Chương 28: The Door That Doesn't Want to Be the Door

System, even though you have no personality and won't respond to me, I still want to say that I love you (if you have a personality and are male, then disregard what I said).

cough cough.

With the help of the cheat code, Richard confirmed that the sturdy door of Big Gold Tooth could be seduced.

After a moment's thought, he said to Grace:

"After dark, could you distract those mercenaries at the front door? Just two or three minutes will do, as long as I get within ten meters of the door."

Although she didn't understand what Richard was trying to do, Grace nodded and said, "No problem~" Several hours passed, and the sun finally set completely.

The mercenaries guarding the warehouse changed shifts and lit braziers and torches for illumination.

Just then, Grace transformed into a hunched blind woman and approached the three mercenaries at the door, leaning on a wooden cane.

The mercenaries immediately shouted, "Hey, blind man, get away from here!"

"I'm so sorry, I'll be leaving right away!"

Grace quickly apologized, but didn't stop walking, and finally bumped into the mercenary at the front with a thud, and then...

Splat!

... He used brute force to rip the money bag off the other person's waist, then threw away the disguised wooden cane and ran quickly into the distance!

Mercenaries:?

Seriously, are thieves this brazen these days?

The three mercenaries at the door froze for a few seconds, then immediately chased after Grace.

Not far away, Richard marveled at Miss Red Copper Dragon's extraordinary abilities, even coming up with such bizarre tricks, while he bypassed the brazier, hiding in the darkness to avoid the gaze of the spellcaster on the roof, and stealthily made his way to the warehouse door.

Finally, he got within ten meters of the door and successfully cast the charm spell.

You successfully seduced Big Gold Tooth's front door.

[The Gold Tooth's Front Door: Hello, stranger, do you have any interesting stories to tell me?]

"You like listening to stories? Then you've come to the right person."

Richard whispered to the door, "What kind of story do you want to hear? An adventure like a paladin fighting a demon, or something like a story about my daughter's daughter still being my daughter—a story with an aristocratic air?"

Whatever, as long as it lets my thoughts escape this stone prison for a moment...

Richard frowned slightly.

The tone is very negative.

It doesn't seem like they genuinely crave any kind of story.

Just like office workers on Sunday nights, even though they don't really want to watch anything, they just keep scrolling through short videos because they don't want their day off to end so quickly.

With this in mind, Richard changed his strategy.

"Do you really dislike your current role?"

"Need I say more? I never wanted to be the gatekeeper! I was assigned here by the forgers!"

[It's too empty and too bland here. Not even a thief dares to touch me. Every day I just watch a bunch of dumbfounded mercenaries wander around in front of me, or get poked in the hole between my legs with a stick by some fat, big-eared guy!] The thought of life continuing like this makes me want to collapse. God, I'd rather be melted down and turned into something like a knife, sword, or coin, even if it's small, at least I could see the outside world.

Or even a key would do, so I could experience what it feels like to stab someone...

Richard only said one sentence, but the person on the other side of the door launched into a whole article of complaints.

So he realized that this guy had probably been watching the warehouse for too long and was suffering from burnout!

That makes things easier...

"Mr. Men, are you sure you really want to leave this place, even if it means being melted down afterwards?"

【I'm sure! As for whether it melts or not, that doesn't matter at all. I'm just a big lump of iron; I don't have the same view of life and death as you humans! 】

"In that case, I do have a plan, but to succeed, I'll need your cooperation..."

After some communication, Richard finally got the key piece of the puzzle he wanted.

Just then, the mercenaries, having failed to catch Grace, began to return one after another. The vice-captain, who was patrolling in circles, also noticed the commotion and quickened his pace with displeasure, intending to come over and reprimand them.

However, none of this affected Richard.

He quietly retreated about twenty meters, pretending to be an ordinary passerby, and disappeared behind a nearby building.

Soon, Grace, having removed her disguise, met up with Richard and asked:

"How was the harvest?"

"It's huge," Richard said.

"Through close observation, I've found a simple and effective way to open the warehouse."

Grace:?

"I know this sounds unbelievable, but it's true... Just now, that radiant figure reappeared, and he taught me how to do it..."

Richard used the same trick again, disguising the effects of the cheat as yet another divine guidance.

Although it seemed a bit far-fetched that the same thing happened twice, he couldn't think of a better way to explain it to Grace.

Fortunately, Grace didn't press the matter further.

She merely offered a half-smile and a half-appreciation of Richard's fortunes.

Richard subtly avoided Grace's gaze and said:

"In short, with the blessing of the gods, I am 70% confident that I can pry open Big Gold Tooth and make the Green Mercenary Group's guard mission a complete failure."

"And with just one more thing, the chances of success will be 100%."

"Something that's hard to find in the regular market..."

Upon hearing this, Miss Red Copper Dragon once again displayed a "I'm very curious" expression.

Richard did not immediately solve the mystery, but instead had Grace perform the disguise on the two of them again, and then found a veil and pretended to wrap it around the fake face.

After doing all this, he led Grace away from the port, winding through the alleys until they finally arrived at a small house with its doors tightly shut and two guards standing nearby.

Grace blinked.

"Where is this?"

Richard replied, "It's the Mafia's stronghold, and also Phoenix's black market."

"Oh, I understand!"

Upon hearing those three words, Grace immediately understood.

The Black Hand, a notorious evil organization in Terella.

But unlike the minions of demons or the fanatics of evil gods, they do not have an absolute leadership core, nor do they pursue unrestrained killing and destruction.

Instead, they allow members in each region to develop on their own, and to establish rules for communication between them through negotiation and small-scale conflicts, and then commit crimes within the scope of these rules to obtain excess profits.

To put it bluntly, they are a loose, cross-regional gang alliance, similar to the Mafia in Richard's previous life—evil but lawful.

For this reason, although they lived in the shadows, they still managed to gain a foothold in Phoenix and even opened a rather bustling black market, providing essential services to many people with special needs in this free port.

As for why Richard, a bard, would know about this place...

Well, you'd have to ask the poet father who found Richard.

During his lifetime, he frequently dabbled in the gray areas. In one extreme instance, he almost slept with the daughter of a gang leader. If he hadn't accidentally witnessed his "father-in-law's" sawing skills at the last minute, which frightened him into backing down, Richard would probably have a stepmother by now.

present.

Richard shook his head, suppressing the irrelevant memories, and walked up to the guards, saying:

"It's getting cold, I'd like to drink something hot."

This is local Phoenix slang, meaning he wants to buy something.

Once the guards saw that the code was correct, they opened the door for the two men.

Richard led Grace into the house, and after a few steps, they found a staircase leading down. After descending about ten meters, the view suddenly opened up before them.

It turned out that what was below was not a small basement at all, but a small square dug out from the sewer system, more than fifty meters long and wide, with numerous stalls and simple shops, and hundreds of disguised customers moving around.

"To be fair, while many cities inevitably have black markets, the fact that Phoenix has reached this level of prosperity is something the people of Phoenix really need to reflect on..."

Richard made a comment and then arrived at a shop that occupied a large area and was clearly guarded by bodyguards.

He went inside and said to the hook-nosed shopkeeper who was counting gold coins behind the counter:

"I want a dose of potent sleeping powder for twenty people."