Emerald City

During a rest-and-adjustment interval, Jiang Lin stood inside the royal capital’s grand Court of Space, watching the endless flow of people.

It was even more prosperous than Clearwater City’s Court of Space.

If he completed his quest and still had time left before his leave period ended, then on the way back to Clearwater City, he could stop by the royal capital and look around.

He watched while quietly making plans.

Then he once again stepped onto the teleportation array bound for Ironforge Fortress.

When he left the Court of Space to buy a teleportation ticket to Emerald City, the air of Ironforge Fortress hit him head-on—thick with the heavy scent of metal and a faint hint of sulfur.

It was completely different from Clearwater City’s sea breeze.

At the same time, Jiang Lin felt the air here was fresher and drier than in southern Clearwater City.

He noticed that on Ironforge Fortress’s streets, dwarf craftsmen in work clothes were far more common than in the other cities.

Still, compared to humans, they were only a small minority.

According to what the textbooks said, these dwarves had, long ago, left their dwarf tribes and fully integrated into human society. Relying on their natural talent for forging, they made a living by crafting weapons and equipment.

As for where the dwarf tribes were—and why the dwarves had left them—the books didn’t say.

After waiting in line for a while longer, Jiang Lin finally stepped onto the teleportation array to Emerald City.

The violent dizziness of spatial transfer slammed into him, and the scene before his eyes gradually stabilized.

Holding Little Black, Jiang Lin walked out of Emerald City’s Court of Space.

A wave of air rushed at him—nothing like Ironforge Fortress’s metallic heat, and nothing like Clearwater City’s humid sea wind.

The air was filled with a blend of dust, livestock, and a faint trace of cheap spices.

The architecture was rougher too: a mix of stone houses and timber structures, most outer walls mottled and weathered by sun and wind.

The streets weren’t as wide or smooth as Clearwater City’s either. In the cracks of the stone paving, plenty of black mud had collected.

The clothes of passersby looked older and more plain.

The feeling Emerald City gave Jiang Lin was that it was even more backward than Boulder City.

Boulder City wasn’t exactly developed, but at least the roads near the Court of Space were relatively clean and tidy.

Here, the moment you stepped out of the Court of Space, you could already see broken, shabby ground.

You could only imagine that other parts of the city were even worse.

At that moment, Little Black spoke:

“Blegh—! Kid! Blegh—! What the hell did you come here for?!”

Jiang Lin answered calmly:

“To clean out the secret cult here!”

Little Black looked at Jiang Lin like he was an idiot:

“Blegh—! You ran all the way out here just to clean up secret cults?! Blegh—!”

Jiang Lin shook his head.

“Explaining it to you is pointless. I’ve got my reasons.”

Little Black rolled his eyes—whether from nausea or on purpose, it was hard to tell:

“You’re seriously messed up! Blegh—!”

But after rolling his eyes, Little Black seemed like they wouldn’t roll back properly. Jiang Lin hurriedly used Low-level Healing on him a few times.

Jiang Lin shook the Little Black that looked half-dead, healing him while wondering if pinching “cat CPR points” would help.

After Jiang Lin healed him for quite a while, Little Black finally regained consciousness.

Jiang Lin really was abusing an elderly cat!

He didn’t even know how old he was—an evil god—and he still had to run around with this kid.

So many long-distance teleportation arrays in one day… his spatial resistance was practically being trained up.

Seeing that Little Black had recovered and wasn’t seriously hurt, Jiang Lin tucked the limp cat into his chest and began walking around Emerald City’s streets.

There weren’t many pedestrians. Most hurried along, faces carrying a wariness and distance totally unlike Clearwater City’s residents—like it was carved into their bones.

Because his golden hair was too eye-catching now, Jiang Lin specifically bought a wide-brimmed travel hat.

He pulled it down low, covering his signature golden hair.

Since it was still summer, he didn’t buy a scarf or anything to hide the lower half of his face.

So while he was less conspicuous than before, with facial features proportioned almost to perfect, he still left a strong impression.

