Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Chapter 207: Chapter 207: I Want to Show My Value to the Venerable

Balderes was wearing a large apron with a pair of goggles hanging around his neck. He had the air of a craftsman and stood out in the crowd.

He was currently standing alone in a corner, clearly waiting for someone.

Lloyd quickly walked over and greeted him.

"Hello, White Knight."

Balderes looked up and sized up the blurry-faced person before him. He then noticed the Revolver hanging from the man’s waist—one of his own proudest creations, which he had only recently presented to the Supreme One. Now, it was in this person’s hands.

’It seems he really is a Beloved of that ’Audience’. He must receive boons frequently... boons from the Supreme One. How enviable...’

Realizing something, Balderes quickly lowered his stance and extended a hand.

"Hello, Black Knight. It’s an honor to meet you."

And with that, they had exchanged their secret pleasantries.

"I knew you’d come. So, should we find another place to talk? Or play a round first?"

Lloyd said, tilting his chin toward the bowling lanes nearby, and added another question:

"You have points for this place, right?"

"I do. I came in this morning and tried a few activities. Won some, lost some. I have 10 points left. But I’ve already tried this one... and accidentally lost two points."

Balderes answered honestly.

Lloyd wasn’t surprised. Balderes was a clever man whom he regarded highly. Moreover, he was a Tier Four Extraordinary Being, the ceiling of the second floor.

Besides, this wasn’t his first time here. He had been here twice before, but he’d only observed from the sidelines to gather intelligence. Afterward, he had even shared his many insights from watching with the Black War Chariot Goldrinn at the symposium.

’With his strength and thorough preparation, it would be strange if he *couldn’t* earn points.’

"Wait here a moment, then."

With that, Lloyd strode onto the lane, touched the Control Crystal, and casually selected difficulty 7. The familiar cartoon zombie scene appeared.

"Aiyayaya~ WHOOSH~~~~~"

As the little red bird-cannonball traced a perfect parabola, 14 points were easily added to his account.

Since Balderes was waiting, Lloyd didn’t bother trying to greedily farm for Madness Value. He quickly took his win for the day, then turned back and said:

"Alright, let’s find another place to talk."

The whole process was so clean and efficient, as natural as clocking in for work, that no one nearby even noticed someone had completed a difficulty 7 challenge in such a short time.

Balderes, however, had noticed. He quickly asked in a low voice:

"You can clear difficulty 7 that easily? I tried difficulty 6 before and felt the Spiritual Contamination, so I gave up immediately. I can’t believe you... Wait, you’re not the ’Newbie’ everyone here is always talking about, are you?"

"That’s just my callsign here. What about you? What callsign did you pick for yourself?"

Lloyd replied casually.

"I... I’m still going by White Knight..."

’Using the same handle everywhere? Aren’t you afraid of getting doxxed?’

Lloyd mocked him silently with some amusement and led Balderes away from the scene and into a garden.

An Attendant immediately came forward to greet them, asking respectfully:

"Will you be going to the reception room now?"

Lloyd nodded, and the Attendant revealed a wooden door behind him. He opened it to show a laboratory-style reception room that met Lloyd’s specifications.

Inside, it was fully equipped with all sorts of devices, apparatus, and glassware. It also came furnished with a sofa, coffee table, recliner, bar counter, and wine cabinet—several orders of magnitude more luxurious than the lab Lloyd was renting at a high price.

After Lloyd and Balderes entered, the Attendant continued:

"If you require anything, please do not hesitate to command me. It is my honor to serve you."

Then he gently closed the wooden door.

"He... this Attendant, why is he so nice to you?"

Balderes couldn’t help but ask.

Lloyd asked in return:

"Hm? Is he not nice to you?"

"He’s polite, I suppose, but not nearly as attentive as he is with you. I almost thought you were one of the managers here or something."

"Not at all. It’s just that they think I’m some ’existence capable of touching greatness,’ so their attitude became more attentive. It makes me a little uncomfortable, too."

Hearing this answer, Balderes couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild again.

’This ’greatness’ must refer to the Supreme One, right? As the Supreme One’s Beloved, this new ’Black Knight’ is indeed ’capable of touching greatness’...’

’I just didn’t expect the Venerable’s influence to be so great. Even those arrogant Attendants revere Him...’

’And this ’Black Knight’ is clearly no simple man either. Although he’s not as unfathomably terrifying as the new ’White Soldier’, his condition is extremely healthy and full of vitality, not that awful, life-threatening state...’

