People often talked about things beyond common sense with relish.
But when something beyond common sense actually appeared before them, everyone wasn't as enthusiastic as during discussions—they were frightened.
That's how Tony and Happy were right now.
After all, Tamayo had said before that demons ate people.
Although she'd also mentioned that she'd developed a drug to restrain the desire to eat people, being in the same environment as a crime scene made Tony and Happy subconsciously think they'd fallen into a demon's trap, just like in horror movies.
But after being frightened, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they saw that Tamayo was just standing in the distance smiling at them without taking any further action.
Immediately afterward came embarrassment.
It was too embarrassing to think that the dignified Stark Industries boss, the world's most famous playboy, the greatest genius scientist and superhero of the 21st century—Iron Man—had been frightened by a mere woman... a demon.
"Ahem..."
Tony coughed twice, changing the subject. "I understand the specific situation. So what do you want as payment?"
After speaking, as if worried about Tamayo misunderstanding, he quickly added, "I mean, as a demon who's lived for hundreds of years with excellent medical skills, you must have accumulated considerable wealth. The compensation you're seeking probably isn't as simple as money!"
"Of course!"
Tamayo looked at Tony with a smile. "Before we discuss compensation, I want to explain something in advance. The medicine that can turn people into demons has long been lost. I can only share my blood with you—the demon cells contained in the blood will transform you. But this way, part of my power will be divided to you."
"In other words, you have to pay a significant cost to turn me into a demon, right!" Tony thought Tamayo wanted to increase her bargaining chips, so he replied indifferently. "It doesn't matter. Just name your price. If I think it's worth it, I'll agree to the deal."
Tamayo didn't rush to answer but stared at him without looking away, making Tony uncomfortable. He thought there was something on his face and was about to touch it when she said, "I need you to kill Muzan Kibutsuji!"
"What?"
Tony had been distracted just now, so he hadn't heard clearly.
Tamayo put away her smile and repeated with a stern face, "I need you to help me kill Muzan Kibutsuji!"
Now Tony heard it clearly.
But he didn't rush to answer. Instead, he asked, "Who is this Muzan Kibutsuji? Let me make this clear first—I won't hurt others just to keep myself alive. If that guy isn't a wicked bastard, then this conversation is over!"
"You can rest assured..." Tamayo smiled again. "After all, I know you well, which is why I made such a request."
Hearing this, Tony looked at Quinn.
"Don't look at me like that." Quinn innocently shrugged with pursed lips. "I just see who has needs and then make deals with them. This isn't my business at all."
"...Alright!"
Taking a deep breath, Tony temporarily accepted Quinn's statement, then looked at Tamayo again. "Tell me, who is this Muzan Kibutsuji?"
"He..." Tamayo's expression became very solemn and her voice grew heavy. "He is the one who turned into a demon through drugs thousands of years ago."
[Ding! You obtained 230 wish points!]
[Ding! You obtained 600 wish points!]
Happy's mouth hung open, obviously surprised that this thousand-year-old figure had a connection to them.
Tony remained expressionless, as if he didn't care.
But the system prompts indicated that Tony wasn't as calm as he appeared.
"Although he was human, he's a complete bastard. During the treatment process, because the treatment effects hadn't yet appeared, he maliciously assumed that the doctor treating him with good intentions was lying to him, and thus killed the doctor... This is why demons became man-eating and sun-fearing—because the entire healing process was incomplete."
[Ding! You obtained 300 wish points!]
[Ding! You obtained 700 wish points!]
Tamayo's follow-up revelations made Tony and Happy's hearts fluctuate, though they didn't know whether it was sudden realization about the truth causing demon defects or regret about what caused these defects.
After all, if there were no such defects, this medicine that transformed people into demons would undoubtedly be the key to human evolution.
But whichever it was, Quinn didn't care—as long as he had prayer value, that was enough.
At the same time, he was satisfied with this method of harvesting—laying groundwork little by little and revealing truth bit by bit.
True, directly displaying the power of demons might give people the greatest sense of shock, thus harvesting maximum prayer value.
But what happened after the harvest?
After witnessing things at this level of shock, their knowledge broadened, making it difficult for them to react to things below this level.
It was equivalent to harvesting a big haul once, then being unable to continue harvesting—unless you showed something stronger and more exaggerated.
And once his wish value couldn't guarantee he could continue drawing stronger and more exaggerated puppets or items, growth faults would easily appear later.
Therefore, not giving up any opportunity to harvest and harvesting repeatedly was the right way.
"Muzan Kibutsuji has a bad temper and a cruel, cold personality. After he became a demon, he became even more out of control. He considers himself a higher creature and regards humans as food."
"But at the same time, he has a morbid obsession with immortality. He's extremely timid and afraid of death. It's quite taboo to say he looks seriously ill or has a short life. In order to live forever, he's been searching for a way to overcome demons' fear of sunlight."
"Finally, he found a medicinal herb called the 'Blue Spider Lily' in his doctor's notes that could solve the problem. But there's no record of this medicinal herb anywhere in the world—only the doctor knew where to find it or how to cultivate it. To find the Blue Spider Lily, Muzan used his own blood to create a large number of demons to search for him."
"This process has continued to this day. Countless people have been transformed into demons by him, and countless people have been eaten by demons. Even now, it hasn't stopped!"
[Ding! You obtained 500 wish points!]
[Ding! You obtained 2000 prayer points!]
After listening to Tamayo's explanation, Tony and Happy's emotions surged, unable to calm down for a long time.
The demon king who'd survived for thousands of years, the demon clan that ate people, and the Blue Spider Lily that overcame fear of the sun... Everything Tamayo told was like a fantasy story—unbelievable.
But with the "demon" Tamayo right in front of them, they had to believe it.
However, Tony wasn't so easily fooled. He'd found several problems in Tamayo's words.
Character Notes:
Blue Spider Lily - From: Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
A rare medicinal herb that could potentially cure demons' weakness to sunlight Only the doctor who created Muzan knew about it Muzan has been searching for it for over a thousand years