Chapter 459: Crush Me With Money!

Is it finally dead?

Gazing at the shattered, unrecognizable giant toad below, his legs trembled slightly; to hide his fear, Li Ang sat on the gold and silver mountain and finally exhaled.

Though I've said it many times, I really want to say it again now… this Cleanup Bureau job is no job for a human!

Relying on a bellyful of idealist nonsense to talk a Sacred Spirit to death, Li Ang, his limbs weak, crawled slowly down from the mountain of gold, glancing at the badge system's record.

【Through outstanding oratory and acting, you crafted the false persona "a penniless worker who doesn't care for money," successfully distorting the Gold Exchange Toad's perception of the world and utterly destroying the foundation of its existence. You unlocked the Silver Badge: "Elite Performer."】

【Performer: A fine script, a suitable stage, and you—enough to deliver an extraordinary performance.】

【Effect: With masterful lines and performance skills, you seamlessly embody your role, making the character's personality and traits profoundly convincing.】

【Advanced Path: After performing ten outstanding shows in a theater with over two thousand spectators and gaining approval from over ninety percent of the audience, this badge will automatically upgrade to the Gold Badge: "Master Performer." Current progress: 0/10.】

【Hidden Trait (no need to equip): An outstanding performer, like a firefly in darkness, stands out wherever they go—your aura has been greatly enhanced.】

"…"

Though it's a direct Silver Badge… it doesn't seem all that useful?

After reading the effects of "Elite Performer," Li Ang, expecting something like a "Sacred Spirit Slayer" badge, sighed in disappointment and glanced down at his badge panel.

【Materialist Soul (Red)】

【Alcohol Country Martyr (Gold)】

【Friend of the Devil (Silver)】、【Elite Performer (Silver)】

【Shooter (Bronze)】、【Reliable Older Brother (Bronze)】

【Unemployed Youth (Iron)】、【Probationary Worker (Iron)】、【Parkour Newbie (Iron)】

So far, he had acquired nine badges, but only five badge slots.

【Materialist】 occupied one slot outright; 【Alcohol Country Martyr】, which dispelled fear, took another; the remaining three enhanced the effects of his Corruption-type anomalies: 【Friend of the Devil】, 【Shooter】 for boosting shooting, and 【Probationary Worker】 for directly increasing work efficiency.

As for the equally useful 【Parkour】, with all five slots filled, he had to set it aside for now, planning to swap it in when encountering complex terrain; this new 【Performer】 would likely suffer the same fate—probably just destined to gather dust in the badge storage…

Hmm… fortunately, aside from badges, he had other gains.

Looking at the giant toad, even in shattered pieces, still imposing in size, Li Ang's mood improved considerably, then reached out to pat its massive skull.

【Encountered… Materialist… Information】

【Name: Sacred Remains (? 、?)】

【Appearance: Shattered corpse of a giant toad】

【Ability:?】

【Cost:?】

【File: After its cognition was brutally shattered, it could no longer sustain its concepts of money, currency, dominion, trade, etc., and thus collapsed on its own. Cannot be used until repaired and re-refined.】【Evaluation: Exceptional anomaly material; with excellent additives and correct methods, it should yield a powerful anomaly.】

【Contamination Value:?】

Indeed, this thing had tremendous potential.

After reading the Materialist's description, Li Ang nodded in satisfaction.

Though dying from verbal abuse seemed pathetic, the golden toad was still a Sacred Spirit—whatever anomaly it became would be extraordinary.

Also, per Cleanup Bureau rules, as the one who personally… personally talked it to death, once recovered and submitted, he held absolute first claim rights to any anomaly crafted from it.

Even if the final product didn't suit him, he could exchange it, like with the Witch's Broom, for another usable anomaly—so despite the extreme danger, the rewards were equally substantial…

…

"Kid! We're over here!"

After waiting too long without Li Ang coming to him, the ram's head, crushed under a pile of golden wheels, strained its neck to urge:

"Hurry up! Stop touching that toad and dig me out!"

Li Ang, still checking his gains, followed the voice, digging for a long while atop the half-collapsed pile of golden wheels before unearthing the buried ram's head.

Once freed, the black ram stared at Li Ang—his clothes slightly torn but otherwise unharmed—and burst out excitedly:

"Quick! Tell me! How did you win?!"

"Didn't you hear? I just talked to it about worldview, life philosophy, values—then it realized its perception of the world was wrong and collapsed on its own…"

"By the way, will these people be okay?"

Unwilling to reveal the badge system but too embarrassed to claim he was a saint who regarded gold as dung, Li Ang gave vague answers, then stood and surveyed the square, where people lay unconscious.

"I remember, though the effect didn't last long, many were aged by the toad's ability—can what was exchanged away be restored?"

"And when the toad started spewing golden wheels, many just passed out and haven't woken up yet…"

"Ah, not waking up is a good thing!"

Li Ang lifted the ram's head higher so it could see the shopping plaza; the ram shrugged dismissively:

"After you provoked it, the toad, desperate to buy you, retracted the money it gave these people and returned the lives it forcibly took."

"See? The golden wheels beside them are gone—that's proof the toad canceled the transactions."

"As for why they all passed out… having their lives abruptly taken, then violently returned all at once? You'd pass out too!"

After answering Li Ang's questions, the still-skeptical ram fixed him with an unblinking stare:

"Kid! Don't try to fool me with that crap! That toad didn't know you—it got fooled. But I know you!"

"You'd rather smell foot odor for an hour than spend two copper wheels on a standard cabin ticket—you're the ultimate miser! You could never resist the power of money!"

"Spill it! Did that red-haired woman give you some kind of protective… WHOA! MOVE! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Move? Could the toad come back to life?

At the ram's warning, Li Ang tensed and whirled around—but the toad's fragments lay still, the golden toad hadn't risen. Yet…

The mountain of golden wheels collapsed!

In this minor landslide, countless metallic coins surged toward him like a golden flood!

(End of Chapter)