"Emmm..."
Chen Li, with a ghost floating beside him, stared at the slime before him and fell into deep thought.
The Ice Slime, manifested after the [Elation's 20-Sided Die] synergized with the [The Cleaner] Miracle Card, was exceptionally interesting to Chen Li.
It was cool to the touch and looked sturdier than a regular slime.
This was the first unlucky soul Chen Li had encountered during his nightly stroll through the Imperial Capital.
Chen Li activated the effect of [The Cleaner], spending merit to turn him into a slime. The [Elation's 20-Sided Die], adding an extra effect on this "Field" (world), transformed it into an Ice Slime.
Because the target's sins were so grievous, punishing evil triggered the passive effect of the [Scales of Merit], granting Chen Li 45 Merit Coins.
Excellent. It really is like Yu-Gi-Oh! In the future, once I have more Curios and Miracle Cards with passive effects, I wonder how many chain effects I can trigger just by activating one of them.
"This Imperial Capital truly delights me. I can run into walking Merit Coins just by strolling down the street. Let's see your sentence... 589 years? You really are a piece of work," Chen Li said, shocked after glancing at the slime's prison term.
The people in the Imperial Capital truly were a talented bunch! And so unpleasant!
"For the time being, you will operate within the Imperial Capital. As a janitor, give this city a thorough cleaning," Chen Li said,感慨ing at the depths of the man's sins as he patted the round, one-meter-diameter Ice Slime and set its operational range.
As the user of the Miracle Card, Chen Li could control the Slime Janitors to a certain extent. He could issue simple commands and designate a cleaning area. Even with extensive training, the most you could teach them was what "charge forward," "stop," and "retreat" meant.
However, because slimes had no brains, ideas like confining their operational range to a factory and ordering them to screw bolts on an assembly line were impossible. They couldn't perform such precise tasks.
The only skill they were born with, requiring no teaching, was cleaning.
Chen Li had only just begun to clean up a tiny bit of trash in the dumpster that was the Imperial Capital, so he hadn't received any merit feedback yet. While he could settle the score for this one person immediately to get a random reward and some merit, the larger the cleanup area, the greater the final reward. Chen Li wanted to save it all for the end and hit a jackpot!
"Now, to deal with your matter... Why are you looking at me like that? Do you have a problem with me?" Chen Li turned his head to look at the young woman who was leaning against the alley wall after he had flicked her away, staring daggers at him.
"If I remember correctly, your name should be... Seryu Ubiquitous, right?" Chen Li asked.
"As I thought, you know me! A vile criminal like you must have been a thief my master once arrested, right? You held a grudge because of it and used some unknown evil artifact to turn my respected master into this!" the girl shouted, her face contorted with rage.
"Sigh..." Chen Li sighed.
The guy he had just turned into an Ice Slime was Ogre, the captain of the Imperial Guard. Chen Li remembered from the backstory that his nickname was "Ogre the Demon." He had colluded with some oil merchant to illegally profiteer, framing and killing many innocent people in the process.
The 45 Merit Coins that had dropped from him were proof that he got what he deserved.
Simultaneously, Chen Li's series of actions had earned him more Star Jades. Dealing with Aria's family got him 200 Star Jades, and dealing with Ogre the Demon got him 50.
Compared to ordinary people, they were quite valuable, probably because they were indeed important to the plot's progression.
The transmigrator talent was great; as long as he caused chaos in another world, he would get rewards.
The young woman before him was Seryu Ubiquitous, that captain's apprentice.
The reason Chen Li didn't know how to handle her was that although her master was a wicked man, she herself had been deliberately cultivated by Ogre into a member of the guard who revered justice. Ogre's original intention was to better control this tool, but it had created a small problem for Chen Li.
Because although her concept of "justice" was somewhat twisted, causing her methods of dealing with criminals to be a bit extreme, at least for now, Chen Li could see very little sin on her.
"Young lady, can you please not help count the money after being sold? If I told you your master was not a good person, and was even planning to sell you for a good price in the near future, would you believe me?" Chen Li asked.
"Shut up! You fiend! Do not insult my master like that!" Hearing Chen Li's words, Seryu, supported by the anger in her heart, slowly pushed herself to her feet.
"The power of anger is truly great. Let me think about how to deal with you... Forget it, I should just ask the omnipotent Elation Die for help."
A die emitting a dazzling pink light appeared in Chen Li's hand. Then, just as Seryu charged at him again, he delivered another flick to her forehead, sending her flying back.
