Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Why Haven’t You Died Yet?

’Nerve Endings... Is this it?’

Lloyd used his Spiritual Vision to search inside the Demon’s body, eventually finding a tangled mass that resembled plant roots.

He inevitably suffered some Spiritual Contamination in the process, taking hits of +8 and +5, but the occurrences weren’t frequent and were even showing a downward trend.

It meant his body was gradually adapting to the Spiritual Contamination caused by looking directly at the Demon.

Lloyd had discussed this issue before during his daily chats with Weiya. The normal Extraordinary Beings in the outside world would also gain a certain resistance to Spiritual Contamination through long-term training, increased Rationality, rising Tiers, and other factors.

’Otherwise, if High-Tier masters could be spiritually contaminated by level-one mobs, humanity would have probably gone extinct long ago...’

But Weiya had also said this process was often very slow, influenced by factors like one’s physical constitution and mental state. People like the[Qualified], these Chosen Ones, found it easier to gain such ’contamination resistance’ than ordinary people.

However, this resistance didn’t grant complete immunity; it only reduced the magnitude and frequency. The wave of Spiritual Contamination that came from executing a Demon, on the other hand, was impossible to resist or become immune to.

Lloyd waited another two minutes, and the spiritual strain from looking directly at the Demon soon dropped to just +3 and +1.

He could clearly feel that today’s adaptation process was a little too fast...

’Is this a change brought on by my[Rationality]breaking one hundred?’

’In that case, I’d better hurry up and extract the ’Nerve Endings’ I need.’

Lloyd raised the Spiritual Blade in his hand again.

It was actually his first time encountering this type of Demon; he had never seen any files on it before.

But a faint ’Intuition’—or perhaps a line of reasoning—stirred in his mind, making him feel, ’It should be here,’ ’That’s right,’ and, ’This is the thing I’m looking for.’

This wasn’t some delusion born from a wild guess. It felt more like something he had encountered before but had since forgotten—or rather, had yet to fully grasp and understand. It was quite a strange sensation.

’Unsurprisingly, this must be the influence of the"Book of Truth".’

’This book really is mysterious, especially with a name like ’Truth’.’

So, Lloyd struck decisively, excising the root-like mass and, for good measure, delivering two more stabs to the heart.

The thing felt a bit like tender kelp, seemingly brittle. But when Lloyd gave it a tug, he found it was surprisingly tough—more resilient than beef tendon.

’No doubt about it. These are the ’High-Risk Demon’s Nerve Endings’ I need.’

’And it doesn’t require any further processing. As long as I keep it fresh, I can use it directly as a material for the Orbit.’

Lloyd nodded, confirming his judgment.

’Or perhaps, was it the"Book of Truth"that confirmed his judgment?’

Lloyd dragged over a black case used for collecting harvested organs. He placed the tongue into a large test tube, filled it with a preservative fluid that had an oily texture, and sealed it tightly with a wooden cork.

Next, he took a beaker, stuffed the mass of Nerve Endings inside, filled it with more of the viscous liquid, sealed it with a lid, and placed it in his waist pouch.

’It’s a bit against protocol, but who’s going to care about an organ that’s not on the collection list, or a couple of containers and some preservative fluid?’

With this, Lloyd had all the materials he needed. He just had to wait for this month’s paycheck, and he could begin his second—or rather, his third—[Transcendence].

He then prepared to head up to Floor -3 and let the Demons there make their own meager contribution to the anti-Demon cause.

But just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and glanced back.

"How are you not dead yet?"

Lloyd muttered under his breath.

He’d already shredded the Tree-like Flower Demon’s heart. It looked completely lifeless; its bark had faded from a fleshy, vibrant red to the ashen gray of rotted wood, and the purple flower on its chest had completely withered.

Yet Lloyd noticed that he hadn’t received the largest payout of Madness Value.

’Which means this thing isn’t completely dead...’

Lloyd thought for a moment, then decisively activated[Twisted Realm]and unleashed its physical Twist effect.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE. With a series of sharp cracks, the outer layer of bark peeled away, shattering into fine wood chips.

’The upgraded physical Twist effect is pretty good after all, perfect for this kind of job.’

At last, Lloyd received the system notification he was waiting for:

[Ding! Madness Value +500]

’Now that’s more like it. Anyone else probably would’ve been fooled by you.’

Lloyd dusted off his hands, finally stepped out of the cell, and waited for the elevator.

When the elevator doors opened, a wave of alcohol fumes poured out.

"What are you doing here?"

Lloyd asked, looking at Meditis, who had suddenly appeared in front of him.

But Meditis asked at the exact same time:

"You came down to handle Floor -5 all by yourself?"

Their questions collided, and both of them fell silent for a moment.

Then Meditis stepped out of the elevator and grabbed Lloyd’s wrist.

But she immediately let go, sucking in a sharp breath.

