The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

"Angel, Gray, and Kate, right? There's another scent I can't place. Maybe it's a woman I don't know?"

"Li, don't forget, my facial features are exceptionally sharp. You might be able to deceive others, but you can't deceive me."

Although Xia Li smiled brightly, Li Shanze felt a chill on his neck.

"I have signed a soul agreement with the female devil. After I die, my soul will belong to her. You are essentially putting yourself in danger as well." Li Shanze continued.

"I guess that's your 'wife' Alessia?" Xia Li's eyes fell on the wedding ring on Li Shanze's left ring finger.

"After becoming a wizard, thanks to Buchaska, I can see a lot of things clearly. So we are going to New York to help you get a divorce. If that doesn't work, we can kill her. After all, a widower is still single in the legal sense."

Xia Li's smile was as bright as the sun, but her words were murderous.

Then she pointed her staff at Li Shanze.

Then, Xia Li once again performed a skirt-lifting ceremony: "Then, please take good care of me for the rest of my life, Mr. Li."

169 Witness

As Xia Li finished her words, Li Shanze felt in his heart that a strong bond had been established between him and Xia Li.

Of course, there was no need for Li Shanze to spoil the mood by asking, "What would you do if I died or left this world?"

Because the answer is self-evident.

The life and death agreement is wide, and Zicheng said.

Li Shanze finally felt that a heavy responsibility was placed on his heart. In this strange foreign land and foreign world, he seemed to be no longer the homeless and carefree wanderer.

In this mysterious feeling, Li Shanze naturally realized that if he explained his background to Xia Li now, it would never cause any harm to Xia Li's spirit.

Because after she chose him as her anchor, she had completely given her spirit to him.

Li Shanze's heart moved and he wanted to say something.

However, when the words came to his lips, Li Shanze swallowed them back.

After all, this is still a space of consciousness. Even if Charlie's consciousness will not be harmed, it is hard to say about other consciousnesses.

Li Shanze doesn't think that this space of consciousness can withstand the "ultimate mystery of the world."

Xia Li seemed very satisfied with Li Shanze's mountain-like silence, and the smile on her lips became brighter and brighter.

But at this moment, Ella suddenly spoke.

"Woohoo! This is so beautiful! This is what Ella wants to see!"

In Li Shanze's silence, Ella's crying sounded on Li Shanze's shoulder.

Ella's eyes were red, and a small handkerchief appeared in her hand as if by magic. She used the small handkerchief to wipe away her tears of emotion.

Her wings fluttered happily, and wonderful powder came out of her wings. The powder floated in the air, recombined, and actually formed a rainbow.

When a teardrop of the elf rolled to the ground, all the emotional ghosts that had fled under Charlie's pressure were attracted back, just like flames attract moths and honey attracts ants.

Not only were they not as panicked as before, nor did they continue to wander around in a disorderly manner, but they held hands and circled around Li Shanze and Xia Li.

The red angry ghost no longer spoke with a stream of curses, but instead sang a beautiful chorus of nursery rhymes.

The expression on the blue sad ghost's face was no longer melancholy, and the smile on the blurred face was as bright as the warm sunshine in spring.

The yellow ghost of desire no longer kept asking for likes and attention. Instead, it became quiet for a rare moment and quietly appreciated the scene before it.

The elf was completely oblivious to these emotional ghosts, she was crying so intently.

When the second teardrop rolled down to the ground, the originally dark and cold street corner in Philadelphia suddenly turned into a spring field.

Tender grass began to sprout on the oil-stained asphalt. Vending machines were suddenly covered with vines and began to bloom with wisteria flowers.

The extinguished street lights turned into oak trees that were beginning to grow tender leaves. Even a woodpecker flew in from nowhere and banged on the trunk of the oak tree with its beak.

"That's not fair!" Ella exclaimed. "The curves of Li Shanze and Xia Li's smiles are more perfect than the Rainbow Bridge!"

