“I’m sorry, I don’t know the specific purpose of these seals. The person who commissioned me to collect them was another gentleman. According to him, he really enjoys collecting these strange and unusual things, and he paid us a considerable fee.”

Jiang Ran's words were a mix of truth and falsehood, which undoubtedly made the three chief apostles both happy and worried. They were happy that the seals had not fallen back into the hands of the three chairmen, but worried that they had not fallen into their hands either.

"Do you have that gentleman's contact information?"

Just as Jiang Ran had guessed, the three chief apostles decided to contact the judges and obtain the remaining seals from them, either by buying them or by outright robbery. The three of them were confident in their own power.

Jiang Ran shook her head: "That gentleman was very cautious. He didn't give us any contact information, but only agreed on a specific way to meet. I only handed over the seal to him today, so we haven't been able to meet for a long time."

Jiang Ran didn't plan to collect the seals himself, and naturally wouldn't meet with the referee again, unless the liar was finally identified.

"Really? That's such a shame."

While the three chief apostles said this on the surface, they had secretly made up their minds to find this mysterious man and obtain all the seals in his possession!

Judging from the conditions obtained by the three committee chairmen and the demon apostles, although they could access the surveillance footage, they strangely failed to discover the presence of the referee. The three committee chairmen might have known, but that information came from the video sent by Yu Cheng.

Speaking of this video, Jiang Ran only felt a headache coming on, because Li Long and the others knew that Jiang Ran and Yu Cheng were working together, and the video Yu Cheng sent was aimed at Aransta. Jiang Ran then joined forces with Aransta to deal with Li Long...

I imagine Li Long will be completely bewildered after he goes back and sorts out all these relationships, but at least with his absolute power as a deterrent, they won't dare to act recklessly.

Jiang Ran couldn't reprimand Yu Cheng for this, since in the other party's eyes, Alansta was an enemy after all. Dragon Kingdom and White Eagle were originally opposing countries, and it was perfectly normal for Yu Cheng, as a Dragon Kingdom ghost storyteller, to trick his own enemy.

However, the two brothers, Arceus and his brother, probably no longer consider themselves to be ghost storytellers from the White Eagle Kingdom. Just like Jiang Ran, they have transcended the identity of ghost storytellers and begun to think about things on a higher level.

"Sir, since you can collect these seals for another collector, could you also collect seals for us?" The Chief Apostle proposed an easy-to-think-of deal. "Of course, we are willing to pay no less than that gentleman's reward. Would you like cash or barter?"

Jiang Ran had anticipated that these three would ask this question, so he gave a perfunctory reply: "I will try my best to help with this small favor, but I have my own plans for the next few days. I will visit again later to discuss the issue of payment with you."

Just kidding, whether this world will even still exist in a few days is another question...

"We will definitely offer you a price that will satisfy you, sir."

The three chief apostles naturally didn't see any problem. They had been planning for a long time, so why would they care about a few more days?

"Then I wish Mr. Demon Lord a smooth recovery."

Jiang Ran offered a perfunctory compliment, then prepared to inquire about Luo Wukuang, an important character in the plot. Of course, he couldn't call him "Lord Demon Lord," so he simply addressed him as "Sir."

However, the chief apostle corrected his mistake.

“We understand that you are not a follower of the Demon Lord and therefore do not wish to be called ‘Lord’. However, we cannot address the Demon Lord as ‘Sir’; it should be ‘Madam’!”

"Miss?!"

The group was somewhat taken aback. Perhaps influenced by common perceptions, they would think that the title "Demon Lord" was like the leader of some kind of demonic cult, and would naturally be associated with a male, or at least a genderless being.

Addressing someone as "sir" is perfectly fine.

The Chief Apostle directly refuted this, and as for proposing "ladies," that would be tantamount to directly deciding on the gender of the demon!

A female demon...

A species that frequently appears in Western fantasy novels came to mind.

The Chief Apostle knew these guys were definitely thinking the wrong thing, so he coughed lightly twice: "We have a picture of the Demon Lord here, would you like to see it?"

"There are also photos?"

"To be precise, it's a portrait, but it's almost as accurate as a photograph. As future leaders of the times, you are all our friends, so it's fine for you to take a look."

He then made a phone call to his subordinates. About a minute later, a demon apostle entered the reception room carrying a portrait wrapped in black cloth. He first greeted everyone respectfully, then put down the portrait and stood aside.

"The appearance of the Demon Lord is not a big secret among us. Any awakened member at the [Demon King] level or who has made a significant contribution, such as collecting the seal, has the right to see it."

"The Demon Lord's beauty left a deep impression on them and even strengthened their faith."

The chief apostle slowly unwrapped the black cloth. Jiang Ran's gaze gradually shifted from curiosity to shock. Not only him, but the others beside him also had the same expression!

The Grand Apostle seemed quite pleased with their expressions: "It is perfectly normal that everyone who sees the portrait is astonished by the Demon Lord's beauty."

No, this is not normal at all!

Jiang Ran wasn't the kind of animal who couldn't resist the sight of a woman. The reason he was so shocked wasn't because this Demon Lord was so beautiful, but because—he knew her!

Not only him, but also Gwen, and even Wips and Dejove recognized the woman in the portrait!

Aisha, an SSS-rank ghost storyteller from the Northern Alliance!

Wips almost gasped out loud when he heard "Big Sister," it was simply unbelievable!

Because their leader had already died in the previous SS-level dungeon, "Wolf and Sheep Game," and because the entire process was hidden, no one knew how Aisha died. This made him pat the person in question, finally realizing their current situation, and then he transmitted his voice:

"Jiang Ran... what, what happened? You were in that instance too, right? Oh right, you were the only survivor!"

Jiang Ran was probably the most shocked one. Others might not know, but he certainly did! Aisha had died at his hands! He had personally witnessed Aisha's body fall!

Aisha in the portrait looks even fairer, and the blemishes on her face are concealed by the painter's skill, making her appear even more beautiful. This would not lead the group to mistake her for someone else!