Chapter 117 The Corrosion of Hell is Spreading Silently
In the clock tower of Misty Town, the little devil who was on duty temporarily yawned and rang the six o'clock bell, announcing that Misty Town had officially entered the night.
Considering that the reward was enough to buy two pancakes, she neither slacked off nor played a prank. After completing her task, she excitedly flew to the town hall to collect her reward.
The place is currently being managed by a group of lizards, with some undead helping out as well.
But it's different from other annoying geckos.
Those guys who called themselves acolytes covered their ugly faces with cloaks. Not only did they get rid of their arrogant habits, but they also became very polite.
It seems that they have been completely trained and obedient by the Demon King.
I'm really curious about what method that adult used...
On the street not far away, a dim light appeared on the roadside.
Under the leadership of Sharp Fang, the mole people of Ironfang City are installing street lamps engraved with underworld words on wooden poles on the roadside.
This is the Demon King's request.
He said there must be light in Misty Town at night.
As for the daytime, he would try to repair the crystal on the dome, so that the withered forest could regain vitality and night and day could reappear above the misty forest.
The night elves were very surprised by this.
However, thinking that the Demon Lord could even defeat Chaos, many night elves still had a glimmer of hope in their hearts.
It's not surprising that they can't achieve it.
As for the "municipal project" of Misty Town, it is the first problem that the cemetery needs to solve.
According to the Demon King, they want to prove to the humans on the surface that this place where the light of Saint Sith cannot reach is not much worse than those places that are bathed in the light of Saint Sith all day long.
Even better than those places! "Hurry up! Hurry up!"
Wearing the construction team's only "safety helmet", Sharp Fang waved his big hands to urge Screech to add BUFF to the mice that were afraid of heights and light.
The reason why he was so anxious was actually the same as the little devil who rushed to the town hall to claim the reward.
You can get ghost money by working for the devil.
And ghost money can be used to buy roasted sweet potatoes.
Ghost money equals roasted sweet potatoes, like a formula, which has been deeply engraved in the minds of these mole people.
Although ghost money can do much more than that, at least for now, this formula alone is enough for them to work hard.
On another street next door, the rats who had completed their construction tasks first had already lined up in a long queue in front of a stall under the street light.
They are all employees of Anxunsi Group.
Unlike Tieya City’s own “worker rats”, their wages are charged to the Anxunsi Group’s account and paid directly in the form of roasted sweet potatoes.
There is no difference anyway, and it is very convenient.
At this moment, every mole man stretched his neck to look at the huge iron barrel that was emitting hot steam, and the saliva hanging next to his front teeth was about to drip onto the ground.
The tempting aroma wafting from the hole in the iron bucket was like a devil that led people to fall. These little guys who had never had a good meal could not move their short legs away after smelling it.
As soon as the fresh sweet potatoes came out of the pot, the team that was barely able to hold on suddenly became a group and broke into chattering and shouting.
"Mine!! Mine!!!"
“I was here first!!”
The front teeth reflected the light and swayed up and down. The flashing light made Gou Shi, who was standing next to the iron barrel, unable to open his eyes.
He knocked on the iron barrel with the long-nosed pliers in his hand and shouted loudly.
"Come one by one! Anyone who pays will get a share, don't fight over it!"
The creaking sound was translated by the translation crystal into a language that the mole people could understand, and it sounded like the skeleton soldiers were speaking human language.
Two patrolling mercenaries stood not far away, looking at the roasted sweet potato stall surrounded by mole people, with curious expressions on their faces.
“What’s that baking?”
"pumpkin?"
"Not like... a bit like sweet potato."
“Isn’t that for pigs?”
"Who knows... maybe the monsters like to eat this."
Although the roasted sweet potato skeleton is a bit distasteful, the skeleton in charge didn't use his hands to grab the food, but instead used a pair of long-nosed pliers to operate it.
It's really strange.
One of the mercenaries sniffed, an interested look on his face.
"Hey, it smells pretty good."
The mercenary next to him encouraged eagerly.
"Would you like to try it?"
"Walk!"
It was time for the changing of guards.
The two of them hit it off immediately and curiously came to the front of the stall, pushing the group of noisy short-legged people aside.
"Boss, how much is this?"
Gou Shi pointed to the wooden sign hanging nearby.
"A 2-yuan ghost money!"
Both mercenaries were stunned.
"Ghost money?"
"What is that?"
Their salaries were all paid in silver coins, and this was the first time they heard of such a strange thing as “ghost money”.
However, facing the confused mercenaries, Gou Shi had a matter-of-fact expression.
