Chapter 639: Unexpected Intelligence

Andrelad, one of the Three Devil Families… Lu Mi had heard that surname from the "Magician" lady, and asked with a warm smile:

"What are you doing in Pailos Port?"

If not for the Andrelad family's hereditary lineage, and if their descendants weren't naturally more suited to the "Criminal" Path—other options being the "Prisoner" Path, which posed no obvious issues—Bram Andrelad would have suspected this man might be a Nord or a Belia, so much more demonic than himself.

He struggled to raise his right hand, wiped several times across his swollen, cracked face, cleaned the bloodstains roughly, and flung the smeared blood onto the floor.

Only after finishing this did Bram answer:

"First, to gather information about Matanibang for the family; second, to seek opportunities to embody the 'Serial Killer.' You know what 'embodiment' means, right?"

He spoke in Intis, matching Lu Mi's language.

Lu Mi stood casually before Bram, who was curled on the ground, and said with a smile:

"You're not doing a very good job of embodying it—no sense of high-intelligence crime."

"Why does the Andrelad family want information about Matanibang?"

Bram had no intention of concealing his family's motives:

"We're cooperating with the 'Rose Sect.' They want this kind of intelligence."

The Rose Sect wants to lay claim to Matanibang? Of course—Matanibang officially belongs to no nation on the Northern Continent, and though it has ties to the Feneport Kingdom, Feneport has little power here; even if the Rose Sect and the Andrelad family don't take this matter seriously and send only a few people, General Quilariel's personal forces alone might not be enough to resist… Lu Mi suddenly sensed the difference between the Southern and Northern Continents.

Whether in Trier or the Feneport Kingdom, or even the overseas colonies, he'd mostly encountered criminal acts and mystical disasters stemming from the pursuit of power or faith; incidents targeting entire regions or multiple cities, aiming for conquest, were nearly nonexistent. Yet on his very first day in West Bylang, he encountered one.

If the seas represented chaos born of ineffective governance, the Southern Continent was chaos born of constant power struggles—overt or covert—between factions.

"What specific intelligence does the 'Rose Sect' want?" Lu Mi asked, watching as Bram's wounds gradually stopped bleeding.

Bram thought before replying:

"They want everything—from the locations of every church, military camps, patrol team compositions, to port throughput, daily prices, and the daily lives of locals."

Are they preparing to rule here someday? Lu Mi asked with mild suspicion:

"Who do you give your gathered intelligence to? Where do you deliver it?"

"I compile it into documents and leave them in the study of the empty house at 17 Areg Street. My uncle, Devaho Andrelad, will retrieve them. We never communicate; I don't even know where he lives or what identity he uses." Bram spoke in great detail, "After becoming a 'Devil,' his unique ability is to completely peel off a human's skin, process it intricately, and turn it into a supernatural item with limited uses or duration. Anyone who wears that skin garment becomes another person, completing the disguise."

As he spoke, Bram wiped the blood caked on his body and flung it onto the floor, as if afflicted with a compulsion for cleanliness.

This was mentioned in "Devilology"… Lu Mi nodded thoughtfully.

He considered a moment and said:

"Have there been any traces of other Devils in Matanibang?"

Perhaps the Rose Sect had sent more than just Bram and his uncle to gather intelligence.

Bram shook his head:

"Not recently.

"But while gathering intelligence, I discovered that four years ago, a series of serial murders occurred around Pailos Port.

"The victims all showed signs of dissection—scenes were extremely bloody, with traces of fierce combat. And all seven victims were Supernals: highest was Sequence 7, lowest Sequence 8—not a single ordinary person among them."

Listening, Lu Mi suddenly felt a spark in his mind.

According to Furanca's explanation, the name "Siso" originated from a literary work from their homeland, one of its key traits being a craving for battle, a desire to kill powerful enemies, and a pleasure in harvesting life and the sensation of bloodshed; if the target was weak, he'd even wait for them to grow, or even offer help.

And "Siso," a core member of the "April Fools" with a clear desire for self-expression, likely shared this tendency.

"Siso is a Supernal of the 'Devil' Path, and even as a 'Serial Killer,' he targets Supernals—not like other 'Serial Killers' who prefer to prey on the weak, on ordinary people? If he was already a 'Serial Killer' four years ago, he's at least Sequence 6 now, likely Sequence 5… Hmm, he's concealed himself well—no one in the 'Curly Baboon Research Society' knows his true Path…" Lu Mi didn't interrupt Bram's account, instead joyfully analyzing in his mind the possibility that "Siso" was a "Devil," even a "Apostle of Desire."

