Their commission was suspicious.

"Mr. Genie..."

“My name is Chen Luo, but you can call me Magic Lamp if you want.”

"Mr. Genie, are you telling the truth? About the wish I made to you in the future?"

"Why would I lie to you? But to be precise, that's not about your future self, but rather the various situations you might encounter without my help. One of them is being unable to escape this forest and being killed by the ravens," Chen Luo said.

"So, in the future, I will have countless ways to die?"

“No, you died in very few ways; more often, you died in despair.” Chen Luo shook his head.

"despair?"

"Due to various reasons, the progress was delayed, some were killed, some were kidnapped, and some were taken back to the palace. As a result, the formation could not be set up properly, allowing the fire-attribute beasts to ravage the country. Countless people were displaced, and countless warriors died in battle. This gave rise to despair and heartache."

“I see…” Guan Xing gave Chen Luo a deep look.

Guan Xing gradually began to believe Chen Luo's words, because Guan Xing had escaped from the palace to set up an array to trap the fire-attribute beast, and no one else knew about this except Guan Xing.

However, this genie, the god of wishes, can even grant wishes for the future; that's amazing.

"But why are there dozens of wishes?" Guan Xing was still puzzled.

“Your death is rare, but that doesn’t mean you’ve died few times. If it weren’t for me, this forest would be your burial ground… Raven is a very competent assassin, except for being a bit greedy,” Chen Luo said.

Chen Luo meant that there were few ways for gazing at stars to die, but many of them did, mainly at the hands of ravens.

The stargazing was filled with resentment because of the abrupt and swift death.

That is why the desire to survive is just as strong for the stargazer.

The more desperate you are when your wish cannot be fulfilled, the stronger your hope will be when you know that success is possible.

Desire and despair always go hand in hand.

“However, you don’t need to take your anger out on the raven because of this, as it’s something that may happen in the future but hasn’t happened yet,” Chen Luo added.

"..."

"If you're still not satisfied, I can give you another way. I can give you control of the gold Raven has. That way, whenever Raven offends you or doesn't like you, you can take away her gold. Having money taken away will make Raven feel worse than being killed in return."

The stargazer's eyes were filled with light.

Guan Xing felt that Chen Luo's suggestion was fantastic.

[To be honest, my lord, I feel you might be leading the stargazing astray.]

"It's better to lead Guanxing astray a little than to make him miserable the whole time. Anyway, if Guanxing is led astray, it's not me who will suffer."

Are you sure?

"What do you mean?" Chen Luo frowned.

"One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black. Those who use extraordinary methods to help others achieve their wishes may themselves be subjected to the same extraordinary methods. Those who enjoy watching others have fun will ultimately be the ones having fun."

"..."

The Humanized Plugin's words were as good as not listening to him, making Chen Luo start to worry that he might have used too much force when whipping the Humanized Plugin with the Whip of Elements, causing the Humanized Plugin's effect to fail and the riddle explanation of the Detection Ability to reappear.

"I'm back." Raven returned to the campfire, unable to hide his excitement, having stored all the gold in his storage ring.

With 300,000 taels of gold, one can live a life of luxury, collect 100,000 taels, and then use the remaining 100,000 taels to melt down a bed and lie on it every day!

"Insolent fool! Not to mention that he is still a criminal, he actually put down the grilled fish and even abandoned his duty to protect my safety in order to collect another commission... Where does he place our safety?" The stargazer, who was sitting quietly on a tree trunk at the foot of the island, suddenly looked at the raven sitting next to him.

"Huh?" The raven paused for a moment.

After listening to Stargazer talk for a long time, Raven still had no idea what Stargazer was trying to do.

"Therefore, I'll deduct ten thousand taels of gold from your account. You shouldn't object, right?" Guan Xing said softly, waving his feather fan.

"Go ahead and deduct, who cares?" the raven said softly at the end.