She cried so hard that all the stardust sleeping in her long silver hair woke up from hibernation.

Stardust scattered in the sky, shining like the Milky Way in the dark night of Philadelphia.

"Burp!" Ella burped.

The hiccups shattered the glowing outer membrane of each emotional ghost, dyeing them all a warm amber.

When the third teardrop rolled down, the amber color wrapped around Li Shanze and Xia Li began to circle, getting tighter and denser.

The ghosts of negative emotions were finally liberated by the elves' tears. The emotions they left behind turned into huge wishes, and they all rushed towards Charlie.

Charlie smiled and shook her head, waving at them as if saying goodbye.

Then, there was a loud bang.

This huge force of wish returned to dust, and in an instant, the stars and clouds dispersed, scattering completely.

Li Shanze looked at Xia Li curiously.

"They are witnesses, relatives and friends who witnessed the agreement between us, and guests who were invited to watch the ceremony."

"I don't want to exploit their emotions, whether they're positive or negative."

Charlie explained with a smile.

After explaining to Li Shanze, she turned to the other side, and the sweet smile on her face suddenly became cold.

"Isn't that right, Vivian?" Charlie asked softly, her voice still gentle.

With Charlie's questioning, Ella was awakened from her emotion, and the fairy-tale scene began to fade away.

The surroundings returned to the gloomy and dark street corner of Philadelphia in the consciousness space.

Charlie snapped her fingers, and the illumination magic made the whole street bright again, but Vivian did not show up.

"After being cut off from all sources of willpower, you can't even maintain your body? Vivian, the virtual saint who parasitizes on people's emotions? Or should I call you a parasite?" Xia Li asked with a smile.

Charlie's response was still only silence.

The silent city was completely still, devoid of any sound. It was as if all life had been extinguished.

"It seems Kate is right." When Xia Li mentioned Kate in front of Li Shanze again, there was nothing strange on her face.

"Even though we've cut off all sources of Vivian's willpower, this space of consciousness still exists stably. We haven't found a way to leave safely."

"It seems that we must finally go to the source."

After the witch finished speaking, she smiled and looked at Li Shanze quietly, waiting for him to make a decision.

Li Shanze nodded: "Yes, we have to go to the source. According to previous speculation, it is at the wreckage of the Liberty Bell..."

Li Shanze hadn't finished speaking.

From afar, the deep and melodious sound of a large bell could be heard, as if issuing some kind of invitation.

So Li Shanze also smiled. He bowed slightly and stretched out his hand: "Let's go and see what's going on in this space, Ms. Butner."

"Of course, Mr. Li. I'd appreciate it if you could lead the way."

Xia Li took a few steps forward with a smile and walked side by side with Li Shanze.

Then she naturally put her hand into Li Shanze's hand.

The two people held hands and smiled at each other.

The atmosphere between Li Shanze and Xia Li was very relaxed.

They don't look like they are trying to escape from this desolate and dead city, but rather like a young couple taking a walk in the wild with birds singing and flowers blooming.

"Hehehe." The elf Ella had already hidden in Li Shanze's shirt pocket. She tried hard to suppress her low laughter, but the upturned corners of her mouth could not be suppressed.

Author's words: Thanks to Yuansheng Laji for the monthly ticket and recommendation ticket

Thanks for the monthly ticket that swears not to flood

Thanks to Silver Thirteen for the recommendation vote

170 Arrived at the destination

Along the way, Philadelphia in this consciousness space was dead silent.

Apart from Li Shanze and his group, they did not see any living creatures. Apart from the sounds of footsteps, there was only the echoing sound of bells.

Philadelphia, which used to have vibrant colors, now seems to be only black, white and gray, like an old black and white photo that was frozen in time.

But this road seemed endless. No matter how Li Shanze and Xia Li moved forward, the bell kept ringing slowly, and the distance seemed not to have shortened at all.

