Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

The three people on the chessboard watched the subtitles floating past them. Their minds were assaulted by random stabbing pains and dizziness, and a constant buzzing rang in their eardrums, as if a crowd of tiny people were raving inside.

While the discomfort was still tolerable and unlikely to cause any real harm, they could easily tell that something was different.

During their last symposium, the subtitles appearing directly on their retinas had only caused them slight discomfort. This was because they were gradually acclimating to the Supreme One’s majesty.

But today’s symptoms made all three of them recall the time when the Venerable first appeared.

All three understood. This change meant that the Venerable’s power had recovered even further...

At the same time, they were also keenly aware. ’Once the Venerable’s power is fully restored, we won’t be able to hear His voice like this anymore, will we?’

The three stood frozen on the chessboard. After a minute or two, Jenkins finally spoke.

"The Venerable is recovering. This is undoubtedly a cause for celebration for us... So, shall we discuss the question the Venerable has raised?"

Goldrinn quickly added:

"Bizarre Derivatives... These ’dirty things’ are indeed hard to find. From the Venerable’s lofty position, searching for them would be like us searching for ants, it’s just that..."

He had been curious why the Supreme One would need to find such things, but Balderes, who was beside him, quickly coughed twice to remind him:

"COUGH, COUGH! Don’t Ask Too Much, Don’t Ask Too Much!"

Goldrinn reacted in time and quickly changed his tune.

"Ah, right. Venerable, please forgive my offense. That was presumptuous of me... Anyway, in our City of Order, this type of Demon is usually handled by the investigation teams, not the Holy Judgment Court. Their non-corporeal nature makes it inconvenient for the Holy Judgment Court to take on such cases...

As for the specific methods, we mainly collect related information from police reports, various newspapers, magazines, news broadcasts, radio programs, and even back-alley rumors. Then, we use a special Divination technique to screen them."

"Oh? Are you talking about Identification Divination?"

Jenkins interjected.

"Yes. Your process should be similar, right? Against these dirty things, known for their cunning and secrecy, this is probably the most effective method we have."

Balderes replied:

"I haven’t personally participated or encountered these dirty things, but I’ve heard them mentioned. It’s more or less as you described. They often use anonymous letters to track these things down."

"Mmm, it’s similar in our Eternal City. However, these things are quite rare within the city itself. We’re more likely to encounter them during archaeological expeditions."

Jenkins added.

The three then began a proper discussion about the ’dirty things’, successfully moving past the awkward topic that had left Lloyd not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Lloyd didn’t send any more bullet comments to interrupt them. He just listened quietly, taking mental notes on the key points.

Based on their discussion, Bizarre Derivatives were quite dangerous overall, starting at a minimum danger level of 3. However, they weren’t particularly aggressive towards humans. They didn’t treat people as rations like Demon Ghosts, nor did they only think of destroying everything in sight like the Out of Control.

Therefore, these things generally didn’t cause major incidents, making them seem exceptionally low-profile.

Coupled with their natural stealth from being non-corporeal, they were difficult to discover. Actively searching for them was even more troublesome, often requiring reliance on unreliable civilian information channels.

The information gathered from these channels was often full of traps, and it was impossible to verify every lead. This was where the [Identification Divination] Jenkins had mentioned came in.

This was considered a basic application of Divination, but it was a rather obscure one. Its versatility and functionality were average at best, typically used for discerning the authenticity of information or judging whether goods were genuine.

However, it could only produce a vague, general result. It wasn’t very accurate and lacked detail. Furthermore, it was easily susceptible to all sorts of interference. Even a slight touch of an Extraordinary Attribute could lead to an inaccurate result. It couldn’t even appraise the value of Extraordinary Materials, making it largely useless.

Because it was just a basic-level Divination, not very useful or versatile, Lloyd had seen this method in a book but hadn’t bothered to study it in depth.

’Who would have thought it would actually be useful in a situation like this?’

And since this [Identification Divination] was fundamentally basic and didn’t involve any of those inexplicably dangerous things, it was quite safe to use. Lloyd could go back and ’cram’ a bit, then copy the process they discussed to find Bizarre Derivatives.

’Conveniently, I have a sister who’s an editor-in-chief. She should be able to gather plenty of information on this front.’

’The stories submitted to her can’t all be fabricated, right?’

