Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

“I have no doubt that you can easily destroy any tangible object, but... what can you do against something intangible?”

"them?"

However, Zhang Renfeng's main point was to avoid internal conflict. Despite Castor's long-winded explanation, he only paid attention to the two most practical words: "You just said... 'they' will promote a new Ilyn Payne."

"who are they?"

……

Castor's calm demeanor finally changed slightly, and the corner of his eye twitched slightly.

Zhang Renfeng knew that he had hit the nail on the head of this venomous snake.

"Are you sure you want to know the answer to this question?" Caster's hand touched the pen, his voice lowered with a hint of warning, "Knowing the answer will lead to no end, no salvation. Turn back now, perhaps it's not too late."

"Ah……"

Zhang Renfeng smiled.

"I'm beyond saving," he said frankly. "Why turn back?"

----

“Mr. Tao, wake up, Mr. Tao.”

"..."

Tao was awakened from his closed-eye meditation and slowly opened his eyes. Twenty-four hours a day were far from enough for him. The consequence of constantly squeezing out sleep time was that he could only use deep hypnosis to fall asleep quickly and wake up quickly in these fragmented moments.

For an ordinary person, this would be nothing short of torture, but Tao found it enjoyable.

In the dimly lit underground cave, the torchlight flickered, and the stone walls, carved with axe, tilted slightly, yet were adorned with exquisite bas-reliefs.

The "Eye of Truth," suspended high in the sky, looked down at him in the darkness, as if it were about to crush him.

Tao frowned in disgust. The dark gray robe, which had been lying in some dark corner, smelled musty. To enter this territory, one had to dress like this, like a black raven. Around the neck, a string of pale bronze lockets hung.

Two young girls sat on the cold stone chair; they had come with him.

"It'll be our turn soon."

His assistant was a girl who was exceptionally tall, with long flaxen hair styled into two short braids, and a sweet face.

After waking him up, she looked at Tao with a worried expression, her face full of concern. "This is an important conversation about funding. Are you sure you're okay?"

“Don’t worry, Zhang.” Tao adjusted his glasses. “Thanks to the Zolael family’s investment, we can manage to get through the first half of the year…”

"Who cares about that?" The assistant shook his head, furrowed his willow-leaf eyebrows, and sighed worriedly, "We're almost unable to afford to raise the wolf cubs anymore."

……

The blonde girl sitting to his left, upon hearing this, merely turned her eyes slightly and glanced at Tao with the same look one would give trash.

Chapter 313: Light and Shadow

"What?" Tao raised an eyebrow briefly, which was his way of expressing astonishment. "As far as I know, the payment I made to Ms. Nymeria wasn't even enough to empty my pockets..."

"Who said it was payment? It's for the meal!" The assistant seemed to realize that he had spoken too loudly. He glanced guiltily at the closed door and the guards standing on either side of it, who were also dressed in dark gray robes. He quickly covered his mouth and complained in a low voice, "Don't you ever look at the account books? Don't I always make a copy by hand and put it on your desk?"

“I don’t have time for those meaningless numbers.” Tao’s reply was enough to make her faint with anger.

“Alright, then let me give you a little lesson…” The assistant bit her lip. Because of the height difference, she had to lower her head to get close to Tao’s ear and whisper, “A full third of that reward was exchanged for food and went into the little wolf’s stomach! To be honest, I’ve never seen anyone eat so much. This is practically a world wonder, isn’t it? You should study her anatomy; you might make some new discoveries!”

Nymeria, the girl she called "Little Wolf," uttered a few words in broken English: "Food, something to eat, a promise."

“Well, that’s how it is.” Tao nodded. “Ms. Namelia’s portion of food cannot be cut off arbitrarily. You’ll understand when we’re really in danger. Zhang, please think of another way.”

"Huh?" The assistant's tone became increasingly exaggerated, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "I need to remind you again that I am just your assistant, not your butler. Besides, there are better opportunities than this one. If we can persuade even just one 'Minerva' at the meeting, we can secure enough investment."

“They won’t,” Tao murmured, looking at the Eye of Truth hanging high above. “They, like Hector, just see me as a clown to pass the time.”

……

“Mr. Tao A. Reis from Dover Hill, apprentice miner!” the guard at the door called out. “It’s your turn.”

----

Walking barefoot on the cold stone bricks, Tao didn't feel the weight of history; instead, he felt a chilling sensation, causing him to curl his small body into a ball even more. He sincerely hoped this tedious ceremony would end quickly.

Taking the torch from the waiter, he walked around the hall, lighting the braziers in front of each of the Minervas, in a perfect semi-circular motion.

The firelight blazed, illuminating the vast, almost empty hall. Hundreds of grottoes dotted the rock walls, the artisans having painstakingly sculpted these statues of deities. Even just standing there, one couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. Even for those who don't believe in gods, the sheer scale of human and financial resources behind this magnificent spectacle was enough to inspire awe.

A beam of natural light fell from above, illuminating a colorful painting of the Sacred Heart of Skull.

Seven figures sat in the hall. Six of them wore red robes, while the one in the very center wore a black robe and had a chain around his neck, with more chains than Tao.

