Quadruple split.

Chapter 2619 Consensus
“Fuck—”

Having learned a lot of otherworldly swear words in less than a year, Chris, the beautiful and sweet-voiced receptionist at the Anka Adventurers' Guild, sighed deeply, rolled her eyes, and exclaimed, "It's fucking creepy."

"..."

The orc bodyguard next to him remained silent, only touching his stomach, exuding an aura of 'burnt out,' as if he might turn into a handful of white ash and die on the spot at any moment.

"Fortunately, your regulatory bureau is quite capable. Not only did they completely replace the entire black market, including the people and goods, in a short period of time, but they were even able to imprint the minds of those who were temporarily placed there."

Chris clicked his tongue and said with lingering fear, "Otherwise, even if I had been desperately trying to control that crazy girl's influence, I'm afraid we would have caused some big trouble."

"...You've gone to a lot of trouble."

The orc bodyguard gave a weak laugh and managed to squeeze out these words in a hoarse voice.

"Hey, it's nothing tiring, it's just that I haven't spoken for a long time, so it's a bit hard to get used to doing something so difficult right away."

Chris waved his hand and said casually, "Besides, your regulatory bureau has made very good arrangements. Even if something goes wrong, it should be easy to clean up the mess. Hmm, from this perspective, you should really thank me. After all, if that girl had really had her fun, the [Black Market] would probably have to shut down for about three days. That's a lot of money."

"...Yes, thank you for your trouble."

The orc bodyguard nodded and said in a deep voice, "Go ask our Chief Wen for some compensation for emotional distress later."

"Oh?"

Chris smiled slightly and said, "I seem to remember that Mr. Wenger is the deputy director of the market supervision bureau. Aren't you afraid he'll get angry if you call him director so directly?"

The orc bodyguard smirked and shook his head, saying, "Look at what you're saying. Even our director has no objections, so why would the deputy director be angry?"

"That would be wonderful."

Chris clicked his tongue and sighed, "After all, Mr. Wenger is already anxious and angry every day because he was forced to take on the role of director. If he were to hear the director himself, who is always slacking off and can't even be found, say that he is the director, he would probably spit out a few mouthfuls of blood."

"I don't understand what you're saying."

The orc bodyguard replied with a silly grin, only to be suddenly turned around and grabbed by the collar by Chris, his huge head rolling off his shoulder and onto the ground.

"ah!!!!"

The goblin girl passing by immediately screamed, staring wide-eyed at the 'head' on the ground, unable to utter a word.

"Look closely, this thing isn't a human head."

Chris glanced at the dwarf girl slumped on the ground, stomped on the terracotta pot with the wig and smashed it to pieces. He rolled his eyes at the growing crowd of onlookers, then threw away the clothes he was holding, which were stuffed with cotton and straw and looked somewhat human. He grumbled and walked toward the Adventurers' Guild.

After that, people gathered around the wigs, pottery shards, and stuffed clothes on the ground and discussed them animatedly for a while before scattering to go about their business.

Two minutes later, the dwarf girl who had first noticed someone's head hitting the ground turned into an alley. Before she could even catch her breath, she was blocked by a beautiful long leg.

Taking advantage of her height, the dwarf girl simply lowered her head slightly and slipped under the leg, quickly making her way to the street across the alley—

"stop."

With a low shout that came from close by, the Anka Market Supervisor, who had been jolted into the air as if electrocuted, sighed and turned to look at the owner of the long legs.

Without a doubt, the other party could only be Chris, the receptionist from the Anka Adventurers' Guild, or perhaps—

"Ms. Corliss Clotilde."

With a frustrated look, the handsome man, who was about 180 centimeters tall and had a fair complexion that many people would envy, scratched his beautiful short flaxen hair. He wore a black top hat and a burgundy coat and sighed helplessly, saying, "Why be so persistent and relentless?"

“I don’t think I was being unreasonable or pressuring you.”

A pleasant smile curved the corners of Corliss's lips as she said with a smile, "But you seem to have a lot of interesting information, Mr. Jack Walker Rand, the mysterious head of the Market Supervision Bureau."

