Chapter 799: Confirming the Situation (Last Three Days of May—Requesting Monthly Votes)

Gazing at the half-dead, blackish, swollen corpse on the prep counter, Lu Mi muttered to himself with a wry smile:

"So blatantly unhidden… no wonder it's Mo'gola, the City of Exile…"

Lu Mi gave it a quick inspection and confirmed this highly decayed corpse was indeed the other half of the "Pus-Swollen Hand"—complete except for the missing left side, the corresponding head, and the Hand itself.

Had the rotting flesh along its spine not been writhing and regenerating, Lu Mi would've struggled to believe the two "steaks" served earlier to him and Auis were sourced from this corpse, let alone that dozens or even hundreds of such "steaks" had already been sold.

This made Lu Mi frown slightly, and once again, the same question surfaced in his mind:

Should he retrieve the sold "steaks"?

Judging by the corpse's overall integrity, it didn't seem necessary…

Besides, the residents of Mo'gola had been eating this kind of "steak" for days, even weeks—no one knew if they'd truly digested the rot, or completed absorption…

From my sense of the subtle connections between corpses, even if digested, it would only have altered the rot's state of existence—its essence remained unchanged…

As Lu Mi pondered, he hurriedly shoved the half-decayed corpse into the "Traveler's Satchel," then blocked it off from the other half with a pile of straight swords—including the "Sword of Courage"—to prevent them from merging before the head was found, avoiding unwanted changes.

"So this is what we were fed? Looks surprisingly appetizing," came Auis's voice from the kitchen doorway.

The former "Ironblood Cross" member from the Medici family wore a black jacket with dark red patterns, one hand in his pocket, murmuring in disbelief.

He showed no disgust at having nearly eaten rotting meat.

Lu Mi turned and smiled in reply:

"I was actually looking forward to seeing what changes it would trigger in you."

"Gradual development of self-healing, increased strength under the moon, and mastery of some dark arts," Auis recited like reading an investigation report, "but in return, your self-control plummets, intelligence regresses, and nightmares never cease."

"You came to investigate because you noticed their abnormalities too?" Lu Mi asked with a smile.

He posed the question not to confirm—he'd already confirmed—but to signal he was here to investigate too, not because he'd known about the half-corpse from the start and came solely for it.

A Hunter must conceal his true intent, lest others set traps using it.

Auis, with his red hair, smiled:

"They actually tried to hide this, hoping only themselves and their partners could enjoy the bar's special food."

"Who in Mo'gola isn't selfish?" Lu Mi countered. "How did you notice their intelligence regressed?"

Auis raised his right hand, palm outward:

"If their intelligence hadn't regressed, how could I have so easily tricked them into revealing their secret and found this bar?"

Lu Mi nodded lightly, gazing at Auis thoughtfully:

"I see. Then do I need to kill you to keep this secret from spreading?"

Auis met Lu Mi's gaze calmly and smiled:

"Do you think those fools can keep a secret?"

With that, the Medici member turned and walked toward the bar's main hall, exposing his back to Lu Mi.

Lu Mi stood where he was, watching him leave, as if deep in thought.

For a fleeting moment, he'd truly entertained the urge to kill.

He'd considered eliminating Auis Medici right then, to prevent him from interfering with Lu Mi's approach to "0—01," or worse, beating him to it and leaving the "Red Angel's" mark on "0—01."

In the end, Lu Mi suppressed the impulse.

There were two reasons:

First, his preliminary judgment suggested becoming an experimental subject would severely damage self-awareness; unless left with no other choice, he had no intention of trying it yet. If so, having another person—a "cannon fodder"—to help carve a path through the dangers wasn't a bad strategy.

Second, he had no confidence he could kill Auis Medici. If Auis were still in the state he'd been in while exploring the depths of Red Swan Castle, Lu Mi believed he could handle him easily—but months had passed. Lu Mi had become the "Harvester" and fully digested his corresponding elixir; Auis couldn't have made zero progress.

Moreover, if Auis truly represented the "Red Angel" in coming to Mo'gola to approach "0—01," that Angel-King would surely have boosted his descendant's power, granted him powerful artifacts, and ensured his proxy ranked among the absolute top-tier below the Demigod level—capable of handling Mo'gola's myriad dangers.

Lu Mi didn't leave the kitchen immediately. He checked the room again.

