Chapter 54:

In Kadman City, around the defense line of the militia forces led by Commander Maxim, a group of new players who had just entered the game were resting here.

Including “Heaven’s Chosen Woman” Sister Pomegranate who had four character talents, all the players were in a ragged and miserable state, and the original 24 small players were now reduced to only 19.

Just a moment ago, the black snow in the city suddenly increased violently, as if some strange omen had caused the spawns of despair to launch a counterattack. Caught off guard, five small players were overwhelmed by the sea of monsters.

If it weren’t for Maxim leading people to their rescue, the remaining players would have struggled to retreat alive.

“You were too reckless!”

Maxim, gripping a Computation Bead, coldly berated the small players in front of him:

“With your current strength, you should never have approached this place! You certainly have courage, but your sacrifices should be more valuable! Your lives belong to Lord Murphy, and you just wasted the Lord’s time.

Go to the rear safe area and temper yourselves. Come back after you have mastered true combat skills.”

With that, Maxim turned and left without hesitation.

The small players, however, were not bothered by the NPC’s scolding.

They only felt that this was the NPC reminding them that with their current level 1-2 characters, they indeed could not recklessly roam this “monster wilderness” area.

In other words, it’s not unusual for low-level characters to accidentally enter a high-level map and lose a few people, right?

“This real battlefield is different from squad battles.”

The leader of the four-man squad,【East River Lion’s Roar】, said to his two brothers:

“We do need more practice, but did you pick up Ah Dog’s dog tags and Computation Bead? We don’t have money to get him another set right now.”

“Got them back, Ah Dog dropped them when he died.”

【South Mountain Tiger’s Howl】replied, glancing at their Tiger Leopard Rider brothers. They had rushed in too quickly earlier, relying on their numbers, resulting in four of the five deaths being from their side.

“Let’s just stick to gathering quests first, and raise our sword art levels to proficient before anything else.”

The third oldest brother, 【West Valley Wolf’s Prowl】, rubbed his scruffy face and said to his brothers:

“Tomorrow, let Brother Stick lead us. But that Sister Pomegranate girl over there is impressive, I saw her take on three monsters alone and rescue two NPCs, all level one characters. How can she be so strong at that level?”

“She has four character talents, if she wasn’t strong with that, this game’s balance would be screwed up.”

Lion’s Roar snorted, stood up and dusted off his pants, saying:

“No use being jealous, the total of our character attributes is the same, so there’s no balance issue.

As for talents, those are things she trained herself. I dare say if we met this girl in reality, even if she was just holding a clothesline pole, she could beat the three of us alone.

A real man admits when someone is better at a skill!

Don’t talk trash.

Let’s go, let’s search the ruins first, and maybe find some booze to raise Lady Tris’ reputation along the way.”

“Hey, you know, this crappy game is pretty interesting.”

The second and third brothers stood up, following their eldest and heading towards the safer ruins, chatting as they walked:

“I think the physical training we do offline can totally be applied online, it’s realistic and we don’t have to hold back since there’s no blood involved.”

“No kidding, online we can practice techniques but not build muscle, so we still have to train offline. Let’s train hard for a couple months and then go compete overseas. I have a feeling that if we can knock Maxim down before the competition, we’ll definitely cause a huge uproar at the tournament!”

As the martial arts brothers left, the Tiger Leopard Rider brothers, having lost four members in one fell swoop, also dejectedly prepared to leave this frontline position. Only a few student players remained, looking at each other hesitantly, not intending to waste any more time here.

However, Sister Pomegranate was full of enthusiasm.

Especially after everyone else had left, she grabbed her Swift Sword and walked up to Maxim, using her Computation Bead to translate for her:

“Mr. Maxim, I want to challenge you to a fight!”

“Hm?”

Maxim had gone in and out of the “monster wilderness” three times today and was quite tired at this point.

But seeing this gallant warrior girl challenging him piqued his interest. He stood up and stretched his shoulders, saying:

“If it’s a challenge, then I won’t go easy on you, warrior! But you don’t seem proficient with the sword, so use the weapon you’re most skilled with instead.”

“Uh...”

Sister Pomegranate shrugged, tossed aside her sword, and then clenched her fists and lowered her stance into a standard boxing guard. Seeing this, Maxim calmly dropped his own sword and made fists, readying himself for hand-to-hand combat.

Although he had always studied Blood Vulture Sword Arts, the Blood Servant warrior training also included close-quarters fighting, so he was not afraid of this sort of fist and foot engagement.

“Western boxing, huh.”

Sister Pomegranate squinted at the NPC’s movements, then grinned, thinking to herself that this game did a great job with such details.

She didn’t care about story equipment. Having rarely played games before, this time out of professional habit, she immediately recognized the NPC’s movement style with just a glance.

