This time, I won't be the devil.

After thinking for a moment, Stella replied:

"Probably... I'll be a little disappointed."

"Then what if there's a nasty person who bullies you all the time, but one day he becomes gentle to you and protects you in a critical moment? How would you feel?"

"An unexpected incident... or should I say... a surprise?"

"That's the thing. People are easily attracted by something that stands out, like a black dot on white paper, or a white dot on black paper, and lose sight of the bigger picture."

"And unlike you, they haven't seen a hero fight for them."

"In their minds, heroes are born to save humanity, so even if they receive help from a hero, they will take it for granted. If their lives are not going as they wish, they will complain that the hero is not doing well enough, and may even feel resentment towards him."

"Plus, they were indeed treated kindly by the Demon King, and most importantly, the Demon King is 'dead'."

"A dead demon king cannot speak, and no longer frightens people. Therefore, in their hearts, the demon king's image will be infinitely glorified, and eventually he will be deified."

After listening to Frey's words, Stella was silent for a while, then sighed:

"Sure enough, if you want to understand a person, just looking at one side is not enough."

"That's why I want to know..."

"I want to ask Miss Midori what kind of person the hero is, and why she left him."

Having said this, she showed a relieved expression.

"Thank you for sharing this with me. I'm glad to hear your thoughts."

"You're welcome. It's also very important to prepare your teammates mentally before taking action."

If you fight with doubts in your heart, you are likely to be deceived and used by the enemy.

"In my hometown, there is an old swordsman who is famous in the martial arts world. He once said this."

"What?"

Frey imitated Ashina Isshin's tone and gave Stella advice:

"If you hesitate, you will be defeated..."

Stella couldn't help laughing at Frey's sudden, childish line.

"Anyway...anyway, let's stop with the small talk and big talk. Our current goal is to deal with those cultists."

After regaining her motivation, Stella extended her hand to Frey.

"Please tie me up as much as you want tomorrow!"

A crisp high-five marked the official start of the operation.

……

That night, Frey squatted on the roof and studied the topographic map of the sewer.

He had asked the little stars to take the magic communicators and disperse to monitor near the manhole covers, and this group of cultists did not choose to escape overnight.

In the early morning of the next day, the cultist in charge of reconnaissance appeared again and told Frey the meeting place - the pipeline intersection in the center of the city.

The artificial island of Bondolimu was built from Liufeng Reef in the northwest corner to the southeast, so the overall shape is a long and narrow strip.

Now that his level has reached 20, the detection range of Frey's skill [Shadow Perception] has expanded to 1.5 kilometers.

If you specialize in one direction and ignore some details, the maximum straight-line distance of detection can reach 5 kilometers.

If the meeting place was somewhere else, Frey could have entered the sewers in advance and used his skills to detect the location of the cultists.

But at the intersection of pipelines in the center of the city, there are a large number of bunkers and confined spaces where they can hide.

The reason why they chose this place was obviously because the cult leader wanted to prevent sneak attacks.

It seems that this opponent is not so easy to deal with.

On the morning of the 18th, Frey found the mayor and asked him to prepare a magic speedboat for him.

The reason he made this request was so that he could evacuate Bondolim as soon as possible in case of an accident.

So far, monitors have not found any abnormalities in the typhoon. Even if the Wall of Wind God is really destroyed, there will be at least three days of evacuation time.

Since Frey agreed to give the credit to the city government after solving the case, the mayor was willing to actively meet his request.

After securing a retreat, Frey returned to the hotel to organize his equipment and props, and gave instructions to Didoris and Noelle.

In this operation, the only two people who will enter the sewer first are him and Stella, the hostage.

After arranging everything, Frey took a nap and finally put Stella into a sack and entered the sewer late that night.

At the appointed time, a thin man in a black robe appeared before them. He was the leader of the Demon King Cult.

Like Frey, the cult leader wore a mask on his face and also carried a sack in his hand.

After seeing Frey from afar, the cult leader hummed a song in an extremely gloomy voice:

"Hakimi~Hakimi~Hakimi...Hakimi, I didn't masturbate much."

After hearing this, Frey immediately responded with the next part:

"Ah Xiga~Ah Xiga~Ah Xiga...Ha Ya Ku~~Na Lu"

This song "Hakimi's Song" was originally sung by Frey to the children imprisoned in the Demon King's Castle, and it was also one of the secret codes they used to prove their captive status to each other.

Afterwards, the cult leader asked some more questions about the Demon King and his life as a captive, and Frey answered them all fluently.

