Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 1368 - 208: Annie’s Growing Phantom

Chapter 1368: Chapter 208: Annie’s Growing Phantom
The demon guardians followed the orders of Lu Li and the Demon of the Earth, driving the recently returned demon residents and caravans out of town again, guarding the small town’s entrance.
The caravans gathered outside the town, while "Ward Town" fell into complete silence.
Shortly after, the Demon of the Earth left the tower with thirteen emerald artifacts. Lu Li contemplated how to continue turning human nature into power.
Endlessly expanding the Dreamwalker’s range was no longer meaningful. Lu Li needed to discover new abilities, such as narrowing the Dreamwalker’s range, allowing the Speaker of the Trees to grow, and mastering other Cursed Titles.
This was particularly important.
However, none of these could be achieved in the short term; Lu Li’s only advantage was possessing nearly infinite human nature to experiment with.
The thirteen emerald artifacts matured, and the Devil’s Son would take them to contact the auction. It would return in a few hours. It didn’t bring back profit but invited Lu Li to attend the auction in Abyss City.
"Won’t my entering Abyss City cause chaos?"
"...Yes, but I am the Devil’s Son."
Lu Li declined the invitation from the Demon of the Earth, only asking it to bring back souls and the next batch of artifacts after the auction.
For the fifteenth time, the inverse pentagram seared, and outside the town emerged a bizarre dust storm swirling with furniture and decorations in the air.
The Demon of the Earth returned to the tower with the harvest of the thirteen emerald artifacts, bringing Lu Li 500,000 souls and 13 new artifacts.
Once the new 13 artifacts matured, the Demon of the Earth hurriedly took them away to prepare for a new auction.
The silhouette of the Devil’s Son faded into the distance, and Lu Li’s gaze fell on the silver boxes spread across the table.
Soon after, the caravans outside the town noticed the ominous aura that had caused them to lose their edge shadowing them again.
Lu Li indeed found the right way to gain human nature. Just as plundering the town’s profits far exceeded completing commissions to solve the nest, the profit from selling plants also far surpassed plundering the town.
When Lu Li was ready to confirm the Demon of the Earth was trustworthy, he asked it to help resolve the curse of the banshee clinging to souls.
There was no longer a need to lure banshees for human nature.
When human nature swelled to 5,000 units, Lu Li temporarily stopped and for the first time in a long while released the Speaker of the Trees.
A large tree, shimmering with brilliance, appeared behind, piercing through the roof, and the canopy flourished above the tower.
The Speaker of the Trees and Annie seemed linked somehow, with Annie’s growth and changes projecting in real-time on the shadow.
Would changes in the shadow reflect back on Annie herself?
If so... Lu Li could use the Speaker of the Trees to remind the Land of Light that he still lived.
In hell, in the form of a soul.
Fantastical dreams simultaneously emerged, spreading over a diameter of tens of meters. The room’s Lu Li disappeared, appearing on the rooftop at the same time.
Recollecting the Dreamwalker, Lu Li began to infuse the Speaker of the Trees with human nature, portion by portion.
The silhouette of Annie swayed, stretching her tree body, and the cold light contrary to hell’s dark red seemed to resist the chaos.
Every human possesses a constant unit of human nature.
A normal Curse Title Master will experience symptoms akin to low Sanity Value syndrome when human nature drops below 0.9 units. The lower the human nature, the more terrifying the symptoms.
Even the most resolute Master finds it hard to endure the cold and dead silence below 0.7 units of human nature, desiring to maintain the Curse Title, to bask in that brief and dangerous warmth and light.
If returned to the surface, Lu Li’s human nature would allow a Curse Title Master to no longer fear side effects.
And humans endowed with Evil Spirit Ritual-like power could also establish a foothold in the dark world.
In moments of seeking eternal slumber after resolving the devil for the Devil’s Daughter, Lu Li hesitated...
Minutes later, a giant tree, nearly a hundred meters high, enveloped half the town, while Lu Li was small as dust at its base.
The merchants outside the town stared in disbelief, gazing at the spectacle appearing in the town’s center.
The infused 1,000 units of human nature prompted Lu Li to pause temporarily, giving the people of the Land of Light some time to ease and prepare.
As Lu Li restrained, Annie’s shimmering silhouette gradually faded, but its presence left a mark on hell.
Emergent patches of green, contrasting with the dark red and heat, sprouted around the barren land and the tower, growing from crevices, pebbles, and rocks, swaying in the scorching wind.
Sadly, this was hell. Even the Speaker of the Trees could not keep them alive. In the hours without Annie’s shadow protection, they withered and died, reincorporating into hell’s eternal colors.
The Devil’s Son didn’t witness the moss-like plants growing around the tower. It arrived with the harvest and new artifacts, once again amounting to thirteen.
This time, the yield was only 350,000 souls, as the frequent supply from the Devil’s Son diminished the rarity of the emerald artifacts at auction.
Plants were evidently scarce in hell, tempting any prestigious and wealthy demons, but speculating that the Devil’s Son might have more plants, they waited for prices to further drop.
Lu Li stained the newly brought artifacts with emerald green. This time, it didn’t leave immediately with them.
"...The trade should end," said the Demon of the Earth, "my siblings are noticing us."
The profit the Demon of the Earth gained from frequently auctioning plants began attracting attention and envy from its siblings.
"Are you afraid of them?"
"...Just worried they might interfere with us."
"Will the Abyssal Demon intervene?"
"...Father cares more about me."
Lu Li remained non-committal.
"...Can I invite my sister to join?" The Devil’s Son decided to recruit a new ally.
"As long as you’re willing to give up 20% of your share."
These decisions were its own to make.
Within the tower room, sand surged, and Lu Li’s gaze fell on the sand-formed head of the Demon of the Earth—a tender sprout had taken root precisely on its head.
"...What’s wrong?"
Lu Li gestured towards a full-length mirror in the room’s corner.
The Devil’s Son saw the sprout, then suddenly retracted all its aura, carefully nurturing the sprout as it left the tower, even forgetting to take the artifacts, reminded by Lu Li before grabbing them.
Gazing at the fading gauze of sand in the east, Lu Li recalled his encounters with the Demon of the Earth: this Devil’s Son possessed qualities other devils lacked—humility.
Describing a devil this way was strange, but it was indeed the case.
A humble, promise-keeping, content, non-greedy, and highly ranked Devil’s Son made a fitting partner.
Yet caution remained necessary—not for the Demon of the Earth but for the petty ones accompanying it here...
"Are you the one trading with my dumb brother? You’re indeed special."
A sharp whisper, like a gale over a hill, spoke from behind Lu Li, a ghostly, dark-red hand diving into Lu Li’s soul.
"Both your taste and appearance..."
The chilling sensation of licking tingled from the back of the neck.
"Are you the Demon of the Earth’s sister?"
It seemed Devil’s Sons all had a habit of attacking from behind.
"He mentioned me to you?"
"Just now, he proposed bringing you into the trade."
A sharp laugh sounded from behind.
"I’m different from my brother; he’ll trade with ants. I won’t..."