Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

"Witness Farley's power!" Ted shouted at Liu, then turned to rub his hands together obsequiously: "As long as you kill [Swift Wind] for me, I'll give you whatever money you want!"

Ciel, who was protecting Astraea from the rear, was stunned.

No, you're the Joker, so who am I?

"Um, Ciel-kun, have I misunderstood you?" Astraea teased, tilting her head.

"Huh? Am I actually a really good person?" Charles also had his doubts.

No, who is this person?

Why is he wearing my knock-off clothes? The fabric and material seem to look even better than my cloak.

He's so sassy! I'm completely flustered!

Ryu shouted angrily, "Joker, are you the mastermind behind this human trafficking incident?!"

Joker chuckled: "Dead men don't need to know too much."

Ciel: No, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!

Before Ryu could react, the Joker pulled out an iron rod, its handle and pulley spinning rapidly, and slammed it down on Ryu's blade with a clang.

“Level 4! Your stats are above mine!” Liu’s pupils contracted as the blade scraped against the iron rod, sending sparks flying.

But what upset her even more was that she clashed with the Joker's weapon. Based on past experience, once his strange weapon caught the sound, the weapon would not survive a second collision and would be shattered into pieces.

Ryu's offensive was thwarted. Fearing the loss of her only weapon, Ryu focused too much attention on guarding against the iron rod in Joker's hand, trying not to expose the vulnerable parts of her sword to enemy attacks.

Already at a disadvantage, they were repeatedly defeated.

"Heh, the famous [Swift Wind], you really do have some skills." Joker sneered, his eyes wide, seizing the opportunity when Ryu was off guard, he kicked him two meters away, sending him crashing into the tables and chairs scattered throughout the hall.

Only Ciel remained speechless.

No, what's the point of putting wheels on that iron rod? Without a specific mechanism or the ability to distinguish the sounds of weapons clashing, isn't that rod just a plain iron rod?

Seeing Gale's defeat, Ted's previously dejected expression instantly brightened: "Hahaha, as expected of the Joker! You easily suppressed [Gale]!"

He shouted, "Men, seize the goddess Astraea over there! Today we're returning this meddlesome deity! Whoever captures them will be rewarded with 5000 million fali!"

hula-

The guard who had been knocked to the ground by Ryu scrambled to his feet, staring intently at Ciel.

Haruhime cried out and shrank behind Ciel, her small hands tightly gripping Ciel's clothes, her whole body trembling.

"Don't be afraid." Charles gently stroked the fox's fluffy head and touched its ears.

He stared at Ted with a mocking look: "Looks like your men aren't very loyal either."

The guards looked stern, their previous disheveled appearance of lying on the ground groaning completely gone, and they acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Just kidding, how much is a month's salary? Why work so hard?

To keep their jobs, they can just fight it out casually. At crucial moments, they can simply lie on the ground and pretend to be dead, letting others deal with them. What's the point of actually getting killed?

But it's different now.

"5000 million is enough for me to live a carefree and comfortable life for the rest of my days!"

"It's not just about kids and goddesses, brothers, don't try to take them from me!"

"5000! It's mine!"

The guards approached step by step, their faces filled with greed.

Astraea tugged at Ciel's sleeve, feigning fear, and cried out, "Ciel, Ciel, what should I do? Please help me!"

Xia Er rolled her eyes: Isn't the strongest person here you, the goddess?

"Are you polite?"

Astraea smiled mischievously, her eyes crinkling: "I'm a goddess who can't even kill a chicken, you know. Isn't protecting the gods the duty of the kin?"

"I'm not one of your clansmen either."

Charles sighed, still standing in front of Astraea. He stared at the group of guards who were closing in, and slowly extended his palm:

"Gentlemen, please hear me out."

"What do you want to say?" a guard asked warily.

They weren't too optimistic, as Charles still possessed a strange monster.

"Ahem." Charles cleared his throat and said calmly, "You just want money, right? Go kill that dwarf (Ted), and I'll give you double each!"

"hiss------"

Double that's a hundred million!

