Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon
Chapter 372 - 371 More Gains

Chapter 372: Chapter 371 More Gains

Sweet Potato found some firewood and lit it in the stove, brightening the cramped room.

"Come in, everyone," Marei said as he opened the door and waved to the people outside.

Immediately, over a dozen people surged into the room, some leaning on crutches, some even carried in by their companions.

"Divine Envoy, please look at my wife!"

"Can you heal my leg?"

"Sir... I heard you provide shelter and food? My family’s home was taken from us!"

"Don’t rush, don’t rush, one at a time, okay?" Marei quickly stood up to maintain order, "This is the Holy Maiden of the Paradise Sect, serving a great divinity known as the Paradise Master. I saw with my own eyes how she healed my little sister in less than an hour, so if you are going to pray... pray to the Paradise Master!"

"Holy Maiden!" Everyone quickly changed their address and called out in unison, with several people even dropping to their knees.

"There’s no need for that," Ailuodi had to use her ability to calm their excited emotions a bit. "Before responding to your wishes, I need to know your names and basic situations. Speak to me one by one."

As Marei went out to summon more people, she and Sweet Potato chatted briefly, learning that these people were considered neighbors and had all done hard labor in the mines. Since they knew each other, they looked out for one another in their day-to-day lives.

Ailuodi also inquired about Sweet Potato’s father’s cause of death, which visibly brought his mood down a lot—his father’s death, like many miners, occurred when the water rushed back into the mines; the laborers busy in the depths had no escape, either drowned or suffocated at the narrow dead ends. The company did not even retrieve the body, only giving him a death certificate and fifteen copper coins in wages.

Sweet Potato also talked about accidentally encountering a murderer that afternoon, saying he had been too scared at the time and only dared pick up a stone to throw at him, rather than going home to get a knife to kill him, which he now profoundly regretted.

As everyone began to introduce themselves, Ailuodi was also assessing these people for Chaoyang.

"This one called Cat Head is okay, has some wishing power."

"The third one is also possible."

"The last two are passable."

"Wait, that woman’s wishing power is very strong, almost comparable to Judy’s!" Chaoyang suddenly perked up.

Ailuodi’s gaze likewise fell on the woman.

"My name is Enkui, I live nearby..." the woman introduced herself, "As for my wish... let’s wait until you’ve fulfilled theirs. To be honest... I don’t believe in any Paradise Master, I only believe what I see with my own eyes."

"Big sister..." Marei looked troubled, but seemed to not dare to dissuade her.

Big sister? Ailuodi had heard this address not long ago.

At first, she thought the woman was the elder sister of the family, but it now seemed that their relationship was not like that. The title of "big sister" seemed more like a synonym for "boss."

"What a pity she doesn’t believe in you."

Chaoyang was unfazed, after all, this world was full not only of divinities but also Evil Gods and impostors who had never ceased to swindle in the name of the divine. "No matter, it’s only the first day. We can slowly build trust and establish our reputation."

Shortly thereafter, the Angel classified everyone’s wishes.

As she expected, ninety percent of them were related to medical care, food, and housing.

These basic needs to guarantee the continuation of life were the greatest demand of the lower-class residents.

"What about those without wishing power?"

"It means they have completely lost hope in the divinities. It’s okay, as long as they verbally express their wishes, let’s respond to them as well. At most, they will not sign a contract. Creating a contract also requires wishing power."

Chaoyang’s answer put Ailuodi’s mind completely at ease.

What she worried about most was the amount of wishing power becoming a filter for who gets healing and who doesn’t. Even in this era of extreme scarcity of wishing power, she understood that Demons would have to make selections, but that ultimately meant putting lives on the trading scales.

Additionally, there were two people who had some wishing power, yet Chaoyang was unable to fulfill their requests—one had a broken leg and wished for it to be restored to its former state; the other’s husband died when his fishing vessel capsized, and the wife wanted him brought back to life. Both of these wishes were far beyond Chaoyang’s capabilities.

The rest was easy to handle.

Ailuodi took out contracts corresponding to the wishes and signed with these people one by one. Anyone in need of treatment was arranged to receive the three-part combination of anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and nutritional supplements; those who needed food were given money directly; and those who needed shelter from wind and rain were sent to the Swordfish Tavern—Chaoyang had booked five rooms there, which could temporarily accommodate fifteen people. After dawn tomorrow, he could also directly buy one or two local bungalows to serve as shelters for Paradise.

Amidst the voices of everyone’s thousand thanks, Ailuodi felt her entire heart wrapped in warm currents.

Is this what it feels like... to be a Demon?

"We’ve accumulated 341 points of wishing power in total, not bad... Not only have we broken even, but we also have a surplus of 100 points," Chaoyang concluded after doing the calculations.

"But our medicine is almost gone, and making more will require a substantial amount of wishing power," Ailuodi couldn’t help but sigh, "So you were having such a hard time back then..."

"What, now you know how to sympathize with me? Don’t forget we still have a big goal."

The Angel then turned to Enkui, "It’s your turn. Do you have anything you want to say to the Paradise Master?"

"I see what’s going on. The so-called fulfillment of wishes you talk about is nothing more than using money to satisfy your own sense of pity," Enkui shook her head, "The ones responding to them are not any divinities... because divinities would never give people like us a glance!"

"But big sister, I really did hear the voice of a divinity just now..." Cat Head cautiously spoke.

"Indeed, I heard it too... It seemed to come directly into my mind!" another person testified.

As the signatories of contracts, they could hear Chaoyang’s call directly as long as the contractual relationship existed, and the latter certainly wouldn’t miss this opportunity to "verify his mighty power."

"What? You guys—you’ve been deceived!" Enkui exclaimed, astonished that her neighbors were testifying on behalf of an unheard-of sect, "Look at Michael, wasn’t divinity unable to help him restore his severed limb? And poor Mrs. Kass, her wish to have her husband return couldn’t be fulfilled either! Because those two wishes can’t be achieved with money either!"

"But the medicine provided by the Holy Maiden really works, this completely transparent medication and injectables, I’ve never seen them before..." Marei muttered, "Can money really accomplish that too..."

"Perhaps she bought the medicine from somewhere else, like in Shengxia Royal City. You’ve never seen the rare stuff, but there’s plenty of it there—"

"What’s wrong with using money!" Ailuodi suddenly raised her voice to interrupt the argument, "What’s the fundamental difference between fulfilling wishes with ability and with money? The plight of most people here arises from poverty, money itself is the most effective means of help! If Sweet Potato had money, would his sister have fallen seriously ill? If Pike had money, would he have had to sell his house to others?"

Enkui was momentarily silenced by the Angel’s assertiveness, unable to utter a word.

"Just using money to satisfy your own little sense of pity? Even if you do not recognize my purpose, you cannot deny its practical effect! Moreover, is it that easy to take out money to help others? If every wealthy person was willing to do so, how could the city have become what it is today! Most importantly, if you don’t express your own wish, who knows whether it can be fulfilled!?"

Ailuodi was nearly face to face with the other as she spoke the last words.

Struggling, Enkui staggered back two steps, "My wish can’t be solved with money... no, not even by a divinity, necessarily."

"Is that so? Let’s hear it."

"The company will execute a group of rebels the day after tomorrow, and Franwick Yuss is among them! I want to stop this from happening!" she almost roared, "So, can your divinity fulfill this kind of wish!?"