WTYTIAAN Chapter 78

Chapter 78

For the time being, Yan Yunqing realized that the “Children’s Gang” was actually called the Children’s Gang after he formed an alliance with them.

What a simple and unadorned name.

Yan Yunqing glanced at Jeff, who was still losing health, and took out a money bag from his backpack. He had pilfered it from Magina, the palace maid he had killed in the Bato Vita Royal Palace.

I must say, as expected of someone who worked for the Queen, she really had a lot of money on her. However, Yan Yunqing wasn’t poor himself. He just had a habit of looting corpses after killing people. No player could resist looting a corpse after killing a monster.

Yan Yunqing tossed the money bag into Nika’s arms. “Take your brother to get treatment. No matter what, survive first, and then think about more possibilities.”

After saying this, Yan Yunqing coolly stood up, wanting to strike a pose.

But he forgot that the house was short. As soon as he stood up, he bumped his head against the waterproof cloth on the roof, making a “thud” sound.

Yan Yunqing: “…Isn’t your roof made of waterproof cloth and thatched grass?”

Why did his head make a “thud” sound when he bumped into it?

Nika was still stunned, at a loss with the money bag suddenly thrown into her arms. Hearing this, she answered without thinking, “Because it’s windy here, and the roof often gets blown away. So, Ferdi and the others reinforced the house before. It seems they found a few wooden boards and installed them on top.”

Yan Yunqing: …

Yan Yunqing silently lowered his head and bent over to walk out of this small home built by the children themselves.

Watching Yan Yunqing leave, Nika looked at the money bag in her hand. After reacting, she immediately opened the money bag and saw a full bag of gold inside.

Jeff also saw the gold coins in the money bag. Thinking of what Yan Yunqing had said, he couldn’t help but sigh to Nika, “It seems we really met a very good person.”

Nika tightened her fingers and grabbed Jeff’s wrist. “Jeff, let’s go find Mr. Paul right now!”

Jeff said helplessly, “Alright.”

Belo, who had finally found a cup and returned with it full of hot water, looked at the empty house with a puzzled tilt of his head: “Huh, where did Sister Nika and Big Brother go?”

*

Not knowing if Nika had told the other children something, those kids who often ran outside were extremely friendly to Yan Yunqing. Even Roco, who had been very wary and hostile towards Yan Yunqing at the beginning, softened his attitude.

Only then did Yan Yunqing learn that Roco was able to steal things from others without anyone noticing, thanks to his innate skill, [Theft].

“…You’re actually telling me something so important?” Yan Yunqing was surprised. “This skill should be very important to you, right? Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell others?”

The reason why the Children’s Gang was able to succeed in stealing every time was because of their appearance as children, ordinary people would not be too wary of children, allowing them to easily get close. Moreover, they were stealing from outsiders, so those people would be even less vigilant towards them.

The second reason was Roco’s innate skill. This skill was truly without anyone noticing, and Yan Yunqing was a little envious.

[Theft]

Description: After making physical contact with the theft target, you can specify to steal one item from the other party, regardless of the level difference. After the theft is successful, your own presence is reduced, and the probability of you being noticed is greatly reduced, lasting for 20 minutes. Skill cooldown time is 120 minutes.

If this innate skill could be transferred, Yan Yunqing would definitely have taken it from Roco. This was too in line with his Joker identity! With this skill, he would be a real Phantom Thief Joker. After stealing, he would have a stealth effect. Which phantom thief wouldn’t drool over it?

Roco turned his head slightly. “…Hmph, I’m not afraid you’ll tell others.”

If Jeff’s situation hadn’t been so bad, and they hadn’t needed a sum of money to treat Jeff, and they couldn’t contact their companions in Mantipher quickly, they wouldn’t have stolen from this person.

They were very cautious about choosing their targets every time. Even if his innate skill was really spread, it wouldn’t matter.

Yan Yunqing could probably guess what Roco was thinking. He could only say that this child was too naive. If this kind of innate skill was known to outsiders, he would only become a little rat that everyone in Freedom City would shout at.

What would be the use even if they said they wouldn’t steal from their own people?

“Besides,” Roco glanced at Yan Yunqing awkwardly, “You saved Nika and Jeff, you should be trustworthy, right?”

Yan Yunqing: “Well… why not?”

Child, you’re so easy to deceive.

“In short—” Roco raised his chin, “Nika said that my innate skill should be a little useful to you. I’ll go to Mantipher with you then. Just tell me what to do.”

He thought for a while and added, “I don’t have the money to pay for the entrance fee, you have to figure out a way.”

Yan Yunqing thought for a moment and felt that this made sense. Roco’s skill was indeed very useful. If used well, it would be a great help to him.

“Okay, then you’ll stay by my side these few days and let me see your ability.” Yan Yunqing unceremoniously intercepted Roco and brought the child back to the hotel he was staying in.

