Chapter 42: “Wife, I’m Back!”
“That vine monster that escaped just now—the three of you and it, you know each other, don’t you?”
Feng Xun fixed his gaze tightly on the expressions of the three Realm Lords. Throwing this question out so abruptly was a probing tactic, designed to leave them absolutely zero time to feign or fabricate an expression. Regrettably, however, the very first emotion the Realm Lords displayed was total bewilderment.
“Who?”
Concealed within the dense fog earlier, they had only been focused on finding an opening in the Bloody Butcher’s defenses, paying next to no attention to what he was doing at the time.
Furthermore, the little vine had been escaping exceptionally fast and possessed a highly compact frame. They were simply too far away, assuming that the only things fleeing the scene were Evil Seeds. Had another eerie creature actually appeared on the field?
…Wait.
There actually did seem to be a weak eerie creature.
The Nightmare Duke was the first to arrive at the correct answer. However, the ample reaction time had already left him with enough room to maneuver. This demon’s expression didn’t betray a single abnormality as he spoke in a slow, deliberate manner.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. The three of us came here together, and we didn’t bring any servants at all.”
Heramis was quick on the uptake as well, smoothly following his lead. “The scene was a complete mess back then, and you made such a massive commotion when you tore through space to get inside. Who knows what kind of thing took the opportunity to mingle in.”
“Stop trying to pin every single piece of garbage onto us,” A’nie said coldly. “We don’t know any no-name little runts.”
These words carried weight because they were technically true, leaving them completely fearless. The one they knew was Jian Tang in his human form. Who the hell was the vine monster?
Never seen it, don’t know it.
Furthermore, their deduction was, in fact, merely a deduction—they couldn’t be one hundred percent certain that Jian Tang was that vine monster either. For all they knew, that vine monster wasn’t Jian Tang at all, but rather some other monster that had mingled in amidst the chaos.
They held zero obligation to solve mysteries for the Bloody Butcher; the guy could go figure it out on his own.
It was best if it drained his brain enough to make him lose a few more strands of hair, hmph.
The sinister gaze behind the Shinigami mask lingered on the three of them for a long while before finally withdrawing slowly.
The other party didn’t continue to dwell on this question, pivoting to interrogate them about something else.
“How long have you been on this plane?”
“Just arrived.”
A cold chuckle echoed from behind the mask.
“Arrived yesterday,” the Nightmare Duke smoothly changed his tune. “Constructing a territory requires quite a lot of materials. We came over to find a supplier.”
“Did you find one?”
“We found one and were in the middle of vetting them,” the Nightmare Duke said with a half-smile. “But before we could finish vetting him, you slaughtered the guy.”
Before his voice could even fall, the Nightmare Duke suddenly let out a muffled groan. The bloody chain driven deep into his chest manifested a physical outline in mid-air before dissolving into a phantom state once more.
Fila’s already weak and transparent avatar turned even more ethereal and insubstantial.
—Evidently, the Bloody Butcher had judged his rhetoric to be a lie and expressed his displeasure.
“It’s the truth!” Heramis defended. “Our time and energy are limited, making it impossible to frequently travel back and forth between different planes. We intend to find a local agent to let him handle the procurement of materials on our behalf.”
“The materials we want are things produced by human society. The agent needs to understand human society, and simultaneously understand the eerie world,” A’nie added. “Yuan Cheng aligned with the criteria we selected, and was one of our vetting targets.”
The most perfect lie is always half-true and half-false.
It was impossible for them to let the Bloody Butcher map out their entire hand, so they naturally wouldn’t completely disclose the purpose and achievements of this trip, opting to selectively confess things that were harmless.
For instance, pretending to vet Yuan Cheng smoothly explained why the three Realm Lords had appeared here, masking the lie of “just arrived”;
For another instance, because they didn’t want the Bloody Butcher to learn that they were collaborating with a local monster factory, they used the excuse that the supplies they wanted to purchase were human goods—which, in itself, was also a fact.
Aside from the special items produced by the monster factory, they truly did require a massive volume of human goods—common construction materials, food and drink capable of satisfying the hunger of the monsters under their command, and some ordinary items that could be enchanted, among other things.
