LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 26: The Exchange
Zagronan was waiting in a long queue.
In a city with a population of trillions of demons, it was impossible to check everyone individually.
The solution was that groups of ten thousand demons would enter a specific formation. The formation would, in a few seconds, create a badge for everyone, and if they didn't have any ill will towards the city, they were allowed to enter.
Even with this method, it still wasn't fast enough, and sometimes, demons were forced to wait in a queue for a few weeks. If the line gets too long, demon police personally come to hasten the process.
Zagronan waited for around an hour; finally, it was his turn.
He went to the formation, and after a few seconds, he was allowed to enter without trouble.
Along the way, with a flash of light, a circular badge appeared right in front of Zagronan, suspended mid-air.
It was circular, and its color was golden.
It was circular and had a long code embedded in it.
He looked around and saw that almost everyone had red badges, with some silver, blue, and purple ones.
He took it and continued walking.
He entered the city and glanced around. Even just stepping into the city, he noticed many demons walking around.
It was bustling.
"Where should we go now?" Zagronan asked.
"We should head to an exchange. Just buy a map so we can find the nearest one. It should be 'Exchange-3320', but still look on the map to make sure," she said.
The city was huge, so maps were necessary.
Zagronan bought a cheap map and started walking. It will take a while to reach the destination.
More than 300 billion demons lived inside the city permanently.
A city that can accommodate this many demons is unimaginably large.
The demons didn't need any water or food; the air in hell was sufficient for them to survive. Therefore, not a lot of infrastructure was needed for them to live. Of course, the fact that they don't need to eat doesn't mean that they don't, as eating can speed up their growth.
Rich demons can use teleportation formations, but the poor ones can only walk, as flying was forbidden. Even in hell, the difference between the rich and the poor still remained as strong as ever.
As Zagronan walked, he didn't notice that a certain demon general was looking at them with interest.
...
The seventh day of the sixth month of the year 1000001
After walking for more than a year, Zagronan finally reached the building in question.
It was on a completely different level, far surpassing anything Rachel had ever seen.
Its width was at least 10 kilometers, and it was as tall as the eye could see.
Fortunately for her, she had already seen it in reflection, so she wasn't surprised.
"Finally, we are here," Zagronan said, taking a deep breath. He was familiar with these types of buildings.
In the past, demons' lifespans were ten times longer than mages, so even though he was only a rank 1, Zagronan had lived for thousands of years and was experienced.
"Go to the exchange and give them something. You should have some points to get what I want," she said.
"What should I give them? I don't have a lot of items," he complained.
"Just that rank 1 crossbow you showed me is enough," she said.
"But I need that one! That's my only long-range attack item!" he said.
"What you get will be worth it, trust me!" she said.
Zagronan was unwilling but finally decided to grit his teeth and give up the crossbow.
He looked at the entrance of the building, which had a big sign that read 'Exchange-3320' on it.
"There should be thousands of such buildings in the city," Zagronan said.
"Yes, I checked it before. There is one central exchange in the dead center of the city. That building is just unbelievable!" she said.
The turbulence in the Original duty got better after a month, and until now, she has learned how to use 'dive in time.'
Turbulence wouldn't be a problem if she used the skill not more than once a day.
In the past year, she checked many things within the city, and now that the river is calm, the predictions should be correct.
Zagronan entered the building and followed Rachel's directions until he arrived at a counter.
A few demons were waiting there, so he went behind them in the queue.
Demons are largely chaotic, so the concept of a queue would have been impossible if it were outside the city. But here in the city, they all have to respect the laws.
After a while, it was his turn.
"I'm here to sell this," he took out his crossbow from his spatial storage ring.
The demon girl behind the counter, who had pointy ears but otherwise looked human, took it and placed it in a device.
The device's color changed to red, and a number appeared on the screen.
The golden badge he brought vibrated.
Zagronan took it out and observed it. An extra number appeared just below the main code.
The receptionist was originally very indifferent, but when she saw the golden badge, her attitude changed, and she smiled.
"Dear guest, for royal demons, we give them an extra 10 percent," she said.
Then she pressed a few buttons, adding more points to his badge.
Zagronan nodded without talking and left.
Every other demon opened the path respectfully.
"It looks like they greatly respect Royal demons," Rachel said.
"Yeah, this is not worth anything! Just wait for me to go outside the city, then everyone would attack," he said.
He continued to follow Rachel's directives and soon reached a room.
It was a tiny room, but as he entered, it changed its size to accommodate his size comfortably.
"So this is how. How do those big demons fit in these buildings?" Rachel realized.
Not every tiny, unimportant detail was on the reflection.
Many demons were a few meters tall, some even taller than a two-story building!
"Now, what should I do?" Zagronan asked.
