Vinayak forcefully tossed the flatbread, its enticing aroma carrying as it flew out of the flour circle and landed at the very edge of the nest.
Hastar, tormented by hunger, instinctively pounced.
Taking this opportunity, the drone quickly flew straight along the passage.
Hastar noticed that the Prosperity Goddess's money pouch was about to disappear, so it grabbed the pancake in its mouth and climbed up along the inner wall in pursuit.
Wealth and food, it wanted both.
The moment the drone reached the wellhead, Benjamin suddenly opened the well cover, stretched out his hand to take the money bag, and the huge force even pulled the drone over.
Hastar, having also reached the well opening, stretched out its bloodied hand and grabbed the drone's wing, simultaneously baring its fangs and lunging to bite at Benjamin's hand.
Benjamin didn't want it to bite him and turn him into a wretched, slug-like creature.
The instant his right hand left the well opening, his left hand slammed the metal well cover down heavily.
Duang!
The closed metal manhole cover struck Hastar's head, producing a deep, resonant chime that lingered long afterward.
"What a beautiful celebratory sound!"
Benjamin exclaimed.
The manhole cover had scraped off a layer of flesh from the back of his right hand, revealing clear veins and metacarpal bones, yet no blood flowed out, which looked somewhat eerie.
He took out a bag of blood plasma from his personal space, tore it open, quickly restored his hand, and stored the remaining plasma back in his space.
Only then did he begin to examine the wealth pouch in his hand.
This wealth pouch of the Goddess of Prosperity was deep red, more like an empty heart than a money pouch.
Benjamin gently pulled open the pouch, and a small pile of gold coins instantly poured out, clattering to the ground. Benjamin quickly closed the pouch.
He peered inside through the tiny crack, and countless miniature gold coins occupied most of the pouch's space.
Judging from the reduced size of the coins, the space was approximately 50 cubic meters.
The gold coins were piled up at an angle, forming a small mountain. Benjamin noticed a new coin emerging from the ground at the bottom edge.
These coins appeared to have been generated by some kind of magic of the the money pouch, not simply gold from the outside world being placed inside.
The key point is that from his angled view, he observed an opaque, black membrane, like ripples on water, beneath the gold coins.
Benjamin was familiar with this.
The entrance to the spatial tomb when he entered the Lighthouse's private space also had this membrane.
This indicated that there should be a deeper space within the money pouch, but Benjamin currently had no way to open it.
Benjamin thought for a moment. According to what was written in the novels from his past life, these magical relics should undergo a master-acknowledgment ritual.
Local legend said that Hastar stole the money pouch of the Goddess of Prosperity, incurring the wrath of the gods.
If the owner of the purse were still the Goddess of Prosperity, the gods would not be so enraged.
Therefore, if the money bag really has the ability to recognize its master, then it must now recognize Hastar as its master.
Benjamin thoughtfully activated the lighthouse mark, checking the second storyline quest in *Tumbbad*: Kill the Son of God (3000 survival points upon completion).
"Hey, Raghaf, it hasn't disappeared! The flour circle is almost gone!"
Vinayak stood inside the nest, shouting anxiously at the camera.
Hastar, having lost the money bag, was frantically attacking the flour circle.
Benjamin glanced at the monitor, took the flour bag Vinayak had placed by the well, filled a throwing device with flour, and suspended it on the drone.
He opened the well cover, threw the flour bag down, and simultaneously placed the drone inside, quickly closing the cover.
Hastar, hearing the commotion, tried to climb up, but finding the well cover closed, could only frantically pound on the outside of the flour circle.
Its movements had no effect on the flour.
The swarthy middle-aged man and the man with yellow braids quickly picked up the flour bags that had fallen straight into the circle, and replenished the surrounding flour circle to make it thicker.
The drone, carrying a throwing device, flew above Hastar and released its mechanical claw.
The device exploded as it approached Hastar, scattering the flour inside and covering an area of about four meters.
