Alice! The Real Little Devil

(This chapter is free.)

"My name is Alice." The beautiful little girl's innocent smile made Chen Rui feel even more ashamed. "What's yours, big brother?"

"My name is... Chen Rui." After thinking it over, Chen Rui decided that since he had been reborn in this damn place, he might as well abandon the name Arthur and go back to his real name. "Little Sister Alice, can you tell me how to get out of here?"

"Leave?" Alice blinked her bright, adorable eyes, then suddenly understood. "This is very close to Grandmaster Aldas's laboratory. Do you want to go there? I'll take you."

"No! Of course not there!" Chen Rui jumped in fright. What a joke—he had only just escaped that pervert's lair. Going back would be brain-dead.

Alice asked curiously, "Why not? I heard the Grandmaster's experiments are very interesting. I was just thinking of taking a look."

They were very interesting, all right—if making people drink poison like beverages counted... Chen Rui looked at the innocent, adorable little girl and gritted his teeth, telling a lie against his conscience. "So you don't know yet. Something happened in the laboratory! I'm the Grandmaster's newest apprentice. Just now, he accidentally took some strange medicine and went berserk, beating everyone he saw. He even knocked Sli unconscious. If he sees you, you'll definitely get hurt. I need to leave right away, but I can't remember the route. Can you take me out?"

Hearing that Aldas had gone berserk, Alice looked terrified and nodded vigorously. "That sounds so scary! But you're the Grandmaster's apprentice. It'll be hard for you to leave without his permission, won't it?"

"The Grandmaster can't come to his senses right now, and what I need to do is urgent." Chen Rui put on a pleading expression. "Alice, could you please help me?"

Alice pouted adorably and thought for a while before finally nodding. "All right. But keep your cloak on, walk with your head lowered, and don't let anyone notice that you're a new apprentice."

"Thank you so much!" Chen Rui was also afraid of exposing his human identity. The suggestion suited him perfectly, and he was overjoyed.

"You're welcome, big brother." Alice smiled sweetly, revealing two adorable dimples. She took Chen Rui's hand and led him outside. Her little hand felt soft and smooth, and warmth filled his heart. Who said all demons in the Demon Realm were cruel? This little girl was kind and helpful—she was practically more angelic than an angel!

Along the way, they encountered quite a few demons with bizarre appearances. Most were tall and ferocious, armed with weapons. They were probably guards of the estate.

The little girl seemed to be a regular here. Not only did the guards not step forward to question them, but they even showed respectful expressions. Seeing that no one tried to stop them, Chen Rui finally relaxed a little. Remembering Alice's instructions, he hid his face beneath his cloak and walked with his head down, missing the extremely strange looks on the guards' faces.

This "estate" was enormous. After wandering around for a long time, the little girl finally stopped. "We're here!"

Chen Rui was overjoyed. He looked up—and instantly froze solid. This was the place he feared most: Aldas's perverted laboratory!

Alice smiled, her eyes curving into two lovely crescents. "Didn't big brother want to come here? Now that we're here, you should thank me properly."

It was the same pure, angelic smile as before. Yet Chen Rui felt as though fangs were showing at the angel's lips, with a little tail swaying behind her. He tried to slip away, but Alice's warm little hand was like an iron shackle. He could not move an inch.

"Is anyone here? I'm here!" Alice affectionately "pulled" Chen Rui along and called out loudly.

"Who is it? How dare you barge in so rudely..." Lesser Devil Sli shouted as he limped and hopped out. The moment he saw Alice, whether from fright or shock, he dropped flat onto the ground with a thud.

The grimy Aldas came out upon hearing the commotion. When he saw Chen Rui, a terrifying gleam shot from his eyes. Yet instead of rushing over viciously as expected, he bowed respectfully to Alice.

"Grandmaster, it's been so long." Alice released Chen Rui's hand and put on an aggrieved expression. "Your new apprentice got lost, so I kindly helped him find his way home. But this big brother is very dishonest. He actually lied to me. He said you ate some medicine you shouldn't have... and that if you saw me, you'd strip off all my clothes, then..."

"Cough..." Chen Rui coughed violently, his face nearly turning green. He wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and crawl into it. This little girl was far too sinister, far too formidable.

At this point, there was nothing to explain. It was like when he had first gone online and nearly had his heart stolen by a cross-dresser. His skills were inferior, so he had nothing to say.

"Princess, don't believe this cunning human." Aldas also looked embarrassed and quickly changed the subject. "This fellow fell into the Demon Realm three days ago. I was planning to slowly test new medicines on him, but although everything had been working fine, today all the medicines suddenly became ineffective on him. While I was preparing a white potion, an accident occurred. He took the chance to escape, but fortunately, he ran into you, Princess."

Princess! Chen Rui finally understood the true identity of this sinister little girl. This time, he had walked straight into the barrel of a gun. He had lost fair and square. Still, Aldas calling him cunning was something he absolutely could not accept. Compared to Alice, he was as pure as a white cup.

"All the medicines became ineffective?" Alice's eyes lit up as though she had found an interesting toy. "Athena and I went to the Rainy Jungle this time and brought back some interesting things. This is Heartbreak Grass, and this is Heart-Rotting Flower... Why not let this human try them?"

