```
"It doesn’t make sense. You’re not disguising yourself as the Holy Polante Pope right now, and with your abilities, it’s impossible for commoners to see through your disguise, right?"
Talia was convinced that even she, a member of the Great Demon Clan, would not be able to see through the disguise of a Ninth-order Black Sun Lord.
Unless the Black Sun Lord revealed himself, no one else would have a clue.
"That can only mean the townspeople are instinctively fearful of a stranger traveler merchant like me."
Lanci offered the answer.
It was strange.
If it was just a few residents fearful of a traveling merchant, that could be explained.
But now, it seemed as if every resident in the town cast him a similar look of unease.
[You·sense·something·is·not·right.]
[A seasoned warrior’s instincts prevent you from overlooking this.]
[You decide to stay in the town a bit longer to uncover the cause of this disharmony.]
[Although most residents are wary of you, there are a few who do not avoid you, and some shops are willing to trade with you.]
[Soon, you use your charm and communication skills to find out where the Town Mayor can be found – in the Liermu Town church.]
A brand-new Magic Script of the Mirror of Tiberius emerges on the streets visible only to Lanci.
[You head to the church and meet the Town Mayor.]
The scene ripples like a dream.
This content is taken from freёwebnovel.com.
Lanci blinks, and instead of streets, he now sees streams of sunlight pouring in through the window lattice, flickering inside the church through the colorful stained glass, casting light and shadow.
The central cross and the high wall painting of the deity are bathed in scattered light; the sculptures on the steps and the floor tiles show the delicate work of craftsmen who have endured the trials of time.
And there is an elderly man in the church, whose eyes reveal an undisguised wariness.
[You meet this elderly Town Mayor and sincerely display your high-order goods and wealth, expressing your desire to trade, particularly for the town’s unique and rare herbs.]
After a brief conversation, almost too quick to notice, the elderly Town Mayor scrutinizes the young merchant before him, his eyes betraying a hint of surprise and apology.
Having a high-level merchant registered with Prosperous Age Business Association coming to such a small place could be considered their luck; mistaking him for a suspicious small-time merchant was their rudeness.
The Town Mayor cordially invites Black Sun Lord to sit down, showing a keen interest in the proposed trade.
During the conversation, Black Sun Lord inadvertently reveals his past as a mercenary during the war years, indicating that he too possesses the strength to help the town with its troubles.
Upon hearing this, the Town Mayor’s previously benevolent expression suddenly becomes grave.
"Mr. Randall, how strong are you?"
The Town Mayor asks urgently.
"Anything below Seventh-order, I can handle."
Randall is the alias Lanci uses as a traveling merchant after infiltrating the Huo Ning Empire.
"I see..."
The Town Mayor sighs, looking like he has found a savior, still mixed with concern,
"I think you’ve noticed the townspeople’s vigilance towards you when you arrived. Please believe we didn’t mean to offend you; we’ve had our troubles..."
[The Town Mayor believes in your strength and also feels your sincerity, hence he begins to share the recent situation.]
"In the central and southern parts of Huo Ning Empire, evil creatures have been spotted recently. They excel at imitation, perfectly blending in with humans, even replacing the people around them. Nearby city-states have seen many such victims; wealthy merchants, influential figures, and even commoners have all been wiped out overnight. The residents are worried that our town will be next."
The Town Mayor relays his concerns with a troubled look.
"How can this be? Are these evil creatures very strong?"
[You continue to inquire.]
[This seems to be a significant problem. The fear of the townspeople and the Town Mayor hints that these evil creatures have already widely endangered the residents of the Huo Ning Empire, and the situation is looking increasingly pressing as it becomes harder to suppress the news.]
"According to the intelligence on the targets, these evil creatures vary in strength; some may be hiding right beside us... The war caused too much damage to the people of the Huo Ning Empire, and many Powerful Ones fell on the battlefield. Now, even in a small village like ours, the strongest we have is a young Second-order Knight."
The Town Mayor continues to answer.
[You remain silent.]
```
```
[In that war, many of the Huo Ning Empire’s powerful ones fell at the hands of the Holy Polante Theocracy’s Coalition forces and the Demon Race.]
[Though the instigators of the conflict were the Blood Clan, the majority of people remain ignorant of this fact.]
