Twisted Soul

After teleporting back from the Ring Magic Tower to the Magic Forest, Yu Sheng'an immediately summoned Erin and laid out the team's next research direction.

Yu Sheng'an said, "Besides crops, add commonly used magic plants to the cultivation list. Remember, if you want to keep conducting research for the long term, you need to bring benefits to every side. Only benefits can make the Empire support your research indefinitely."

"Yes, Mr. Asheff." Erin nodded, then asked hesitantly, "Mr. Asheff, are you leaving?"

"Yes, I'm leaving for a while. The Empire has a deal with Vias, and I'm going to escort it. After I leave, go straight to Dendall if anything comes up. I've already spoken with him. Also, if you run into anything like Marchie again, message me. Don't be afraid of causing trouble. In the Kevil Empire, I'm the one who causes trouble for others. No one gets to cause trouble for me. Don't embarrass me, understand?"

Yu Sheng'an repeatedly reminded her, genuinely worried that Erin would be bullied.

This girl from the countryside was incredibly resilient. That was a good thing, but sometimes it could also be a bad thing.

If a person did not show a little edge, even beasts would dare bark at them.

The Magic Forest would shoulder his Grain Strategy in the future. There could not be the slightest loss, not even in morale.

"I understand, Mr. Asheff."

Erin nodded, her chest feeling tight. She had long guessed that he would leave the Magic Forest, but she had not expected it to happen so soon.

"All right, that's enough. Get back to work! Oh, and research is important, but cultivation is even more important. Don't stubbornly stick to Wood Spirit. Pick a magic school that interests you and offers plenty of ways to protect yourself, then cultivate it properly."

Yu Sheng'an could not help giving her another reminder.

"I'll work hard at my cultivation, Mr. Asheff."

Erin placed a hand over her chest and bowed her head. As she turned to leave, a wave of melancholy overwhelmed her, and her eyes began to burn with tears.

After Erin left, Yu Sheng'an sat in his High-backed Chair and summoned the Internet backend with a thought, checking whether there were any Internet users near the Lanlun Mountains.

Unfortunately, there were fewer than a hundred users in the entire Lanlun Mountains, almost all of them scattered along the western edge of the range.

A quick look showed that most were demon hunters and mercenaries.

Yu Sheng'an was somewhat disappointed.

He had planned to use Divine Perspective to observe Vias and make some preparations.

Officially, he was escorting supplies this time. In truth, he wanted to meet the Goddess of Music and see whether he could form an alliance with her.

The low-price grain strategy was insidious, but carrying it out smoothly still required absolute military force as a guarantee.

He did not need offensive power. As long as he had enough strength to defend himself and protect the food, he could plunge his enemies into famine and make them collapse from within.

Yu Sheng'an needed allies to ensure the deterrence of top-tier combat power.

"Hmm?"

Though he had found few users in the Lanlun Mountains, Yu Sheng'an discovered a constantly flashing red dot in the Kaman Confederation east of the Lanlun Mountains.

"What is this?"

Yu Sheng'an opened Divine Perspective and witnessed a horrific scene that even he could barely bear to look at.

Four men had their hands bound and were suspended from a tall iron frame.

A roaring fire blazed beneath them. The scorching tongues of flame could not reach them, but the intense heat steamed sweat from their bodies as if they were being rendered into oil.

Am I going to die?

The choking smoke and searing flames left Redmond's consciousness hazy. He no longer had the strength to chant a prayer, but thankfully, as his mind slipped further into confusion, the agony of being burned gradually faded away as well.

Countless fragments of memory flashed through his mind.

A childhood filled with hunger, a youth that believed in fists, and a young adulthood spent fleeing his hometown in disgrace.

Countless scams and swindles, and throwing money around in brothels.

Until that mysterious young man appeared and changed his life.

He had been forced to leave the Kevil Empire. At first, he had thought the Contract would be easy to fulfill. He only needed to find a village, trick and swindle some people, and complete the mission of spreading Divine Art.

And that was exactly what he had done.

But he had never expected that after finally hitching a ride with a merchant caravan across the Lanlun Mountains, the first old woman to offer him water would turn around and sell them out.

A group of villagers rushed at them, shouting "Heretic" in their dialect. They captured him, tied him to an iron frame, and planned to burn him to death!

No, something even more terrifying than burning him to death. They wanted to render him into a dried corpse as a warning to petty criminals.

Raymond was terrified. He struggled like mad, but the iron chains were too strong.

He had no choice but to pray to the God of the Internet, only to receive one flickering Internet page after another.

He had even tried to call for help on the Internet Forum, but all he received were doubtful replies and people too far away to help.

Amid his companions' endless curses, wails, and imprecations, Redmond smiled bitterly.

My whole damn life has been pathetic.

Then his consciousness sank into darkness.

Who knew how long passed before a faint point of light emerged from the darkness? He suddenly felt warmth returning to his cold body.

He vaguely heard people talking around him.

"These damned Heretics still dared to come here and deceive us? They were asking for death! Damn it, now I have to deal with their corpses. What bad luck."

"Hey, doesn't that smell good?"

"What did you say?"

"I said, doesn't that smell good? I haven't smelled meat in two years. How about..."

"But they're people..."

"Nonsense, they're Heretics!"

"This..."

The discussion gradually died down.

Amid rustling sounds, Redmond felt himself being lowered.

Then he was tied up again with straw rope and carried away, swaying toward some unknown destination.

The light in the darkness grew brighter and brighter, and Redmond's consciousness became increasingly clear. At last, he realized that this light was actually Vitality!

Yes, Vitality.

Under this power, his shriveled body gradually filled out. His heart began beating, and strength flooded his body.

Within this torrent of life, he could sense countless powerful and terrifying beings.

It was these beings that provided him with an endless stream of Vitality!

They were Abyss Devils;

They were also soldiers of the God of the Internet!

In response to his attempts at communication, some Devils dismissed him with contempt; some used even more brutal thoughts to corrupt him in return; others tempted him to summon them.

"Pain—"

The sharp agony yanked Redmond's consciousness back.

He suddenly opened his eyes and saw two gaunt villagers, their faces filled with greed, holding knives as they carved flesh from his thigh.

The knife cutting into his leg hurt terribly, but compared to the execution by fire earlier, Redmond found that this pain carried an indescribable sweetness.

It told him how wonderful life was!

"You want to eat my flesh?"

The low voice startled the two gaunt villagers awake.

They instinctively glanced at each other, then abruptly looked toward Raymond's head. Raymond, whose body had already been roasted into Cured Meat, had opened his eyes and calmly asked them the question.

No matter how wonderful life was, that flesh was still his.

"Aah—"

The two gaunt villagers screamed in terror and scrambled toward the village.

Yet they had only run a dozen steps when a cold flash swept past, slicing them into four pieces.

A Shadow Demon revealed itself where it stood, greedily licking the blood from its claws. Two wisps of soul still wailed and struggled there.

"You really like souls?" Redmond asked the Shadow Demon.

A month ago, in that basement, he had been scared half to death by their ferocious appearances. Now, he found them rather adorable instead.

"Of course. Are you offering up your soul?"

Ignoring the Shadow Demon's teasing, Redmond pointed toward the village that had burned him. "There are plenty of souls there. But you have to obey my orders. Otherwise, I'll send you back to the Abyss."

The Shadow Demon gave Redmond a deep look, then grinned savagely. "Deal, Bipedal Crawler."

Yu Sheng'an watched as Redmond's soul twisted, allowing him to use the Contract to connect with Abyss Devils. His pupils widened slightly.

He realized what Redmond was probably going to do.

Then... should he stop him?