The next morning, the "Old Task Force" sent a telegram to Zhao Zhengqi, confirming that the problems at those manors were indeed caused by the "Anti-Intellectualism Church."
They didn't mention the possibility of this being a lure by the "Anti-Intellectualism Church" because they couldn't be sure if there were any enemy moles lurking around Zhao Zhengqi and Zhao Yide.
Similarly, there might still be followers of the "Anti-Intellectualism Church" hiding in the homes of those nobles in First City.
Jiang Baimian planned to wait until Zhao Zhengqi had coordinated relations with First City and mobilized resources before talking to the head of the corresponding force, reminding him to watch out for traps.
Before long, Zhao Zhengqi replied with a telegram, telling the "Old Task Force" to remain on standby and await further instructions.
This was completely in line with Jiang Baimian's expectations.
Then, the "Old Task Force" split up again. Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao went to "visit" Terence, the second boss of the "Blackshirts," attempting to "persuade" him that Ogg had just found a new lover whom he doted on, and that there was nothing unusual about the "Wolf Den." Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Genava went to the Hunters Guild to see if anyone had discovered Han Wanghuo's whereabouts, while also taking a stroll around the city, both familiarizing themselves with the terrain and helping Su Na, Li Qiong, and others learn which industries had better prospects in First City.
Terence lived in a detached house at 25 Stern Street in the Red Giant Wolf District, with two submachine gun-wielding subordinates guarding the entrance.
Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian found a place to park their jeep by the roadside, "followed" Ogg, and walked to the gate.
"Who are they?" a "Blackshirts" member guarding the gate raised his submachine gun.
Ogg replied with a smile:
"I called the boss.
"They are friends I've known for a long time, and they want to buy marijuana and new stuff from Elysium Island in bulk."
First City had a wired telephone network, but it wasn't very common, and many people didn't need it.
One of the "Blackshirts" members picked up the intercom next to the gate and communicated a few sentences.
He then put down the intercom and pointed to the brown double doors, saying:
"Go in, the boss is waiting for you in the living room."
Ogg skillfully opened the gate and led Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao through the living room into the living room on the first floor.
Inside the living room, a middle-aged man in a black shirt was holding two white porcelain teacups, placing them on a low table.
"Boss," Ogg said respectfully to the man, nodding. "These are the clients I mentioned."
So that's Terence… Doesn't he have servants? Does he need to serve tea himself? Is it because he often does illegal things at home and it's not good to hire servants? Jiang Baimian's gaze turned to the middle-aged man.
Terence was in his early forties, very obese, almost bursting his shirt buttons.
He had short brown hair, blue eyes, and a face full of橫肉(héng ròu).
After listening to Ogg's introduction, Terence looked at Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao, and pointed to the white porcelain teacups on the table with a warm smile:
"This is black tea produced in the Lin Hai Alliance. You must try it."
Hearing the term "black tea" and seeing the water rippling inside the white porcelain teacups, Jiang Baimian suddenly felt thirsty and wanted to gulp down a few mouthfuls.
But in the home of a gang leader with a relatively complex background, she didn't dare to eat or drink anything indiscriminately. Even if she wanted to, she would have to wait for Shang Jianyao to make "friends."
At this moment, Shang Jianyao had already taken a few steps forward and extended his right hand:
"Hello."
"Hello," Terence nodded, but didn't shake his hand.
He then explained:
"I'm not used to having physical contact with others, haha, except for beautiful ladies."
At this time, there were also four fully armed bodyguards in the room.
Shang Jianyao didn't mind and sighed:
"We were introduced by Ogg; friends often just use 'hello' to greet each other;
"So…"
Terence first smiled and nodded, expressing his agreement, then widened his eyes, enthusiastically took two steps forward, and gave Shang Jianyao a bear hug:
"Why didn't you say so sooner?
"I was wondering when you guys would come."
"Surprise?" Shang Jianyao hugged him tightly with a smile on his face.
He was a full head taller than Terence.
After they released each other, Terence's face suddenly changed, and he said urgently:
"Don't drink those two cups of tea, they contain a powerful sleeping pill!"
At the same time as his attitude changed, Jiang Baimian felt that her thirst was instantly relieved.