Hastar let out a painful roar and turned to ashes.
Benjamin, standing outside the manhole cover, wore an expression of utter certainty.
the system hadn't indicated the completion of the mission to kill the Son of God, it meant Hastar hadn't been killed.
Sure enough, a new Haska reappeared on the inner wall of the Well of Gods.
This time, however, it no longer had its money pouch and was extremely agitated, its saliva dripping onto the ground with each roar.
Myths and legends are generally exaggerated and fabricated based on historical facts.
Benjamin carefully reviewed the local legends about the Goddess of Prosperity and Hastar.
One thing was certain that the so-called 'God of Greed', Hastar, was definitely not that powerful.
After being torn apart by the gods, it was revived by the goddess using her own womb, but it could never leave the womb.
Therefore, Benjamin suspected that Hastar's resurrection was not due to its own abilities, but rather related to the Goddess of Prosperity's womb.
He naturally wouldn't let go of the suspected goddess's flesh and blood.
However, after completing the story mission, he tried using his absorption ability on the flesh and blood passages around him, but he couldn't absorb a single drop.
Therefore, he speculated that it was either due to the Goddess of Prosperity's divine power, or that this so-called goddess's womb was itself a living thing.
But no matter what he speculated, the problem was that relying solely on flour within the Well of Gods was insufficient to kill Hastar.
As darkness fell, Benjamin decided to return to his residence in Puna to gather some help and tools before figuring out how to deal with Hastar.
After Benjamin had the intention to leave, he glanced at the monitor and saw that the three people at the bottom of the well were arguing anxiously and panic-strickenly.
Hastar continued to circle and roar around the three in the Well of God, showing no sign of disappearing or falling asleep.
"I need more bread and flour. You guys take turns guarding it. I'm going back."
Benjamin's voice came from the security camera by the passageway of well, and the three stopped arguing.
"Boss, don't forget about us!"
"Old friend, I hope you're trustworthy. I sold you all the gold coins I had earlier at a discount."
"Boss, you must save us. My sister says she admires you a lot."
The dark-skinned middle-aged man's words made Benjamin pause. The man's sister was a 200-pound, dark-skinned, overweight woman.
Benjamin secured the manhole cover tightly, attached the key, looked around, found a large rock weighing over 100 pounds, and placed it on top of the cover.
Before leaving, he glanced at the monitor screen one last time, watching the three helpless figures at the bottom of the well, and thought to himself: People must rely on themselves!
Benjamin packed his belongings, climbed back up the rope to the surface, retrieved it, and returned to Puna.
He rode his motorcycle along the gravel streets towards Raghaf's residence, intending to change his clothes first.
...
"Are you shipping Raghaf's belongings?"
A green military vehicle was parked by the roadside, the door ajar.
A young, handsome British soldier was reclining in his seat, his arm resting on the window, chatting with another bearded middle-aged soldier outside.
"This is a gift for my girlfriend."
"I've never seen you so generous, you..."
The young soldier had only said half of what he wanted to say when he saw Benjamin riding over on a motorcycle.
"Hey, Raghaf."
As he spoke, he got out of the car, straightened the green domed military cap in his hand, put it on his head, walked over to Benjamin, and stopped the motorcycle.
"Cooper Hark?"
Benjamin answered tentatively.
"That little bird that always comes to your house, does he work for you?" Cooper Hark took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked around.
Benjamin knew he was asking about Vinayak, the gold coin seller.
"No, he doesn't work for anyone. He is his own master."
The young soldier, Cooper Hark, glanced around again, then leaned closer to Benjamin and whispered,
"I don't care about that. I can give you the tobacco license, but it's temporary. It won't last forever."
"Listen, I'm getting promoted in a month and leaving this fantastical plantation. Then no one will contact Superintendent Sahib for you. You have a month."
Cooper Hark finished speaking, turned back to his car, and drove away.
Benjamin had no interest in Raghaf's tobacco business and went straight back to his residence.