If they purchased everything from the system mall, they would lose their shirts. But if they imported goods from cheap channels, not only did they save on costs, but they could also turn around and sell them to certain monster lords who couldn’t run inter-planar commerce. No one ever complained about having too much money; this business of pocketing the price difference had always yielded highly lucrative profits.
If they wanted to procure items produced by humans, they needed to find a local human agent. However, they didn’t intend to find one from this plane—one shouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket. Since they already had factory orders here, there was no need to place orders with humans as well.
Anyway, there were still plenty of planes available for them to choose from. They could rotate through them one by one, finding the most entertaining place before deciding.
“A Realm BOSS selecting a task-taker to be their planar agent?” A cold chuckle came from behind the mask. “Are you insulting my intelligence?”
“How is that impossible?” The Nightmare Duke shrugged. “Inside a dungeon, everyone is a mortal enemy, but outside a dungeon, it isn’t necessarily impossible to shake hands and make peace. As fellow members of the eerie world, everyone’s interests align when it comes to dealing with the Evil Seeds.”
“As long as there is profit, collaboration is possible,” Heramis echoed. “When you task-takers receive wilderness clearing missions as well, you might highly likely have to come find us vanguard forces to learn from our experience.”
The Bloody Butcher didn’t speak for a good while, hard to tell if he was evaluating which parts of these words could be believed.
“Which other targets do you need to vet?” the other party asked suddenly.
“None,” the Nightmare Duke said.
“None? From yesterday until now, you’ve only found a single task-taker?” An unmasked ridicule echoed from behind the Shinigami mask. “Did you leave your brains at home when you went out? A bunch of wastes.”
The three Realm Lords: “…”
“Do you think this is an easy matter!” Heramis said in fury. “Not only do we have to find a task-taker, but we also have to find an exceptionally strong one! Otherwise, if our professional rivals come to cause trouble or hijack the cargo, can he handle it?”
“Not to mention there’s still the threat of the Evil Seeds right now. Finding a single one of those disgusting cockroaches means there’s bound to be a whole nest hidden in the dark! Our agent must possess the strength to deal with Evil Seeds, and must be able to actively search for and purge mother nests. Otherwise, if this plane falls into chaos, who’s going to guarantee those humans can continue supplying us with goods?”
“We must take every aspect into consideration, selecting the strongest and most suitable task-taker. Do you know how hard that is! I just don’t believe that if it were you, you could easily find… one… such…”
As Heramis spoke, she found herself unable to continue.
It wasn’t just her; Fila and A’nie’s complexions shifted as well.
The Bloody Butcher, who had originally been standing atop the ruins, suddenly leaped down, planting himself right in front of the three Realm Lords.
The scene fell into a dead silence.
—A dead silence far more terrifying, suffocating, and despairing than when the three Realm Lords had been beaten flat on the ground earlier with no hope of turning the tables.
“No,” the Nightmare Duke said rapidly, beating the Bloody Butcher to the punch.
“We possess self-awareness, so we won’t trouble your grand presence.”
“You can trouble me a bit.”
The man folded his arms, leisurely throwing back the exact words Heramis had spoken.
“As long as there is profit, collaboration is possible.”
…Who the fuck wants to collaborate with a devil like you!!
The Nightmare Duke cast a wary glance at the bloody chain held in the Bloody Butcher’s grip, biting the bullet to speak.
“Then… a fifty-fifty split?”
“One-nine. You get ten percent, I get ninety.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck, are you negotiating a partnership or committing highway robbery?!
Oh, he forgot that robbery was exactly the Bloody Butcher’s comfort zone.
“Then there’s nothing to discuss.” The Nightmare Duke ground his teeth so hard they nearly shattered. “With no profit to be made, we’d rather go to other planes.”
“Are you sure?”
The three Realm Lords stated in unison: “Positive!”
They would have to be insane to choose the Bloody Butcher as their planar agent. At worst, they could just abandon these avatars. He could slice them or dice them however he pleased, but they were done catering to him!