Walking into this kind of hotel that was extremely expensive for them for the first time, Roco nervously pinched the corner of his clothes and didn’t even know how to take a step. “Do I have to follow you from today?”

Yan Yunqing: “Of course, Nika has sold you to me. You definitely have to follow me from today and cultivate tacit understanding. Otherwise, if you don’t understand what I mean when you get to Mantipher, what will you do?”

Roco was stunned. “Nika didn’t sell me to you!”

Yan Yunqing perfunctorily said, “Yeah, yeah, it’s just a metaphor.”

Roco: “…Okay.”

Roco followed closely behind Yan Yunqing, hiding in his shadow. If you weren’t careful, you really couldn’t see him.

Just after opening the door, Yan Yunqing poured himself a glass of water to drink, moistening his somewhat dry throat. When he turned around, he found that Roco had already found a corner and was squatting there quietly looking at him.

Yan Yunqing: …?

He almost choked on a mouthful of water. “Cough… what are you doing squatting there?”

Roco hesitated, “Where should I go then? Should I stay in the corridor?”

Yan Yunqing: “…I mean, you can sit on a chair. Isn’t it uncomfortable to be cramped in the corner?”

Roco looked at his not-so-clean clothes and then at the extremely clean hotel. Roco, who had never felt dirty before, realized that he was out of place in this place.

He slowly stood up, dragged a chair, and sat in the corner again.

Okay, it seems this child really likes corners.

Yan Yunqing rummaged through his backpack, took out a plain set of clothes he bought from Sunset Village, and tossed one to Roco.

“Go take a shower, change into these clothes first, and then I’ll buy you a set later. You can’t dress like a little beggar when you enter Mantipher.”

Roco puffed out his cheeks and didn’t refute Yan Yunqing’s words. He took the clothes and went into the washroom.

Yan Yunqing wanted to explain how to use the washroom, but Roco didn’t give him a chance. After a while, the sound of rushing water was heard inside.

It seems this child is quite smart.

Yan Yunqing ignored him and sorted out his thoughts. According to Nika’s meaning, someone from the Children’s Gang would come to teach him the basic rules of Mantipher next. This was indeed what he was lacking now. After all, he was a law-abiding citizen before and had never been to a casino. At most, he would watch the old men and women in the community gather together to play mahjong.

Excluding the time spent on the road, he had a little over a month left for his assessment.

This time was a bit tight for the original him, but after having a group of little helpers, this time was very abundant. At least he could save time exploring Freedom City.

These children who grew up in Freedom City knew a lot about this place.

However, he still had to gather information. At least he had to figure out who his opponents were, and learn about the Black Snake Mercenary Group, and Nana.

Looking at the description on his task list, Nana’s condition was not very good now. It was even written that she was about to wither. Yan Yunqing was worried that if he accidentally went too late, Nana would be gone.

Not to mention that the task would directly fail, and the reward would be gone, even the Children’s Gang’s trust in him would be reduced, which would be detrimental to his future actions.

Yan Yunqing marked [Rescue Nana] on the task list as a priority and prepared to find out Nana’s location tonight to see if he could rescue her in advance and complete the task.

If not, he had to ensure Nana’s safety.

Yan Yunqing made a plan for the next few days. The sound of rushing water in the washroom also stopped. Yan Yunqing waited for a while, and the door opened. Roco walked out from inside.

The clothes Yan Yunqing gave him were adult-sized, and they looked particularly ridiculous on little Roco. The excessively long pants legs and sleeves were folded up, but they still looked very baggy.

Roco’s hair was wet and drooping, paired with the ill-fitting clothes, and the occasional glimpse of his helplessness, he looked like a puppy that had accidentally fallen into the water.

He shook his head, and the water droplets on his hair were thrown out along with his movements.

He looked even more like a puppy that had fallen into the water.

Roco complained, “There’s not even any hot water. This hotel is so expensive. Next time, I’ll take you to the bathhouse on our side. It’s much warmer than here.”

Yan Yunqing slowly typed out a question mark.

Only then did he realize that the washroom door was open, but no hot air was coming out of it. Even if the temperature was relatively hot here, it was impossible for there to be no hot air when taking a shower, right?

Yan Yunqing took a few steps forward, grabbed Roco’s arm, and directly touched his exposed hand. As expected, it was icy cold to the touch, as if he had just been frozen.

Roco was startled by him, withdrew his hand, and jumped to the side. He almost tripped over his overly long pants legs. He glared at Yan Yunqing with some embarrassment and anger. “What are you doing?!”

Yan Yunqing couldn’t help but touch his forehead. “There’s hot water inside. Since you don’t know how to use it, why didn’t you wait for me to help you turn on the hot water? Aren’t you cold taking a cold shower like this?”

