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“It seems you’re approaching the Black Iron rank.”

Murphy looked him up and down and said:

“Are you ready for your trial of strength?”

“There’s no suitable opponent at the moment, my lord. There are no Black Iron-level individuals among the Astral beasts in the outer city, and your fearless warriors have already nearly exterminated them.”

Maxim sighed and said:

“My challenge trial will have to wait, but Murphy, my lord, your warriors have already scoured most of the outer city aside from some of the most remote corners.

Thanks to their markings, the scavengers managed by Miriam in the survivor camp have also been able to find a large amount of still usable resources from the city ruins.

I believe the search operation can come to a halt for now.”

He pointed to the incessant black snow falling around them.

This bizarre phenomenon that occurred when Astral spirits came into contact with the physical world was the same as before, the flakes would dissipate upon landing, making these ruins look as if they were enveloped in a thick snowfall, with a somewhat desolate feel.

He said:

“Lady Tris says the intensifying black snow signifies the ebb of Astral spirits, and this catastrophe will soon be over. Perhaps we should move to the next step and burn away these shadows to allow your grand plan to progress.”

Lowering his voice, Maxim said to Murphy:

“The survivors are now grateful to you. Once they see the devastation of the inner city with their own eyes, they’ll realize they’ve lost their old master and will need a new one.

My lord! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Hmm?”

Murphy looked at Maxim in surprise and said suspiciously:

“That doesn’t sound like something you’d say. Who taught you that?”

“Er…”

The loyal servant felt a bit deflated as he said:

“It was Miriam. I discussed the current situation with her, and she explained your strategy to me so I could understand your thinking.”

“So the two of you are finally getting along instead of being at each other’s throats, and have learned to cooperate.”

Murphy grinned and looked out at the shadowy city ruins. After a few seconds of silence, he said:

“Tomorrow night, we’ll begin the next round of operations. Maxim, there’s nothing on these ruins right now, but they’ll soon become the starting point for our new endeavor. We’re going to make a big name for ourselves, become world-famous!

It all starts here.”

“I have no doubt of that at all, Lord Murphy.”

The loyal Maxim bowed his head and said solemnly:

“Any enemy that tries to obstruct your grand plan will be eliminated by my own hand. That is the glory that belongs to the faithful.”

——

Meow King’s character lay on the wagon all night. The next day, after he finished his routine daily tasks at his small company and logged in, the wagon driver he had hired from the survivor camp had already delivered him to the road outside Morland Village as requested.

This was still some distance from the village, but the driver refused to go any further.

Witch Hunters had a terrible reputation in the Transia region.

Although they claimed to be eradicating vampires, their merciless slaughter of vampire worshippers made the local people see them as even more terrifying than vampires themselves.

“You can rest here. I’ll come pick you up when you’re done. Don’t worry, the Witch Hunters won’t bother you.”

Meow King jumped off the wagon and casually handed the driver a few coins.

The generous tip delighted the old driver.

He had already heard people in the camp saying that Lord Murphy’s warriors had no concept of money, and would happily reward someone with a few gold coins just to please them!

Seeing it for himself today, these few silver coins may not have been much, but they were enough for him to get a new wagon and an old horse.

After reassuring the driver, Meow King straightened his armor and weapons, but stopped after taking just two steps. Frowning in thought for a moment, he ended up leaving his armor and weapons on the wagon. Wearing only a simple linen outfit, he boldly walked towards Morland Village while openly carrying the Avalon Blessed Sacred Blade replica marked as a quest item.

The few Witch Hunter sentries outside the village quickly noticed him approaching.

He raised his hands and moved closer, shouting in the broken Transian dialect he had just learned that he meant no harm.

Hidden scouts already had their hunting crossbows aimed at him, ready to bring down this vampire worshiper with a volley of bolts. But soon, Natalie came walking out of the village.

This female hunter immediately recognized Meow King!

He was the one who had injured Porter with a pitchfork before, and Old Joe’s death was likely related to them too!

A surge of anger flared up for an instant, but remembering the expedition leader’s instructions, Natalie took a deep breath and suppressed her hatred.

Meow King also recognized Natalie and was surprised to encounter her here.

This gray-haired witch huntress seemed to be an important NPC, and her icy gaze made Meow King’s heart race. He immediately used the translation function of the Computation Bead to explain:

“Your fallen companion wasn’t killed by us. He died from excessive blood loss. We considered him a warrior, so we specifically buried his body separately in the village and made him a simple gravestone.”