Why should we believe you? Do you even have money?

Charles sneered, "I won by going all in with 9 million chips. If this casino goes down, shouldn't all the Faris pay me back?"

The guards looked at each other in bewilderment: What should they do? What he said makes so much sense!

Charles added fuel to the fire: "Besides, that guy only promised 5000 million to whoever captures the goddess. So, with so many of you, who is going to get that 5000 million?"

"How about you two have a fight first? I'll give Astraea to the strongest one. Anyway, I'm not a member of the Astraea Familia."

"..." The guards' eyes began to turn unfriendly, but they mostly turned to stare at Ted.

Ted: "Wait... why are you all looking at me?!"

Chapter 285 A Lewd Fox? No way! It's a real fox!

"Sir Ted..."

The guards turned their blades around and approached their former employer step by step.

"What do you want? I'm one of Lord Joker's men. Aren't you afraid of retaliation from the Dark Faction?"

The guards' expressions were grim:

"I'm sorry, that gentleman gave us way too much! And no one was competing with us for it."

"Besides, killing the goddess Astrea would definitely land us on the wanted list in the city. We're just working for you, we don't want to be hiding all over the world."

Ted panicked. His clan wasn't without strong members, but they had all given their all in the fight against [Gale] and were now lying dead on the ground.

Facing the guards who had turned against him, Ted's face turned grim: "You...you don't forget, the Joker is still here. Even if you kill me, if you can't defeat the Joker, none of you will get out of here!"

"Not to mention getting money from my casino! He's just making empty promises to you, a bunch of idiots."

Upon hearing this, the guards exchanged bewildered glances.

That's right.

They glanced at the battlefield of [Gale].

Clearly, Joker is unilaterally dominating [Swift], and doesn't seem like he can win.

Ted sneered, "If you don't want to die, do as I say and control the goddess. We can easily subdue [Gale]. I will give you the same reward then!"

"It's just 100 million? I can afford it."

“It’s one hundred million per person,” Charles emphasized.

“Yes! One hundred million each! No, two hundred million!” Ted’s face darkened.

Isn't it just making empty promises? Anyone can do that.

Charles scoffed, "There are twenty people here, two hundred million each. Can you afford that?"

Charles estimated that the casino had at most around 50 billion in reserves, after all, it was just a black market and its money-making ability was far less than that of a money pit like the 'Golden Sanctuary'.

Sometimes, if the dough is overly mashed, it can have the opposite effect.

As expected, the guards hesitated.

Who the hell is telling the truth?

But then I thought, if I don't help Ted, and the Joker wins, they'll be the ones getting punished. Conversely, if I just go through the motions and fight, and the Astraea Familia wins, they probably won't be targeted.

After analyzing the pros and cons, they made up their minds and let out a tremendous roar:

"Die, Astraea!"

"Charge! Kill her, for Farley!"

The shouts were loud, but the forward speed was very slow.

Some people even stood still, or tripped over corpses and fell to the ground, blending in with the wounded.

Chunji trembled with fear, burying her head in Ciel's back, not daring to look outside. Only Ciel's back could give her a sense of security now.

Ciel sighed.

He looked at Astraea and said, "Aren't you going to help? Ryu probably can't beat that 'Joker'."

“No, Hecate is here. This is a private duel between two clans,” Astraea stated her position.

"Tsk, troublesome." Charles observed the situation: "The key to victory still lies with 'Joker' and Leon..."

Astraea said expectantly, "Sir, you'll definitely find a way to save everyone, right? I believe in you, Mr. Hero."

Don't call me a hero.

“There’s no other way.” Charles sighed, turned around, and squatted down to look Haruhime in the eye.

"Hey, Haruhime. Do you want to help everyone and become a hero?"

"Eh? My daughter?" Haruhime looked at Ciel with fear.

"Just tell me, are you willing or not?"

Chunji did not hesitate: "I do!"

"Good! Brave child."

Charles smiled and ruffled the little fox's hair, then looked up at Astraea: "Please grant this child your favor, Goddess."