Suddenly, he remembered that he seemed to have an ability called Slaughter Disguise that he’d never used.

It was an effect attached to the epic title Crimson Slaughterer.

Slaughter Disguise: An active effect. After use, you enter a disguise state and can disguise yourself as a target you have killed, as long as the difference in body size is not too large. There is no limit on the number of uses.

Because he’d rarely used it before, he’d nearly forgotten he even had a disguise ability.

After thinking for a moment, he decided that once he had a chance, he’d find somewhere to change clothes and use Crimson Slaughterer’s Slaughter Disguise to disguise himself as any random cultists he’d killed before.

For now, though, it hadn’t even been ten hours since he received the quest, and he still didn’t really dare use those abilities.

Even though he’d used Crimson Slaughterer in the God-blessed Land before and the god hadn’t said anything—he’d even granted him the title holy arbiter, letting him disguise himself—

But better safe than sorry.

What if using it got him exposed as having a Demon Lord Seed?

Anyway, there were only a few hours left. He didn’t need to rush for this little bit of time.

Besides, he’d just arrived in Emerald City and didn’t know whether someone was watching him.

After all, Emerald City was a fairly backward city. It didn’t get much “new blood” each day.

And he wasn’t a local—plus he’d come alone—so he stood out.

So even if it had already been ten hours and the god’s various methods had been transferred to his sub-status, he still didn’t dare immediately use Slaughter Disguise.

If this place had already been heavily infiltrated by secret cults, and he’d been followed all the way without noticing, then suddenly changing his face in some corner would be hard to explain.

…

It was already getting late, but Jiang Lin—already used to not sleeping—had no plan to find an inn.

He casually picked a restaurant that looked relatively crowded, planning to try the local specialty food.

He didn’t know the situation here yet, so he’d treat himself like a tourist for now.

The atmosphere inside the restaurant was much better than outside.

At least it didn’t feel like everyone was keeping everyone else at arm’s length.

Adventurers in worn leather armor clinked cups while holding big bottles of beer, shouting loudly and bragging. Bursts of hearty laughter rang out.

A young waitress in a faded cloth skirt hurried over. When she saw Jiang Lin’s face clearly, she froze for a moment, then cleared her throat and spoke in a soft, gentle voice:

“Sir… what would you like to order?”

Jiang Lin looked at what was on other tables and ordered himself a similar set.

“Okay, please wait a moment.”

Her voice stayed soft and gentle, oddly out of place in the rough environment.

Then she turned and prepared to leave.

At that moment, an adventurer at the next table with a scar over his right eye asked suspiciously:

“Huh? Molly? You don’t usually talk like that.”

But the waitress named Molly didn’t respond and simply headed toward the kitchen.

The adventurers at the next table looked over curiously at Jiang Lin.

At first, it didn’t seem like much—then they got a good look and jumped in shock.

The scar-faced man blurted out:

“Damn—little bro, you’re handsome!”

Once he said it, the rest of his table also looked over and let out profanity-laced exclamations.

As the saying goes: if a man looks handsome to women, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s truly handsome—but if even other men think he’s handsome, then he’s definitely handsome.

Jiang Lin felt pleased at the affirmation, but his desire to keep a low profile was basically shattered.

The more you said, the more you could mess up. He didn’t speak—he only gave a slight nod, looking cool and aloof.

At that moment, the Little Black in his arms—finally recovered—sent him a telepathic message:

“Hey, kid, I’ll give you that.

“There really are way more cultists here than in Boulder City!

“On the way here I sensed a lot of cultist auras, and even in this restaurant, there’s a cultist!”

Jiang Lin was stunned.

Looks like the god’s quest really wasn’t simple!

Back in Boulder City, he’d searched all night and only found a bit over ten cultists.

Compared to Boulder City, cultists here were as common as stray dogs on the roadside!

Jiang Lin thought.

“Who’s the cultist in the restaurant?” he asked.

“Over by the window, in the corner—there’s a man and a woman at that table. The man is a cultist,” Little Black said.

