Don't disturb the sorcerer's scientific research

Chapter 229 Jia Xiu is still too much like a human being.

Jia Xiu was woken up in the early morning.

The streets were filled with noise—footsteps, shouts, and the sound of things breaking.

He didn't pay much attention at first.

Last night I studied records related to the Sleep Demon until late at night. Although there are still many questions that haven't been answered, the task progress has reached over thirty, proving that the direction is correct.

The next step is to figure out why the murderer did this, since the Sleep Demon's power only plunged a region into an illusory dream.

It's not too strange for a demon to have such thoughts, nor is it too strange for them to do anything, but it's very strange that someone actually believed it, someone who was seriously educated, literate, and had learned a lot of magic.

Jia Xiu personally believes that either the murderer misunderstood or failed to grasp the actual effect of the Sleep Demon's power.

Or perhaps they want to achieve something bigger while Goward is asleep.

For example, they could stage a massive sacrifice, wiping out the entire population of a city.

That commotion was probably enough for him, or she, or it, to be promoted to the chosen one of some demon god on the spot.

Anyway, we'll all be trapped in a dream by then, so we can do whatever we want.

The reason of becoming the chosen one of the demon gods and gaining great power is plausible.

It's not uncommon for people to be stuck on a bottleneck for life when pursuing magical power.

The saying goes that talent determines the upper limit, while effort determines whether you can reach that limit. Sometimes, when you've worked your hardest, that's when you've reached your limit, and there's nothing you can do about it.

The saying goes, "If I have done my best but still cannot achieve my goal, I can have no regrets." But how easy is it to truly have no regrets?

A higher realm of magic is right there, unattainable no matter how hard one tries, giving them reason to do extreme things.

Jia Xiu can understand.

It's not that the murderer's act of sacrificing children is inherently understandable, but rather that the motive for doing such a thing is understandable.

Since there was no hope in sight, they chose the most insane way to achieve their goal, pursuing the power they were obsessed with.

reasonable.

That makes sense.

It can't be that one's mind truly merges with the sleep demon, and that eternal, beautiful dreams are the only true liberation.

That's too abstract.

What also needs to be clarified is why the ritual performed by the murderer is different from the recorded version, with so many more bloody parts.

Intestines and livers were scattered all over the floor, and they were even styled to look like a scene from a cult R-rated movie.

Which step went wrong and caused this difference...?

Jia Xiu stretched a bit and prepared to order a cup of black coffee.

He now understands a bit why some people like to drink that stuff. If you look at it from a functional perspective rather than from the perspective of a beverage, then black coffee really does have some functional benefits.

"Traditional Red Bull," if you chug it down, it's so hard to get a picky drink.

Just then, Jia Xiu vaguely felt that a red light seemed to be coming from outside the window.

What's going on? Is it dawn?
Jia Xiu found it a bit strange. Generally speaking, because he only needs to sleep for four hours a day, he should not have seen the sun yet when he wakes up in this season.

Something outside is glowing.

Considering the constant commotion outside, something must have happened.

He drew back the curtains.

On the street, humans, dwarves, drows, orcs, and hybrids were seen repeatedly rushing into a burning house.

If I remember correctly, that house was supposed to be a brothel run by a succubus.

Fire? And those people are putting out the fire?
Jia Xiu was not surprised by the fire; given Goward's architectural plans, it would be strange if there weren't small fires every three days and large fires every five days.

After watching for only half a minute, I realized that it wasn't quite what I had imagined.

Those who rushed into the burning house didn't bring buckets of water or rescue anyone; they were carrying gold and silver jewelry and collectibles—this kind of place certainly doesn't lack these valuables.

Right by the roadside, you can see succubi pierced by pitchforks, stuck in the ground, gradually turning into ashes and pus, returning to their original plane.

As a low-end species among demons, succubi are so weak in combat that they can be killed with a pitchfork.

Therefore, succubi survive by relying on other, more powerful organizations or individuals.

Based on the current situation, it seems more like a group of people stole or robbed the brothel. It's possible that they were discovered, or that an accident occurred, causing the fire.

They rushed in not to save people or put out the fire, but to "rescue" things that were more valuable.

They really know how to pick their targets. Instead of going after the more powerful demons, they chose these easiest to bully.

Of course, Jaxiu had no sympathy for the succubi who were currently suffering.

First of all, we are not the same species, and secondly, strictly speaking, we are still in a state of hostility.

The demon race has no civilians to speak of. Once war breaks out, they are all mobilized, and every demon longs to make meritorious contributions and gain the opportunity to advance to the next rank.

Including these succubi who look so pitiful, there have been many incidents of them seducing allied soldiers and then attacking them during the war, to the point that the soldiers involved in the war had to be given an aura of abstinence by priests.

