XLI. Mineral Treaty

The moment I stepped through the exit, it felt as though a dark fish had just swum past, leaving behind a startling trace.

Lamia asked, "Longinus, are you alright?"

I said, "It was Dalia."

Lamia couldn't help but exclaim, "Her? Are you sure?"

I nodded, cold sweat dripping onto the ground. Dalia had departed from here.

The battle between Belial and Azrael had lasted for an entire day, or even longer. Even if I pursued her now, it would likely be in vain.

No, let her go. Knowing she was still alive was the most precious gift amidst all these days of hardship.

I took Lamia's hand and said, "I am a bit too tired. Perhaps I was mistaken."

Lamia said no more.

As it turned out, the rewards for completing main quests were the most generous.

The exit was not the building I had imagined, but another cavern filled with an unimaginably vast deposit of ember ore.

My mouth dropped wider than a fish's, as if widening it just a bit more could swallow all this ember ore whole.

Typhon said, "Is this going to turn out to be some cave in Africa again?"

Waking as if from a dream, I rushed out of the cave to take a look. After some searching, I spotted the town where Ambrosia and the Pale Lady had been, located about five kilometers away, right at the base of the mountain.

Typhon came up beside me, gazing out at the scenery below together.

I thought this move of hers might raise suspicions in my wife, but on second thought, what could possibly happen between me and a vampire? At worst, she might drain me... of blood, but that hardly constituted marital betrayal.

Typhon said, "Regarding this inexplicable mineral deposit, I have a proposal."

I hastily said, "You want to kill me and take it all for yourself? It won't be that easy."

The expression on Typhon's face suggested she thought I was either making a lame joke or a complete idiot, which made me feel extremely aggrieved.

She seemed to finally decide to treat it as a joke and said, "You have the right of first extraction to this deposit, and I have the right of first refusal for purchase. Furthermore, we will sign a protocol price, and you are not allowed to raise prices on me arbitrarily."

I said, "I'll need to consult my personal financial advisor."

Typhon asked, "Is that the mask? I would think an incomparably powerful figure like you would have a mind of your own and not need to defer to others for every single decision."

That phrase "incomparably powerful" was utterly precise, pouring a bowl of warm, savory chicken soup straight into my soul.

I said, "Let's do it then. Powerful as I am, I am not bothered by trivial worldly affairs."

Typhon smiled and sighed, "None surpasses Your Excellency in the carefree detachment of a master aloof from the world, nor in the heroic bearing of a champion. I never realized how blind I had been, Typhon."

I laughed toward the sky, just about to recite a verse about "aspiring to measure my height against the heavens" to ease my chest, when Typhon added, "Of course, I can also provide workers for Your Excellency's extraction. If your funds are insufficient, I can offer you a loan at the most favorable market interest rate."

These all sounded quite good, so I agreed to her, knowing she wouldn't dare to deceive a human god of war of my majestic, demonic stature.

She said, "A bargain is a bargain. A great person like you surely wouldn't go back on your word, right? If word gets out that you reneged, your admirers will be terribly disappointed."

I answered her with cold and slight contempt, "I will not be troubled by such trivial matters. The deal is settled."

Typhon smiled, bowed to me, and left in the company of Christina.

With the Ruined Bell and Lamia standing behind me, I hurriedly asked them if I had gotten the short end of the stick, but unfortunately, neither of them understood this kind of business. Lamia perhaps knew the price of everyday groceries, but faced with such massive commercial opportunities, she felt like a fool. The Ruined Bell was even less reliable.

Five days—a full five days—passed before Yuni returned to the Charon Heavy Industries factory. The Last Supper robots had already completed the construction of the partial ember perimeter wall around the factory grounds, which must have been directed by Faja.

Faja told me the Last Supper robots were extremely useful; her database contained numerous blueprints, and as long as there were sufficient materials, she could bring them to life one by one. I smiled and told her that at least for a very long time, we wouldn't have to worry about ember reserves.

Soles and the others were also doing well. The people of Weeping Village were gradually growing fond of the benefits brought by the Black Coffin. Gold and credit limits circulated smoothly in Weeping Village; Velerin and the others' formerly customary currency used to be beverage bottle caps—heaven knows what they were thinking.

Typhon said she would establish a branch of the Mercury Mercantile here and introduce some of her entertainment industries as well. She said, "Mr. Fishbone, this will be your city. You are its ruler, its mayor. I believe the Council of Elders will agree to my proposal, especially once they realize your power; no one will oppose it. But I hope you will always remember that you belong to the Black Coffin, you are our friend, and the Archon and Legan consider you their best friend. The interests of the Black Coffin are paramount to all of us."

I said, "You may call me the Son of the Black Coffin, as well as a servant of its people. You have the least to worry about with me; I hold only deep love for the Black Coffin, which is my spiritual home. I will always stand on the side of the Black Coffin."

