[To Hades, Ophelia, Puxiu:]

[The construction of the underground shelter at Agate Lake Camp is nearing completion; the stored food can last three to five years; self-sufficient crops are growing under the sun; two deities and their followers guard the territory; more than four hundred residents live here; Exorcists are forming; but everything is still under construction, and we need more patience. As the Lord of the Land of Light, I hope you can join the Land of Light. Twisted Vine Cultists will escort you to the Hell Gate at Watch Town.]

[The camp needs more strength. I'm not sure if you can control your wraith power, just in case, you can join the Land of Light as support personnel rather than a combatant.]

[Mother of the Marsh and the Twisted Shadow should be able to suppress your curse. The environment at Agate Lake Camp might be more suited for your recovery than Hell, and the residents here won't reject the strange.]

A few minutes after the letter was sent to Hades, Ophelia, and Puxiu, Lu Li received a message back from Merchant Anthony.

The Twisted Cultists have already escorted the three back along the same way and will arrive at Agate Lake Camp in a few hours.

Just in case, the Twisted Shadow descended to shelter their safety along the way.

"I know Hades' story, can he really guide the new Exorcists for you?"

"He's been an Exorcist longer than I have."

"But he doesn't have the identity of an Exorcist."

Hades is not a member of the Exorcists Association or any of the three major organizations.

"If he wants to, maybe it's not difficult."

Lu Li's confidence in Hades is unrelated to him being the first Exorcist he encountered, but rather his actions—what kind of Exorcist would foresee the world's ultimate destruction and store supplies, or dare to take refuge in Hell.

Perhaps Hades is greedy and cowardly, but that doesn't hinder him from having the necessary experience as an Exorcist.

Let's not forget, as an Exorcist, he's almost sixty years old.

He could potentially teach Lu Li even better, provided—

"Do you know how reluctant I am to leave my safe, bright, warm, fortified fortress with companionship, many servants, and abundant resources!"

Hades aggressively approached Lu Li, questioning him, with the sour stench of not having bathed in a long time and the sulfuric scent of Hell assaulting the nostrils.

Water in Hell is as scarce as the living.

As Mother of the Marsh almost thought they were about to argue, Hades gritted his teeth and shouted.

"I want a weekly salary of 1000!"

"Okay."

"I mean in Strange Currency!"

Hades hadn't missed the expired newspapers Merchant Anthony sent.

"So do I."

He's worth the price.

"Uh... I want one day off each week!"

"Okay."

This was supposed to be a benefit for camp residents.

"Ahem... I also need specialized teaching materials, which only I can make... about 100 each!"

"Okay."

"Uncle Hades! You said you would help Mr. Luli!" Puxiu suddenly protested indignantly, stopping his two wagging tails.

"...Child, help shouldn't come for free. Worthless things only get scorned." Hades explained his unique value system.

"But Mr. Luli has been helping us for free all this while!"

"Free?!"

Hades struggled to control his tone elevated by agitation: "Are you talking about the paid expired newspapers or the paid expired mail or the paid canned goods, or everything that's paid!"

Puxiu drooped his tails in disappointment, rendering Hades visibly nervous.

"Alright child, I'll listen to you..." He almost used a coaxing tone, then redirected his agitation at Lu Li: "I won't take my day off, but can't do without the rest."

"The day off will be retained, as will the rest," Lu Li said.

Hades shouted as if fearing Lu Li would change his mind: "Did you hear that, child! It's your Legendary Exorcist personally promising this!"

"He's not worth... the price," Ophelia also said.

Anyway, Lu Li and Hades formally solidified this special employment.

Hades hoped to start work immediately, but was refused by Lu Li, scheduled to start tomorrow.

Everyone expected the greedy Hades to choose a single house as a residence, but he merely picked a shack. Lu Li knew the reason: Hades had been alone in Hell for too long, and compared to solitary mansions, the shack next to residents was warmer and safer.

Puxiu couldn't resist Hades' pleading, continuing to stay at Hades' place. Ophelia wanted to live with Lu Li but was assigned a single house next to "Princess Roland's Villa" with two personal maids.

Soon, the news of the Lord "bringing back an Exorcist from Hell" gradually spread among the residents.

At first, Hades was keen on conversing with the residents, but after discovering they were penniless, he locked himself inside his house.

Near evening, Hades visited Lu Li, bringing some secret trade offers.

"It's really nice here... I've forgotten how long it's been since I saw real sunshine, flowers, and trees."

Hades sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, lowering his voice to reveal his purpose: "Listen, I don't want to take advantage of you. You should know we are the only two Exorcists left on the surface... We should help each other, so all those silver-plated bullets I hid in Hell are yours to take, all at their original price."

"Are they still in good condition?"

"Of course! You can always trust how dry Hell is. You can't imagine how painful it is to wake up dry every day and how troublesome it is to get water..."

"Alright."

"Good, I've left an eye in Hell, so you can have the merchant bring them back."

Hell wouldn't be abandoned because of this, Lu Li and Hades both agreed to use it as a kindling site when the Land of Light faced an irreparable disaster and the underground shelter couldn't protect them; it would be their only retreat.

The passage from the shelter to Hell Gate had been excavated by worms.

In the evening, Hades followed Lu Li to a vacant house to temporarily store the ammo boxes.

There were eight boxes in total, each containing about a thousand silver-plated bullets, and this was the amount left after twenty-four years of use by Hades.

One can imagine how much he had hoarded initially.

Lu Li didn't give Hades Basic Knowledge and Mysticology Level 1, even though he was cautious enough that his Sanity Value was still at the stage of auditory hallucinations, it's best to avoid depleting too much Sanity Value.

Although the eight boxes of silver-plated bullets arrived, Lu Li declined the additional junk Hades tried to shove in, paying about 800 Strange Currency for them.

The silver-plated bullets obviously weren't worth that much, with a significant premium. But considering Lu Li intended to use the strange entities caught by Mother of the Marsh and the Twisted Shadow to cultivate three Spirit-Calling Guns, it wasn't a loss to trade silver-plated bullets for worthless money.

Though it would be quite lengthy. Unless they caught an Alien God one day.

Hades returned contentedly to his residence, preparing to start his high-paying job the next day.

He wouldn't understand how absurd his ambition to rake in the ocean truly was.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.