They all call me an Outer God.

Chapter 209 Guardian

He stepped forward and poked the raven's head with his cane, prompting the mythical creature to take out a water bottle and pour water into the poor bird's beak.

"I thought you could win, but it turns out this is all you're capable of?"

As Lia spoke, she continued pouring water.

A moment later, the crow suddenly opened its eyes and transformed into James's original beaked doctor appearance. It snatched Ria's cane and poked his forehead: "Poke, poke, poke, I'll let you poke me."

"Gurgle!!!" Little Swarth was extremely angry and stretched out his dense tentacles to entangle the cane, forcibly snatching it back, and in the process, sweeping the little hat on James's head to the ground.

Seeing the plague doctor's energetic appearance, it was easy for Ria to guess that his previous weakness was an act.

"Did you win?"

"Of course, if so many doctors who fought against the plague still couldn't defeat a tiny human, wouldn't all these years have been wasted?"

"So the other person is dead?"

Upon hearing this question, James's face behind the mask drooped again. They had failed to kill their opponent; instead, the other person had escaped halfway through.

James felt ashamed to admit that he managed to escape the siege of the medical staff.

Instead of answering Ria's question, he asked, "Hehe, it's a secret. How did you recognize me?"

"That bird is so fat, it's either Schwarz or you, it's so easy to guess."

"How rude!"

"Coo!" Little Swarth nodded. It didn't want to be compared to Ria and James at all. How could James, such an ugly bird, be compared to it?
Absolutely not.

However, instead of blaming Ria, it dumped all the blame on James. In other words, Swartz believed that whatever bad things happened around him were done by James.

From today onwards, it will bite James every time it sees him.

Don't think I can't read your mind.

James stared at Little Swaal for a few seconds before slowly shifting his gaze: "Congratulations on advancing to Meme Seven. I knew you had a talent for acting."

Ria: "The hunter's meme ability works pretty well, although it's not very clear. But you should be happy right now, right?"

"Happy? Of course I'm happy. What doctor wouldn't be happy to see their patient's condition improve? So, do you have any ideas for your next meme?"

Which meme would you like to portray?

"I thought you would give me advice directly... wait, the meme of Meme Six?"

Let me think about it. I now have three memes: Black Marketer, Magician, and Hunter. These three memes are versatile and efficient in both escaping and attacking.

But that's not enough.

My body is too fragile. Although I won't die and can recover, the pain will still be there, and I'm easily targeted..."

At this point, James had already figured out Ria's intentions.

"Have you considered the [Guardian] role?"

How did you know what I was thinking?

"Do you think I don't know you? With your personality of trying to guard against everything, you've probably already set your sights on the [Guardian] meme."

Once this meme is successfully interpreted, it can grant you three extra lives, but each time you use one, your 'death' process will be many times more painful.

Furthermore, these three lives can only be used to defend against attacks from outsiders; they cannot help you heal or prolong your life. However, its advantage is that the first life consumption is completely painless, so this is indeed a good choice for you.

Hehe, but do you really know how this meme should be performed?

"I don't know."

Lia's answer was honest.

“Protect, protect others. Don’t be angry when I say this, Kelcha, you’ve never seriously thought about protecting others. So who are you going to protect?”

Why can't I just protect myself?

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" James was genuinely amused by Ria's dry humor this time, but he quickly stopped laughing.

This patient might be serious; he thinks Ria is perfectly capable of doing such a thing.

"Humans are social animals after all. One person can't accomplish anything on their own. But their efforts and sacrifices often only earn them the criticism and ridicule of lazy people. Isn't that ridiculous?"
Sometimes you really should learn from those idiots in the Order Association; they can impersonate guards flawlessly every time.

After saying this, the bird-beaked doctor picked up his hat, put it on his back, glanced at the new monocle on Ria's face, snorted, turned around, and disappeared into black mist.

Lia also began to ponder the meaning of the doctor's words.

"The investigators of order are indeed worthy of the qualities of [Guardian]."

But the premise is that they have something to protect, and what is it that Ria wants to protect?

Everything he's doing now is to get out of here. Maybe he's not suited for this meme, after all, he doesn't consider himself a qualified giver.

Black market dealers are usually selfish and self-serving, but Ria still wanted to give it a try, after all, it involved three lives.

Should I go and observe the investigators' actions?

Ria tapped the ground twice with her cane.

Joining them would certainly be a better option, but if a disorderly person ran into the headquarters of the Order Association, they would probably be riddled with bullets before they even had a chance to take two steps, and then be made into a specimen and put in a museum for everyone to see.

It seemed that this idea wouldn't work anytime soon, so after remaining motionless for a moment, he looked up, leaned on his cane, and left the deserted area.

This wasn't because he had thought of any crucial information, but because he was extremely hungry and needed to find some food to fill his stomach before he could make any further plans.

Soon after, Ria returned to the more prosperous area he had been in. He sat down in a restaurant and ordered two breakfasts, which consisted of nothing more than bread, meat, and tea.

These teas are said to be imported from Endeles, and their prices were once skyrocketed, but now Lia thinks they're okay.

He never skimped on food; why should he eat so poorly when he had money? Those dark days are long gone now; we'll deal with the future dark times later.

"Snapped."

The metal cutlery and ceramic plate clattered together, and Ria forked a piece of meat into her mouth, taking a sip of her black tea as she looked up at the light above.

The lampshade has a unique design, with strips of crystal connected together, which sway in the breeze created when customers open the door when the light is on.

The crystal pendants swayed and collided with each other, cutting the light into streaks of color that scattered across the ceiling, creating a rather beautiful sight.

Only when people are full and satisfied will they think about art and aesthetics or entertainment. While Ria was staring blankly upwards, little Swarth quickly stuffed his own portion into his mouth and swallowed it clean.

No one noticed its sudden appearance and disappearance.

(End of this chapter)