"You mean you want to kill the clone of the Devil Archduke that will come to take Kurumi Tokisaki's soul after she breaks the contract? Chu Lian, are you feeling all right? Did you take your medicine?" After hearing Chu Lian's plan, a flash of concern passed through Cai Ya's eyes, but she immediately switched into mockery mode. She did not think something this dangerous could actually be accomplished.
After all, the enemy was, at the very least, a peak Heaven Rank powerhouse. Asking a group whose average strength was only around Spirit Rank to challenge an opponent so many levels above them was practically courting death. Although Chu Lian's method did not make success seem impossible, it was still extremely dangerous, wasn't it?
"Relax. Since I'm the one suggesting it, I'll make sure we can do it. Forget about how strong the enemy is for now. Let's talk about our own strength first. Do you really think we're weak? I don't." Chu Lian waved her hand and began listing their capabilities one by one.
"My strength isn't very stable, but at my peak, I can briefly reach peak Earth Rank and touch the threshold of half-step Heaven Rank. Compared to a Heaven Rank Devil Archduke, I'm still basically a dish served up on a platter, but at the very least, I can hurt it."
"Chu Chu is solidly at half-step Earth Rank, and her strongest ability, Gungnir Spear, can unleash an attack at peak Earth Rank. That's enough to injure the Devil Archduke. After all, Devils aren't like us. They don't have the protection of aura, and even if it uses magic, I have a way to break through it." As she spoke, Chu Lian took out a white bone spear. It was the SS-rank Dragon Fang Spear, the nightmare of every enemy who relied on magic.
"Then there's Satsuki and Inori. They're both at Advanced Spirit Rank, but their actual combat strength can't be measured like that. Satsuki specializes in assassination techniques designed for one-hit kills. Her ability in a direct confrontation is far inferior to what she can do while hidden in the shadows. She can act as an assassin and wait for the right opportunity."
"As for Inori, she's the core of this hunt. By awakening Eve, she can reach peak Heaven Rank. While the Devil Archduke isn't paying attention, she'll severely injure it, then use all her remaining energy to temporarily seal its strength below Intermediate Heaven Rank. Inori's Apocalypse Virus is infectious, after all.
"Unless the Devil Archduke possesses the body of a god, there's no way it can fully suppress it. Its strength will inevitably fall. Although this means we'll lose one of our strongest fighters, Eve can't kill an opponent at the same level within the thirty seconds she can maintain that power anyway."
"There's also Hiyori. Even though she's only at Beginner Earth Rank, with Xuanlong Xiaoyue in her hands, she can still pose a major threat to the Devil Archduke."
"Finally, there's Yaya. Her magic circuit is called Vajra Strength, reputed to be the hardest magic circuit in the world. With Vajra Strength, Yaya doesn't have to worry about being injured by a Devil Archduke whose magical attacks have been restricted. After all, I'm planning to give her the Dragon Fang Spear." Chu Lian made it sound easy enough, but right now, she was actually troubled over how she was going to coax Yaya into cooperating.
"As for you, Ya, Yanran, Xiu'er, Nana, and Lux, the five of you will stay together with Suicune, Tina, and Anna and remain ready to leave at any moment. As long as things don't become dangerous, you can watch us fight. It'll be very beneficial for all of you." After finishing, Chu Lian stretched lazily. She was somewhat tired too. She had been constantly busy lately and really wanted to get some proper sleep.
"So when are you planning to start? Is there anything we need to prepare?" Liu Yanran asked as she looked at Chu Lian's languid expression.
"Don't worry, I can handle it. As for the timing, let's do it tonight. A dark and windy night is perfect for killing. If we fight late at night and pay a little attention, we should be able to cover everything up."
"After all, magic and explosions and whatever else are all just fireworks. Fireworks. No one's going to investigate anyway, so there's no need to be so nervous. We can take it nice and slow..." Chu Lian's voice gradually grew softer as though she were rapping, until finally, she simply drifted straight into sleep.
"This girl..." Cai Ya looked at Chu Chu, who had already lain down and fallen asleep, then at Chu Lian, before finally shifting her gaze toward Inori... Great. She had picked up the same bad habit too. She was yawning now, and probably would not stay awake much longer.
"You girls... We won't disturb you, then. Good night..." Seeing that all three of them had fallen asleep, the others did not feel right continuing to play games. One by one, they left the room, leaving the vast space to them.
As the setting sun gradually sank below the horizon, the sleeping girl had already entered another world without anyone realizing it.
"It really feels like it's been forever since I came here." Chu Lian glanced at the robe covering her body. Mm. The Origin Land was still the same. Everyone was concealed, and no one knew who anyone else was.
This time, however, she did not dare behave too arrogantly. She still vividly remembered how Yukari Yakumo had tracked her down through one of her items last time. She had no desire to get caught again while selling someone else's doujinshi. That would be miserable.
"I only have a few dozen Dream Points. Item Points are useless since I haven't unlocked them. I don't have a single Skill Point. I'm keeping my Blood Points for myself. Goddess Points can't be exchanged for items. Admiration Points and Culture Points aren't much use for trading either. After counting everything, Integrity Points are still the only currency I can actually use. As expected, integrity will save the world..." Chu Lian counted up her assets. Fine. She was still poor.
