After Hawthorne staggered away, he was initially genuinely afraid of Lu Sinian without a single other thought.
But as he emerged from the abyss and saw the blinding sunlight, he couldn’t help but harbor some ulterior motives.
So what if that demon is powerful? As long as he escapes far away and finds a bunch of people to protect him in the main city of Caldera, how could it possibly catch up and kill him?
Five thousand gold coins! Just thinking about it made his mouth water.
It would take emptying his entire caravan to fill this huge hole.
What’s more… he touched his chest. His magic core was completely shattered so he could only rely on his noble status and his gold coins.
If he really had to hand over those five thousand gold coins and lose his magic core, he would be completely finished.
Absolutely not!
Having made up his mind, he breathed a sigh of relief, planning to go back to Vista City to sleep first, and then take a carriage back to Caldera the next day.
But a day later, Hawthorne woke up to find a pea-sized mole on his palm, dark and hollow, like…like the black eye of a demon!
A chill ran down his spine, and he shivered involuntarily, his mind blank.
The unknown terror is the most maddening. Hawthorne couldn’t sit still any longer. He rushed out of the room, intending to find his subordinates, but nearly bumped into them as soon as he opened the door.
Everyone wore expressions of terror and panic. As soon as they saw Hawthorne emerge, they swarmed around him.
Hawthorne stared grimly at his palm for a long time. He refused to believe it was just a demon. He’d just have the priest purify it when he got back, and it would be fine. He shouted, “Quickly, call a carriage! Get to Caldera as fast as possible!”
They rode at breakneck speed and soon arrived in Caldera. Hawthorne didn’t even dare to rest, he scrambled to the church.
“Quick, quickly purify it for me!” he cried, grabbing a priest. As time passed, the black hole in his hand grew larger and larger. It was a truly terrifying sight.
The priest frowned and tentatively cast a healing spell on the black hole.
Unexpectedly, as if triggering something, a searing pain erupted the moment the magic energy was input into the black hole, relentlessly assaulting Hawthorne’s nerves. The black hole suddenly expanded, instantly swallowing his hand.
Hawthorne couldn’t help but howl, trembling and wailing, “Help me! Help me! Stop! It hurts so much! My hand! My hand!”
The priest’s hand trembled, and he quickly cut off the input of magic energy, but even so, the black hole didn’t stop devouring. Gradually, half of Hawthorne’s arm disappeared, leaving only an empty hole.
He clutched his arm, jumping up and down, crying, “No, stop! Stop!”
Suddenly, he remembered something and turned to a subordinate, saying, “Go get the money! Go get the money! Bring me all the gold coins!!”
His guard, shocked by the scene before him, couldn’t help but look at the small black hole in his hand. He swallowed hard, and immediately went to the Viscount’s mansion to fetch the gold coins.
*
Five days later, Hawthorne looked up at the Demon Beast Forest before him. Returning just a few days later, his mindset was completely different.
After the black hole had swallowed his right arm, its speed gradually slowed. Hawthorne sold off his possessions almost instantly, scraping together five thousand gold coins.
Behind him, someone carried a large chest containing all his wealth.
“Ding-dong.”
The mysterious teleportation device slowly descended, and the door opened.
Hawthorne had a deep-seated trauma from this place. He stepped out tremblingly, not daring to look at the person in the shop.
The servant behind him put down the chest.
“S-Sir, the gold coins are all here. Please, please check.”
He stared intently at his toes, hearing a crisp click as footsteps slowly approached him.
The demon’s voice rang out, its eerie tone reaching his ears.
“Hmm…that’s enough, this is unnecessary.”
A slender, pale hand was extended in front of Hawthorne’s eyes, holding several gold coins.
The man was startled, almost jumping up, before stammering as he took the coins.
He cautiously asked, “Then…what about my arm?”
Lu Sinian had noticed his empty arm the moment he entered. After consulting Rong Qing in his mind and receiving a clear answer, he smiled and said, “Of course, it will dissipate within a day.”
The breath Hawthorne had been holding finally dissipated. He relaxed abruptly, no longer wanting to stay there, and grabbed the guard, got on the elevator, and left.
Lu Sinian watched him leave, thinking to himself, “It’s hard to find such a sucker. If a few more come looking for trouble, I can make a fortune in no time.”
With these five thousand gold coins, plus the ones he had earned earlier, his system account now held a staggering 180,000 energy coins.
Lu Sinian didn’t plan to buy any new goods. With customers increasing, he intended to invest half of his funds back into the initial capital to expand the market.
The shop’s location wasn’t ideal, but fortunately, Abel and his team were relentlessly promoting it.
Speaking of which, Lu Sinian couldn’t help but chuckle. Abel seemed to treat him like some high-ranking figure, and always behaved with utmost deference, almost as if he wanted to offer incense and prayers on the spot.
Just then, someone else arrived.
Lu Sinian habitually asked, “Welcome, what would you like to buy?”
But when he looked up, he froze. The person before him looked familiar—white robes and gold thread, dressed as a bishop of light.
It was the bishop who had come once before and even brought him water.