After the raven touched the magic lamp and was thus obligated to protect the stargazer, the raven no longer believed it could obtain 30 taels of gold from the stargazer...

Raven put himself in their shoes and thought about it. If he could get someone to do his work for free, why would he pay them?

As for whether the raven felt any pain... since it never expected to receive such wealth, the raven certainly wouldn't feel any pain.

But now the raven actually has 30 taels of gold.

Don't even mention deducting just the agreed-upon 30 taels of gold; even if you deducted only 30 taels from the 1 taels I already received, I, Raven, would...

"Mr. Genie, please." Guan Xing looked at the crystal ball floating beside him.

"Okay." Chen Luo snapped his fingers.

The raven suddenly had a bad feeling.

"What...are you talking about?"

"You already agreed to deduct ten thousand taels of gold from your account, didn't you?" Guan Xing said.

Upon hearing Guan Xing's words, Raven instantly probed his storage ring with his spiritual power. He then discovered that the 30 taels of gold he had neatly arranged was indeed missing a gap.

A huge gap.

Although it wasn't a large amount compared to the mountain of gold piled up with 300,000 taels of gold, the thought of the actual value of 10,000 taels of gold still caused Raven unbearable heartache.

"What... wait! Why are you taking away the gold I already received? What gives you the right?" Raven looked at Stargazer in disbelief, then at Chen Luo.

"And you, Genie, why did you grant her such an outrageous wish?"

"Because I made a wish while stargazing." Chen Luo tilted his head as he sat inside the stargazing instrument.

"Make a wish?"

“Yes, wish that she can control the 30 taels of gold you just acquired.” Chen Luo nodded.

"Then I'll make a wish too, a wish that her wish won't come true!"

[Ding! You have a new request!]

"It's too late. When two wishes conflict, the earlier wish should be the primary basis for judgment." Chen Luo shook his head.

Even when he received the commission, Chen Luo surprisingly refused.

After all, no one can remain calm if they know they might be killed by someone a dozen times in the future.

Even if it's just a possibility and hasn't actually happened, it's reasonable to deduct some of his wages to appease him.

Of the dozens of futures that Chen Luo observed in this world bubble, the raven killed the stargazer the most.

Even if, due to some unforeseen event, the stargazer escapes the forest, the lack of a suitable assistant would slow down the formation process, or various other reasons would cause delays, ultimately preventing the fire-attribute beast from being trapped within the formation...

As we all know, there are two most difficult levels in a game: the tutorial level and the final boss level.

And stargazing is just like that.

There are only two ways to die when you're stargazing: either at the hands of a raven or at the hands of a strange beast.

The latter occurred only three times, while the former occurred nearly 20 times.

Although the wishes are equal, the stargazing further helped Chen Luo expand the ways to use his talent, and this favor must eventually be repaid.

A mere 300 raw stones...

As for the psychological trauma suffered by the raven... we'll just give her another 30 taels of gold later.

If a massive influx of gold into the market were to occur, it could indeed have an impact, but Chen Luo knew that Raven wouldn't do such a thing.

Because she only knows how to hoard things and then spend them very carefully.

They can even do some charity work.

So there's no problem.

"No!" Upon hearing that his gold reserves were in the hands of his former assassination target, Raven could already imagine his tragic future.

The stargazer glanced at the raven, who was rolling around on the ground in heartache, and then looked down at Chen Luo, who was rolling around in the stargazer chair in heartache. He couldn't understand why the two were behaving in such unison.

And it's one thing for the raven to be heartbroken, but what is it that you, the genie, are heartbroken about?

[It hurts to lose 300 Primogems.]

After rolling around in the stargazing instrument for a long time, Chen Luo, who had finally relieved the pain in his heart, looked at the raven rolling on the ground and felt a surge of sorrow.

"Raven, what kind of behavior is this? Stop rolling around on the ground," Chen Luo said to Raven from inside the observatory.

[Ding! The commission has been posted!]

