Chapter 145:

“What? An Astral Manticore? Where did you find it?” Just as Murphy was about to set out on his daily territory patrol, he received a bead communication from Tris, but the content left him bewildered. He was aware that there were such dangerous creatures as Astral Manticores roaming in his city, but he had already killed the mother manticore, and its venomous tail stingers were still lying in his spirit bag. According to Adele, they were suitable for making into throwing daggers, but since the Crimson Citadel currently had no capable blacksmiths, Murphy could only keep them for the time being. But where did this little manticore come from now? Damn! Could it be that old Finoch’s ominous words had come true, and that mother manticore had actually laid eggs in the city, which have now hatched? This would be a dire situation. There were already enough dangerous and troublesome things in this city, no need for more troubles! “How would I know where your warriors captured this little manticore? Its eyes have just opened.” Tris’s impatient voice came from the bead: “They even unrealistically wanted to tame it, but they ended up finding me instead. However, I’m a Spirit Mage, not an animal expert. You’re the Astral Realm creature summoner, dealing with this is your specialty. I’ve sent them to you. You handle it, and by the way, I must say, your warriors are not at all respectful to me, the new Duchess!” “But you didn’t seem to mind their disrespect when you accepted the fine wine they offered you,” Murphy retorted, holding the core bead like a phone. “They’re still constantly sending you wine, so you should be a little more tolerant of their attitude. But if they go too far, you can show them a taste of your wrath. They’re smart, they’ll know better than to provoke you once you get upset.” “Exactly!” Tris emphasized indignantly: “In the past, when I was a nobody, they would send one bottle at a time. Now I’m the Blood Vulture Duchess, a golden-ranked powerhouse, and yet they still come with only one bottle at a time? What’s the point of me being a Duchess then?” “Why are you shouting so loudly? You might as well put up a sign at your door saying that each wine offering can’t be less than five bottles,” Murphy said, digging in his ears. “You didn’t say it yourself, did you? My warriors are not good at reading between the lines.” “Oh, good idea, I’ll do just that!” Tris replied, cutting off the bead communication. Murphy shook his head helplessly. He had already heard the voices of the little players coming from three corridors away, so he straightened his appearance, making sure everything was perfect, before striking a handsome NPC pose in his office, awaiting the little players’ visit. “Knock, knock.” The door knocked, and Meow King pushed it open, followed by Feel You Poor, while the other brothers waited outside. Earlier, Meow King had reminded them at the doorway, so when he performed the Blood Vulture salute to Murphy, Feel You Poor also clumsily mimicked the gesture, then started secretly observing Murphy, who was sitting behind the desk, maintaining a pose with his hands crossed like a certain commander in a famous scene. The first impression was, “So handsome!” The second impression was, “Is this really a human appearance?” But then again, he’s a vampire, so maybe he had some kind of “spirit cosmetic surgery” when he became a vampire? Yet this demeanor, look at his bearing, his expression gentle yet not lacking in dignity, a smile on his face yet exuding an air of grace. Tsk, tsk, truly impeccable, much more refined than those so-called traditional nobles in reality. “Lord Murphy, my new squad member unintentionally found a newly hatched manticore in the Astral Realm shadows of the inner city district. Lady Tris has instructed us to seek your valuable advice on how to handle this rare creature.” Meow King first explained, then gave a gesture, and Feel You Poor immediately presented the little manticore he had been hiding in his clothes with both hands. This little thing had clearly emerged from its shell less than 24 hours ago. Its soft wings were still in their newborn state, and its normally formidable scorpion tail had no intimidating power at the moment. But it seemed very perceptive. When brought before Murphy, it seemed to sense the danger of the being in front of it, and made soft, kitten-like sounds while scurrying back into Feel You Poor’s embrace. It was instinctively seeking a safe place for shelter. However, as a Summoner specializing in Astral Realm creatures, Murphy obviously had ways to deal with such situations. With a gentle rub of his fingers, he produced a cluster of light mimicking Astral Realm spirit energy, which attracted the little manticore’s attention. It tilted its head and squatted on the desk, observing the glowing orb. When Murphy dropped the light ball, it cheered and pounced on it, hugging and biting it. However, since it had just hatched and its mind was still unstable, even with Murphy using Beast Tongue, effective communication with the little creature was difficult. “A typical newborn, it has yet to pass through the most dangerous stage for its kind. Fortunately, you encountered it, or this little one might have been killed by spawns of despair or Astral Realm beasts. The Astral Realm is a mysterious, barren place teeming with dangers. Killing the offspring of powerful creatures is the cruel instinct of all life there.” Murphy tapped the little manticore’s head, then looked up at Meow King and Feel You Poor, saying: “Do you intend to tame it?” Just give Feel You Poor the manual Tris had previously given him to