Gauss admitted that he indeed had the opportunity to intercept that black-robed figure earlier.

But in such situations, he instinctively tended to refrain from taking action.

If it were a group of novice adventurers in distress, or obvious bullying of the weak, he might have intervened without hesitation.

Yet in those brief few seconds, not knowing either party's identity or purpose, nor understanding the specific circumstances and reasons, he could only maintain observation first.

In this mixed-bag marketplace, rashly taking action might accidentally turn good intentions into trouble.

And Gauss's slight moment of uncertainty completely vanished under the man's matter-of-fact questioning.

He was right.

"Why should I help you?"

Gauss's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded particularly clear at the quiet alley intersection.

His calm gaze fell upon the man before him without the slightest evasion.

The man, seeing that his pursued target had completely disappeared from view and hearing the cold retort from the man before him, instantly felt furious.

His face flushed red, veins bulging.

Customers and shopkeepers from surrounding stores, hearing the commotion, now leaned halfway out to observe the situation, whispering among themselves.

"She stole my stuff! You were standing right here—wasn't it only natural to block her? Or are you working with her? Is that why you deliberately blocked the way at this intersection?"

As he spoke, his hairy right arm shoved toward Gauss's shoulder.

Several companions behind him also closed in, their gazes unfriendly, hands deliberately or unintentionally reaching toward the weapons at their waists.

Gauss moved quickly, nimbly dodging to the side the moment the burly man made his move.

The burly man pushed empty air abruptly, stumbling forward two steps.

He probably hadn't expected the seemingly slender Gauss to react so swiftly. Losing his balance, his entire right arm was already clamped by a clever force.

Gauss, having completed his dodge with a sidestep, shot his right hand out like lightning, perfectly timing his five fingers to grip the other's wrist. Following the man's forward momentum with a slight exertion, he executed a simple, fluid pulling motion that sent the burly man flying.

The burly man only felt his forward momentum suddenly amplified, completely losing his footing as his body was flung out, everything spinning as he tumbled and rolled twice on the ground.

"Thud!"

The dull thud of heavy flesh hitting the ground was particularly clear at the alley entrance.

The burly man ultimately collapsed in disarray against the wall corner, stirring up a cloud of dust, lying on his back emitting painful groans, temporarily unable to get up.

This sudden scene drew low exclamations from the surrounding onlookers, their faces showing surface-level concern that actually concealed a deeper spectator mentality of "fight, fight, fight!"

The burly man's companions hurriedly drew their weapons.

Short blades and daggers held crosswise before their chests.

"You... you bastard!!"

They repeated incoherently, fierce expressions on their faces, but their slight forward movements betrayed their bluster.

Gauss had taken down their strongest companion with just one move. That level of disparity made them feel uneasy even with weapons in hand.

After taking down the burly man who made the first move, Gauss didn't assume any defensive or offensive stance, simply standing there, his gaze sweeping over their gleaming weapons and those uncertain, fearful faces.

"Put away your weapons, or I'll get serious." His voice was calm but carried undeniable force. "Then take your man and get out of my sight."

Those under his gaze felt pressure gathering around them like tidal waves, gradually intensifying.

The standoff lasted only a few brief seconds.

One of them swallowed hard, throat bobbing, eyes flickering as he glanced at their still-groaning companion in the corner, then at Gauss.

"I... we'll take Anthony for treatment first. You wait—we'll come find you later. Don't... don't get cocky, kid."

After he spoke, the others seemed pardoned, hurriedly putting away their weapons and scrambling over to help up the burly man.

They didn't even dare look at Gauss again, keeping their heads down the entire time as they quickly passed by him, supporting their moaning companion, scrambling away in disarray into the alley's shadows.

The brief conflict came and went quickly.

The alley entrance returned to quietness, leaving only the slightly disappointed whispers of surrounding spectators who hadn't had their fill.

Gauss shook his head, adjusted his sleeves, ignored the peering eyes, and strode deeper into the marketplace.

He didn't take their threats seriously either.

All talk but no action—their bodies were more honest.

Like that burly man who stayed down—Gauss hadn't really exerted much force when throwing him, not enough to keep him down.

The best proof was that when his companions went to help him up, they managed with little effort, and afterwards he walked away swiftly himself.

However, the black-robed figure who hurried past earlier made him somewhat curious—there was a faint sense of familiarity.

He quickly pondered it in his mind. Although the other was masked, there was still considerable information to gather from height, build, eyes, and movement posture, but no one matching these characteristics came to mind from his memory.

After a long moment, he shook his head, temporarily setting aside this small episode.

Continuing deeper into the alley.