Quite authentic.

In terms of motion capture, she was willing to call this game the strongest!

“My otherworld warriors have great potential, you need to learn the right way to deal with them. Don’t just have them fetch you booze all the time, that’s a terrible waste.”

“Piss off and let me rest a bit, Little Murphy.”

Tris looked utterly exhausted.

She wasn’t slacking off, but had just finished an alchemy operation, leaving her drained. Not far from Tris, there were several large crates of specially colored fuel oil laid out on an empty field.

That was the special material that the small players had scavenged from all over the city, which Tris had then added alchemical Blazing Glue to, allowing it to burn more violently, rapidly, and sustain a large area for a long duration.

This was only the first batch.

Murphy’s plan was to produce enough fuel oil to set the entire outer ruined city ablaze, meaning Tris would be kept busy for the next two days.

“You really want to burn through the whole outer city?”

A few minutes later, Tris stretched lazily and opened her eyes. She casually grabbed the booze that a small player had “gifted” her, twisted off the cap, took a savory sip, and said to Murphy, who was reading the Tomb Guard Sword Arts manual:

“This is my first time encountering an astral energy invasion into the material world on such a large scale. The advice I’m providing you is just my own conjecture based on my understanding of spirit energy.

I can’t guarantee that after the fire burns through, the astral shadows in the city will definitely recede.

It may even trigger more dangerous situations, like provoking the astral taint that has already stabilized after devouring the inner city and begun to ebb, causing it to expand outwards.”

“It’s fine, this is just a show for the survivors. To them, the knowledge of spirit energy is too esoteric. The Transians firmly believe that only areas purged by fire will see darkness and evil properly dispelled.

They want to see a result that gives them peace of mind, and we should fulfill their wish.”

Murphy looked at the text describing the Tomb Guards’ power in the secret manual in his hands and said softly:

“Moreover, even if we do nothing, the inner city will be completely pulled into the astral realm in a few days, right?

That’s already the worst case scenario, how much worse could it get? But I am curious, Tris, can you confirm that the underground structures won’t be taken away by the astral spirit energy?”

“That chaotic astral spirit energy is not some all-powerful divine art released by the Star Gods themselves. Since it is spirit energy, it must still follow the most basic rules. It can indeed erode all materials and physical structures in the material world.

But that takes time.”

Tris explained:

“After the city on the surface is dragged into the astral realm, the underground structures of the inner city will definitely be preserved. But being completely saturated by such an immense volume of tainted spirit energy will cause changes to the material properties there. It will become a place fundamentally incompatible with the real world, and you may need to expend tremendous manpower and resources to reclaim it.

By the way, Little Murphy, don’t hide it from me, what is the true goal behind this series of actions?”

“Thump”

Murphy closed the Tomb Guard Sword Arts manual in his hands and turned to meet Tris’ inquisitive gaze. He gave a gentle smile and said:

“The lady was correct in her previous accusation. I do indeed plan to establish my own domain over the ruins of Kadman City. Since the Blood Vulture Clan is gone, this masterless land naturally goes to whoever claims it first.

As for how we develop from here, I don’t have any concrete ideas yet.

But if I can obtain the leadership of the Blood Vulture Clan, I will definitely make you the new ruler.”

“Tch, who cares.”

Tris rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and drawled:

“I don’t want any more ties to the Blood Vultures. Perhaps we could leave, Little Murphy. I still have some old friends in other clans who would take us in. Your warriors will become the strength that establishes your reputation far and wide. You are destined to...”

“No, I won’t leave.”

Murphy grasped Tris’ hand.

Looking at the terrible scars extending from her neck down into her chest garments, he said softly:

“These wounds that have tormented you for nearly 200 years were inflicted by Salrokdar, right? This is the debt he owes us! He must apologize and compensate for causing you such prolonged suffering.

If he refuses to give it, then we’ll take it ourselves!

Like true Transians, we’ll seize whatever we want!”

Murphy’s adamant words left Tris in silence. She took another sip of booze and said:

“The you from before would never have said such things, Little Murphy. The power gradually manifesting within you is luring you down the path of vampires’ destiny, and that concerns me.”

“Is it possible that I’ve always been this way, but only dared to show my true face after gaining power?”

Murphy grinned, turned to look at the outer ruined city still shrouded in astral shadows, exhaled deeply, released Tris’ hand, and said:

“This is our home in this world!

It is not gentle, in fact quite savage and brutal. Yet no matter what misfortune, disdain and neglect we’ve suffered, who would disdain their own home?

We’re not going anywhere!

We’ll start our new lives right here!

Say goodbye to the past weakness, compromise and self-pity! From now on, your life and mine can only be grasped in our own hands.

Just like my warriors, we too must live in freedom!”