Deceitful Game

Chapter 161 The Silence of the Lambs

Among the remaining two types of wine, Mingpu discovered another strange thing.

That is, any alcoholic beverage will be rendered ineffective if "Frankenstein" is added.

The entry it displayed was "mixed liquor," and the "treasure" attribute was no longer listed in the category. It was just a regular cocktail, and Mingpo tried it—to be honest, the taste was okay, but it didn't have any effect whatsoever.

Even the effect of switching to "Frankenstein" was nullified.

Why is that?

Why is this title the only one special? Is it because it was obtained from Paradox and cannot inherit the title with affixes? In the remaining combinations, Mingpo got a few usable drinks.

When "Detective" and "Silver Crown of the Madman" teamed up, Mingpo received a new drink.

The Silence of the Lambs

Unlike the previous glass of wine, this one has a "prefix".

Of course, it still doesn't show any specific wearing effect.

When Mingper attempted to mix "Silver Crown of the Madman" and "Werewolf," he also obtained a "new wine with a prefix." [Gevadant's Beast]

These three glasses of wine represent the three "new titles" that Mingpo has recently acquired.

Although these are all temporary titles, lasting only for one game... and Mingpo doesn't even know their specific effects, he seems to understand the rules governing the titles.

It seems that all the titles originated from some kind of literary work, legend, or myth. Even the "artificial titles" that he created were the same.

This also means that... if Mingpo gets any new title, it could potentially create a huge number of "new wines"!

The only downside is that, for some reason, these wines are in a strangely unstable state.

No matter how Mingpo adjusted the ratio—from 1:9 to 5:5—it remained unstable. Adding ice or heating it didn't help; it would only last for one game before automatically dissolving. And after dissolving, whether it would become an "empty title" or something else, Mingpo didn't know…it all required experimentation. The Dionysian Shrine was too dangerous and not suitable for publicizing…each additional informant and test subject increased the risk of its exposure. Therefore, Mingpo had to remain silent until the information was completely leaked.

However, this title... is worth trying.

【Werewolf Detective】is not suitable for going out, so Mingpo switched to 【Silent Lamb】.

"Madman" and "Detective" are the two titles that Mingpo is most comfortable with these days.

When Mingpo adjusted again, he found himself with exceptional clarity of mind and unparalleled mental freedom.

He had never felt so good... The only problem was that Mingper wasn't quite sure what he could do right now, and in his bartending state, the "Silver Crown" suffix seemed to have been swallowed up.

Mingpo slowly and gracefully opened his eyes; he had completely reverted to his previous human form. It seemed that "becoming a werewolf" was the effect of the [Werewolf Detective].

Of course, his pupils are still a dull yellow color.

Moreover, even without activating its active effect and resonating with the title, Mingpo remains a consistently pale yellow, like it's wearing colored contact lenses. ...Could it be that any title combined with the title "Domain of Slaughter" will become "Domain of Slaughter"?

A thought popped into Mingpo's mind.

His thought process seemed to have accelerated.

Because immediately afterward, another thought surfaced in Mingpo's mind.

From this perspective, the information about the "Dionysian Shrine" was probably leaked intentionally. They deliberately revealed only half of the shrine's effects, without mentioning its true function in "cocktail mixing"!

It's as if this thing only works on Divine Comedy. Its value seems to be merely "sentimental value," since if the organization isn't large enough, being able to store and bestow titles upon others doesn't actually have much significance.

But if one could mix titles through bartending to obtain new ones… even if they were just “temporary titles,” the meaning would be entirely different. They were polluting others’ understanding of the “Dionysian Shrine” by spreading incomplete information, preventing them from knowing its correct usage. If “Heavenly Inquiry” couldn’t find the location of the Dionysian Shrine, then they might as well just spread the news.

Deceivers almost always have to join an organization. Deceivers without an organization are easily forced to take risks due to insufficient resources, or offend people they shouldn't due to information asymmetry... or be hunted down by hordes of Deceivers from the Realm of Slaughter.

So once the news gets out, an organization might be able to recruit a new person who possesses a Dionysian shrine. And if a treasure is possessed, it must eventually be used, and every use leaves a trace.

Having mastered "Tianwen" (Heavenly Questions), monitoring slightly larger organizations becomes much simpler than finding a needle in a haystack.

As the owner of the Dionysus shrine, Mingpa knew... that traces of its use would be very obvious.

The most typical example is that "the title will jump left and right".

The title of "deceitful person" can be skewed based on in-game actions.

Generally, charlatans will constantly change their behavior patterns when they are dissatisfied with their titles. Once they obtain a title that satisfies them, they will solidify their behavior patterns to prevent their titles from being tainted again.

The key detail here is...

Even if the deceiver completely remembers their previous behavior patterns and tries to reclaim the title by replicating their previous behavior after obtaining the new title, it is almost impossible to get the title back.

Because this is actually equivalent to the state of "seeing mountains as mountains again".

It's like an actor who became famous for playing first love. After playing various roles, if they go back to playing first love again, although their acting skills have improved, it's obvious that it's not the same anymore. Naturally, they won't receive the same reviews.

In other words, if a fraudster's title keeps changing and always reverts to a previous title, it means he has a problem!

In the material world, titles cannot be monitored; after all, deceivers don't walk around with an ID above their heads. However, as long as one participates in the game of deception, others will know each other's titles. A closer examination of the timeline should be enough to determine this.

Currently, not many people know the name Mingpo.

If we count them carefully, excluding the "Ink" old man, Ai Shiping, and Gao Fan...

Only Nameless, Attorney Chen, and the two survivors of the musical chairs knew that Mingpo had used the title "Frankenstein." In addition, "Twenty Faces" knew that Mingpo had used the title "Madman."

However, the twenty faces can be temporarily disregarded.

If she were interested in the Dionysian Shrine, she could easily find out it was in Mingpo's hands simply through the "Twenty Questions of Death," eliminating the need for this method of investigation... Moreover, the Gaoshan Society is likely not on good terms with "Divine Comedy," and it's unlikely they would hand over intelligence to them. Cooperation with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce is possible, but the Chinese Chamber of Commerce is currently safe—after all, Mingpo is nominally a member of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and even has some connections with its higher-ups.

The only problem is that Mingper certainly doesn't want to hand over the Dionysian shrine.

If the Chinese Chamber of Commerce finds out about this and demands that Mingpo hand it over, then he will have no choice but to flee.

The best-case scenario is that Gaoshan intends to monopolize the Dionysus Shrine... which is also the most likely outcome. After all, Gaoshan is clearly not part of the Chinese Business Association. According to Mingpo's understanding of capitalists, capital will never voluntarily share any potential profits, especially those larger than itself, with others.

Gaoshan Club doesn't have much influence domestically. Their home turf is actually in Italy... Mingpo, on the other hand, has the backing of both the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Shenqu, giving them considerable room to maneuver.

There's another detail here.

Gaoshan was unaware that the Dionysus Shrine had a "cocktail mixing" function.

That means that Gaoshan is likely to underestimate the value of the Dionysus Shrine.

Therefore, the guy who came looking for trouble with Mingpo... is probably not particularly strong.

These thoughts flashed through Mingper's mind almost instantly.

He covered his head, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, like the feeling of losing balance when running too fast.

"...Is this feeling a boost from the title?"

Mingpo covered her head, feeling this somewhat unfamiliar sensation.

A slight smile played on her lips: "It feels...not bad."