The tall man, known as Jack Walker Rand, gave a wry smile and shook his head, saying, "Since you've even mentioned my real name, which I haven't used in a long time, there's nothing 'mysterious' about it, esteemed lady."

“The situation is different, Jack.”

While curiously looking the director in front of her up and down, who almost never showed his 'true face', Corliss said in a light tone, "The information about you was all given to me by Martin, but digging out the name 'Corliss Clottide' won't be easy."

Jack nodded in deep agreement, echoing, "Going back, it's been over two hundred years since you became famous... Ugh!!!"

With a burst of blue flames exploding in his chest, Brother Jie's mouth, ears, eyes, and nose spewed out several streams of azure flames almost simultaneously, and he then collapsed to the ground, convulsing, looking half-cooked.

"Don't discuss such sensitive topics in front of a lady, Mr. Jack."

Chris glanced coldly at the man who seemed to be completely dizzy from the heat of the moment, and calmly asked, "Today is a good opportunity, or as Martin would say, a perfect day for an open and honest discussion."

"Tsk tsk, so the two people hiding behind Anka are indeed Ms. Corliss and Chapter President Martin Sloan."

Jack, who stood up as if nothing had happened, clicked his tongue, brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes, and said with little interest, "By the way, when you say 'open and frank,' you don't mean I'm the one who unilaterally introducing myself, do you?"

"No need for that, because we're not particularly interested in you personally, at least not to the point of breaking our previous understanding to dig deep into your background."

Chris shook her head and said calmly, "What we call being open and honest is just about frankly telling each other our attitudes toward Anka, and seeing if we can reach a more reliable 'consensus' than the previous 'tacit understanding'."

Upon hearing this, Jack's smiling, handsome face turned serious, and he said softly, "It's hard to imagine that you, Ms. Corliss, the instigator of the 'Mysterious Sound Chaos' four years ago, who is both a legendary songstress and the 'Azure Sage,' would say such a thing."

"It's normal. After all, even a mature, steady, kind, and gentle lady like me has times when she's young and willful, or when her endocrine system is out of balance."

Chris blinked and chuckled, "So it's perfectly understandable if there are some minor mishaps."

Jack thought for a moment and asked, "Like that girl from earlier?"

"That's right, just like that girl from earlier."

Chris nodded happily, then added, "But unlike that girl, I'm now a mature, stable, and responsible lady, so I've become more reserved and conservative in both my thoughts and methods." Jack, who almost burst out laughing when she mentioned 'reserved and conservative,' remained silent for a long time with a subtle expression before finally leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, saying helplessly, "Tell me the consensus you want to reach."

"You will feel relieved."

Glancing at Jack, who looked like he was facing a formidable enemy, Corliss said in a light tone, "Ultimately, all we really want is for Anka Market to remain 'stable'."

"Hope Anka remains stable?"

The elusive and mysterious director of the regulatory bureau, who was only seen signing documents but never actually appearing, stared wide-eyed in surprise and asked, "That's it?"

"if not?"

Corliss countered with a question, then laughed, "What do you think we're thinking? To completely bring Anka Market under our control, using this one of the largest trading hubs on the continent as a starting point to conquer the Northwest Continent and even the whole world?"

Jack nodded blankly, and said quite sincerely, "If you say it that way, it might be more believable."

Chris spread her hands and shrugged, saying, "But we're not interested in that kind of thing."

"You have been lying in wait in Anka Market for so long, constantly observing, influencing, and driving the development of various events. Even a certain order from a certain chamber of commerce could not escape your watchful eye."

Jack, who had been investigating the eyes behind Anka for years, frowned and said in a deep voice, "One is the legendary songstress and the 'Azure Sage' who was known to everyone two centuries ago (Corliss: Hmm?), and the other is the 'Starry Sage' who was personally recruited by the Chief of the Council of Truth. You two are so mysterious and unpredictable, yet you only want 'stability for Anka'?"

