Quadruple split.

Chapter 2632 The Clown's Proposal

"A lackey of the Grand Inquisition..."

Scarface stared wide-eyed in astonishment, bewildered, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Still pretending?"

Mo Tan reached out and grabbed Scarface's collar, laughing slyly, "Don't think I don't know that even if you charlatans come out as undercover agents, you still have to have some marks on your bodies to prove your identity!"

"???"

Scarface was stunned. He instinctively raised his hand and slapped away Mo Tan's sinful right hand, looking at the strange man in front of him who seemed to want to take off his clothes with suspicion and confusion. He asked in a panic, "What are you doing?"

"What for? Of course, I'm here to see which denomination's emblem is printed on your butt!"

Mo Tan rubbed his hands together excitedly, a sinister and lewd smile spreading across his face. He strode toward Scarface, who was clearly stronger, and shouted, "Quick! Let me see!!"

"Don't come here!"

Scarface drew his short sword in terror, only to be blasted aside by a miniature explosive device casually tossed by Mo Tan. When he tried to do something, he found that the distance between them had been closed to a dangerous level in every sense.

If Scarface were a monk, he could easily teach this hair-raising fellow a lesson with his shoulder or elbow, but he's not a monk, so aside from thieving skills that are no longer suitable for the current situation, he can only—

"Oh haha~"

Mo Tan, who had already pounced on Scarface but had gotten nothing but a handful of damp, cool mist, grinned and turned to look at the orc with a livid face who was slowly emerging from the mirage behind him. He said cheerfully, "So you're a lackey of the Mist Cult."

"Just call me the lackey of the 'Grand Inquisition'."

The scarred man, whose face was no longer as relaxed as before, frowned and said in an unfriendly tone, "Being sent here on field missions has nothing to do with which sect I belong to."

Mo Tan whistled and said with a smile, "So you're a devout believer who likes to protect your own church. Is your Holy Church Alliance out of people? You actually sent someone like you, who is so easy to find fault with, to infiltrate the Thieves' Guild."

“You should know, Mr. Zelda, before today, I had been perfectly hidden in Black Tower City for nine years, and until I became the head of this branch, no one ever suspected me for even a moment.”

Scarface frowned and said unhappily, "Only you saw through my identity at a glance."

Mo Tan shook his head modestly and waved his hand, saying, "I dare not accept such praise. In fact, until you mentioned the term 'Grand Archbishop of the End,' I never considered that you might also be a charlatan. It's just a pity that you were too eager for quick success, which allowed me to obtain too many clues and information. In the end... tsk tsk."

He didn't finish his words, he just smacked his lips with a very shameful expression, expressing his deep regret.

"If I could, I wouldn't want to tell you too much."

Scarface stared coldly at Mo Tan and said in a deep voice, "But the key issue is that I think if we let things continue like this, Muse may not live much longer. Rather than trying to clean up the mess later, it's better to give you a heads-up in advance, so that at least we can be prepared."

Mo Tan blinked, looking completely innocent, and asked, "Is it my fault?"

"Who do you think messed everything up?"

Scarface glared at Mo Tan with annoyance and gritted his teeth, saying, "It took me five years to become the branch leader of a thief's guild in the north, and I went to great lengths to transfer here to put Muse ahead of me. I finally managed to make him lower his guard and think that I was just a puppet with no ambition. But then Zelda came along and messed everything up!"

Mo Tan blushed slightly and said rather awkwardly, "Oh dear, I'm so embarrassed..."

I wasn't complimenting you.

Scarface gritted his teeth and said angrily, "If it weren't for that idiot Muse being young and impetuous back then, not only not knowing how to conceal his sharpness, but also abusing the power given to him by the Archbishop of the End, we probably still wouldn't have caught those heretics. And just when we were finally able to learn more about their purpose, you, the troublemaker, appeared!"

