The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

You deserve it, you just asked for it. Li Shanze couldn't hide his gloating expression.

After being yelled at by his daughter, Morton replied angrily, "Okay, okay. Actually, there's only an idiot sealed in Alex's soul. That idiot will never be released. Don't worry."

"Why do you say that?" Charlie's tone was full of curiosity.

Obviously, Morton was a little careless because of an old grudge with Charlie's teacher.

But facing his daughter's angry eyes, he still reluctantly explained.

"Well, it's like this. In 1793, when the yellow fever epidemic hit Philadelphia, Archibald Drummond, the ancestor of the current Drummond family, seized the opportunity and soared to fame."

"The official story is that Archibald made his fortune selling drugs, bringing them across the Atlantic from Scotland. In reality, Archibald Drummond made a deal with the devil who spread the plague."

"Devils never bother to make deals with mortals, so I assume Archibald Drummond is a wizard."

Li Shanze felt that Morton's words were a bit biased.

Li Shanze did not feel that he was out of the realm of mortals - but on second thought, wizards were also mortals, just with some differences in spirit. So, as a time traveler who could even interfere with time spells, it seemed questionable whether he could be considered a mortal.

Although Li Shanze was a little distracted, Jennifer was attracted by her father's story and listened with great interest.

Seeing his daughter's interest in the story, Morton was greatly encouraged.

As if he wanted to make up for the lost time with his daughter, he brought out the same energy he had when he told Jennifer a bedtime story when she was a child.

"That devil had been hunted by the Knights Hospitaller for a long time. He was seriously injured and had lost his mind."

"It was only when it had no other choice that it accepted Archibald Drummond's contract—which is why I'm not sure Archibald Drummond is necessarily a wizard."

"Because this 'devil's shame' is at its wit's end, it's possible to grasp at every straw."

"Don't be fooled by the fact that it's called the Devil's Shame. It actually has a great origin."

"During the Yellow Fever outbreak in Philadelphia, the Knights Hospitaller identified Suffocates, the 'Plague Spreader,' as the spreader of the Black Death, and mobilized the entire Knights Hospitaller force across the Atlantic."

"After a bloody battle, the Knights Hospitaller suffered eighty to ninety casualties, but they finally forced Suffocres into a desperate situation."

"It was at this time that Archibald Drummond made a pact with Suffocres, hiding Suffocres within his soul."

"Although the Knights Hospitaller possess exceptional martial prowess and extraordinary willpower, they are not adept at fine-tuning and perceiving the soul—after all, the power they receive comes from the combined efforts of countless believers."

"Thus, the Knights Hospitaller failed. This devil survived."

"It was precisely because they had lost so many men in 1793 that when Napoleon landed on Malta during his Egyptian expedition in 1798, the severely weakened Knights Hospitaller were unable to resist and surrendered without a fight, thus losing sovereignty over Malta forever."

"However, compared to the secularized Teutonic Knights and the Knights Templar, which were wiped out by Philip IV, the Knights Hospitaller still survives to this day. This is also the only militarized knightly order in the Catholic Church. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise?"

Cyrus Morton teased with a smile.

Li Shanze noticed that Kate's hand holding the lance was trembling slightly, and veins were bulging on the back of her clenched hand.

Obviously, it is self-evident which order Kate belongs to - Cyrus Morton has already introduced that the only militarized knightly order in the Catholic Church is the Knights Hospitaller.

Hearing that the target that their predecessors had failed to capture more than two hundred years ago was right before their eyes, Kate found it difficult to suppress her excitement and anger.

Li Shanze pulled Kate's hand to comfort her, and used his eyes to make her calm down temporarily.

This allowed Kate's rapidly heaving chest to slowly calm down.

"What I'm more interested in is how Archibald Drummond deceived the 'Devil's Shame'?" Li Shanze took the initiative to speak.

"I don't know exactly how the agreement was reached, but based on my observations, I deduced the content of the agreement. That's why I named Suffocres the Devil's Shame."

"The Drummond family will be assisted by Suffocres. In return, each generation of the Drummond family will help Suffocres spread the plague, thereby restoring '50% of the currently damaged soul' for Suffocres."

"But, note this but, Suffocreus will only be allowed to return to freedom when he has recovered to 100%."

At this point, Cyrus Morton laughed out loud.

"Hahahahaha, I guess you've already noticed the problem, hahahahaha!"

"A devil who doesn't study mathematics, he obviously doesn't know what Zeno's paradox is!"

Cyrus Morton was so happy that he slapped his thigh. "In Archibald's generation, the devil recovered 50% of his soul. In the next generation, the devil recovered 75% of his soul. In the next generation, 87.5%... Hahahaha!"