Still, she had brought far more things with her this time than she had before. Not only did she have SS-rank Earthen Dragon Blood, but she also had a pile of other items. More importantly, she could freely spend at least three million Integrity Points.
The things she could exchange for might be strange, but they were still merchandise! As long as something counted as merchandise, it could be traded. That was only natural. Otherwise, it wouldn't be merchandise. It would simply be an item.
"I can go without everything else, but this bottle of Earthen Dragon Blood should be the beginning of another excellent trade. Hopefully, this time I can exchange it for something I actually want..." As she thought this, the image of a frail girl wrapped in a robe suddenly surfaced in Chu Lian's mind.
That girl was probably desperate to obtain this bottle of blood, wasn't she? Unfortunately, Chu Lian had no relationship with her. Even if they were going to trade, she would first have to offer something tempting enough to move Chu Lian.
Chu Lian was neither a saint nor a cold-blooded creature. If she saw someone in danger, she would help and save them, but she would never do such things for nothing. Unless she herself had caused the situation in the first place, she had no obligation to take responsibility for it.
"5733... Here it is." Chu Lian searched for her spot while thinking, and finally found her small stall tucked away in a corner. It was still as deserted as ever. But soon enough, all of you would gather here.
Of course, before putting out her signature item, Chu Lian first decided to exchange for a few things to display as merchandise. Whether anyone bought them or not, an empty stall would look terrible.
After thinking for a moment, she lightly browsed through the items available for Integrity Points.
"Hulk's Super-Elastic Underwear: This thing may look ugly, but every muscular man capable of increasing his size dreams of owning a pair. Once you have these, even if you grow ten times larger, you won't have to worry about running around naked. Exchange cost: 1,500 Integrity Points."
Chu Lian exchanged for five pairs at once, then hung them individually on a vertical clothes rack. Above them, she placed a sign reading, "Ultra-Elastic Transforming Underwear for Mighty Men. Never Worry About Going Naked Again. Only 150 Crystal Coins."
It was not that she herself wanted to set the price this way. The Origin Land imposed a fixed ratio on anything she exchanged using Integrity Points, permanently locking it at 10:1.
Anything she wanted to sell that had been obtained through Integrity Points had to remain within that ratio.
For most items, this was actually advantageous.
But for certain objects with extremely powerful effects, it was a severe restriction.
Take doujinshi, for example. One cost 1,000 Integrity Points to exchange for and could be sold for 100 Crystal Coins. That was completely reasonable.
But what about Reimu's Donation Box? An item that cost 30,000 Integrity Points to exchange for? If Chu Lian could not mark it at one million Crystal Coins, she would never sell it.
Ever since the last time she had broken into Nether City, Chu Lian had already learned just how powerful the effects of that item were. Without it, she never would have managed to hold out. Naturally, she wanted to charge an extremely high price for something like that. Unfortunately, the Origin Land's restrictions left her no room to do so.
Well, although she was a little disappointed that she could no longer watch other people lose their integrity, it made sense when she thought about it. The pricing ratio on these things was simply too extreme. Extreme enough to disrupt the Fair Trade principles the Origin Land had always upheld, and that clearly was not allowed.
"That's fine. If I can't sell the high-quality stuff, I'll sell cheap things with special effects instead." Chu Lian had already accepted the situation. Even if she were allowed to sell the powerful items at enormous prices, she probably would not actually part with them anyway. Who knew what might happen in the future? She could not guarantee she would never need one of them herself.
"Used Panties Worn by a Beautiful Girl: Exactly what the name suggests. Panties previously worn by a beautiful girl. They seem to still carry the scent and traces of the girl's bodily fluids? Anyway, for hentai only. Exchange cost: 1,000 Integrity Points."
Chu Lian's face stiffened. Now this was something that truly sold integrity itself. Even so, driven by a certain unspeakable curiosity, she exchanged for two blue-and-white pairs and hung them both in the women's clothing section on the other side.
"Used Stockings Worn by a Beautiful Girl: Exactly what the name suggests. Stockings previously worn by a beautiful girl. They still carry the scent of sweat from the girl's exercise and the lingering body scent from walking. For gentlemen only. Exchange cost: 800 Integrity Points."
After exchanging for the used panties, Chu Lian looked at the line directly beneath them and felt her mood sink. Then, adopting an attitude of going all the way once she had already started, she simply exchanged for the remaining item in the series as well. "Used Bra Worn by a Beautiful Girl... Exchange cost: 900 Integrity Points." She took out two of those too.
Just like that, Chu Lian had exchanged for the complete three-piece Beautiful Girl Used Clothing Sets. One consisted of blue-and-white panties, white thigh-high stockings, and a white string bra. The other consisted of blue-and-white panties, black thigh-high stockings, and a black string bra. Both were exclusively for hentai.
After hanging them to one side, Chu Lian was not sure whether it was her imagination, but she could sense quite a few interested gazes turning toward those three-piece sets... As expected, there really are a lot of perverts in this world.
She was busy mocking them inwardly, but had forgotten one thing.
She herself was a beautiful girl.
Although her robe made it impossible to see her clearly, people could still judge from her figure and the exposed parts of her hands.
And all of them unanimously assumed that these were items Chu Lian herself had worn.
Precisely because they believed the owner herself was standing there selling her own used intimate clothing, their interest had become so intense.
So it was probably fortunate that Chu Lian did not know what they were thinking. Otherwise, she would have completely lost her temper...