As a mafia, it was naturally impossible for the local mafia to earn money only by collecting protection fees from local businesses; those were outdated methods.
In addition to traditional protection fees, the local mafia in Sardinia also operated many illegal casinos and nightclubs. The capital flow in these places was the main source of income for the local mafia.
Many people dreaming of getting rich overnight fell into their traps. Many of them not only lost everything due to gambling, but even if they won, in the casinos operated by the mafia, you might not be able to safely walk out of the casino with your winnings.
After all, the mafia wouldn't talk to you about law and reason. Once you won too much, they would insist you were cheating. In such a situation, you either paid to ensure your safety, or you would lose your life.
Of course, these things only applied to ordinary people. Ares and Veleslana were naturally not afraid of a mere mafia, so after Veleslana insisted on proving to Ares that his divine authority of victory was genuine, Ares took a leave from his boss and brought him to an illegal casino operated by the local mafia.
As for why Ares, a stranger to the place, knew where the mafia's illegal casinos were located in the capital of Sardinia, it was naturally his previous boss who told him. When Ares first started working, the kind Chinese boss warned him about places he shouldn't go in the area. Ares only needed to reverse-engineer slightly to figure out which of these places were casinos or nightclubs controlled by the mafia.
The issue of Ares and Veleslana not having enough principal was also simple. It seemed that Veleslana was stimulated by Ares's remark, "This is a man's victory," and insisted on proving his true nature to Ares. For this, he even pawned his golden sword to the mafia, exchanging it for a large sum of money to use as principal and gambling funds.
Then, in the following time, Veleslana showed Ares that his title as the God of Victory was truly well-deserved. From baccarat to slot machines, no matter what game it was, as long as he understood one or two rules and played twice, he would keep winning. The two circled the underground casino and quickly won a fortune, and at the same time, the operators of this underground casino, the mafia, also noticed the two.
Several men in floral shirts and sunglasses gathered and exchanged a few words, then immediately dispersed in a pincer movement, surrounding the entire casino. They seemed to be overseeing the situation of the entire casino, but in reality, their gazes were focused on Ares and Veleslana.
Veleslana clearly noticed this as well, but the young Persian God of War remained calm and composed, exuding a sense of having everything under control. He enjoyed the cheers from the surrounding gamblers, which were either envious, flattering, or jealous, and occasionally showed a smug expression to Ares, as if telling him, "See, I'm that awesome."
And Ares was not stingy with his applause and flattery, using the advanced experience he had learned and applied from Perseus to make the young and naive Veleslana very happy.
After all, the young Persian God of War had already told Ares that money was useless to him, so all the funds he won today would be given to Ares as compensation and a gift for making him happy.
The two quickly rampaged through the casino, winning a large sum of money. Afterward, the two were approached by the mafia in the casino, and then they conveniently taught this group of mafia a lesson.
After achieving two consecutive victories, the Persian God of War was in high spirits. He and Ares walked out of the casino and continued to stroll along the seaside, saying at the same time:
"How about it? Do you believe now that my essence is that of an ever-victorious person?"
"Yes, yes, you're awesome, you're awesome." Ares nodded repeatedly.
"As agreed, all this money is for you," Veleslana said, handing over the box full of money.
"This, I can't, I really can't."
Ares refused while reaching out and firmly gripping the handle of the box.
"Haha, you're really interesting."
Veleslana, for some unknown reason, smiled at Ares:
"Rest assured, I promised to give all the money to you, so it's impossible for other factors to hinder you from receiving my gift. That would be an insult to me. Therefore, just take it; you don't have to worry about others causing trouble. In your path forward, there will only be a peaceful world, and as long as your character is upright, you will not lose the blessing of light."
After speaking, he looked up at the sky and then said:
"I've had my fill today. I also have important matters to attend to next. We shall meet again if fate allows, interesting person."
After he finished speaking, his figure transformed into a pure spell power and disappeared before Ares. At the same time, Ares also felt a powerful Divine Word transform into a blessing, which was bestowed upon him. However, the moment it was bestowed, this blessing suddenly flickered like a light bulb with no power, then abruptly vanished.
Ares: "…"
What did that mean, that his character wasn't upright enough?
I, the mighty God of War of Mount Olympus, and you, a small country of Persia, a place that will be repeatedly trampled by Sparta and Macedon in the future, dare to say that I am not worthy of your Persian God of War's blessing?
Hmph, it must be that the blessing of a minor Persian god is not worthy of me!
While thinking this angrily, Ares walked through the crowd and returned to the small seaside restaurant. During this time, Veleslana's Boar incarnation went on a rampage as scheduled, destroying a section of the city. However, because Veleslana was nearby, the incarnation was quickly suppressed and retrieved by him, and Ares also took the opportunity to protect the people nearby.
After doing these things, Ares kept half of the gambling winnings and gave them to the kind owner who had taken him in for three days and whose restaurant had been damaged by the Boar's rampage. Then, he left and went alone to the Cagliari train station, bought a ticket for the next day, and found a small hotel to stay in for the time being.
It just goes to show that money truly is hard currency. Even though Ares didn't understand any Italian, when he pulled out a thick wad of cash from his pocket, the local people would greet him with warm smiles and proactively find a translator who could communicate with him.
The lives of the rich are indeed boring, lacking many of the struggles ordinary people face, which secretly delighted Ares.
After settling everything in the hotel, Ares began to tinker with the God-slaying tools he needed.
Although he could confront them head-on, judging from the rampage of the Boar incarnation today, the clash of two Gods indeed caused immense destruction to modern cities. Ares wanted a method that could take down the Gods of Disobedience in one swift move before they even had time to react.
Ares didn't even think about it and directly pulled out a small flask. This flask contained a bit of Hydra's Blood. When Hecate heard that Ares wanted to try hunting Divine Authorities in another world, she shared a bit from her research materials to him for weapon enchantment.
Hydra's Blood is also effective against Gods, especially those with ties to greek mythology, where its effect is excellent.
And to achieve a surprise effect, Ares chose to use magic to load this Hydra's Blood into a batch of bullets. He got the bullets from the mafia when he and Veleslana went to smash their place earlier in the day—a full drum of submachine gun bullets, along with a thompson submachine gun that these mafia members got from who knows where.
After a night of sleepless debugging, Ares successfully infused the Hydra's Blood into all one hundred submachine gun bullets.
Presumably, in this world, no God of Disobedience would bother to defend against an old-fashioned submachine gun that ceased production four or five years ago. Originally, such low-power weapons couldn't harm them at all, but when they discovered the hidden secret in these one hundred.45 caliber bullets, Ares believed they would be so happy they'd cry.
From this, one can see whether Ares is qualified to receive Veleslana's blessing. It's subjective, but Ares himself believes his actions are righteous.
After modifying this great weapon and carefully hiding it on his person, Ares left the hotel and went to the small station in Cagliari, quietly waiting for the first train early the next morning.
He had already chosen a lucky God of Disobedience in his heart to test the power of this "Thompson Hydra Modified" submachine gun.