Chương 56: [1.56] At a Crossroads (Part 2)

"So, is that the place?" After half an hour of driving, Grahj parked the car on top of a rocky hill, overlooking the first real place that Angelica had seen in the desert. It was a gas station with an attached autoshop, the only thing around. At least it wasn't completely isolated like the crossroads. Angelica could see the blur of proper civilization in the distance. That, or she'd been staring so long at sand that mirages were already starting to plague her mind.

But overall, it looked like a good place to perform criminal deeds. Gelic had spent most of the drive staring at her DGS screen and Skill Weave. There was a little bit of deliberating adjustments for her lifeplan, but most of the time was spent debating whether or not to spend her Essence, since she had enough for another level. Ultimately, she decided not to. More MP and Health was always nice, but it left her more liable to spend the Growth Point on something instead of saving it like her plan dictated.

If needed, where she found herself in a situation that she desperately needed the slight stat boost, she could do it then. Of course, enough temptation could lead her to leveling up and spending the point, anyways, but this at least made it one step removed. And by golly, nothing would stand between her and her precious Auto-Color! Or at least she'd make every effort to make that a reality. It had eluded her thus far, but no more!

For the last bit of the drive, Angelica had thought about hawking up her phone to scroll through random nonsense, but then she got oddly paranoid about her location. What would her service provider think if she suddenly connected from a random desert somewhere in the world—still unaware of the specifics, something she'd check with its GPS if that also wouldn't present problems. But then she vaguely remembered from one of her computer classes something about being able to spoof her device's location.

Not something she'd ever done, but something that some people did, so it probably wouldn't be too weird. Still, maybe Summoners had their own phone service, like with banks. Something to ask Fioso about, but that was a problem for another day. And right about when she convinced herself it'd be fine to bring out her phone, they'd arrived.

"W-w-wha-wait, wait, wait!" Gelic about damn near leapt out of her skin when Grahj reached over the glovebox and pulled out a pistol.

"N-no need for that just yet. Let me go scout things out, see what I can do, before you go in literally guns blazing." The man gave her a stern look.

"You really think you can clear the way by yourself?"

"Hrm, perhaps." Since she didn't know the situation just yet, it was hard to say for certain.

"I'll admit, I am a bit new to this kind of work. But… I am a Demon with magical powers who is invisible to most. So, hopefully, I can make something work. Just don't do anything rash. I'll contact you if I need backup." Before she could hear further arguments, Gelic scrambled out of the car and headed down the hill, doing her best not to tumble down a sandy dune.

She skittered across the way, past the unassuming gas station which likely served as the front of the operation, and back to the garage, where there was a noticeable lack of cars. There were some, but all ones that looked to be in good shape, none laying around looking like they needed work, unlike any other garage she'd been to. Wow, they're not even trying to be subtle. Inside the main workshop, there was nothing remotely automotive-related, except for maybe a standard toolchest buried away in a corner.

There were nearly a dozen goons standing around in what looked way more like a laboratory than any automotive shop. One guy was taking stock, opening cooler after cooler. They looked super expensive, too, specifically designed for their nefarious deeds. Almost definitely a heart in there, or many. This was quite the racket. And more than anything, Gelic was hit with a bolt of inspiration. A real-life criminal gang, they'd make good reference material.

Maybe Merlina in her comic would be faced with some similar ruffians trying to move in on her turf, or something silly. All previous worries were gone, and she immediately took out her phone to take some pictures. For, uhh…. Evidence, yeah, totally, that's what it was for. With that little bonus errand done, it was time to figure out how to dispose of their impediment. She could probably go around and deliver some slaps of Toxic Imbuement. That would certainly get rid of them in no time at all… permanently.

And despite them being criminals, and despite her now being a Demon, Angelica was still hung up on the idea of actually killing a human. Sure, she had just attacked one the night before, gave him a good whalloping, destroyed his possessions, and likely mentally scarred him for life, but she didn't go as far as her Malice wanted to take it. He would ultimately be alright and could still atone. Unfortunately, Toxic didn't come in a non-lethal version, at least that she knew of.

And if it did, she didn't know how to make that distinction with her power. But, hey, it didn't hurt to check. DGS, can I make it so Toxic Imbuement doesn't kill the afflicted target? [No] Well, she got a clear answer, at least. Too bad it wasn't the one she wanted. Maybe Demons didn't understand or care for that kind of mercy. If someone was in their way, just remove them by any means necessary. Well, her Malice wasn't that high just yet. Ah, now, there's an idea.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. [Starvation Lv. 4] [Might, Malice notably increased] [Famine Attunement notably increased] Gelic nearly fell off her window perch after casting Starvation on every target in sight, along with a bout of Hunger tacked on. She'd taken advantage of the Skill's chaining ability, but it still required a few distinct uses.

