15: Poker, you don't want Master Barto to know, right?

It was getting late.

Ron and Litton, father and daughter, bid farewell.

Although Litton invited Ron to stay at his house again,

Ron politely declined, only saying that he would come to help in a few days when Litton needed an extra hand.

“What a proud child,”

Litton thought to himself, watching Ron's departing back.

But then, Litton grew a little worried.

“However, I wonder where Ron has been staying these past few days?”

“If it’s a hotel, he might have already spent all his money, right?”

“Next time he comes, I must persuade him again.”

At the same time,

after leaving Litton’s house, Ron turned into a small alley two streets away.

Immediately after, a middle-aged man walked out from the other end of the alley.

“It’s about time,”

Ron thought, then strode towards the Pirate Tavern.

As soon as he reached the tavern entrance, he heard enthusiastic and noisy shouts from inside.

A strong smell of alcohol rushed out, accompanied by the aroma of various grilled foods.

Ron walked in calmly.

The tavern had two floors.

The seating on the lower floor was arranged very casually, with drunkards scattered in every corner of the hall.

They drank heartily and boasted loudly.

Some red-faced, wide-eyed drunkards were even pushing each other, looking like they were about to fight.

As for the second floor, it was more orderly and quiet.

Many introverted patrons who disliked being disturbed sat at small tables on the second floor.

They slowly drank and ordered some food to fill their stomachs.

Ron discreetly approached the counter, ordered a cheap wheat beer and a lettuce sausage bun.

Then, he turned and looked around, as if searching for a suitable seat.

“Doesn’t seem to be on the first floor?”

Ron narrowed his eyes, took his items to the staircase, and went straight up to the second floor.

As soon as he went up, he felt the surroundings become much quieter, but compared to the bright lights of the first floor, the environment here was also a bit dimmer.

Ron slowly paced, as if checking which tables were empty.

Finally, when he reached the southwest corner, his steps halted.

Ron found a seat, sat down, and drank his beer and ate his bread by himself.

His movements were neither rude nor hasty.

At the same time, as he raised his glass, using it as a cover,

Ron's gaze was fixed on a drunken figure two tables away, opposite him.

“Damn Barto, are you treating me like a dog?”

“I’m telling you, Lord Poke will turn all your property into his own sooner or later!”

Poke slumped in his chair, hiccuping and complaining softly.

His mind was hazy, and he didn’t notice the gaze from behind him at all.

Ron didn’t disturb him, just slowly ate his food.

After Poke ordered two more drinks, became completely unconscious from drunkenness, and slumped asleep on the table,

Ron finally swallowed his last bite of bread, got up, and left, brushing past Poke.

Half an hour later,

Poke was woken up by the bartender and stood up groggily.

He staggered downstairs and out the door, returning home to prepare for sleep.

However, as soon as he took off his coat,

he saw something fall out of his pocket.

“Hmm?”

Poke scratched his head, strangely picking up the item.

He tried hard to open his eyes and looked closely, only to find it was a letter.

“A letter? Who wrote it to me?”

Poke, with his mind in a fog, subconsciously tore open the letter.

When he saw the content of the letter, his originally somewhat hazy eyes suddenly became clear.

The opening of the letter contained a line that made his heart stop.

“Mr. Poke, you wouldn’t want Lord Barto to know that Young Master Lola is the child of you and Madam Grace, would you?”

“What?”

Poke’s ears buzzed, and his mind went blank.

Immediately after, when he came back to his senses and quickly looked at the specific content of the letter,

cold sweat involuntarily broke out on his forehead, and his expression was a mix of shock and anger.

However, deep in the corners of his eyes, an even greater fear was hidden.

“How did this secret leak out?”

Poke's scalp tingled; the letter writer demanded he gather one hundred gold coins as hush money within two days.

He was also forbidden to tell anyone, otherwise, they would tell Barto about Grace and Lola.

“Damn fellow, who exactly are you? How did you put the letter in my pocket?”

Poke felt a pang of fear in his heart; since the other party could quietly put the letter on him without him noticing,

then perhaps they could also kill him with a single strike when he was caught off guard.

“Fortunately, they only want money… But one hundred gold coins, where am I supposed to get that much money?”

Poke was extremely anxious; the blackmailer was asking for far too much money.

One hundred gold coins was an unattainable sum, even for him as Barto’s butler.

After all, Barto, that stingy old man, had been closely watching the family business for years.

No matter how big or small the matter, the account books, the goods payments, he would personally inquire about everything.

Therefore, Poke had always been cautious and found it difficult to skim anything off the top.

After working for so many years, he had only managed to save ten gold coins.

But, this money could not be withheld.

Otherwise, if Barto truly found out about this matter, he would surely have him killed!

“If worst comes to worst, I’ll borrow it!”

Poke’s eyes flashed as he thought of someone.

“Right, Grace, she certainly wouldn’t want Barto to know that Lola is actually my son!”

“So, if it really comes down to one hundred gold coins, she must also pay!”

Thinking of this, Poke immediately wanted to go out and find Madam Grace.

But as soon as he reached the door of his room, he stopped again.

“No, it’s too late now. I have to wait until tomorrow, find a suitable time to discuss it.”

“Wait, before that, perhaps I should first figure out the blackmailer’s identity…”

Poke’s eyes flickered as he thought carefully.

Meanwhile, on the other side,

under the cover of night, inside the desolate stone house, Ron was practicing his Breathing Technique.

At this time, with the progress of his Breathing Technique, the two bottles of nutritional potions had also been consumed by him.

So, just now Ron had boiled water, dissolved half a spoonful of nutritional paste, and made two more bottles of potion.

“The effect of this nutritional paste is simply too potent.”

“I estimate that in less than three days, the Vitality Blood Mist in my body will condense into liquid.”

Ron thought to himself, no wonder the status of Potion Masters was so noble on this God-Given Continent.

This was merely an unranked nutritional paste, yet it could have such a powerful effect.

Then how terrifying would true magic potions be?

After taking another sip of the potion, Ron continued to cultivate.

He dared not be complacent; he had to quickly strengthen his own power.

It wasn't until midnight that the system prompt arrived as expected.

“Ding! Today’s intelligence is as follows——”