As these thoughts connected in Balderes’s mind, he took the initiative to ask:

"In your letter, you mentioned wanting to discuss *Orbital Mechanics* with me. I was quite looking forward to it, hoping to receive some enlightenment and guidance from you."

’Er... this guy really has become ’humble,’ hasn’t he? Looks like the [Seed of Distortion] is working pretty well.’

Lloyd mulled it over, feeling a little more at ease.

Compared to the arrogant and condescending White Knight, he much preferred interacting with this humble version of Balderes before him.

But now wasn’t the time for academic discussions. Lloyd was still worried about Elolo, so he carefully considered his words before speaking.

"Before we talk about Orbits, there’s another matter you might need to be concerned about. It’s regarding the ’White Bishop’."

"Her? I don’t know much about her. My impression is that she’s a rich young lady, quite young, and rather timid... Oh, no, I mean cautious. And her father is a High-ranking Powerhouse who likes to fish and is skilled in engineering."

Before Lloyd could even finish speaking, Balderes had spilled everything he knew about Elolo. It seemed like he was selling out a teammate without hesitation, but in reality, he didn’t mention obviously more important information like Elolo’s system or Tier. It was a very clever response.

Lloyd nodded, then, pretending not to know Elolo’s current situation, he continued in the most authentic tone he could manage:

"I know a little about her as well. The Venerable has a good opinion of her. Of course, the same goes for you—in fact, His opinion of you is even better... That’s why I’m willing to share a directive from the Venerable with you. He wishes for me to provide some assistance to the ’White Bishop’."

After saying this, Lloyd couldn’t help but feel secretly glad that the mosaic covered his face, hiding his expression. Otherwise, with acting skills that Weiya had described as ’incapable of lying,’ he would surely have been seen through.

The reason he was taking this matter upon himself, rather than having the mysterious Supreme One act personally, was firstly because he was afraid he couldn’t handle it alone;

and secondly, he was also a bit afraid that if things went south and they failed to rescue her, the Supreme One’s entire persona would collapse and be utterly ruined...

Lloyd’s words contained a great deal of information, and Balderes couldn’t help but chew on them carefully, not rushing to answer.

’The Venerable actually has a high opinion of me? That’s completely unexpected. I thought I was just an ’interesting’ little bug in His eyes, like a cricket in the hands of a mischievous child.’

’Does this mean I also have a chance to become His Beloved? And become as powerful as the ’White Soldier’ and the ’Black Knight’?’

’In that case, I have to seize this opportunity and prove my worth to the Venerable!’

’However, for this mysterious ’Black Knight’ to ’share’ the Venerable’s directive with me instead of handling it alone... does that mean the help the ’White Bishop’ needs will be rather tricky?’

’But then again, what kind of trouble could a rich young lady possibly get into that requires help?’

After a moment of rapid thought, Balderes finally spoke up and asked:

"Has the ’White Bishop’ run into some kind of situation?"

"I’ve investigated through certain means. It seems she’s currently been confined to her room by her father and is suffering some inhumane abuse."

Lloyd replied.

"Is that so? That’s quite troublesome. Her father is a High-ranking Powerhouse, and this is a family matter. If we outsiders want to interfere..."

Balderes said, then suddenly changed the subject and asked:

"By the way, do you know where she lives?"

Lloyd shook his head and asked in return:

"Do you?"

"I don’t know either."

Balderes replied, feeling even more curious inwardly. ’You clearly know that she’s been confined and abused by her father, yet you don’t know where she lives?’

’Those so-called ’certain means’ must be quite something, then, right?’

Thinking of this, Balderes immediately followed up with another question:

"Will the Venerable Lord take action in this matter?"

Lloyd quickly lowered his voice and switched to a slightly colder tone to remind him:

"The Venerable has only entrusted this matter to me. As for the rest... Don’t overthink it, and Don’t Ask Too Much."

Balderes couldn’t help but shudder. He quickly waved his hands and apologized.

"My apologies. I didn’t mean to. I just failed to manage my curiosity for a moment... Oh, right! The ’Black Soldier’ from our symposium should know her address. Please wait, I’ll write a letter to contact him right away."

Then, he took a small notebook from his apron pocket, tore out a page, and wrote a short note. Next, he pulled out a bottle of Spiritual Ink and drew a Mark on the workbench in front of them.

He then curled his fingers and tapped it gently three times, infusing it with a bit of Spiritual Power.

The Mark split open into a spatial rift, revealing a black-and-white checkered background inside, like a chessboard.

Balderes tossed the note in, clapped his hands, and said:

"There. He should write back in a little while."

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