"Tss—so hot! Your inspiration got stronger again?"

Lloyd then remembered his[inspiration]had suddenly surged by 20 points, so he took the opportunity to use[Inspect]on Meditis.

[Target: Meditis]

[Status: Mild Madness]

[Rationality: 58]

[Spiritual Power: 60]

[Inspiration: 32]

[Cognition: 45]

Lloyd remembered that the last time he’d used[Inspect]on Meditis, her[Rationality]and[Spiritual Power]were both ’??’, and her[Inspiration]and[Cognition]were also slightly lower than today. This meant she was also getting stronger.

But looking again today, her stats were quite high—not only was she stronger than Weiya, but she was also significantly stronger than the other two Executioners from the other tower.

’Too bad her[Inspiration]has fallen so far behind mine. She won’t be able to help check my condition anymore.’

’What’s an even bigger shame is that she’s a drunkard...’

’But to drink like this every day and still have such high Attributes... if she ever quit drinking, she’d probably be terrifyingly strong, right?’

’And if she could just fix that nasty personality and clean herself up a bit, that’d be even better...’

Lloyd lamented on her behalf in his mind, but he wasn’t tactless enough to lecture her on the spot. He simply said reassuringly:

"Don’t worry. I’m fine."

"Hmph. You think a bad woman like me would worry about you? Don’t get the wrong idea. I was just wondering if a rookie like you would screw it up and I’d have to come clean up your mess."

Meditis spoke with disdain, then walked over to the cell to take a look. After confirming that the execution had been completed successfully, she said with a hint of sarcasm:

"Hmph. Not half bad for a rookie, huh? Already able to handle Floor -5 on your own? Heehee... Looks like having a fool like you around to help out for free will save me a lot of trouble."

"It’s not exactly free, is it?"

Lloyd reminded her.

"Hmph!"

Meditis irritably took out the bell and impatiently shoved it into his hand.

Then the two of them got back into the elevator, ready to head to their respective floors.

"You idiot, do you really hate evil that much? Rushing to do even this kind of work? Hmph. A bad woman like me won’t remember you for it..."

Meditis suddenly asked.

’Wait, it’s not like I was asking you to remember me for it, was I?’

Lloyd grumbled inwardly, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, but his verbal reply was normal:

"Yes, I’ve always been this way."

"Just don’t get yourself killed... A bad woman like me won’t be sad for you."

Meditis muttered again, turning her head away and saying no more.

’Wait... did anyone even bring up the topic of ’being sad’?’

This left Lloyd even more speechless.

...

[Ding! Madness Value +300]

[Ding! Madness Value +300]

[Ding! Madness Value +300]

After parting ways with Meditis, Lloyd quickly finished the rest of his work. He returned to his office, took off his white lab coat, filled out a formal material requisition form, and went over to Tower Two to submit it.

He had requested the auxiliary materials needed for the Transcendence Orbit. They were inexpensive, came in large quantities, and would be delivered in two days.

’As for the core component, the ’Gushing Blood Spring,’ I’ll just have to get in line for that a year from now...’

With that taken care of, Lloyd passed by a small shop and picked up a newspaper, wanting to see if there was any news about yesterday’s incident.

’There actually is? And it’s the front-page headline?’

"Breaking! The Sect Busts Major Illegal Gathering. Is This a Failure of Humanity or a Collapse of Morality?"

The headline was sensational, but the content was disappointingly tame. It merely gave a vague overview, stating that the several hundred people at the gathering had all been sent to a mental hospital, and offered no other substantive details.

The rest was just nonsense along the lines of ’analysts believe’.

’Still, it’s good to see that the people from the dance floor are still alive.’

Lloyd nodded.

At the same time, the fact that this incident made the news meant that the Saint’s Grace Court must have noticed the situation down there. His anonymous letter must have been of some use.

A sense of pride, like that of a ’concerned citizen,’ welled up in his heart.

He then flipped through a few pages of the newspaper, turning directly to his favorite section: entertainment.

But the very first article made him furrow his brow, and he almost cursed out loud.

The headline for the entertainment section was a critic’s review of the newly released magazine,"Incredible Folklore".

The critic used a vitriolic tone to tear Evelor’s magazine to shreds, calling it "bland," "dull," and "lacking in substance." It was pure nitpicking, and Lloyd could clearly tell the words came from someone who hadn’t even finished—or understood—the magazine, all while thinking they were being clever.

Lloyd was livid. He hurried back to his office, picked up a pen, and prepared to write an anonymous letter to retaliate.

But after writing only a few words, he put the pen down, grabbed the newspaper, and went to the supply depot to find Andrew, the Military Supply Priest.

"Do you have the contact information for these critics from the newspaper?"

"Er... I can ask around for you. What’s wrong?"

"Nothing much. I just want some people to experience what violence without bloodshed really means."

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