He knelt on one knee at the image of the Sacred Heart of Skull, a procedure he had to follow every time he had an audience.

“You’ve shown yourself again, Mr. Tao.” The man wearing the antler mask spoke in an unfriendly tone. “You’ve brought members who don’t belong to us into the secret chamber, which defiles our sacred traditions. Women are not allowed to set foot here, let alone bastards of foreign women.”

“Zhang Tito is my experimental assistant, and Ms. Nymeria is my bodyguard, hired to protect my life,” Tao replied neither humbly nor arrogantly. “As you know, Dover Valley has been rather turbulent lately, sir.”

"You've got quite the appetite to keep a murderer as a bodyguard." The man wearing a wild boar mask sneered in a deep voice, "You'd better watch out, one day she might just bite you to death in bed."

"Distinguished gentlemen," Tao said calmly, trying to steer the conversation toward himself, "I would like to report to you on the progress of the experiment in the last cycle."

"Experiments?" The man wearing the clown rabbit mask shook his head. "You mean, besides customizing prosthetic legs for disabled people and making toys for children, you conducted other experiments?"

"With limited funds, I had to resort to this method to cover some expenses," Tao said, looking at them. "But..."

"I'm afraid we can only approve less money for you than before," the man wearing the clown rabbit mask sighed, looking worried. "We've already lost White Torch Town."

“We also lost San Quintak, at least half of it.” He made a money gesture and added in a somber tone, “The most profitable half.”

"Pimping, gambling, underground boxing, smuggling, black markets... the once mature industrial chain was completely shattered overnight. Stable and controllable profits also vanished." The man wearing a wolf mask tapped the back of his chair with his fingers, his tone somewhat disgusted. "We have to admit that we didn't take this guy seriously enough and underestimated his destructive power."

"Clap!"

He casually tossed down a small wooden plaque with a square character written on it in red ink.

"middle."

"What did you say?" asked the man wearing the gray wolf mask.

“It’s nothing, it’s just…” Tao said in a deep voice, “I was very disappointed to hear this news.”

“Of course you are,” the man wearing the gray wolf mask said sarcastically. “I hope you can understand, Tao. Before, we might have been interested in paying for your wild imaginations, but now… we have more practical things to deal with.”

“We were discussing ‘immortality’ before,” Tao said calmly, raising his head. “Throughout history, the pursuit of immortality has always come at a very high price.”

"Since ancient times, who has truly lived forever?" The man wearing the boar mask chuckled. "If I remember correctly, two years ago, you confidently claimed that you had developed a time-travel machine. The result was that you tied a prisoner to a chair and electrocuted him to death—quite a public spectacle."

"Ha, I remember that too..." the man wearing the clown rabbit mask laughed. "The most interesting thing is that the design blueprint for that chair was stolen by a doctor from White Torch Town, wasn't it? What was the name of that smooth-talking man in the purple suit again?"

“...Chilton”.

“Yes, yes, it’s him. He opened a clinic with this. You even sued him for a property dispute… Hahaha… How interesting.” The man wearing the antler mask made no attempt to hide the mockery in his tone. “You actually have a lawyer who would take on a case like this for you?”

“Attorney Jimmy is a very ethical person; he always puts his clients’ interests first,” Tao replied coolly. “Unfortunately, he didn’t win this case in the end.”

"I believe you can see why we're not very optimistic about the prospects of this research. Especially... when it still requires a lot of funding." The man wearing the rooster mask sounded rather old, but at least he didn't mock him like the others; he simply shrugged. "We're facing some... internal problems."

"Of course, we don't object to your private fundraising efforts. The Zolael family in the south, you seem to have a good relationship with them now, right?"

“There are some business dealings,” Tao said somewhat cryptically. “Mr. Hector asked me to help him treat some… physical problems.”

Chapter 314: The Python and the Porcupine (Part 31)

"That damned liar is finally gone," the man wearing the golden monkey mask said in a deep voice. "He actually let two foreign bastards into the temple...was he out of his mind?"

"You think he's a fraud?" the man wearing the rooster mask asked.

“What I think doesn’t matter, old rooster, I know he’s a liar! Over the past four years, he’s used all sorts of underhanded methods to swindle a total of $38,073 from us!” The golden monkey’s voice was young, full of arrogance, and he said coldly, “Only old folks like you would believe his nonsense.”

“Whether it’s true or not, we don’t have the spare money to allocate to him right now,” the Boar Mask said bitterly. “If we had known this would happen, we should have killed him during the Windblown Sand case. Now, just because of him, we’ve already lost two prosperous towns!”

The West is vast, and towns with absolutely no profit to be made in are certainly not on their menu. Only towns like San Quintucker, Windswept Sands, and White Torch, which are close to modern civilization, can generate profits that catch their eye.

There aren't many towns like this.

"What about the bank?" the gray wolf mask asked in a deep voice. "If I remember correctly, there's one of our banks in White Torch Town. Can't we try to find a solution through that?"

