I've Become the King of Villains in the Game

The crocodile creature poked most of its body through from the ceiling.

Its body was layered in dark green muscles that were solid, and its keratin scales extremely hard. An unsettling aura dispersed all around it.

"A Croco-knight from the higher echelons of the Silver Dragon Trade Association is a Spiritual Realm Messenger?"

Chen Lun was somewhat surprised.

Croco-knights were a type of group-living creature from the Spiritual Realm, with an average strength comparable to a Sequence Eight Transcendent, and their leaders were capable of reaching the level of a Sequence Seven Transcendent.

They excelled in close combat and were adept at various fighting techniques and cold weapons.

Chen Lun noticed that this adult Croco-knight, hanging upside-down from the ceiling, had a fierce-looking machete strapped to its back.

"..."

The Croco-knight slightly opened its mouth as if to say something, and then extended a large hand.

Its four fingers were bent, and the nails were sharp like daggers.

Chen Lun, having "Beast Speech LVMAX+2" at his disposal, could easily grasp the other's intention—

It was urging Chen Lun to hand over the letter to it.

Chen Lun shrugged his shoulders, picked up the letter that had already been prepared on the table, and handed it over to the Croco-knight's large hand.

The creature adeptly retrieved it and hid the letter inside a skin pouch strapped to its waist.

But then, it stretched out its hand again.

"The errand fee... 80 Silver Ducats?"

Chen Lun's eyebrows rose.

That was a bit expensive.

Had he not wanted to conduct a test, he would have been too lazy to summon the Messenger and would have directly informed Steward Walsh. After all, it wasn't exceedingly private information, and it could be communicated by regular means, though it would take a little longer.

Chen Lun counted out the silver coins, packed them into a small pouch, raised his hand, and handed them over.

With a stern face, the Croco-knight snatched the money pouch and prepared to shrink back into the Spiritual Realm and leave.

But at that moment.

Slap!

It was suddenly startled.

The human who had summoned it had actually grabbed its wrist!

A surge of tremendous strength passed through, infuriating the Croco-knight who couldn't believe a human dared to test its strength. It began to exert force instinctively.

Boom!!

But the next moment.

The Croco-knight's entire body was yanked from the "soil" of the Spiritual Realm gap like a radish, dragged out, and then slammed heavily onto the floor.

The room trembled slightly, and dust and sand fell from the cracks in the ceiling.

It raised its head in bewilderment, only to see the human in front of it wearing a look of disappointment.

"I thought it was a Croco-knight, turns out it's just a counterfeit…" Chen Lun said, shaking his head.

He had sensed something wrong from the very beginning. Regardless of how aloof a Croco-knight might be, under the influence of his 22 points of Charm Value and an additional +10 Charm from the "Friend of Animals", there should have been some response.

Just what have I done to earn such disrespect from you, to the point where you're reluctant even to address me as Mister Jack… Stay tuned to empire

Therefore, Chen Lun made his move to test the waters and found that the other's strength was not high, at most only at Sequence Nine.

It was just a pretender...

A chaotic mist flashed across his eyes, and his five fingers latched onto the Croco-knight's fontanelle.

"Are you going to come out on your own, or do I need to open it up myself?" Chen Lun said indifferently.

The Croco-knight's huge crocodilian head froze, and then a trace of panic flashed within its amber vertical pupils.

Chen Lun's fingers covered the sleek, glossy exoskeleton, applying a light force. The Croco-knight immediately felt as if its skull might be pierced with five holes at any second.

It hurriedly opened its huge mouth.

Like a coat with its zipper being pulled down, the upper and lower jaws of the crocodile's head flipped to each side, and a white ball crawled out from the "throat".

On the white ball, there seemed to be childlike scribbles of eyes and nose made with crayons—extremely abstract and ugly.

"'Swindle Doll'..."

Chen Lun discerned its true nature through "Peeping Eye of Fate".

This was a type of Supernatural Creature that was very adept at disguising itself, with a strong ability to survive. Although the actual body was fragile, as long as it found a suitable "outer skin," it could mimic to near perfection.

No wonder the higher-ups of the Silver Dragon Trade Association chose to use it as a Messenger rather than a real Croco-knight. Strength is useless in the Spiritual Realm; there is always someone stronger.

Only a strong survival ability is truly valuable.

At least this also ensured that the confidential information transmission of the Silver Dragon Trade Association could proceed normally.

"Alright, you can go," Chen Lun waved his hand.

Now that he knew the truth, he lost interest and didn't even take back his money pouch.

Although this "Swindle Doll" was clearly extorting him, demanding a fee far higher than its own "price range," it wasn't worth it for Chen Lun to fuss over the errand fee.

A few words of warning before letting it go would suffice.

"..."

The white ball wriggled a few times, emitting strange noises, and then swiftly dove back into the "crocodile skin cover".

Chen Lun silently watched as it seemed to express, "I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

The crocodile's mouth closed, its huge head shook twice, the amber vertical pupils rolled about, regaining their vitality.

It looked nervously and fearfully at Chen Lun, conscientiously took out the extra Silver Ducats, placed them back on the table, and only took 10 Silver Ducats for itself.

Then, under Chen Lun's watchful eye, it bowed, stepped through, and entered the light blue gap of the Spiritual Realm, vanishing without a trace.

"I hope the Silver Dragon Trade Association can hurry up and deliver the Supernatural Knowledge from the Deep Sea Faction of Sequence Nine..."

Chen Lun thought to himself.

In the letter, he detailed the quantity and types of equipment, potions, and Supernatural Wine produced by the Circus during this period, opting to sell most directly to the Silver Dragon Trade Association and consign a small portion for sale.