The raven wanted to say, "What's it to you?" But its body was more honest than the raven itself, and it obediently returned to the fire.

[Ding! Mission complete!]

Seeing the 200 raw stones arrive in his account, Chen Luo felt a little better.

Rounding it off, I only lost 1000 ore stones... still within my means, thankfully.

“Indeed, as my bodyguard, every word and action represents the face of martial arts. To do such an improper thing, I shall deduct ten thousand taels of gold,” Guan Xing said calmly.

"Still deducting?" Raven's pupils widened in shock.

"Just kill me already! No, you've already killed me twice! My ten thousand taels of gold!"

Raven wanted to speak rudely to the stargazer, but then he thought that if he lost another ten thousand taels of gold, where would he go to seek justice?

"Oh? Just deducting ten thousand taels of gold makes you feel like you've lost your life?" Guan Xing raised an eyebrow.

"Otherwise what? That's ten thousand taels of gold! It might not be much to your royal family, but to me, it's enough to allow someone to live a carefree life!" Raven said with heartache.

"Mr. Genie, how many times has this raven killed me in the future?" Stargazer asked silently in his heart.

"About 20 times."

"Furthermore, she didn't really kill you. Rather, if you hadn't encountered me, as many as 20 potential outcomes stemming from you would have been lost to her," Chen Luo said.

"What are the chances that I can successfully seal the beast?" Guan Xing asked, intrigued.

"Not a single one."

“…Since I might be killed by this raven 20 times at different times, let’s deduct 20 taels of gold from his account. Genie, please cooperate,” said the Stargazer.

Even though Stargazer knew that those twenty or so deaths were the result of divination rather than actual occurrences, he still wanted to teach Raven a lesson.

It will make you greedy!

Moreover, the stargazers could see that withholding the raven's gold was indeed like taking its life.

This makes stargazing even more interesting.

[Ding! You have a new request!]

"Okay." Chen Luo nodded.

Then Chen Luo spoke in reality: "Raven, don't worry, I will only have Stargazer deduct 20 taels of gold from you at most, and I can at least leave you with a guaranteed 10 taels of gold."

"What? You deducted 20 taels from my account, leaving me with only 10 taels? What's the difference between this and the bounty for stargazing?" Raven exclaimed in surprise.

The 30 taels of gold promised by the stargazer but not yet received is practically a pie in the sky, with a very slim chance of being realized. However, the 20 taels of gold that might be deducted is real gold that has already been received.

"Speechless and obstinate, another ten thousand taels of gold shall be deducted." Guan Xing sneered.

"No, Lord Stargazer!" Raven's voice was filled with grief.

Seeing the raven's expression, Stargazer smiled, a rare occurrence for him.

Since escaping the capital three days ago, he had been traveling a long and tiring journey, and this was the first and most relaxed smile he had ever given while stargazing.

Guan Xing glanced at Chen Luo, who was trapped inside the stargazing instrument.

Guan Xing inexplicably felt that he and Chen Luo were quite destined for each other.

One is stargazing, the other is trapped inside the stargazing instrument.

"Stop making such a racket, or I'll take another ten thousand taels of gold from your account. Now hurry up and catch a few more fish. The fish you were grilling earlier are burnt because you went to move the gold," Guan Xing said sternly.

"I understand, Lord Stargazer." The raven looked as if it had lost its parents, but still obediently went to catch fish.

Raven was heartbroken, but as long as he could protect the stargazers, he would definitely get 100,000 taels of gold. As for how much he would get after that, it would depend on Raven's performance.

Raven decided that he absolutely could not reveal any flaws on the journey ahead and have his gold confiscated!

Let's set a small goal first! To get 20 taels of gold!

"Alright, the rest of you are gone. Genie, tell me why you specifically helped me control the raven." Stargazer caught Chen Luo, who was floating beside him, and then fixed him in front of him.

"Yes, of course it's to find you a bodyguard."