What kind of divination am I doing?

"A customer?" Lu Qiao hurriedly swallowed a small steamed bun and stood up, pondering how he, as the boss, should serve his customers.

Lu Qiao, who had just stood up, thought for a moment and then sat down again, no longer looking at the guest.

Luqiao himself is a typical socially awkward person, and he knows that many customers leave in a hurry because the boss is too enthusiastic. The customer originally wanted to buy something, but was stared at by the boss's eyes or because of the boss's incessant chatter.

Even if the other person is an outgoing E person, you have to wait for them to speak before you can join the conversation. Enthusiasm is the other person's business, not yours.

Lu Qiao recalled that back in junior high school, he often went to a noodle shop for breakfast and had become a regular customer. The shopkeeper would never ask him anything; they just knew what Lu Qiao wanted to order.

I sat down, finished my meal, paid, and left. Then one day, the owner gave me an extra braised egg. We sat down and chatted about everyday things, with the owner praising her successful children and complaining about how her husband couldn't support the family on his own.

Luqiao never dared to go again; he just wanted to have breakfast. The braised egg made Luqiao a little embarrassed, and the conversation made him even more breathless.

So at this moment, Luqiao started eating his xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) with his head down.

To prove my point, even when I'm not around, Black Cat can earn seven dollars just by lying down.

Lu Qiao thought to himself, "I don't want to fail to make money because I'm too enthusiastic. Then Black Cat will have the chance to mock me, saying I'm not cut out for making money."

Lu Qiao glanced at the other person out of the corner of his eye and continued to eat his xiaolongbao casually.

But then she saw someone moving towards her, walking straight towards her without even looking at the merchandise. Could it be someone wanting their fortune told?

Lu Qiao thought to himself, looking at the black cat beside him.

Anyway, with the cat around, I'm not worried at all. Even if I don't know how to make up a story, I can always use this black cat.

That black cat really knows how to do this; Luqiao even thinks his aunt has probably been making a living off that black cat all these years.

As the guests drew closer, Luqiao couldn't help but glance at them out of the corner of his eye.

A person, wrapped up tightly, stood in front of the road and bridge.

Lu Qiao was taken aback and looked up, realizing how tall the other person was even while he was sitting down.

Realizing that the foreigners seemed to be quite tall, Lu Qiao looked at their faces.

The other person was wearing sunglasses and a black mask, so his face was not visible, but Lu Qiao recognized him.

Because of the coat! Lu Qiao recognized and was very familiar with what it was draped over his shoulders; it was a patchwork of fox fur.

Lu Qiao instantly understood who the other person was and tentatively asked, "Monica?"

In July and August, the weather hasn't turned autumnal yet; it's still considered summer.

Dressed like this in an Outland tavern is perfectly acceptable, but bundled up like this here, you'd probably die of heat.

Lu Qiao could imagine that if he wore this robe now, he would get heat rash in no more than three minutes.

Upon realizing he had been recognized, the other person chuckled, took off his coat, and slapped it on the table.

Indeed, Monica herself felt hot.

But once he took off his clothes, Lu Qiao understood why Monica had to wear a coat even when walking from the cellar to the castle.

Even though it was such a cold place in the Outer Realms tavern, Monica was dressed very lightly.

Because Monica's skin was pale pink and shiny after she took off her coat.

It is a physical reflection, like a large piece of pink translucent glass.

The sky was almost completely dark in the Outland tavern, and the lights were barely visible thanks to the tavern's fireplace and small lamps.

If someone like that walked down the street, they'd probably be taken away and dissected for research.

Is this an elf? Then the elves in the novel are indeed very different from their real-world counterparts.

The black cat looked up, meowed, and said, "The gold matter is settled? You didn't need to make this trip."

Monica shook her head slightly and explained, "It's about the gold."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qiao was taken aback and asked, "Something happened to gold?"

If even entrusting someone to another race for sale can lead to trouble, how chaotic must the outside world be!

The black cat looked at Luqiao and meowed again: "It's alright. It was all gold he came up with through his own clever schemes. It's gone now, but it's a pity about the inheritance tax. We'll have to think of another way."

Black Cat remained calm and collected, but Lu Qiao was completely bewildered. The trouble started, and he realized he'd worked for nothing.

Monica realized her words had been misinterpreted and quickly explained, "It's a misunderstanding. It's about the gold; something big has happened. It's not that something's wrong with the gold. Every transaction we have someone take away is guaranteed. We wouldn't be so foolish as to hand over six bags of gold to one person and let them run away."

