Chapter 772: The Egg

For a moment, Lu Mian didn't know whether the "Power Broker's Dark Box", which originated from the "Broker" pathway, could be considered to have negative effects.

If you say it has, "encountering a deal from an evil creature like a devil" actually prevented a possible battle to a certain extent; if it weren't for this "negative effect", Lu Mian suspected that the moment he was discovered by the goat-faced devil, he would have been attacked, rather than being asked if he needed meat. This seemed to be a manifestation of the "Shadow Merchant" being able to reduce the malice of dangerous creatures and mysterious existences.

But if you say this doesn't count as a "negative effect", that's definitely wrong; a deal with a devil will never be simple or easy, and it might even be very dangerous, even if that devil is already dead.

Lu Mian deliberated for a few seconds and pointed to the half-body of the "Abscessed Hand" placed on the grayish-white stone long table:

"I want all of it; what do I need to pay?"

He intended to first see the difficulty of the deal; if it didn't work, he would ask the Temperance Faction demigod for help, deal with this rotten goat-faced devil together, and kill it!

"Encountering a deal from an evil creature like a devil" does not equal having to reach a deal with an evil creature like a devil!

Lu Mian's words had just fallen when he felt his body become stiff, and the chill within his body spread out.

He knew what was going on, didn't go to stop it, nor did he struggle, and then discovered his mouth opening and closing actively, emitting a voice like sandpaper rubbing against rough metal with his dead vocal cords.

It repeated Lu Mian's question just now in an unknown language, and every single word made Lu Mian's heart jump with fear, feeling that they seemed to be stabbing at his spiritual body.

The rotten devil, bending its waist and back, with a goat face and pitch-black skin, replied in the same language, the hollow voice rolling and echoing.

One of the words in this made Lu Mian's spiritual body and physical body feel as if they were being gripped by a giant hand.

If it weren't for the fact that he was already in a state of "death" and had the protection of the Aigris family's golden mask, just such a communication would have caused him to suffer heavy damage.

Soon, the ethereal voice of "Knight of Swords" Malic rang in his mind:

"I want Fabuti to die!"

Fabuti? The Demon King Fabuti, the main body of Naboredisli? The content of the deal is to let me go and kill an ancient god? Lu Mian's eyes narrowed slightly, watching the massive goat-faced devil, and he said with the mouth he had regained control of:

"That is an ancient god; I cannot do it.

"Change to another condition."

If the goat-faced devil isn't willing to change, then there's no need to change!

If I can't face an ancient god, can't I still kill you?

It's just owing a favor to a demigod for taking action!

I'll pay it back slowly later!

I don't know if it was "Knight of Swords" or that Temperance Faction demigod who controlled Lu Mian's body again, translating his words into a language the goat-faced devil could understand.

This also brought some strange feelings to Lu Mian.

The goat-faced devil should have been four or five meters high, but because its waist and back were always bent, it looked only a little over three meters. At this time, it was silent for a while, and said hollowly and deeply:

"I want that egg."

Egg? Lu Mian muttered to himself in confusion.

He could understand it directly because "Knight of Swords" had synchronized the translation.

"Where is that egg?" Lu Mian raised the question.

While waiting for the Temperance Faction member to control his mouth to complete the translation, the rotten goat-faced devil let the massive leg bone in its hand drop to the ground, emitting a loud bang.

"In the palace." The goat-faced devil answered very simply.

This also made "Knight of Swords'" translation work become easier.

Lu Mian asked for confirmation:

"The palace of 'Death'?"

Will the former residence of a god be very dangerous?

The goat-faced devil's two dim eyeballs, flowing with blood and pus, moved slightly:

"Yes."

An egg in the palace of "Death"... Lu Mian hesitated whether to agree to the deal or just snatch it.

While looking around, he asked further:

"What does that egg look like?"

During the process of waiting for the Temperance Faction member to translate, Lu Mian discovered a statue that had fallen into pieces, leaving only part of its body, beside a half-broken stone pillar inserted into the ground.

One could vaguely see that it was a bird statue, its feathers as if woven from mysterious patterns, pale and dim.

Bird statue... Lu Mian's heart stirred, linking this to the egg the goat-faced devil wanted.

After the translation was completed and his mouth returned, he added:

"Bird egg?"

After more than ten seconds, the goat-faced devil dragged that massive pale leg bone and took two steps forward, the latter rubbing against the ground, emitting a tooth-aching sound.

The goat-faced devil said slowly and intermittently:

"Yes.

"It is very large.

"Black, in the flames."

It really is a bird egg, and it's clearly a bird egg from an abnormal mother... Bird... Lu Mian suddenly associated it with Oseto's prematurely born child that they were tracking, associated it with the state of the "Banshees" when they went all out:

That looks very much like a bird, with claws and wings!

Although that looks clearly different from this bird statue, at least they are both birds... And, since there is an abnormal bird egg in the palace of "Death", it means there was a mother in the past, a mother in the mystical sense, "Mother"... Lu Mian vaguely grasped the reason why Oseto gestated such a corpse infant and threw it into the Netherworld.

Her goal is also that egg, wanting to use that egg to do something to the Netherworld?

Whether it's merging the Kingdom of the Dead in the Leclaire region into her own "Other Side World", or holding a ritual to make a corpse pregnant and give birth to a child, are they all for this goal?