He said, “After asking Miriam, we followed your traditions and buried his weapons with him.”

“I know.”

Natalie said ominously, “Otherwise you’d never have made it this far. But you idiots nearly caused a disaster by burying the bodies together. Didn’t your vampire master tell you not to bury the dead carelessly in a war-torn land?”

“Ah?”

Meow King was confused by this neutral NPC’s scolding, but as he entered the village, he quickly realized what had happened.

Although the nest of ghouls caused by burying bodies in the village had been destroyed, the piles of distorted, decaying pale bodies covered in strange claws immediately turned Meow King’s face white.

Mostly because of the stench.

“War-torn lands allow temporary gatherings of death spirits. Carelessly burying the dead in such conditions creates monsters like ghouls. This is new information!

Quick, note it down and make a forum post about it.”

He turned away, not looking at the bodies, and made a mental note of this information. Then he saw Natalie open a door and gesture for him to enter.

Meow King immediately realized the hidden quest triggered by this Avalon Blessed Sacred Blade he had taken from Natalie would likely need to be completed with her.

He smirked and sauntered into the house.

There he saw three “old acquaintances” cracking their knuckles, Natalie’s squad members Norman, Porter and Amber were in the room, giving Meow King very unfriendly looks.

Sensing trouble, he tried to flee. But the door behind him slammed shut.

Natalie was blocking the exit, fists clenched. In the next instant, the previously “neutral” NPCs all had their health bars appear.

Just like a classic horror story cliche.

“Damn! You have no honor!”

Meow King shouted, only to be punched in the face.

He tumbled dizzily to the ground, where Amber climbed on top of him and began raining blows.

Although the expedition leader ordered them not to harm this vampire worshiper seeking answers, it didn’t mean the Witch Hunters couldn’t vent their anger first.

Natalie’s squad was down to just the four of them because of Murphy, so not stabbing Meow King on sight already showed great restraint.

However, Meow King wasn’t totally unprepared either.

This cunning society man had turned his pain perception down to the minimum through his game helmet before entering the camp. So while he was screaming piteously, it just showed his great acting skills.

Several minutes later, his battered and bruised face barely clinging to a sliver of health, he finally dragged himself up from the floor as the four Witch Hunters stopped their assault, having judged the beating perfectly.

“Damn, this messed up game keeps being weirdly realistic in the strangest places.”

He spat out a harsh critique, wiped the blood from his nose, and with his pent-up bachelor frustration unleashed, glared viciously at the four.

I’ve taken your beating and vented your anger, so let’s get down to business, shall we?

Slap

The Avalon Blessed Sacred Blade replica wrapped in cloth was slapped onto the table. Through swollen lips, Meow King said:

“Who can tell me what exactly this thing represents to you people? Did your god really bless it? And what do I have to do to be able to use it?”

“You still want to use our sacred blade?”

The scout Amber let out a cold laugh. The petite girl said, “The sacred blades personally crafted by the Elder Council’s artisans may not be miraculous, but only recognized warriors can wield them. You’re just delusional.”

“If you really want to use this sacred blade…”

The one-armed veteran Porter’s throat had been injured in the last deadly battle, leaving his voice raspy like grinding stones as he mocked, “Then join the old faith first. But you’d probably have to go back ten years for that.”

Ding

Before Meow King could respond, his player interface displayed a new prompt:

【Collected important information, prerequisites for using the Avalon Blessed Blade clarified, please continue exploring.】

“Hey, progress!”

Meow King’s heart lifted as he asked, “So what are the requirements for joining your group? Is there a special ceremony?”

“Huh?”

The veterans looked bewildered by Meow King’s reaction.

They exchanged glances, wondering if they had gone too far and addled this vampire worshiper’s brain for him to actually show interest in this information. Weren’t you afraid your vampire master would light you up like a beacon?

“Well? I’m waiting to hear it! Why’ve you all gone mute?”

Seeing everyone staying silent, Meow King immediately urged them on.

“Come on, spit it out, I’m waiting to hear it too.”

Far away in Kadman City, Murphy, holding the core bead for “shameless screen peeking”, also urged inwardly.

He didn’t care what career path his little player would choose in the future.

After all, the “disconnect” privilege was in his hands. If Meow King could really obtain the old faith’s profession system and job change information this time, Murphy would give him a huge reward.

