“You just met me and you want me to risk my life for you?”

“Heh heh… This world is truly absurdly laughable!”

Charles gritted his back teeth, suppressing the surging sorrow and anger in his heart. His gaze fixed on Li Andy, he responded with a fake smile, “Alright, since you want me to risk my life, what can you pay me? Or… do you want to threaten me with my life!?”

“No, no…”

Li Andy raised a hand and shook it.

“What I need is someone to risk their life, and this kind of forced ‘willingness’ cannot give me the loyalty I desire.”

“Heh, then how do you plan to make me truly willing?” Charles sneered. He wanted to see what more outrageous words this person could utter.

Unexpectedly, Li Andy’s subsequent words were not outrageous at all; in fact, they were quite lenient, just like… an amnesty.

“I will acquire your troupe. You will continue your usual performances and tours, and I will not interfere. Furthermore, I will provide financial support to the troupe.”

“As for the price, it is to use your talent to do some confidential intelligence work for me. And any betrayer must die.”

He paused slightly, his gaze falling on Charles’s tense face, and then continued,

“In addition, I will help you solve those cursed items and help you remove that… man-eating mask.”

“He knows our troupe’s secret!”

Charles’s breathing hitched, and his brows furrowed: “Who exactly are you?!”

Li Andy handed him a business card and said, “This is my usual identity, a mysterious incident investigator. Of course, if you need an identity to demonstrate financial power, I can be a shareholder of Harvis Fashion; if you need to display influence, then right now, I am the Governing Madam’s partner.”

“Are you from the Independent Faction?” Charles cautiously took the business card but did not put it in his pocket.

“No, I just prefer independence. I do not belong to any political force in New Continent,” Li Andy said.

“The other members of your troupe have already accepted my terms. I came here to find you also because Rose asked for help. So, do you think this price is worth risking your life for me?”

Charles did not relax his guard at all.

Having experienced the transaction with the Mechanical Weirdo, he naturally did not believe it would be that simple.

Even if it wasn't a lie, it could still be full of traps!

He was silent for a few seconds, then raised his head and replied stubbornly, “Right now… I don't want to be anyone else's dog anymore! What I long for… is freedom! And don't even think about deceiving my troupe members!”

“Oh?”

Li Andy raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you very anxious about Rose and their condition? Why are you suddenly longing for selfish freedom now? Are you trying to bargain? Or…?”

Li Andy’s tone suddenly deepened,

“You have another option; you’ve found another way to solve the side effects!”

Charles’s pupils suddenly contracted, and his breathing hitched for half a beat.

He suppressed the shock in his heart and replied stubbornly, “Whether I have one or not, it has nothing to do with you! As for you, you just met me and you want me to risk my life—that’s thinking too simply!”

Charles’s attitude seemed firm, but his gaze never left Li Andy, constantly observing him.

He guessed that although the black-haired Easterner in front of him seemed a bit arrogant and mad, he most likely wouldn't force him to do anything.

Sure enough, Li Andy shrugged helplessly: “There is no absolute freedom in this world. How about this, I’ll make a bet with you.”

“What bet?”

“We’ll bet on whether you can solve these problems yourself.”

Li Andy said, “If you can solve it without me, then I can change the terms to equal cooperation, provide you with funds, and then pay you to gather information. If you eventually beg for my help, then you will risk your life for me. How about that?”

“Really? You won’t play any tricks behind my back?” Charles frowned. He was increasingly unable to figure out this person’s true intentions.

“Really.”

Li Andy smiled and pointed to the business card in the other party’s hand, “Keep this business card for now. I’ll wait for your call for help.”

Charles looked at him in silence for a few seconds, then finally clenched the card and put it into his pocket: “I will do my best not to contact you.”

Li Andy nodded with satisfaction, said, “I’ll be waiting,” and then, using Mystic Mirror’s concealment ability, vanished into thin air in front of the other party.

That feeling of being peeled away from the world also disappeared.

Charles stood still in silence for a long time before clutching his chest and gasping for breath.

“Sir, are you alright? Do you want to take a carriage?”

The coachman’s voice came from the side, and a carriage smoothly arrived in front of him.

Charles took a deep breath, calmed his heartbeat, and looked up: “To East District Plaza, Unicorn Troupe, temporary theater!”