Jiang Lin stole a glance that way and spotted the table Little Black meant.

He saw a well-dressed man who seemed to be on a date with a girl.

The man was fair-skinned and fairly handsome, looking completely different in temperament from the cultists Jiang Lin had encountered before.

He was lively and confident, saying something to the girl in front of him that made her giggle.

And his hand was reaching for hers.

But Jiang Lin couldn’t help doubting whether he was seeing this right.

That girl… she looked younger than Jiang Lin!!

And that man was clearly in his twenties or thirties.

This guy… was seriously criminal.

Jiang Lin felt he already had reason to hand down a judgment on behalf of the Temple in advance.

Still, the man hadn’t noticed Jiang Lin’s side, which let Jiang Lin breathe a little easier.

Jiang Lin switched seats so he could keep an eye on them at all times—

so that once they left, he could follow.

With so many cultists in Emerald City, as one of them, the man couldn’t possibly be clueless about the situation.

So as long as Jiang Lin controlled him, gave him a “strict interrogation,” he should be able to force something out.

And even if he couldn’t get anything, just based on the man’s behavior right now, it would be fine to “strictly interrogate” him anyway.

Seeing Jiang Lin change seats, the adventurers assumed he was aloof and didn’t want to talk to them, so they awkwardly stopped trying.

Before long, Molly came back quickly with a heavy wooden tray.

On it were sizzling slabs of some unknown roasted beast meat, a serving of lettuce made into a salad, a refined piece of thin bread, and a large mug of foaming wheat beer.

She set the tray down hard on Jiang Lin’s greasy wooden table—bang—splattering a few flecks of foam.

“Your meal.”

Molly’s voice was still soft and gentle.

Then she turned to leave.

But Jiang Lin heard the adventurers at the next table start teasing the girl again:

“Ooh~ so Miss Molly has a ladylike side after all~”

Then, like a thunderclap out of nowhere—

“Get lost! Believe it or not, I’ll rip your mouth open!”

The voice came from none other than Molly, who had just been speaking softly.

The moment she snapped, the whole table burst into laughter, and the scene became lively and cheerful.

Jiang Lin, for his part, kept his expression calm, eyes down, mind steady.

He picked up his knife and fork and started eating quietly.

The roasted meat—whatever beast it came from—was incredibly tender. With only simple seasoning, it still exploded with rich flavor on his tongue.

Paired with the crisp, lightly carbonated wheat beer, it was deeply satisfying.

No wonder this place had so many customers—prices weren’t high, and the taste was first-rate.

So as he chewed the juicy meat, he kept watching the window-side table out of the corner of his eye.

Soon, he finished his meat, but the pair still showed no sign of ending.

He lifted his wooden mug and took another big gulp of the slightly bitter beer, fragrant with wheat.

The cold liquid slid down his throat, and Jiang Lin felt unbelievably refreshed.

So good. In Clearwater City and Boulder City, he’d barely tried this world’s beer—what a waste.

Jiang Lin decided that after finishing the quest, he’d come back here and eat again.

Finally, Jiang Lin saw the man and girl finish dinner and head out.

So Jiang Lin also paid and followed at a distance.

Outside, without the restaurant’s noise, Jiang Lin could barely make out their conversation.

Nothing too explosive overall. The cultist man was inviting the girl to go stroll around the eastern side of Emerald City. The girl said it was too far from her home, and she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to get back at night—her family would scold her.

The cultist man kept coaxing her, saying he’d take her home later.

The girl remained doubtful, but still walked with him.

Jiang Lin tailed them for a while and watched them enter an alley, stopping in front of a cheap inn. The cultist man leaned his body sideways and draped an arm over the girl’s shoulders.

At the same time, he said something to her. Jiang Lin could clearly see the girl stiffen, fear flashing as she tried to pull away.

“J-J… Jason, I… I want to go home…”

But her strength was obviously no match for Jason, a cultist.

His smile didn’t change, but his grip tightened; his knuckles whitened slightly from the force.

He almost half-forced the girl as he led her toward the inn he’d already booked.