Faced with a direct rejection of his “interview,” the man didn’t show any anger. He merely raised his hand calmly and pointed at the Nightmare Duke.
“Infinite Nightmare, dungeon number 12934.”
Then he pointed at the evil god Heramis.
“Sacrificial Hunting Ground, dungeon number 99372.”
Finally, he pointed at A’nie, the Eye of Hell.
“Son of Light, dungeon number 98837.”
He accurately recited the names and numbers of the dungeons belonging to the three BOSSes, which was equivalent to reading out their home addresses and apartment numbers.
The three BOSSes suddenly remembered: blocking eerie monsters inside their own dungeons to repeatedly slaughter them on a loop—killing them again the moment they respawned, driving them to absolute madness like an unpatched bug—was something the Bloody Butcher had a century of seasoned experience doing.
“……………”
They had ten thousand choice words they wanted to warmly use to greet this heartless devil’s entire lineage.
The Nightmare Duke ground his teeth, squeezing out with great difficulty, “Four-six.”
“Two-eight.”
“That’s too low!” The Nightmare Duke was genuinely about to die of rage. “At least a three-seven split!”
If they couldn’t even secure a 30% cut, they might as well buy materials directly from the system store. Either way, they were bound to lose money!
The Bloody Butcher didn’t speak. He merely lightly stroked the razor-sharp edge of his Shinigami scythe, his skeletal claws making a piercing friction sound against the blade.
“If you really want three-seven… it’s not entirely impossible,” he said.
The three Realm Lords didn’t feel a weight lift from their chests; instead, they grew even more tense. Without a doubt, a “but” was coming next.
“—But, there is a condition.”
As expected!
“You must establish a formal, legal human company locally,” the Bloody Butcher said. “I don’t care how the company is operated, but the employees hired must be human. I will personally interview them, and I will set the standards for their employee benefits and compensation.”
The three Realm Lords waited for him to open his lion’s mouth further, but no continuation ever came.
“…That’s it?” A’nie asked in bewilderment. “Nothing else?”
The red points of light beneath the Shinigami mask flickered. “Do you need me to add a few more requirements?”
“No, no, no, this condition is more than enough,” the Nightmare Duke hurried to say. “We can agree to this.”
Although they didn’t understand why the Bloody Butcher would propose such a bizarre condition, nor did they know if he was brewing some malicious scheme by making them start a company, it wasn’t a major problem. He wanted them to hire “human employees,” right?
What a coincidence. They happened to have the perfect “human” candidate in mind.
Heramis also thought of this, her tone softening considerably. “If that is the condition, it works.”
Although it was a pity she couldn’t take that little cutie back to her dungeon home to be her next lover, official business took priority. It was far more important to figure out a way to plant him inside the company as a “spy” to monitor the Bloody Butcher’s future movements.
A’nie nodded as well. “It works.”
This condition left a massive amount of room to maneuver. If utilized well, it might highly likely become a trump card to check and balance the Bloody Butcher in the future.
The three Realm Lords spoke in one voice: “We agree to the partnership.”
Securing the strongest task-taker to act as their planar agent and cargo-escort bodyguard at a 30% cut, while simultaneously planting a hidden nail right beneath his nose… this business deal actually wasn’t a loss.
The Bloody Butcher nodded, seemingly satisfied with their compliance. “Very well.”
In truth, Feng Xun could roughly guess what these old, crafty BOSSes were plotting, but it didn’t matter. Without giving them a shred of false hope, they probably wouldn’t allow themselves to be willingly driven by him.
Heh, let them secretly rejoice for now. In the end, the person taking a loss in this transaction definitely wouldn’t be him.
“Then, I wish us…” Feng Xun curled his lips, the Shinigami mask concealing the mockery and derision in the depths of his eyes.
“A happy partnership.”
—
While the four big shots continued to discuss the specific details of their collaboration, far away in the reality space, Jian Tang was currently soaking in a hot spring pool, poking his head out surreptitiously.
Ten minutes ago, he had bid farewell to the little dolphin, departed from the spatial entrance of Weijiu Town, and returned to the amusement area of the water park.