Hearing this explanation, Lu Qiao felt relieved.

The black cat stood up and meowed again: "Is it about the relic?"

Monica shook her head and replied, "About god-killing."

"Holy crap, wasn't it said that you had to collect enough relics to be qualified to kill a god?" Luqiao asked.

The black cat replied, "It was divined by our lich race. There was absolutely no way they could have killed a god before this. Who did what? Tell me in detail!"

Monica nodded and said, "We weighed the gold, and it's about twenty pounds of reserves, roughly three million US dollars. Not long after we posted the bounty, a demi-human came to the tavern, saying he needed one kilogram of gold to be sent to his world, and was willing to use diamonds worth three times the Earth's settlement amount as collateral."

Hearing this, Lu Qiao was somewhat tempted. If he could engage in this inter-regional trade—exchanging gold for diamonds, then bringing the diamonds back for auction—wouldn't that be like stepping on his own two feet and instantly becoming a millionaire? He could even resell technology or other things.

"You agreed? Didn't I say that it could only be traded on Earth? Trading between the two worlds is a crime!" The black cat exhaled, excited.

"The Outer Realms Tavern is connected to other worlds?" Lu Qiao realized.

"Otherwise, why call it the Outer Realm?" the black cat meowed irritably.

"Is it illegal to resell goods from other worlds? Is it the kind of invasive species I'm referring to? Or does this kind of reselling affect prices in other worlds?" Lu Qiao asked thoughtfully.

"Both are true, but having managed an Outland tavern for so many years, I can weigh the impact of that." Monica nodded, agreeing with Lu Qiao's statement.

"What's the point of weighing the pros and cons? If something goes wrong, you're dead. You came to us, something serious must have happened!" the black cat explained.

"Something big has happened! But after weighing the pros and cons, I think it's not a problem. It's true that ordinary diamonds are everywhere because of the fact that they're synthetic. But high-quality, high-carat diamonds still have a market on Earth, and they can be sold in one auction. If one deal goes through, I can split it into several investments." Monica's words lacked confidence, but she was still explaining.

The black cat sneered, "You talk about us, but the truth is you just trying to pocket double the profits, right? Using your status as an outsider tavern owner?"

"Yes, I don't deny it, because there are very few opportunities like this to make a fortune. I was greedy; the other party was willing to exchange two million US dollars worth of diamonds for one kilogram of gold." Monica nodded without denying it, and took out a black cloth bag from her pocket and opened it.

Inside the cloth bag were three diamonds the size of pigeon eggs: one blue, one red, and one pink.

I was mesmerized by the road and bridge; they are so beautiful.

The castle doors were open, and the sunlight shining on Monica was bright enough, but it still paled in comparison to the three simply cut gemstones.

Even though these three gemstones were simply cut, polished, and ground, Lu Qiao understood why jewelry is a valuable item only after seeing it with his own eyes.

Lu Qiao had this thought: how wonderful it would be if this thing were his own.

But why would Monica say things were bad? Lu Qiao pondered and asked, "You got it, didn't you? You traded it for a kilogram of gold. Is this gem fake? Or were you cheated because it wasn't worth a kilogram of gold?"

What Luqiao really wanted to say was, if this thing is fake, he could just keep it for himself and play with it.

Monica shook her head again: "It's been appraised; it's naturally formed. It is indeed worth three kilograms of gold. We can probably understand why the demi-humans were willing to trade. They have many mines and extremely high diamond production, but gold production is scarce. For them, three times the price wouldn't be a loss; they might even make a small profit. Of course, sometimes in business, isn't it all about information asymmetry?"

"Stop making excuses for your mistakes! Keep talking." The black cat growled, clearly angry.

"That's what I thought until things went wrong. After the transaction, I was thinking of doing it this way. But then an orc in the tavern watched the whole thing and casually remarked that they'd been trading with the demi-humans recently, and the demi-humans were also in high demand for gold. But in the history of the orcs, the world where the demi-humans lived didn't use gold for trade at all. Because gold was so scarce, it was just a symbol of royalty, and there was no need to buy it in such large quantities. That remark caught my attention," Monica explained.

When Monica said this, her voice was a little softer, clearly indicating that she lacked confidence.

Lu Qiao then understood what the black cat was angry about. Monica could openly admit to breaking the law, which meant she must have gotten herself into a huge mess.

