Chapter 173: Prioritize Protecting Our Archer (Revised)

Cai Mao, a middle-aged man whose hair looked like a knocked-over paint palette from dyeing, sported this flamboyant multicolor hair, and he was irritably grabbing his own rainbow-colored hair.

He was the bar's owner, also a mid-level boss of a gang in the Slum's Eighth District, but his days lately haven't been good.

He often assigned his underlings' positions and 'status' based on hair color; this seemingly childish rule unexpectedly ran successfully in the Slum's lower society.

Perhaps, those who can survive in the wasteland world are all pretty much crazy.

And not long ago, a boy with self-illuminating, ghost‑fire‑bright Ying Guang Lu hair mistakenly stumbled into their Glorious Splendor turf.

His naive underlings regarded that unprecedented 'holy hair color' as a godsend, and even renamed their whole organization to the mysteriously sounding Entropy Light Secret Cult.

And the boy who had mistakenly entered was fervently revered as the Holy Son.

Cai Mao initially welcomed it, even thinking to use this seemingly dim-witted Holy Son as a handy blade.

However, when he learned that this Holy Son was actually a freshman at Mitra Academy, his guts turned green with regret.

The Mitra Academy crowd is famous for protecting their own, and their power is unfathomable—definitely not something a Slum gangster like him could provoke.

Fortunately, after that, Ying Duo vanished like a fleeting bloom, never to reappear, as if that farce were merely an absurd interlude in the Slum's daily life.

Leaving other things aside, how had he never noticed these kids' acting was so good?

Although his underlings kept the name Entropy Light Secret Cult, which sounds even more mysterious, and added a Holy Son that exists only in legend, everything else operated as usual.

After all, these people could lift Ying Duo to a pedestal with just one of Cai Mao's words, and naturally could also toss the so‑called Holy Son out of their minds with another.

The real trouble has always been the Mitra Academy mountain behind Ying Duo that he dares not provoke.

"Tsk."

Cai Mao shook his colorful head, trying to toss these worries behind him.

He is Mitra Academy's pride of heaven—how could he often run to such a dirty, chaotic Slum?

That kid has his own bright future ahead; Cai Mao just needs to look after himself.

Right now, Cai Mao's bigger headache is another matter: the black stone mine outside the city seems to have Aberrant Species activity, forcing the mining work to halt.

Because the Undercurrent gang caused big disturbances in the Tenth and Fourth Districts, drawing close scrutiny and frequent patrols from the Supervision Bureau, some "special" goods could no longer be smuggled in from outside the city as before.

The organization's cash flow tightened at once, and further incidents at the mine severely affected the livelihood of his subordinates who lived by mining, indirectly impacting his "tax revenue."

This mine incident, both publicly and privately, is his responsibility.

Left with no choice, he posted a pitifully meager scouting mission on the Mercenary Guild—he simply had no money.

"Is the reward really too low......" Cai Mao stroked his chin, hesitating a bit.

This amount of money, even a proper mercenary wouldn't bother to glance at, let alone travel far to the mine for adventure.

But asking him to produce more now is truly beyond his means.

Or... should we just raise the price?

After all, not everyone in the Eighth District follows him; there are many who just want to live peacefully, ordinary folk who rely on mining to support their families...

"Bang!"

Just as Cai Mao wrestled with whether to make another trip to the Mercenary Guild, the private room door was flung open from outside, and a red‑haired lackey came tumbling and crawling in.

"Cai, Mao‑bro! Not good! No...... it's great!"

The red‑haired lackey spoke incoherently, his face showing bizarre fervor and delight.

Cai Mao was startled, nearly falling off the sofa, and snapped angrily:

"What's there to panic about! Even if the sky fell, I've got you covered! Speak slowly!"

He still thought it was an enemy raid or the Supervision Bureau coming to check the water meter.

"It...... it's the Holy Son! The Holy Son is back! Right outside the bar!"

The red‑haired lackey's eyes shone, his voice trembling with excitement.

"That head of green hair emitting holy light! Absolutely unmistakable!"

Cai Mao: "!!!"

A buzzing sound suddenly rang in his head, and his heart leapt to his throat.

This is harder to bluff than an enemy raid or a water‑meter check!

Talk about inviting trouble!

How did that Ying Guang Lu show up again?! And of all times!

He forced himself to calm quickly; even if the other side tried to find fault, there'd be nothing to pick on, and as the Holy Son, their status in the organization is nominally high.

With that blazing Ying Guang Lu hair, none of his underlings would dare act out of line as before, and judging by the kid's fervent expression, he's getting into role fairly quickly.

Cai Mao also put on a respectful expression, sprang up from the sofa, and in a low voice urgently instructed the red‑haired lackey.

"Quick! Quietly bring the Holy Son in through the back door! Absolutely no noise—if anyone disturbs the Holy Son, it won't be good!"

Hearing that, the red‑haired lackey's face lit up with sudden realization, the green glint in his eyes flashing and gone.

"Indeed, Cai Mao‑bro, you thought of everything; the Holy Son hardly ever comes, so we really mustn't let anyone disturb him!"

————————————————

The four followed Ying Duo to the Slum's Eighth District; Ying Duo seemed to really know the way, his purpose clear.

But the Eighth District's environment was quite noisy, security chaotic, making them all frown involuntarily.

Soon Ying Duo stopped in front of a bar; the sign above the door clearly read "Phantasmal Vortex" in large characters, yet Ying Duo merely stood at the doorway, with no intention of knocking.

Before Shen Zexi could ask why Ying Duo didn't knock, the bar door swung open, and three or four youths poured out, hair of every color, instantly half‑encircling the five of them.

Shen Zexi and the others instinctively assumed defensive stances—Qi Hengyu's muscles tensed, Chen Mo Zhi's fingers twitched slightly, and Luo Jinyou adjusted his position.

This posture made those people look like they were there to pick a fight.

Yet Ying Duo, surrounded by his own people, still appeared spaced out.

He stood still, not moving, letting his four teammates block all four directions around him.

Hmm, this is the treatment a player should have—ideally, even in a team fight it could be like this.

Yang Yixie watched these few NPCs, he didn't find an option to arrange the formation, and didn't expect these NPCs to be quite smart—they all knew to prioritize protecting our side's archer.