Power Was Sentenced to Death

"Himeno, have you heard of the Poppy Devil too?"

Sword suddenly asked, clearly having heard something about it himself.

"Master Kishibe mentioned the Poppy Devil once when he was telling old stories at a gathering. You know about it too, Sword?"

"I trained in the Dragon Country and heard about the Poppy Devil from my master, Quanxi. Back then, it could control over a hundred people and make them fight for it. Every one of them was incredibly fierce. Even an ordinary person under its control could hold their own against my master for several exchanges."

"And according to my master, the Poppy Devil could control other devils too. It took more than ten elite Devil Hunters working together to subdue it."

"That's way too strong! A devil that can control other devils?" Denji exclaimed in shock.

"The Poppy Devil relies on mental attacks. Once an opponent lets their mental defenses slip, they'll naturally fall under its control. And the stronger the devil it controls, the more mental energy it consumes, drastically reducing the number of targets it can control."

"For example, it might originally be able to control a hundred ordinary people, but if it takes control of one powerful devil as well, that number would drop to ten."

Meng Fan delivered information none of them knew in one breath.

It gave everyone a deeper understanding of the Poppy Devil.

"Meng Fan, you've heard of the Poppy Devil too?"

Himeno gave him a curious look.

She felt as though Meng Fan knew everything.

"I've been to the Cosmos Devil's library, so naturally, I know more."

"The Cosmos Devil? What's a cosmos?" Denji asked, scratching his head.

"The Cosmos Devil? Wait, are you the man who sparred with Master Quanxi before?" Something suddenly occurred to Sword. Quanxi had told him about a strange man who had sparred with her to gain access to the Cosmos Devil.

The price of his victory was borrowing Quanxi's girlfriend, the Cosmos Devil, for a while.

Quanxi had never been able to forget that fight.

So much so that she kept bringing it up whenever she drank with others.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I definitely know more than you do."

"All right, enough about the Poppy Devil for now. Let's head outside. The people out there must have been waiting for ages."

After taking photos, Aki Hayakawa stepped outside.

"Sure, let's leave. We'll leave the crime scene for Natsume Fan Zhi to examine."

With that, everyone left the room full of bones.

Kobeni and Arai ran ahead of everyone else.

Neither wanted to be the last one out.

"Captain, they're coming out."

A police officer stationed outside immediately alerted him when he saw the group appear.

"Oh no, the Fourth Division is coming out too!"

He spotted Arai and Kobeni from the Fourth Division running out of the hotel first.

The captain immediately went on alert.

He turned and ordered the officers to surround the road.

"Captain, should we move in?"

"Wait a little longer."

Soon, the Third Division appeared as well.

Seeing the captain's excessive tension and the armed officers around him, Sword called out, "Don't worry. These people aren't devils. They're the Fourth Division members who disappeared and came back."

The police captain instantly relaxed.

He signaled the other officers to stand down.

"Thank goodness you're all alive." The captain stepped forward to greet them. "You must have rescued everyone from the Third Division, right?"

"No, we arrived too late. The Fourth Division had already killed the devil inside the hotel."

"They killed the devil? Then why did they suddenly disappear?"

"Just focus on evacuating the civilians. Don't ask about anything else."

Sword's words put an end to the captain's questions.

"Let go of me!"

Power's shout from the back drew the police captain's attention again.

"Is the one back there a devil you captured during this operation?"

"No." Sword ignored him after that and led the Third Division members aside.

"Don't be afraid. She saw something she shouldn't have, so she's a little emotionally unstable," Meng Fan explained.

"What did she see?"

"All twenty hostages inside are dead."

"What? All of them?"

"That's right. We didn't want this to happen either, but there must have been more than one devil in that hotel," Himeno said with a helpless sigh.

She knew this news would be a devastating blow to the victims' families.

She silently vowed to make the Poppy Devil pay.

"Himeno, we're heading out."

Tenten waved to Himeno before getting into the car.

The two teams waved goodbye to each other.

"We should hurry back and report to Miss Makima too. She must be worried about us."

With that, the six of them split up and got into the cars.

Power sat in the back seat, wedged between Aki Hayakawa and Denji.

Kobeni, Arai, and Himeno rode in the Mercedes-Benz.

Some time later.

Both cars arrived at the Devil Hunters' Public Safety Bureau headquarters at the same time.

"Aki, put Power in a cell for now. Let her out once she recovers."

"No! I don't want to stay in a cell!"

"Then do you want an apple?" Meng Fan placed an apple on his palm and held it in front of Power.

"Hurry up and shove it in my mouth!" Power roared excitedly.

"Put her in there until she loses interest in apples."

"No!"

Amid Power's repeated screams, Aki Hayakawa and Denji forcibly dragged her into a cell.

As they passed the cells, quite a few prisoners craned their necks to look.

"It's a woman!"

"Nice ass."

"Stop staring at her ass. Look at her head. She's clearly a Fiend!"

"A Fiend!" The prisoners all noticed the horns on Power's head.

Their lust instantly turned into something else.

"What are you doing? Why are you locking a Fiend up in here?"

"Hers is just a special case."

"No way. It's too dangerous! What if she eats us?"

"As long as you stay quiet, she won't eat anyone," Denji said.

"Give me apples, or I'll eat everyone in here!"

Power kept struggling, and that single threat made all the prisoners regret their crimes.

To keep Power from breaking free.

The Spider Devil had deliberately wrapped another dozen or so layers of spider silk around her.

No matter how hard Power struggled, she couldn't break loose.

Power was locked in a cell by herself.

Meanwhile, Himeno had already told Makima everything that had happened at the Morino Hotel.

During their conversation, Makima asked about Meng Fan several times.

She learned that Meng Fan could also use Astral Projection.

And that he could draw his blade faster than the naked eye could follow.

However, Himeno did not report his visit to the Cosmos Devil Library.

"Thank you for your hard work. Until you have another assignment, go home and get some rest," Makima said kindly.

"Miss Makima, do you know about the Poppy Devil?"

"Yes. Why?"

Himeno told Makima everything about Power's condition.

After hearing her out, Makima fell into thoughtful silence.

"If she's been controlled, then kill Power."

"Kill Power? Miss Makima, I think we should wait a little longer. Power might still recover."

Himeno immediately pleaded on Power's behalf.

"Himeno, you're actually pleading for a Fiend?"

"Power may be a Fiend, but she's still useful. Besides, we bear some responsibility for her falling under its control. It wouldn't be right to suddenly kill her, would it?"

"Then give Power three days. If she still hasn't recovered by then, I'll kill her."