Chapter 142
The man noticed Ye Bai looking his way and immediately broke into a smile. “Hello, my friend! Can you help me?”
Ye Bai didn’t respond; instead, she continued to approach the crack.
Just by looking at the figure before her, Ye Bai didn’t need to think twice to know what it was—a devil.
Devils are different from demons. If demons are the elite forces of the inferno, then devils are the outliers within it. They are rare but undoubtedly the most notorious beings on the surface of the world.
Devils are not skilled in direct combat; they are inherently cunning. The words they speak possess a magical quality that allows any living being to understand them, and their appearance is perceived as familiar by all. Their greatest talent lies in luring beings into signing soul contracts through various means, then exploiting the loopholes and traps within those contracts to harvest souls.
Devils are enigmatic and unpredictable, easily dealing with lesser beings of the inferno. At this moment, the devil before Ye Bai had found itself in this predicament because it had undoubtedly offended the lord of this fortress, failing to meet its expectations.
Every devil is a master of deception, a leader in the art of fraud. Now that it had called out to her, it was undoubtedly triggering a quest. However, Ye Bai knew all too well that quests issued by devils were often traps, so she chose to ignore it.
“Kind friend, please save me... I won’t let you take risks for nothing. I have a great secret to exchange, one that can make you the most powerful lord of the inferno!”
Ye Bai pretended not to hear. The best way to deal with a devil was to avoid too much interaction.
Seeing Ye Bai walk straight toward the crack without acknowledging it, the noble-looking devil in its cell grew anxious. It leaned closer to the iron bars, its face turning pale and green, shifting from pleading to threatening:
“If you don’t find a way to save me, I’ll tell the lord here, Yili Si, your true identity!”
“By then, even if you manage to hunt on the surface, don’t think you can return through this crack!”
Upon hearing the second sentence, Ye Bai’s footsteps halted abruptly, and her gaze sharpened.
Of course, the devil’s threat wouldn’t have any real effect on her. If the devil had a way to communicate with the lord here, it would probably be pestering that infernal lord daily, trying to trick them into releasing it, rather than resorting to impotent rage against her.
The key was in the second sentence. The devil mentioned her hunting on the surface, which made Ye Bai realize that she was still under the effect of the [Perfect Mask]. In the eyes of different races, she appeared as one of their own.
The devil merely looked human, but at its core, it was still a type of infernal creature.
Ye Bai had just fallen into a player’s cognitive trap, focusing on the devil’s quest. Now, from the meaning behind its words, she understood that the [Perfect Mask] also worked on devils. Just as the devil appeared human to her, she appeared as a devil to it.
The devil’s approach to seeking her help wasn’t because it saw through her disguise as a divine blood user, but because it believed she was another devil masquerading as a different infernal creature!
Realizing this, Ye Bai stopped as the devil wished, seemingly threatened by its words. She glanced around and then approached the vicinity of its cell, peering across the chasm at it.
“Don’t joke around. You clearly look like you’re locked up here by Yili Si. What makes you think you can contact her?” Ye Bai said in a low voice.
From the name and the coral pearls she had seen earlier, it was likely that the master of this cliff fortress was a demon lord of the succubus lineage.
The imprisoned devil laughed at this: “Under normal circumstances, yes. But if I’m willing to pay the price of serious injury to break out of this cell, I could still catch her attention.”
As it spoke, it pointed to the red inscriptions written in demonic language on the iron bars of the cage.
Devils possess the ability to teleport. If it weren’t for the power sealing this cage, it wouldn’t be trapped at all.
“Are you willing to pay that price?” Ye Bai replied noncommittally. “Let’s not waste each other’s time. Present me with a real offer.”
The devil exhaled, nodding. “Fine. If you can get me out, I’ll tell you a great secret about this layer of spatial cracks.”
Ye Bai shook her head at this. “What a joke! I can’t guarantee your information is true. Besides, if there’s a secret, can’t I research it myself? Worst case, I can just escape without using this spatial crack.”
The devil said, “This secret is about the Deep Sea Clan. I can sign a contract with you. If you save me, I will definitely tell you.”
The Deep Sea Clan?
Upon hearing this, Ye Bai immediately recalled the numerous “sea creatures” she had seen earlier that shouldn’t exist in the inferno, confirming the truth of this information.
As for the contract the devil proposed, Ye Bai certainly didn’t trust it at all.
Gaining this piece of information was already a good haul; the rest she could explore on her own.
As for the devil’s claim about exposing her to the infernal lord, Ye Bai knew that a devil, inherently cowardly, would never engage in such a foolish act that harmed others without benefiting itself.
“Then why don’t you sign a contract with me? Just tell me that secret first, and I’ll definitely get you out. How does that sound?”
Ye Bai casually tossed out the suggestion, only to see the devil shake its head immediately and turn to leave.
She knew it wouldn’t agree, but just a few steps away, she heard the devil call out anxiously:
“Wait! I agree!”
Ye Bai paused, turning back in surprise.
The devil gritted its teeth, as if it had made a firm decision. “But we must sign a soul contract!”
Upon hearing this, Ye Bai was taken aback—what a joke! She wasn’t really a devil; where would she find a soul to contract with it?
Just then, the voice of the paper figure came from the magic scroll in Ye Bai’s hand:
“Lady Bai Ye, you can agree to it. Leave the rest to me.”
Chapter 102
Leave it to the paper figure?
Hearing this, Ye Bai’s thoughts shifted, and she immediately understood its meaning. She looked down at the magic scroll in her hand, which housed the paper figure—
The importance of a devil’s contract lies not in its form but in the powerful binding force generated by the devil’s true name within the contract. Once a contract is signed, it establishes a connection with the devil. Unless the terms of the contract are fulfilled, it’s like having a permanent buff that doesn’t disappear even if the player dies and respawns.
When devils deceive beings from the surface, they often disguise contracts in various forms. As long as the content is correct, it doesn’t matter if the contract appears on a leaf; it will still hold.
Since the paper figure upgraded through the Death Codex last time, it gained the ability to alter information. If it could disguise this magic scroll as a soul contract without being discovered… then this paper figure was truly remarkable!
Seeing Ye Bai turn back, the devil let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, “I can tell you the secret about the Deep Sea Clan first, but you need to sign a soul contract. You must get me out!”
“First, I need to see what this secret is and whether it’s worth signing a contract for,” Ye Bai countered, bargaining.
The devil knew that without revealing some details, Ye Bai wouldn’t agree. It then lowered its voice, “Listen carefully, this secret is absolutely valuable—there’s a deep sea hidden in the cracks of the infernal space. Through some special gaps, you can enter it.”
The deep sea… hidden in the cracks of the infernal space?!
Even though Ye Bai had mentally prepared herself, she maintained a composed expression, while her heart surged with tumultuous waves.
She felt as if she recognized every word, yet the sentence was incredibly difficult to comprehend.
Was the “deep sea” the same as the one she understood? The one that surrounded the entire Divine Realm continent, forming the boundary of this world’s map?
The map of the Divine Realm is akin to an enlarged version of a real-world map, with various races living on land. The deep sea lies at the edge of this flat map, a spatial maze where random teleportation occurs. If one were to forcefully advance into the deep sea from the edge, they would randomly appear at any edge position on the map.
Of course, all of this is predicated on not encountering attacks from marine environments or creatures, or having the ability to survive after such encounters.
Regardless, the deep sea is a part of the surface territory, home to one of the six major races of the Divine Realm, the Deep Sea Clan. It’s one thing to say that the inferno has spatial cracks leading to the deep sea, but how could the deep sea be “hidden” within the inferno?
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