"Although this foolish devil is infinitely close to regaining his freedom, he will never be free! Hahahaha! In short, he is forever imprisoned by mortals. Tell me, if he is not a disgrace to the devil, then who is?"

Cyrus Morton laughed so hard that tears came out of his eyes.

Li Shanze also opened his mouth wide.

Holy shit, isn't this just Pinduoduo's price cut? And it only happens once every generation!

Could the devil be fooled like this?

This Archibald Drummond is simply a business genius. He is a scum of the scum who can even deceive the devil. No wonder he can build a financial empire!

"Don't be fooled by the Drummond family's superficial appearance as financiers. In reality, they firmly control those pharmaceutical companies through finance. Even Ms. Barnum, known as one of the four greatest alchemists in history, was merely an employee of theirs."

"Pharmaceutical company?" Li Shanze asked at the right time.

"Yes, of course it's the pharmaceutical companies! Since the Drummond family controls the source of the plague, is there any business in the world more profitable than pharmaceuticals?"

"Don't forget, every generation of them has the mission of spreading a plague!" Cyrus Morton laughed even more happily at this point. "Of course, they have messed up sometimes too."

"For example, this 'Destiny Child' even presided over the COVID-19 pandemic a few years ago!"

Li Shanze frowned. "What's so funny about this? Hasn't the coronavirus successfully killed countless people and sold countless 'miracle drugs' and ineffective vaccines with side effects?"

"That's where the problem lies. This virus is too virulent, killing countless patients with chronic diseases. Many pharmaceutical companies have had their long-term chronic disease clients wiped out, causing them to lose a huge amount of money, hahahahaha!"

"Holding the source of the plague but failing to control its severity, resulting in losses, is as ridiculous as the current US president losing money even if he runs a casino! They are all first-rate idiots!"

Cyrus Morton slapped his thigh and his laughter became more hearty.

255 Archibald Drummond

Kate waited until Cyrus Morton had finished laughing before asking, "Mr. Morton, how do we free this demon? If killing Alex isn't enough, how about uprooting the entire family that's collaborating with the demon?"

"When the Drummond family is completely destroyed and can no longer fulfill its contract with the devil, will the devil be free again?"

Judging by Kate's expression, she was clearly serious.

She was seriously considering eradicating the Drummond family, releasing the hidden "plague spreader" Saphocris, and then destroying him.

"Do you want to fight alone against the devil that your predecessors spent a generation to completely eliminate?" Cyrus Morton looked at Kate seriously.

Kate's expression was remarkably firm.

Li Shanze spoke at the right time: "No, she is not alone. I am responsible for this matter."

As for fighting against demons, Li Shanze felt that he would have to settle accounts with Alessia sooner or later, so there would be no harm in practicing with other demons earlier.

"And me." Xia Li took a step forward and stood side by side with Li Shanze with a calm smile on her face.

To Charlie, Kate's jealousy was just a minor inconvenience; the real trouble was Alessia, who was still the legal wife.

What's more, Li Shanze is willing to fight against the "plague spreader", so Xia Li will naturally stand on Li Shanze's side unconditionally.

Cyrus Morton looked at the three men and women eager to fight, sighed, and then smiled: "You have no idea what you are facing. I admire your courage, but at the same time, I also regret your stupidity."

Cyrus Morton admired these three young men and felt a little relieved.

My Jane is smart. She knows how to seek benefits and avoid harm, and she knows that the devil is not so easy to fight. Only those who can judge the situation are truly wise.

With such a calm mind and strong opinions, I believe she can overcome this existential crisis.

Cyrus Morton, feeling very relieved, put an extremely distorted and beautified filter on his daughter in his mind.

Although the experienced old wizard realized that his daughter was facing an existential crisis, Jennifer impatiently evaded him after several attempts.

After all, Li Shanze told Jennifer not to reveal anything about their relationship. Jennifer was afraid of saying something wrong, so she simply responded with a cold face and scolded him impatiently.

This was instead regarded by Cyrus Morton as a sign of strong opinion.

As for Jennifer's real thoughts... she didn't consider herself an independent individual at all, so she had no intention of expressing her opinion at all - she just did whatever her master said.

Since his daughter "wisely stayed out of the matter", Cyrus Morton naturally didn't mind providing true information.

Barnum's students turned against the Drummond family, which was a great opportunity for enemies to kill each other.

Morton, who already had a plan to escape, was so busy adding fuel to the fire that he even hoped the two groups would fight tomorrow.

So Morton said, "Actually, there's no need to go through so much trouble. Don't forget, Sir Knight, you also have the blood of the Drummond family."

"I don't think I have anything to do with that dirty family that made a fortune from the plague." Kate was obviously quite dissatisfied with this statement.

