The atmosphere in the restaurant suddenly became tense.
Tan Mo and the City Lord of Snowbird Port sat at opposite ends of the long dining table, facing each other from afar.
The City Lord of Snowbird Port slowly shook his head, his eyes fixed on Tan Mo, and said very seriously, "Perhaps, there are indeed some differences in opinions and disagreements in actions between the ’Golden Hand’ and me. What I did not expect is that he turned out to be a petty person, secretly slandering me."
"Embezzlement and extortion? Hehehe, everything I do is for the Empire!"
After professing his loyalty, the City Lord of Snowbird Port slightly raised the corner of his mouth, showing a hint of composure: "Lord Tan Mo, you wouldn’t just rely on the ’Golden Hand’s’ report against me to conclude that I conspired against him, would you?"
Tan Mo also showed a slight smile: "Are you suggesting that this is merely speculation on my part, lacking evidence and witnesses?"
"In fact, I have them."
The City Lord of Snowbird Port’s face turned serious: "Oh? I’m all ears."
Tan Mo stated directly: "The witness is Mei Landu!"
The City Lord of Snowbird Port’s pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, and his face showed no expression.
Mei Landu is a key figure under the City Lord of Snowbird Port; he is a human magic chef of Silver Level.
His experience is very similar to that of the City Lord of Snowbird Port, both being secretly recruited by the ’Coup’ to become members of the Holy Bright Empire’s Imperial Spy Organization.
Mei Landu has always followed the City Lord of Snowbird Port.
Not long ago, Ci Haishen came to Snowbird Port and once invited Mei Landu to be his deputy to assist him in completing the Sea Banquet.
Ci Haishen promised: after success, he would teach Mei Landu Golden Level recipes. Such an offer was already very generous, but Mei Landu’s attitude at the time was resolutely declined.
Tan Mo leisurely took a sip of red wine: "Although Mei Landu is only Silver Level, he possesses unique talents."
"His specialty is creating the improved ’Deep Sigh of Blue Sea.’
"After consuming this magic dish, as long as one slightly uses Fighting energy, or even engages in intense exercise, it will trigger the effect, causing the Fighting energy to disperse, leaving one paralyzed on the spot and losing combat power in an instant."
"Of course, the famous ’Deep Sigh of Blue Sea’ is a Legendary magic delicacy, while the version Mei Lan only manages to refine is a Silver Level improved version. But if aided by other kitchen utensils and Golden Level ingredients, he can also produce a Golden Level improved version."
The City Lord of Snowbird Port remained silent for a moment before he said, "So you think I used this magic dish to plot against the Golden Hand?"
Tan Mo nodded slightly, a faint smile on his lips: "That’s right!"
"I investigated the situation hidden from before the Golden Hand’s demise and found that before he was besieged, he was resting and having delicacies."
"And those were magic dishes, of quite high grade."
"Magic dishes and magic potions are not the same; the former has a shorter shelf life. Often, they spoil and go bad in a matter of days, even hours."
"Who made the magic dishes the Golden Hand ate?"
"It was evidently Mei Landu!"
"Although the Golden Hand secretly reported against you, he didn’t think he had been exposed. Or rather, in his understanding, even if you knew about the report, it wouldn’t be enough for you to have murderous intent towards him!"
"Moreover, magic dishes and magic potions are different, making them hard to recognize. More accurately, identifying the ’Deep Sigh of Blue Sea’ dish is exceptionally difficult!"
"And its improved version has the same advantage."
The City Lord of Snowbird Port remained silent.
Although he showed no expression, he felt enormous pressure!
It was because nothing Tan Mo said was incorrect.
Regarding the ’Deep Sigh of Blue Sea,’ this dish was originally created by a Sea God, cooked personally, and given to Grid Cloth to eat.
Grid Cloth was a Legendary explorer, very fond of food, with an extraordinarily strong ability to recognize magic dishes.
But he didn’t discover the ruse and, after eating the ’Deep Sigh of Blue Sea,’ lost all fighting spirit, leading to a retreat, resulting in nearly a decade of exploration ending in failure at the final moment.
Following his understanding, after Mei Landu improved and prepared this dish, it was recently used to successfully frame Da Dou, Hong Zhu, and Big Fool.
At that time, Da Dou, despite being a Golden Level magic chef with immense power, only realized and reacted after falling victim to the trick.
Mei Landu’s improvements weren’t limited to magic dishes; he also delved into magic potions.
After improving them, the Sigh Water he created had an excellent effect.
A long time ago, the City Lord of Snowbird Port once supplied it to the Sea Snake Lady, enabling her to successfully constrain the Clapping Pirate Group.
Seeing the City Lord of Snowbird Port’s silence, Tan Mo continued: "Teng Donglang actually died at your hands, didn’t he?"
"Don’t rush to deny it."
"Hehe, I watched the magic image of the battle between Long Fu and Teng Donglang at least fifty times!"
"Why did Long Fu’s final throw of the short spear kill Teng Donglang?"
"It’s widely recognized that Teng Donglang was weak from exhaustion, and Long Fu caught this last opportunity. But in reality, he ate the improved version of the ’Deep Sigh of Blue Sea,’ and when the time came, it triggered the effect, didn’t it?"
