Quadruple split.

Chapter 2826 Gray Town

Chapter 2826 Gray Town
Game time: 22:49 PM
In the northeastern continent, in the northern part of the Holy Land, lies a non-existent town: [Dark Gray].

"real or fake……"

Having just completed the teleportation, the Crimson Prince was still dizzy, his vision blurred and his stomach churning. He shuddered, turned to look at the house behind him that looked like a thatched hut, and clutched his stomach, saying in a dry voice, "Didn't they say there were no mage guilds in the Holy Church's absolute control zone? Why is there a teleportation service here?"

"Innocent."

Standing beside the Crimson Prince with his hands in his pockets, the Scavenger, with his striking red hair and tall stature, seemingly unaffected by the teleportation, shook his head and sneered, "Sixty percent of the land in the Northeast Continent belongs to the 'Holy Domain,' which is what you call the 'Absolute Control Zone of the Holy Church Alliance.' Anyone with a brain knows that the Mage Guild would never give up such huge profits. And even if the Mage Guild wanted to give it up, the City of Miracles, which provides the key teleportation technology behind them, would never want to give it up either."

The Crimson Prince shrugged and casually said, "I thought the mages in the City of Miracles were all oblivious to the world and not very sensitive to wealth. By the way, I don't have hemorrhoids."

“There are indeed a lot of academics in the City of Miracles, and these people don’t really care about material possessions. But… not caring and not needing are two different things. Do you want to guess how much it costs them to rent a lab? How much it costs them to work on materials? How much it costs them to borrow all kinds of literature? How much it costs them to support a bunch of apprentices and handymen? That’s all money, kid.”

The cleaner whistled, then added, "By the way, kid, I didn't have hemorrhoids when I was your age, but you'll soon find that when you get to my age, your ass will most likely betray you the moment it happens."

Crimson Prince: "...My ass will not betray me."

"You should save those words for when you talk to your surgeon later."

The Cleaner revealed a sinister grin that sent chills down the spine of the Crimson Prince, who instinctively covered his backside. He then changed the subject, saying casually, "In short, there are at least five of these 'Gray Towns' within the Holy Domain. Normally, they don't stay in one place for more than six months. They not only have teleportation points for the Mage Guild and offices for the Thieves Guild, but also taverns that are essentially inns for wanderers. They even have black markets that contain all sorts of things defined as 'blasphemous' and are strictly prohibited and constantly cracked down on by the Holy Church Alliance."

The Crimson Prince was immediately shocked and bewildered, asking, "Can the Holy Church Alliance tolerate the existence of such a place? Or is it that the Holy Church Alliance has never found these 'Gray Towns' that we can all find, because they are blind to what's right under their noses? Have they been unaware of their existence all along?"

"Stop reading those brainless novels, kid."

The cleaner rolled his eyes at the crimson prince and strode towards the edge of town, casually remarking, "Look to your right. Under the eaves of that dilapidated house, isn't there a hooded man in a black robe standing there?"

The Crimson Prince, who had quickly caught up with the other party, glanced discreetly in the direction the Cleaner had indicated, and nodded slightly, saying, "Indeed."

'Is it possible that the suspicious-looking girl, who's glancing around suspiciously, is a nun from the Dawn Cult?'

The Cleaner continued walking at a steady pace, simultaneously switching to a friend message to communicate with the Crimson Prince. Without turning his head, he sent the message: 'Don't look around. Keep your expression unchanged. Look ahead from under my armpit. See that burly, bearded orc mercenary?'

'I saw it.'

The Crimson Prince replied to a message, then couldn't help adding, "Could you please not make me see things from weird places?"

"Stop talking nonsense. I'm teaching you how to effectively use perspective and blind spots to cooperate with your teammates."

The Cleaner replied instantly, then sent another message explaining: 'That's a paladin from the Justice Church. If I'm not mistaken, he should have been here for a while. He's probably the contact person for that Dawn Cult girl.'

【real or fake? ! 】

Before the Crimson Prince could voice his doubts, the bearded knight let out a burp, staggered to his feet from the tattered table, crossed his arms, and walked over to the woman shrouded in a black robe, revealing a sinister grin: "How much per night?"

