Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 1359 - 199: Special Auction

Meow, meow, meow—

Surrounded by a group of cats, Lu Li arrived at the Stealing Demon’s treasure room with the demon guards.

They lingered outside the treasure room, not daring to enter, as the so-called "treasure room" displayed the soulless shells of cats like specimens.

Confirming that there was nothing he wanted here, Lu Li changed his approach: "Where does the Town Mayor store the souls?"

"The study."

"Take me there."

Leading the group of cats, Lu Li and the demon guards headed upstairs. Along the way, they encountered some servants cleaning and tidying the mansion, who also remained indifferent to Lu Li.

"Were the servants made by the Stealing Demon?" Lu Li speculated on the reason.

"Yes, Town Mayor."

"What about you?"

"Me too."

"Do you follow the orders of the Stealing Demon?"

"I follow the orders of the Town Mayor."

Thus, Lu Li, who had replaced the Stealing Demon as the "new Town Mayor," took advantage of a loophole.

Following the stairs to the third floor study in the mansion, Lu Li guessed that the Stealing Demon was not the original owner here—the furnishings in the study, the desk, display shelves, and leather chairs were not things that the transparent Plunder Demon would use.

Avoiding the cats at his feet, Lu Li walked to the window, where the third-floor study window overlooked the entire Citrus Tanuki Town.

Lu Li turned his attention back to the chair cushioned with several books and opened the drawer.

A neatly arranged row of stone boxes lined the drawer, a total of 13 stone boxes, each containing 1,000 souls.

"Bring the leader of the Flowing Demon caravan outside the town," Lu Li said, removing the handful of leather-bound books and sitting in the chair, continuing: "Tell him it’s an arrangement by the new Town Mayor."

The demon guards left, and Lu Li in the study picked up a stone box to absorb humanity.

The cats on the floor scrambled onto Lu Li and the desk, a swift gray cat lying on his knee.

After absorbing the last stone box, humanity approached 300, Lu Li heard footsteps in the hallway outside the door.

The demon guards led the Flowing Demon to the doorway.

"Soul, sir... did it call you the new Town Mayor?"

The Flowing Demon noticed the enchanting aura was even richer than before, hesitating at the door without daring to enter, only able to converse with the soul enveloped in a flickering light, seated behind the desk, surrounded by cats.

"I dealt with the Stealing Demon, so now I’m the Town Mayor."

"Do you plan to stay here?" the Flowing Demon asked tentatively.

Lu Li did feel the attraction, so he summoned the Flowing Demon to inquire, "What are the town’s sources of income?"

"Typically from selling specialties and collecting taxes."

The specialty of Inner Sea Town is Purgatory Demons, but Citrus Tanuki Town has no specialty unless cats are sold.

"How much is the tax income of Citrus Tanuki Town?"

"Well... very little, the former Town Mayor deferred Citrus Tanuki Town’s tax until the ninetieth sleep later." The Flowing Demon, who had traveled this trade route many times, had quite a few opinions about the Stealing Demon.

Even if Lu Li continued to collect taxes, daily income of just a few portions of humanity would not satisfy him.

Because he only had 23 days’ time.

"Then we’ll sell the treasures left by the Town Mayor."

Lu Li entrusted this task to the Flowing Demon, with the sole requirement to hurry, then asked the demon guards about nearby Weird Lairs around Citrus Tanuki Town.

Thanks to the Stealing Demon’s obsession with making Soul Cats, there were indeed many hidden dangers around Citrus Tanuki Town awaiting resolution. Lu Li selected two adjacent Weird Lairs with the highest potential harvest, leaving the cats in the study and instructing the demon guards to notify all residents of the Town Mayor’s transition before heading to the lairs to address the threat.

Several dozen minutes later, the demons of Citrus Tanuki Town sensed that the enticing aura that had left appeared again.

At this moment, the Town Mayor Mansion hall was piled with valuable items plundered by the Flowing Demon and his subordinates, followed by the cats released from the study, jumping and climbing amidst the heap of gold, paintings, and luxury items.

The Flowing Demon carefully carried a cherished cat, about to scratch a painting, away from the painting with care.

While filled with the joy of harvest, worries arose: it would be difficult for the caravan to carry these items away, and they would have to be sold cheaply to other merchants.

Moreover, many truly valuable items could not be sold... like the Town Mayor himself.

"Then let’s hold an auction."

Lu Li instructed the Flowing Demon and demon guards to convene the merchants and residents: "Tell them I’ll auction off this mansion and the Town Mayor’s position."

Talking about chaos and disorder, demons always took pride in it, and then beat each other bloody in the ensuing disputes.

Demons with the blood of Yuglas take pride in chaos; the further they are from order, the more chaotic they become.

And now, the Flowing Demon had to admit, the soul before him was more like a demon than many demons.

Merchants and interested residents gradually gathered on the street outside because of the auction news.

As the demon who "hired" Lu Li, the Flowing Demon had the right of first choice for these goods and waited to pay Lu Li after they were sold.

Thus, half of the luxury goods heap taken by the Flowing Demon was moved away, but because they could not fit, he reluctantly set up an array temporarily to store them in the Void Warehouse—storage provided by the Devil Monarch in Abyss City. Storing in the Void Warehouse itself does not incur fees; the cost is only for the resources for setting up the array, purchasable only from demons.

After collecting the truly valuable items, the Flowing Demon pushed open the main door, letting his subordinates move the remaining goods outside.

Looking at the demons gathered on the street driven by various desires, the Flowing Demon’s acknowledgment of order made him hope this wasn’t a trap gathering all demons and capturing them all at once. Yet, the essence of the demon made him vaguely anticipate this scenario happening—

Lu Li was not there; he stood by the third-floor study window with the cats, maintaining a distance. The demons on the street could only sense the sweet aura permeating the surroundings.

The Flowing Demon first introduced himself to make a name for his caravan, then had his subordinates pick up the items for auction, starting the simple auction:

"Suspected genuine piece of Duke Nash XVI..."

"A set of silver cutlery..."

"Thirteen solid gold candlesticks..."

"An Abyss City celebration armor set..."

The small heap of luxury goods gradually disappeared. Not many demons were interested, and the auction didn’t have much of a premium. It wasn’t until the Flowing Demon called out "Town Mayor Mansion" that it began to draw the demons’ attention.

Looking at the demons making offers, the Flowing Demon suddenly felt that only a demon could think of auctioning off a part of the Town Mayor’s rights, the mansion...

The Town Mayor Mansion eventually sold for 1,700 souls.

The Flowing Demon stopped his thinking, excitedly announcing, "Now for the final auction item, the Town Mayor of Citrus Tanuki Town, starting bid 1,000 souls!"

"5,000 souls."

"7,000!"

"9,000 souls!"

"10,000..."

During the continuous bidding, the price reached 13,000 souls.

"One Void Ring!"

A low growl drew the eyes of greed, and the Flowing Demon too showed greed, but he found it difficult to decide, heading back upstairs to consult Lu Li.

"What’s a Void Ring?"

"It’s a portable version of the array I summoned for the Void Warehouse before, the ring itself connects to the Void Warehouse, extremely rare..."

"Can the ring contain living things?"

"It can, just not exceeding the power of low-level demons."

"Tell him the Town Mayor of Citrus Tanuki Town is his now."