“It’s a pity.” The clown rabbit mask shook its head. “The reshuffling of White Torch Town can be described as very thorough. Not only the mayor, but even Mesvid Bank has cut off all contact with the outside world. We’ve been completely kicked off the table. As for Saint Quintak… the current mayor is still Mason. I’ve heard that he’s a reasonable man. Perhaps there’s still room for negotiation.”

"He'd better be reasonable." The Boar Mask sneered, his tone full of dissatisfaction. "I just don't understand, no matter how powerful that Red Center is, he's just one person. Where are our people? The army, the mounted police, and the Pinkerton detectives—where are they all!"

"Old rooster, what do you say?" Two meaningful glances shot out from behind the antler mask. "Pinkerton Detective Agency, is this your territory?"

……

The rooster lay half-reclined on the back of the chair, his breathing unusually even, as if he were not in a temple hall, but in his own home. Leaning against the warm fireplace, a blanket draped over his hand, he drifted off to sleep. Because he was wearing a mask, it was difficult to discern his expression; for a moment, everyone thought he was truly asleep.

Until he suddenly turned his head and cast his gaze upon the “Revelation” who sat in the main seat, draped in a black robe, and who had not uttered a word since the start of the meeting.

"As you probably know, Hong Zhong isn't just one person now. His team has gathered many powerful figures, and as far as I know... there are also two members of the Jack Gang."

Upon hearing the mention of Jack's gang, the men reacted in varying degrees, all sitting up straight.

"I just need a definite answer: if we find his hiding place, should we attack? How should we attack? Please give us a clear answer."

"..." The Revelation did not answer immediately, but rubbed his wooden staff with his fingers. His bright silver metal mask reflected a cold light in the darkness.

At the top of the cane is engraved a cicada that endures the cold.

“I don’t care about the others.” He tapped the ground with his cane. “Keep Red, I want him alive.”

"Alive?" The voice in the boar mask was excited. "He made us lose at least $10!"

"Judging from his modus operandi, he's a pure sabotager and there's no way he could cooperate with us. This is evident from his rampage in the Sandstorm and his setting fire to Ryan's mansion. I don't understand why the higher-ups still have such unrealistic expectations of him!"

“Indeed, sir.” The clown rabbit mask used more euphemisms, but the meaning was the same: “I assembled a team and conducted a psychological analysis of him regarding the cases he committed. The results showed that he prefers to see himself as God rather than an ordinary person, judging whether others are guilty. We cannot work with someone like that.”

……

“A thousand soldiers are easy to find, but a general is hard to come by.” The Revelation turned the wooden staff and asked softly, “Don’t worry, you don’t need to worry about it. After we capture Hong Zhong, I will take care of him and make him one of us.”

"You?" The man in the antler mask asked incredulously. "You...you mean, you came in person?"

"Is it difficult?" He turned to look at the old rooster.

“Extremely difficult, almost impossible.” He took out a pack of chewing tobacco from his pocket, twirled it a couple of times with his fingers, pulled out a wisp of tobacco, chewed it, and acted like an old cowboy. “However, since you’ve already asked…”

"I will do my best."

“Alright.” The Revelation leaned on his wooden staff and slowly rose. “Thank you all for taking the time to come today.”

That's all for now. See you at the next full moon.

----

"Judging from your expression, it seems like you expected this all along, haha... For some reason, I'm not surprised at all. It was expected that you would run into them."

Looking at the word "Illuminati" on the book, Zhang Renfeng's expression was somewhat complicated.

Kobyin's prophecy came true; he had indeed run into these guys who manipulated light and shadow.

He shook his head, putting those grand confrontations behind him; right now, there were many practical things to deal with.

"boom!"

He slammed a shiny revolver on the table and slid it to Custer.

“As agreed, you’ve given me the answer, and I’ll give you a dignified death,” Zhang Renfeng said. “Only one bullet.”

"..." Caster opened the magazine and checked it; it was indeed as he had said. Looking at the dark muzzle, his expression was complex. When the moment truly arrived, anyone would be afraid. His usually calm heart seemed to be swallowed up by the dark muzzle.

“You should feel lucky,” Zhang Renfeng said expressionlessly. “After you go to hell, go find Tuku, Wendigo, or Ilyn Payne, whom you know, and ask them. You will then know how merciful I have been to you.”

“…I understand.” Castor’s lips curled into a complex smile. “May I offer you one last piece of advice?”

"explain."

"Have you ever seen a python? It's enormous, with an even bigger appetite. Unlike ordinary snakes, birds are just a mouthful for it. Lambs and deer are its main dishes. It will swallow them whole and then lie still for months to digest this prey that could almost burst it."

"Simply put, while the eating manners may be brutal, the behavior afterward is more refined. Any group that expands outward should follow this principle."

“But you are not like pythons, Red Center. You are like a porcupine in heat, covered in quills, charging around, wreaking havoc, and overturning everything in your way.”

“Don’t be like the porcupine, Red Center.” Castor looked into his eyes and said slowly, “The porcupine’s fate is to be pierced by a thousand arrows.”

"But the python, which lies dormant, can peacefully spend the winter and welcome the next season of new life."