Dan Heng looked at Mr. Shen Wan, and seeing that Mr. Shen Wan showed no sign of objection, he said, "Tell us specifically, how do we get to the Underworld?"
"Don't rush, don't rush. Before going down to the Underworld, we still need to shake off our pursuers. Although this path is open to you, I still don't want the Silvermane Guards to find out. Otherwise, if they block it off, it won't be easy for me to go down to the Underworld to peddle my goods." Sampo's cunning merchant expression was on full display.
"How do we shake off the pursuers?" Dan Heng hoped Sampo could come up with a good plan.
"Heh, just leave it to me, brothers. Trust me, go to the entrance of the Outlying Snow Plains, get the Silvermane Guards to gather over there, and I'll be able to help everyone shake off the pursuers."
"Do you think we should trust you?" Mr. Shen Wan raised a question. With Sampo's random intrusion into the plot, there was no guarantee that this director of Belobog wouldn't improvise. Besides, he had clearly stated before that he wouldn't run away, but the moment they took their eyes off him, he bolted. If he ran away again this time, it would really shame the dignity of an Emanator of Erudition.
"Oh my dear brother, I admit it was wrong of me to run away before, but look, aren't I here to help again now?" Sampo protested, feeling wronged.
"Correction: You were dragged out by Mr. Shen Wan." March 7th chimed in with a timely challenge.
"No, I was just hoping to step in only when you couldn't escape, but I was dragged out ahead of time by Mr. Shen Wan."
"By the sound of it, are you trying to blame Mr. Shen Wan?" March 7th began to stir up trouble.
"Hmm?" Mr. Shen Wan let out a cooperative hum.
"Speak, what do you want me to do so you'll trust me?" Sampo abandoned his struggle and chose to let them fleece him.
"How about this, let me smack your perky butt!" March 7th covered March 7th's mouth and dragged her aside as she started acting up.
Ignoring the two who were still bickering nearby, Dan Heng put forward his own request: "It's very simple. After everything is over, I hope you will turn yourself in. At the very least, prove to the authorities that we are not your accomplices."
"?" A huge question mark appeared on Sampo's face. No way, just this tiny little thing? Why bother? It made him so tense for nothing.
"Because the Astral Express crew does not accept any kind of frame-ups or misunderstandings." Dan Heng explained simply.
Mr. Shen Wan wore a bewildered expression. *Wait, since when was Dan Heng holding such a grudge?*
Calling over the two silly girls who were still bickering nearby, the group began walking toward the other path.
When everyone reached the other entrance, unsurprisingly, Bronya was already blocking the doorway with a large group of people.
A Silvermane Guard taunted, "You guys really thought you could escape? Don't forget, before the Fragmentum erosion, this place was part of the urban area and one of our most frequently patrolled routes at night."
"Don't move, you're surrounded," Bronya said, signaling the surrounding soldiers to load their muskets.
Just at that moment, Sampo tossed out a few black spheres. When the spheres hit the ground, they emitted purple smoke that quickly filled the entire area.
Before long, the thick smoke cleared, and people were sprawled all over the ground, including but not limited to Bronya and her soldiers, and... the three little ones!
Seeing that almost everyone had passed out, Sampo started popping champagne early. "Hah, is this the best you've got? Even Genius Society #50 wouldn't—this is just..." Wait, what did "almost everyone had passed out" mean? Just as Sampo was about to crouch down and hoist the three little ones onto his shoulders, he froze. He looked up, and isn't this Mr. Shen Wan? Why hasn't he passed out?
"Sorry, haha. Your drug is kind of trash. About a hundred years ago, I happened to tinker with a little gadget that helps me clear toxins from my body at any time," Mr. Shen Wan said.
"So, what were you about to say just now?" Mr. Shen Wan began to settle accounts.
"Uh, no... Big brother, I was wrong." Sampo, who had initially wanted to argue his way out of it, saw that Mr. Shen Wan had summoned his drone again—and this time, the drone was even emitting a dangerous red light. He immediately gave up. Whatever happens happens; old Sampo is checking out.
"I know your identity, Masked Fool, and I also know your purpose for coming to Jarilo-VI. 'The more a pleasure embodies human dignity, the higher that pleasure is,' am I right?" Mr. Shen Wan began to expose his background.
"A genius... is it...?" Hearing this, Sampo finally began to take this genius who had lived for dozens of Amber Eras seriously. The intelligence files from the Tavern did not list this guy's species, but judging from the fact that he could live for dozens of Amber Eras, he was at least a long-life species.
Moreover, Sampo hadn't expected to run into this guy while looking for fun this time, so naturally, he hadn't specifically gathered relevant intelligence. Apart from the fact that interstellar civilizations he had helped—which successfully gained recognition from other civilizations in the universe—unanimously referred to him as a "Sage," the only noteworthy piece of intelligence was that the civilizations calling him a "Sage" had united to form an organization called the "League of Sages." Although they belonged to the Erudition faction, they worshipped this "Sage," which was why the orthodox Erudition factions, the Genius Society and the Intelligentsia Guild, did not recognize them.
Aside from these two points, there was no other intelligence worth mentioning.
Yet the protagonist of this very intelligence actually managed to resist the high-end merchandise he got from the Tavern's "Poison Apothecary," and judging by appearances, he wasn't affected even the slightest bit, and even understood his goal. Could this really be the universe's "most undeserving Genius"?
"I don't have any other demands. You can continue with your fun, but don't drag me into it." Although he knew Sampo wasn't a bad guy in the traditional sense, because of the System, Mr. Shen Wan actually really disliked being the butt of a joke.
"My pleasure, esteemed Geniuses." Sampo quickly straightened his attitude. Although he wasn't afraid of Emanators and logically shouldn't be afraid of a Genius, his mask was currently taken away by Sparkle to play with. If a real fight broke out, he was no match.
"Alright, next you want to take them down to the Underworld, right? It shouldn't just be the three little ones, should it?" Mr. Shen Wan asked casually.
"Who else should we add?" Sampo behaved quite normally, except for a slight upward twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"You're taking Bronya down there too, aren't you?" Without noticing Sampo's strange expression, Mr. Shen Wan blurted out.
"Ah, you should've said so earlier, buddy. I'll take her down too." In just a few words, Sampo shifted the idea of abducting Bronya onto Mr. Shen Wan.
"Huh? What?" It was only then that Mr. Shen Wan realized he had been played.
"Ding! Sob sob, it's not easy! A pig that has been single for dozens of Amber Eras is finally going to cabbage-arch!" No matter when or where, the System—hearing the call—arrived to mock him.
"In that case, I'll carry these three, and you can carry Bronya." Sampo continued to launch a follow-up attack.
However, Sampo quickly turned serious, using Elation energy to levitate the four fallen individuals because Mr. Shen Wan had once again summoned the red-eyed drone with a blank expression.
Sampo led a bunch of people (currently unconscious) and Mr. Shen Wan to a secluded corner, pushed aside a pile of junk, and revealed a hole barely wide enough for one person to pass through. Then, Sampo said ingratiatingly, "Mr. Shen Wan, this is the tunnel I use to smuggle goods between the upper and lower districts. Please be careful when going down, because it's rather... steep." After saying that, he went down first, and the four little ones were floated down one by one by the Elation energy.
When everyone had gone down, Mr. Shen Wan also stepped inside. However, after walking only a few steps, he found that the path ahead turned into a small cliff. *Hmm, it certainly was steep—a sheer 90 degrees.* Without wasting any breath, he used the power of Erudition to cast a slow-fall buff on himself (massively reducing the gravitational coefficient) and jumped down.
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the next installment for the decomposition.