Chapter 175: Sincerity
Joseph was more vigilant. Although he retained his strength in the tentative confrontation just now, this “Aguile” also didn’t use his talents and the artifact of the Beelzebub Royal Family. Once they really fought, he might truly not able to keep his opponent from escaping.
Most of the royal families had a strange power of inheritance. For example, most of Shea’s power was inherited from his father, the crowned prince, Grimm. For this Aguile to have the “God-Eating Mask”, he must be the master or heir of the Beelzebub Royal Family. Shea was just a poor Princess Royal; whereas, although the Beelzebub Royal Family had disappeared, the accumulation of strength for thousands of years was much deeper. For “Aguile” to raise from Intermediate Demon at the beginning to the current Demon King, he was definitely not simple. The seal was likely to be the key to unlocking the power of inheritance step by step. Then, the actual strength of this person was likely to be Great Demon King or even Demon Emperor!
What’s more that Beelzebub Royal Family reappears after 400 years of silence, so they definitely have more than just these strength and manpower! Is the big change 400 years ago going to happen again? In this way, there are a lot more issues to consider.
Joseph kept a smile on his face, but his eyes were uncertain. There was no hint of smile in his eyes.
If Chen Rui knew Joseph’s thoughts, he would have laughed out loud: You truly guess it wrong. I’m just a human.
“God-Eating Mask really deserves its name. Although it was just a bit of the puppetry power, it’s enough to make me understand the power of artifact.”Joseph took a sip of wine elegantly, ” I’m curious. As one of the Demon Realm’s 7 royal families, why did the Gluttony Royal Family thought of cooperating with a tiny financial officer like me?”
“I did bring along my sincerity for coming here tonight (Coming here tonight is purely winning a lottery in <Teleportation>. Fuck sincerity). Those previous words were not perfunctory. I truly desire for Shea. However, women are just a tool for me to satisfy some kind of fun. What I really want for the Beelzebub Royal Family is the entire Dark Moon. This desire can be further extended to the entire Fallen Angel Empire.”
Chen Rui laughed creepily, “Dark Moon’s food sources and western passages are under you, the Red Spirit’s control. Compared to the Blue Lava Estate’s demon trafficking tricks, Red Spirit is the true controller of the Dark Moon. Thus, I decided to work with you.”
“It seems that you know quite well about Dark Moon. Perhaps Princess Royal Shea doesn’t know as much as you do.” Joseph looked curious, “Why did you choose me? Instead of my more capable brother, Kanita?”
“The hidden strength of the Beelzebub Royal Family is stronger than you think. The information that I have isn’t only about the Dark Moon, but even the Red Spirit, such as the recent failure of Town Leia Scarlet Guards and trivial matters like Snowden went to Mountain Xilang.” Chen Rui continued to bluff, “To be honest, I’m not optimistic that you can bring down Kanita. Even if you take down your brother or Kanita overturns you, it doesn’t mean you guys can overturn your father. Don’t Tell me that Lord Josh is already dying and it is time for him to hand over his power. Your father is doing nothing more than playing a balancing game. I believe you know this better than me. If you have the support of the Beelzebub Royal Family’s power, you can become the protagonist of this game instead of toy being played…” Joseph heard Chen Rui mentioned the latest information of Red Spirit and even Snowden’s movements. His suspicion finally began to loosen. The last sentence was particularly critical.
Joseph was wise. Although he was moved, he wouldn’t easily believe this kind of verbal promises, “Mr. Aguile, what you just said is really good, but from today’s experience, you seem to come here because you’re avoiding trouble instead of the so-called sincerity. As the sheriff of Dark Moon, I have the responsibility and obligation to report Princess Shea about you.”
“Yes. I did sneak into the palace to steal the artifact’s fragment. As a result, I am hunted by Shea. Her strength is higher than you and me. Unfortunately, she couldn’t kill me with all her strengths. She even let me restored the complete artifact. Besides, I believe that even my identity as the Cloak Gang’s leader hasn’t been revealed.” Chen Rui shook his head and his voice showed great confidence, “This is enough to prove my personal ability… If your last sentence is serious, then I feel sorry for you. You just gave up an actual shortcut. At the same time, you added an enemy that was supposed to be your biggest ally.”
“Mr. Aguile has so much confidence in achieving your goal?” Joseph asked with a frown. If Shea isn’t aware of Aguile’s identity, it’s definitely a smart move to lurk beside Shea as the person in charge of the imperial guard’s reserved forces.
“The Fallen Angel Empire now isn’t the Fallen Angel Empire 400 years ago. The biggest enemy of our Beelzebub Family, the Lord of Midnight Sun is no longer here. Remember the King of Beelzebub who fought against Midnight Sun 400 years ago? With the complete God-Eating Mask and his current strength, it’s enough to compete with Raizen of the Bloody Empire!”
“Glorfin Beelzebub?” Joseph was shocked. Glorfin didn’t die in the hands of Lord of Midnight Sun back then. After 400 years of grinding and lurking, to say that he could rival Raizen might not be a lie.
Joseph would never have thought that these were all bluffs. Glorfin had lost his body long ago and now his soul was devoured by Chen Rui. With his soul eliminated, how could he have the strength to rival Raizen.
“With the lesson 400 years ago, our plan before acting will be better. If the artifact isn’t that important, I didn’t have to reveal myself so easily. However, now that the artifact is in my hand, many plans have begun. Even if my identity is exposed, it is worth it… This conversation can only end there as you’ve known enough.” As he spoke, Chen Rui stood up and made a gesture of falling out with Joseph, but his heart was secretly palpitating.