Mo Tan shrugged and spread his hands, saying, "In all honesty, I was just trying to extort some money from that guy and see if there were any extra benefits I could get. I didn't think that much about it."

As he rubbed the scars on his face, Scarface said in a dry voice, "And now?"

"Now..."

Mo Tan crossed his arms and smiled at the scarred man with an unfriendly expression, saying, "Although it's impossible to return [Shadow Fang], I can cooperate with your plan. Whether it's saving Muse's life or making some arrangements against that so-called Archbishop of the End behind him, I think I can be of some help."

Scarface sneered and asked bluntly, "So? What price do you want?"

"What are you saying?"

Mo Tan laughed heartily and said, "I am honored to serve the gentlemen of the Holy Church Alliance. How could I possibly ask for any price?"

Scarface nodded and reached out to Mo Tan, saying, "Then return [Shadow Fang] first."

"Are you ungrateful?"

Mo Tan glared at him, blatantly threatening, "If you've got the guts, kill me right now and see if I can wipe out your damned Mist Church later. Don't think that just because the God-Slaying Society has the power to deal with you bunch of stinking charlatans, I can't even kill you, you cowards at the bottom of the Holy Church Alliance. I'll at least leave you with a few nice teeth marks."

"..."

Scarface, who hadn't really thought the other party would hand over Shadowfang, chuckled dryly and said helplessly, "So what exactly do you want, you guy who exudes heretical aura from the inside out?"

"Intelligence sharing".

Mo Tan gave a concise answer, saying in a leisurely tone: "Whether it is the so-called Archbishop of the End, or other villains, heretics, and scoundrels targeted by the Grand Inquisition, I am personally very interested. So if possible, at least if I can help, I hope that you lovely believers of God can share information with me."

Scarface nodded slightly, confirming, "Yes, but as you yourself said, that must be on the condition that 'you can help,' and whether you can help... that needs to be determined by us."

"of course."

Mo Tan nodded happily and said in a light tone, "Fortunately, we happen to have a job that can prove whether I am qualified to be a lackey of the Grand Inquisition."

Scarface narrowed his eyes: "Muse..."

"That's right, it's that lively and lovely Mr. Muse."

Mo Tan blinked and smiled, "So, given that I'm determined to take [Shadowfang] away, what do you plan to do?" "First, we need to divert his attention from [Shadowfang]."

Scarface pondered for a moment, then said slowly and deliberately, “Fortunately, Muse has made quite a few enemies in the past, and recently he had a conflict with the Steam Consortium because of a rather radical Vito. So my idea is to make the Steam Consortium the beneficiary of his departure. In this way, whether he decides to retaliate or suffer in silence, Muse will not focus his attention on Shadowfang for the time being.”

Mo Tan nodded first, then said worriedly, "But he'll find out eventually, what will we do then?"

Isn't that all because of you?

While inwardly grumbling, Scarface said in as calm a tone as possible, "Of course, so after you leave I will prepare a fake dagger. Although it probably won't fool Muse, it will at least hold out until he enters the third forbidden zone again."

"It's a good idea."

Mo Tan gave Scarface a thumbs-up in approval, then took out a Shadowfang from his bag and tossed it to him: "Here you go, take it back."

"Give it back?!"

Scarface stared in astonishment at the unassuming dagger in his hand, a dagger that exuded a chilling power. He looked blankly at the madman before him and asked, "Are you sure?"

"I am sure."

Mo Tan nodded and smiled, "So, since even you couldn't tell at first glance that this thing in your hand was a complete fake, I'm afraid that third-rate person would also have a hard time noticing anything amiss early on, right?"

【Fake!?】

Scarface suddenly realized that the dagger in his hand was not the [Shadowfang] that had just been stolen by the other party. His expression froze, and he asked with a very strange look, "How many preparations did you make?"

"Many hands."

Mo Tan casually brushed it off, asking, "So, taking this thing into consideration, what do you think the next steps of the plan will look like?"