Something's wrong. It didn't take that long to walk from Philadelphia Police Headquarters to the Liberty Bell.

Even if the Philadelphia in the consciousness space is different from the reality, there is no reason for it to be so far away.

This road doesn't seem to have an end no matter how we walk on it. It's as if we are just standing still and will never reach the end.

Li Shanze noticed the problem and frowned.

"By the way, Xia Li, can you sense the virtual Saint Vivian?" Li Shanze seemed to have suddenly thought of something. He looked at Xia Li curiously and asked, "Is she unable to maintain her form in the consciousness space?"

"Because she actually has no 'self', when the external force that maintains her image disappears, she is left with only an abstract concept."

Charlie organized her words and explained as simply as possible.

"But why did all the external wishes disappear?" Li Shanze felt that this statement seemed to have some problems.

"At least among the followers of Virtual Saint Vivian, her image is fixed, right? Iko only uses AI to intercept and soothe negative emotions, not to intercept everyone—"

Li Shanze stopped talking midway, as he suddenly realized something.

Relying on hackers' technical means is indeed not enough, but administrative means can still be used.

Since Vivian is a virtual character living on the Internet, does permanently deleting all her social media accounts mean her death on the Internet?

If all accounts of a natural person are deleted and banned, they can still exist normally in reality. But what about Vivian?

Perhaps it was because someone had resorted to administrative measures that this space became so dead silent, as if time had completely stopped.

After hearing Li Shanze's guess, Xia Li frowned.

She pondered for a long time before answering, "Well... I don't know much about the Internet, but at least this makes sense. It's indeed a reasonable guess."

The witch then added, "But this conjecture is still a bit problematic. You know, the virtual Saint Vivian was originally maintained by the power of the Liberty Bell—she 'escaped' from the Eternal Life Technology server."

"Even if the wishes she gained from the internet disappeared due to the ban on her social media account, what about the wishes in the Liberty Bell? It couldn't have been consumed so quickly, so why did they disappear as well?"

"Since the virtual Saint Vivian doesn't need such a huge amount of willpower to maintain her existence, then why does she still desperately broadcast live and squeeze out all kinds of willpower? It can't be just to maintain herself, right?"

The corners of Li Shanze's mouth turned up.

"She's just a tool, an AI without self-awareness. So who is manipulating her behind the scenes? Who needs such a huge amount of willpower?"

Having said that, Li Shanze suddenly turned around.

Just as he had guessed, the huge and silent Philadelphia behind them had disappeared silently, and behind them was a pitch-black void.

It seemed as if everything there was nothing, nothing existed.

"So, I have to correct my guess. Vivian wasn't killed by administrative means, but the person who truly controlled her no longer needed her."

Charlie added aptly, "Yes, the willpower here has been drained. This remaining space of consciousness doesn't rely on the willpower collected by Vivian or the willpower in the Liberty Bell. It exists only because we believe it exists."

"Great, now it's much clearer. Since this place exists only because of our consciousness," Li Shanze laughed. "Then let's all believe that the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are within reach."

As soon as Li Shanze finished speaking, the scenery in front of him changed.

The road is no longer static and seems to stretch endlessly. The empty square is right in front of you.

Li Shanze knew this place. It was the square where the Liberty Bell was located. He had assisted Kate in arresting Calvin Hope, who practiced witchcraft, here.

Li Shanze looked up at the source of the ringing bell that was already very close - there was just an empty square, no bell, but the sound of the bell was deafening.

What's the trick of making a bell ring without a bell?

Li Shanze frowned and cast his gaze towards the building behind the square. The originally classical red brick walls had faded into a sickly grayish white.

Without a doubt, this is Independence Palace.

The only difference is that the spire of the Independence Palace has been replaced with a towering clock tower.

This clock tower is made up of countless clocks of various sizes. The pointers of each clock rotate at a different speed; some move forward, some move backward, and some stop moving.

"I think I know where this is." Charlie stared at the clock tower intently.