Having figured out a method for finding Bizarre Derivatives, Lloyd continued to listen to the three’s discussion. They were now talking about how to deal with and protect oneself if one suddenly encountered these ’dirty things’.

Goldrinn had the most authority on this topic, as his investigation team had handled several such cases.

"Generally speaking, these things don’t pose much of a threat to us. Because they’re non-corporeal, their main attacks are on the Spiritual Power front. But also because they’re non-corporeal, their Spiritual Power and inspiration aren’t strong. They’re easy to deal with, much easier than handling Forbidden Knowledge."

Jenkins added:

"Yes. I encountered these things a few times during archaeological expeditions in my youth. I didn’t run into any real danger. The main thing is to guard against their Spiritual Contamination. It seems they can directly touch a person’s spirit?"

Goldrinn replied:

"It’s not that exaggerated. They just spread Spiritual Contamination more easily. Add to that their elusiveness, which makes them hard to detect, and they can easily form a sort of hidden source of contamination. That’s why they have that danger level. But for us Extraordinary Beings, as long as we protect ourselves with inspiration and Spiritual Power, there’s nothing to fear."

’His words were very much in his personal style—still so blunt. It fit his persona as a "black car driver" perfectly.’

’But considering that everyone present was at least Tier Four, and there was an unassailable Supreme One beside them, his statement didn’t seem out of place, did it?’

But then, Goldrinn added:

"However, all of what I just said is based on the premise of a low danger level. The lowest and most common danger level for these things is 3, but that doesn’t mean it’s their only danger level... In fact, when I was looking through the archives last year, I discovered that our investigation team once suffered a tragic loss, and it was caused by one of these ’dirty things’—

That time, our investigation team dispatched a five-person elite squad, all of them seasoned badasses. They were wiped out silently and without any warning. Later, another five-person squad was sent to rescue them, and we lost another three members before the malignant incident was finally suppressed...

Losing eight excellent investigators at once was the heaviest loss our investigation team has suffered since its founding."

He then gave a rough description of the account from the archives.

In short, the people of the City of Order discovered a shelter deep in the mountains that looked like it had been built during the apocalypse era.

To acquire the ancient technology and knowledge within, an investigation squad was ordered to enter. And then...

There was no ’and then’...

No one knew how they died or what had done it...

It wasn’t until the second rescue squad was sent in that they learned a Bizarre Derivative was behind it.

That thing was far more powerful than the ’dirty things’ encountered outside. It was invisible even with Spiritual Vision, and searching for it with inspiration resulted in continuous Spiritual Contamination. Combined with its non-corporeal nature, it was simply impossible to deal with.

The two sides immediately engaged in a life-or-death battle. In the end, it was only through the sacrifice of three investigators that they were able to capture the thing’s physical form and eliminate it.

As for the specific details of the battle, they weren’t recorded in the archives. It seemed to be a deeply taboo subject.

The specific danger level of that Bizarre Derivative was never discussed further. But based on its record of silently killing eight elite investigators, it was likely no lower than danger level 7—the level of a Karmic Demon.

"But the good news is, the gains from that shelter must have been significant. Although I don’t know the specifics, the archives did note that ’their sacrifice was worth it’..."

"Also, our investigation team has a long history of one hundred years, but we’ve only encountered such an enemy once. This means such troublesome ones are very rare. Your Excellency, Black Soldier, you need not be too concerned."

Goldrinn concluded.

Jenkins just laughed nonchalantly and replied:

"Haha, I’m not concerned. I doubt anyone would ask an old bag of bones like me to go on an archaeological dig these days, right?"

Next, the three chatted casually about their recent situations. Since nothing else of particular note had happened, Jenkins prepared to adjourn the meeting.

Jenkins did briefly mention the matter of the Chief Judge, but it seemed he didn’t know much either. He just said that his ’client’ had been taken away, and he himself returned to the city the next day without any further contact.

So, Lloyd said nothing and tacitly allowed Old Zhan to adjourn the meeting.

This time, no one stayed behind for a private chat, so he returned the screen to the Tentacle Grass and placed the glass cover back over it.

The Tentacle Grass immediately showed a very human-like expression of relief, as if only inside the glass cover could it feel warm.

Lloyd checked the time. It wasn’t too late. He picked up a gift he had bought for Elolo earlier and used [Infiltration] to appear by her side.