The little basket did not contain fruit or flowers at all, but this kind of "interesting" stuff? This girl was the real little devil. Before Chen Rui could protest, Sli tied him up with a rope and dragged him back into the laboratory.

An hour later.

Aldas frowned even more deeply. The herbs from the depths of the Rainy Jungle had potent medicinal properties, yet they still had no effect on Chen Rui.

The Super System's progress had now reached 19.6%, but Chen Rui felt no joy whatsoever. One crazed enthusiast was frightening enough. Add a sinister little girl to the mix, and their combined power was probably far more than one plus one equaling two.

Because she liked using mildly toxic medicines for pranks, Alice had always been interested in potionology. She could be considered half of Aldas's apprentice. Resting her cheek on her hand, she thought for a moment and said, "Grandmaster, all the potions you've used have negative effects. Why not try one that grants a beneficial status?"

Aldas thought it was a feasible idea. He opened an iron cabinet, selected a bottle of red potion, and said, "Let's try this potent Strength Potion first."

Sli respectfully accepted the potion and poured it down Chen Rui's throat. Chen Rui felt a burst of scorching heat inside him, as though he had been injected with a stimulant. His strength surged explosively, and the ropes around him immediately snapped apart.

Wanting to earn merit in front of the princess, Sli pounced with claws bared, trying to subdue him. Chen Rui had nowhere to vent his excess strength, so he immediately grappled with him. Even after drinking the Strength Potion, Chen Rui should have found it difficult to defeat Sli. But Sli dared not kill him in front of the princess and the Grandmaster, while the stimulated human fought as though his life depended on it. As a result, Sli was suppressed so thoroughly that he could not fight back at all.

Sli's cries for help grew louder and louder, but Aldas and Alice showed no intention of assisting him. Chen Rui had long held a grudge against this Lesser Devil who bullied the weak and feared the strong, so he took the chance to give him a thorough beating. However, he did not dare lay a hand on Aldas or Alice. Those two were terrorists—he could not afford to provoke them.

Strangely, the Super System did not absorb the energy from this beneficial effect. Its progress only rose a tiny bit, reaching 19.7%.

By the time the Lesser Devil lay on the ground with a bruised and swollen face, breathing more out than in, the effects of the potent Strength Potion gradually faded. Aldas carefully observed the calmed Chen Rui, and astonishment appeared on his face again.

"The potent Strength Potion greatly enhances strength, but it still contains components with side effects. Once the effects wear off, the user should become extremely weak. Why is he completely fine?"

Alice asked in surprise, "Could it be that you created a genuine Strength Potion with no side effects, Grandmaster?"

Aldas perked up, then immediately shook his head and sighed. "Impossible. That potion's formula has already been lost, and only a legendary Grandmaster would be capable of refining it. You couldn't find even a single bottle in the entire Demon Realm."

Upon hearing the words "side effects," Chen Rui's heart stirred. Could this be the effect of Auto-Intelligence? It absorbed the harmful substances and left behind the beneficial components? It was only a guess, but it seemed highly plausible. Otherwise, if it absorbed all beneficial substances as well, how could he stay alive? No matter how much he ate, he would starve to death.

Aldas tested several more beneficial potions in succession and finally reached a conclusion that nearly drove him mad: poisons were completely useless against this human, but tonics could not be too plentiful.

Before such a person, the poison master whom ordinary people feared at the mere mention of his name was practically a generous nutritionist!

"There must be some potion that can restrain him!" Aldas roared, no longer caring about losing his composure before the princess as he began obsessing again. "Have humans become this terrifying in just a few hundred years? And this is only a weak, ordinary human! If this continues, what place will our demon race have in the future?"

As an onlooker, Alice saw things more clearly and shook her head. "I don't think all humans are like this. There's something wrong with this guy himself. Grandmaster, why not make a magical device to test him?"

"I can't make that kind of device. Alchemy is vast and profound. I merely have some expertise in potionology."

Aldas was quite rigorous when it came to academics. Then he suddenly thought of something, and a bloodthirsty look appeared in his eyes. "I once had Sli drink his blood, but he did not gain this immunity. This time, I'll simply cut him open and study his body!"

Chen Rui shuddered violently. The thing he had been worrying about all along was finally about to happen.

"Wait, Grandmaster!" Alice spoke the words in Chen Rui's heart. "Don't kill him. This guy is pretty interesting. Leave him for me to play with."

At that moment, Chen Rui felt the angel's halo descend upon Alice's head once more. He was even willing to resign himself to being a toy, and quickly said, "Don't kill me! Grandmaster, I'll obediently test medicines until you're satisfied."

It was a pretty good idea. Not only could it save his life, but he could also hold out until the Super System reached one hundred percent completion. Perhaps by then, he would become a superhuman, punching Lesser Devils and stomping Dark Elves beneath his feet.

It would have been fine if he had said that a few hours earlier. But now, to Aldas's sharp ears, it sounded like the greatest mockery imaginable. His already gloomy face turned even darker.