For an absolutely realistic game to provide players with enough career choices was the only way to reflect its ultra-high freedom. Currently, the “developer team” represented by Murphy was still quite lacking in this aspect.

Mainly because the Blood Vulture Clan’s power system was completely unsuitable for players. Murphy didn’t mind turning some minor players into vampires after completing the main storyline’s prologue.

But they didn’t even have physical forms, so how could they change races?

Vampires’ initial embrace even required fresh blood, was he supposed to cross over to another world, find their original bodies, and give each of them a mouthful to stage an “Urban Legend: I Am a Vampire”?

“Are you serious?”

Natalie, with arms crossed, looked at Meow King and said derisively:

“The old faith is a dead rat being beaten on the continent. No one wants to join us, let alone a vampire worshiper like you. You need to understand your situation!

I don’t care if you came to provoke us or actually plan to defect, but you’ve taken this step. Heh, there’s no going back now.”

“I am absolutely loyal to Lord Murphy. Defection is completely out of the question. As long as that premise doesn’t change, then any power I use is just a tool to achieve my loyalty.

It’s people who harm people, not blades that harm people, right?

So if you dare teach me, I dare learn!”

The battered Meow King spouted off like a bitter bachelor, laying out his thoughts and inciting the Witch Hunters to grit their teeth in rage.

To these devout people, Meow King’s treatment of faith as just a tool was even more detestable than vampires.

It was blasphemy.

However, Natalie looked at Meow King with a peculiar gaze. After a moment, she untied a small wooden figurine from her waist and tossed it to him, saying:

“Find a grove, prepare some incense, bay leaves and a basket of berries. When the crescent moon’s starlight appears, light the incense and bay leaves, offer up the berries, and call upon Avalon’s divine name with the nature figurine.

I’d very much like to see if Avalon will bless you.”

Ding

Another prompt made Meow King glance at his interface.

【Acquired a key job change item, hidden quest ‘Shadow of the Old Faith’ progressed to the next stage. Please have yourself or another tester complete the corresponding job change according to the instructions.

Hidden quest final reward: Unlock testing for a brand new in-game profession system!】

“Holy crap!”

Meow King exclaimed inwardly.

He marveled that he had absolutely discovered something incredible here. Sure enough, this was a hidden quest, and a damn powerful one too, unlocking an entire job change tree!

This game really had special backgrounds and storyline progression for even these small details.

Detailed!

The dev team was so meticulous.

He stood up and pointed at the Avalon sacred blade replica on the table, saying to Natalie:

“Aren’t you going to take this back? It must be extremely precious. You want it, just take it. I can’t use it anyway.”

“That’s the one Murphy stole from me! You’re just his lackey. Getting it back from you would just be me bullying the weak with strength.”

Natalie waved her hand dismissively.

“Take my sword and get lost. After I kill your master, I’ll come get it from you.”

“Hmph, if you want to harm Lord Murphy, you’ll have to get through us first, you gray-haired defeated minion!”

The battered and bruised Meow King threw out a harsh retort, grabbed the sacred blade replica and limped away rabbit-like from the house, then left the village under the resentful gazes of the other Witch Hunters.

“Why, Natalie?”

The scout Amber asked in puzzlement,

“We were already merciful by not killing him. Why give that damned vampire worshiper the nature figurine?”

Natalie didn’t answer immediately. She only watched Meow King’s figure disappear at the village entrance. Then, draping an arm around her comrade, she said softly:

“Avalon has long stopped responding to us.

For ten whole years, our numbers haven’t grown at all. We’re on the verge of extinction. What’s the harm in trying?  You know these people’s true nature behind their disguises.

If it fails, we lose nothing. But if it succeeds, how could a vampire allow his servant to wield the powers of nature? That vampire Murphy would mercilessly kill him!

It would drive a wedge between him and his otherworldly warriors.

I’m not being merciful at all, Amber.

I’m being cruel.

I’m using this arrogant fool’s little life as a gambit to carry out my petty revenge against the vampires. I hope his soul finds peace.”

Through Meow King’s Computation Bead still within range, this entire speech was overheard by the screen-peeking Murphy, leaving the vampire with a rather ambiguous expression. Well, you Witch Hunters are quite the bunch, aren’t you?

You’re almost making me feel guilty about screwing you all over before. Almost, but not quite!

Bullying the naive may be unethical, but for a boundless vampire like myself, it’s delicious.