Rise of the Alchemy God

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Ethan found the situation rather peculiar.

He was aware that slaves were treated in a certain way in this place, and from the knowledge he had absorbed from the guards, he more or less knew what they could do and what they couldn't.

Slaves, depending on their master, also held a certain degree of importance.

For example, if an ordinary soldier was walking around with a slave, they were required to put a collar on the slave to indicate that they were of a certain level.

This was because if, instead of a soldier, it was a commander or a general, the treatment of the slave would be slightly different.

In this case, the slave wouldn't have a collar but rather a tattoo on the back of their hand.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The tattoo could vary, from being a generic design for slaves to a personalized one that identified the demon household the slave belonged to, or anything else.

The important thing was that it was a slave tattoo, a mark that any demon could identify, thanks to a particular scent that only their race could detect.

The position of this tattoo didn't necessarily have to be on the back of the hand. Some had it on the side of their neck, others had it stamped on their forehead, and still others in far less accessible places, and so on.

Among the many other functions of a slave tattoo, the difference between a slave tattoo and a collar also indicated the status of the owner.

Lin Yu, although purchased by a commander, had never received her slave tattoo, and the reason for this was known only to the commander who had bought and helped her at the time.

That being said, since that commander was no longer here, and she couldn't walk around without having one of the two on her, she had arranged for a regular collar to wear.

Ethan, despite understanding all these things, had to admit that the situation was a little uncomfortable for him

As far as he could recall, never in his life had he ever walked around with someone wearing a collar.

From his previous world, where such practices would earn him a one-way ticket to prison, to this world where, by some strange twist of fate, he himself had ended up as a slave and was about to be sold to a madman.

Looking at the elf girl walking beside him with the collar on as if it were nothing, he asked:

"Are you sure you want to keep walking around with that thing on?" he asked her once more.

Hearing his words, she gave him a confident look and replied, nodding her head:

"Of course. It may not seem like it, but it's common for slaves to wear these. It's really not a problem for me to have it on," she said as if it were nothing.

'That's not what I meant.'

Ethan could only shake his head at the elf girl's carefree response.

In the end, when she asked if she could accompany him, he decided to agree.

Although he wasn't truly a talent scout like Bai Yu, who sought out talents left and right, he could see that having her around might bring benefits in the future.

Taking her along wasn't really a problem, and in fact, it was useful because, although he had absorbed the memories of the two demons, those alone wouldn't be enough for him to live in this place normally.

Therefore, her presence could help him in certain problematic situations.

That said, he didn't let her join him so readily.

He set a few general conditions, two of which were the most important.

1. Don't ask questions if he does something out of the ordinary.

2. If others ask, he has amnesia and doesn't remember who he is.

The conditions might seem strange to an outsider, but despite that, the elf girl accepted without hesitation.

Normally, he would have placed a soul contract or something of the sort to ensure the other party's word, but he felt there was no need in the case of this girl.

Clearly, she didn't want to stay in this place either, and as to why, he had no interest in knowing.

That said, the two of them walked toward a large building in the center of the city.

The building was large enough to be seen even from a few miles away, and this wasn't just because of its imposing structure but also due to its rather peculiar shape.

Ethan, seeing the building in front of him, couldn't help but frown as the image of a bean came to mind.

'What an unusual shape,' he thought.

From the city's architecture, he had assumed the style of buildings here was similar to what he was used to, but now seeing a gigantic black bean-like structure made him reconsider that assumption.

He knew nothing about the architectural style of demons, nor did he care to. For now, he just wanted to get a closer look at the place he would have to use to escape from here in the future.

***

Meanwhile, as Ethan and the elf girl explored the city, Jing Xia, having just finished reporting to the general, decided to visit the soldiers' mess hall to check on the elf girl.

The building where the soldiers dined was a two-story structure, relatively large on the inside and spacious enough to accommodate more than a thousand soldiers at once.

The number might seem a bit low, considering the actual scale of the demonic army, but it had to be taken into account that those eating here were mainly low-ranking soldiers, specifically those at the one-star level.

This was because, unlike high-level soldiers who had already reached a point where their bodies no longer needed nourishment from food and could instead sustain themselves directly on the ambient energy, soldiers in the early stages of mortal cultivation didn't have that luxury, so they ate here.

Certainly, not everyone came here just to eat. After all, there were plenty of places to eat scattered throughout the city, but this particular place was used by many of them to stay in touch and meet with one another from time to time.

The competition between the various commanders' squads was fierce during missions, but when it came time to have a meal here, they all put those matters aside.

At this moment, as many demonic soldiers were enjoying a peaceful meal, they were suddenly interrupted by the sound of something breaking as a heavy pressure fell on the building, causing it to tremble suddenly.

Boom!

With a loud noise, one of the walls on the second floor of the building was destroyed, and the figure of a person shot out, flying several dozen meters before crashing to the ground.

The person who had just been sent flying was none other than the new owner of the soldiers' mess hall, who, still conscious, was trembling as he looked in fear at the hole on the second floor.

[IMPORTANT NOTICE ⬇️]