From this perspective, the Sleep Demon and the like are extremely rare anomalies.

What Jia Xiu is curious about now is where all those gangs have gone.

Logically speaking, a shop like this that can stay open in Goward must be authorized by the gang, and it probably has to share a lot of revenue every year.

If the local gangs were "kind-hearted" and didn't charge much, the owner of the hotel where I'm staying wouldn't have such a big grudge.

Having received so much money, they should at least come out and provide some protection.

Could it be that they just take the money and don't do any work? That would be too shady, but it has a very demonic style.

Out of curiosity, Jia Xiu decided to go and ask what was going on.

As soon as I went downstairs, I saw the hotel owner, covered in soot and with half of his eyebrows burned off, but he was excited and carrying a box back with great joy, obviously also going to "participate in the grand event".

Judging by appearances, they seem to be some valuable trinkets, but it's hard to say whether they're actually valuable. It feels like there's a high probability that the stuff here is fake; it probably isn't as pure as it looks, and maybe it's just been coated with a layer.

The innkeeper greeted Jia Xiu when he saw him.

"Oh, you're up so early. I have something urgent to attend to right now. We can have breakfast later."

After saying that, he turned around and was about to return to the fire.

"Wait a minute, I need to ask you something."

"No, please, I..."

The shop owner's meaning was clear: this was a business opportunity where money could be made in minutes, and first come, first served.

"If you go back now, you probably won't be able to get out."

Jia Xiu reminded him.

The store manager turned to look at the building, which was teetering on the brink of collapse amidst the flames. The crackling and popping sounds were incessant, and it looked like it could collapse at any moment.

Going in now would indeed be too risky.

Seeing this, the others who came to get a share of the pie also stopped coming back. Only a few reckless individuals chose to rush in again.

The shop owner sighed, clearly not satisfied with the haul. Composing himself, he spoke to Jia Xiu.

"What would you like to ask, sir?"

What's going on outside?

"Didn't I tell you? Goward isn't safe lately. Everyone's itching to make a quick buck and run. That's why it's started, so you see, regarding the final payment..."

"What's the rush? The amount due won't be less."

Jia Xiu casually said, "I know about what's been going on lately. I wanted to ask why, even though things are like this here, none of the demon gangs have shown up to stop it. If they're not doing this, does that mean they wouldn't care if your shop was robbed?"

The shop owner felt something was off about Jia Xiu's words. Was the fact that he wouldn't care if his shop was robbed implying something?
However, he still replied, "Normally, the gang's demon thugs would come, but now they're in trouble themselves."

"What do you mean?"

"In the middle of the night, the three gangs started fighting again. I don't know who started it, but they've started fighting again. Please don't go near the gang's stronghold, it's really dangerous there."

"Fighting again?"

Jassiu knew that Paula, the person in charge, believed that the kidnapping and sacrifice of the child was the work of two other families who wanted to sabotage the Unity Society's cause.

There is reason to suspect that she just wanted to find a pretext to start a war, otherwise she wouldn't have actually started fighting so quickly.

"Why? There has to be a reason for a fight, at least an excuse."

Jia Xiu pretended to be completely unaware and asked.

"What other reason could gangs have to fight? They just start fighting whenever they want, for territory or something. But I've heard..."

The shop owner lowered his voice and said mysteriously.

"I heard that the Demon Gang lost a child, one of whom has already died, and another was found in the middle of the night in a villa on Sulfur Street." The street names in Goward also have a very demonic feel, with things like sulfur and lava.

"Found another one!"

Jia Xiu was very surprised.

Because another one had been discovered but the person hadn't been caught yet, Paula became desperate and directly challenged the demon gang to war.

It was found in a villa on Sulfur Street.

This proves that the murderer was indeed performing the sacrificial ritual of the Sleep Demon, offering food and then the dwelling.

Seeing Jia Xiu's surprised expression, as if he had been frightened, the shopkeeper hurriedly said, "That's why I'm saying this: this lousy place called Goward might be finished any day now, you see..."

Before he could even finish speaking about the final payment, Jia Xiu turned and left, giving him no chance to finish his sentence.

Jasmine went upstairs to find Elizabeth.

The large bat that was left in the hotel was hanging upside down from the rafters, looking quite bored.

Jia Xiu cut to the chase, "While I was sleeping, the demon gangs in the city started fighting?"

Elizabeth let out a huge yawn; it was almost dawn, and it was time for her to go to bed.

She replied somewhat listlessly, "Yes, to be precise, they started fighting before you even went to sleep."

"And in a villa on Sulfur Street, another child was sacrificed?"