Lincrest Town residential area, a simple and crude small house filled with clutter, faint neighborly arguments audible outside the window.

A black figure nimbly flipped through the window, landing without sound.

She removed her hood and face covering, revealing a pretty, bright face.

Taking an exquisite pocket watch from her bosom, she handed it to a young girl who was sitting restlessly, constantly rubbing her hands.

"Here, your jewelry. Check if there's any problem?"

The young girl took the pendant, repeatedly examining it, and after confirming it was correct, let out a long sigh of relief, pressing it tightly to her chest.

"Yes, this is it. Thank you, Miss Shadow. This is the only thing mother left me. If it were gone, I truly wouldn't know what to do." Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes, voice slightly choked.

It was an inconspicuous copper pendant, but familial affection endowed it with special meaning.

The woman called "Shadow" simply waved dismissively, walking to the table to pour water for both herself and the other.

"Alright, put it away. Be more careful next time—those 'pickpockets' love targeting people who look like easy prey like you."

She tilted her head back for a big gulp of water before continuing.

"I checked—the one who stole your thing was probably a pickpocket working long-term with that 'Old Pipe' grocery store in the black market, working randomly on the streets. They didn't specifically target you. Just stay away from that area afterwards, and you should be fine."

"Okay, I understand, Miss Shadow."

After the girl in coarse clothes left, as the door closed, leaving only her in the house, another mature female voice abruptly sounded.

"Helped another young girl, how nice. A mother's keepsake is something truly valuable."

"Mm." The black-robed woman nodded absently.

Following her gaze to the ground.

Beneath her feet, the shadow seemed to have a life of its own, slowly squirming.

That mature female voice transmitted from the shadow connected to her feet.

"What are you thinking about?"

The shadow, like a familiar old friend, immediately noticed her unusual behavior and spoke with concern.

It detached from the ground, reaching out to pat her calf.

Or rather, if its existence was naturally born from shadow, then indeed there was no pair in this world with a closer relationship than it and her.

"I..." The black-robed woman's fine brows slightly furrowed, her tone suddenly somewhat confused.

"Is it about that man at the alley intersection earlier?" The shadow's tone suddenly became teasing. "You fancy him? Actually, that's not impossible. After all, that young man is quite good-looking. If you get together, I can enjoy the view too later."

"Please be normal, my shadow, or I'll have to lock you away tomorrow."

"I was wrong, Little Shadow." The shadow helplessly begged for mercy. "So, what was that moment of distraction about on your way back earlier?"

"I just thought he looked familiar, like I've seen him somewhere before." The black-robed woman unconsciously tapped the chair armrest, searching hard through her memories.

"That's it?" The shadow expressed confusion. "Then maybe you saw him before in town or elsewhere. I noticed he's a professional too—probably moves around frequently."

"No, it's not that simple. I think I saw this face on some more important occasion. I just can't remember right now..."

The shadow at her feet spread its hands.

"If you can't remember, then forget it. It's not important anyway. Rest early—we need to gather information tomorrow."

...

Night deepened as Gauss emerged from the marketplace.

He actually encountered no unexpected situations within the marketplace.

After visiting several shops, he indeed managed to buy a lump of material usable for clay magic spells.

Just the price was slightly expensive—costing him 7 gold coins.

Fortunately, the volume was decent, about adult human size.

After absorbing and fusing with this clay, the Clay Goblin should see further enhancements.

As for the Adventurers Guild commission, he didn't plan to withdraw it either—let it remain posted. After all, such spellcasting materials were always welcome.

More clay could not only increase individual combat power to some extent but also allow generating more simultaneously, very useful for clearing minor monsters during daily commissions or other battles.

Even on days without commission work, they could help him with some simple repetitive tasks.

The evening breeze carried a chill that dispersed the marketplace's residual noise. Exiting the alley, Gauss looked up at the moon half-hidden by clouds before striding toward the inn.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

Gauss spent these days in monotonous yet pure living, as if returning to his time as a bottom-tier adventurer, working diligently.

Eating, fighting monsters, sleeping.

The Goblin settlements around Lincrest Town suffered accordingly.

"Total Monsters Killed: 3611"

Actually, purely based on monster numbers from commission tasks, it should only be around four hundred. The extra hundred or so came from his wilderness hunting.

His exceptional observational skills always allowed him to find clues in the wilderness.

Following those traces, he didn't need much time to locate monster tribes lurking in uninhabited areas.

Then he'd clear them out while he was at it, even if they weren't bounty targets.

This highly efficient, high-frequency clearing also drew attention from Lincrest Town's Adventurers Guild and other adventurers.

Don't think a few hundred monsters seems like much.

