Chapter 314

You finally noticed.

After hearing the Wealth Goddess's threat, Li Ang's brow furrowed slightly, but inside, he exhaled a long breath of relief.

Since Watch Palace blocks all "non-human" entities from entering the world, and since similar appearances are more likely to gain faith than alien forms, most true gods, upon descending, adapt their physical bodies to better align with this world's rules, taking on human form and vessels to reduce rejection from Watch Palace.

But fundamentally, true gods are still not purely flesh-and-blood lifeforms, and it's nearly impossible to kill them by such means; if the Wealth Goddess truly "died" from oxygen deprivation, it would merely mean losing her host body—once freed from the influence of the human form, her chaotic soul would instantly return to normal.

Moreover, Tang Mu and Emma are in dire straits too; they'll likely suffocate before the Wealth Goddess's body succumbs to oxygen deprivation, and the longer this stalemate lasts, the more dangerous it becomes—they must get her to leave quickly.

The problem is, when I'm clearly in the upper hand, I have no need to negotiate with her; if I rashly order her out, she'll grow suspicious, perhaps even realize I'm bluffing—and then everything will be over.

So the only solution now is "three sides surrounded, one side open"—by exposing my own weakness, I give her a "trump card" to bargain with, letting her find her own "escape route," then barely escape through that path.

Yet the sensation of thirty thousand times normal oxygen deprivation seems to have affected the Wealth Goddess's mind; I've hinted several times already, yet she hasn't noticed the escape route I left open. If she can't even spot a direct eye signal, then I'll truly have no choice but to risk ordering her out.

……

"You're threatening me?"

Facing the long-awaited resistance, Li Ang, still immersed in his role, squinted with drunken eyes and said coldly:

"Go ahead and kill them—see if I care!"

It moved—his soul moved!

Seeing Li Ang's soul, though still stable, subtly wavered with the faint disorder caused by his lie, the Wealth Goddess finally found her escape route and burst into ecstatic joy, immediately grasping this lifeline and exclaimed with eager eyes:

"Lies! I saw lies in your soul! You're lying!"

Upon hearing the Wealth Goddess's words, Li Ang, pretending to realize his slip, twitched slightly, his eyes revealing a flicker of regret—deeply hidden, yet unmistakably visible to the Wealth Goddess.

"Though I don't know what you're after, the effort you've gone to infiltrate the Cleanup Bureau means your goal is no simple matter—and absolutely cannot tolerate the slightest mistake!"

After catching Li Ang's extremely subtle expression change, the Wealth Goddess, convinced no one could act this convincingly, finally relaxed completely, weakly yet triumphantly saying:

What often decides victory or defeat isn't strength, but wisdom! Man from the Old Land, you don't want the Cleanup Bureau to take notice of you and expose your identity, do you?

"…"

Watching the man before him, his expression shifting unpredictably as he weighed whether to kill her, the Wealth Goddess feared pushing him too far might make him choose mutual destruction, so she quickly softened her triumphant expression and suggested calmly:

"Man from the Old Land, as I just said, we aren't necessarily enemies.

We've reached this point only because I accidentally stumbled upon your concealment; in truth, our interests and goals don't conflict—we could even cooperate!"

"…"

Seeing Li Ang remain silent and utterly unmoved, the Wealth Goddess's heart tightened, and she hurriedly added:

"Of course, even if you don't want to cooperate, it's fine—if you lift your method and let me go, I swear upon my power that I'll never reveal today's events. You can continue hiding in the Cleanup Bureau—what do you say?"

"…"

"Not enough!"

After silently counting twenty numbers in his mind, using this deliberately left gap to display his inner "struggle," Li Ang frowned, his eyes full of reluctance:

Besides that, you must help me erase all traces—at least give a plausible explanation. Otherwise, three cleanup agents who clearly lost resistance yet mysteriously escaped from you will still look highly suspicious!

"This… I can do!"

Hearing Li Ang's demand, the Wealth Goddess bit her lip, then pulled out a broken pink trident and stabbed it hard into her left arm, smearing it with blood, then slashed off the rear half of her serpent tail.

"This is the weapon of the Lord of Desire-Dreams. I infiltrated through the Dream Realm—perfect as an excuse for your 'survival' from my hands."

After pinning the severed serpent tail to the ground with the broken trident, the pale-faced Wealth Goddess spoke weakly:

"When the Cleanup Bureau investigates, they'll see this and know he was here. They'll assume I, having repeatedly pierced the Dream Realm, angered the patrolling Lord of Desire-Dreams, and while held up by you, was attacked by him—forced to flee wounded.

Later, when I return to the Dream Realm, I'll even confront him in battle. You just pretend to remain unconscious throughout, claiming you know nothing… Is this explanation acceptable?"

"…"

6.

Watching the Wealth Goddess cut off her tail without a word and even prepare to stage a full performance—returning to fight that Lord of Desire-Dreams—Li Ang silently gave her a thumbs-up, then frowned and nodded:

"Acceptable… remember to swear all this into your oath!"

"I will, I will!"

Following Li Ang's demands, she swore upon her power to never leak the truth and to fight the Lord of Desire-Dreams, then, seeing Li Ang's expression slightly soften, she cautiously reminded:

"Then… the things on my body, are you going to…?"

"Come here."

"Huh?"

"No more nonsense—come here!"

Appropriately displaying the irritation of forced compromise and the impatience it triggered, Li Ang jabbed his finger hard against the Wealth Goddess's forehead, then lightly tapped the cufflink hidden in his mouth with his tongue root.

Immediately, dozens of mirror fragments in Jade Valley, shattered by the rupture, quietly released vast amounts of oxygen, and the sealed 【Emerald Dream】 was opened—oxygen flooded in rapidly.

Just a poke on the forehead?

Feeling no special energy fluctuation from that single jab, the Wealth Goddess, still doubtful, was about to ask again—when her body suddenly felt immeasurably lighter.

After that simple poke, her overburdened body, like a traveler parched for ten days in the desert who finally encounters a downpour, felt unprecedented relief.

Exceedingly hidden, yet lethally effective… a terrifying technique…

With a trace of lingering fear, she glanced at Li Ang's right hand. Having walked the edge of death, the Wealth Goddess didn't want to stay a moment longer—she forcibly opened the Dream Realm and hurled all twenty thousand of herself into it, then turned and fled without hesitation!

What a damn misfortune!

I only wanted to capture a Level-3 cleanup agent and interrogate that toad—yet I ended up stumbling onto a giant fish swimming over from the Old Land! Not only did I lose another Holy Spirit, I nearly lost my own life!

This world's waters are too deep—I'm never coming back!