Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 1357 - 197: The Fourth Town

Chapter 1357: Chapter 197: The Fourth Town
Erse Manadel Siluaber Damien Anna Joshua Shedan Gallo Matheo.
The caravan leader, Flowing Demon, introduced the members of the caravan to Lu Li who had joined the team.
The lengthy name mentioned above was just one of the demons’ names—and it contained hidden and omitted parts of its true name.
Lu Li did not intend to waste memory on these demons’ lengthy names, so he simply referred to them by their species.
Bewitching Demon, Specter, Sturdy Demon, Gravel Demon, and the caravan leader Flowing Demon itself.
The five demons curbed their drool, hunger, and instincts, showing enough respect towards Lu Li. They knew that the soul, which emitted a strange aromatic scent, had recently dealt with the Old Flame Demon’s enemy, the Core Earth Demon.
The Purgatory Demon carrying Lu Li also did not attack him, possibly due to the Flame Demon’s branding and its potential gratitude, but the low-level demons pulling the cart were unaware of and indifferent to this.
To avoid causing chaos within the caravan, Lu Li could only follow behind, keeping a distance.
Before departure, Flowing Demon changed the reward of 500 souls to 700 souls and added an additional clause as Lu Li requested: the merchant had to pay for the souls of hell creatures attacked along the way by Lu Li—similar to the commission from Beauty Lake Town.
If a low-level demon attacked the caravan and was dealt with by Lu Li, the caravan had to provide additional compensation for the corresponding low-level demon’s soul.
Flowing Demon had no reason to refuse this additional clause that made the caravan safer until they left the domain of Inner Sea Town.
Without the suppression of the Flame Demon’s aura, the inferior demons roaming the wilderness crazily surged towards Lu Li.
The caravan was like rocks in a river; the inferior demons bypassed them due to the demonic aura of the caravan, only to converge behind on Lu Li’s soul—
Flowing Demon belatedly remembered that the caravan’s new guard was a soul full of deadly allure.
If the Blue Blood Chief were here, he might have helped to avoid some "traps."
The caravan demons frequently glanced at the soul entangled by inferior demons at the rear of the team. Initially, the Purgatory Demon would growl or swing its claws to drive them away, but upon discovering that any demon coming within a few feet of Lu Li would spontaneously ignite and turn to charcoal, it stopped paying attention to them.
The attacks started with inferior demons, Fire Demons from the lava river, and then progressed to low-level and mid-level demons wandering in the wilderness encountered along the way. They approached the caravan but quickly abandoned it to focus on Lu Li behind.
This meant the caravan did not have to stop to deal with enemies, as Lu Li drew all the foes away.
This made the caravan’s journey much easier, but as time went on, the situation gradually changed—some demons who were initially uninterested in the caravan or did not want to provoke them were gradually drawn in to attack Lu Li.
Although they all ignored the caravan, each appearance meant that Flowing Demon had to pay Lu Li an extra soul.
In some sense, the Blue Blood Chief’s suspicion that Lu Li was a demon was correct.
In any case, Lu Li’s presence indeed increased Flowing Demon’s sense of security beyond just wealth, as that soul was a being stronger than the Old Flame Demon.
Especially after a caravan led its team, raising dust like a beast charging at Lu Li from the side.
Normally, demons forming a caravan tend towards order. Although they often find it hard to conceal their chaotic nature, the caravan itself requires order for its creation—and Flowing Demon had seen that caravan several times on this trade route, though there hadn’t been any interaction or trade, it suspected the leader would have the qualities expected of a merchant.
The scene where that caravan leader lost its mind, spitting drool as it lunged at the pure soul, was something it would never forget.
After traveling nearly two hundred miles, the caravan stopped for the first time because a pile of corpses and an unowned convoy were halted not far from Lu Li.
"Evaluate the value of these goods." Lu Li decided to sell the entire convoy to Flowing Demon.
While tallying the goods, Flowing Demon’s claws and mouth trembled together.
The thought that Lu Li brought trouble and increased expenses completely disappeared.
Ten minutes later, after counting the goods, Flowing Demon tentatively asked, "Soul mister, the caravan temporarily lacks enough souls. May we pay half now and the remaining half after reaching the next town and selling the goods?"
"Yes."
"Your generosity and kindness are like a Bewitching Demon." Flowing Demon placed a hand over its chest, mimicking the etiquette of Abyss City.
The caravan temporarily paid Lu Li half the value of the goods, about 5,600 souls. Additionally, Lu Li scavenged 4,300 souls packed in a box from the demon leader who had simply died by running headlong into the Dreamwalker—and this attacked caravan counted in the additional clauses too.
For this, Flowing Demon showed similar generosity.
Rift Valley Town indeed qualifies as merely a demon nest—not even matching the wealth of a single caravan.
After taking over the convoy, the caravan nearly doubled in length and set off again.
Following behind, Lu Li touched the newly acquired 9,900 souls, increasing his humanity to nearly 260 portions.
It was unimaginable to have such a harvest within three days, or to think humanity could expand numerically like this.
Yet, in some way, Lu Li could achieve a similar effect on the surface, requiring only... slaughter.
Humans are the best vessels for humanity; whether children or the elderly, every human can bring more than 0.1 portion of humanity.
The Vena Underground City currently holds about seventy thousand people.
Over seven thousand portions of humanity.
But raising the butcher’s knife against humans naturally contradicts their protection, even in the name of "sacrificing some for others."
Increasing nearly double in humanity did not lead to significant outward changes in Lu Li, still bathed in a faint glow. Only the distant convoy could clearly feel the range and intensity of his aura significantly increased.
Before the agitated cart-pulling demons fell into madness, Lu Li again expanded the distance from the convoy, about three hundred meters.
It seemed simple to convert 1 portion of humanity equaling 1 meter.
This incident did not affect the convoy, which cared little about the changes in the powerful soul trailing behind, its chaotic bloodline almost hoping for more attackers so the caravan could harvest materials from Advanced Demons.
Low-level demon corpses and inexpensive mid-level demon bodies had been discarded by Flowing Demon to the low-level demons pulling the cart, as the truck could not hold any more.
And next, Flowing Demon’s caravan began proactively approaching other caravans encountered along the way—
Just as mentioned before, demons forming a caravan tend towards order, but in many cases, they find it hard to conceal their chaotic nature.
Perhaps it was because they were near the town’s vicinity or that the lengthy caravan intimidated them, and the bizarre soul riding the Purgatory Demon behind, exuding a deadly aura, none of the caravans had gone mad with greed and attempted attacks now.
On the warm back of the Purgatory Demon, Lu Li took out the map given by Mayor Burb, pointing to a small town about 300 miles northeast of Inner Sea Town: Citrus Tanuki Town.
Could this town resist the temptation of humanity?
At this moment, the caravan ahead, Flowing Demon, was pondering the same thing.