Six-Armed Serpent Demon

Page 59

Open the door, close it, open the door again, close it again.

El's eyes were fixed on the heavy door.

From the outside of the gate, one can see that cold iron arrowheads have pierced through the wooden door and protruded from the inside. From the inside of the gate, one can see long arrow shafts nailed to the door, and the corpses of demonic mandrills hanging from the arrow shafts.

No matter how many times he asked the question, it still seemed so absurd: "You mean this thing, is it Port Master Burktura?"

“Yes,” the imposter Ivy Beatrice replied as bluntly as ever.

El turned his gaze to the corpse on the chair. "And this is the vice-captain?"

"Correct."

"Did you kill them all?"

“I killed this one,” the imposter Ivy Beate pointed to the vice-captain in the chair, “and the monkey hanging on the door was killed by my owl bear pet.”

El shook his head, indicating disbelief.

“Believe it or not,” said the imposter Ivy Beatrice, “the two little spies you planted overheard everything. Why don’t you ask them?”

She was referring to blue bubbles and green bubbles.

El was stunned at first, then turned his cold gaze to the two little water elemental girls.

The two little bubbles looked at El in horror and quickly shook their heads at him, indicating that they hadn't told him.

The imposter Ivy Beatrice sneered.

—Every day during the day, I have Raphael the Devil Claw and two pets keep an eye on things at home. You don't think you can hide from me whether the bubbles have been out or not, or who they've talked to.

El was silent for a moment: "So, you sent me here in their names?"

"Ivy-Beate" gave an irrelevant answer: "I went through the Salt Marsh files again, and they thought my memory had returned, so they came to interrogate me. I also discovered that you were the one who went through the Salt Marsh files two months ago."

Al's poker face remained expressionless.

“So you came back to investigate after learning of your fiancée’s death. Although I don’t know why you investigated the Salt Marsh files, you obviously indirectly found out who was behind Ador,” she said. “So you transferred me to Fire Harbor and arranged for me to be a dock accountant, actually to use me to provoke them.”

"...She was my fiancée, and she suddenly died. How could I not investigate?"

El's gaze wandered, landing on the vice-captain's corpse sitting in the chair. The vice-captain remained seated, his neck slumped limply against his chest, his face downcast, making it impossible for anyone to discern his expression.

El's expression was gentle, his eyes focused on the unfathomable depths of the clouds, as if he were facing the smiling face of some unknown woman.

“She was a strong woman,” he said calmly. “I don’t believe that she and Ador’s mother would choose to commit suicide without knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones.”

The imposter Ivy Beatrice asked, "Were they killed to silence them by the port authority and his men?"

Al nodded.

The imposter young lady sneered.

"So you actually knew all along that Ivy Beatrice shouldn't be held responsible for this, that she was innocent, and might even be a victim herself. But when I came back, she still acted like she hated me."

El avoided answering: "Her? Why are you talking like that? Haven't you regained your memories yet?"

The imposter Ivy Beatrice shrugs.

She said, "I still don't think I'm Ivy Beatrice."

Al didn't bother arguing with her about the amnesia topic: "If that's the case, don't you think you're Ivy Beatrice? Why would you think of checking the Salt Marsh files again?"

"coincide."

El chuckled and glanced down at the lie detector gem hidden in his wrist.

His lips trembled slightly.

—That's outrageous! Everything she said was actually true. It was just a coincidence!

“The situation is now,” the imposter Ivy-Beate said, “that demon worshippers attacked my home, I fought back, and I killed those two evil believers.”

She leaned forward and shouted at Juan, the paladin examining the body, "Are you still planning to arrest me?"

The young paladin Juan was startled and quickly stood up to salute the imposter young lady, delivering a long and impassioned declaration about faith, role models, and the true paladin.

Al raised his hand to massage his throbbing temples.

He said in a low voice, "Is this why you summoned him here in the middle of the night?"

