Chen Rui suppressed his excitement and asked, "Are there any more of these half-spoiled ores? How much for each? I think they might be exactly what the master needs."
"Ordinary iron ore drops in quality when those things get on it, so I don't have many—maybe two or three. My brother Kuake has a few more at his smithy. If you want them, I'll sell them all to you for the lowest price." Zack couldn't help asking, "Could you give me some of that powder? With it, I could salvage a lot of ruined ore."
So the two smithies in town were run by brothers. As for the powder, Chen Rui obviously didn't want to give himself away. "It's a secret powder made by the master, and it's highly poisonous. I can't share it. But I can help you remove the crystals from the rest of the ore."
The human's generosity delighted Zack. Looking at Chen Rui, he couldn't help finding him especially likable. What a good human! It seemed the rumors about humans in the Demon Realm were wrong. Not all humans were sly; this one, at least, was a decent fellow.
Zack hurriedly sent Kakan to the other smithy to fetch its ruined ore. There were seven pieces in all.
The "decent fellow" was just as delighted. Each piece yielded about twenty-five points of spiritual energy—and there were seven of them!
Before long, all the crystal-coated ore from both smithies had been cleaned up. The crystals yielded varying amounts of spiritual energy, and Chen Rui now had a total of 175 points. It was easy to imagine how happy he was.
Zack told him that the ore came from the mines on Xilang Mountain, one of the few places in the Darkmoon Territory with active mining operations. But it was extremely dangerous there. A terrifying demon beast was said to have broken out of its seal deep in the mines and killed many miners. Over the years, ore production had steadily declined. Even Tim, the previous mining official, had disappeared in the mines while investigating, and his remains had never been found.
In the past, large quantities of ore with these crystals had been treated as waste and discarded at the mine. But now that the underground demon beasts were growing more rampant and ore was becoming even scarcer, Zack had no choice but to buy even this half-ruined ore, which was extremely troublesome to process. Even this waste ore was becoming harder and harder to come by.
Chen Rui silently made a note of Xilang Mountain. But the place was dangerous, so he'd first get to know Darkmoon City. Once he'd accumulated enough spiritual energy, he'd find a way to take a look at the mine.
"Zack, I like dealing with straightforward people like you. How about this: try to get hold of more of this crystal-coated waste ore. The more, the better. I can remove the crystals for you. As for the price..."
Before Chen Rui could finish, Zack cut in. "I'll give you ten White Crystals per piece. How does that sound? I'll round it up for today and give you one Purple Crystal Coin for the lot."
Chen Rui had planned to buy the ore—which was extremely valuable to him—for a low price. He hadn't expected Zack to offer him money on top of it. What a great Horned Demon! It seemed the rumors humans spread were wrong. Not all demons were savage; this Horned Demon, at least, was a decent fellow.
At that moment, a friendly understanding blossomed between the human and the Horned Demon.
Chen Rui had gotten such a good deal that he felt too embarrassed to take the money. He simply told Zack to notify him at the lab once he had more ore, and he'd come whenever he was called.
"We Horned Demons like straightforward people too!" His attitude sent the Horned Demon's opinion of humans soaring again. Zack thumped his chest. "From now on, you're my friend, Zack's! I know plenty of people in town. If you run into trouble, just give them my name!"
The warmhearted Zack walked the human all the way to the door. With the Lesser Devil Kakan from the smithy watching enviously, Sli followed proudly behind his master.
Chen Rui was in high spirits. This trip had been well worth it: 175 points of spiritual energy! Enough for seventeen Aurora Blasts. Too bad he could only use the skill twice a day, and each use drained most of his Star Power.
"By the way, Sli, didn't you say earlier there was another shop that sold strange things? Let's go there!"
The Lesser Devil hesitated for a moment, then seemed to think of something. He gave a flattering smile. "Please follow me, master. You might find even more surprises at that shop."
Chen Rui followed the Lesser Devil this way and that until they reached the end of a relatively wide street, where they found the shop. It had two floors, a gaudy, bizarre exterior, and no sign.
Chen Rui walked in with the Lesser Devil. As soon as he stepped through the door, a pair of sharp eyes fixed on him. The woman was a Scythe Succubus, with a decent figure and regular features, but a fiercely hostile expression.
The Scythe Succubus was obviously an employee. When Chen Rui and Sli entered, she didn't greet them. Instead, she watched him coldly as if he were an enemy. Chen Rui didn't feel like making an issue of it, and began browsing the merchandise.
Just as Sli had said, the shop sold all sorts of strange things: cloth dolls shaped like demon beasts, pretty little hair clips, pillows for sleeping, delicious Green Dragon Fruit, odd little beads... But none of it seemed to be what Chen Rui needed, and the prices were frighteningly high. A single Green Dragon Fruit cost fifty Purple Crystal Coins, and the cloth doll was marked at ten Black Crystal Coins. It was a complete rip-off!
At last, Chen Rui spotted a jade-green stone in a corner that might be useful. He immediately activated his conversion skill to examine it. Before his hand could touch the stone, a cold scythe flashed in front of him, blocking his way without so much as a whisper of wind.
This Scythe Succubus was strong! Gangke and the others couldn't compare to her!
Though he hadn't used Analytical Eye, Chen Rui could vaguely tell how powerful she was from that single slash. At that speed, even if he were prepared, he might not be able to dodge it safely.
The demoness said coldly, "Look all you want, but don't touch!"
What terrible service! Didn't she know the customer was... the Demon God?
Chen Rui was furious. This was wasting his precious spiritual energy! Sure, he'd just gotten over a hundred points, but there were so many things he needed it for. He couldn't afford to waste any.