He searched for other unusual ingredients—the "Depriver"'s unusually stiff, unnatural behavior made him suspect it was the result of the man eating random things in Mo'gola, one of the main causes of death for "Gourmet" Path adepts.

Unfortunately, Lu Mi found only ordinary ingredients: flour, butter, milk.

He then ascended to the second floor of "Carnivore Bar" and entered the "Depriver"'s bedroom.

He planned to stay here for the coming days, as the victor of the duel.

The bedroom was cleaner than Lu Mi expected—no grease, no cockroaches, rats, or insects. Aside from being slightly messy, there were no other issues.

Lu Mi walked around the room and attempted to activate the black mark on his right shoulder, to see if he could "teleport" out of Mo'gola.

He could no longer sense the locations he'd visited.

"As expected—I can't leave. I can only 'teleport' within this mountain-enclosed region… Then again, no Mo'gola resident wants to leave anyway… I wonder if Auis has such thoughts…" Lu Mi muttered silently as he pulled ritual materials from the "Traveler's Satchel."

He began his second experiment:

Summon a messenger!

But whether the "Doll" messenger or his own, Lu Mi failed to summon either.

"Cut off from the Spirit Realm? At least partially… Of course—this is where '0—01' is sealed…" Lu Mi stood before the windowed table, gazing at the dim, rain-drenched outside, feeling the cold, damp air seep into his skin.

Following his planned sequence, he began his third experiment.

He walked to the full-length mirror in the room, pressed his right hand against its surface, and activated one of his black marks.

He was using the Qiyue ability from "Bloody Jack" to sense his mirror imprints left elsewhere!

In the blink of an eye, Lu Mi perceived three faint imprints through the mirror.

They originated from Morlan Avini's study, the treasure vault of the "Azure Avenger," and Franca Jiana's rented apartment.

This meant if Lu Mi could step into the mirror, he might use his "teleport" ability to reach those three mirror locations—or at the very least, establish communication with the outside world.

Lu Mi felt both surprise and satisfaction: his hypothesis had been confirmed.

Having read the "0—01" documents, he roughly knew its origins and its connection to the Fourth Era's Trill. He reasoned that if the sealing method was so similar, many details should match too—Trill had a special mirror world; this place likely did too. Trill had "Mirror People"; this place must have them as well!

The document's note—that "if unblindfolded, the one leaving the tomb would be a monster identical to himself"—served as evidence supporting the existence of "Mirror People" and the special mirror world.

Based on these premises, Lu Mi believed he might use mirror-world-related abilities to establish some connection with the outside.

Precisely because of this hypothesis, he borrowed the "Mirror Clasp" from Franca—now a "Pain Witch," who in a few days could use the pretext of hunting "Mirror People" to request from the Witch Cult a talisman allowing her to shift positions via the mirror world.

Lu Mi reached into the "Traveler's Satchel" and pulled out the glass-like cufflink.

He didn't immediately test whether it could let him leave directly or merely transmit information—"Mirror Clasp" had only four uses left. He'd wait until he had critical intelligence or an urgent matter requiring communication.

Grrr… grrr… At that moment, Lu Mi heard his stomach growl.

He couldn't help grumbling:

"The Church of Knowledge is so stingy—they didn't even give me a meal or a sip of water before dumping me in Mo'gola. I'm not Ludwig, who could finish every prison meal…"

Muttering, Lu Mi descended to the first floor, planning to cook something himself in the kitchen, then go out to search for the "Pus-Swollen Hand"'s head once the rain stopped.

The bar owner's corpse had already been dragged away by enforcers, the bloodstains wiped clean—but the shattered bar area and the entire hall, scorched as if burned, remained untouched. Glass shards and wood fragments mingled; the scent of alcohol danced with the stench of char.

As Lu Mi picked up the bar owner's remaining inheritance—the 420 Sassen gold coins left by the enforcers—he saw someone enter the door.

It was Les, the simple-faced human-meat chef.

Les was soaked through. He glanced around and asked Lu Mi:

"Are you hiring cooks?"

The Law of Anomalous Entity Aggregation? Lu Mi suddenly laughed:

"Yes. Go to the kitchen and cook something. I'll taste it and judge the flavor."

PS: Last three days of May—please vote for monthly tickets!

(End of Chapter)