Chapter 6: The Inquisitor
When Duan Ke woke up, it was already eleven in the morning.
Someone had properly dressed him in pajamas. His golden-brown curls were slept into a mess, and he held a green dinosaur plushie larger than himself in his arms. He leaned against the headboard with a blank expression, recalling what happened last night.
His memory seemed to have been chopped up; Duan Ke only remembered a few blurry fragments.
In his memory, Qin Huai’s voice was low and calm throughout, but not cold.
When Duan Ke drank too eagerly and almost choked, Qin Huai pinched his chin to stop him, coaxing him repeatedly to drink slowly, only letting go after confirming Duan Ke had listened. When Duan Ke was about to faint, Qin Huai pressed his palm against Duan Ke’s forehead, confirming he was just exhausted and not running a high fever, before lifting him up again and carrying him into the bedroom.
Duan Ke squeezed the soft dinosaur in his hand tighter. His flexible, soft tongue swept around his mouth a few times. He didn’t taste any residual blood, only the sweet flavor of orange candy.
It’s his toothpaste.
…It seems Qin Huai was kind enough to brush my teeth for me afterward.
Unfortunately, he was completely unconscious by then. Duan Ke couldn’t remember at all how Qin Huai had handled his limp, unconscious body in the bathroom to clean him so meticulously.
Duan Ke had been in the human world for three years, but his intimate contact with humans was truly limited, and his experience dealing with these matters was almost non-existent.
He was quite close with his three roommates, but they were just friends, far from the level of intimacy involving dressing him, coaxing him not to cry, and brushing his teeth.
But Duan Ke liked watching videos of small animals. Based on his observations, humans were very attentive to their little cats. Not only would they try every trick to get the cats to drink water or take medicine when they wouldn’t eat, but they would also groom and brush their teeth.
So, this human treating me as a transformed kitten and helping with these things means he agreed to be my keeper, right?
It must be!
It seems the food problem is solved.
This human’s vitality was truly too potent and too delicious. Duan Ke felt he wouldn’t get tired of it after one meal like before; on the contrary, the more he ate, the more he wanted.
Although feeding once a week was still far from satisfying the Progenitor Succubus’s body, at least it guaranteed he wouldn’t starve to death. Duan Ke felt very satisfied.
Willing to feed me blood, and so considerate.
My keeper really is a gentle, good human.
Sure enough, unreasonable and impersonal humans like the Inquisitor are the minority!
Duan Ke happily rolled twice on the milky-yellow bed holding the dinosaur.
His bones felt crisp from sleep; he didn’t want to get up at all. He smoothly transitioned from sitting to lying down, stretching his arm to feel for the phone by the bed.
There was a note under the phone. Duan Ke picked it up curiously.
Written on it was “Qin Huai,” in handwriting that was sharp but not flamboyant, followed by a contact number.
Duan Ke silently recited the name twice in his heart, thinking it sounded nice. He hurriedly sent a WeChat friend request to the other party and lay there obediently holding the phone, waiting for a few minutes.
The other party didn’t reply immediately. Duan Ke thought he might be busy with work, so he didn’t keep guarding the messages. He lazed around for half an hour before getting out of bed.
He had class this afternoon. Duan Ke carefully confirmed the time and location of the class and set off forty minutes early to take the subway.
While rushing, Duan Ke was surprised to find his body had unprecedented strength.
Although his short stature caused by picky eating couldn’t grow any taller, and his muscles looked virtually non-existent, he could feel an endless strength stored within his body.
My small, soft fist could probably send four people flying right now.
Of course, Duan Ke wouldn’t do that, nor did he feel particularly smug about it.
He still sat quietly in the last row of the classroom, his hands placed obediently on his knees, eyes lowered as he quietly previewed the PPT.
Even if his power increased, he wouldn’t have any extra thoughts. He would only be troubled that getting full had become difficult, and his regular, ordinary daily life wouldn’t change in the slightest.
