Creak—the door opened. With a stern face, Qin Ming led Kasamoto Eiri into the room with large strides.
The sound drew everyone's attention. In an instant, all the people inside the room turned to look.
And without exception, they were all adventurers—adventurers aligned with the Hakkesshu faction.
Their eyes were complicated as they looked at Qin Ming—so wary, so hostile, so full of apprehension.
Up on the platform, where he was issuing tasks, Goenitz smiled faintly and spoke first.
"Mr. Qin Ming, hard at work again? Took care of another team?"
Qin Ming nodded at his words and casually found a place to sit.
"Yeah, they've been handled."
"Was it tough? That guy had taken down quite a few of our people, you know."
"A little tricky, but only a little."
"I knew handing this to you would be no problem. This is the third team you've dealt with now, right? Mr. Qin Ming, your skills are truly impressive."
Goenitz, cradling his Bible, looked at Qin Ming with increasing satisfaction.
He hit hard, had strength, and most importantly—he didn't complain. Give him a job, and he just got it done, never picky.
People like this were born to be—well, battle... partners! So easy to use!
To be honest, Goenitz appreciated Qin Ming a lot, and had already entrusted him with major responsibilities.
Naturally, this favoritism had sparked resentnt from other adventurers.
After all, there was only so much reward to go around, and with so many competitors, anyone who stood out would inevitably draw envy and hostility. That was just how it worked.
Other adventurers were ruthless too—so even more extre than Qin Ming when it ca to dirty work.
But in Goenitz's eyes, they still didn't hold a candle to Qin Ming. The reason was simple: they weren't strong enough.
Qin Ming had no weak spots. He could accept any mission, no matter how dangerous. The rest? Not so much.
Qin Ming could go toe-to-toe with plot-level characters and even win. His potential was high. The others didn't have that capacity.
So no matter how well they completed tasks, they simply couldn't win Goenitz's favor.
Because to a fighter, strength was everything.
If you had strength, being ruthless was called decisiveness. If you weren't ruthless, you had the style of a true martial artist—either way, you were right.
On the other hand, if you lacked strength, being ruthless made you cruel. Not being ruthless made you weak. Either way, you were wrong.
In Goenitz's eyes, they weren't peers—they were just underlings, henchn at best.
So no matter how well a henchman perford, what did it really matter?
Seeing Qin Ming complete another mission flawlessly, Goenitz nodded in satisfaction, then gestured for him to follow into the courtyard.
Qin Ming didn't say anything. He simply stood and followed, leaving behind a crowd of jealous adventurers who had no choice but to continue receiving missions from Vice and Mature.
Once inside the backyard, Qin Ming instinctively glanced around as Goenitz ca to a stop.
It turned out to be a small archive room. Both sides were lined with shelves packed full of books, all of them on mythologies and historical legends from various countries.
In front of the shelves was a stunning woman with long black straight hair, dressed in a navy-blue and black nun outfit. She was carefully arranging the books.
Hearing footsteps behind her, the woman quickly turned around. Her eyes lit up the mont she saw Goenitz. She put down the book in her hands and hurried over.
"Father."
"Hmm, busy? This is my guest—a devout follower of the divine: Qin Ming."
Goenitz introduced Qin Ming with an unusually gentle tone and a warm smile.
But this gentleness wasn't the sa as his usual deanor. Normally, Goenitz always wore a courteous smile, looking gracious on the surface but carrying an air of holy authority—as if he were a divine emissary.
Right now, though, his gentleness ca from the heart. The arrogance of a divine agent was completely gone, replaced by the kindness of an elder.
Hearing her father's introduction, the black-haired beauty dressed in the nun's attire imdiately placed both hands before her and gave Qin Ming a formal bow.
"Pleased to et you, sir."
Qin Ming nodded in return.
"Nice to et you as well."
Seeing their introduction go smoothly, Goenitz smiled again.
"Alright, Sharan. This gentleman and I have so matters to discuss. Go and prepare the holy supper for tonight, would you?"
"Yes. Then I shall take my leave."
The black-haired woman nad Sharan obediently turned and left.
Goenitz watched her departure with his usual gentle gaze, not taking his eyes off her for a long while.
This made Qin Ming frown instinctively.
"She is?"
"My adopted daughter. Abandoned as an infant during a stormy night, left at the church doorstep."
"She's very beautiful."
"I know. That's why you'd better not have any ideas about her. You can ss with Mature and Vice—I don't care about your affairs with them. But if you dare harass my daughter... I'll gouge out one of your eyes."
Goenitz turned with a smile to look at Qin Ming, and once again, that familiar fake smile returned to his face.
Seeing this, Qin Ming's mouth twitched slightly."Relax. That kind of woman isn't within my hunting range."
The mont he said that, instead of Goenitz letting out a sigh of relief, he actually frowned, and his tone turned rather displeased.
"What? My adopted daughter isn't pretty enough? Can't catch your eye?"