The bishop looked troubled. He didn’t enter, but stood outside, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating.
Ever since the bishop’s failed attempt to eliminate this “demon” backfired, he had secretly purchased many items, some for research and others for his own use.
In the end, the church uncovered nothing, instead, people’s hearts were swayed. Some believers who had previously been utterly devoted to the God of Light were drawn to the demon’s possessions.
Leaving aside the other goods, what surprised them most was the potato chips—crispy, delicious, and capable of replenishing their magic energy.
Eating a bag of these chips while fighting demons is like having a magic potion, it instantly replenishes your magic energy, eliminating any worry about running out of mana.
The bishop was among the first to succumb to the demons. At first, he struggled, but later he completely succumbed to the allure of potato chips.
Now, there are hardly any survivors in the entire city of Vesta. They are utterly unable to resist this magical product!
Before, they considered beast tides the most terrifying thing, but now that everyone has increased their strength, what are beast tides? Beast tides are just gold coins!
Killing a single demonic beast and selling it can earn at least several gold coins. Gold coins can be used to buy magic potions at the demon’s shop—it’s a win-win situation!
Although the bishop had already started using potato chips extensively, he was, after all, a member of the Church of Light, and had once come to “exterminate demons” with great fanfare. Therefore, he always secretly sent people to buy them, and never returned to the Abyss himself.
But… he frowned. After hearing the news, he no longer cared about saving face. He immediately stood up, determined to meet Lu Sinian in person.
He placed his hand on his chest, bowed slightly, and said solemnly, “Your Excellency, I have come with something extremely important.”
“Do you remember Alec who came with me last time? He left Vista City earlier. I hadn’t noticed, but he actually went to the main city of Caldera and reported your whereabouts to the cardinal of the Church of Light.”
He paused, then continued, “Although I know you are very powerful, the Church of Light has countless methods to deal with demons, even including sacrifices to summon the God of Light to possess one. If they come here, you must be careful.”
Lu Sinian thought for a moment. Although he didn’t know why the Church of Light would specifically seek him out, having more customers was still quite good.
He had been quite worried about how he could not open up markets outside of Vista City.
Still limited by the shop’s location, being too far away is inconvenient, and spending ten days or half a month on it isn’t worthwhile.
It would undoubtedly be a good thing for Lu Sinian if more people knew about this place. Anyway, with Rong Qing around, no one could harm him.
He stroked his chin and said with a smile, “Then I look forward to their arrival. Perhaps I’ll even see some familiar faces.”
After all, he’d heard that Vorris was also from Caldera, as was the viscount who had just left.
However, this didn’t sound quite right to the bishop.
He had absolutely no recollection of the Demon Lord knowing anyone from Caldera, and then he recalled what the Demon Lord had just said.
Sacrifice? The God of Light?
He had already suspected that the Demon Lord was of extraordinary origin. Who could these acquaintances be? Besides being fellow gods, what other possibilities were there?
He gasped, finally confirming the other party’s identity.
Since they were both figures of that caliber, they naturally wouldn’t fear the so-called followers of the Church of Light. Perhaps, once they actually summoned the God of Light, the two could even catch up and chat.
The bishop bowed again, this time with even greater humility. For the umpteenth time, he wondered what he had done to deserve such a privilege—to communicate face-to-face with a God, and even to use divinely created goods to enhance himself.
After calming down, he couldn’t help but be tempted by the items within the ball of light.
He heard the shop had new arrivals—two new items.
Taro Boba Milk Tea: This could allow those without abilities to grow a magic core, becoming a warrior or mage.
As for what kind of ability they would become, that depended on each person’s luck, but it was already astonishing.
Steel Biscuits: Although the taste wasn’t great and they were a bit chewy, their healing effects were amazing. Compared to a small band-aid, they could heal severed limbs that it couldn’t.
After recovery, they were no different from ordinary people, rekindling hope in many who had lost limbs in the early stages of the beast tide.
The bishop didn’t have this need, but many ordinary people in his church were limited by their own abilities, were powerless to resist the beast tide and could only seek the church’s protection.
If they could purchase large quantities of milk tea for those people, at least they would have the ability to defend themselves.
Taro Boba Milk Tea wasn’t cheap, and even warriors with some wealth couldn’t easily afford it, let alone ordinary people.
An ordinary person might not earn a hundred gold coins in their entire life, but that amount was something the church could manage with a bit of effort.
The bishop, who had left in a hurry, carried only a few hundred gold coins. He placed them all before Lusinian, saying, “Sir, I’d like to buy some milk tea for the ordinary people in the church. I don’t have much money, could you please reserve thirty cups for me? I’ll definitely come back to buy them when I’ve saved enough!”
Lu Sinian was taken aback. He didn’t accept the bag of gold coins, but gently pushed it back, smiling, “No need, I’ll save them for you. You can come back to buy them anytime.”
The Abyss was located deep within the Monster Forest, ordinary people lacked combat power and couldn’t possibly come to the shop.
In recent days, only warriors and mages had come, and not a single ordinary person had visited.
Reserving thirty cups of milk tea was a simple matter for Lu Sinian, but it might change the lives of many.