Just then, a coquettish voice came from upstairs. "You won't regret buying these two sets of Princess Chess. Please come again!"
Now that was how a shop assistant should treat customers. Chen Rui thought the voice sounded familiar. A beautiful woman radiating irresistible allure appeared at the top of the stairs. As a male Horned Demon customer walked down, he kept glancing back at her, his face full of infatuated longing.
When Chen Rui saw the shop assistant's face, he was startled and blurted out, "Jia!"
It was the little princess's maid—the Succubus Jia, whom Chen Rui had nicknamed the "Soul-Sucking Woman"!
Hearing someone call her name, Jia looked over and saw Chen Rui. In recent days, she had also benefited from Chen Rui's cooking while serving the little princess, and her impression of humans had improved quite a bit. She immediately gave him a charming smile. "It's you!"
The Horned Demon saw that the goddess in his heart was smiling at a human, and jealousy surged within him. He came up to Chen Rui and said fiercely, "I, Lord Obama, warn you to stay away from Miss Jia! Or else..."
Chen Rui was no longer the man he'd been before, and he naturally didn't take a threat like that seriously. But the Horned Demon's name did startle him. Could that person have crossed over too? Judging by his lecherous look, though, Clinton or Berlusconi would have been a better fit.
The Scythe Succubus snorted. She planted her weapon on the floor and barked, "Get out!"
Lord Obama shuddered. The items he'd just bought scattered across the floor, and he hurriedly scrambled to pick them up.
Chen Rui glanced at what Obama had bought, and his gaze froze. This... looked like... Huarong Dao?
Only the original Cao Cao, Guan Yu, Zhao Yun, and the others had all been changed into beautiful women?
A bootleg! This was a blatant violation of intellectual property rights!
Wait, Princess Chess? Chen Rui suddenly understood. The little girl had made it!
Lord Obama picked up his things and left the shop dejectedly, not daring to say another word.
"Jia, when did you open a shop like this?" Chen Rui went upstairs and asked tentatively. Seeing that Jia knew him, the Scythe Succubus didn't stop him. The Lesser Devil Sli waited downstairs, too afraid to come up.
Jia shook her head. "The shop belongs to the little princess."
Just as he'd thought! Alice was a businesswoman too? Surely not?
No wonder the shop was full of strange things. But could a shop like this really attract customers?
Chen Rui looked at Jia, whose natural charm seemed to radiate from every inch of her, and immediately understood: the beauty treatment!
The little girl was too cunning. She was using Jia's beauty to promote the shop. No wonder she'd also hired a ferocious Scythe Succubus. Without a strong show of force, plenty of ill-intentioned customers might try something.
Still, the shops in Darkmoon City—or the whole Demon Realm, for that matter—seemed to operate on a "wait for customers to come in" basis. However clever Alice was, she hadn't broken out of that mold. If she used some of the sales and promotional methods Chen Rui had learned in his previous life, the shop would do far better than this.
Chen Rui looked over the merchandise on the second floor and found the Princess Chess. Sure enough, Huarong Dao had been completely reworked. It had become a story about a beautiful, sexy demoness fleeing a crowd of lustful wolves—or a mighty male demon escaping a horde of sexy female wolves trying to pounce on him.
Chen Rui felt like pounding his chest in despair. If the inventor of Huarong Dao saw this, he would burst into tears.
"This Princess Chess... was the little princess's idea?"
Jia saw how worked up he was and nodded. "Her Highness is very clever. No one bought the original version, but after she changed it like this, she sold several sets already... You don't need to be that happy, do you?"
Do I look happy? Chen Rui was so "happy" he couldn't find the words.
There was plenty of merchandise on the second floor, not just the few bootleg sets of Princess Chess. There were also some books. Even the latest complete edition of The Devil King and the Princess, which Chen Rui had mentioned to Alice last time, was among them—another bootleg. It seemed the little girl had a strong instinct for plagiarism: learn it today, sell it tomorrow. He just didn't know whether books in the Demon Realm were printed or made with magic.
The first few books were fairly normal, but the titles of the ones after them were enough to make cold sweat break out across Chen Rui's forehead.
Men, You're Beasts!, Sequel I: Worse Than Beasts, Sequel II: Not As Good As Beasts, Magic! Look at Someone and Get Them Pregnant, <Who Says Men Are Stronger Than Women? Let Them Give Birth If They Can>...
Chen Rui finally understood why the little princess had become a mischievous, scheming, prematurely mature girl—or at least one of the reasons.
You became like the people around you, whether good or bad. This was the enormous influence a child's environment could have!
Despite his musings, Chen Rui was curious about Alice running a shop. Jia told him that when the Eldest Princess Shea had first taken over Darkmoon City, she'd faced many difficulties, especially a severe shortage of funds. With no other choice, Shea had put the few remaining royal treasures and her own personal collection up for sale, and that had seen her through the crisis.
The shop had been left behind from that time. Later, Alice had been bored, so she took over and sold small items now and then—partly to pass the time, partly to earn some pocket money. Jia only helped out occasionally. Apparently, two months after opening the shop, Alice had never again asked her sister for a single Magic Crystal Coin.
The story was plain and lacked any striking details, but Chen Rui still heard a trace of bitterness in it. Shea had faced far too many difficulties while governing the territory, and had even been forced to sell her possessions. Yet when it came to talents like Aldas, she was anything but stingy. Alice was sensible too. Though she liked to cause trouble, she'd never burdened her sister financially when she was struggling most.
Judging from the shop, the little girl did have some smarts. Unfortunately, she was an amateur when it came to business.
As Chen Rui was thinking, the Lesser Devil's deliberately raised voice suddenly came from downstairs. "Princess Alice!"
The little girl was here!
Before you continue