A quick check of her status showed that she'd used up about two-thirds of her MP with just those few casts. Why was it so high? When she emptied her own stomach, it never even crossed the double digits. Maybe using it on other people cost more, since they weren't receiving the effect willingly? That would lean into the expression of Might and Malice, why they were important. Perhaps these people, going by their burly sizes on average, just ate a lot more than she did, meaning there was more to delete.

And she got the effect she was going for. All of a sudden, there was a harmonizing chorus of growling stomachs so loud that she could even hear it through the closed window.

"Damn, I'm really hungry," one of the organ farmers complained, or so Gelic assumed, since it was slightly muffled.

"I know we just ate lunch not long ago, but I'm heading out for a bite."

"Hang on, I'll come with you."

"Same."

"Let's go to a steakhouse."

"Nah, a buffet."

"Wait, we can't all go. Someone has to stay and watch the goods. You stay."

"Nah, man, my stomach will eat itself. Scuff that. I'm going. I'll throw down if you try to stop me!"

"We'll just get Brankie to keep an ear out. As long as we come back after we're full, it'll be fine." There were a lot of nods and agreeing murmurs after that, and the goon squad filed out of the building. They began to pile into the nearby cars with the same guy calling out, "Hey, Brankie, we're going to get some food. We'll bring you back something. Hold down the fort!" Minus the soul-sucking drain of expending so much power, that honestly felt a bit too easy.

Fragile humans really were pitiful compared to the majesty of even the lowest of Demons. It made Angelica feel weird when she thought about how much of history had probably been influenced by Demons just fritsing about. Probably every unexplained phenomena and supernatural happening could be traced back to them. If Hell really wanted to, they could take over this planet easily, assuming they had the power to overwhelm the Summoners.

So, yeah, probably in, like, an afternoon, just from what she had seen and understood so far. It likely wasn't that simple, or they probably would have already, but still. Of course, despite feeling high and mighty about her new species, Gelic still hid when the cavalcade loaded up and rolled out, just in case one of them had Magical Proficiency. Mostly because they were packing heat.

Almost all of them had a handgun on their hip, and a few others had been fiddling around with heavier firepower earlier like they were fidget toys. Angelica had really come to not like guns. She'd never fired one, never touched one, couldn't even recall a time she'd seen one in real life, up until the museum incident. And that had been enough of a catastrophe that she wanted nothing to do with guns ever again.

If it hadn't been for her flabby squishyness, that probably would have been the end of her life then and there. She didn't want to count on the same luck again. Weirdly, her mother was sort of into them, a hobby that never quite seemed to fit, and could be part of why Angelica was naturally against them. Corticia had offered to take her shooting a few times for fun, but she'd always refused, and her mother kept them out of the house otherwise at least.

After the cars were kicking up sand well in the distance, she did a once around the perimeter to make sure she hadn't missed someone. All clear, so it was time to report to the boss.

"Hey, Grahj, I got rid of all the baddies."

"He-huh?" She got a weird noise in response. Not something she ever expected out of the middle-aged man. Kinda funny.

"Did you just talk into my head, Gelic?!"

"Ah, yeah, I guess you wouldn't know about that." And now that she thought about it, there was no guarantee he'd have the Mind-Link skill either, since it was listed as a Summoner Skill in her system. But maybe all it took to be a Summoner was to perform a Summoning, so he was one whether he intended to be or not. And for juice, it was probably siphoning his stagnant mana he'd built up over the years, which was likely tapping into her later Essence payment.

"Anyways, I've cleared out the bad guys, but it sounds like someone is still posted in the gas station. You stay where you're at, I'll look for the heart. Keep you updated." She began opening each cooling machine, basically repeating the same inventory count. Maybe you wouldn't have to go through all this effort if you labelled properly! she ranted, getting tired of looking at the dozenth, uhh, spleen? Liver?

Okay, she had never paid too much attention in anatomy lessons, so most of the lumpy organs looked the same. She just knew that they weren't hearts. Gelic jumped when she heard the sudden click of the door.

"Grahj, I told you to stay put!" She practically hissed at the visitor.

"Then how would you know which heart it is?"

"I dunno," she admitted.

"It's for a kid, so the small one, I guess." Maybe Scrying Eye or Divining Ear could help her out with it, but they never got the chance. The man walked with purpose, kneeling down next to a specific cryo pod, and pulled it open to confirm the contents. His eyes lit up with a joy that Gelic hadn't yet seen, like he was coming back to life after being lost in misery. He had hope. But that was a hope she had to dash, just a bit.

"How are you planning to get that thing back to your country?" she inquired.

"It's a big-ass container, and you took a plane to get here, right? Do you think customs are just gonna let you waltz in with an electric cooler with a human heart inside?" A painful look of realization dawned on the man. But before they could discuss options, there was another issue. Gelic suddenly shivered, her body jittering beyond her control. She knew what it was, a warning from Suspecting Skin.

"Scuff, someone's coming!"