“I’ve visited Shadowfang a few times before, and this dagger of yours is exactly the same as the one I remember. So without any special authentication methods, it would be difficult for Muse to find out the problem.”

Scarface let out a long sigh of relief, his expression and tone relaxing: "In that case, it's very likely that we won't discover the problem with the dagger until he contacts that Archbishop of the End."

Mo Tan yawned and asked lazily, "So do you know when they'll contact you?"

"It's hard to say for sure, but the earliest it will be is two months from now."

Scarface gave a vague answer, not revealing the details to Mo Tan, but said seriously, "When the time comes, he'll be furious and will do everything in his power to track down [Shadow Fang], and then..."

"I will take him down at the right time, and in the process, I will demonstrate the true power of Shadowfang, and then I will naturally be targeted by that Archbishop of the End."

Mo Tan interrupted Scarface and said with a smile, "And your Grand Inquisition will be responsible for protecting me in secret. When that Archbishop can no longer suppress his thirst and is about to make a move against me, this young man who can skillfully use [Shadowfang]... then attack him as a group."

Scarface smirked and said in a dry voice, "I will pass on your proposal to the Grand Inquisition."

"Thanks, buddy. Well then, farewell."

Mo Tan stretched and walked out without turning her head, saying, "I don't have the habit of exchanging contact information with men, so someone will come to contact you later. As for any further details, please tell my lackey."

After leaving those words, Mo Tan, who had been lingering there for too long, quietly departed.

This kid...

The moment Mo Tan left his sight, he lost control of her aura and presence. Scarface stared wide-eyed in surprise, belatedly realizing that he had probably underestimated this cunning thief from the very beginning.

After all, that superb ability to conceal one's aura was enough to make Scarface feel a sense of crisis, as if he had a thorn in his side.

Shaking his head, the orc, loyal to the Grand Inquisition and quite enjoying his years as a second-rate thief, didn't dwell on it. Instead, he dragged his somewhat heavy steps toward the still-sleeping Gold Tooth, racking his brains about how to explain to the kind-hearted woman who had witnessed Link Zelda's atrocities.

However, Mo Tan obviously didn't care how much of a headache Scarface was. After leaving the Thieves' Guild using the practical tips he had 'stolen' from Kill Soul, he quickly found himself in front of a rather quaint and refreshing water bar.

Having shed his "Hundred Faces" persona and revealed his true self, Tan Mo strolled leisurely into the bar. After greeting the elven female owner behind the counter (bars are usually run by elves, as these pointy-eared individuals have extremely poor alcohol tolerance for the first hundred years of their long lives), he walked to a corner and winked at the elven girl in a black dress, whose eyes and expressions were not very lively, resembling a delicate porcelain doll: "Sorry to keep you waiting, doll."

"gentlemen."

Having been instructed not to be overly formal, Rona Moonshine did not rise to greet him. She simply nodded and said in a melodious but emotionless voice, "I don't feel like I've been waiting for a long time, but you have indeed returned later than agreed."

"Plans can never keep up with changes."

Mo Tan shrugged, and under the landlady's displeased gaze, casually pulled a bottle of soda from his bag, unscrewed the cap, took two gulps, and chuckled, "But changes are always good, aren't they? Burp~"

Lorna didn't speak, but frowned almost imperceptibly after Mo Tan let out that loud soda burp.

"Thank you for affirming my point of view with your actions."

Mo Tan patted Luo Na's head happily and said cheerfully, "Anyway, I've finished what I needed to do. Now, well..."

"..."

Although Mo Tan was clearly keeping her in suspense, Rona wasn't Cole. Instead of thoughtfully asking, "What is it?", she simply looked at Mo Tan calmly and straightened her black veil, which had been knocked askew by the other woman.

"I plan to take you to meet Xiao Ai first."

"Um……"

"Then I will take you to the City of Freedom, where you can work with Cole."

"……Um."

Chapter 2623: The End