"No, no, no, you misunderstood, Your Excellency the Great Knight." Morton waved his hand calmly. "In fact, one of the main reasons why the Plague Spreader's soul can never be fully repaired is that his soul is not fully hidden within Alex Drummond's soul."

"Otherwise, this devil has enough power to forcibly end this ridiculous contract."

"In fact, Archibald Drummond used some special means that are currently unknown."

"As he seizes and occupies each generation of his descendants, he merges his own soul with the soul of his successor and tears off a part of it."

"Of course, it's mainly the heir's soul, but there will also be a little bit of his own soul to ensure control over this part of the soul - and the torn part naturally also includes part of the plague spreader's soul."

"He skillfully divided them, ensuring that he controlled the souls of all the heirs and the plague spreaders at a minimal cost."

"Then, these souls were stored in the pharmaceutical valley of New Jersey, in the secret laboratories of those pharmaceutical factories."

"Purify them, and you'll purge Archibald Drummond and the Devil's Shame Plaguebearer."

Li Shanze nodded and determined the next direction. New Jersey was on the way from Philadelphia to New York, so it was just along the way.

To be more precise, as long as you cross the Delaware River from Philadelphia, you will reach the territory of New Jersey, and there is also the USS New Jersey Battleship Park on the Delaware River.

Charlie was particularly puzzled. She asked in confusion, "How did they do it? Using only a handful of souls to contain the vast majority of demons and the souls of their own descendants?"

"As far as I know, in a mixed soul model, if you want to gain control of all souls, you must overwhelm the other soul in terms of the total amount of spiritual amber."

"How could he possibly suppress his own descendants and the devil with such a tiny soul? Could it be that Archibald's soul strength is even greater than the combined power of the devil and his own descendants?"

Li Shanze barely understood Xia Li's question.

Putting aside the unit "Spirit Amber" that represents emotions and soul strength, what Xia Li meant was that in order to control a mixed soul, one needs to have a majority.

It is like controlling a joint-stock company, where you need to hold 51% of the shares to achieve absolute control.

"No, absolutely not. Archibald Drummond's soul strength is no different from that of an ordinary person. Each torn-off part doesn't contain much amber. This is where his genius lies."

Despite having been indentured to Archibald Drummond for decades, Cyrus Morton was not shy about praising the man.

"Take a joint-stock company as an example. I'll build a mathematical model."

“Let’s say you use $100 million to buy 51% of the shares and control Company A, which is worth $200 million.”

"Then I used Company A as collateral for a loan and used $200 million in cash to control 51% of the shares of Company B and Company C, respectively. This gave me control of $400 million."

"Then use B and C to control DEFG respectively... and so on. Eventually, you can use the initial $100 million to control an infinite number of companies."

“Of course, this is an extremely simplified model, but that’s the principle. This is how capital works.”

"And Archibald Drummond, this man, cleverly introduced the methods of capital operation into the field of soul operation."

"After meticulous division and careful calculation, he became more and more adept with each successive generation. Initially, he had to use most of his soul to suppress the plague spreader, but now, he can completely control the vast majority of his soul."

Li Shanze nodded.

This makes sense. If you give the pre-modern fantasy creature the devil some advanced capitalism, it's not surprising that the devil falls for it when he's not paying attention.

Charlie frowned, "But, wouldn't the soul being split cause unbearable, intense pain?"

"Yes, this is another admirable thing about Archibald Drummond." Cyrus Morton sighed.

"He was able to endure the pain from his soul and frequently split it, thereby firmly controlling the initiative of his soul and accumulating a large amount of wealth through these means."

I originally thought that the Drummond family was just a street vendor, how did they become a sinister and vicious big boss?

Especially those who are particularly cruel to themselves, I think they should be very troublesome.

Li Shanze listened to Cyrus Morton's talk with great patience.

Li Shanze believed that Morton really admired Archibald Drummond.

It was this Archibald Drummond who plotted against Morton, causing him to waste more than 30 years of his life and miss his daughter's entire growth process.

Therefore, Li Shanze judged that Morton would definitely find a way to deal with Archibald Drummond.

Li Shanze won't let him sit back and reap the benefits - want to regain your freedom? You have to work hard too! There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Li Shanze also planned to learn how to deal with Alessia by learning how Cyrus Morton escaped the devil's contract.

But before that, Li Shanze decided to give Morton the illusion that he could get an advantage, so that he would instigate his group to deal with Archibald Drummond, so that he could reveal as much information as possible.

Otherwise, if things go wrong or they run out of ammunition and food, Morton will take advantage of the information gap to sell out the three of them and run away. That will always be a troublesome matter.