[In their eyes, the Holy Polante Theocracy was the executioner, and the people of the Huo Ning Empire were the injured party, nothing more.]
"That kind of evil creature, do you have more detailed information?"
[You still can’t let go of any creature in need of help.]
"·Demon· People."
The old Town Mayor leaned in closer, saying with certainty and a hint of fear in his voice.
"The Blood Clans’ powerhouses from Honing Capital Saint Terek have already been sent to help us, and they might arrive in the Province in the next few days. However, there are only so few of the Blood Clan’s elite; they will certainly start their investigation in the city-states first, and only get to our remote little town lastly. And once the Demon People appear in our town, our fate..."
The old Town Mayor’s voice gradually grew hoarse and his face wrinkled into a mass as if he dared not continue.
"...?"
[In this church, a sense of bewilderment filled the young man’s eyes.]
[This familiar term echoes in your ears, Demon People, originating from the Huo Ning Empire, a creation of Huo Ning Empire’s experimental facilities more than thirty years ago, and also Huo Ning Empire’s last resort to save itself.]
[Yet many years have passed, and no one knows this piece of history.]
Lanci was in the church, suddenly lost in confusion.
From his youth, after undergoing transformation at the Huo Ning Empire’s experimental site, Lanci’s time was forever frozen at that moment.
Those alchemically modified by the Huo Ning Empire’s experimental site into postnatally forbidden beings, termed Demon People, only had a batch of successful experiments many years ago. This group was assigned to infiltrate the Demon World, to learn the heritage knowledge of the Demon Race in search of an opportunity to counter the Blood Clan.
They were neither Demon Race nor human.
The mortality rate of the Demon Person transformation surgery was extremely high, one had to endure countless destructions to have a sliver of hope for success; to some extent, it was equivalent to forsaking one’s race, turning oneself into a freakish monster. As a side effect, they not only lacked the Demon Race’s immortality, but their lifespan was also significantly shorter than that of humans.
For Lanci, living to over forty years old was probably a miracle, and every moment he might be enduring unimaginable pain, stubbornly resisting Death with his soul, dragging around a body that was on the verge of collapse.
This secret was only known to a few of Lanci’s still-surviving comrades, such as Empress Kexiya.
"It’s impossible, how could there be Demon People in the Huo Ning Empire?"
Talia also realized that there was something wrong, her heart beginning to thump.
The more she thought, the more shocked she became; the more shocked she became, the angrier; the more angry, the more afraid.
The postnatally forbidden product "Demon People" should have been ground away by time, buried in between the annals of history.
Apart from Blood Moon Bad World, no other history in the Shadow World has ever mentioned "Demon People, " indicating that in later generations the Demon People surely went extinct and their methods of transformation were naturally destroyed in the Blood Moon Bad World era.
According to her experience in Floral City Pariel of the Poseen Kingdom, if The Senate could no longer suppress the news and one or two berserk Curse Demon Clan surfaced, it might indicate that the city was potentially full of berserk Curse Demon Clan.
Thus, that night, a crisis almost overthrowing the entire Poseen Kingdom erupted in Floral City Pariel.
And now in the Huo Ning Empire, it was not just one or two cases of Demon People; even this border town was living in fear of the Demon People.
Perhaps something had already been brewing invisibly to a critical point.
The precipitous sense of crisis made Talia feel as if she was falling into a nightmare.
Enjoy new chapters from freewebnovel
"Before the nobles of the Blood Clan come to help us, could you please help us investigate the Demon People and protect our safety?"
The old Town Mayor looked at the traveler merchant, disguised as the Black Sun Lord, and requested.
Counterintuitively, it was the Blood Clan who would help them hunt Demon People, which provided them with some sense of security.
Such capable human powerhouses who could confront Demon People were not often seen in these remote areas.
At this point, the issue of the Mirror of Tiberius emerged on the church’s Rose Window.
[Faced with the request for help from the townsfolk of the Huo Ning Empire, your next choice is:]
[A. Turn a blind eye]
[B. Interrogate the townsfolk]
[C. Accept the commission]
[D. Intervene personally]
[Time remaining: 3 days 11 hours 51 minutes]
[You have become much weaker.]
```