"roll."

The other person replied coldly, their eyes, barely visible beneath the hood, filled with displeasure and impatience.

"Five hundred gold coins, just for your figure."

The orc man pulled out a jingling money pouch and chuckled, "Listen, little girl, you don't get many chances to rip me off when I'm drunk."

"roll."

The woman in black robes gave the exact same answer as before, but there was a hint of wavering in her voice.

"One thousand gold coins."

The burly orc pulled out another money bag, raised an eyebrow, and said, "I don't care if you're in this business or not, this is the last offer."

"..."

After a brief silence, the woman sighed and said calmly, "Deal."

"readily."

The orc nodded, then turned and gestured with his chin toward a building not far away that, while not small in size, didn't look particularly nice or clean: "Let's go, I have a room there."

After saying that, he casually tossed the two money bags into the other person's arms, turned around and walked towards the building where comfort was hard to guarantee, and the latter followed after a brief silence.

"..."

Only after the two figures disappeared into the distance and the density of pedestrians around them began to decrease, did the Crimson Prince, who had been subconsciously holding his breath for some reason, finally let out a soft sigh and asked the Cleaner in a low voice, "Was all of that just an act?"

"Otherwise what? These two are a paladin and a nun, not a paladin and a necromancer, or a nun and a cultist. If they want to fool around, the City of Light isn't a place where they can't have a game. Why come here looking for excitement?"

The cleaner chuckled dryly, then added, "Except for infidelity, but I think that's unlikely."

"I don't want to continue this topic."

The Crimson Prince sighed and said helplessly, "In short, you mean that the Holy Church Alliance is well aware that such places exist, but also knows that such places are 'necessary,' so they might keep quiet or even turn a blind eye to using teleportation services that are explicitly prohibited, in order to buy things that are not easy to do openly or do things that are not easy to do openly (cleaners: such as having affairs)?"

The cleaner glanced at the Crimson Prince noncommittally and said indifferently, "Half right."

"Oh?"

Having already become familiar with the Cleaners, the Crimson Prince didn't stand on ceremony (although he had been even more impolite before) and asked directly, "Tell me more about it?"

"First of all, the Holy Church Alliance certainly knows about the existence of Gray Town."

The Cleaner pulled out a cigarette from somewhere, lit it, and said leisurely, "But what you didn't mention is that they don't just 'know about the existence of Gray Town'."

The crimson prince's gaze sharpened slightly as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"For example..."

The Cleaner took a drag of his cigarette and said calmly, "The biggest beneficiary behind all the 'Gray Towns' in the Holy Domain, and also the force that profits the most from them, is precisely the Holy Church Alliance itself, which absolutely cannot tolerate the existence of such places in principle?"

The Crimson Prince was taken aback at first, then immediately showed a look of realization: "I see!"

"Oh?"

This time it was the Cleaner's turn to be surprised. He turned to the little brat next to him with great astonishment: "You understand things pretty quickly!"

“Uh, Brother Shendao, you know my family has a little bit of influence.” The Crimson Prince scratched his head awkwardly, looking ashamed, and said, “Although I haven’t been involved in those things much, even just from what I’ve heard, I can still see quite a few... subtle things. Sigh, I should have been able to realize it sooner.”

The Scavenger then patted the somewhat annoyed Crimson Prince on the shoulder and said nonchalantly, "You're going to be a professional gamer, so it doesn't matter if your observation skills are a little weak or your reaction speed is a little slow at this stage."

"But Brother Shen, your observation skills are very strong."

The Crimson Prince frowned and asked, "Or are you saying that even if you found a lot of things in the club's database, you must have relied on your observation skills when you distinguished the paladin and the nun just now?"

The cleaner nodded slightly, then said in a rather smug way, "Yeah, I didn't say that professional players don't need these, I just said that you don't need them 'at this stage'."

Crimson Prince: "...So what do I need right now?"

"You need to be able to fight."

The cleaner gave his answer without hesitation, saying lazily, "In all competitive sports, being bad is the biggest original sin. Although observation ability is also part of strength, your current level of direct combat is appalling, so there's no rush. After all, taking too big a step can easily lead to disaster."

