45 It's a scam!

Entering the poorly lit room, Long Jiao could smell urine and cheap alcohol. Demon's sitting around the room talking in a small voice with each other.

Walking up to the bar, he sit down in front of the counter.

"What can I get you?" the barman asked.

"Glass of a Succubus wine."

"Good joke." the barman laughed giving him a glass of… wine? Or at least something that had alcohol in it. With a sniff of it, Long Jiao wanted to puke.

"Oh right, there is no point in this, I'm looking for someone who knows a lot."

"You mean an information broker? You don't look like you are from around here. Why don't you introduce yourself first?"

Taking out a bunch of gold coins Long Jiao put them on the counter. "Here is my name." The barman took the coins with a smile and pointed to a man in the back.

"Talk with him."

The man in the back was sitting by himself, drinking. Long Jiao made his way to him and sited down again.

"How can I help you?" The man asked.

"I need…"

"Twenty coins per question, you pay before you ask. And there is no negotiating."

It was a scam. It obviously was a scam! Grabbing the man by the throat, Long Jiao looked him in the eyes and slowly asked.

"Do you have answers? If you do I have questions and gold, but only AFTER the answers." The face of the man filled with panic, and with his throat clutched he could only nod.

Letting the broker off, Long Jiao cleaned his hand and with a smile took out twenty coins.

"Now tell me, where can I find someone with a ship that can take me to Selante Archipelago?"

"Selante Archipelago? Well, that's something new. I think that's a first time a demon is looking for a ship in a Mine!"

"Can you just go to the point, I have already too many things to laugh about myself, and there is no need for you to add another one."

"Yeah, if you want to get to Selante Archipelago, there are two options for you, but since you are in the mines, option number one is not suitable for you. This means option number two. There is a group of smugglers, the worst of the worst, but they do have a ship that can cross the Deadserpent sea."

Am I lucky? I guess. Not only was I able to find a ship, from the looks of this guy, knows how to get on it as well!

"When? And how much?"

"For the cost, you will have to talk with the captain of the ship; I know a guy that can contact him. And for a small, he can vouch for you to the captain."

Thank you, the all mighty fire God. Thank you for allowing me to find this guy in the first bar I walk into.

With this fine Long Jiao took out another twenty coins.

"One more thing. How is the invasion?"

"Oh my, for that you don't have to pay, I may be a criminal, but I'm still a demon. Those filthy humans never knew what hit them! In less then a day the Demon King's army took over the surrounding of the gates, with the exception of one that exploded. Demon's say that some strong humans were in the area and caused the gate to explode before the army went through."

"But the Demon King isn't satisfied with that, so he sent an investigation team to where the gate was supposed to open, and in a few weeks we will know exactly what happened."

"Except for that, everything is going well; we are pushing the frontlines, the Ancient Clans of the humans are on the defense, the elite force of the King's army is holding them back. Because of this the rest of the army can easily push forward."

"Currently the estimate is that in five years, we will conquer the Human world."

It looks like his 'mishap' delays the army by a year. But that didn't worry him. What bothers him is the investigation team in the human world! Since it is a second team that is being sent, this time they will have some way to look into the past! And the moment they find that he fought and lost, causing the destruction of the gate. He will be hunted down!

Before that happens, he needs to get out of the continent!

"Let's talk about that guy you know."

---

To the all mighty fire God, how the hell do the smugglers got their hands on a ship like this?!

Five weeks after he meet the broker, and many other he had to 'talk to' before he was able to get in contact with the captain. Because as it turns out that guy that the broker knew only knew a guy that could get in contact with a captain.

Now, he was looking at an old Demon King's ship. But it no longer belonged to the Demon King's fleet; now it belonged to smugglers.

The captain was a middle-aged demon, with a red beard and an eyepatch. He was sitting on the edge of a cliff looking at the ship not too far in the sea.

This was their meeting point, far from the port, in the middle of nowhere. Now he will be able to leave this place.

"Captain Czerwobear, it is nice to meet you."

"Yeah, yeah, you know the price already, twenty thousand for transport. And you can throw in twenty extra if you want me to stay quiet."

"Twenty extra? That's not what we agreed on!"

What is he doing? We set the price week ago! Why is he changing it now?

"Well, the 'circumstances' changed. Your face is now on every wanted poster in the world! The Demon King is looking for you and is paying twice what you are paying! If I weren't wanted myself your head would be in a bag now!"

Dammit, the Demon King knows about his failure, this means that if he gets caught, only execution will await him.