"The more I watched that final blow, the more it felt suspicious."
"Similar to Teng Donglang’s death, on the surface, the Golden Hand’s death seemed like a mistake in his combat skill execution, failing to evade the Mage Tower’s beam."
"But in fact, at that time, you actively triggered the magic dish’s effect, causing his Fighting energy to lose control in an instant!"
The City Lord of Snowbird Port chuckled softly, interrupting: "Alright, alright, great investigator, your analysis is eloquent and seemingly serious."
"I almost wanted to applaud your performance."
"It’s a pity that what I’ve heard so far doesn’t include any solid evidence or witnesses."
"All of this is just your speculation."
Tan Mo laughed again: "Don’t worry, I’m just about to get to the evidence."
"I’ve already found out that after Long Fu killed Teng Donglang, you secretly moved people around, actively stirred up public opinion, and praised Long Fu’s unyielding fighting spirit, declaring his virtue of ’never giving up and thus seizing victory in a tough battle.’"
"You had no need to do this at all. Unless you intended to use it to cover up the real cause of Teng Donglang’s death!"
"And the best evidence, of course, would be the corpses of Teng Donglang and Golden Hand."
"In this regard, City Lord, your actions were very clean and efficient."
"You had Teng Donglang’s body for a while, surely making sure no evidence detrimental to you was left behind."
"Even more cleverly, you arranged Anqiu’s espionage mission under the sufficient reason that the Saber Gang remnants ’stole’ Teng Donglang’s body. This way, you explained well to the organization."
"As for Golden Hand’s body, you must have planned it long ago. So, Golden Hand died under the attack of the Mage Tower, disintegrated on the spot, leaving not a single trace."
"These two were the most critical pieces of evidence, and now they’re both gone."
"But I still have a chance."
"For instance, I can continue investigating, looking into matters related to Mei Landu or the Deep Sigh of Blue Sea. I believe there are definitely other clues in this area."
"In fact, according to my authority, I can entirely detain Mei Landu and interrogate him personally."
"Just don’t know whether Mei Landu’s loyalty to you, City Lord, can withstand the test?"
After saying this, Tan Mo paused and resumed tasting his wine.
The City Lord of Snowbird Port glared at Tan Mo, his brows furrowed, then a thought flickered through his mind, and his expression quickly softened.
He understood.
If Tan Mo really wanted to investigate him, target him, he would just capture Mei Landu directly, wouldn’t he? Instead of deliberately revealing his plan at the dinner table.
Wasn’t that just inviting the City Lord of Snowbird Port to sabotage the plan?
Tan Mo couldn’t possibly be that stupid.
Therefore, the purpose behind his words wasn’t for the actual investigation.
Besides this, what else could it be?
A word flashed through the mind of the Snowbird Port City Lord: Bribery!
Indeed, Tan Mo was after a bribe.
The City Lord of Snowbird Port carefully chose his words, and slowly said, "Mei Landu is loyal to me and even more loyal to the Empire."
"There’s no need to detain and interrogate him; it’s not worth it at all."
Tan Mo put down his wine glass: "Oh? Why does the City Lord say that?"
"After thinking about it, perhaps you are innocent. You were merely deceived by Mei Landu. In fact, the improvement of the [Deep Sigh of Blue Sea] is the most critical. So, Mei Landu might have acted on his own, and you’re entirely unaware of his actions."
The City Lord of Snowbird Port immediately shook his head: "I can assure you he is innocent."
Tan Mo sneered: "And what will you use to guarantee that?"
The City Lord of Snowbird Port raised five fingers: "How about a guarantee of 50,000 Gold Coins?"
Tan Mo tilted his head back and laughed a few times, then lowered his head, staring intently at the City Lord of Snowbird Port.
He said nothing, but showed an intense look of disdain!
The City Lord of Snowbird Port immediately understood Tan Mo’s implication: 50,000 Gold Coins to get rid of me? Do you take me for a beggar?!
"This greedy fat pig!" cursed the City Lord of Snowbird Port in his heart, but at the same time, he had to raise the offer.
The 50,000 Gold Coins increased to 150,000 Gold Coins.
Tan Mo shook his head.
Added the Time Ice, Earth Element Essence, and various materials.
Tan Mo shook his head again.
The offers from the City Lord of Snowbird Port got higher and higher, so high that his heart bled.
But Tan Mo never relented.
This left the City Lord of Snowbird Port enraged and helpless. Who got his handle caught by Tan Mo anyway?
"I’ve underestimated this guy!"
"Though he is extremely greedy, he does have the ability. In just a few days, he uncovered the truth."
"No wonder the Empire appointed him as this investigator!"
The City Lord of Snowbird Port found himself in a very passive situation, wanting to strangle the fat man in front of him.
But he couldn’t.
Tan Mo was an investigator for the Imperial Spy Organization. The City Lord of Snowbird Port could frame Golden Hand, but he absolutely couldn’t target Tan Mo. Did he really think the Imperial Spy Organization was so easily fooled?
Until the City Lord of Snowbird Port raised the price to its limit, his face already twisted, only then did Tan Mo slowly speak up and state his demand: "I want the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps!"