But fortunately, he was lucky enough to meet Qin Huai, so the problem of not getting full was smoothly resolved.
Knock knock. The desk next to Duan Ke was tapped twice. A familiar, cool voice came from above his head. “Duan Ke.”
Duan Ke looked up in surprise, his eyes smiling. “Brother He Yang, you… Hmm???!!!”
Duan Ke’s trailing note took a weird turn. His eyes almost popped out, and both parties saw uncertainty and shock in each other’s eyes.
It was Duan Ke who spoke first with a trembling voice. He scanned He Yang up and down, finally staring tightly into He Yang’s signature emerald green eyes, asking in disbelief:
“You are… You are Heracles??”
Although monsters had no unified leader and governed themselves, everyone remembered top-tier monsters who were extremely powerful or had prominent characteristics.
Just like humans who didn’t follow celebrities could still name a few big stars.
And among the many top-tier monsters, Heracles was one of the most famous. Because Heracles occupied both of the two elements that make one famous.
Super rich. Invincibly rich.
As the embodiment of human greed, the evil Western dragon, Heracles was born constantly chasing wealth and fame. His hoarding of wealth had lasted for several centuries.
According to leaks from the Demon Realm forum’s melon patch, the dragon Heracles’ assets combined could buy the entire Dubai.
Duan Ke was a succubus who liked reading the melon patch, so of course, he had heard of this famous demon tycoon.
But a top-tier villain is actually in my dorm room—this, Duan Ke truly hadn’t expected.
Heracles had very standard Western features: black hair, green eyes, and a high nose bridge. Those eyes, always calculating, would squint unconsciously, plotting something unknown.
Duan Ke nibbled on the crispy crust of his buttered toast, looking brightly at the dragon horns on top of Heracles’ head.
“Can I touch them?”
Heracles extended his hand frankly: “You can. Ten thousand yuan per second.”
Duan Ke: “Thanks, no need.”
Truly a profiteer! Not even pretending anymore!
Duan Ke took a vicious bite of the toast to vent his anger.
How did I not see before that this roommate was the giant dragon himself!
Previously, Duan Ke had wondered why this international student roommate, whose clothes clearly indicated a wealthy background, was so keen on making and saving money. He wouldn’t leave the dorm without picking up a few delivery errands, and wouldn’t order takeout without a coupon worth more than 6 yuan.
But if he was Heracles, then never mind.
Heracles lazily stirred the pasta on his plate with a fork, speaking casually, “It’s normal you didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect you to be the Progenitor Succubus either.”
That being said, Duan Ke still felt strange.
He asked, “I can see your true form because my magic awakened, but hasn’t your magic always been normal? Why couldn’t you see my true form?”
Heracles ate a mouthful of pasta and mumbled, “Oh, I’m lazy. What’s the use of seeing the true forms of low-level monsters? There’s no money to be made.”
“My eyes only automatically reveal top-tier monsters.” Heracles sat opposite Duan Ke, leaning closer across the table. pointing at his own face, he squinted his emerald eyes cunningly.
“Their money is often the easiest to earn.”
They were currently eating at the Western restaurant with the best environment in the school. consumption here was relatively high, and the surroundings were mostly couples on dates. The two of them were already out of place.
Now that Heracles was talking about strange topics without lowering his voice, people around them couldn’t help but peek at them.
Duan Ke felt a bit uncomfortable. Holding his bread, he leaned in and whispered, “He Yang… uh, Brother He Le, can we not talk about this? It’s so awkward.”
“Sure.” The other party didn’t insist. Resting his chin on one hand, he said bluntly, “Then let’s talk about something else.”
“Can you help me deal with that Inquisitor?”
“Inquisitor?” Duan Ke’s eyes widened instantly. “Why?”
Mentioning this made Heracles grit his teeth with hatred. He stabbed his fork viciously into the pasta and stirred.