Bram, curled on the ground, looked up at him, pressed his bloody palm against the floor, and slightly straightened his body:

"This looks like the embodiment of a 'Serial Killer'—one with extreme confidence in his strength and intellect, daring to target Supernals. But I noticed some details that didn't fit."

"What details?" Lu Mi kept his face expressionless, maintaining his earlier gentle smile.

Bram shifted his palm's position for support:

"'Serial Killers' usually target those with a history of moral decay—like the ones I choose, all of whom share a habit of verbal abuse, long-term emotional cruelty. So I cut out their lips and preserve them in preservative. But those seven victims had completely different identities, origins, and histories, with no similar acts of moral decay."

"Then perhaps it was merely a Supernal with a serial killing compulsion—not an embodiment of the 'Devil' Path."

Lu Mi chuckled, deliberately showing no interest, speaking in a teasing tone:

"Did you suffer verbal abuse for a long time as a child?"

And did the "Cold-Blooded" and "Serial Killer" elixirs amplify that resentment and psychological shadow?

Bram fell silent, his body gradually unfolding, no longer curled.

Lu Mi then returned to the topic of the four-year-old serial murders:

"Do you know the specific details of those seven Supernals who were killed?"

"When they investigated, did they identify any suspects?"

Bram slowly shook his head:

"I only saw the patrol team's case summary—I never actually read the investigation files."

"There are many seasoned Supernals on the patrol team who've dealt with 'Aberrants' and 'Devils.' Their judgment was probably sound."

The patrol team… Lu Mi smiled at Bram:

"Is there anything else you think is important to tell me?"

"If not, we move to the next step."

"Yes, yes." Bram suddenly straightened his back.

The next instant, he uttered a foul word in a language Lu Mi had never heard.

Devil tongue!

As the Devil tongue word echoed, the blood, bloodstains, and bloodprints on the floor all glowed faintly.

They seemed to form a mysterious connection, linking together according to their positions, forming strange symbols and patterns.

Inside the cabinet on the other side of the room, glass jars containing lips and colorless liquid began shaking violently, rattling without warning.

This was a ritual—a ritual to summon a projection of an Abyssal Devil!

A "Serial Killer" completing a series of murders isn't just for embodiment—it's to please the Devils of the Abyss. Once the killings are done, the "Serial Killer" can perform the final step of the ritual: summoning the corresponding Abyssal Devil's projection to gain its aid and achieve their desire.

Bram's serial killings weren't yet complete—he still needed a few more targets—but he'd reached the minimum threshold, satisfying the basic numerical requirement, allowing him to prematurely terminate the killings and perform the ritual.

The effect would certainly be inferior to the proper procedure, but under these urgent, dangerous circumstances, Bram didn't care.

His earlier cooperation—answering every question—was meant to distract his enemy into focusing on the intelligence he provided, overlooking his subtle actions: letting blood drip to the floor in specific patterns, pressing his bloody palm onto designated spots—using these traces as substitutes for more noticeable demonic symbols and decayed patterns.

Once these preparations were complete, Bram could activate the ritual with the Devil tongue word for "Open," pleasing a high-ranking Devil and summoning his projection to deal with his enemy!

Lu Mi watched quietly as Bram Andrelad "worked," sensing the entire room grow sinister, stained with corruption.

He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

Bram, coldly watching him, waiting for the ritual to grant protection, suddenly heard a thunderous rumbling inside his body.

He looked down in confusion, saw gushes of crimson flame erupting from within, felt the violent tearing of his organs, bones, and flesh, as if ripped apart into countless fragments.

Darkness, laced with agony, instantly engulfed Bram's mind.

The last image he saw before losing consciousness:

A young man with black hair and green eyes, wearing a golden straw hat, lips slightly curled, maintaining his warm smile—as if watching a clown willingly leap into a trap, performing desperately.

Boom!

The ritual ended before it even truly began—Bram was torn into multiple body parts by an explosion originating from within.

"Ignition," plus "Delayed Explosion"!

When Lu Mi put on the "Wrath of the Sea" brooch and brutally beat Bram, he wasn't just venting his pent-up emotions—he was quietly injecting wave after wave of flame into Bram's body, keeping them in a delayed-explosion state.

This was for contingency.

Moreover, he'd never considered forgiving Bram, or making any deal to let him live; if so, implanting a controlled, prematurely triggerable bomb inside him posed no psychological barrier.

Boom!

Body parts were flung across the room, some splattered against the walls—but this commotion didn't breach the "Vessel of Illusion."

(End of Chapter)