Chapter 171: Assassin Master… Underwear!

After sending Vanas off, Silas returned to the temple and resumed his true form.

"The real reason for the Church expelling the Guinness family should have another hidden story."

"The changes in physical characteristics and the contamination with the aura of death all occurred after the Guinness family quelled that rebellion. It can be confirmed that it's highly likely that rebellion had many hidden secrets, even great secrets completely concealed by the higher-ups on both sides. The location of the Kingdom of Guinness is almost a strategic point on the northeastern border of the Bellandt Empire. No matter how incompetent a country is, such an important area must be secured. Even with numerous hatreds, given the huge difference in strength between the two countries now, even military conquest would be no problem."

"But they have indulged the Duchy of Guinness for many years, and both the imperial high-ups and the Church have tacitly approved its existence. Even with this rebellion, they didn't dare to directly send troops to suppress it and take the opportunity to forcefully reclaim it, but instead adopted the most gentle policy of appeasement. From this perspective, it's highly possible that both sides signed some kind of powerful contract, or that the Kingdom of Guinness possesses some existence that deters the Holy Blood Church, just like Luke."

"Regardless, this trip is definitely necessary. I need to be more careful this time. The Kingdom of Guinness seems to be relatively close to the Land of Night's Curtain. I'll contact Helles and Randall tomorrow."

For the next two days, Silas was busy with preparations.

Firstly, he needed to investigate in detail the customs, geographical location, public sentiment, and the situation of both the underworld and legitimate circles within the Kingdom of Guinness.

Afterward, he also needed to determine the geographical locations around the country and some suitable retreat routes.

Having experienced several ill-prepared battles before, Silas had fully learned his lesson and summed up a very important conclusion: when you grasp all the possibilities of a matter, then you possess the composure and calmness to master the future.

Of course, Silas couldn't grasp all possibilities, but it was very necessary to adequately prepare all objective necessary conditions.

On the morning of the third day, Silas was summoned by Archbishop Emilia.

After confirming Silas's preparations, Emilia nodded with great satisfaction and then gave Silas a metal card.

Bishop Eric, beside her, introduced, "This is a bank card from the Continental Cloud Commerce Guild. They have the safest and most advanced multinational banking system in the world. Even in war-torn worlds, their banks are still very reliable. This card is a mission card specifically opened for your use by the Church. With this card, you can withdraw Lanks from any Cloud Commerce Guild bank in the world. Your budget this time is one thousand Lanks, which should be enough for you to establish sufficient connections in that kind of place."

Silas put away the card and bowed. "Please rest assured, Archbishop. This trip will definitely expand the glory of the Goddess."

Emilia, hearing Silas's sonorous and confident tone, was even more satisfied. She stood up, came before Silas, and said seriously, "The Goddess will not mistreat any of Her children. When you successfully complete this mission, you will receive everything you need."

"Yes!"

After bidding farewell to Emilia, Silas went straight to Ivan's mystical workshop.

When Silas arrived, he happened to see Ivan, along with Evan and Roland, gathered around, carefully studying something.

"Ivan, how's my Assassin Master robe coming along?" Silas asked curiously after walking in.

Ivan looked up and grinned. "It's already done. We're now discussing what name to give it."

"The name Ivan came up with is too tasteless," Roland complained.

Evan nodded in agreement. "I think Gear Armor sounds pretty good."

"What kind of stupid name is that?" Silas blinked, looking completely bewildered.

Gear Armor? Then would there also be Spring Sweater?

Roland glanced disdainfully at Evan, this rigid engineering guy, and then said, "Alright, we can come up with a name anytime. Let Silas try it on first and see how it works!"

"Right! Try it on first. There's still some time; if there are any problems, we can still adjust it," Ivan said, suddenly realizing.

Silas had already walked over by now. When he looked down, he sighed, "Can this thing get any uglier?"

The set of clothes looked very simple, like a relatively thin black close-fitting bodysuit connected to some messy-looking threads.

These threads connected in four directions. The upper ones extended from the shoulders to both arms.

The lower ones extended from under the ribs to the waist.

There was a pitch-black belt at the waist, with relatively thin leather straps around it. This was the inconspicuous storage pouch Ivan had mentioned.

The overall focus of the garment was on the arms.

The mechanisms on both arms were much larger than Silas had imagined.

The equipment that could eject daggers and grappling hooks was very large, like a thin bracer, covering from the wrist all the way to Silas's elbow.

The material of the outer shell looked like aluminum but was much harder than aluminum.

The bracer was divided into two layers, the outer shell and the inner lining, with a large number of gears, retaining springs, and threads in between.

According to Silas's left-handed habit, the inner side of his left wrist ejected a dagger, while his right hand ejected a small grappling hook.

"Time was too tight; there was no time to work on aesthetics. This is already the most streamlined version refined using the latest thread-firing pin technology. This is the primary version, mainly focusing on performance and convenience. Don't think it looks complicated; you only need to spend two minutes to put it on," Ivan explained.

Silas took off his cassock, revealing the white shirt underneath. "Come on, let's try it on!"

"Look carefully. The zipper for the top is here. First, unzip it and put on the top, then tighten the belt to secure it. These two large armbands are fixed here; just put the threads in and close the switch. The two small forearm guards also have switches. After putting them on, lock the switch. As long as your arm doesn't fall off, it won't come loose."

While Ivan explained and demonstrated, Silas took less than five minutes to put on this somewhat complicated-looking outfit.

"It's a bit uncomfortable, like wearing wrist guards for the first time, but I should be able to get used to it quickly," Silas moved his body and found it very flexible, without any bulkiness or obstruction.

"Try the dagger and grappling hook," Ivan said.

Silas twisted his left hand, using his forearm muscles to press the internal switch. Instantly, a thirty-centimeter-long sharp dagger shot out from the inner side of his wrist.

Then, slowly relaxing the tensed muscles, the dagger retracted again.

"I need to practice with this thing; otherwise, it would be hilarious if I stabbed myself," Silas thought cautiously.

Then he turned to look at his right arm; this grappling hook required a switch.

There were two switches in total: one for firing and one for retracting, both achieved through the forward and reverse rotation of retaining springs and gears.

Pressing the firing switch, a four-pronged arrow suddenly shot out from the front and embedded itself in the ceiling. Silas tugged at it, nodded with satisfaction, and then pressed the retract button.

"Wait!" Evan seemed to have thought of something and hurriedly shouted.

"Huh!?"

But it was too late. Silas was seen being directly pulled up, hanging from the ceiling, swinging back and forth.

Evan said with an embarrassed expression, "I forgot to tell you, when retracting, you need to press the firing button again to change the arrow from a fixed grappling state to a retrieve/recycle state."

"I…" Silas, swinging like a pendulum from the ceiling, was on the verge of tears.