Epic Of Caterpillar

Chapter 2688 - 2689: Euphoria

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”The government… I had no idea we were dealing with them,” I said. ”I thought we were their enemies?”

”Not entirely, the world is not as black and white as you imagine, young lady,” Takamura laughed a little. ”Even if we are a criminal organization, we own a lot of assets from this country, your father is constantly dealing with politicians, did you know? The government is usually powerless against us, so they prefer to keep things peaceful between them and the various other factions, letting us fight between one another as we please, below certain conditions.”

”I see… So the pseudo domains are barriers that just keep things invisible to people, but the things do really affect this world?” I asked.

”Yes, and it typically repels people too, as it shows them thereʼs a wall where there isnʼt, for example,” Sakamoto said, as he started smoking a new cigarette. ”Shall we continue our patrol, young lady? Hey Takamura, did you find anything yet?”

”Iʼm on it, using his blood to detect…” Takamura said, rubbing his chin as his map suddenly expanded, showing several red dots. ”Oho, this bastard has been in several places… Let me see if I can reduce that here and there… Hm.”

”Looks like heʼs been selling drugs everywhere,” Uzuki said.

”Right, the drugs…” I said, glancing at them.

They looked like simple red pills, and yet they had a foul, sulfur-like smell.

Hmm.

Using my System, checking their information was a piece of cake.

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[Experimental Demonic Drug: Euphoria (??? Grade)]

An experimental drug crafted using Demon Blood, and Demon Core Crystal Dust, combined with other ingredients harvested from Earth, synthetized into a powerful pill capable of granting additional physical strength and magical power to those that consume it. The more drugs are consumed, the stronger the boost will become, but this boost will fade away with days, requiring consuming more.

Each time this pill is consumed, a part of the demonic energy within it is stored within the personʼs stomach, creating a dangerous crystallization of demonic energy that can cause, through a trigger, the spontaneous transformation of a person into a Demonic Being, losing their sense of reason and becoming consumed by their own demonic power.

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”Euphoria, huh?” I wondered. ”Iʼve used a special spell to analyze this thingʼs information. The pill is called Euphoria and… I think I know what it does, but we should further investigate the corpse later.”

”Oh? Interesting, I had no idea you had analysis spells, young lady, it seems youʼre full of surprises,” Heisuke said. ”Very well, shall we keep going then? I believe there might still be a few of these drug sellers somewhere in our territory. We should take them down and ask them more about the one that made them distribute this drug.”

”Sorry, young lady, but could you tell me what you found out?” Heisuke asked. ”I know you want to check the corpse to find out, so we could do that here, donʼt worry.”

”Huh? Youʼre ok with… right youʼre hitmen, sure,” I nodded, taking the corpse out of my inventory again and then I let Heisuke open its stomach with a knife I gave to him, which was actually Silva.

”This knife holds immense magical power, is this a gift from your father, young lady?” he asked.

”Nah I made it on my own,” I said. ”Sheʼs kind of alive too.”

”Huh?” Heisuke was surprised as the knife floated midair, turning into a small girl made of liquid metal.

”Her name is Silva, sheʼs a magic spirit weapon,” I explained. ”I can kind of breathe life to things.”

”Kind of? Thatʼs amazing…” Heisuke said. ”Ah, right, letʼs concentrate on what we were talking before, the stomach… what should be inside of it? Hm?”

His eyes widened as Heisuke opened the stomach of the victim open, revealing a large concentration of red crystals, releasing a foul sulfur-smelling demonic energy aura.

”W-What is this?” Takamura asked. ”Demonic Crystals or something?”

”Theyʼre the same type of crystal that forms a demon core,” I explained. ”Looks like this drug let the demonic energy it gives accumulate within a personʼs stomach, as a cancer-like growth made of this crystallization of demonic energy, the more they consume the bigger it becomes… and when theyʼre ”triggered” by something, they turn into Demonic Humans by letting these crystals in their stomach further expand through their bodies.”

”Thatʼs… fascinating,” Uzuki said. ”So thatʼs how it works…”

”Looks painful…” Takamura groaned with a disgusted expression. ”Bleh…”

”I suppose thatʼs how they transform… but now, what is this trigger? It wasnʼt a power they could control?” Heisuke asked.

”No, as you guessed before, Sakamoto, it seems that people can suddenly and spontaneously transform, anybody that has ever consumed this drug is at risk of turning, and whoever made it can control who transforms…” I said.

”What?!” Takamura suddenly understood everything. ”Thatʼs… bad news! We have to check that nobody in our organization has eaten them!”

”Yeah…” Uzuki nodded. ”But first, we should go where the Spirits are telling me.”

”The Spirits?” I asked, as I noticed that Uzuki pulled out a small voodoo doll, which he attached to his black suit on his chest.

”Yes, I can call upon Dead Spirits, theyʼre leftover consciousness and phantasmal energies of dead people, ghosts,” he explained. ”They speak to me about a lot of things… well, this is only one part of my abilities.”

”He can ask ghosts about information, and they will generally answer,” Heisuke said. ”Usually he can find information nobody else can this way.”

”Thatʼs amazing Uzuki!” I said.

These Dead Spirits arenʼt like the ghosts I know exactly, and I seem unable to see them, it seems theyʼre connected to a different power than whatever is outside of this world.

Because as he explained, they arenʼt the complete soul but the leftover essence and consciousness… strange.

Perhaps it might be a phenomenon that only appears in this world, so thatʼs why I cannot properly grasp it.

”Where did they tell you to go? Iʼve got these places marked,” Takamura said.

”Hmm, that area, the construction side to the northeast,” Uzuki pointed in the map.

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