He was originally a monster active in Europe. Relying on his magic, his business there was thriving, and his assets were about to leap from one Dubai to two Dubais, achieving another small goal of dragon life.
But that Inquisitor from the East suddenly issued a global ban: monsters could no longer use magic on humans. This directly cut off Heracles’ source of wealth, and cutting off his wealth was no different from taking his life.
Hearing the news, the giant dragon was so angry he breathed fire directly on the street. Consequently, he was caught by the Bureau over there for violating the ban.
He had immense power and influence, so the Bureau didn’t dare truly imprison him. After ensuring he had calmed down and wouldn’t use magic to burn streets again, they symbolically fined him five hundred yuan and released him.
But Heracles still hated him to the bone. That was five hundred yuan!!
He immediately decided to fly to the city where this Easterner was and kill him unknowingly.
But this Inquisitor was too cunning and hid his identity too strictly. The dragon’s influence wasn’t in the East, so he still hadn’t been able to find out who this bastard was.
“Your ability is mind control, right?” Heracles bit the tip of his fork, speaking eerily, “Help me find this damned idiot, and I’ll kill him.”
Duan Ke refused: “I don’t want to.”
He didn’t want to have contact with the Inquisitor in this life, let alone actively look for him. Absolutely impossible.
Heracles’ green eyes widened.
“Why?? Are you not hungry right now? His ban stops you from using charm magic; can you get full?”
Heracles’ words made Duan Ke pause in his bread-nibbling. He seemed to feel the warm touch of Qin Huai’s fingertips supporting his chin again.
Duan Ke recalled the taste of Qin Huai he experienced for the first time last night. The bread in his hand suddenly lost its appeal. He licked his lips and said, “I have a keeper now, so I don’t need to use charm magic. So there’s no need to find the Inquisitor.”
“And I’m very weak.” Duan Ke said sincerely, “I can’t beat him.”
As a dragon chasing wealth, Heracles loved doing business with succubi the most. They were widely popular with humans and mostly very good at raking in gold coins; moreover, when succubi were dominated by instinct, the deal was impossible not to close.
When Heracles had a human full of sexual charisma actively seduce a hungry succubus, no matter what astronomical price was asked, the succubus couldn’t refuse. And once sold, it was a big order lasting three days and three nights.
But…
Heracles squeezed for a long time before squeezing out a sentence: “…What kind of monster can feed the Progenitor Succubus?? Do you not need to feed on a dozen people simultaneously right now to get full?”
There was no ambiguity in Heracles’ tone; he was genuinely confused.
Duan Ke answered, “He is indeed quite gifted… To be honest, I’ve only seen one human like this in all these years, and I lost him. This current one is the second.”
Heracles’ expression was hard to describe. He really wanted to ask what the man did for work.
Is he a pile driver spirit??
But on second thought, a noble dragon shouldn’t waste precious time on an irrelevant human who couldn’t make money. So he gave up struggling with this boring question and reservedly wiped his mouth with the napkin on the side.
He didn’t give up on persuading and tried again: “Then you…”
Bang!
Suddenly, the ground beneath Duan Ke’s feet rose as if it had come alive, almost lifting the entire small Western restaurant.
Protruding rocks flipped all the tables. The sound of shattering plates, screams rising one after another, and chaotic footsteps rang out together. It was instant chaos.
Duan Ke and Heracles exchanged glances, nodded slightly, and simultaneously made defensive gestures.
Already can’t run.
But Duan Ke wasn’t very panicked, and neither was Heracles.
A few seconds later, the expected sensation of weightlessness arose. Duan Ke hugged the unfinished bag of bread tightly, closed his eyes, and planned to spread his wings a second before hitting the ground so he wouldn’t fall and hurt himself.
“Inquisitor, sudden top-tier monster attack at A University, please instruct!”
[Author’s Note] Brother Pile Driver is on his way to catch someone.
Small Theater: [Shortly After] Qin Huai: Expressionlessly scans QR code to pay and leaves a five-star review.
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