Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 1342 - 182: New Source of Humanity

The demons called ’Fire Demons’ are special in that they exist in a magma form, akin to elemental beings.

They roam the wilderness like other inferior demons, omnipresent in Hell, yet more detested by native life than inferior demons—they can exist independently or merge with each other, flowing with the magma, congregating in the Lava Lake or seas, blending into their kin.

Fire Demons forming communities are hard to deal with. The trouble is, magma is ubiquitous in Hell.

Therefore, they aren’t considered the lowest existence of Hell like other inferior demons.

Due to the Fire Demon community, the town moved from "Beautiful Lake" to Screeching Canyon and gradually declined.

"We left instructions in the town, but fewer demons are arriving," the Blue Blood Chief whispered nostalgically.

Long ago, it was an enforcer managing hundreds of demons and guests who arrived, even owning two subordinates, but as Hell no longer connected to the human world, the town and its glory faded.

The waiter had not yet returned with the map, so Lu Li took the opportunity to ask more questions while the Blue Blood Chief was still willing to talk, such as who the mayor is.

"Burb," this awkward name belongs to the mayor of Beautiful Lake Town, as Lu Li learned when he first stepped into Hell: an Advanced Demon.

The waiter emerged from behind the counter, placing down several coarse, unknown leather maps better suited for preserving in the scorching Hell than sheepskin.

Two maps corresponded to Old Beautiful Lake Town and New Beautiful Lake Town, with another held by the waiter.

Luxurious script with butterfly-wing patterns marked many locations on the map, the New Beautiful Lake Town at their feet, relying on Screeching Canyon, and Old Beautiful Lake Town in the lower-left corner.

Lu Li analyzed the map’s diameter, approximately 20 li, relatively detailed—relatively. Because besides the place names, the map lacked markings of Hell creatures’ lairs as imagined.

Perhaps the lairs around the towns have been cleared, but Lu Li tended to think no one came to map the area after the decline of Beautiful Lake Town, which was confirmed by the Blue Blood Chief.

When compared, the New and Old Beautiful Lake Town maps had subtle differences, like on the Old Beautiful Lake Town map, Lake Heart Island was town-sized, while on the New Beautiful Lake Town map, it had shrunk to an almost invisible speck.

"Are there strange... Hell creature lairs near the town?"

"Of course," the Blue Blood Chief’s cold snort indicated their hostile relationship.

Lu Li glanced at the waiter again, clutching the last leather map without handing it over.

"This one requires payment!" the waiter screamed, resisting the Blue Blood Chief’s threats.

The Blue Blood Chief grunted low, tossing the Black Sludge Demon Sphere Lu Li had given, the meatball rolling over the counter, caught by the waiter reaching out to cradle it.

"Thank you."

Lu Li picked up the map from the counter, examining the irregular patterns on the coarse leather. This map had a larger scale than the previous two; both Lake Heart Island and Screeching Canyon were squeezed into corners, and the New Lake Heart Island Town was later marked on the map.

The map centered on a Hell town called "Abyss City," which the Blue Blood Chief said was controlled by the Devil Monarch—though it had never been there. Lu Li roughly measured the map’s span: Screeching Canyon was about 60 li long, the length of a fingernail. From Abyss City to Screeching Canyon was roughly an arm’s length, making it difficult for even nonstop travel to reach there within 24 days.

The map’s value lay in its scale, with towns and lairs within a thousand li radius marked: Tomb of the Dead, Marquis Castle, Spider God Church, Ruins of the Fallen...

This meant Lu Li had a considerable source of humanity—provided he could defeat them and they were still there.

When the map was drawn, Beautiful Lake Town had not yet relocated.

The nearest town to New Beautiful Lake Town is Rift Valley Town on the other end of Screeching Canyon, about 60 li away, slightly slanted eastward, extending northward, and just barely on the route.

"Do you still have any contact with Rift Valley Town?"

"No."

"Why not?"

The straight-line distance between the two towns is not far at 60 li, and the terrain has a canyon connecting both ends, so it should not be difficult for Hell’s demons to travel through.

The Blue Blood Chief raised its horn-like claw as long as a small forearm, pointing to the canyon’s middle: "It collapsed and was occupied by a banshee, turning into Wailing Cave."

Lu Li temporarily set the goal to enter the canyon to resolve Wailing Cave and reach the other end of Rift Valley Town. But before leaving, perhaps he should figure out a way to harvest the Fire Demons in "Beautiful Lake."

"How do I trade souls?"

Lu Li planned to use the souls obtained from resolving the Black Mud Demon. Hell is constantly evaporating his humanity, but souls can replace humanity for consumption and be used as currency.

The latter is more useful at the moment; he can’t always empty-handedly deceive these Hell creatures.

The waiter again went down into a floor hole, appearing soon after, cradling a round barrel etched with irregular patterns, resembling a wine cask with a water spout.

"Place your hand inside and release the desired amount. A portion of the extracted soul goes to the tavern."

Lu Li looked up at the Blue Blood Chief, feeling this law-abiding enforcer was more trustworthy than the waiter.

"The tavern extracts one-tenth."

The fair Blue Blood Chief confirmed this wasn’t a scam and exposed the waiter’s little trick.

Lu Li nodded, extended his right hand into the round barrel, and the sensation of tearing at his soul emerged. Lu Li endured it, allowing the barrel’s spout to release a faintly glowing streak. It formed a sphere the size of a curled finger, its luminescent halo flowing; if one looked closely, the soul could be seen surging within.

This too was a soul and currency but different from Strange Currency. Strange Currency was crafted from solidified souls, audible to hear the wailing of the undead when placed near the ear.

Lu Li retracted his hand, the tearing sensation lingering: "What’s its value?"

"13 soul portions."

"Equivalent value?"

The waiter’s answer was 169 days of Hell’s attrition, 130 trained inferior demon slaves, 39 days lodging at the tavern, 23 and a half bottles of semi-undead wine, hiring two mid-level demons for a month, enjoying a succubus for seven nights, five days’ feed for a skeleton horse, two luxurious tavern meals, an opportunity to turn into a mid-level demon from a low-level demon, a ticket to Abyss City, and 0.7 of a house in New Beautiful Lake Town.

It couldn’t be converted to shillings or Strange Currency because a soul represents not just currency but the longevity of existence—every 13 days, Hell’s scorching winds would erode one soul portion.

His right arm, torn and temporarily weak, Lu Li extended his left hand to pick up the soul; an unexpected change suddenly occurred—the soul dissolved due to the Redemption Fragments in his left hand, converting into humanity flowing into his body.

Approximately 0.1 portion.

soul portions could only be exchanged into 0.1 portion of humanity, but the key was... a soul could be exchanged for humanity.

"What did you do!"

The waiter, holding its head, screamed in shock, a small problem arising: Lu Li had no means to pay the tavern its 1.3 soul portions owed as compensation.

But Lu Li was already beyond caring about this. Because if a soul could be exchanged for humanity...

"The lairs around Beautiful Lake Town pose a threat to the town, right?" Those deep black eyes fell upon the Blue Blood Chief awaiting enforcement.

"If I help eliminate the threat... how much would the town pay me in recompense?"