“The Calamity Cult? This guy is one of yours!?”

Gentleman Penguin pointed his cane at the smiling Wu Wang. The aura from the tag on him was now so thick that the penguin felt an uncontrollable urge to go up and smash his skull.

But the loss he had just suffered made Gentleman Penguin a little more rational. He had to get the facts straight before making a move.

Jinxiu was speechless.

Her brain felt like it was about to short-circuit.

As a high-level player, she was well aware of the legendary merchant who existed in the game worlds; the auctioneer and concurrent president of the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce.

In fact, besides hoping the major organizations would suffer heavy casualties in the 【Relic Scramble】, the Calamity Cult’s highest priority was to find an item called the 【Myriad Treasures Business Voucher】.

They wanted to use it to summon Gentleman Penguin for a trade.

He might have been summoned by someone else at the start, or the Calamity Cult might have found the voucher to use later. But he absolutely was not supposed to appear at a time like this!

“He… um… is… I guess?”

How am I supposed to answer that?

Tangqian Yan, who stood with her, also had a look of despair.

The 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 had, with great difficulty, just acknowledged their deal. He had even cordially referred to Himself as a half-member of the Calamity Cult.

If they turned around and said He was an outsider, what would happen? Considering His rather poor mental state, their future trade relationship would be ruined. They would probably die a miserable death at the hands of the enraged Spirit Venerable.

But looking at Gentleman Penguin…

He didn’t seem to be on good terms with the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 at all. This was hardly the time to step forward and talk business.

The members of the Calamity Cult felt sick. They were caught in an impossible position, unable to please either side. Every single one of them felt a dull ache in their gut.

It was the kind of feeling you get when you run into the girl you’ve loved your whole life, only to find she’s pregnant and telling you her husband is an abusive, blond-haired punk.

I just want to die!

Did you all have to show up at this exact moment!?

“Is this your property?” Gentleman Penguin asked, turning to Mary after getting a reluctant answer from the cultist.

She shook her head, indicating that Wu Wang was not hers.

This brought Gentleman Penguin great joy.

“Aha! You damned red-tentacled thief! You’re finished… huh? Where did he go!?”

He whipped his head around, only to find that the man standing before him had vanished.

The next second, the man’s aura reappeared on the cruise ship’s deck.

Mary discreetly shifted her gaze toward the other players, preventing Gentleman Penguin from seeing through her deception. After all, William had been able to freely control the spatial changes on the Mary. Now, as the ship’s sole designated successor, Mary naturally had this ability as well.

She had followed the secret signal Wu Wang gave her, 【Change in appearance】, and instantly transferred him to the deck.

This time, Gentleman Penguin didn’t need Mary to lead the way. He drew a circle on the floor with his cane and leaped into the pitch-black hole.

Trying to run? I’ll make sure you never return!

Pat.

Gentleman Penguin passed through the portal he had drawn and appeared directly on the deck. His webbed feet made a soft sound as they landed, and his expression grew strange.

He saw a man, shirtless and with his back to him, sitting steadily at the edge of the deck, casting a line to fish.

Swoosh!

Gentleman Penguin appeared beside the man.

Nothing! This person didn’t have the aura of his tag on him. Where did that damned red-tentacled thief go?

He was just a step away from catching him!

“Good morning, my friend. Fishing?” Wu Wang asked, turning to Gentleman Penguin with a smile.

At that very moment, the wave-shaped tattoo on his wrist was churning nonstop, washing over and purifying the 【Contaminated Relic】 beneath his chair.

Gentleman Penguin frowned, his eyes narrowing. The reason he didn’t suspect the man before him was simple.

The 【Aura of Desire】 on this person was far too rich, almost as if the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 Herself had personally given Her approval.

And so, he said playfully, “You’re one of 【Desire】’s people? Did She come here to dabble in this affair, too? Or could She not bear to see 【Suffering】 and 【The Twisted】 using conflict as a pretense for their collaborative experiment?”

Wu Wang paused.

Hold on, buddy. You seem to have just said something I didn’t know.

According to you, Aiguyi Town isn’t a contested relic between 【Suffering】 and 【The Twisted】, but the product of some kind of experiment between them?

No wonder the Spirit Venerable insisted on sticking Her nose in it. At first, I thought She was just annoyed with those two.

