Chapter 57: Who Doesn't Know How to Slap Labels?

The battle felt like a massacre, at least to Liliruca, or perhaps that was simply how it appeared to a supporter without combat capabilities.

Those adventurers who had once oppressed her had no means of fighting back.

Before her eyes was a scene of the Familia members who had once bullied her now being slaughtered like sheep by Liang Yue.

To be precise, Liang Yue's strength far exceeded her imagination!

In Liliruca's memory, he had ventured deep into the Dungeon alone, using his unique traits to lure killer ant swarms, and single-handedly fighting a rare blue butterfly.

Precisely because of this,

she had estimated Liang Yue's strength to be at least that of a Level 2 adventurer. Yet now, facing Chanis's final question,

she received an answer she had never anticipated.

Looking at the reliable figure standing before her and interrogating Chanis, Liliruca fought hard to suppress the retort rising in her throat.

*Could this guy possibly be a Level 1 adventurer?*

Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the bloody scene on the floor below. When she turned her head back, she noticed something abnormal hidden within Chanis's terrified expression.

While he appeared to be continuously retreating, his right hand was actually pressed behind his back.

Liliruca's strange expression vanished instantly, replaced by a deep, underlying worry. She hurriedly called out to warn Liang Yue, "Watch out for him!"

"Too late!!"

As the captain of the Soma Familia, Chanis's rise to the top was certainly less than honorable, and managing the Familia did not require exploring the Dungeon.

That did not mean his adventurer level was fake.

Knowing that Liang Yue was merely a Level 1 adventurer, no matter how hard he racked his brains, Chanis could not figure out how this guy had pulled it off.

Yet the hatred buried deep beneath his overwhelming fear was magnified a thousandfold in that instant.

Given his nature, even with trusted subordinates around, carrying a small hidden weapon was a habit Chanis always maintained.

As the distance gradually closed, realizing the moment had arrived,

Chanis brought out the small prankster crossbow he had concealed behind his back. As he pulled the trigger, even his smile became horribly distorted. "A rookie adventurer?"

"The absolute biggest taboo is..."

"Swoosh!"

"!!"

Compared to the speed of raising the crossbow, the danger perception honed continuously in the high-pressure environment of the Dungeon allowed Liang Yue to react instinctively.

Fully grasping the flexible application of the Sword Soul skills,

he leaped backward while bringing his blade down in a vertical slash, producing a white arc of light laced with faint ripples. The arrow shot by the crossbow was instantly torn to shreds.

As for Chanis,

even as a Level 2 adventurer, he could not withstand the overwhelming force of the backward-leaping slash. His ferocious smile upon seeing his attack blocked

froze instantly.

Subconsciously, he raised his head, his final gaze locking onto Liang Yue's perpetually calm face.

"Death by talking too much, huh."

Soma's divine wine fell into the gray market category even in Orario, not to mention the fact that Chanis was also involved in the trade of Xenos.

No matter how one looked at it, the role of the villain would never fall to him.

Liang Yue withdrew his gaze and smiled lightly at Liliruca. "Go take care of your business."

"Yeah..."

Realizing her worry had been unnecessary, this was still the first time in years Liliruca had experienced that heart-wrenching feeling—the last time being when the florist couple had gotten dragged into trouble.

With a worried look, her gaze swept across the undispersed Familia members below.

As she prepared to head toward the god Soma's brewing room, Liliruca turned back, her childish face earnest. "As for the matter of the reward..."

"Once I've finished dealing with my departure from the Familia, can I come look for you?"

"Not planning to run away anymore?"

"Of course."

Even in the face of Liang Yue's teasing, Liliruca's reply was resolute. "Because I still have something unfinished in Orario!"

---

Paying a fee to leave a Familia was purely a means for Chanis to extort wealth.

If things followed the original plot's development,

in fact, as long as one passed Soma's trial and drank the divine wine without having their mind controlled by it, leaving the Familia would go smoothly.

Liang Yue did not care about Liliruca's so-called unfinished business. He leaned against the railing and looked down at the adventurers below.

Not fleeing—that could only mean the divine wine had completely corrupted their souls.

This was precisely the effect Liang Yue desired.

The perpetually chaotic environment of the Soma Familia had pushed their basest traits to the absolute extreme. To a certain extent, Chanis was truly a talented individual.

Was his achievement sealing away this pack of toxic adventurers?

The adventurers lingering here right now were undoubtedly waiting for his final verdict, meaning the future ownership of the Soma Familia.

"How should this be handled next?"

If he honored what he had just said, it would undoubtedly be treading dangerously close to the edge. Liang Yue was not about to hand evidence of his actions to others on a silver platter.

Human nature cannot withstand the test, let alone a group of addicts.

Making an addict the captain of the Familia would only plunge the atmosphere into even greater chaos. What if some adventurer used the Guild to expose his leverage and blackmail him?

He knew for a fact that such a thing was inevitable!

The original verdict must be maintained, of course.

*Only dead people can keep a secret.*

Trying to carry out a Familia massacre in Orario was extremely dangerous; with the Adventurer Guild's intelligence network, tracing the source would be easy.

To be precise,

rather than leaving this time bomb buried within the Soma Familia, Liang Yue preferred to gamble on a single possibility—the possibility of walking away completely unscathed from this whirlpool!

The god who ruled over the Adventurer Guild:

"Ouranos."