Roco: “…There’s hot water?”

He was stunned and found that Yan Yunqing’s gaze was very strange. He immediately hid the daze on his face. “Hmph, of course I know there’s hot water here. I just felt too hot and wanted to take a cold shower, can’t I?”

Yan Yunqing coughed and suppressed his laughter. “Okay, of course you can.”

He reached out and pulled Roco back again, took out his magic wand, and used a cleansing spell on him, directly removing the water droplets from his hair.

He originally asked Roco to take a shower just to give him a separate space so that Roco could relax with hot water and not be so tense all the time. Otherwise, it would be more convenient for him to use a cleansing spell directly.

He didn’t expect it to backfire. This child didn’t know how to turn on the hot water at all and took a cold shower.

Fortunately, the weather in Freedom City was relatively hot, so it didn’t matter much to take a cold shower. Otherwise, Yan Yunqing was really worried that Roco would get sick just after being sent over as a tool person and wouldn’t be able to function.

Roco saw that Yan Yunqing actually took out a magic wand and even used magic on him. He immediately tensed up and became very vigilant, but this magic only took away the water droplets from his hair, and it didn’t seem to do anything else. Roco blinked hesitantly.

It seems like nothing happened?

Yan Yunqing released Roco’s arm. “Let’s go, let’s go out and bask in the sun to avoid you getting sick. Let’s buy you some clothes by the way. From now on, you are my…”

Yan Yunqing struggled for a moment. It would be too old if he said “son.” It didn’t seem like he could give birth to him. Although there were long-lived races that could explain it, Yan Yunqing didn’t want to cause trouble.

He said, “From now on, you are my half-brother. This time, I heard that there was news of a Chi Bone Sword in Mantipher, so I planned to come and take a look. And you pestered me and insisted on coming with me, so I brought you along. If anyone asks, you can say your name is Roco Aldrich, the youngest son of Baron Aldrich, understand?”

Roco seemed to understand but didn’t. He nodded, “Oh.”

He reacted and looked at Yan Yunqing in surprise. “You’re actually a noble?”

He had a surname, and his fake identity was still the baron’s youngest son. Wasn’t it obvious that the person in front of him was a noble?

“Yeah, doesn’t it look like it?” Yan Yunqing asked back.

Roco shook his head, then nodded, and finally said honestly, “Not really like the nobles we’ve seen before, but you are indeed very rich, so it’s not surprising that you’re a noble.”

Yan Yunqing waved his hand. “Anyway, just remember your current identity. Try not to talk too much with others. If anyone is curious about your identity, just send those people to me, understand?”

Roco understood. “I got it.”

Yan Yunqing looked at Roco carefully. The cleaned-up Roco was actually fair and clean. Apart from being a little too thin, there were no flaws. Especially that face, it was surprisingly delicate, but it was blocked by most of his messy hair. Plus his usual dirty appearance, he looked like a little beggar.

“I’ll cut your hair.” Yan Yunqing took out a pair of scissors. “Your dog-gnawed hair isn’t noble at all. I’m afraid your identity problem will be discovered as soon as you enter Mantipher.”

Roco didn’t want Yan Yunqing to touch his hair, but after hearing him say that, he hesitated and obediently let Yan Yunqing mess with it.

Nika said that they had already cooperated with this man, and if they wanted to rescue Nana and the others, they had to listen to this man.

Yan Yunqing cut off the hair that covered Roco’s eyes in two or three strokes, trimmed the excessively messy hair, and cut Roco a well-behaved mushroom head, revealing his complete eyebrows and eyes and half of his forehead. He finally looked much refreshed.

With the hairstyle, Roco looked particularly well-behaved. Without the hair covering his eyes, the gloomy temperament disappeared, and he directly changed into another person. It could be called a miraculous recovery.

Yan Yunqing snapped his fingers. “Not bad, it seems my skills haven’t regressed, I’m still very good.”

He used to play very well with his uncle’s younger siblings. Those two little cubs were very clingy to him. Children’s hair grew fast, and they were fluffy. His uncle and aunt were busy with work and didn’t have time to take the two little cubs to get haircuts, so Yan Yunqing did it himself.

At first, the haircuts were also uneven and dog-gnawed, but the two little cubs weren’t angry. When their hair grew, they asked Yan Yunqing to cut it for them, so he practiced his skills.

Roco touched his hair, which had been cut off of the stray hairs and was very smooth. He felt much more at ease.

“Let’s go, let’s take you to buy some clothes.” Yan Yunqing waved his hand. “Your outfit really looks like you stole an adult’s clothes and ran away.”

Roco looked at Yan Yunqing’s outstretched hand. After hesitating for a moment, he still grabbed it and held it.

Yan Yunqing took him out of the hotel and headed to the most prosperous commercial street in Freedom City.

Is this what it’s like to have a brother…?