Hiro thought about the issue for half a day and eventually, he couldn''te to a conclusion.
To get his mind off the recent troubles, Hiro got up from the cracked ground and decided to roam the Decay Canyon, killing monsters and absorbing their demonic energy.
However, since Hiro couldn''t upgrade his ''bloodline'' as a demon, he decided to increase the quality of the demonic energy he absorbed instead.
It was easy to apply by using his gluttony physique, sensing the demonic energy, and extracting pure demonic essence from the demonic energy for his training.
The downside was that his progress in leveling up slowed down considerably.
However, after thinking back to the choices between short-term and long-term returns, Hiro still decided to seek for long-term improvements when it came to his personal strength.
At the very least, he still had the system to fall back on at the moment. If and when he no longer had the system, his current foundation would be sufficient to prop him up.
With that in mind, Hiro went off on a killing spree in the canyon, clearingrge batches of demons in the area regardless of their level.
To Hiro, the only difference between demons is their bloodline''s capacity to purify and contain pure demonic essence.
Thus, demons of low bloodline, regardless of their tier or level, carried the same volume of demonic essence.
There wasn''t strong or weak in Hiro''s eyes, at least not in this canyon.
The killing spree went on for an entire day and night, and when Hiro discovered no traces of demon activities within his range of perception, he finally stopped.
He didn''t bother bringing up the system panel to check his status because he could feel the changes in his body.
He could tell that he was a far way from getting to the next tier, so the minor increments in strength were useless.
At the very least, Hiro was still in the process of recycling his reserves of the demonic energy that he haphazardly refined during his stay in the Demon Realm.
His current goal was to recycle all of it into demonic essence, and only then would he look forward to more improvements.
As for infiltrating the Valdmor Stronghold? Enjoy exclusive chapters from m-v l''e|-NovelBin
That can wait until Asmir ys her cards and was engaged in the battle with her enemies.
None of the close strongholds would be spared if Asmir decided to go out on an expansion expedition.
Hiro looked around the canyon, and in his mind, he thought back to the iplete map of this realm.
He wondered if the strongholds were positioned in strategic locations after their strength and influence had reached a certain level.
If not, it wouldn''t make sense that no matter how desperate the situation was, the location of some prominent strongholds remained the same despite the passage of time.
The owners changed, but the strongholds remained the same, like ancient relics that wouldn''t budge no matter the era.
"Since I have nothing better to do, why don''t I check on the activities of my servants?" Hiro felt tempted.
He discovered that by interacting with his servants, even if briefly, their faith energy output had increased.
It felt like ying with the stock market.
Spending a bit of faith energy, presenting them with a feeling of awe, and then harvesting greater reverence in the form of faith energy.
Sadly, the telepathy skill only worked on those with a contracted rtionship with him, else he could have yed the role of a deity to a few other people.
He wouldn''t dare use faith energy for long-rangemunication, as he felt like it wasn''t worth it.
After making up his mind, Hiro found a secluded spot in the canyon, concealed his presence with the system''s help, and thought for a moment.
I should get myself a concealment ability from the system as well. This is so convenient, it''d be a pity if I lost it for no good reason.
Pushing that decision to the back of his mind, Hiro closed his eyes and started to feel out for the presence of his immaterial domain.
With thest time as an experience, Hiro quickly got his consciousness onto the Unfathomable Throne, in the universe hall.
Then, his attention moved to the constetions in the sky outside the hall, this time focusing on Juvia''s constetion first.
Soon, the constetion rippled and disyed a scene.
…
Dressed in a conservative female suit, Juvia sat behind a wooden desk in a small office.
Her silver hair was in braided style, hanging loose behind her back. She was going through legal papers at the moment, passing on some of her signatures while writing down the word "Rejected" at other times.
asionally, she would take a few moments of her time to write down a detailed analysis of why the proposal was rejected, and she would then add small hints for improvement.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door three times at a pace that was neither hurried nor rxed.
Juvia waited for exactly 30 seconds before she slowly said, "Come in."
During that half a minute of time, she arranged the documents on her desk and ced them upside down, preventing whoever it was that came to visit from taking a look, even if it was unintentional.
Soon, a fat man walked in, his expression a little nervous judging from his twitching cheeks and sweating forehead.
"Cheif Juvia, I''m sorry to disturb you at such ate hour," the fat man said, but he didn''t dare to take a seat.
Logically, the man should address her as Deputy Chief, and he shouldn''t be using her first name in the address.
However, in the political arena, calling a deputy chief as chief would hint at a person''s goodwill, while Juvia didn''t like to use the randomst name provided by the fake documents.
For one, she was a proud dragon and wouldn''t go around with a human surname to dere her identity.
As for the other reason, Hiro never bothered with her surname, so she assumed he didn''t like it and thus, she didn''t like it either.
Of course, some of the leaders and higher-ups don''t care about her feelings, while some of her enemies would deliberately say things that could get under her skin just to get a reaction.
With that in mind, Juvia understood that this man might have visited her for a favor.
As for saying that he visited her at ate hour, it was because office hours were about to be over.
However, only naive people with low EQ would take something like office hours seriously in the public service sector.
To government officials and public servants, things like work hours and the usual 8 hours 6 days a week routine was just a formality on paper.
Even when they''re home, government officials are still working.
However, Juvia understood that this man was simply expressing his apology in advance, hinting that he had something serious going on.
Juvia stood up with a gentle, weing smile on her beautiful face and gestured with her hand, "Please take a seat first, catch your breath."
After she spoke, she walked to the water dispenser in the corner and prepared a paper cup of cold water.
The fat man was seemingly surprised by the respectful reception, and for a moment, he didn''t know how to act.
"Rx," Juvia brought the two paper cups back to the desk and sat down first. "It''s hot outside, and I can tell that you''re feeling ufortable. Don''t stand on ceremony with me,rade."
Only after Juvia sat down did the fat man approach the desk, pull a chair over, and take a seat.
However, he sat with his bottom on the edge of the chair, grabbed the water cup with both hands, and expressed his thanks before taking a tentative sip of water.
Seeing how causal and rxed Juvia was, the fat man finally rxed his nerves.
His eyes unintentionally wandered around, and when the corner of his eyes noticed the papers on the desk, he immediately retracted his sight.
Thankfully, he didn''t see anything.
"Chief Juvia, you must seek justice for me this time," the fat man''s expression was incredibly anxious, and his eyes were red.
"What happened?" Juvia asked calmly, maintaining her gentle expression.
"My business is a small constructionpany, and we won the bid for the elementary school construction project in your district this season.
"However, it turned out that the investmentpany providing funding for us was a shellpany to a shady business, and they want us to help themunder money through using cheap construction materials and returning the excessive costs to them…
"They threatened mypany with their connections from above, and I''m really trapped this time… Other than mypany, I have nothing! I didn''t marry, I don''t have children, and even my parents and old and want nothing more than a peaceful life…
"I can''t agree to their demands, but I can''t turn back after epting the bid this time, otherwise mypany is done for! However, how can I y with the lives of elementary school children?! My conscience can''t take it!
"Please, I have no one to go to for this, please help me…"
As he spoke, the fat man finally broke down sobbing, his words leaving his mouth in slurred sentences.