"Ghost money is of course ghost money! If the cemetery doesn't use ghost money, then how can it use RMB? Go away, if you don't have money, just go play somewhere else."
The Mole Man nearby also joined in the commotion, shouting and yelling.
“That’s right!”
"If you don't have money, go play somewhere else!"
"Go away!"
They never thought that one day they would be laughed at by monsters for being penniless. Both mercenaries were stunned, one was confused and the other blushed.
“Who said we don’t have money?”
The red-faced mercenary cursed, reached into his pocket, took out a handful of copper coins, and shook them in front of the skeleton soldier.
"See? This is real money! I've never heard of ghost money in my life."
Gou Shi glanced at the coins in his hand and was unmoved by this meaningless task item.
He had found this thing on adventurers' corpses before, but there were no NPCs in the cemetery to collect it, and he couldn't find a place to spend it.
Over time, most people just throw these coins into a warehouse and let them gather dust.
"You haven't heard of it because you're not dead yet. When you become like me, you'll be able to use it."
Become like this? The red-faced mercenary was slightly stunned, and suddenly felt that it seemed to make sense, while the mercenary who was originally confused came back to his senses and showed a look of sudden realization.
"I see... In other words, ghost money is the money of the dead?"
"That's right, that's right. Once you understand, go and have fun. Don't interfere with my business."
Gou Shi raised his hand and made a gesture of driving away, distributing the freshly baked sweet potatoes to a group of moles holding their work badges. Then he poured a large basket of fresh sweet potatoes into the burning iron bucket, and then added some firewood to the bottom of the iron bucket.
Looking at the group of mole people gnawing on the roasted sweet potatoes, the two mercenaries couldn't help but swallow their saliva.
Although they didn't think the monsters' food was that delicious, the food tasted so delicious when it was chewed by the mole people that it aroused their greed.
A mercenary couldn't help but say.
"...I don't understand. You're already dead, what's the point of ghost money?"
Gou Shi glanced at him.
"Who told you that you don't need money when you die?"
The mercenary continued.
"Like? What could you spend it on?"
"For example, if you buy equipment, you can complete tasks with higher rewards if you have better equipment. If you complete the demon king's tasks, you can gain contributions. If you contribute enough, you can be reborn into a different form..."
Since he had nothing to do anyway, Gou Shi talked a lot without stopping, not caring whether the NPC understood him or not, and whether the translator had translated it all for him.
In fact, the content of the game was really hidden, which was why the two mercenaries were confused until they heard the part about reincarnation.
"Wait, you mean... reincarnation requires money? Spend that ghost money?!"
"Spending money?" Gou Shi was stunned for a moment and said, "Indeed, we need a little, but it's mainly for contribution deduction——"
The moment they got a positive answer, the two mercenaries looked at him differently, as if they had discovered some incredible secret.
Gou Shi looked at the two of them strangely, wondering what the fuss was about with these two NPCs. Wasn't it just a game setting?
A mercenary swallowed and looked at him anxiously and asked.
"Then... where can we get the ghost money?"
"I don't know. Maybe you can exchange it somewhere. Ask our boss."
As soon as Gou Shi finished speaking, another mercenary asked without stopping.
"How much ghost money does it take to reincarnate as a noble?!"
Gou Shi replied with a helpless smile.
"How would I know? If you have any questions, ask our Demon King... What's the point of reincarnating as a noble? I think it would be better to reincarnate as a more powerful demon."
Shit! In other games, players ask NPC questions, but why are the NPCs in this game so talkative? Are they worried that he is too bored selling sweet potatoes? Actually, there is no need to worry. Feeding these little guys is quite stress-relieving, just like feeding a group of large groundhogs.
Seeing that the skeleton soldier in front of them was unwilling to reveal more information about the deceased, the two mercenaries looked at each other and stopped asking further questions, but silently took note of this shocking gossip.
I didn’t expect that people also need money after they die, and the money they use is another kind of thing called ghost money.
I don’t know if this is only true for people who go to hell, or if it is the same for everyone after death…
To be honest, they didn't feel that their moral standards and religious piety were up to the standard of going to heaven.
If accumulating some ghost money can help them be reborn into a good life, or even make their life in hell a little better, they can consider carrying some "travel money" with them.
After all, doing this kind of bloody job, you never know when you might die, so they are mentally prepared for this.
In order to suffer less after his departure, he even carried the cross blessed by the Fire King with him every day...even when he was on duty for the Demon King in Misty Town.
Foolish people always tend to believe a little bit of everything.
But you can't blame them for this.
Saint Six's "Book of the Word" always wastes too much time and effort on describing the prosperity of heaven and the beauty of the future, but is vague about the things that people care about most... such as how pious one must be to be reborn into a good family, or how to go to heaven.