After all, looking across the entire Aiden continent, no one knows Hakimi better than him.

After exchanging secret signals, Frey and the cult leader took off their masks at the same time, revealing their true faces.

The man looked to be in his early 30s, with regular facial features, but his skin was sickly pale, and his iron-gray hair hung down to his ears like dead grass. At first glance, he looked like a down-and-out homeless man.

Although his appearance and temperament had changed significantly, Frey immediately recognized the true identity of the cult leader in front of him based on the panel displayed by the identification skill.

"Long time no see, Ivan."

Chapter 60: Long time no see, Ivan (5K)

Years later, Ivan, now a cult leader, would recall that distant afternoon when his father took him to see the boatmen.

Unlike other cultists who came from lower classes, Ivan was once very wealthy.

He was born in the Free City, which was the territory of the Hayek Consortium and a gathering place for merchants and "commodities".

His father was the owner of a shipping company. Little Ivan spent a carefree childhood in a villa facing the sea with flowers blooming in spring.

My father always wore a suit, a monocle and a top hat. He was rich and busy.

"Dad, where does your money come from?" little Ivan asked curiously once.

In response to his question, his father put down his work, held him on his knees, and said slowly:

"A long, long time ago, our ancestor raised a chicken. The chicken grew up to become a goose, the goose grew up to become a sheep, and the sheep grew up to become a cow. That's how our family became rich."

"In my hands, these livestock have become huge cargo ships. The milk you drink, the snacks you eat, and the toys you play with every day are all transported here."

"And this is also thanks to the blessing of the God of Wealth Hayek..."

As the second son in the family, Ivan was doted on by his father. Unlike his older brother who was to inherit the family business, he did not receive strict discipline when he was a child.

Ivan's favorite thing was reading fairy tales. He once naively believed that the outside world was as beautiful as in fairy tales.

However, Ivan would occasionally see the workers working on the dock from the attic of this seaside villa.

Little Ivan, who lived a peaceful life, didn't understand why the workers had to carry such heavy things every day. Was it because they loved it?

The turning point occurred in the year 973 of the Aiden calendar. At that time, the grand Great Crusade had just ended, and there were a large number of hungry and cold refugees in the territory of the Church and even in the surrounding free cities.

Ivan was 7 years old at the time. Due to the accidental death of his eldest brother, the burden of inheriting the family business fell on him. It was also in this year that his father took Ivan on a cruise for the first time.

In the first half of the voyage, Ivan, who was staying on the upper deck of the cruise ship, marveled at the vastness of the ocean and the beauty of nature. In front of it, the three-decker cruise ship that he and his father were proud of seemed extremely small.

When it was time to return, Ivan suddenly had the urge to sneak to the lower deck. Unlike the upper and middle decks, this deck was very dirty and messy.

After seeing Ivan's dress, people avoided him.

Ivan was confused because no one wanted to talk to him, until he saw a ragged little blond boy about his age.

"My name is Ivan, what's your name?"

"Sherlock."

Looking at Sherlock who was alone, Ivan asked curiously:

"Where's your mother?"

"My mother sold herself to a brothel and bought me a boat ticket to the Free Cities."

"What is a brothel? Is it a place for fun?"

Hearing Ivan say this, veins popped up on Sherlock's skinny face. He raised his fist, but quickly put it down.

Sherlock looked at Ivan, who was still as holy as ever, with his very special purple pupils, and then showed a sly smile that was completely unlike that of his peers.

"Give me a gold coin and I'll tell you."

Without thinking, Ivan took out a gold coin worth 1000 rupees and gave it to him, but before Sherlock could say anything, the butler found Ivan and took him back.

Ivan's father was not angry about his unauthorized action.

On the afternoon of the day before returning home, his father took Ivan to the engine room of the cruise ship.

Ivan never forgot that scene.

In the engine room covered with black oil, the sailors were braving the high temperatures and desperately shoveling fuel into the boiler.

"Although the cruise ship also has a backup engine powered by magic stones, considering the cost, it is more cost-effective to use kerosene and manpower."

In the corner of the engine room, hundreds of sailors were lying on the ground, struggling in the oil. Each of them looked like a black sculpture made of asphalt, with only their pairs of white eyes proving that they were alive.

"These people are all indentured slaves. During this voyage, most of them will die of exhaustion. Only a few who work hard and are strong will survive."

“Why did they become like this?”

“Because they have no money.”

"Then why don't you go and help them, Dad? Don't you have a lot of money?"

Facing Ivan's doubts, his father said earnestly: