Chapter 158:

The players who went to the border city Bataxin for quests and personally experienced the “Bataxin Massacre” returned to Crimson Citadel at the fastest speed, driving their carriages in a mad dash, arriving by noon the next day.

By the time they got off their carriages at the camp, the number of little players who had completed the Black Iron Trial had already exceeded 7.

Apart from little Ashina, they were all veterans from the Joy Stick team.

This clearly showed that a highly successful, streamlined “strategy” had already been developed by that cunning Joy Stick.

At this point, the only factor limiting 10th-level little players from completing the Black Iron Trial was no longer individual strength or skill refinement, but rather the dwindling stock of combustion oil in Tris’s alchemy cottage.

After all, Tris is now the esteemed grand duchess of the Blood Vulture Clan, and dealing with clan affairs already occupies part of her time. Add to that Tris’s stubborn refusal to work overtime, which has led to her alchemy cottage not producing new goods for several days.

Little Ashina and Joy Stick’s guides have played a rather curious role in pushing this trend further.

Because whether it’s the Vampire’s Requiem bullets used by gunners or the oil needed by melee fighters, they all come from alchemists. After some clever player pointed this out, the alchemy cottage was almost overwhelmed by players.

The scene frightened even the salesperson specially hired by Tris.

They quickly sent a message to the Blood Vulture Halls, saying that Murphy’s warriors were lining up to purchase alchemical fire oil in very large quantities. The scene was very scary, and no one knew what these warriors were planning to do with so much combustion oil, enough to burn down ruins.

But it feels somewhat frightening.

When Murphy learned of this “little anecdote,” he couldn’t help but mourn for a moment for the ghoul bosses in the sewers beneath Kadman City ruins.

He could already anticipate that for a long time to come, those elite ghouls born in the disaster would top the list of “Players’ Favorite Monsters” until targeted tactics for the next unfortunate ones were developed.

However, Murphy had no intention of intervening in this gradually heating up situation.

The reason is also simple.

Although Joy Stick claimed on the forum that his developed strategy was exploiting a BUG, in Murphy’s view, this wasn’t really a BUG.

After all, in the long-popular Black Iron Trial ritual on the continent, there is no explicit rejection that trial-takers cannot receive help from others before starting the battle. In fact, the only focus of the Black Iron Trial is on experiencing arduous battles and unlocking hidden potential, rather than victory itself.

From this perspective, Joy Stick’s guide has no problems at all.

Let alone that if it were truly a noob player, even if they bought the oil and successfully lured the elite into the trap, in the following physical sword-fighting phase, to be honest, it would still be difficult to handle alone. No matter how weakened, Black Iron rank elite creatures are still extremely dangerous for Professionals.

Therefore, Murphy would only feel that his little players have finally figured out this game, rather than “fixing” this BUG specifically.

However, it’s obvious that others are very displeased about this.

For example, the Blood Vulture Grand Duchess who is currently “making a scene” in Murphy’s office.

“You! I order you to go manage your warriors! When my little shop opens, what it sells, and how much it sells are all up to me as the shop owner! Why should I work overtime to prepare combustion oil and bullets specially made for hunting vampires for them?

I’m a vampire myself, okay? This is like selling the noose to hang myself! I won’t do it!

If word gets out, I’ll be ridiculed harshly by other patriarchs!

I can’t lose face like this!

Get them out of there immediately, the little girl I hired has been frightened by them!”

Tris fiercely pounded the table and yelled at Murphy.

Obviously, because the booming business at the alchemy cottage directly affected the grand duchess’ slacking time, it made her mood irritable.

Murphy maintained the elegant posture of a handsome man and listened to Tris’s complaints. Then he interlaced his fingers to support his chin, smiling as he said:

“But my warriors are buying fire oil to clear out the threats in the sewers more quickly. You know, grand duchess, unless we reduce the number of ghouls in the city sewers to a certain level, our large-scale construction in the ruins area can’t possibly be put on the agenda.

I even have to praise them for doing well, knowing to use fire to fight against evil spirits.

Don’t you want to see your subordinates return to production and life more quickly, grand duchess? Don’t you feel gratified by the intelligence and combat wisdom of your reserve clansmen?”

“But I don’t have that much time to make fire oil for them! Though the principle is simple, it takes too much time to prepare.”

Tris couldn’t argue against Murphy under such an “absolutely correct” reason. She rolled her eyes and decided to “fight magic with magic,” so she said grumpily:

“Besides, I’m the Blood Vulture Grand Duchess. I have to handle internal clan affairs. I’m so dedicated to my job, do you want me to put aside my responsibilities to the clan members and be in charge of logistics for your warriors? That’s not quite right, is it?

Look, soon a group of Blood Vulture members will be returning to our family.

I still need to comfort them, inquire about more details from them, and confirm whether that ‘Baroness Cecilia’ really exists and her current identity.

That’s right!

This is what the Blood Vulture Grand Duchess should be doing!

Not hiding in an alchemy cottage, like a pathetic, exploited apprentice, preparing some damned fire oil!”

Tris felt more and more justified as she spoke.

Her tone suddenly strengthened, and she proudly raised her head to say to Murphy:

“So, in my capacity as patriarch, I order you to sort this out as soon as possible!”

“Actually, this matter is very easy to resolve.”

Murphy looked at Tris with a subtle gaze. He coughed and said:

“Among my warriors, there are also those curious about alchemy, like Leading Pigeon. Isn’t he already an alchemist apprentice?

As long as our great Blood Vulture Grand Duchess is willing to spare ten or so minutes every day to give them some pointers, I believe not only can we quickly solve the shortage of fire oil and special ammunition, but even your private property, that is, the alchemy cottage’s business, will also get better and better.

This way, won’t you have more money to spend on your beloved wine collection hobby, rather than just relying on the pitiful patriarch’s allowance?

Their level of thinking is much more active than most commoners in this land or even this world.

They must have undergone large-scale systematic high-level education. The most terrifying thing is that every one of them is like this, which is enough to prove that the civilization they come from has developed to an extremely high level. I can’t even imagine the form of that civilization.

But although they are smart, they have a rather peculiar ‘thinking blind spot’.

They seem to think that all their strange behaviors will be ignored by otherworlders, so they never hide their true thoughts in front of us, which makes them seem very honest.

Even honest to a fault.”

At this point, Tris revealed a strange smile. She said to Murphy:

“Your warriors would even critique Adele’s figure right in front of her. It’s just fortunate that Adele can’t understand, otherwise she would certainly be very troubled by this. Of course, they do the same to me.

But I don’t indulge them.

Dare to make lewd remarks and they get silenced directly. After a few rounds of this, they’ve learned to behave.”

“They’re always like that.”

Murphy made no comment on this. He shrugged and said:

“Every time they praise my handsomeness, it’s a bit embarrassing, but I know it’s praise from the bottom of their hearts, so I happily accept all these evaluations. Anything else? About your ‘otherworlder observation journal’.”

“Yes!”

Tris played with her wine glass and said:

“As I just said, they must come from a very ancient civilization!

As I’ve been learning their language, the deeper I learn, the more I can feel that some of the everyday expressions they use contain simple but practical wisdom. And I have a feeling that the current stage of civilization in our world can find similar references in the history of their world!

They call it the ‘Middle Ages’.

Admittedly, although spirit energy doesn’t exist as such a huge influencing factor in their world, the overall progress of their civilization is far higher than ours.

This makes me more and more curious about their world.

Murphy, you’re the first ‘local’ to contact them. Aren’t you curious about all this?”

“Of course I’ve done some exploration.”

Murphy lowered his head and picked up his own cup to conceal his change of expression at this moment. He took a sip of his drink, raised his head again, and said to Tris:

“But I don’t want to destroy their current perception of our world, Tris. Therefore, I require you to maintain only this private observation at the current stage and not actively engage in cross-world civilizational conversation with them.”

“Why?”

Tris raised her eyebrows and said:

“If they knew this was all real, I believe those with true adventurous spirit among their huge collective would be even more passionate...”

“As you said, their civilization is thousands of years ahead of our world, which means the controlling power over my warriors in their world is beyond our imagination! Tris. A mental level travel game and true ‘otherworld contact’ are two different concepts in the eyes of those in power.

This is the same in any world.

And I don’t want my lovely little players to encounter unnecessary dangers in their world because of me.

This is my bottom line!”

Murphy interrupted Tris’s question. He persuaded:

“Moreover, I think you underestimate the significance behind this matter. What I mean is, we’re facing an atheistic otherworld whose power is like that of gods compared to us! I think no matter from which angle, we ‘otherworld pioneers’ should be more cautious about any contact with that side, don’t you think?

I’ve heard little players joke without restraint before, mentioning a kind of weapon on their side.

It’s said that just one of those weapons could instantly destroy a country as big as Transia, easily killing millions of people while making the land unable to give birth to any life for hundreds of years.

Isn’t this more threatening than so-called divine magic?”

Murphy put on a serious posture, scaring Tris by saying:

“According to the little players, the number of such weapons on their side is calculated in units of ‘ten thousand’, and as long as there is a need, their state machinery can produce more extinction-level weapons at an extremely fast speed.

Even their conventional forces are something we can’t resist!

Can you imagine making tens of thousands of tons of steel soar in the sky without relying on spirit energy? Can you let artifacts fly out of the world into the sea of stars to closely observe those stars?

They can create temperatures of over 10,000 degrees, and they can also simulate absolute zero in the true sense!

And I’ve heard that their cutting-edge technology can already master the mystery of creating a sun from nothing, although only for a dozen seconds or so.

The most terrifying thing is that their world has nearly 10 billion people and can feed this vast number of people like the sand in the star sea! While our world, even counting the new continent and sea dwellers, is less than one-tenth of this number.

Tris!

You think you know, but you don’t really understand what kind of power you’re dealing with!

The forces behind my little players obviously possess power comparable to gods that can transform heaven and earth. I don’t doubt that my warriors would joke around about such things.

Even if only one-third of what they say is true, it means we have no power of resistance in front of them.

Therefore, Tris, we must be more cautious.”

He walked forward, put his hand on Tris’s shoulder, stared into her bewitching eyes and said:

“We have enough troubles on our hands. Please don’t increase the difficulty for us two, okay? I’m begging you.”