"Then it occurred to me that the demi-human race doesn't circulate gold at all. So their only purpose in acquiring gold is to obtain materials for the ritual of summoning the evil god!" Monica replied.

After hearing this, the black cat rushed into the hut, clearly to perform divination.

Black Cat left, leaving only Luqiao and Monica.

"A ritual to summon an evil god?" Lu Qiao asked.

"An ancient book of the demi-human race, that's quite famous. It can summon evil gods, I reckon they want to use this to kill gods!" Monica replied.

Lu Qiao was a little confused: "Wait, the black cat told me about collecting holy relics and then working together to kill a god. What's this demi-human evil god ritual?"

"Everyone shares the same goal, that's true, but there are always one or two races that pull off some strange tricks. They think their methods are feasible, and the mainstream approach is the lich race's divination, since that's how they get the results. But among the various races, who would admit that their method is flawed? This evil god ritual is about creating a false god, sacrificing one's own race to continuously strengthen this false god, ultimately leading to the god being devoured by it," Monica replied.

"Devouring the entire race?" Lu Qiao realized.

"Not only that, if we hadn't discovered it in time, after they devoured their own race, they could have used the Outer Realms Tavern to devour other races. This method isn't impossible; it can actually kill gods. But if it really succeeds, then it won't be as simple as killing gods; the evil god will devour everything. I was indeed terrified when I discovered this, so I wanted to have a divination done to find out the result." Monica finished recounting her heartbreaking experience.

The black cat then ran out: "Madman, you're all madmen. I can only deduce that if this really works, our elders will foresee it. The lack of notification means the plan has failed. I can't see that far ahead, but you're truly muddle-headed!"

Even Lu Qiao, if he were stupid, would understand: this was a method of killing a god, but besides killing the deity, it would create an evil god that devours everything. This wasn't just killing a god; it was flipping the table and taking everyone down with it!

This action reminded Lu Qiao of the phrase "better to die a glorious death than live a shameful life," and it also reminded him of the extreme madmen in certain island nations.

"How long ago did this happen?" the black cat asked.

"Just now, the other party left. I realized something was wrong and wanted you to do some calculations. I want to resolve this peacefully. If you can solve it, I'm willing to give you three gems, and I'll only take three percent of the remaining gold as a discount for the customers. I won't accept a single penny." Monica offered her new terms.

Lu Qiao finally understood after listening. What was said before, that the customer would receive 7% and the tavern would receive 3% as a commission, was actually the truth: the customer received 3% and the tavern received 7% as a commission!

That elf has a black heart; he's obsessed with money.

"They're crazy, are you crazy too? Is it still about money now? This is a red-level danger incident, we'll settle accounts after this is over! Road and bridge keys!" Black Cat roared.

Lu Qiao took out a bronze key from his pocket and tossed it to the black cat, which caught it and ran away.

They were on their way to open an Outland tavern, and Monica quickly followed after them.

Lu Qiao was startled. Although it was only a few steps, Monica's glowing skin meant that if he chased after her and someone saw him, something bad would happen.

Lu Qiao looked at the gems on the table and knew that the matter was so serious that even the gems were not taken away.

Lu Qiao immediately opened the cabinet, put the gems inside, and then grabbed a blanket and chased after them.

Monica had just stepped out when Lu Qiao caught up with her and draped a blanket over her.

"Thank you." Monica came to her senses and realized that it was wrong of her to run out like that. After thanking him, she wrapped herself in a blanket and chased after him.

Lu Qiao closed the castle gates and announced that it was closed for the day before chasing after them.

Once outside, the sun was shining brightly.

Looking at Monica's back draped in a blanket, Lu Qiao finally understood what exaggeration meant.

From this angle, I can see Monica's two long, white legs.

When the sun shines on it, it is almost entirely reflected and scattered.

Even if you stuck diamonds on a person, the reflection wouldn't be this bad.

It was practically a walking spotlight, and Luqiao quickly chased after it.

The two of them went to the cellar and then went inside.

Inside the cellar, Lu Qiao, who had just entered, began to shiver; it was too cold.

Monica handed the robe to Lu Qiao, who put it on without saying a word.

The black cat was already standing on the bartender's counter, holding a lever in its mouth and shaking it repeatedly.

The bells rang throughout the tavern, and the foreigners who were drinking stood up, clearly understanding that something big was about to happen.

The moment Monica heard the bell, she collapsed to the ground, repeating in despair, "I'm doomed."