They all call me an Outer God.

Chapter 27 The Smell of Money

He uttered those words to the priest's incomprehensible gaze, then dusted himself off and turned to leave.

Later, Ria went to James's bookstore to tell him that she had destroyed the Dream Lamp.

However, when he pushed open the bookstore door, James was still fast asleep on the table. Startled awake by Ria, he got up with a hint of anger.

The anger slowly dissipated upon seeing that it was Ria, turning into helplessness: "Oh, it's you. Don't you ever sleep, for the sake of the sun?"

"I just went to church."

"Ah."

"I found the mysterious item, the Dream Lamp."

"I smashed it."

"Uh-huh?

What did you say?! You smashed the mysterious item?!

James had no doubt how Ria found it; his mind was filled with the last sentence, and he pounded his fists on the table, looking heartbroken.

"What a waste! What a terrible thing! If you had stolen it and given it to me, I would have praised you more and given you an extra two months' salary."

So you're telling me you smashed it?

"It's fortunate that the Batantusa coin isn't fragile, otherwise, would you have smashed it?"

"The cost is too high; there's no need to keep it."

"Do you know what the price is for that mysterious item?"

"Is it right that I want the person who pays the price to die in a short time?"

While this thing is very useful in the long run, in the present, the disadvantages of the Dream Lamp outweigh the advantages, and it is not suitable for investment.

"..."

James held his mask for a long time before nodding: "Absolutely right."

"Honestly, I admire your mind. I'd love to cut your brain open and see what's inside."

He watched as Ria walked to the bookshelf, picked and chose, and finally took out a medical book. She opened it, her eyes fixed on James's glasses, and the contents were anatomical diagrams of brain tissue.

"It's nothing more than this kind of thing. Speaking of which, there's a question I've wanted to ask you for a long time."

"What?" James was secretly wary that the patient might ask some strange questions; he already had a bad feeling.

"Aren't you a doctor? You always say you'll treat patients, but I've never seen you write a prescription. You swear... do you really have a medical license?"

"You're questioning me!?"

James instantly regained his senses, but he said that after talking about treating his illness for several days, he still couldn't come up with a clear explanation, and the situation was the same now.

"Kelcha, you know that no matter what the illness, maintaining a good mindset is always the best choice. You see, you always worry too much, which is not good for your recovery."

My prescription for you is to go home and rest for a few days, relax properly. Now that the mysterious object that threatened you has been destroyed and the investigators have left, there is absolutely nothing to worry about.

"You still can't handle the medicine right now. Come back to me when you're feeling better."

As they were talking, James shoved Ria out without giving her a chance to refuse, then slammed the door shut. The doorplate automatically flipped over to read, "Absolutely no entry without permission, especially not you, Kelcha." "Could it be that they haven't finished making the drug yet?"

The more Lia thought about it, the more something seemed off, so she didn't linger and turned to leave the bookstore.

He had managed to get a portion of his salary from the stingy James last time, and now that he had some rare free time, Ria pulled out the shopping list he had written down before, with all the items he needed to buy neatly and clearly listed on it.

Since he arrived, he hasn't even had a proper chance to explore Winstown or learn about its geography and culture.

There were still people marching in the streets, but no one paid any attention to them. Everyone was doing their own thing, so indifferent that it was as if they were in different times and spaces.

The wealthier people in the town would choose to drive rickshaws when they went out. They would pay the poor people for the rickshaws, and the poor people would pull the rickshaws.

There were very few carriages; Lia wandered around for a long time without seeing a single horse. However, when he looked towards the eastern-northeast sky, several long black plumes of smoke rose vertically.

"That's a factory over there. Given their level of waste emissions, it won't be long before the air is completely polluted."

The protesters' thinking transcended that of ordinary people; after all, among them were rare individuals who championed environmental protection. They demanded an end to deforestation, a halt to the discharge of sewage and black gas, and a stop to mining from the nearby Gekkoso Mountains. Ultimately, they had only one goal—

Stop opening factories, abolish mechanization programs, and restore manual labor.

"I can understand their feelings, but I'm afraid their wishes will not be fulfilled."

Even the impoverished town of Wins has factories operating; how far must the outside world have developed? Perhaps the steam train tracks have already been interconnected.

If given the chance, Ria would love to take Mrs. Sterling and Angena to see more bustling places, but for now, he can only dream about it.

"Boss, I need two bottles of black ink and a thick blank notebook."

Upon arriving at the general store, Lia briefly observed the goods for sale and pointed to the stationery on the shelf behind the owner, expressing her needs.

"There are five Swarths in total."

"Ok."

After saying the word, Lia took out a wad of cloth from her pocket. The shopkeeper didn't think much of it at first; many people like to wrap their coins in cloth to prevent them from falling or getting lost.

However, he underestimated the lethality of the items inside the fabric.

The moment Ria lifted the fabric, a stench instantly filled the entire room.

The boss's eyes widened as he watched the young man in front of him pinch the corner of one of the pieces of paper with two fingers, lift it onto the table, and then quickly gather the fabric together.

"Just find ninety-five Swarths."

He needed some change, and the shopkeeper's face darkened. He wanted to ask if Lia had taken the money from the restroom, but ultimately didn't ask.

You can't turn down money. Anyway, this bill just smells a bit bad. Just put it in the sun to air out the odor, and then exchange it for someone else in the next transaction. That way, you're even.

But all I can say is that the boss was too naive. Did he really think he hadn't thought of using sunlight to dissipate the odor from the paper?

The current scent is the result of a day's dissipation; it's now countless times fresher than before.

It's unclear whether James has ever taken a shower, or whether he never cleans the crevices between his fat muscles when he showers, as the smell is countless times more irritating than his belly button.

"Young man, don't pick up money from the restroom next time. You'd be better off begging than doing this."

The shopkeeper earnestly rummaged through the drawer and found a bunch of loose change, then wrapped it up for Ria in another piece of cloth.

(End of this chapter)