After the carriage rumbled away, Li Andy and Sophia emerged from a shadow.

“Andy, why didn’t you just display your abilities and persuade him like before? You acted like… a big villain from a storybook,” Sophia pouted, a bit puzzled.

“Using force to intimidate won’t get me the lifelong employee I want, right?” Li Andy raised an eyebrow, looking playfully at Sophia.

Sophia froze for a moment, then frowned and retorted, “I’m not your employee!”

“Aren’t you? But I pay you every month.”

“I… I’m a shareholder! And an elder from the founding! And… b-boss’s wife…” As she said the last three words, Sophia’s voice suddenly weakened, like a deflated small balloon. Her little face flushed, and that shy feeling spread to the tips of her ears, so soft that one couldn’t help but want to bite her.

“Yes, yes, my boss’s wife~”

Li Andy put his arm around her slender waist, pulling the girl into his embrace, letting his body gently feel her softness, which was completely opposite to her stubbornness.

“Hmph! It’s true…” Sophia tried to pout, and after a final stubborn retort, she buried her head in his embrace, like a kitten snuggling under a blanket.

Li Andy smiled, looking up at the carriage Charles was riding in, which was getting smaller and smaller. Finally, he slowly let out a long breath.

Actually… not using force to intimidate was because he wanted to know:

Will this pseudo-relic become a true relic?

If it does, what will the process be like?

And… will the person behind the creation of these deceptive items come to reap what they sowed?

After all, he had personally witnessed five 'lucky coins' full of misfortune transform into one relic: coin of destiny.

If he had possessed the Translator's Earring at that time, he might have been able to see the descriptions of those pseudo-relics in advance.

“Let’s go, it’s time to go back.”

“Carry me…”

“…”

Li Andy shook his head helplessly and picked up this tsundere kitten in a princess carry.

…

Central City East District, near the temporary theater.

Charles hastily got out of the carriage, carrying his box, and was about to walk quickly towards the hotel.

He wanted to contact Rose and the others as soon as possible to warn them not to be deceived.

But halfway there, he saw three drunken Imperial Garrison soldiers cornering a girl in a dance dress.

Charles initially wanted to mind his own business, but then he heard the girl’s helpless cries for help and the scoundrels’ taunts.

“Please, don’t do this!”

“Why are you crying?! I’m a lord from the Imperial Capital, you should be honored!”

“If you don’t want to be a vagrant, then obey me!”

The girl cried and begged, but it only made the men more excited, until she was completely surrounded by their shoulders.

Charles gritted his teeth and walked into the shadows, lowering his head.

“Heh heh, guarding that camp every day has been suffocating me! I thought the one carrying the bag just now was going to be foolish, hurry up, you two.” A less drunken soldier touched the pistol behind his waist, preparing to stand guard for the other two.

Unexpectedly, he saw a figure emerge from the shadows.

Upon seeing the person’s face clearly, the soldier’s face turned pale.

“Ma… Major!”

“What are you doing?!” The Major’s furrowed brow scared the soldier’s legs into trembling. “You haven’t even successfully settled in, and you’re already acting like masters?”

“N-no, sir!”

The soldier kicked his companions hard, waking them up. When the two saw the Major, their legs became unsteady, and they fell to their knees with a thud.

“Ma… Major!”

The Major showed an extremely disgusted expression,

“If you don’t want to be disciplined by military regulations, then slap yourselves twenty times and get back!”

“Yes, yes!”

The three frantically slapped themselves, each slap extremely forceful, fearing that the Major would be dissatisfied and directly feed them bullets.

“Disgusting, get out!”

The three did not dare to raise their heads and fled the scene in disarray.

The Major glanced at the terrified girl, paused, ignored her, and turned back into the shadows.

Within the shadows, the Major’s face twisted and writhed, eventually returning to Charles’s appearance.

Charles pressed his hands against the wall, gritting his teeth to endure the excruciating pain in his skin.

He then realized that the girl’s dance dress belonged to their troupe. That girl… was an actress they had recently recruited for their troupe!

“Haha… Hahahaha…”

Charles’s laughter was somewhat deranged.

The price, perhaps, was immense…

But power, too, was captivating…