The tavern keeper closed the door and flipped the bone sign next to the door in another direction, turning the purgatory side of the word "closed" towards the street. Then he looked up and briefly discerned the direction, and slowly walked forward.

The streets of Diss City are always changing, and a few days ago there were crooked four-story buildings on the opposite side, and a narrow alley that could shorten the journey was hidden in a certain slit of this building.

But today, the building on the opposite side and the path in the gap have all disappeared, and in its place is a large and strange building called the 'Soul Market', where many demons come and go in and out of the building. Some devils are satisfied, others are frustrated and depressed, and the mood varies.

Although the surroundings have changed, the tavern owner 'Monroe' is not panicking, he has been born in hell for a long time. Monroe, like many of the devils living in the city, can easily find the true path he wants to take from the changes.

He walked over to the Soul Futures building and looked inside. The spacious hall was filled with many devils, all looking up at the same wall, on which hung many rectangular transverse boards with purgatory scripts.

"Today's exchange rate between ordinary souls and soul coins is, 1:537. "The top horizontal plate reads prominently.

"Urgently harvest two superior souls with the potential of 'Harvesting Demon', and those who are interested can go to Box 312 on the third floor to discuss in detail. ”

"Collect a large number of souls that have been completely corrupted, each of which can be exchanged for three ordinary souls that have not yet fallen, or other soul coins, items, intelligence, etc. of equal value. (Note: Corrupted souls cannot be drained of energy). "It is also followed by a contact address.

"Are you at risk of being demoted because you can't complete the soul corruption target? Are you robbed of your promotion by just a few fewer souls than your colleagues? With just one contract, the soul is easy to get, and the annual interest rate is only 200%!!"

"I now have a mortal prisoner in my possession that can be exploited, and the ownership of that prisoner belongs to me, not to Mantiri. And the prisoner has agreed to cooperate, to use his freedom to obtain the souls of his relatives and friends, and ask 2 to 4 little devils to act in a team, and half of the proceeds will go to me, and the rest will be divided equally. ”

It turned out to be this kind of place, Monroe knew it.

"Get out of the way, human, this is not the place for you. Behind Monroe, a large horned demon rudely pushed him aside, "But when you die, your soul can come here for a spin." It's just from one person's hand to another's, haha. He scoffed a few times and stepped into the hall.

Monroe didn't bother with the Horned Demon's sarcasm, shrugged his shoulders in self-deprecation, turned away from the building, and continued walking towards his goal.

Our tavernkeeper who runs a shop in Hell doesn't care about death at all. It's good to be alive, but it's not necessarily bad to be dead. Monroe's ancestors, including his father, who died not long ago, have been transformed into demons. One of these demons on the road may be his ancestor.

But after the transformation, the memories of life will disappear completely, so those ancestors who have become devils are no different from strangers.

Why did his ancestors come to a place like Hell? Monroe didn't know. His father never told him why, and so did his father, as if the mystery had been lost in history many generations ago.

Monroe had never been to the main material world, where many of his fellow human beings lived, but he had learned many things about the main material world from the vast number of books on display in his home.

It is a very beautiful plane, with clear water, lush trees, and bright flowers everywhere, and people live in it leisurely. When Monroe was a child, he also raised a flowering plant, which was a spherical green plant with a surface like a needle stinger, with many hard spikes.

He had been raising it for seven years before the plant shyly blossomed into a pink flower. Although the flowers are small, they add a strange color to Monroe's boring and monotonous life.

Unfortunately, the miraculous plant later died due to improper watering. The water in hell needs special treatment before it can be watered, and once he accidentally forgot about it. Monroe had always wanted to buy another one from the Plane Merchants who had come to the city, but there were very few Plane Merchants who would add the main material Plane Plants to their lists, and the one who sold him the Spiky Plants had never been seen since.

......

After walking around the city for half a day, Monroe finally arrived at the destination of his trip, the Arena of Diss.

In the several gladiatorial battles that will be fought in the arena today, there is a gladiator he likes, so Monroe wants to arrive a little earlier and try to buy a higher position.

There was very little entertainment in Hell, and apart from watching gladiatorial fights in the arena, Monroe would occasionally go to an intimate demon for an in-depth conversation or take a short break in the 'Carnival Paradise'.

Carnival Paradise is a place full of happiness, which my father used to call a mirage in the desert when he was alive.

When you knock on the magnificent door of the park, which is studded with gold and silver threads, you will be greeted by many handsome and beautiful waiters. She/they will strip your dusty old clothes for you, put on a supple silk robe, and lead you to the beautiful sky-blue pool, where you can swim in the warm water.

Waiters will also serve you refreshing beers and juices, as well as sweet fruits and snacks, and relax every inch of your skin with their soft hands.