Those unclear areas give the church and clergy room to flexibly use their power, but they also give opportunities for corruption from Chaos or Hell.
At this moment, the two people's thoughts have already shifted from sweet potatoes to paper money for the dead.
Of course, they also want the former...
"Sorry, this is all we have," the mercenary said, looking at the iron bucket that exuded fragrance reluctantly, "Please make an exception this time, we just want to buy some to try."
Gou Shi originally wanted to refuse, but the sincere looks from the two people made him unable to bear the words of refusal.
In particular, he noticed the identities of the two NPCs. They seemed to be the guards of this area. It seemed worthwhile to establish good relations with them in advance? Just consider it as an investment.
"Well, just this once... five copper coins a piece, if you can accept that."
The two mercenaries didn't think it was expensive, after all, bread was about the same price.
Of course, if they knew that the person who issued the ghost money expected the exchange rate for ghost money and copper to be 1:1, I wonder if they would cry out that it was a rip-off.
The price has doubled!
"Give me twenty."
One of the mercenaries took out a silver coin and flicked it into his hand, saying with a smile, "One silver coin can be exchanged for one hundred copper coins... roughly, do you have any objection?"
"Silver?" Gou Shi wiped it on his hand and put it into the pouch on his waist. "Okay, I hope you can bring some ghost money next time."
The silver one may have collection value.
Both sides felt they had gotten a good deal.
The last pot of sweet potatoes came out of the oven, Gou Shi packed up his stall, the rats scattered, and the two mercenaries also carried a large pile of sweet potatoes back to the outpost in their clothes.
Looking at the pile of black stuff emitting a fragrant aroma, the brothers in the same mercenary group cast curious glances at them.
"John, what did you buy?"
The mercenary who entered said with a smile.
"I brought you some midnight snacks! Hey, don't hesitate to share!"
There were only sixteen guards on duty, including the six who were ready to go.
The mercenary named John distributed the sweet potatoes he had just bought to the people on duty, and at the same time told everyone the news about the ghost money in a vivid way.
After hearing his words, the expressions on everyone's faces varied, some were surprised, some were delighted, and some were suspicious and wary.
"I think you must have lost your mind. How dare you believe in the devil's things?"
"That's right! You're not afraid of God's punishment!"
The two people who were talking were both devout believers, but in John's opinion they were just pretenders and might not even have read what the Book of the Holy Word looked like.
Of course, he hadn't seen it either, but at least he would go to church to pray... about once a month.
"Oh, come on, does that lord have the time to punish a mercenary? If he really has the time, he might as well punish a few worse demons."
Having said that, the mercenary was still very careful to avoid mentioning the name of Saint Sith, and silently added a prayer in his heart.
Everyone in the outpost was talking about it while chewing sweet potatoes. The topic quickly changed from how to make ghost money to what ghost money could be used for.
Although there was an obvious debate among the mercenaries on whether everyone needed ghost money, there was surprisingly no debate on the fact that at least it could be used to kill succubi.
What a pity.
None of you here has ever been to hell, and you have no idea what a “high-level demon” is. You don’t even know that “what you can’t get is what you want the most.”
Everyone talked a lot, and the conversation became more and more outrageous, and finally came to a conclusion -
Ghost money is quite useful! Even the two most devout believers couldn't help but swallow their saliva, and felt that going to hell didn't seem so bad?
Just as the corrosion of hell was spreading to the "Brave Sword" mercenary group, Phoenix, one of the vice-captains, walked in from outside and asked the blushing mercenaries.
"What are you talking about?"
Of course, a few people were too embarrassed to say that they were YYing the succubus, so they quickly said.
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"We are discussing the ghost money!"
"Ghost money?" Phoenix was stunned. It was the first time he heard this word.
Everyone then remembered that the man in front of them was the only magician in the mercenary group, and it was well known that magicians were knowledgeable.
So everyone started to make a fuss.
"That's right! Master Phoenix!"
"You are a magician, you must have heard of it?"
Phoenix is Alex's henchman.
Although he did not have a noble title, the mercenaries were accustomed to calling this shy young man "Master" in a teasing tone.
Faced with the booing of the mercenaries, Phoenix shook his head helplessly.
"No... I haven't heard of it. Where did you hear it from?"
A bearded mercenary said with a smile.
"John encountered a skeleton while on duty today. The skeleton told him that he had to pay money after death, and the money he used was ghost money... Then the boy started planning his funeral."
"What do you mean by planning for your afterlife?" The mercenary named John cursed and argued, "I'm just thinking about being prepared. In our line of work, you never know when someone might die."
