
Mo Tan glanced at the small box noncommittally: "What is this?"
Jun Wu shook his head and spread his hands: "I don't know either. This was delivered to me last night by A random NPC. Apparently, it's something the previous owner here instructed to be obtained, but he's now the manager of the inn in Black Tower City. Wei Yang and I can't leave here and aren't willing to pay someone to help, so if it's on your way, that would be best."
"Let me see," Mo Tan casually picked up the small iron box on the table and examined it briefly.
【Old Storage Box】
Quality: Unique Epic
Usage: Cannot be opened
【Note: This was once A finely crafted storage box. In fact, it still is A finely crafted storage box, but the long passage of time has made it look much cheaper. Although the secrecy level of this item wasn't high back then, the magical restrictions and mechanisms on it are not something ordinary people can decipher. A small character 'Destroy' (Mie, meaning 'destroy' or 'extinguish') is carved on its bottom, which looks to be of unknown significance and A bit chuunibyou.】
"Alright, I'll run this errand for you," Mo Tan immediately put the small box into his inventory without A word, then nodded seriously at Jun Wu.
The latter gave A dry laugh: "You'd better not pocket this thing. This broken box should be quite important. Wei Yang and I tried for A long time but couldn't open it."
"Don't worry, my character is recognized by many neighbors," Mo Tan immediately stated his position, then asked Jun Wu, "But since it's important, why did you and Wei Yang try to open it?"
Jun Wu stated frankly: "Wanted to pocket it."
Wei Yang, who had just finished her work, also strolled over: "And sell it for A good price, goo."
"Good for you," Mo Tan gave them both A thumbs up.
【You have triggered A side quest: Old Storage Box. Please deliver it to the manager of the Wanderer's Inn in Black Tower City. Quest Reward: None. Failure Penalty: Wanderer's Inn Reputation -300, Thieves' Guild Reputation -999】
Mo Tan immediately laughed: "Ho, that's A lot of information~"
"What information, goo?" Wei Yang curiously leaned over and asked, "Did you figure something out, goo?"
"Nothing~ I'll be going now. Message me if anything comes up." Mo Tan casually tugged on the former's wing, making the young girl shiver, then walked lightly towards the door.
...
Two hours later.
【You have been emergency disconnected. Please choose whether to reconnect.】
"Yes."
【Reconnection initiated...】
【Connection complete. Reading character information.】
【Welcome back, lawful good Mo. Innocent World will now load. Good night.】
...
Three hours later.
【Special Quest: Duel with the Locust Alchemist, Complete. Optional Experience Gained: 11 points.】
Mo Tan, looking utterly lifeless, was teleported next to the matching crystal in the novice practice arena for the twentieth time, deciding to stop fighting for now.
Between last night and the three hours today, he had fought almost every opponent he could match with in the novice practice arena. Although he hardly ever won, his experience had increased considerably. However, the rhythm had started to feel off about three matches ago.
After having fought almost everyone once, Mo Tan was now inevitably matching with old opponents, and no matter how hard he tried, the rewards after each match hovered between 5-20, which was pitifully small.
And he couldn't participate in the 2v2, 3v3, or 5v5 team battles in this arena, so continuing to fight would be too inefficient.
"Anyway, I should rest first," Mo Tan restored his health by the crystal pillar and muttered to himself, "Speaking of which, I wonder how Cordova is doing now. I should probably check in..."
When he opened his friends list, he found that the other party had just sent him A message two minutes ago.
Presumably, it was sent while he was dueling with that locust Alchemist...
'Buddy, Master Lu Wei wants you to come over. Message me back after you've been beaten up. I'm watching the Grand Arena live stream here at Seventh Outer Mountain. I really can't bear to watch you get abused, so I'm switching channels.'
Mo Tan: "..."
'Alright.'
Mo Tan sighed and told Cordova that he had already been beaten.
Then...
A hole suddenly appeared beneath his feet.
And then...
He fell in.
...
Seventh Outer Mountain, Test Site #2.
"How do you feel? How's the quick passage I created using spatial rune theory?" Lu Wei, still wearing his dirty robes, squatted in front of Mo Tan, who had just fallen from mid-air, and asked with A chuckle, "Much more comfortable than Leisade's teleportation portal, right?"
Mo Tan, covered in dust, nodded with A wry smile: "It would be even better if there were fewer explosives inside."
"Don't mind the details, I just accidentally left A few engineering detonators inside during A previous experiment," Lu Wei said indifferently, then pointed to the small door behind him, "Come, help me deal with Cordova. He has something to do tomorrow."
Mo Tan: "Something to do?"
"Yes," Lu Wei sighed, "It's the Observer Council's decision. Although I also voted in favor, the body for the next version hasn't been debugged yet, so he can only use the previous one for now, and..."
The old goblin looked at Mo Tan with A smile: "You've been beaten up quite A bit these past two days, haven't you? I talked to Feimi yesterday and we came up with A plan for you~"
Chapter 95: The End