When you've had enough to rest in the pool, they'll lead you to a candlelit table where you'll be served an exquisite, delicious dinner. As you dine, graceful bards play beautiful tunes for you, costumed dancers dance around you, and you'll feel like life is nothing more than that.

It's just that it's all a false illusion. Once a weary plane traveler enters Carnival Land, it will be difficult to leave there. Even if they can perceive that everything in front of them is an illusion with their powerful perception, they will still be intoxicated by the alluring beauty and joy, and will not leave for a long time.

The longer they stay in the park, the weaker the visitor's sense of self becomes, and eventually they die of hunger and thirst, and their souls are collected and placed in the hands of the owner of the park, the Duke of Hell, 'Aroko'.

However, unlike those plane travelers or other visitors to Hell, Monroe has lived in Hell since he was a child, and he has a strong resistance to the illusions of Carnival Park, and the demons and phantom acolytes who disguise themselves as various characters and guests in the park will never try to interfere when he wants to leave.

For the devils, a human like Monroe who lives in hell has long been branded by the Nine Hells plane, and it is inevitable that he will eventually become one of them.

And after the death of Monroe and those ancestors in his family, they will not be drained of their energy like ordinary souls who have fallen into hell, starting from the lowest inferior demons. Instead, it will be directly transformed into a corresponding form of devil according to the different potential of each person's soul.

Monroe knew that when he died, he would be transformed into an ugly barb, something he had been destined to do since he was born.

......

"Position? No problem. After the little devil who sold the ticket put away a soul coin handed over by Monroe, he threw him a domino with a number, "The third row of the blood area, it's enough to be in the front." Although this position is a bit out of the way, there will be no big names blocking your view. The little devil said to him as if to take credit,

Oh, the real big guys will only stay in the spacious boxes, not in the stands like the rest of the audience. "Thank you. Monroe nodded at the other man.

"By the way, you sign this by the way, everyone in the audience has to do it. The little devil handed him another piece of parchment with purgatory written on it.

"More on that later. Monroe stepped away, ignoring the little devil's persuasion.

Once you write your name on parchment, your soul will no longer belong to you. Monroe knew the pitfalls of the city, a lesson that had been passed down from generation to generation by his ancestors.

Entering the gate of the arena, which looks like a beast's mouth, there is a long corridor with many torches along the way.

Monroe had heard that when the arena was first built, there were no torches on the road, and it was pitch black. Because the devil is born with 'dark vision' and does not need light to see. But later, a plane consortium suggested to the lord that if the Arena of Dis wanted to attract more spectators and earn more souls, it needed to take into account the feelings of other races.

As a result, there have been many subtle changes to the layout of the entire arena, and these torches are one of them.

Before heading to the stands, Monroe, like the other devils along the way, turned into a lively and crowded hall. This is where the arena bets are placed, and Monroe carefully bypasses the devils, trying to keep himself from the dangerous pins, barbs, and corners.

He swooped down, jumped and leaped, and approached a giant erect insect-like 'Ice Demon', taking advantage of the creature's biting icy aura (most types of devils prefer scorching temperatures) to finally come to a place close to the window inside, where there were fewer devils in line.

"Three souls plus a hundred soul coins to crush Barrett the gladiator!" Monroe said to the contract demon inside the window, and presented a coarse cloth money bag.

The skin of this devil is a quaint rusty red, and there are many dark roots on the back, protruding long sharp horns. Each horn is more than a meter long, and there are lengthy contract texts hanging from them.

The Covenant Demons always have a confident and elegant look on their faces, and they manage the countless contracts and decrees in the Hell, and are an indispensable type of devil in the Nine Hells. If some arrogant creatures in the main material world want to summon a devil to serve them for life, it is also up to the contract demon to arrange this kind of demon servant contract.

The contract demon in front of him took the money bag, opened it and looked at it, and handed Monroe a copy of the contract text like a little devil selling tickets at the door.

Monroe went through the familiar terms several times and signed his name in the lower right corner of the text when he was sure there was nothing wrong.

After that, he returned from the hall to the corridor and walked up the majestic and vast stands.

He found his place and sat down. The right side of the position was not occupied at this time, while on the left sat three winged devils of similar appearance sitting side by side.

The devil closest to him wore a peculiar silver tombstone pendant around his neck. When Monroe looked at the pendant, something seemed to flash from it.

Was I dazzled just now? Monroe Zhou subconsciously rubbed his eyes. Forget it, let's keep an eye on the game. He shifted his gaze to the field again.

"I hope you can win this fight, Barrett!" Monroe said softly. Then he heard a very small, ethereal voice. The voice was faint, like the vague murmur of the soul itself.

He couldn't hear it clearly, but he vaguely felt that the voice seemed to say, "Big uncle, come on!"

......