Phoenix interrupted him and said seriously.
"I don't think you need to think so much. People with sincere faith will not be reincarnated into hell."
The mercenary next to him smiled and said.
"Sir, how pious does one have to be to be considered pious?"
"You'll have to ask the priest," Phoenix shrugged. Suddenly, he was attracted by the aroma nearby and his eyes fell on the two remaining roasted sweet potatoes. "What is this?"
The mercenary named John said with a smile.
"Baked sweet potatoes! Try some, they're delicious!"
"sweet potato?"
Isn't that something for pigs? With a doubtful mood, Phoenix picked up the black thing, peeled off the crispy crust and took a bite.
For a moment, an expression of surprise appeared on his face.
“So sweet!”
The texture is soft and sticky, a bit like pumpkin, but not exactly like it! The refreshing sweetness is not greasy at all, and there is a light pine fragrance!
Phoenix was a little hungry, so he couldn't help but eat the sweet potato in his hand in a few bites and almost choked himself.
"I didn't expect it," John said with a smile, "I didn't expect the pigs I raised in my hometown would eat so well."
Another mercenary who was traveling with him interrupted.
"I bet it's the furnace that's the problem, but who would have thought of using a furnace that makes iron to bake sweet potatoes that no one eats?"
John nodded and said.
"The undead here are indeed different from those outside, whether it's their brains or other parts of their bodies."
"Wait..." Looking at the two people talking, Phoenix suddenly realized a problem and his face changed instantly, "Where did you buy this roasted sweet potato?!"
John and his companion looked at each other.
"Didn't I say that?"
"Of course, from the skeletons who were setting up stalls..."
Before the two of them finished their conversation, Phoenix retched and ran into the toilet like a whirlwind, holding his throat to induce vomiting...
…
Although he was mentally prepared for the quality of the mercenaries, Phoenix was still shocked by this group of guys who had no reverence at all.
Not only do they easily believe rumors from hell, but they even dare to try the food of the dead!
Fortunately, this is not the Empire, and there is no church court, otherwise they would all have their heads hung on the cross! Phoenix took a day off that day and went directly to the nearest town, Silver Pine, and found the pastor of the local church and prayed for a long time before he calmed down.
When passing by the Adventurer's Guild in the small town, he took a look at the commission list, wanting to see if there were any tasks on the fourth floor of the maze that he could do.
However, as he was staring at the notice board, he heard whispering behind him.
"I heard something big happened in Misty Town."
"Misty Town? Do you mean the outpost on the fourth floor of the maze?"
"Yes! It's right there! Some time ago, the Knights went in to investigate a case, and I heard that there was a traitor in the Knights, and they actually released the evil spirits from the chaos."
"chaos?!"
“Is this true?!”
Everyone exclaimed in surprise, all shocked by the news.
The person who was speaking had a serious expression on his face and continued speaking with a solemn assurance.
"It can't be fake! My buddy's buddy saw it with his own eyes! He also said that in order to clean up this mess, the Knights and the Demon King's men tacitly stopped fighting and pointed their spearheads at the evil spirits pouring out of the cracks!"
He said this in a dreamy voice, as if he were there right there.
"The living and the dead stood side by side to fight against the evil spirits from chaos... It was just like a story in a legend!"
Everyone was amazed after hearing this.
"Saint Sith above..."
"How incredible!"
The corners of Phoenix's mouth curled up slightly. He didn't expect to hear "how unbelievable" instead of "how blasphemous".
It seems that people of different identities have different first reactions to the same problem.
Mercenaries often deal with the dead, so they can accept the food that the dead eat... Phoenix thought so in his heart.
What surprised him even more was yet to come——
He actually heard his own name from the voice passed down from mouth to mouth!
"I heard that the battlefield was in chaos, and a group of people ran out of the town without knowing what to do. Even the Demon King was hesitant about whether to get rid of these troublesome guys first... But at this time, a guy named Alex stood up and united those brainless mercenaries and adventurers."
"Alex?! I recognize that guy! I think his name is... Brave Sword?!"
"That's the name of their adventurer team."
"I remember there were two other people besides him, one named Xiu Wen, and the other a magician..."
"It seems to be called Phoenix!"
…
The corruption of Chaos has faded, while the corruption of Hell has just begun, and all this is just the dusk before nightfall.
The shock that the players from Earth brought to the people in the other world was far more than just a roasted sweet potato. There were too many things that the latter had never imagined - or even dared not to think about deeply.
An alley not far from the bell tower.
A skeleton and a ghost were huddled together, looking furtive as if they were performing some secret ritual.
With a flash of emerald green light, a piece of orange-yellow metal gradually appeared in front of the two undead.
