"Look everyone! This gentleman and this lady, please support my grandfather!"

The young man handed the flyer to Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran looked down and exclaimed, "Wow, this is actually a flyer for the afternoon's speech! Please support candidate Kornno!" followed by a long list of this guy's past heroic deeds.

To be honest, Jiang Ran didn't care what he did; what he cared about was whether he could actually show up. At the same time, he was also wondering why this guy would so blatantly hand out flyers instead of targeting other people.

This guy is definitely a veteran near-god, and he's not afraid of his identity being exposed at all, because he's already completely transparent.

Then, he might not be confident in taking down all seven other people, so he prepared his speech in advance as a precaution.

If many people participate in the speech, he can gain more chances of winning by building up his foundation.

Since someone had brought him information, Jiang Ran decided to accept it without hesitation. As he scanned the contents of the flyer, he gained some understanding of Korno.

This guy is currently serving as the deputy city lord because he failed to be selected as the previous city lord. The city lord couldn't bear to see him fail, so he appointed him as the deputy city lord—that's what the leaflet says.

The truth is that during the last city lord selection, he and the previous city lord were in a cooperative relationship and worked together to eliminate the others!

In this cooperative relationship, the previous city lord was the leader, so he became the city lord, and Korno, the partner, naturally became the deputy city lord, and his status rose accordingly.

During this long period of time, Corno wielded great power and was clearly no longer content with being just a deputy city lord!

Jiang Ran's gaze continued downwards, quickly skipping over the work-related matters. Below, there was a striking line of black text that recorded that Korn had once slain a demon!

I've slain a demon!

Is the demon mentioned here the same one Jiang Ran is thinking of?

"Please give my grandfather your support. I believe only he can bring better order to the City of Paradise!"

Order? What order can be found in such a chaotic place?

After handing out the flyers, the young man ran across the street to hand out flyers to other people.

Corno is one of the candidates, which slightly contradicts Jiang Ran's previous guess, because he is neither the Joker nor the Butcher, and of course he cannot be the White Dove or the Raven, because the introduction clearly states that he has no connection with them at all.

“I’m actually quite interested in this Corno.” Jiang Ran smiled and tossed the flyer into the trash can. “Then let’s go pay him a visit.”

He was extremely interested in how this guy had managed to kill a demon.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, where is Cornelius now?"

Watch a performance at the Paradise Theater

Oh, why didn't he stay in the more heavily guarded deputy city lord's mansion, but instead went to a mixed-up place like the theater? Should we say he's carefree, or has absolute confidence?

But that makes sense. In a battle at the near-god level, lower-level strange creatures don't really have a chance to show their strength. So what if he has a dozen or twenty [Ghost King] level bodyguards? They're not even as strong as his own.

Following the signs, the two arrived at a luxurious building, the Paradise Theater. In a place with limited space and no games, this was a rare treat.

The two successfully infiltrated the place, and Corno's entourage was incredibly grand. He was given a large room and a performer was hired to put on a show just for him.

Korno was a burly man nearly three meters tall with four arms. His head was bald, replaced by a wavy red worm, and he always carried a giant sword on his back, seemingly never to be put down.

Jiang Ran did not make a move immediately, but instead hid in the shadows and shifted his gaze to the stage.

The person performing on the stage is a clown with exaggerated makeup!

[Rule Thirteen: You may watch the clown's performance, but please refrain from interacting with him and leave quickly during his card magic act.]

"So, the magic trick I'm going to perform next is—the magic of making a person disappear!"

The clown spread his arms and threw the playing cards between his fingers into the air. Immediately, Jiang Ran felt a dizzying sensation in the space. In the blink of an eye, he and Lin Zhi appeared above the stage and were falling down!

Jiang Ran hugged Lin Zhi and placed her steadily on the ground. The clown drew a gleaming dagger and stabbed at the two of them!

"The next magic trick is—a head transfer!"

Jiang Ran swung his leg and broke the clown's arm, but instead of blood, flowers flew through the air. The clown's face twisted in a smile: "My magic trick was so realistic!"

This clown is also near-godlike?!

Was he also a candidate, and then he partnered with Kornau?

No, it's also possible that he wasn't a candidate at all! It only says that all candidates are "near-gods," but it doesn't say that all "near-gods" are candidates!

"No wonder you didn't actively hunt down other candidates, but instead spread the news extensively, just to lure other candidates to kill you, and then turn the tables on them?"

Korn drew his greatsword from behind him: "I've never seen you before. You must be a little guy who just rose from the [Demon King] level."

"Join my camp, and you can choose any position below the deputy city lord. With your current resources, competing for the city lord position is too much of a stretch. A wise person knows when to yield!"

Jiang Ran is, after all, a near-god level combatant. If he were to join forces with Korno, Korno would certainly not refuse, which would be equivalent to giving him another absolute trump card!

As for whether he's worried about betrayal? Since Corneau dared to bring it up, he naturally has ways to deal with it!

"How about it?"

With himself already at the level of a near-god, and with the help of a near-god level clown, Korno had two top-tier combatants forming an encirclement. If anyone else came here without corresponding means, they would probably really be doomed!

Although there is a certain difference in strength between [Near Gods], Jiang Ran has yet to see any [Near God] defeat two opponents single-handedly using only their own strength!

Seeing that Jiang Ran didn't speak, Korno also became a little impatient.

"Submit, or die!"

"Sorry—" Jiang Ran smiled slightly, "I won't choose either of them!"

"Your setup might be able to deal with others, but it's still a little short of being able to deal with me!"