“I initially thought it was just a simple smuggling operation, at most a ruse to swindle those vampires out of their coin. Who would’ve thought that these profiteers would make a splash?”
“The antiques in those vampire's houses are probably older than these human's great-grandparents. So, what exactly did they offer in exchange for those vampire possessions?”
The werewolf contemplated, “Your Majesty, our investigation indicates they traded ordinary herbs from the human world, as well as some flowers that only bloom during the day.”
“Isn't this just bullying the innocent, no, bullying the vampires?” Murphy was livid at these inter-dimensional fraudulent activities. As the Demon King, he noticed even the clueless demons had never attempted to deceive him, yet some humans dared scam naive, innocent vampires?
“This is more serious than I thought. Have you let those people go?”
In Murphy's original plan, smugglers were like leeks in the field, as long as you confiscate their goods and let them go, the hefty profits would lure the smugglers to carve out new smuggling paths. These paths wouldn’t elude the plethora of ghosts, so Murphy could periodically procure some great items free of cost as his startup investment while smugglers could only swallow this bitter pill. It was indeed a sustainable exploitation strategy.
However, even if you confiscate all the profiteer's merchandise now, it’s just a pile of hay, not something you can sell back to the humans. But the vampires had already given up their precious possessions.
Murphy never thought that a business venture with no initial investment could turn into a loss. He could already picture the precious artifacts from the vampire’s houses making their grand entrance at a banquet amongst human kingdom's nobles.
Although Murphy really wanted to slaughter all the smugglers and profiteers, considering the future, he conjured a new scheme.
The werewolf seemingly anticipated this, hastily said, “None was released. We feared they may run away, so we kept them confined in a cavern in the poisonous marsh.”
"There are living dead and ghosts patrolling day and night." The ghost lord, Wirt, added.
"That's good. Let's take a look at these profiteers.”
---
The furious Demon King used his powerful magic to unblock the long-standing fixed teleportation array, allowing him, Shaun, and Wirt to quickly arrive at the smuggling traffickers' detention cave entrance.
To conceal the identity of the Demon King, Murphy remained in his human form. He encountered a green Slime in the poisonous marsh, who agreed to become a one-time skull mask, doing this small favor for Lord Murphy.
Murphy recalled his own fraudulent activities against old Baker, which sparked a brilliant idea.
After a five-minute screenplay and a discussion with the two lords, Murphy decided to give the play a second run.
So, a mysterious masked figure, tinkering with a luminous crystal flanked by two demons, stepped into the cave.
The dull, wet, and cold cave had several traffickers bound up like dumplings, huddling together like oversized shaking bugs. As Murphy entered, a mix of faint cursing, praying, and sobbing filled the ear, souring the mood.
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Murphy signaled Wirt, and a pale ghost fire emerged beside the ghost, flying in all directions and dropping at different corners of the cave.
The smugglers, blinded by the sudden bright light, tightened their eyes and squirmed on the ground, eager to see the newcomer's face, presently encountering only a pale skull.
Once their vision adjusted to the brightness, they realized that the visitor was just a masked human. But seeing him side by side with the wolf and ghost, who had captured them, everyone started to get a sinking feeling. 'No wonder there wasn't an issue before, we’ve stepped on a landmine this time,' was the collective thought.
Murphy bent down, grabbed a fat trader by the hair, lifted his head to the skull mask.
A hoarse voice resonated beneath the skull mask, “Being humans yet smuggling with demons, you’ve got guts! Don’t you fear the gallows in the royal square?”
Murphy, in reality, had no clue what the human capital was called. However, he recollected a drunkard at the tavern in Succubi town babbling about his youthful escapades in the capital, witnessing “traitors” hanging in the capital square for colluding with demons. So, now that drunken story had become Murphy’s threat.
The fat trader thought to himself ‘We are of the same trade, what’s with the pretense?’ Fear was evident on his face, “Your Excellency, I am but a petty trader, momentarily blinded by gold, hence I stumbled into this trade. I implore you to discern my situation!”
The fat man did not know if the visitor was a noble, but licking boots was generally the wisest thing to do in such circumstances.
A somewhat pleased voice came from his side, “Oh? How do you know I am a noble?”
“Of course because of your distinguished demeanor, Your Excellency,” replied the trader. With years in the smuggling trade, the fat man had lost all notions of ‘face’. Especially right now, in this life-threatening situation, his only option was to ramp up the buttering.
“The man sure has a way with words, well then, let me ask you a couple of questions.”
“Your Excellency, please ask.” The fat trader felt as if the blade on his neck was somewhat loosened.
“How many people typically smuggle with the demon kind?” Murphy asked about the matter he was most concerned about.
The fat man seemed a bit disgruntled, glanced at the others on the ground and whispered, “None left, all here.”
“You think I‘m a fool? Do you expect me to believe that so many of you were smuggling together and not afraid of getting caught?” Murphy bluntly asked his most prominent doubt, causing Wirt to move from his hazy state, falsely assuming that Murphy was addressing him.
The fat trader continued, “This time we planned a big hit, swap all the good stuff from the vampire houses. So everyone pooled in their money, bought a huge batch of goods, came to sell together for one last time, and planned to divide the treasures afterward. But…”
“But you got raided, didn’t you? I originally thought I was arresting a small thief, but instead unexpectedly stumbled upon a whole theft ring.”
Murphy snorted, "So you've all exhausted your capital?”
The man on the ground had already given up the struggle, he sobbed, “Not just that, Your Excellency. I don’t know about them, but I borrowed a hundred gold coins in usury. Even if I don't end up at the gallows, I could be killed by debt collectors in the slums.”
The skull mask, moving over each person on the ground, looked like it was about to ask a question.
“Your Excellency! I took eight gold coins in usury.”
“Your Excellency! I took fifty.”
“…”
The smugglers on the ground began to moan their grievances. The last time Murphy encountered such a scene was the night he arrived in this world.
Of course, he didn't have time to pay attention to everyone's usury debts, what he wanted was the effect.
Well then, with the ambiance set perfectly, it was time to close the deal.
“Gentlemen, you have a choice. Your cash flow has been severed as you see and if you want to live and rise again, consider collaborating with me. Of course, I am an enlightened employer, so you do have the right to refuse. I won’t mind.”
These traders knew they had landed in a troublesome space. If they refused, they were sure to be knocked unconscious and thrown into the marsh, where in a couple of weeks or months, they'd become living dead, shipped off to a mythical workhouse where the living dead toil day and night.
So, the smugglers who were squirming on the ground like worms moments ago, suddenly transformed into docile bunnies, singing praises of the "noble lord's" benevolence. The gloomy cave was suddenly filled with songs of praise, much like a choir performing in a church.