Turning a blind eye to Apollo and Freya plundering members of other guilds—for Ouranos, as long as it did not consume vital active forces,

he basically maintained an attitude of turning a blind eye.

Then the next step became very simple: prove to the Adventurer Guild that the continued existence of the Soma Familia would only drag down and hinder the entirety of Orario.

And...

reaching the maximum stat limits, possessing the potential to break through to a Level 2 adventurer in the shortest time, and his future usefulness against the Black Dragon!

"This really is a high-stakes gamble!"

Liang Yue was certainly no gambler, but facing such a choice made his heart race, and he finalized his subsequent plan.

Instead of continuing to stand on the second-floor corridor, having confirmed that there were no other exits besides the main entrance,

he walked down the stairs while casually making a suggestion to the Soma Familia adventurers: "What I mainly don't understand is..."

"Why is it that with divine wine being so delicious, only defective batches end up circulating on the market?"

"As far as I know..."

"Even for the defective batches, a small bottle sells for sixty thousand Valis, right?" He tilted his head to look at the Level 2 beastman adventurer who had been helping to block the door.

Liang Yue asked with a serious expression.

Realizing this was a chance to shine, the beastman adventurer explained, "The brewing ingredients are extremely precious, and all the divine wine is tightly controlled by that bastard Chanis."

"Even we have to spend exorbitant amounts of Valis to buy it!!"

The reason for his betrayal was simple: his comprehensive strength currently made him the top dog among the Familia.

Going straight from being an exploited adventurer to becoming the Familia captain who exploited members and enjoyed the divine wine at will—that was what he craved.

"Senior... what are your thoughts?"

"I just feel that the way you all make money is a bit too slow. Defective batches can sell for sixty thousand Valis—what about the finished product?"

Casually blocking the entrance of the Familia, Liang Yue looked at everyone with a solemn expression.

His voice seemed laden with bewilderment as he continued to guide them: "Working yourself to the bone exploring the Dungeon every day—how much Valis can you actually make?"

"..."

Knowing full well the dangers of the Dungeon, Liang Yue's direct and blunt words left the gathered adventurers in a deafening silence.

Yet there were still adventurers who failed to grasp the underlying meaning.

Among them was the beastman adventurer, whose wits weren't particularly sharp. He asked in a daze, "Then if we don't explore the Dungeon..."

"Where will we get the money to buy the divine wine?"

"Simple!"

You could only say that drinking divine wine truly impaired one's intelligence. Liang Yue shook his head, his tone carrying a deep sense of frustration over their lack of ambition.

"The divine wine is sold to you at a fixed price, but you decide the final selling price yourselves. Isn't the price difference your profit?"

"As long as you sell divine wine to make money, isn't that much easier than exploring the Dungeon?"

"!!!"

"Senior, you can actually do that?!"

The path mapped out in Liang Yue's words was something none of the adventurers present had ever imagined!

And such a thing was an absolute impossibility under their former captain Chanis; now, it was laid out starkly before them.

They knew just how delicious the divine wine was. If they could sell it to other adventurers...

The immense profits involved—even a simple daydream by the present adventurers made their greedy, longing gazes impossible to conceal.

Making more money meant getting to drink more divine wine!

"Of course."

Liang Yue shrugged lightly, replying casually. Chanis had known what kind of impact releasing finished divine wine onto the market would cause,

which didn't mean these addicts understood the gravity of it.

They simply wanted to drink more divine wine, falling victim to the mistake any addict would make.

"Times are changing. Tonight, all divine wine will be sold at cost price." Liang Yue's expression was calm as he dropped a heavy bombshell.

"Supplies are limited. Anyone want to give it a try?"

If his previous explanation had been meant to broaden their horizons, Liang Yue's final words undoubtedly ignited the adventurers' emotions.

The shoving among the adventurers, the arguments to prove their own worth—

such a scene could only be witnessed at a job fair back in his past life.

"Me!"

"I have money!"

"Don't listen to him! I have connections with adventurers from other Familias; I can definitely sell it at the highest price. Senior, consider me first!"

The peak of combat strength among the current Soma Familia members, the beastman let out a cold snort to intimidate the other adventurers, though his smile toward Liang Yue was entirely ingratiating.

If he could monopolize the entire share of the divine wine, he didn't dare imagine how huge this business opportunity would be!

"Take it easy..."

Fired up by the successive sugar-coated bullets, the muddled-headed adventurers failed to notice that Liang Yue's smile was gradually fading.

It was time for a bit of ceremonial flair.

Liang Yue motioned for the beastman to pull open the door that had been blocked. Breathing in the fresh air, he felt his mind experience a massive wave of relaxation.

He turned around to face the door half-blocked by another table.

Gone was his initial relaxed demeanor; his calm gaze was filled with the resolute and decisive intent to draw a clear line against evil.

Without any warning, he raised his foot and violently kicked the table flying.

"Open the door! FBL!"

"You are suspected of trafficking highly addictive divine wine."

This sudden plot twist left the Soma Familia adventurers present looking completely dazed, before they even had a chance to figure out the situation.

Liang Yue's handsome face radiated a powerful sense of justice as he sternly accused them!

"Attempting to drag down the healthy development of Orario's adventurers—everything I am doing tonight is to rescue these adventurers from fire and water!"

Just don't ask why it had to be fire and water.