Ares understood his words, but deliberately put on a confused expression, and at the same time said to him in broken: "Sumimasen, I don't understand what you're saying."
"Ah, I almost forgot, you don't understand this language."
Seeing the realistic expression Ares put on, Veleslana had no doubts. He smiled, then changed his tone and said in Japanese:
"It's nothing, it's not a very important matter. There's a strange smell—no, it should be an odor—around your body. I'm a bit bothered by it, so I spoke to you."
"Odor?" Ares sniffed himself, then replied, "Do you have an opinion on the smell of pickled fish? Are you looking down on us hard-working people who came to the city to work because our families are poor, huh?"
Veleslana stared at Ares for a while. Because Ares had been on the front lines of the Olympus entertainment industry for many years, he couldn't tell whether Ares was acting or being serious. So, he shook his head and said to Ares:
"It's nothing, just consider it my rambling. Young man, I apologize for my rude behavior."
Seeing Veleslana speaking to him in such an old-fashioned manner, Ares felt quite strange.
Because, how to put it, if human history in this world was similar to his previous life, then the Persians were actually descendants of Perseus and Andromeda, the Ethiopian princess's eldest son. In other words, as the Persian God of War, Veleslana should actually be considered a deity fabricated by the bragging of the descendants of another one of Ares's identities.
This feeling was a bit like a grandfather seeing his grandson speak in an old-fashioned manner in front of him—truly delightful, truly delightful.
Suppressing his inner chuckle, Ares looked at Veleslana with a strange expression and asked, "Young man? You're the young man, right? How old are you, child? Did you get separated from your mom and dad? Do you want big brother to help you find the police? …Okay, if you don't trust the police, big brother here also knows a few local Gangsters. You locals should trust the Mafia, right?"
"What separation? I naturally remember My name, My birthplace, My… oh, what was it?"
Seeing Veleslana's confused look, Ares of course knew that this was memory loss caused by his conflict with Mekal, and then having several incarnations destroyed by the Canaan God King. However, on the surface, he still had to feign fear and asked suspiciously, "Little friend, you're not trying to cling to me, are you? I'm telling you, I don't have money. I'll just send you to the shelter here. Don't worry, the uncles there are all very nice and speak well. You'll definitely be very happy there."
"That's not necessary. Although I don't know My name or origin, there's no particular trouble. I just need to know My most important matter."
Veleslana refused Ares's kind offer, then said with an arrogant expression:
"I am the victor. Victory is always in My hands. This is My essence. No matter what conflict I encounter, facing any enemy, My victory will not change, it cannot be shaken."
So, gods with the divine authority of victory speak with such confidence, huh?
Hmph, nothing more than that.
Hearing Veleslana boast about his divine authority of victory as a War God, Ares felt as sour as if he had just eaten a lemon, and at the same time, he disliked old Zeus even more for depriving him of his divine authority of victory.
He looked Veleslana up and down and said,
"Really? I don't believe it."
"You don't believe it?" Veleslana chuckled, then confidently said to Ares, "Then do you want to try? Have a competition with Me, no need to be too serious, just play a little. Anything you're good at will do, whether it's games, horseback riding, archery, or any other kind of contest."
"Don't say that." Ares looked the boy up and down, then said, "If we're really going to compare, there are some areas where you've already lost to me from the start."
This time, it was Veleslana who was unconvinced. He retorted, "Really? Then tell Me, in what aspect have I lost compared to you?"
Ares lowered his head, thought for a moment, then replied, "Mine is longer than yours."
Veleslana was speechless. He looked down at his youthful body, then his face flushed red and white. He struggled for a long time to catch his breath, then gritted his teeth and said,
"That doesn't count!"
"That's a man's victory, isn't it?" Ares put his hands on his hips and looked at Veleslana triumphantly. Seeing a colleague with innate victory divine authority suffer a setback felt as refreshing as seeing Athena suffer a setback.
Veleslana opened his mouth, walked back and forth a few steps, then said to Ares with great reluctance:
"Change the subject, I will definitely prove to you that I am an ever-victorious person!"
"You insist on proving…"
Ares looked left and right, feeling a bit troubled.
Ares didn't take Veleslana's challenge seriously at all. For him, playing other games with Veleslana was just for fun; he had always regarded the Persian God of War as prey.
But Veleslana's current incarnation was incomplete and not yet fattened up, so killing him now would be a loss. However, since he had appeared here, it meant that the day of his own departure was not far off.
Unfortunately, he had only worked as a temporary employee here for three days. Although the boss was nice and the salary wasn't a rip-off, three days' salary might not even be enough to buy a train ticket from here to the battlefield where Veleslana and Mekal would have their decisive battle.
However, just as Ares was thinking about this, he suddenly saw two men in black suits and sunglasses walking down the street, acting very naturally and arrogantly. The locals on the street who saw them all dodged or showed ingratiating smiles.
Italy's famous specialty, the Mafia.
Unlike the northern states where the Italian government held sway, in Sardinia, which was considered a southern state, the Italian Mafia's influence was rampant. They had basically infiltrated all aspects of society, and most of the personnel in government agencies had been co-opted by them. It could be said that in these southern states, the Italian Mafia were more like organizations performing government functions.
However, this was not a good thing. Ares had seen many artistic works that glorified the Mafia before, but he still knew in his heart that these lawless organizations were definitely inferior to a strong government in terms of control.
No matter how much it's glorified, the underworld is still the underworld. The self-awareness and conscience of a few members cannot be taken as the nature of the entire organization, after all, the underworld engages in illegal activities and oppresses the public.
Just like in Sardinia, the Mafia would not only collect "protection fees" from every shop owner, but also illegally operate various illegal venues such as casinos and nightclubs. They also frequently engaged in gunfights over territory disputes, resulting in deaths.
It is worth mentioning, however, that the casinos run by the Mafia were truly profitable, and, moreover, taking action against such an underworld organization did not violate Ares's own bottom line.
So after thinking about it, he showed Veleslana a smile:
"Young man, you're so confident, aren't you? All right, I know a good place. If you're confident, it will definitely make you win until you vomit."