The mysterious man, seeing that I had even drawn my saber and was prepared to fight him in earnest, lost his smile and adopted a serious demeanor.
"I am not your enemy. On the contrary, we have room for cooperation!"
Even if you're not my enemy now, you're no good!
I scoffed inwardly, but for the moment, there was no direct conflict of interest between the mysterious man and me. So, I slowly loosened my grip on the saber.
"Don't talk to me about all sorts of nonsense in the future. I'm a straightforward person. Just say what you mean!"
The mysterious man chuckled sheepishly, turned, and led me onward.
Perhaps fearing he might anger me again, we remained silent for the rest of the journey.
"Commander Bada, let's go in!"
As we walked, we came upon a solemn and heavy ancient door. The mysterious man stepped forward first, grabbed the handle, spoke a word to me, and then pulled the door open with force.
"Scraaaape…"
With the sound of the door dragging against the floor, I slowly walked inside.
It was a spacious palace. The moment I entered, I saw the High Priest seated at the central main seat, with Pan Lili by his side.
Apart from them, there wasn't a single guard in the entire hall. It seemed the High Priest was very confident in his control over the place.
"High Priest, Bada is here!"
I shouted, striding directly through the numerous tall, round pillars lining the sides of the hall.
Come to think of it, the savages on the island all had similar aesthetics. The architecture I saw in the Sea God's Paradise before was no different from this place.
Damn it, I don't get it. Do all the savages on this island share the same designer?!
And the island's other tribes are killing each other, while the designers responsible for building the temples are happily collecting money from both sides?!
Designer: No matter how you fight, I'm the one winning.
"Bada, may the Shepherd God bless you. You have now become the new Commander of the Temple Guards. You shall receive the blessings of the Shepherd God. This is your honor!"
I was still grumbling internally about the repetitive temple designs when I suddenly heard the High Priest, seated at the main seat, speak.
I looked up and saw that this old fox had no expression on his face, as if it wasn't me who had almost made him spit blood a few days ago, but someone else.
"The Shepherd God's blessing is indeed Bada's honor. However, my body has not yet recovered, and I am afraid I am unable to bear it. Therefore, I wish to postpone it for a few days until my health improves."
The excuse of poor health was naturally a foolproof one, just like feigning a stomachache to ask for leave from school. There was no way to verify it. Moreover, the High Priest knew my physical condition, and no one would have expected me to recover so quickly.
To make my act more convincing, I coughed a couple of times for show.
"Oh? Bada, you claim your body is not well, yet you heavily injured Guli a couple of days ago, leaving him bedridden?"
I knew that the Temple Guard force had long been infiltrated by the High Priest, so I wasn't surprised that he knew about this matter.
"High Priest, you may not know this. The reason I was able to defeat Guli before was that I possessed a unique secret technique that allows me to unleash astonishing potential at the cost of my lifespan."
"Guli was pushing me too hard at the time, and I had no choice but to use this secret technique. This does not mean my body has fully recovered. On the contrary, my current condition is even worse than before."
Everyone has their secrets. The High Priest would never pry into such exclusive secret techniques; otherwise, he would be breaking the rules.
At the same time, I was throwing out a bait. I was now clearly telling the High Priest that my physical condition was very poor, and I was waiting to see if he would fall for it and send the Shepherd God's avatar to attack me in the middle of the night.
To further convince the High Priest, I fiercely pinched my thigh behind my back. Coupled with the piercing pain, my face instantly turned red, and I gasped for air.
"Hah… hah…"
The High Priest looked at my state with suspicion, but before he could speak, a voice came from beside him.
"Heh heh, Bada, it is your honor to receive the Shepherd God's blessing. It's not something you can just refuse!"
The person speaking at this moment was none other than Pan Lili, who had remained silent since entering the hall. The moment she spoke, her tone was domineering.
Damn it, this Pan Lili is truly a fickle person. I didn't agree to her demands before, and now she's making things difficult for me!
"Holy Maiden, I am not refusing. As Commander of the Temple Guards, I must have a good body to better defend the Shepherd God."
"If my body cannot withstand the Shepherd God's blessing, then everything will be ruined."
Pan Lili was rendered speechless by my rebuttal and was about to retort sarcastically when she suddenly saw the High Priest wave his hand.
"Bada, I'll ask you one last time. Do you truly not want the Shepherd God to bless you?!"