Chen Li wasn't surprised that Seryu could get up and charge at him again, because he hadn't used much force in the first place. On the contrary, the fact that one flick could keep her down for so long made Chen Li realize once again just how strong and fast the physical enhancement from his [Gourmet Cells] was.
As long as he had a steady supply of strange delicacies, his physical fitness could skyrocket like a rocket.
As for what would happen if the Elation Die rolled less than 10? Then he would just "deal with" Seryu. It wasn't a big problem, after all.
The Elation Die was tossed into the air by Chen Li. After landing on the ground, it slowly stopped spinning, revealing its "opinion" on the trouble he was facing.
[16]
"A number greater than 10 means the trouble will be resolved smoothly, but I have a feeling this die is setting me up for something big," Chen Li muttered, rubbing his chin.
Perhaps it was his stereotype of the Aeon of Elation and the Masked Fools, but Chen Li felt that while the possibility was small, it wasn't zero. He decided that he would absolutely not ask the Elation Die for help with a major problem unless he had accumulated 10 Elation Points.
This die was very useful, perhaps even outstanding among 1-Star Curios, but that didn't change the fact that it was a double-edged sword.
Seryu, having been flicked away by Chen Li again, looked at the man she couldn't resist with her own strength and at her master who had been turned into a monster, and finally couldn't hold it back anymore, letting out a choked sob.
"Guh! State your demands! For my master's sake, I will fulfill any of your conditions." Seryu looked at Chen Li with humiliation, her face screaming that she would accept her fate.
"Huh?" Chen Li was taken aback.
"What are you pretending for? You turned my master into a monster but didn't lay a hand on me. It must be because you knew my master would never yield to a criminal like you, but that I might compromise for his safety, right? Now my master is in your hands. Just say what you want."
"???" Chen Li looked at the Elation Die, then back at Seryu.
So this is how it gets resolved? Amazing.
"You mean, as long as I don't get rid of this slime that your master was turned into, you're willing to fulfill any of my conditions, right?" Chen Li asked uncertainly.
"Do you want to humiliate me again? A true villain! If this satisfies your twisted desires, then... yes," Seryu shot Chen Li a disgusted look before nodding again.
"..."
"But before that, I want to ask, can my master be turned back?"
"Yes," Chen Li nodded.
"Then state your demands," Seryu's eyes were filled with resignation and a certain self-sacrificial感動.
"Heh." Chen Li's Elation Points, which had been depleted, instantly jumped to 3.
With the Elation Die, the fun truly never stopped. Such an absurd thing could actually happen.
In any case, Chen Li never thought he'd one day become a 'leverage-holder,' the kind of person who holds something over a girl and demands she fulfill his every request.
"You'll do anything, right? Then I won't be polite... Go buy me two oranges."
"Hmm?"
"You're not willing? Then your master..."
"Fine, I'll go. I don't know what you fiends are after, but as long as you don't harm my master, I'll do anything," Seryu interrupted Chen Li. She lay on the ground for a moment to recover her strength, then walked out of the alley to find a fruit shop.
"Speaking of which... it's so late. Are there really any fruit shops still open?" Chen Li was a little unsure, but that wasn't his problem to solve.
What he needed to do now was find the Minister.
He was originally going to take the noble lord's ghost with him to have a chat with the Minister anyway. Turning Ogre the Demon into a slime was just something he did along the way.
"Let's go. Before Esdeath returns from suppressing the northern rebellion, we need to get our hands on all the Teigu in the Capital. The first target is the Minister," Chen Li said to the semi-invisible noble lord. He then leaped onto a rooftop and began hopping towards his destination.
Although Chen Li had recorded the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void, and flight was one of its most basic functions that wouldn't cost many Star Jades even for a full day and night of flying, the problem was that his proficiency was too low, and he couldn't fly steadily at all.
Jumping on other people's roofs was much more stable.
"If I don't get their stuff before turning them into slimes, wouldn't it all be wasted? It's better to give it to me than let it go to waste."
With this anticipation, after half an hour of travel, Chen Li arrived at the entrance to the Minister's mansion.
Even though it was late at night, the Minister's residence was still brightly lit, illuminating the entire estate in splendor, rivaling even the imperial palace.
Chen Li had his eyes on the Teigu and the large collection of Danger Beast ingredients in the Minister's home.
The Minister loved to eat meat, and coincidentally, so did Chen Li.
The Minister loved to collect Teigu, and coincidentally, Chen Li wanted them too.
See? What a coincidence.
Even a savior's gotta eat, so the Minister would just have to be inconvenienced.
---o---