Looking at the metal block that appeared out of thin air on the ground, the slender skeleton suddenly creaked with excitement.
"Ohhhh!! It's done! It's done!"
Unlike [Drank the Chemical Pool in One Gulp] who was dancing with excitement, Miranda's body shook, and her turbid body seemed to become more transparent than before.
"Then what?"
He drank the chemical pool in one gulp and calmed down again, coughing unfathomably.
"Next, try to imagine gold—"
The translator Crystal had just translated his words when she was interrupted by a scream.
"Impossible! I can't do that with my magic power! Bronze is already my limit, and I can't keep it up for long!"
Miranda screamed, interrupting her brother's words and continuing quickly.
"I have done what you asked me to do. Now you should tell me what the 'flame reaction' is all about, right?!"
As he spoke, the copper block that fell to the ground began to become illusory, just like a sand castle on the beach, which was about to collapse, as if a wave could disintegrate it.
Finally, it could not hold on any longer. With a slight "bang" sound, it turned into bronze light particles that flew into the air and disappeared.
Watching the light particles flying in the air go away, the soul fire burning in the brother's skull swayed gently.
After pondering for a long time, he spoke slowly.
"Everything is made up of elements... Have you understood?"
Miranda was completely confused and didn't understand anything.
"Is there anything wrong with that?"
Expecting this reaction from him, he downed the chemical tank in one gulp, smiled smugly, and continued in an unfathomable tone.
"To put it simply, not only the six basic elements, but also the metal you just created and the metal you can't create are essentially made up of smaller particles! Even the so-called six basic elements can be further subdivided..."
"How is this possible?!" Miranda exclaimed, and said anxiously, "I can understand that everything is made up of elements, but the six basic elements are already the smallest elements that make up everything. How can it be further subdivided?"
For example, the brass he had just condensed was a combination of earth magic and water magic, a metal variant evolved from it.
Everything in the world is made up of six elements, except for life and death, which belong to separate systems. This is what is written in any magic book! However, the skeleton standing in front of him shook his head and said with a smile.
"Too little! Have you ever thought that pure water can be further subdivided?"
"You mean water vapor? That's the water and fire elements—"
"That's just an appearance," he interrupted Miranda, took a gulp of the chemical pool and continued, "The division I'm talking about is a more direct division... further disassembling the water element into oxygen and hydrogen."
"What is that?!" Milan was completely stunned. Listening to those inexplicable words, he felt like a student.
Although he was originally an apprentice of Xuebang.
"It is one of the elements that make up the world," he continued after taking a gulp of the chemical pool. "When they exist alone, they often appear in the form of gas."
Miranda blurted out.
"Isn't that the element of air?"
He drank the chemical pool in one gulp and said with a smile.
"You can understand it that way, but have you ever thought that gases can be completely different from each other? If you use your theory, how do you distinguish the difference between gas elements?"
Miranda was stunned and couldn't answer this question for a while...mainly because he couldn't imagine why there were differences between gases.
"Some gases can make fire burn, while other gases can extinguish fire... You should figure this out yourself. It's too much trouble for me to explain it to you."
He drank the chemical pool in one gulp, paused for a moment, and continued.
"Anyway, in the Necropolis, we have listed the common elements in a table, called the 'Periodic Table'. There are a total of 118 elements on this table, divided into 7 periods and 16 groups."
"According to the characteristics of different elements, when copper burns in the flame, the electrons in the copper atoms absorb energy and jump from low-energy orbits to high-energy orbits, releasing light of a specific wavelength when returning to the ground state... and this light is the green light you see."
Miranda stared at him blankly, first with astonishment in her eyes, then with suspicion, and finally with suspicion of herself.
He had been in Xuebang for so many years and had never heard of such an amazing theory.
This completely overturned his understanding of the world! "...There are 118 elements?"
He swallowed the chemical pool and shrugged his shoulders.
"There are 118 known species, and the rest... theoretically, they are infinite. Anyway, we don't know where the limit is."
Miranda asked immediately.
"Then how do you prove the existence of these 118 elements?"
After taking a gulp, the chemical pool was stunned.
"This... Of course there is a way, it's just a bit troublesome."
Oh shit!
Would this guy also ask him to demonstrate it to it?
How the hell is this demonstrated in the game?!
He wanted to brush this question off, but he didn't expect that the ghost in front of him seemed to be excited and stared at him with sharp eyes.
"I'd like to hear more about it!"
Facing that thirsty gaze, a bad feeling arose from my chest that had swallowed a mouthful of chemical tank.
I seem to be in serious trouble.
(End of this chapter)