Chapter 302

"You are not wrong; those things that look like dolls are actually living creatures, and those miniature manors are likewise real manors."

After picking up the money bag that had fallen to the ground and tossing it to Li Ang, the lazy young man explained:

"The True God of the Weighing Gold Sect is a quite pragmatic deity. Although he also enjoys the faith offered by humans, he prefers that his followers practice his philosophy rather than just kneeling and kowtowing. Simply put, it's things like 'wealth,' 'exchange,' 'value,' and 'commercial behavior.'"

"Therefore, the Weighing Gold Sect's *** is less of a *** and more of a no-holds-barred trade fair."

"Believers and followers of that True God come here to trade whatever they can bring out, which counts as a kind of alternative prayer. Every person invited into the *** receives a temporary money bag filled with a large amount of conceptual currency used for shopping."

"Conceptual currency?"

"That is... um... this is a bit troublesome to explain. Why don't you open the money bag, and I'll give you an example directly."

"Ah, alright."

Following the method taught by Senior Tang Mu, Li Ang reached out to touch the cat-paw badge on his chest, then touched the identical emblem on the seal of the money bag. The bag in Li Ang's hand opened on its own, revealing a pile of strange, colorful currency inside.

"Whoa, your 'assets' are quite substantial!"

After leaning in to look at Li Ang's bulging money bag, the lazy young man raised his eyebrows in surprise, then pointed to a gleaming gold coin on top:

"Look here. The obverse of these conceptual currencies features patterns like hearts, swords, holy grails, crosses, or tarot cards, representing valuable things like emotion, strength, health, faith, and secrets, respectively."

"For example, the scepter pattern on the obverse of this coin represents power that can be used for trade. The lion on the reverse should refer to the Laien family's lionheart crest."

"So, if I'm not mistaken, this coin represents your identity as the Duke of Lionheart. If you wish, you can use it to purchase goods in the *** plaza."

"And whoever obtains this currency can replace you and become the Kingdom's Duke of Lionheart... that is what I meant by 'conceptual currency.'"

What?!

After hearing the lazy young man's words, Li Ang was immediately shocked, and then asked with an incredulous expression:

"The Weighing Gold Sect can even do something like this?"

"Of course they can."

The lazy young man raised an eyebrow:

"Don't underestimate the power of wealth. The concept of wealth is not limited to humans; from a colony of ants to demons in the abyss, for any species with a social structure, wealth is a very important concept."

"So, although that True God of the Weighing Gold Sect isn't good at fighting and couldn't beat our Director in a one-on-one, his status is not low; he counts as a very powerful True God. Doing something like this is not difficult for him."

"But... this already counts as using an 'anomaly' to interfere with the Kingdom, right? Doesn't our Cleanup Bureau care?"

"We certainly have to care; trading identities at the Duke level is definitely not allowed. But if it's a low-level identity trade with little impact, and the Royal Family hasn't come to raise objections, most branch offices aren't very willing to bother with such things."

After opening his own money bag to take a look, the lazy young man pulled Li Ang toward the center of the plaza while continuing to explain:

"The Weighing Gold Sect is considered a relatively moderate sect. Even if they cause trouble, they rarely go too far. Moreover, their abilities are very special, allowing cleanup agents to conveniently obtain useful items, or repair lifespan and limbs lost during missions."

"So most branch offices turn a blind eye to this sect. Only when they clearly cross the line do we take action to suppress them severely, warning them not to go too far."

"For example, if some fool takes your coin and doesn't go to the Weighing Gold Sect to redeem it, but tries to use it themselves"

"to become the Duke of Lionheart, the Weighing Gold Sect will suffer a great disaster..."

"Oh, right, is there anything you want? As long as it's not too expensive, I can help you buy it."

Things I want... wait! Aren't we here to save someone? Why are you shopping?

"Senior Tang Mu!"

Facing the lazy young man's sudden shopping proposal, Li Ang, worried about Auntie Ai Ma's safety, couldn't help but remind him in a low voice:

"Auntie Ai Ma's danger hasn't been resolved yet, and we don't know how long she can hold out against the Snake Spirit. Shouldn't we go find her first?"

"Rest assured, we are looking for her right now."

After pointing his hand toward the coliseum-like building in the center of the plaza, the lazy young man lowered his head to browse the goods on the shelf, explaining without moving his lips:

"See that hollowed-out ring-shaped building? Where we are now is just the periphery of the Weighing Gold Sect's ***. That is the core area of the ***, and only there could Auntie Ai Ma be trapped."

"And the badges we obtained are just the most basic believer badges. We need to complete enough 'consumption' in the periphery to advance these two badges before we can gain the qualifications to enter the core area. So, buying things is the same as looking for her."

Amidst the surprised expression of the street vendor, after buying most of the miscellaneous items on the stall, the lazy young man looked back at Li Ang, smiled, and then persuaded him in a gentle tone:

"I know you have a good relationship with Auntie Ai Ma, so you are very anxious for her, but you had better not be in a rush."

"Although I am also a Level 1 cleanup agent, I am not the type with outstanding combat power like Auntie Ai Ma. The anomalous items I hold are mostly functional, with almost no frontal combat capability, and I don't have the ability to kill a Holy Spirit while under siege."

"So right now, it's best we don't act rashly, but rather preserve this identity and, while trying not to alert the Weighing Gold Sect's upper echelons, mix into the core area of the *** first... Come, you go pick things out, and I'll help you pay."

"Alright... but why don't you pick the items, and I'll pay!"

After thinking about the meaning of the currency in the money bag, Li Ang proposed:

"To me, this Duke identity has no value. If you buy things here and need to use currency like health or strength, it's better for me to pay, so as not to affect your performance later."

"No need, I have more money than I can spend!"

After looking at Li Ang in surprise, the lazy young man shook his head to refuse his proposal, then opened his own money bag to show Li Ang.

Holy crap, how is there so much?!!!

"I was already prepared before we entered."

In Li Ang's surprised gaze, the lazy young man, whose money bag was piled high with colorful coins, said with full confidence:

"Remember the ritual I performed before entering? The set using copper weights, small silver"

"mirrors, and two gold teeth as the main materials is a wealth secret ritual called 'Balance Law'."

"From the moment the secret ritual takes full effect, the next person to give me money will have their assets evenly split with me, and the next person to give me money happened to be the badge made by that cat spirit of the Weighing Gold Sect."

"So in these three hours that the Balance Law lasts, the wealth of that cat spirit of the Weighing Gold Sect is mine to take. If I weren't worried about being discovered if I took too much, we could even buy everything here!"