There were instruction books available, but Zagronan relied on Rachel.
There was nothing in the room, only a table and two seats.
"Go and sit on that chair," she said.
He went and sat down, and then a long list appeared in front of his eyes. There was no screen, and everything just materialized in the air.
"Is this the exchange list? So many items!" Zagronan started scrolling and was amazed.
"You don't have money for these! Just search for 'rank 0 pill list,'" she said.
Zagronan frowned but followed her instructions.
"Now, search for these pills," she named 15 different pills.
These were rank 0 pills, so they were cheap.
Exactly after he bought the 15 pills, the points he got from the crossbow ran out.
After a while, 15 small boxes suddenly appeared on the table.
"Teleportation? They use teleportation for such trivial things!" Zagronan was surprised.
"Now, put all the pills in me," Rachel said.
"What's this all about?" he asked.
"You'll see!" she said.
He did as he was told and exited the building.
"Now, go where I tell you."
"Where are we going this time?" Zagronan was now satisfied with being directed by Rachel. As long as he gets stronger, everything is worth it.
"We're going to one of the fighting arenas! You can get a lot of royal blood there," she said.
"Are there royal blood demons fighting? I may lose!" he said.
"You won't lose if I tell you their exact abilities! Just do as I say!" she said.
Zagronan nodded and started moving.
According to Rachel, the arena is at least 3 months' worth of walking away!
...
Dyer was disappointed.
He had tried to calculate the location of 'that thing' that had run to hell, but his attempts failed as the way of luck was mostly blocked there.
"This secret can't be leaked; otherwise, the demon kings might get it sooner than me," he thought.
Hell is enormous, and the way of luck is much weaker, so demons might not discover it. But that is only the case where they don't look specifically. If they learn that it exists and look for it, they will definitely find it!
"Maybe I should send a clone there to look for it," he thought, calculating with the Fragment Law of Destiny.
The Fragment Law of Destiny had a close connection with the river of time. It was made of luck and faith.
The best way to describe luck is like a wind that can change and affect the water in the River of Time.
The other part of destiny was faith. Faith is like a director for luck. With faith, one can direct and change the direction of luck.
Therefore, the Fragment Law of Destiny can increase one's luck, lower opponents' luck, and many other abilities all related to luck.
Since the beginning of the world, the River of Time in hell had lacked 'wind.' that's why way of luck barely has any power there.
Dyer closed his two eyes and opened his third eye between his eyebrows.
With it, he directly looked at the Original Duty.
He manipulated the 'wind' in the river of time around himself and started calculating.
After one day, he closed his third eye and smiled. Then he cast a spell.
"Clone."
This was a spell that had existed since rank 0.
It was very simple. A copy of the caster appears, and as long as it has mana, it can operate perfectly.
But Dyer didn't infuse mana into this clone. Instead, He put a lot of dark energy into it!
Then, he waved his hand and sent the clone to hell.
With the amount of dark energy he put in, it could even fight with rank 8 demons for a long time!
Next, he silently cast teleportation and appeared in a room. There were 15 people in this room: 14 rank 9 mages and 1 rank 7 mage.
Dyer smiled at Doris.
"This girl's luck is massive!" when he found her initially, he was tempted to steal her luck but stopped.
Because even as he thought about it, he watched his luck greatly plummet; if this girl was harmed, his luck would reach negative.
This situation only appears when a person somehow saves your life in the future, or her not being there can bring great danger.
He and Lewis explored luck and discovered this girl had a way of fixing the rivers of time's issue.
They had no idea how she could do it, but even asking significantly harmed their luck, so they pretended not to know.
"Deputy dean Doris! Welcome. We are happy to meet you here," Dyer said.
This 'meeting' was not for the rank 9 mages to discuss. The meeting was solely because of Doris.
"Thank you!" Then she went silent, waiting for the rank 9 mages to have their 'meeting.'
She planned to stay silent until the end and then talk.
Dyer smiled and played along.
They started talking about the situation of the River of Time, and everyone gave their comments.
Finally, after a few hours, after every rank 9 mage spoke, Dyer asked Doris, "Deputy Mage Doris, do you have any opinions?"
She took a deep breath and said, "I'm about to tell you a secret."
Dyer looked weighty and then said, "We are all ears."
Doris began, "I can obtain a rank 10 domination spell crystal, but you need to do as I say!"
Everyone remained silent, stunned!
Rank 10 of anything is almost impossible.
Just one rank 10 apple had such allure that every single rank 9 mage rushed to heaven!
Now, this rank 7 mage says she has a way to get a rank 10 spell?
Dyer looked at her luck and noticed that she was telling the truth. With great interest, he said, "Please explain; we are willing to do whatever is necessary."