Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon
Chapter 370 - 369: Angel of the Paradise Sect

Chapter 370: Chapter 369: Angel of the Paradise Sect

"A large safe buried underground... the surprises this world gives are quite plentiful," Ailuodi muttered, "Even on Earth, cutting it open wouldn’t be an easy task, right?"

"Hmm. If it’s hard, we’ll need a specially made drill bit. Or, we could switch methods and use high temperature to cut, like with gas cutting or arc cutting... It’s just that I don’t know what the melting point of this metal lump is."

"You can’t actually conjure up these things, can you!"

"If it’s gas cutting, there’s a record of it, and it’s doable with a lighter too, but it makes too much noise, I have to get everyone out of here before I can try it," Chaoyang said quietly, touching the wall, "What I’m truly curious about is, who left behind this massive creation?"

This reminded him of the temple beneath the Huiqiu Mine.

It was even larger in area and more magnificent in scale, yet it was still built of stone and didn’t exceed the knowledge of the era.

But the metal "city wall" before him was a completely different story.

Even without pouring it into any structure, just gathering so much metal wasn’t something one or two lords could handle.

Could it really be, like assistant Shocker mentioned, that it was also a creation of some divinity? Did the Evil God lurking in the City of Defense have something to do with it?

"I want to know too, but we can’t rush it; as long as we can find an entrance and get inside, we will eventually find the answer," Ailuodi said, and then asked, "By the way, did you see from this guy’s memory why Bariff is so unpopular?"

"You hit the nail on the head, he’s not just unpopular... he’s utterly detestable," Chaoyang sighed, "I’ll share this memory with you so you can see for yourself."

The Ransu Company had not only money and people, but also boats... After they entered the City of Defense under the guise of development, they quickly became the de facto controllers of the city. This was also related to the history of the City of Defense—it started as a fishing village and gradually developed to its current state. Officially, it was the territory of the Kingdom, but in reality, it was controlled jointly by local fishermen, gangs, and smugglers, without a noble Lord appointed by the royalty. Therefore, when a behemoth corporation entered the picture, the balance of power among the three parties was quickly disrupted.

In order to mine the caves as efficiently as possible, the company targeted the local people directly. And because there was no noble Lord, they acted without any scruples. At first, they used money to recruit people, but later they simply conscripted forcefully, demanding that each household provide at least one adult to participate in the mining project. If anyone dared to refuse, they would at least receive a beating, or worse, be maimed as a warning.

That’s not all; the company set extremely harsh schedules, causing people to work for at least ten hours a day, performing heavy physical labor in the damp and dark depths of the cave. Because the cave was below sea level, flooding incidents occurred frequently, each time taking dozens of lives. However, the company didn’t care at all and didn’t pay any compensation, preferring to deal with the gangs, hiring them as enforcers rather than improving the treatment of the workers.

Even now, there were still more than two hundred people working on the east section of the narrow cave, only separated by accumulated water, which created the illusion of tranquility for Chaoyang and Ailuodi.

And the one leading all of this was none other than Governor Quya and the project manager Bariff.

The hundreds of people hanging on the beach were all locals who had resisted. The more frequent the resistance, the bloodier the suppression; bariff had even implemented a system of collective punishment, where if one person in a group rebelled, the other nine would have to share the responsibility. Not only would the rebel be executed, but their family would also suffer corporal punishment.

"The whole City of Defense is now revolving around the Ransu Company, no wonder the southern beach is full of abandoned fishing boats," Chaoyang lamented, "Once they achieve their goal and completely pull out of here, I’m afraid the city will also be doomed."

When sifting through Little Shocker’s memories, it was as if he was watching a familiar part of world history.

Like the banana plantations of South America, or the rubber plantations of Africa...

The Huiqiu Mine in Magnificent Castle wasn’t any better before Gaotian Company collapsed.

"... Unfortunately, we are powerless to stop any of this from happening," Ailuodi’s voice sounded somewhat sad, "What do you plan to do next? Everyone in the city probably recognizes your face by now, so it doesn’t seem likely that we can sign contracts with them to refuel wishing power..."

"That’s not necessarily the case."

"Do you intend to create an additional body? Wouldn’t the risk be too great?"

The risk here didn’t refer to the consumption of wishing power by the avatar. Now that he no longer had The Divine Country, creating an ordinary human avatar would only use up 160 points of wishing power, with the daily maintenance costing around 40 points, which was still manageable. The real risk was that when he separated his consciousness to act, his original body would be without the ability to perceive. In the past, he either had the protection of Angels or placed his original body in his own stronghold, but now neither condition was met. Ailuodi’s power had hit a low, and Bariff’s bedroom was far from safe. Should it be breached, it would be a total loss.

"An avatar still needs to be created, but not right now. What I mean is that you could give it a try," Chaoyang said.

"What? Me?" Ailuodi was stunned.

"They know me, but they don’t know an inconspicuous little maid. The contract can be prepared in advance, and it doesn’t matter who helps them." He paused, "You must have thought more than once, right? Exchange the abilities of Angels with Demons; you fulfill the sufferer’s wishes, helping them escape their pain, instead of taking up the sword to hunt Demons. Now the opportunity has come... How about it, do you want to experience firsthand, the feeling of using superpowers to aid others?"

...

As night fell, the City of Defense sank into silence with the setting sun. Especially outside the wealthy district, there were hardly any figures walking in the streets.

Clad in a cloak, Ailuodi made her way through the dark alleys, finally stopping in front of a dilapidated bungalow.

She knocked on the door and waited patiently.

After a moment, the door creaked open a sliver. An eye peered out from behind it, warily inspecting her, "Who’re you looking for?"

"I’ve heard the prayer. You can tell the Prayer... the divinities have come to answer his prayers."

Ailuodi’s voice seemed to possess a magical power, inadvertently causing the man to become slightly dazed. He blinked and opened the door fully, "My goodness, are you... a messenger of the divinities?"

"No, I am a servant of the divinities, please lead me to him," the Angel said softly.

Soon, she saw the Prayer— he was the boy who had previously intended to perish together with Chaoyang. He was by a decrepit wooden bed, gripping the hand of the person on it fiercely. Hours had passed, and the girl’s condition hadn’t improved at all; her eyes shut tight, her cheeks red as overripe grapes.

"Sweet Potato, move aside, someone’s come to save your sister!"

The boy jerked in surprise, turning to look back, "Brother, who is this...?"

"This is who you’ve been praying to... right? Poor child." Ailuodi spoke with a calming tone, "I might be able to help her, or at least lessen her pain."

"You heard my prayer?" The boy’s eyes widened in disbelief, "Are you a messenger of the Goddess of Abundance? Or perhaps... a High Priest from the Eternal Sect?"

Ailuodi reached up to remove her hood—truth be told, she was somewhat worried, for the boy had seen Baili’s true face that afternoon. The disguise that Chaoyang gave her consisted merely of a wig, double eyelid tape, false lashes, and a black X-patterned mask. As for why he chose such an unconventional mask, Chaoyang had explained that this style of mask would be considered rebellious even in modern times, let alone here, effectively drawing observers’ gaze and reducing their attention to Baili’s features.

As she lowered her hood, she responded softly, "No, I am from the Paradise Sect, sent here by the Paradise Master to rescue."