Having grown accustomed to the other party's highly realistic and aggressive taunts, and long since able to calmly face verbal bullying, the Crimson Prince looked expressionlessly at the Cleaner: "Then I'll ask you to improve my combat capabilities as soon as possible."

"If the boss isn't exaggerating, you'll have your chance very soon."

The cleaner gave a casual reply, then stopped in front of the north exit of Gray Town. He walked to a dirty wooden post, sat down, glanced at the system time, and said, "Let's rest for a while."

"rest?"

The Crimson Prince paused for a moment, then asked suspiciously, "We're both players, and our stamina is basically unused. Even if we feel a little uncomfortable from the teleportation, it shouldn't be to the point where we need to rest, right?"

The cleaner chuckled and casually said, "It's always good to be prepared. As the saying goes, 'better safe than sorry.' We're about to reach the territory of those Blood Barbarians. If we capsize because we haven't rested enough, I, this worthless nobody, will be fine. But if something happens to you, Your Highness, the rising star and promising talent of the Crimson Constellation, wouldn't that be awkward?"

"Don't come here."

The Crimson Prince glanced at the smirking Cleaner with annoyance and said dryly, "Since you're not planning to keep it from me, then tell me who you're waiting for. I knew something was wrong from the time you kept dragging your feet on going to the Mage Guild. Uncle Luo has given you funds, I don't believe you don't have the money for unrestricted teleportation."

"Oh, the boss did give me enough money, but if I use the 5% discount for teleportation after sunset, I can save about two thousand gold coins."

The cleaner smiled smugly and asked, "Do you know what two thousand dollars means?"

Crimson Prince: "It's the kind of concept that you can spend money without batting an eye before you bankrupt yourself."

Cleaner: "..."

"so what?"

The Crimson Prince revealed a rather smug smile, asking with the air of a victor, "What exactly are you making me wait for?"

"Hi."

Just then, a clear and melodious voice suddenly rang out from behind the two of them. The Crimson Prince turned around and saw a beautiful girl wearing a fluffy snow-white cloak waving and greeting him and the Cleaner with a smile.

Astonishingly—

"The Poetic Sound of 【Windbreaker Bird】?"

The Crimson Prince paused for a moment, then immediately recognized the other party's identity.

"Hey hey, you're from the Crimson Constellation Team Two, right?"

Shion smiled gently and winked, saying, "Based on when you entered the industry, you should call me Senior Shion!"

Although he had been subdued by the Cleaner, in front of outsiders, especially in front of the [Windbreaker Bird], a club member who was not only a formidable rival but also caused the home team a great loss in the [Debate on Guilt - Team Battle], the Crimson Prince's temper was still not much better. He was about to retort: "What you're thinking..."

"Sorry, Scarlet Bro, this girl is a little mischievous and likes to joke around with everyone. I hope you don't mind."

The next moment, a young man with a classical appearance and elegant demeanor pulled Shiyin to his side and apologized to the rising star of the Crimson Constellation in front of him: "If she has offended you, I am willing to apologize to you on her behalf."

"Uh, no, no need."

As the saying goes, one cannot hit a smiling face, especially since the other party was a veteran powerhouse with far more seniority than himself, on par with Xinglong. Even the Crimson Prince suppressed his arrogance and politely nodded to the young man in front of him, saying, "It is an honor to meet you, Senior Fangshi."

"Eh? So you're also honored to meet me?"

Appearing out of nowhere, Liu Ju Man Guan from [Card Master] looked at the Crimson Prince with an innocent and expectant expression, asking, "Is it an honor? Is it really an honor? If it is, then I'll thank you so much! They all say I don't have many fans!"

Crimson Prince: "..."

"And what if you see me? Would it be an honor to see me?!"

The top courtesan of the Yingyingyan Club, Baihuasha, also joined in.

Crimson Prince: "..."

"What about me?"

This is Bitch Cat, the founder of the cat tree studio.

Crimson Prince: "..."

"And me?"

This is Bloodstained, which belongs to the same Crimson Constellation as the Crimson Prince.

Crimson Prince: "...?!"

"What about me?"

This belongs to the [Burning Flame] guild...