But clearing this quantity in just a few days, during peaceful times without large-scale conflicts, was already an extremely terrifying number.

About a hundred per day would amount to thirty or forty thousand per year.

Even if maintaining that pace was realistically impossible, even three or four thousand kills per year would be quite impressive.

If every adventurer could do this, monsters in this world would probably face extinction.

Gauss's frequent acceptance of ordinary commissions was like spending his precious time strangling potential monster tribes in their cradle before they could develop and grow larger.

Many professionals considered this foolish behavior.

Because low-level tasks were time-consuming and labor-intensive, most importantly offering no training value. Repeating this for years could cause one to lose motivation for advancement, possibly stagnating a professional's career.

Adventurers Guild hall, second floor, near the railing.

Some adventurers wearing bronze medals looked down at the figure perfectly blended among the many low-level adventurers at the first-floor front desk, some shaking their heads in confusion.

"That Dragonkin... ah, should say Goblin Killer, went goblin hunting again?"

"Should be. Look at that full bag—wow, he got quite a few this time."

"Wasting time. He's still young with a bright future ahead, yet obsessed with these completely unchallenging ordinary commissions. Can't understand it."

"Hasn't anyone reminded him that his Rank will stagnate like this?"

"Who knows? Maybe he's just experiencing low-level adventurer life."

Regarding Gauss's behavior, most professional adventurers felt perplexed.

In their understanding, completing large quantities of insignificant low-level tasks was meaningless.

Not to mention wasting large amounts of time on travel and communication, the rewards were far less than killing an Elite monster. More crucially, for professionals, this "self-degrading" behavior couldn't improve rank—might even cause regression.

In daily adventurer life, everyone could vaguely sense this.

The crowd discussed for quite a while before a soft voice suddenly emerged.

"But he's already a third-level professional at such a young age, and I heard he's always been like this."

These words seemed to possess special magic, instantly cooling the lively atmosphere to freezing point.

The crowd suddenly fell silent.

Everyone exchanged glances—the vast majority wore 1 or 2-star bronze medals.

And Gauss? With a face younger than theirs, yet already a level 3 adventurer.

Could it be...

Killing those goblins actually helps enhance strength???

Thinking about Gauss's situation, while many couldn't understand, they secretly wondered.

First floor hall.

Gauss collected his commission payment, nodding with satisfaction.

He didn't care about the surrounding stares and gossip.

If he paid attention to idle gossip daily and lived according to others' opinions, it would be utterly exhausting.

Moreover, he knew his situation was special.

Even if he advanced to higher levels in the future—level 10, 15, or even higher—he couldn't leave these low-level monsters behind.

This was determined by monster numbers. Whether monsters or humans, strength distribution followed a pyramid pattern—low-level monsters would always be the most numerous.

The combined quantity of unranked monsters absolutely far exceeded all other ranked monsters combined.

The receptionist looked at the calm-faced man before him, inwardly admiring.

Receptionists like them knew best how terrifying Gauss's efficiency was.

Though all were low-level commissions, Gauss completed them too quickly, and each task was cleared exceptionally thoroughly, almost leaving no hidden dangers—truly a perfect 【Minor Monster Cleanser】.

The only problem was he killed too fast. If this continued, teams specializing in goblin extermination wouldn't exactly be "out of work," but their options would become limited, forced to choose more distant commissions.

Because Gauss truly didn't care about payment when accepting commissions—as long as they were nearby with suitable routes, he swept up both high and low priced ones.

Watching Gauss turn to leave decisively, the receptionist suddenly remembered something. "Mr. Gauss, please wait a moment."

Gauss stopped, looking back at the young receptionist behind the counter.

The receptionist smiled: "The Senior Director is waiting for you in the reception room."

"Okay."

Gauss nodded, already guessing why he was being sought.

Probably last time's feedback was verified, and compensation was to be distributed.

Following staff guidance, Gauss entered the reception room.

The elderly gentleman he'd met last time was already seated inside.

"Your reported abnormal situation has been verified—it indeed occurred. According to regulations, here are 10 gold coins in compensation."

"Thank you. Any investigation into specific reasons behind it?" Gauss was more concerned about the reason behind the abnormality.

"Under investigation." The elderly gentleman shook his head.

Just as Gauss thought being summoned was only about receiving compensation, the Guild's Senior Director suddenly spoke: "Mr. Gauss, the Guild has noticed your recent highly efficient completion of numerous goblin extermination commissions. We tentatively believe you are quite enthusiastic about executing goblin extermination commissions and possess sufficient proficiency in this area."

"Now there happens to be a... well, a 'non-public' commission, rather special, but with rewards far beyond ordinary commissions. Would you be interested in learning more?"