Chris smiled faintly and said leisurely, "First of all, I need to clarify that the guy you mentioned who is constantly observing, influencing, and pushing the development of various situations is Martin. I actually rarely get involved in those troublesome and laborious matters. Of course, that's not the point..."

"What's the point?"

Jack gazed into the other's bright eyes and urged him somewhat nervously.

"You have a complicated past, you have been a powerful figure in the underworld for many years, and you have been regarded as a thorn in the side by countless evildoers and great benefactors. You are a great thief who does things his own way and is unrestrained."

Before finishing her sentence, Corliss abruptly said, "And you are now the director of the Anka Market Supervision Bureau, the protector and maintainer of order in this city, a leader who has the final say but never abuses his power, and is orderly and fair. According to what you just said... Director Jack, you must also have some unknown motives, right?"

Jack: "Uh..."

"For example, there might be an incredibly precious treasure buried beneath Anka, one that you would keep hidden for years to acquire; or you might actually be a fanatical follower of an evil god, who has painstakingly built up the Anka market for years, just to sacrifice it to a terrifying monster."

Chris blinked and smiled at Jack, whose expression was becoming increasingly subtle: "Or perhaps, you are actually the last descendant of some ancient dynasty, wanting to use Anka's resources to restore the royal family, rebuild some evil empire, and become a tyrant who can make people bleed with just a word?"

"OK OK."

Jack smiled wryly and raised his hands in surrender, saying helplessly, "Although I know you're talking nonsense, these guesses are actually quite plausible."

Chris shrugged and said casually, "Yeah, the reason you became Anka's guardian was because you agreed to an ordinary person's request to protect the place where he grew up, lived, and loved. How ironic that a great thief like you ended up having his heart stolen by an ordinary person and being bound by him."

"...I don't think I'm that miserable."

After a long silence, Jack sighed deeply and asked with a subtle expression, "Speaking of which, don't you guys know a little too much?"

"Perhaps, but that's not really important. I've acted in countless dramas and sung countless stories in the past, most of which are more dramatic than your life, Chief Jack. Haha, after all, that's drama."

Chris casually made a witty remark, then raised her right hand and gently shook her index finger: "What really matters is that you genuinely just want Anka Market to remain a peaceful, bustling, and tranquil place."

"Don't make it sound so simple, it's a tough job."

Jack casually unbuttoned his collar and said with a wistful expression, "That idiot's wish was based on her shallow understanding of this godforsaken place, Anka, from the very beginning. But only by truly understanding Anka can one realize that even if it is a little better than my hometown, Freedom City, it is only a little better."

"But that doesn't stop you from taking on this tough job."

Chris smiled slyly and said leisurely, "And we hope that Anka can remain stable for similar reasons. Although the core motivation is difficult to talk about and therefore inconvenient to share, from a certain perspective, everyone's basic pursuits are not much different, so it is natural to build a more solid cooperative relationship."

How can I trust you?

"No one is forcing you to believe us, because even if we don't cooperate, you won't be a stumbling block for us."

"What do I need to do?"

"Just keep it the same, Martin said you've been doing a great job all these years."

"I'm getting really angry..."

"In the end, we rarely interfere in Anka's operations."

"So, it's all being done by our regulatory bureau?"

"Thank you for your hard work."

"What exactly are you trying to say? It seems like there's absolutely no benefit to cooperating with you!"

"Without our warning, even if [Puppet] had gone to Deputy Director Wenger immediately, the entire Anka might have collapsed in front of those two girls who broke the rules."

"..."

"understood?"

"Actually, I've always been a little curious."

"what?"

"Putting aside the very honest Ye Ge, the other girl is clearly causing trouble. Taking her out shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"There are many possible explanations for this problem. Well, let me give you one that's convincing: that 'princess' is from another world. If you dare to kill her today, she'll dare to sneak off to the market to sing tomorrow. Even if you manage to kill her a second time before things get out of control, what about the day after tomorrow? The morning after tomorrow? Noon the day after that? The evening the day after that?"

"Ah this..."

Chapter 2610: The End