"Um... we're not quite sure where Sulfur Street is, but we did find a child who appears to have been sacrificed in a ritual, in a three-story house."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't tell us to tell you either."

Elizabeth was perfectly justified.

"Didn't you tell me to track down targets that fit these characteristics? You didn't tell me to do anything else."

After Elizabeth said that, Jasmine realized what was going on.

Yes.

Yes, he never said that.

Jia Xiu scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed. Indeed, it was unreasonable to ask others to complete tasks outside of the plan.

"And what about the target we're tracking?"

"So far, we haven't found anyone who fully meets all the conditions. There are six people who meet more than half of the conditions. Among them, three meet more than 70% of the conditions, and one meets most of the conditions. Except for whether he has any niche pets, the other conditions are met."

Elizabeth answered clearly and logically.

"here you go."

Jia Xiu praised.

"So, are you still tracking these targets, uh, are you?"

"It's still there, but I don't think it can last for more than a few hours. It'll get cold soon, so we'll find a place without sunlight to hold on a bit longer."

"Ok."

Jia Xiu made a decision immediately.

Wake everyone up and go to the second sacrifice site to see if Mia can narrow down the conditions and whether the murderer's second sacrifice follows the Sleep Demon's "normal" procedure.

If you can't narrow down the search, just start by searching the target that matches the criteria the most, based on the targets you've located so far.

Seeing that the wretched place of Gowald was about to be completely destroyed, Jashu believed it was necessary to complete the mission as soon as possible.

Fortunately, everyone was very proactive. They were woken up before dawn and quickly became alert and focused.

Bubu was extremely excited. As a spirit, it didn't really need to sleep. It eagerly asked, "Are we going to catch bad guys now?"

It hadn't quite figured out what had happened in the past two days, but it knew that there was a bad guy who needed to be caught.

"Yes, we'll go now."

On the way to Sulphur Street, you can see traces of the chaos left by Goward's nights.

Everywhere you look, there are destroyed houses, surging crowds, and black and yellow stains along the roadside—the things left behind when demons are killed in this plane.

It's unclear whether they died from their infighting or from the actions of other inhabitants of this region.

The demon race is never united, even when faced with external enemies.

This is also why the continental coalition was able to keep the demons at bay in the northern wasteland.

Of course, those trying to make a quick buck are not safe either, as many undissipated corpses can be seen on the road.

They failed to make enough money to leave as they had imagined.

Jia Xiu and his group quickly arrived at the second villa where the sacrifice was to be offered.

This place has been sealed off, and the people standing at the entrance are probably thugs from the Unity Society.

They knew Jia Xiu; they had all been healed, genuinely healed.

Seeing Jia Xiu approach, he said, "Doctor/Reporter."

It was a very strange name, but Jia Xiu didn't care about the details.

"I heard there's been another sacrifice here? I'd like to have this prophetic mage try again; with more clues, he might be able to predict the accurate outcome."

"You can go in, but you must be accompanied by us. Once you have the results, you must notify Ms. Paula immediately."

"Ok."

Soon, Jia Xiu arrived at the ceremony site.

Just like the first time, it featured trap magic, a bloody magic circle, a serene posture, and artificially styled organs.

Without saying a word, Mia went straight up to check.

"Hmm... not much information was revealed, but more than last time."

"What's extra?"

“Um, do you really have to use my prayer like this?” Justina interjected.

"I understand, communication technology isn't convenient for group chats, so your prayers are more effective."

Because of the existence of collective oracles, the channels for praying to God can actually involve a large group of people.

I heard Justina sigh during the prayer; she must have gotten used to it.

Mia immediately recounted the new details she had discovered.

"Elizabeth, are any of the targets we've identified currently meeting these criteria?"

"The one that best fits the criteria is the one that almost perfectly matches all the criteria."

"That's him."

The group chat ended, and I was preparing to find my target based on the location.

At this moment, a demon henchman handed over a crystal.

Jia Xiu glanced at it; it contained some kind of communication magic.

"This is?"

"Ms. Paula wants to speak with you."

Where is Paula now?

"Safe house, location cannot be disclosed."

Upon hearing this answer, Jia Xiu confirmed that the three sides were engaged in a fairly intense battle, with safe houses even appearing.

Jia Xiu took the crystal, and Paula's voice immediately came from the other end.

"Did you foresee the outcome?"

"Forehead……"

"You predicted the outcome."

Jasmine paused for a moment, then Paula spoke with certainty.

"Actually, we..."

"No, I only need to know one thing: will the prophecy affect humanity?"

Jia Xiu didn't understand why he was being asked that question at first.

However, Paula then said, "I need to be a human being, and it must be done by a human being..."

(End of this chapter)