A sly glint flashed in her emerald eyes. "Of course not. I was terribly frightened last night, but as a public servant, I must be dutiful, so I need to find a reliable person to accompany me to work."

El snorted but did not answer.

“Why is your malice so obvious? And coincidentally, after dying once, I’ve become particularly sensitive to the malice and goodwill others show,” she paused, then continued, “You still feel that I should be responsible for Ador’s family. If Ivy-Beate hadn’t investigated the Salt Marsh files, that’s what you thought, right?”

El stared into her emerald green vertical pupils, and for a moment, he was mesmerized by the color of those eyes.

"That's not the case."

Al said calmly, "But from the first moment I saw you, I felt something was off about you—I hadn't met you before you and Ador had that elopement scandal—be careful, don't claim you're not Ivy Beatrice's woman. You know, I'm also very sensitive to kindness and malice."

"Whatever you say."

Ivy-Beate yawned lazily, picked up her handbag, and said, "Squad leader, if there's nothing else, please make way."

Chapter 71 The Opening Net

Accompanied by a young paladin, the imposter Ivy Beatrice walked slowly along the cobblestone path leading to the dock.

She slowed her pace, carefully observing the rows of houses and the bustling crowds around her.

At this very moment, the morning sun hangs above the steel sky, its bright white disc shimmering with a pale blue halo, silently casting the golden light of dawn upon the rooftops of every building and upon every person.

“Juan,” she said suddenly, “do you remember the night I came back, you escorted me to my house?”

The young paladin's voice trembled slightly with nervousness: "It is my honor, esteemed lady."

Ever since she refused his offer of help, saying she would go to the bottom city to atone for her mistakes through her own actions, the young paladin had been referring to her as "the venerable lady" or "the honorable lady."

“It happened again yesterday,” she sighed. “Demon worshippers attacked my home. I need someone to be with me, and I need someone to vouch for my innocence. But I have no one else I can trust in this city… I’m sorry to trouble you.”

He stammered, "No, no, it's nothing."

She stopped and turned to look at him. Her emerald green eyes made him somewhat flustered.

"Thank you."

She finished speaking solemnly and continued walking forward, leaving the young paladin standing there, his cheeks and neck flushed red.

Juan?

"coming!"

He quickened his pace to catch up with her, his heart pounding.

In his eyes, Miss Beatrice was bathed in a warm, holy light.

At this very moment, the red-haired demon, now disguised as Ivy Beate, was thinking about the words the team vice-captain had given her: "The Dragon Madness Lock will arrive at Fireport tomorrow... It will arrive with Gilerkin, the leader of the Enser people, and it's related to the tripartite meeting..."

The imposter Ivy Beatrice looked around and suddenly felt a little melancholy.

From the intruder in the dead of night to the death of Port Master Burktura, and all the other unexpected events in between… so many changes have occurred in just a few days. I really haven't had a moment's rest.

Fortunately, the long wait finally paid off.

At this moment, the people and buildings under the sunlight seem somewhat unreal.

The six-armed serpent demon wondered what would happen to the port after his wish came true—or rather, whether it would remain unscathed.

After learning the full details of the "Dragon Madness Plan" from the vice-captain, she killed him and absorbed his soul.

That way, no one will witness her true form.

Squad leader Al might be able to glean bits and pieces of information from the bubbles about her interrogation of the deputy squad leader, and if he could deduce the true purpose of Demogorgon's servants from this, that would be a good thing.

It makes no difference to her plan to overtake on the curve.

The soul of the bronze dragon, the souls of numerous paladins, and now the soul of the world's representative, the Demogorgon twins.

Absorbing so many high-quality souls is enough for her to advance to the level of a legendary mortal hunter.

At that level, her "mortal body" transformation ability will be greatly enhanced, allowing her to transform into any ordinary creature, completely unrestricted by body size or biological category.

Of course, it can also transform into a dragon, a bronze dragon.

