Gang leader Ban Yang put down the phone, leaned back in his boss chair, and put his legs up on the desk, letting the buxom secretary beside him light his cigar.
He exhaled smoke and smiled with contempt, his facial scar twitching: "Franco, that trash, handed over the Philosopher’s Stone so quickly, he’s such a coward. How is he supposed to serve the Goddess without any spirit of sacrifice?"
"If he wants to fight, let him fight. It’s broad daylight, so many people are watching, he wouldn’t dare beat you to death!"
After speaking, a sneer followed.
Ban Yang bit on his cigar and pulled out a drawer, slamming a handgun onto the table, and said to the secretary, "Tell everyone to be alert. The target is a brainy brute. As long as the other side makes a move, I’ll allow them to open fire. As long as there’s no loss of life, I’ll take full responsibility."
"Ban Yang, is this really okay?" the buxom secretary asked softly.
"People from headquarters come once in twenty years, the High Priest is here every day, and the target is a child of Austin Lando. Even if the High Priest won’t do anything to you, the Lando Family has clout in both legal and illegal circles, and you’re the only one who’s going to get unlucky," said the secretary.
Ban Yang’s eyelids twitched. She had a point. The High Priest would have to go through procedures to deal with him, but Austin could bury him with just a sneeze.
"That may be true, but I, Ban Yang, have long dedicated my life to the Goddess. The Lando Family is nothing to me; they can’t scare me."
Ban Yang loosened the button at his collar: "Tell everyone to prioritize peace, don’t use guns, and bring out those crowbars..."
"And by the way, turn on the magic barrier, Austin’s son sure likes to sneak attack."
The secretary nodded and left.
With the cigar in his mouth, Ban Yang mumbled, "They can’t get the Philosopher’s Stone that easily. At least not from me. With dozens of brothers at this stronghold, even if they storm in, we can hold for three days..."
"Yeah, no big problem."
A loud noise, and the ceiling collapsed. If not for Ban Yang’s quick reflexes, he would have been buried in the rubble.
Wayne stood amid the rubble and said to a stunned Ban Yang, "In the name of the Goddess, you lowlifes deserve death. You’ve never encountered me before, but today, your retribution has arrived."
"Bullshit, you definitely know."
"Can’t say it, can you!"
Wayne sneered, clenched his fist, and shattered the magical barrier in front of him, shouting, "Great, you’re not only a gang leader but also a Black Sorcerer who commits all kinds of evil deeds. Today you’ve met me and your punishment has come. The Goddess will severely punish your sins."
Ban Yang was completely dumbfounded, having never encountered such shamelessness before. His voice rose in pitch, "My dozens of brothers..."
"They’re out there getting beaten up right now!"
It can be even faster.
Being a Silver Mage like Ban Yang, he was instantly killed by Wayne, pinned to the ground, and pummeled with punches.
"Speak, you evil Black Sorcerer who’s stolen from natural faiths, where have you hidden the Philosopher’s Stone?"
"Hahaha, if you dare, kill me. If I talk today, I’m your son."
Five minutes later, Ban Yang was kneeling on the ground, howling in tears. He had underestimated Wayne, who really dared to beat someone up while playing dumb.
Every time he was beaten to near death, Wayne would heal him back to a less critical state.
After several cycles, whether others could bear it or not was uncertain, but he definitely couldn’t. He surrendered the Philosopher’s Stone almost automatically, crying and begging to become an adopted son of the Lando Family.
Wayne kicked Ban Yang away, thinking him too ugly to even dream of becoming Austin’s godgrandson.
He slapped the Naturalism Church’s pamphlet on Ban Yang’s face and viciously said, "The Goddess is merciful, even to trash like you, she’s willing to give you a chance. Today I won’t kill you, but I’ll be back in three days. If you can’t recite this book from memory, I’ll beat you up again."
Is there a chance that he has already memorized this book backwards?
And is there another possibility that this book was printed in the factory he’s responsible for?
"Damn societal trash, just looking at you annoys me. Thank the Goddess for her mercy, or else you would be dead today."
Wayne, holding the Philosopher’s Stone, left the office in a rage. When he passed by the warehouse, he completely ignored the piles of promotional pamphlets and called Veronica to leave with him.
The two drove straight to the last clue.
If they were quick, not only could they gather all three Philosopher’s Stones within a day, but they’d also make it to the Lando Family’s dinner.
"Is this really okay?"
Veronica, sitting in the passenger seat and looking at the two Philosopher’s Stones, sighed, "You knew they were our own people, yet you didn’t hold back at all."
"That just shows how good their script was; it even fooled the two of us."
"That’s true, but you need to use your brain during assessments. Failing to recognize your own people won’t get you a high score."
"They know I realized but pretended not to notice, unless they admit themselves their script is rubbish..."
Wayne smirked, "Anyway, it’s not my fault. If the task didn’t go well, it’s their script that has issues. They know what to do to avoid the blame from above."
"You’re so skilled at this!"
"Dad taught me well, and there’s still a lot more for me to learn from him."
Wayne humbly said, and soon they arrived at the third destination.
The abandoned church.
No one around, not a single soul.
According to the script, there should have been an NPC guarding the place, possessed clues to the Philosopher’s Stone, and layers of challenges set up—only the sincere and kind-hearted could obtain the clues from the NPC.
Clearly, the script had been modified at the last minute.
"Damn it, we’re still a step behind." Wayne lamented, shaking his head.
Veronica chuckled lightly, "What did I say? We should have split up from the start."
"And then what? We get all three Philosopher’s Stones within a day and set a new record for the fastest candidate to pass, and when the blame comes down from above, the entire investigation team gets punished, losing face and jobs?"
Wayne left Veronica speechless with his question, then patted her blonde head, "Let’s find a hotel and rest for three days, giving the investigation team time to craft a new script. We can’t be too harsh, especially not us geniuses. It’s easy to offend people when we’re too arrogant."
"But haven’t you already offended them?"
"How so? Over the next three days, I’ll appear to be spun around by useless clues."
"It’s a bit convoluted..."
Veronica understood some but not all of it, and dryly asked, "Wayne, is this all within your calculations?"
"There’s no calculation needed – just don’t treat others as fools. They thought we were the fools who would play along, which is why they lost the initiative."
Wayne glanced at Veronica and imparted, "Remember, Veronica, you always need to keep the initiative in your own hands."
"I now have the initiative. The investigation team doesn’t want to be punished, so they’ll be begging us to perform soon."
"The score might not be high, considering their resentment, as they’ve never seen someone mess up as I have. But the score won’t be low either, as the fallout would only affect them."
"What’s wrong, any more questions?"
"Wayne Lando, you and your father are so alike; was I picked up somewhere?"
"Ah, when did you find out?!"
10,000 words, asking for monthly passes.