So there was a hidden story!

It seemed he had learned something incredible. On the surface, however, Wu Wang remained impassive. He was gambling that Gentleman Penguin wouldn’t realize he was the so-called red-tentacled thief.

From the moment he obtained the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire’s Designated Saint Son】, Wu Wang had discovered its wonderful use. When he fully unleashed the 【Aura of Desire】 within it, the aura would mask all others on his body, including the one from Gentleman Penguin’s tag.

At that moment, the small golden cane mark would dim to the point of being unrecognizable.

That was why he had flickered it on and off back on the top floor, giving Gentleman Penguin the impression that he was ready to flee at any moment. It also gave Wu Wang a chance to fish in troubled waters.

He had completed a grand identity switch right under the penguin’s nose. Of course, he couldn’t change his clothes, so he had simply taken them off.

“No, this was my boat to begin with. I’m just here on vacation,” Wu Wang said as he cast his line. “Are you chasing someone? A man in a cloak appeared just now and summoned a strange red tentacle from the sea to wrap him up and drag him down.”

As if not quite finished, he continued, “I never thought there were octopuses of that size in these waters. I really hope I can catch one to show off back home.”

Anywhere else, a lie like this would never have fooled Gentleman Penguin. But things were different now.

From his perspective, the situation was clear. He had just been summoned when he sensed the red-tentacled thief’s tag. The carrier was consorting with the Calamity Cult, and the expressions on their faces were exceptionally strange, as if they were plotting something.

Everything pointed to that guy being a member of the Calamity Cult, or at the very least, a senior veteran.

But a subordinate of the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】, especially one gifted with so much of Her aura he could be called a Saint Son, would never join a ragtag organization like the Calamity Cult.

Therefore, he believed him.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Tapping his cane fiercely on the deck, Gentleman Penguin said angrily, “Next time! I will definitely catch that tentacled thief! I’ll sell him into servitude in the darkest prison world!”

With that, he turned to leave.

But how could Wu Wang, who had laid such a huge trap, possibly let him go?

He put down his fishing rod and said with a smile, “My friend, President of the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce, since you’re already here, why not make a trade with me?”

“My name is Yan Shuangying.”

“I’d like to buy some items from you related to erasing memories, or equipment that can erase one’s presence. What I can offer are some Contaminated Relics related to 【The Twisted】, as well as a radio that has broadcasted the aura of 【That One】’s existence.”

As he spoke, he took a battered radio from his 【Relic】. A faint trace of the Abyss God’s aura lingered on it. He knew Gentleman Penguin would be interested in this sort of thing.

The memory-erasing or presence-concealing items were, of course, for dealing with Zhuge Yue. Since he hadn’t found her on the cruise ship, he would have to find a way to get rid of her in the real world. That crazy woman’s influence on his life was too great. This hidden danger had to be eliminated.

“Of course, I can also provide a clue about that cloaked man for free. If I run into him in the future, I can provide more clues, also for free.”

“Consider it a token of friendship. Why don’t you leave me a way to contact you? A business voucher like the one from before would be nice.”

He was squeezing out every last drop. Not only did Wu Wang want to trade, but he also wanted another business voucher for future use, or perhaps to extort the Abnormal Affairs Bureau and the Calamity Cult.

He would play both sides for a profit. He would frame the Calamity Cult for Gentleman Penguin’s pursuit while simultaneously sucking some blood from them.

When Gentleman Penguin saw this, he raised a brow. He calculated the value of the trade in his mind. To be honest, he felt he was making a huge profit.

An auxiliary item in exchange for something imbued with the aura of that one from the Abyss, plus a product of an experiment between 【The Twisted】 and 【Suffering】, and even a personal promise from 【Desire】’s Saint Son to help find the red-tentacled thief.

Holy crap! It’s been a long time since I’ve made a deal with so many benefits! Generous customers like this are rare!

Acting on the principle of seizing an opportunity, Gentleman Penguin smiled.

“Of course, no problem. Just for your offer to help find the thief, I am already very grateful.”

“I won’t let you get the short end of the stick in this trade, either.”

Wu Wang wore a faint smile.

You see? He even has to thank me.

Whether or not there were any clues about the red-tentacled thief in the future was entirely up to him, wasn’t it? It was like securing a long-term client.