Chapter 552: Chapter 536: Murder for Hire

Facing Mammon’s tyrannical will that seemed almost capable of crushing space itself, Allen remained completely fearless.

"Five million."

He uttered the figure.

Mammon’s flailing arms instantly froze in midair, his impending eruption of fury forcibly choked back down his throat by those two words.

"Five million Soul Coins."

Allen raised his hand, projecting a set of plane coordinates into the air. "I am hiring you, along with your entire Demon Legion, to launch a plane invasion."

The coordinates were clearly labeled: [Plane Development and Exploration Association - Cross-Plane Trade Route Security Department - Kaspar Murphy’s Asset - Resource Realm Z-019].

Since Kaspar enjoyed using a borrowed knife to kill, Allen didn’t mind paying a horde of demons to rip up his foundation and strip him bare.

"A Wizard Plane?"

Mammon leaned his massive body forward. A pungent stench of blood blew away the surrounding light and shadows as the Greedy Monarch let out a rumbling sneer.

"You want me to be the idiot charging headfirst into your wizards’ internal drama?"

Mammon continuously waved one of his arms. "Five million? Even though I don’t know who Kaspar Murphy is, the Ministers of your Association are all bona fide Morning Star Wizards!"

Mammon’s sense of smell for danger was sharper than a dog’s.

"Do you take me for a fool like Sargeras, who only knows how to conquer?

"You’re asking me to chew on a tough bone by attacking a lair he’s been managing for years. My legion would suffer heavy casualties. It might even draw the encirclement of the Gate of Truth or your damn Association!"

Mammon looked down at Allen from high above. "Five million souls aren’t even enough to fill the gaps between my children’s teeth! Once my legion leaves Purgatory and steps into a Material Plane, it’s a massive gamble! More money! Otherwise, I’ll dismantle this shell of yours right now and use it as an ornament!"

As the saying goes, the one who complains about the goods is the one who wants to buy them. The demon hadn’t refused; he was simply jacking up the price. This deal had potential.

Allen’s face remained impassive. When dealing with the greedy, one couldn’t just offer fixed sums of money; one had to create room for them to embezzle.

"Fifteen million." Allen revealed his bottom line. "Five million is just the personal upfront payment for you.

"The other ten million Soul Coins will be entirely at your disposal. This is your ’war operations budget’."

Mammon froze. Once again, he failed to keep up with this wizard’s line of thought.

"Operations budget?"

"Purgatory has ninety-nine floors. Why must you do it all yourself?"

Allen directly injected the logic of commercial subcontracting into the demon’s mind. "Take the ten million budget I’m giving you. Go to the third floor and find Asmodeus, or go to the fifth floor and find those brainless Frenzied Demon Lords.

"How much money you spend to hire them as cannon fodder and what promises you make to them—that is up to your own capabilities. Every Soul Coin you save in the process..."

Allen paused for half a second before uttering the words a demon would love to hear the most: "...will be your personal profit. Taking a kickback. Understand?"

A long, deathly silence fell over the Greed Demon Palace.

CRACK!

Mammon’s dozens of palms clenched into fists simultaneously. The gold and jewels adorning his body trembled wildly in intense excitement.

He thought, "Skimming the difference! Subcontracting projects! I love this! I absolutely love this!"

To take the financier’s money, hire a bitter rival’s legion as cannon fodder, let competitors suffer devastating casualties while attacking the Wizard Fortress, and sit in the rear not only reaping the spoils of war but also siphoning off at least seventy percent of the military budget!

Fifteen million flawless Soul Coins! If handled properly, he could pocket at least eight million!

"Deal!!"

Mammon let out a fanatical roar. A scroll bearing Purgatory Law emerged from the void, densely covered in a Demon Language contract that radiated an inescapable binding force.

"Sign it! I will immediately turn Kaspar Murphy’s territory into ruins!" Mammon’s eyes were so bloodshot they looked ready to drip blood.

Allen remained noncommittal. He reviewed the contract twice, confirming there were no issues, then controlled the puppet to raise its hand, preparing to brand his signature onto the parchment.

However, the moment his Spiritual Power touched the contract, a sudden change occurred!

A fiercely greedy and vicious glint exploded in Mammon’s eyes. His dozens of hands didn’t reach for the contract; instead, they violently tore through space, transforming into an absolute cage interwoven with gold and white bones that crashed down over the Alchemy Puppet’s head!

The contract was a fake! Or rather, the transaction was real, but the instant the Greed Demon King saw this massive wealth, his greedy instincts completely overwhelmed his commercial logic!

"Hahaha! Caught you!"

Mammon roared madly. The space law of the entire 7th Floor underwent complete Solidification under the throne’s interference, severing all possibilities of cross-realm transmission and spatial blinking.

"Fifteen million? Too troublesome! I can smell the sweetness of your soul, stupid wizard. You can’t hide it from me—you came here in person! As long as I completely imprison you in my Demon Palace and torture you day and night in the Soul Furnace, I will naturally obtain all your wealth!"

Mammon’s palms slammed shut, tightly crushing the Alchemy Puppet in his grasp.

"I want it all! Your money, your factories, your walking vault—they are all mine! Just stay beneath my feet as a slave! Hahaha! This is the rule of Purgatory!"

To a demon, when you displayed wealth, they would absolutely never consider doing long-term business with you. Instead, they would immediately kill the goose that laid the golden eggs and seize everything.

Within the demon’s palm, the metal components of the Alchemy Puppet let out an overwhelmed CREAK.

Yet, the puppet’s face did not show the terror and despair the demon was expecting. On the contrary, Allen even had the leisure to raise his hand and adjust the puppet’s slightly crooked bowtie.

"A demon’s credibility is truly worse than toilet paper."

"Cut the crap! Hand over the source of your Soul Coins!" Mammon increased his grip strength, preparing to forcefully extract the soul from within the puppet.

"The probing game ends here, Mammon." Allen remained as calm and composed as ever, as if he wasn’t the one being squeezed in the demon’s hand. "If you still want that fifteen-million mega order...

"...then send this body in your hand back to the Great Library Plane, completely intact."

Before his voice could even fade...

CLUNK.

Stripped of control, the Alchemy Puppet’s limbs slumped down. It hung in Mammon’s giant palm like a piece of scrap metal.

The soul dissipated, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

All Law of Cause and Effect tracking, spatial lockdowns, and Magic Power detection completely lost their target in this instant.

Mammon looked at the lifeless puppet shell in his palm, his initially fanatical eyes gradually freezing over.

He had nowhere to start, no way to track, and no way to threaten! The other party had seen right through his greed. Every single step of his sudden hostile betrayal had been within the wizard’s calculations!

A sense of being made a fool of, mixed with the insatiable lust for those fifteen million Perfect Souls, exploded in Mammon’s chest.

"ARGH! WIZARD—!!"

The dark red Sky Vault of Purgatory’s 7th Floor shook violently, and a deafening roar echoed through the Despair Mountain Range.

The Greedy Monarch shattered the golden load-bearing pillar in front of him with a single punch. Looking down at the Alchemy Shell on the ground, he let out a maddened roar that resounded throughout all of Purgatory:

"Cunning wizard!! Damn that Kaspar Murphy... I’ll kill Kaspar Murphy! Send this pile of scrap metal back! Pass down my orders—prepare for war!!"

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