Hiss, could she be wanting to merge the Netherworld with her "Other Side World"?

Isn't this too ambitious?

This is the legacy of a true god, the former Kingdom of God!

But if Oseto really succeeds, wouldn't the "Great Mother" be able to descend directly?

Even if she can't completely merge the Netherworld for the time being, just planting a seed is a very dangerous thing for our world!

Lu Mian immediately asked the goat-faced devil again:

"Have you seen a massive infant with bird claws?"

The rotten goat-faced devil looked at Lu Mian without answering; I don't know if it hadn't seen it, or if the influence of the "Broker" pathway was limited to the deal itself.

Lu Mian was silent for a few seconds and said:

"Deal!"

The goat-faced devil moved its head imperceptibly, turned its body, dragged the pale leg bone, and walked step by step back to the grayish-white stone table where the half-body of the "Abscessed Hand" was placed.

Lu Mian then suppressed his voice and told the thoughts he had just had to "Knight of Swords" and the Temperance Faction demigod.

"Knight of Swords" Malic responded quickly:

"We will go to the palace of 'Death' right now."

Seeming to be afraid that Lu Mian would be fearful, "Knight of Swords" added:

"You are wearing the Aigris family's mask, so many dangers in the Netherworld will automatically bypass you. We only need to worry about mutated monsters similar to the 'ferryman', and if Oseto's monster child can approach the palace of 'Death' and approach that bird egg, then we should be able to as well. Even if it's premature, plus the gift power Oseto 'inherited' to it, it's at most equivalent to a Sequence 4."

Seeing "Knight of Swords" speak so much in one breath, which was rare, Lu Mian pondered and said:

"Its state of existence and birth ritual are very special; perhaps it can partially utilize the power of the Netherworld. Even if it doesn't reach the angel rank because of the premature birth, it must still be treated as a demigod with Sequence 3 strength in the corresponding environment."

After all, that is an infant born by utilizing Lake Dalsh, through the merger of the "Other Side World" and the Kingdom of the Dead, and this infant also went through the process of gestation in a corpse, birth after death, and then returning to the main body, merging and mutating.

It absolutely cannot be considered a living creature, because living creatures will die instantly in the Netherworld.

"Correct." "Knight of Swords" answered concisely.

Under the pale light of those bone torches on the broken wall, Lu Mian asked the two Temperance Faction members within his body for confirmation:

"Following the road just now and walking all the way into the depths of the darkness, will we be able to arrive at the palace of 'Death'?"

Lu Mian remembered that "Knight of Swords" had mentioned that he had read quite a few notes of the descendants of "Death".

"Knight of Swords" hadn't yet responded when the goat-faced devil standing in front of the grayish-white stone long table suddenly raised that massive pale leg bone.

It used the leg bone to point to a pitch-black hole that had been smashed out by the dome's stone blocks near the broken statue.

That seemed to lead to the basement of this pitch-black church.

Lu Mian was stunned for a moment and blurted out:

"Do you mean that we can reach the palace of 'Death' directly from here?"

According to "Knight of Swords'" statement and the scene he had seen earlier, Lu Mian believed that the palace of "Death" was located at the bottom of the dark Netherworld, and one had to walk all the way down, deep into the underground direction, to arrive.

But since it's walking down, jumping directly into the "basement" that has no visible bottom seems to be possible too.

Emperor Roselle said that all roads lead to Trier!

The rotten goat-faced devil nodded slowly.

Only until this moment did Lu Mian suddenly realize:

This guy understands my Intis!

Then why look for a translator just now?

Are devils still devils after they die?

Lu Mian didn't waste time confronting the rotten goat-faced devil and ran a few steps to the pitch-black hole.

He pinched a cluster of scorching white flames and placed them at the edge of the black hole, illuminating part of the scene inside:

Massive stone pillars, blackened wooden frames, collapsed stone slabs, and winding stairs extending all the way down, disappearing into the depths of the darkness.

"No problem." "Knight of Swords" gave a judgment on behalf of that Temperance Faction demigod. "It can reach the palace of 'Death'."

Lu Mian didn't hesitate anymore and jumped onto the stairs that had collapsed by a small half.

He didn't follow the conventional way, sprinting down along the stairs, but jumped back and forth between stone pillars, wooden frames, stairs, and walls, descending in a straight line.

During this process, Lu Mian sometimes transformed into a scorching white flame spear to cross the parts that had completely collapsed and had no place to borrow force, and sometimes turned into a shadow creature to bypass special areas.

The darkness around seemed to hide something; that was something that scorching white firelight couldn't illuminate, but Lu Mian didn't bother with it, pretending he hadn't discovered it.

After descending rapidly for I don't know how long, Lu Mian's feet finally stepped onto the ground.

Under the illumination of the scorching white firelight, he saw that the surroundings were paved with shattered bones; some were white, some were yellowish-brown, and some were dark brown.

And not too far from Lu Mian, a deep black stone wall stood, embedded with a heavy wooden door that was like one for giants to pass through.

Lu Mian walked to the wooden door, bent his waist and back, extended both palms, and began to push outward with force.

His intuition told him that outside was the palace of "Death".

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 773 =====