Powerful sleeping pills? Did he notice we had a problem a long time ago? No, if he knew in advance, there wouldn't only be so few people here, such a trap… Did he serve the tea himself because time was tight, he needed to drug us immediately, and he didn't have time to call a servant? While Jiang Baimian's thoughts raced, she heard Ogg ask in surprise:
"Boss, why do you want to give us sleeping pills?"
Don't ask! Jiang Baimian's heart skipped a beat, but it was too late to stop him.
Hearing Ogg's question, Terence replied with a smile:
"I can sense danger within a certain range…"
Speaking of this, he paused and repeated a word in confusion:
"Danger…"
Seeing the situation take a sharp turn, Jiang Baimian abandoned the fluke she had held earlier. Her waist and back, which had been ready to go, straightened, and she lunged at Terence.
At the same time, she drew the "Ice Moss" pistol hidden at her waist with her backhand.
Shang Jianyao made a similar attempt.
Terence's blue eyes flickered, and he fell to the ground, avoiding the pincer attack from Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian.
Before the bodyguards in the living room had time to react, Jiang Baimian landed, turned around, and aimed her gun at Terence.
At this moment, she suddenly became unusually calm, without the desire to attack, the desire to survive, or the desire to turn the situation around.
At this moment, she felt as if she had entered the "賢者時刻(xián zhě shí kè)" mentioned in the old-world entertainment materials, eliminating all kinds of desires, her mind was clear, and she began to think about the meaning of life, the essence of the world, the philosophy of existence, the omissions just now, and the subsequent responses.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shang Jianyao also frozen there.
Terence rolled away, stood up, and, while signaling the bodyguards to point their guns at Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian, laughed loudly:
"Didn't expect that, did you? I still have this ability!
"You can avoid the black tea spiked with powerful sleeping pills, but you can't avoid 'Sage Time'!
"Say, who sent you? You, don't speak, you speak!"
He didn't want to "hear" Shang Jianyao say another word.
Jiang Baimian, in a "賢者狀態(xián zhě zhuàng tài)," was unusually calm, and said simply and quickly:
"Your powerful sleeping pills won't work at all. We have strong physiques and can resist the effects of the medicine to a great extent."
Hearing this, Terence seemed insulted:
"I'll prove it to you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he picked up a cup of black tea and gulped down a few mouthfuls.
Ogg, who had initially broken free from the "Reasoning Clown" effect due to the sudden change, was stunned and blurted out:
"Boss…"
After drinking most of the cup of tea, Terence was stunned.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What was I doing just now?
Terence was dazed for a few seconds, threw away the white porcelain teacup, and hurriedly started coughing into his throat.
Ugh, ugh, he tried to vomit out all the black tea he had swallowed.
Without his subsequent "supplement," the effect of "Sage Time" quickly faded, and Shang Jianyao easily subdued the bodyguards, who hadn't reacted to what had happened at all, using "Hand Action Missing."
At the same time, he also rendered Ogg incapable of resisting.
Jiang Baimian then took three quick steps, raised a palm blade, and knocked Terence unconscious.
After "persuading" everyone else in the living room, Shang Jianyao looked at Jiang Baimian and asked curiously:
"How did you know to say that just now?"
Jiang Baimian glanced at him:
"I noticed that you, like me, tried to stop Ogg from asking the question, believing that the question was likely to解除(jiěchú) Terence's 'Reasoning Clown' effect.
"Since I had time to make an attack, you naturally had time to apply a relatively strong and short-lived 'Pretentious Person' to Terence.
"Even if I didn't stimulate him to drink black tea, you would have made him pretentious in other ways, creating an opportunity."
Clap clap clap, Shang Jianyao applauded.
…
Two hours later, in the living room.
"Haha, what are your three abilities?" Shang Jianyao asked, putting his arm around Terence's shoulder and laughing.
"Haha, they are 'Sage Time,' 'Constant Thirst,' and 'Danger Detection,' haha, I can't tell you the price," Terence replied with a smile on his face.
"Haha, which domain is that?" Shang Jianyao asked, laughing.
"Haha, 'Mandala,'" Terence, who was still shoulder to shoulder with Shang Jianyao, replied truthfully with a smile.
"Haha, are you from the 'Desire Supreme Saint' sect?" Shang Jianyao asked amidst laughter.
In this sincere and exaggerated atmosphere, Jiang Baimian almost covered her face as she watched.
At this time, Terence's expression turned serious:
"No.
"They are a bunch of damned heretics!"