Even I was moved by my own words, but the reality of the situation was that that bastard Belial hadn't left me a shred of magic. True, perhaps my understanding of shadow arcane arts was deeper, but if I were to fight Typhon, I'd probably still be run through with a sword. How could I ever dare to make an enemy of the Black Coffin?

I was like an ancient nuclear deterrent; I knew I would never be detonated, and I hoped they wouldn't dare to test me lightly.

Saint Longinus, if you are truly as powerful as you boast, hurry up and make me strong. I cannot wait a hundred years; I don't even want to wait a year.

After Typhon, Chris, the Mask, and the rest of the Rangers returned to the Black Coffin first, a month passed. One day, Lamia and I were strolling through the reactor factory, hand in hand. The reactor emitted a brilliantly dazzling light, and its rhythmic humming filled the air with a mechanical aesthetic of strength, resembling a surreal romance.

The atmosphere made me feel cozy—so cozy that I felt a bit warm, warm enough that I couldn't help wanting to remove Lamia's cumbersome garments, after which we could logically proceed with certain activities. Instead, Lamia punched me and laughed, "Are you a pig? Is that all you have on your mind?"

I shrieked and backed away, bumping into someone behind me. I turned around and was nearly paralyzed with fright—it was Sokan. This demon hiding in a different dimension was truly lacking in manners! He had almost caught me and Lamia composing the symphony of life, painting the scroll of spring, practicing the dance of fusion, and achieving happy ultimate harmony...

Sokan said, "There is something I want to show you."

I shrouded Lamia in shadows and arrived at his domain. Every time I saw the mountains of corpses piled here, I wanted to urge him to change his interior decorating style.

We came before a massive, pitch-black pyramid. There was a door standing by itself with nothing attached on any of its four sides, as if opening it would reveal nothing but the opposite air.

I asked, "What is this door?"

Sokan said, "I don't know. It appeared a few days ago, and I cannot open it."

I grew alert and asked, "Is this a side quest or a main quest?"

Sokan asked, "What on earth are you talking about?"

I sighed and said, "Is there any benefit for me in doing quests for you?"

Sokan said, "No, but I feel you have an obligation to clear out hidden dangers here for me. After all, you are the mayor here, aren't you?"

He was right, absolutely right. I was the mayor, and he could be considered a resident here. In case a hostile demon emerged from this door, wouldn't Weeping Village suffer as well?

Lamia said, "I didn't bring any weapons. Will you be alright by yourself?"

I said, "I'll be fine, but you are awfully tight, my dear."

Her kick nearly murdered her own husband.

I raged, "I might go to war any second now, and what do you mean by kicking me? What if I get injured?"

She said, "Stop trying to bluff. You're invincible."

Right, spot on. So right it made me want to cry. An invincible person is destined to be helpless and alone, and it was even more tragic for someone like me, whom others thought invincible but who wasn't really so.

Invincibility is a form of loneliness—a bleak loneliness.

I took a deep breath, only hoping the demon behind the door wasn't too difficult to deal with.

The wind blows mournfully, the Yi River is cold; the enemy behind the door had better be simple.

I wrapped shadows around my hand and pushed the door. It opened. I drew Mjolnir and stepped inside.

It was very dim here, permeated with an ominous aura, resembling a crime scene where a murder had taken place, or a haunted house roamed by spirits. Oh, how terrifying this place was! The demon hiding here was either Azrael, Belial, Asmodeus, Baal, Abaddon, Dagon, or Lucifer—in short, not someone easy to handle.

I saw a blank wall, and hallucinations made me see a painting—a painting of a woman. The woman looked as though she might break out of the wall at any moment and grab me by the throat...

...

Isn't this Henry Peth's mansion?

I shouted, "Faja! Faja, is this... still in the Black Coffin?"

Faja replied, "Yes, Fishbone, how did you get back here too?"

It turned out this was the residence of the Ruined Bell and Soles. No wonder it felt so stifling; it was the Netherfire that had kept my nerves taut. What a false alarm.

I hurried to the other side of the door and shouted, "Lamia! Lamia! Come quickly!"

Lamia was also stunned. When she was certain this wasn't a hallucination, she called over the Ruined Bell and Soles, and both of them felt as if they were dreaming. Lamia asked me what kind of logic this was, and I was entirely clueless myself.

Yet I told her everything was within my calculations, and they believed it. By now, they would believe almost anything I said.

This wasn't really lying, when you think about it. The mansion was a different dimension existing within the Black Coffin, and the Sokan Forest was a different dimension within Weeping Village. The only connection between the two was Saint Longinus—which was none other than myself.

Now I had a way to freely travel back and forth between the Black Coffin and Weeping Village, simply as if walking across a few streets to have dinner at my mother-in-law's house. This discovery was immensely significant, surprising me even more than a thousand tons of ember ore. I didn't have to abandon everything in the Black Coffin; indeed, I still held deep feelings for the Black Coffin, just like Lamia. Everything I possessed now was a gift bestowed by the Black Coffin.