Most of the dragons in this world possess some degree of divinity, which allows them to bestow divine magic and domain power upon the beings that worship them. However, they still need to breathe, eat, and sleep.

Anything that needs to breathe, eat, and sleep is a mortal being.

Her emerald green vertical pupils narrowed beautifully into two lines, and she hummed a tune with ease.

She still remembered that bastard's earnest teachings. Although she wanted to kill him, she always found some of the things he said unintentionally to be very reasonable.

For example, "Life and time are also costs that you can control."

For example, "Every investment needs to yield a return, and the returns must be maximized as much as possible."

He hides himself in this city, which means he invests his time and life here.

Since both sides are investing resources, instead of hiding in a corner and occasionally hunting a few mortal souls to slowly cultivate, why not choose to maximize profits, take over as the city's ruler, and directly harvest the souls and beliefs of the entire city?

The six-armed snake demon, disguised as Ivy Beatrice, and the blissfully happy paladin Juan walked slowly along the road.

Just as they were about to enter the port plaza, the demon stopped in front of a flower shop.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and savored the subtle, elegant fragrance that wafted through the salty sea breeze.

"I saw her."

Lana spoke silently.

She stood beneath the obelisk in the square, her back to Ivy Beate and the paladin Juan. Lana held a small bronze mirror in her hand, seemingly touching up her makeup, but actually using the reflection to observe Ivy Beate's movements.

Patrick, who was sitting in a restaurant in the distance, nodded. At this moment, he had disguised himself as an elderly gentleman.

Patrick was an expert in lip reading and was able to decipher Lana's meaning from the changes in her lips.

Patrick did not use the "Mystic Eye" again.

In fact, after confirming that "Ivy Beatrice" was the six-armed serpent demon, Patrick withdrew the "Arcane Eye" and stopped using magic to monitor her.

He didn't even allow any of his subordinates to use magic when monitoring "Ivy-Beate," and he even stopped telepathy.

The six-armed serpent demon has an extremely high ability to detect magic, and if it senses that it is being watched, it is very likely that the big fish will escape. He didn't want to arouse her suspicion.

"She has a paladin by her side."

Lana continued to observe while silently lip-reading.

Patrick moved his pen, then flipped through the newspaper in his hand, revealing a single word written on it: "Bodyguard?"

From this angle, only Lana can see the words he wrote.

As for "Ivy Beate" and Paladin Juan across the port square, even looking in this direction, Patrick wouldn't be visible. He was completely obscured by Lana's back. Not to mention the words on the newspaper in his hand.

"Not like."

Lana said dismissively.

"His eyes were completely fixed on that demon, and he was completely oblivious to his surroundings, like a naive young man attracted to her."

Patrick put down the newspaper with satisfaction, wrote a few more words, and held them up for Lana to see: "Proceed as planned."

Lana continued to ask using lip reading, "Where's Tusu?"

Patrick answered her by hand: "Warehouse."

He raised his voice to Lana.

"When she enters the ambush zone at noon," he wrote, "our totem demon-slaying warriors will give her a big surprise."

At that moment, the waiter brought the dishes to Patrick's table.

"Sir, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

This was a thin, water-elemental girl with a pale, sickly complexion. "Your grilled fish... Our fish is very fresh, but the owner's cooking... You'd better add more chili sauce and pour some wine when you eat it... But we don't have all the condiments on the table, so I took the liberty of getting these from the next table for you... Is there anything else you need?"

Patrick folded the newspaper and smiled as he politely thanked the waiter.

He took a bite of the culinary disaster-level grilled fish, frowned, and then decided to follow the waiter's advice, sprinkling a large amount of chili sauce and alcohol on the fish.

He nodded in satisfaction as he ate again.

Sure enough, a large amount of pungent seasonings can effectively mask poor cooking techniques.

He looked up and saw the female African-American waitress about to leave, so he called out to her.