It was currently lunchtime, so the number of tourists playing in the pools had significantly dwindled. Jian Tang leaned against the edge of the pool, pretending to rest while secretly observing the situation over by the aquarium.
The Bureau’s secrecy work this time was exceptionally well-done. Despite such a massive riot taking place inside the performance hall, they had actually controlled the situation without making a sound. Only a sign reading “Engineering Maintenance in Progress, Closed Temporarily” hung outside the aquarium’s main entrance, with a few plainclothes personnel patrolling and guarding the perimeter, completely avoiding disturbing any oblivious tourists.
Jian Tang watched patiently for a while, noticing people filtering out of the aquarium’s side door one after another. These should be ordinary civilians who had been brainwashed by the Bureau, forgetting the eerie chaos they had experienced. This was the standard protocol for the Bureau when handling anomalous events—releasing those who were clear of issues, while individuals with problems or the wounded would be transported away via special channels.
In short, unless they encountered an extremely exceptional emergency—like the one at Golden Bay Hospital—the Bureau’s style of conduct generally operated on the principle of reducing social impact and avoiding public panic.
Jian Tang sneaked a watch for half the day, but never once saw the physical shells of the three Realm Lords emerge. He guessed those three were still in an “unconscious” state, treated as ordinary wounded by the Bureau’s personnel and sent to the hospital.
So… where were the monster avatars of the three Realm Lords right now? They couldn’t have been entirely slaughtered by the Bloody Butcher, right?
The moment he thought of that terrifying existence, Jian Tang couldn’t help but shudder.
Even now, he couldn’t figure out why the Bloody Butcher had suddenly directed his spearhead at him, rushing over to grab him back then.
After thinking it over left and right, Jian Tang felt the reason closest to the truth was likely: the man had mistaken his identity.
The Bloody Butcher had definitely mistaken him for one of his enemies. Otherwise, an F-rank little weakling like himself, who shared zero grievances and zero intersections with him, didn’t deserve a single glance from such a titan. Did he deserve it??
He didn’t.
It was the kind of mismatch that would lower the Bloody Butcher’s divine status if uttered aloud! Therefore, rounding it off… this matter had absolutely nothing to do with the “little monster Jian Tang.”
He would just treat it as if he had a nightmare. At any rate, they wouldn’t meet again in the future.
Yeah, they h-highly likely wouldn’t meet again…
The Bloody Butcher couldn’t possibly be so idle as to continue clinging onto him and refusing to let go, right? Surely not??
Despite being submerged in the warm pool water, Jian Tang felt cold sweat breaking out. He hurriedly shook his head, focusing his attention on the matter at hand.
After keeping watch for another ten minutes without discovering a single trace of the three Realm Lords, Jian Tang chose to retreat. This sightseeing tour group consisted of four people in total, and now three had gone missing. There was no longer any need for him to remain as a tour guide.
Jian Tang climbed out of the hot spring pool, limping his way toward the locker room area. Just as he had anticipated, because his tail was gone, his butt felt incredibly uncomfortable after reverting to his human form, making even walking a strenuous task.
He decided to request time off from his boss and go home to rest.
Returning to the locker room, Jian Tang found an empty shower stall, opened the chat box on the system panel, and left a message for Boss Octopus.
After briefly describing the events that had transpired in the performance hall and filling out a factual reason for his leave request, Jian Tang closed the panel, reverted to his true form, slipped into the drainage system, and slithered his way back to the Xingfu Yuan residential area.
When he unlocked the apartment door with his fingerprint, the thoroughly exhausted Jian Tang once again felt: It’s so good to have a home.
No matter how terrible of an encounter he faced outside, the moment he remembered he had a cozy little home, and a dear wife waiting for him inside, it seemed he could grit his teeth and push through even the hardest and most bitter trials.
Jian Tang revealed a smile, pushing the main door open, intending to give the person inside a surprise.
“Wife, I’m back! I didn’t work overtime today, I took leave and left early!”
The apartment was perfectly quiet.
His wife was not at home.