read for a day or two, and there would be results. But since this is an apprenticeship, shouldn’t he provide some guidance and materials? His little players were truly useful. The vampire lord inwardly marveled again, then turned to look at Meow King and said: “My warrior Meow King, the warehouse and business overseer of my city are preparing to travel to the border town of Bataxin in Transia to complete a transaction crucial to our territory’s food security. My overseer needs some warriors as escorts. If you have the time, you can report to Lady Palen at the survivor’s camp. Of course, I suggest you visit Adele first, as she has some covert tasks to assign to true warriors.” “Yes, my lord,” Meow King readily accepted this quest triggered by Murphy. Since he had confirmed the difficulty of the Black Iron Trial was quite high, Meow King was not in a hurry. He planned to first obtain some equipment and practice his skills before challenging the elite enemies. Although there were two paths to complete the trial, Meow King had no intention of grinding regular Black Iron-tier monsters from the start. He was ambitious and aimed to rise in this game! Completing the challenging quests would naturally greatly proclaim his strength. —— Lumina had just finished an experimental report and was about to go online happily to play the game. But after putting on her headset and browsing the daily hot posts as usual, she was astonished to find a highly popular thread on the forum. Its name was quite strange: 《Buying the Following Items at High Prices! Brothers and Sisters, Don’t Hoard If You Have The Goods! Help a Brother Out, and You’ll Be Rewarded in the Future!》 Just from the title, she could tell this thread was shady. Seeing that the poster was “Feel You Poor,” Lumina was even more convinced of the thread’s dubiousness. As the “sister-friend” of Sister Pomegranate in the game, she had previously learned of this young boss’s heartrending experience in the process of starting his business, firmly establishing her impression of him as an adorably naive youngster. However, out of curiosity, she still clicked into the thread to take a look. Feel You Poor detailed the trouble he had encountered and the material requirements for transitioning to the “hidden profession” of Summoner. Looking at the long list of various material names, even the veteran player Lumina shook her head. While these materials could indeed be found around Kadman City, they were extremely scarce due to being spirit materials. She had only encountered some of them by chance while running tasks at the survivor’s camp. And now the quantity Feel You Poor needed was quite substantial, making Lumina seriously doubt whether this newbie had been “scammed” by a cunning NPC? In other games, she wouldn’t believe it, but such occurrences were commonplace in this real game. For example, Lumina had previously spent ten gold coins on a secondhand pistol that cost less than one gold coin to produce. Ah, the feeling of being ripped off really made one’s blood boil just thinking about it. With this in mind, Lumina gritted her teeth and replied in the thread: LuminaYanghen: 【@Feel You Poor, I have seven of the items on your list in my bag. Let’s meet somewhere, I’ll go online and give them to you right away.】 FeelYouPoor: 【Hehe, great, you’re so kind, sister! Leave your card number, I’ll transfer the money to you now.】 LuminaYanghen: 【??? I don’t need money, don’t do these offline transactions, or there could be big trouble if caught. Those items are useless to me anyway, just taking up bag space, so consider them a gift from me. Hehe, I heard about your recent situation from Sister Pomegranate, so think of it as cheering you up.】 FeelYouPoor: 【Wuwu, there are still good people in this world, sister. I’ll wait for you at the entrance of the Midnight Chamber in the Blood Vulture Halls, just missing these few materials to get it done.】 LuminaYanghen: 【??? You’ve already got all those materials on your list? So quickly? You didn’t just buy them all with money, did you? How much did you spend?】 FeelYouPoor: 【Not too much, just a few meals’ worth. Life is about being happy, sister. Come quickly, I’m waiting for you, woo.】 Lumina shook her head, marveling at how different this Feel You Poor was. But she had indeed encountered some “affluent” people in reality, like that Little Ashina, who behaved just like this Feel You Poor. Before going on a dungeon run, she had transferred Meow King’s gang thousands of yuan to buy equipment for Orchid without batting an eye. Alas, their life pursuit was happiness, while her fate was so miserable! She sighed as she prepared to go online, and a few seconds later, her phone buzzed with notifications. She picked it up and saw it was a red envelope from Sister Pomegranate. The four-digit amount made her eyes go wide. There was also a message from Sister Pomegranate saying that the young boss had transferred her some money to give to Lumina as material costs, and that Lumina should feel free to take it. She also said the young boss was just a rich, foolish person who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Ah, you people are so damn rich! As for the game, Murphy had just finished patrolling his territory and returned to his office when he saw Feel You Poor waiting outside his door with a large bag of items. “Lord Murphy! I’ve gathered all the materials!” he excitedly ran up to report, leaving Murphy with a strange look. So quickly? You must have mobilized all the little players to help you with this quest, right? You utilized your Power of Money, didn’t you? Tsk, Feel You Poor is incredible.