"No, it's just that I generally don't like dealing with won who are devout believers."
"Why's that?"
"I'm afraid she'll force to recite scripture at night."
"......Then it's true you shouldn't provoke Sharan, because you won't have to wait until night—she'll force others to read the Bible even during the day, under the guise of 'cleansing the soul.'"
When he talked about Sharan, Goenitz's face once again showed a smile.
anwhile, Qin Ming, who was glancing around the room, suddenly spoke.
"She's one of your combat forces for resurrecting the deity?"
"No, she doesn't believe in Orochi at all. She follows Christianity."
"Oh? And you can tolerate that?"
"Of course. I don't force others to worship anyone in particular. I just need people to maintain the most basic reverence toward gods. Besides, when the deity is resurrected, the world will undergo complete baptism. If soone is guilty, the god will personally pass judgnt—there will be no need for to intervene."
"Baptism, huh? Aren't you afraid Sharan might also fall into the scope of that cleansing?"
Qin Ming's question caused Goenitz, who had been walking, to suddenly halt in his tracks.
Holding the Bible with one hand, he lowered his head and remained silent for a few seconds. Then he slowly spoke, voice distant and low.
"That would be Sharan's own fate, sothing I have no right to interfere with. If the god decides to punish her—no, even if it decides to punish —I won't resist. I can't resist. Qin Ming, you've never seen a god, so you can't begin to imagine the kind of power it holds."
While speaking, Goenitz led Qin Ming to a table, suddenly unfolded the map on it, and pointed to a marked area.
"Qin Ming, the reason I asked to et with you privately this ti isn't just to chat. There's a new mission. Kagura Chizuru is currently trying to communicate with Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, attempting to persuade them to set aside their differences and cooperate.
As for Iori, I will dispatch Vice and Mature to provoke his hatred.
But for Kyo Kusanagi, I hope you can intervene. Whatever thod you use is fine—just disrupt the cooperation between Kyo and Kagura Chizuru. And if possible—kill Kyo Kusanagi!"
At this point, Goenitz suddenly fell silent, as if recalling sothing. His expression grew serious as he looked up and gave Qin Ming a stern glance.
"Friendly warning—don't try to attack Kagura Chizuru. She's not soone you can handle. Last ti, when I ambushed her and her sister, her sister sacrificed herself to fuse Chizuru with the Yata Mirror. Now she can use the Zero Foundation. If you don't want to die, don't challenge her."
For soone like Goenitz, who always acted calm and carefree, to show such a solemn expression—this was a first for Qin Ming.
So he didn't say much more. He nodded quickly and turned to leave.
But just before he could exit the room, a knock sounded at the door. It was Sharan—Goenitz's adopted daughter—entering with a tray of tea and refreshnts.
Qin Ming nodded to her in greeting and brushed past.
But just as he was about to leave the room, he suddenly paused. In the next second, he swiftly turned to look at Sharan, and his sunglasses activated automatically.
He was... very curious about Sharan's stats.
[Na: Child of the Storm – Sharan][Strength: 25][Constitution: 25][Agility: 25][Spirit: 40][Skills: Wind Affinity (Grade A), Storm Flow Martial Arts (Grade B), True Orochi Nagi – Yaoto (Grade A)][Profile: A girl born with awakened wind powers, considered a monster and abandoned by her parents. Yet by fate, she encountered a real monster.]
Looking at Sharan's stats, Qin Ming couldn't help but pause in surprise.
Before he could fully process how stunned he was by those high-tier skills, Goenitz's voice suddenly rang out beside him—cold and sharp.
"Peeking into soone's privacy isn't a good habit, Qin Ming. Don't do it again."
Hearing that, Qin Ming looked up in shock at Goenitz, his face filled with disbelief.
Because he'd always been cautious about not scanning Goenitz's stats with his glasses—he was afraid of being caught.
But to think that even scanning others, Goenitz could still sense it!
Qin Ming, who still hadn't disabled his glasses' ability, looked up—and at that mont, he saw Goenitz's stats clearly.
To be exact, Goenitz—wearing that ever-smiling face but with icy eyes—willingly showed him his attributes.
[Na: Breath of the Storm – Goenitz][Strength: 60][Constitution: 60][Agility: 80][Spirit: 60][Skills: Storm Flow Martial Arts (Grade A), True Orochi Nagi – Jiao (Grade A), True Orochi Nagi – Ba (Grade A), True Orochi Nagi – Reality Severance (Grade S)][Bloodline: Perfect Celestial Bloodline – Wind (Grade S)][Profile: Divine ssenger? No—for mortals, he is God! The television... the Wind God!]
Looking at the terrifying stats in front of him, and feeling the threatening gaze from Goenitz, Qin Ming gave a small nod and quickly turned to leave.
Confird—this guy isn't soone you beat in a one-on-one fight.
Goenitz really was a top-tier fighter! Just like that guy from Fist of the North Star!
(End of Chapter)
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