“Wait! If we change our relationship to partners, can we continue this conversation?” Joseph contemplated for a while and stood up.
“Let’s make this simple in a sentence. Red Spirit is yours while I want Dark Moon and Blue Lava. Also, once we start, you must be the first to support openly in the Red Spirit.” Chen Rui glanced at Joseph, “If you agree, then we are allies. I believe you’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I want to know about your decision now.”
Although Chen Rui’s words were a bit overbearing, they were sounded more credible in Joseph’s ears. After all, Aguile had a Demon Overlord behind him. From the words of “Aguile Beelzebub”, the Beelzebub Royal Family had gone through hundreds of years of planning this time. They might not be doing anything now, but when they do, it must be earth-shattering.
Before that, he could use Beelzebub’s power to defeat his younger brother, Kanita and his father, Josh to fulfill his wish. By then, whether he chose to truly cooperate or backstab this ally was completely in his control as the new Red Spirit Lord.
Joseph’s idea was good, but unfortunately, even the name “Aguile Beelzebub” was fake. He had wasted all of his brain cells contemplating about this.
“My friend, Joseph Alvin is willing to be your true friend.” Joseph raised his glass and stated his attitude.
“Very good, Aguile Beelzebub is willing to accept and show my friendship.” Chen Rui also raised his cup symbolically. “As a friend, I have a personal request. Don’t touch Princess Royal for the time being as I want to do it myself. Certainly, I will not interfere with your fetish either.”
“We will all get what we want, my friend.” Joseph smiled ambiguously, “Don’t forget a phrase from our Demon Realm, the more beautiful the flower, the more poisonous it is.”
“However, there’s another phrase saying, the stronger the wine, the more fragrant it is.” Chen Rui replied, and the two laughed at the same time. Perhaps both of them were sneering in their hearts.
Chen Rui successfully achieved his goal by lying, but the most important thing was to take advantage of the situation by making the initial disadvantageous situation (such as Shea’s misunderstanding and being hunted) into an advantage to gain Joseph’s trust. However, to further gain Joseph’s trust, he needed some appropriate benefits.
At that moment, Royce had dealt with the corpse and bowed toward Joseph, “The imperial guard leader, Kaguron came to ask about the suspect. I was afraid to disturb sir’s affairs, so I sent him away without permission.”
Joseph nodded, “You did the right thing. Now, we are truly allies.”
“In order to show my sincerity, I will give you a precious gift, my friend.” Chen Rui took out one thing, “Yet, sincerity is mutual, so I also need something in return.”
Joseph was slightly surprised. As Joseph watched Chen Rui’s palm opened slowly, his facial expression suddenly changed. He could no longer maintain his calmness. His eyes became heated instantly, “Devil fruit!”
Royce and Vasasha were both surprised. Vasasha was surprised by the devil fruit; whereas Royce was surprised by the identity of the masked man. Now, he had confirmed that the “Beelzebub Royal Family” that Princess Shea ordered to hunt down across the city was his own master!
Joseph took a deep breath and gradually regained his composure, but his heart was agitated. One of the fundamental reasons why Kanita was more valued by his father was his talent and strength. Kanita was very talented. He had already approached the level of Great Demon King. However, Joseph was still staying in the middle stage of Demon King. If he could get the devil fruit, the hope of breaking through the bottleneck and the chances of becoming a Great Demon King would greatly increase. In any case, the strength that belonged to oneself was the most important and the most realistic!
Joseph suppressed his excitement and asked, “This gift is really precious. My friend, what kind of sincerity do I need to give to satisfy you?”
“Obsidian Heart and requiem fruit.” Although it was a pity for Joseph to get devil fruit, for Chen Rui, nothing was more important than the Obsidian Heart. Even if Joseph broke through to the peak of Demon King or even Great Demon King, he had complete confidence to surpass this enemy.
Joseph spoke calmly, “Both of them are extremely rare treasures. I do have one Obsidian Heart, but it’s stored at the Red Spirit Estate. I will go there in person tomorrow; I will return by 3 days at least. However, requiem fruit… I really don’t have it. Can it be replaced with something else? For example, magic materials or equipment?”
When Chen Rui heard the Obisidan Heart’s whereabouts, his heart was excited. Fortunately, with “God-Eating Mask” on his face, no one could notice his excitement. On the other hand, Joseph’s eagerness that couldn’t be concealed fell into Chen Rui’s eyes, so he sneered, “I remember that you said at the beginning that one of the conditions for our cooperation is that I can use your resources to lift my seal. Therefore, aren’t the magic materials and equipment an exclusive privilege that I initially have?”
Joseph secretly scolded this guy for being insatiable, but he must acquire the devil fruit. Since he couldn’t express his dissatisfaction at the moment, he immediately agreed, “No problem! It is Royce who is responsible for the magic store. The magic store has been rebuilt. You can go to him for anything! As for requiem fruit, I can ask someone to scout for it…
Chen Rui knew that Joseph indeed didn’t have the requiem fruit. He sighed, “Since it is a symbol of friendship, I don’t want to make it difficult for you. We’ll just change into something else. Then, I want Obsidian Heart and…” Chen Rui’s eyes glanced past Royce and fell on Vasasha’s body. He pointed at the cool-looking female Great Demon, “I want this woman!”
Talk about sincerity? Everything Joseph knew was a lie except the God-Eating Mask. I guess only Chen Rui could win the negotiation with Joseph.