Pretending To Be A Boss

Jiang Ming wasn't the kind of person to hesitate about paying up, but when it came to Tang Xian, he always felt that something was off.

If the last mission was also completed by Tang Xian, it means that this man had become an official worker for less than half a month and had already successively killed two hellhound Cerberuses?

This efficiency was a bit astounding.

Tang Xian didn't want to linger here any longer.

"Wang, could you please transfer the hunting points to our team's account? Here is the Soul Crystal."

For Jiang Ming, the hound's head was important evidence, but what the mission department needed was the Soul Crystal.

Jiang Ming was silent for a moment, seeing that Tang Xian didn't wish to offer further explanation, he nodded to Wang, signaling his agreement that the mission was considered completed by the other party.

Tang Xian had made a considerable sum of money and felt like he had taken advantage of Jiang Ming, saying:

"We might deal with each other in the future, but I'm quite busy these next few days, I have to go now. However, if you run into trouble in the future, you can find me."

Tang Xian left with Dong Ran.

Jiang Ming stood there dazed, with mixed feelings.

The team was called Shengtang, and all members' code names started with Tang; it was obviously related to Tang Xian.

So, was Akasi a member of Tang Xian's team?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss.

This time Tang Xian relied on Akasi, but what about last time? The achievements of killing two hellhound Cerberuses were enough to raise Tang Xian's team several dozen ranks in the hunting leaderboard.

It's possible, on the eve of the hunting festival, that many people would look favorably upon this team, and the major gambling houses would also include this team in their betting pools.

What role does Tang Xian actually play within his team? The eyes?

Jiang Ming couldn't figure it out, chatted with the mission department people for a while, and then left.

...

...

"Tang, why did you say it was Akasi who helped us? Or did he really help you?"

On the way back, Dong Ran was also very curious about how Tang Xian had managed to defeat a hellhound Cerberus.

"I read a newspaper last night," Tang Xian said casually.

"Ah? What does that have to do with anything?" Dong Ran didn't understand.

"You should read more newspapers and watch more news. Then you'd know what's happening around you."

"Tang, you're behind the times. Starting from the third level, people have access to the internet, who would still look at the news?" Dong Ran felt she finally had a chance to get one over on Tang Xian.

Tang Xian was unconcerned and said:

"Luo gave me two hundred billion Weibo electronic translations from the human library. I read some of it and found that we are very easily swayed by rumors and can be easily suggested. This is because our judgment of many things is ultimately influenced by first impressions."

Seeing Dong Ran's confused face, Tang Xian continued:

"Children always use a tone as if they understand everything and say the news is fake and deceives children. But people who are a bit older truly understand how to interpret the news, and don't just eavesdrop based on browsing Weibo."

"So, you should also read more news, and then you'll know about the incident in the fortress paper from two days ago, where a terrible tragedy befell a hunting team from the 51st fortress."

"The team leader's name was Wang Tengyu, he killed five teammates overnight and was sent to jail, sentenced to be exiled outside of the Pyramid, to the extreme penalty. You should remember this team because they plotted to rob us outside the red soil forest."

Dong Ran shuddered, surprised:

"Them? Why?"

Dong Ran remembered the four robbers they had encountered that day, after all, Tang Da's Empty Fort Strategy had been very useful in repelling them.

She also remembered Tang Da saying something strange at that time, telling that man not to sleep at night.

"No reason, everyone deals with being cheated in different ways, some choose forgiveness, while others choose 'I'll forgive your grandmother's leg.'

"Life seems chaotic, but karma is tightly linked. It's just that few people are willing to carefully think about these relationships. No more talk, we are going to the mining area again tonight. You go back and prepare too. Bring some clothes to change into."

Dong Ran was bewildered, why was Tang Da speaking so cryptically today?

Tang Xian didn't feel it was necessary to explain.

He just wanted to show Dong Ran that truth can be shaped.

Of course, Akasi wasn't a member of his team.

But Jiang Ming would seriously ponder over this matter, speculation would lead to investigation, investigation would prompt inquiries, and inquiries would spread the word.

Just how powerful Akasi really was is all speculation.

But if it became confirmed that Akasi truly had the ability to slay perfect grade creatures and rumors started that this lone wolf Akasi actually joined someone else's team, then it would definitely spread quickly.

So much so... it would reach the person in question.

Never underestimate the power of idle gossip; it can cross mountains and seas to change someone's destiny.

...

...

In the afternoon, Tang Xian first exchanged the ores for various treasures at Luo's antique shop. Among the items were two recipes for side dishes, which he was very pleased about.

One was a recipe for flavor-packed Laoganma chili sauce, the other for Wang's Craftsmanship Thirteen Spices. Luo guaranteed they were authentic recipes, and following them would definitely reproduce the ancient flavors.

Apart from that, Tang Xian also planned to buy a knife. A real knife that could truly cut through the tough skin of mining area creatures.

So he went to the blacksmith shop on Decay Street.

It was a weapon store. The store name was literally "Blacksmith Shop".

The owner's last name was Liu, and his name was Liu Lang. He did legitimate business, selling not controlled knives but essential tools for mining.