Chapter 290:

Words : 1808 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

The Blood Vulture Halls were much busier today than usual, likely due to the new NPCs that had spawned. Not to mention the valuable knowledge of steam engineering that Countess Sharon brought to the players, just the firearms with special attributes and unique engineering items sold in her personal shop were enough to catch the little players’ eyes. After all, in a game that emphasizes realism, even the most arrogant spellcaster players wouldn’t refuse to keep a gun in their bag that could save their lives in crucial moments. Not to mention those melee players who always have to “dance on the blade’s edge”, carrying a hip-fired gun has become their consensus. “Ashina Sword Technique” might not sound good, but it’s truly useful. “Damn! Brother Loyalty, your left hand is freaking cool!” North Forest Dog’s Paddle, who came to purchase firearms for his team, was picking and choosing when he looked up and saw the Brother Loyalty helping Countess Sharon handle components in his capacity as a “Mechanic Apprentice”. “Haha, cool, right? I spent a fortune to buy this!” Brother Loyalty was beaming with pride at this moment. He proudly showed off his “mechanical left hand”. Under the operation of the spirit motion perception spell, this arm made entirely of metal with three miniature steam engines as power sources was very flexible. Although there was still a sense of delay in movement compared to flesh and blood, as Brother Loyalty moved his five fingers, the joints that made clicking sounds still exuded a certain pressure. Especially when making large movements, raising the power of the steam engines would cause white columns of steam to spurt from the exhaust vents on the shoulder. It couldn’t be cooler! What man could resist such a thing? What man wouldn’t be fascinated by it? North Forest Dog’s Paddle immediately approached and circled around Brother Loyalty twice, even reaching out to touch it. The latter, like showing off a newly acquired toy, raised his arm to pop out the assassination blade one moment, then extend the gun muzzle hidden in the palm the next, and even demonstrated a few tactical moves with the mechanical round shield that came with the steam prosthetic. Dog Paddle exclaimed in amazement, and some nearby little players were also attracted, marveling at the sight. But soon, someone with sharp eyes noticed that Brother Loyalty’s right hand was strange. There was also a mechanical hand there, but it was far less sophisticated than the left arm. The very crude three-claw structure looked just like a pirate captain’s hook, giving off a strong “shoddy” vibe no matter how you looked at it. To this, Brother Loyalty refused to make any response, only brushing it off as “practicing engineering”. He certainly wouldn’t tell others about his previous blunder, cutting himself to install the mechanical prosthetic. If Sharon didn’t have a spare mechanical hand here, Brother Loyalty would have continued his gaming career as a “disabled person” or simply given himself a clean shot to the forehead, waiting for a new life after three days. ɌÅꞐŎВЕș But Brother Loyalty wasn’t just making it up. He was learning the technique of making mechanical hands from Countess Sharon, using his right hand that was “accidentally” lost as the first test subject. The only pity was that this thing was quite troublesome to make. Just hand-crafting a miniature steam engine was enough to keep Brother Loyalty busy. “New items, new items, make way!” Brother Loyalty saw that all kinds of firearms displayed on the stall had been sold out, but immediately followed Countess Sharon’s instructions to put a new batch of masterwork weapons on the shelves. As a result, Scholar Xiao Wang, who had just come over to get himself a firearm, jumped three feet high when he saw the price, cursing: “Fuck! 20 gold coins for a gun? Why don’t you just rob us? I can buy one for 2 gold coins in the camp!” “Then go buy it in the camp! Why are you here?” Brother Loyalty, flexing his cool mechanical hand, said with his hands on his hips: “How can a white-quality equipment be compared to these items with attributes? Let me tell you, don’t think it’s expensive. Right now, in the whole of Transia, only my master and I can make such precise firearms. Charging you 20 gold coins is already very cheap, okay? If you really think it’s expensive, you can go to Grandma Marianne for a custom order. It’s cheaper there.” “It’s cheaper, but you have to wait,” Scholar Xiao Wang scratched his head helplessly and said: “We’re about to take up our posts at the collective farm. Although we have guards for protection, it feels really insecure without a good piece in hand. In this godforsaken place Transia, gnolls are running all over the place, and occasionally ghouls pop out. Fine, 20 it is. Give me 4! Give me a discount on the ammunition, 30% off.” “You got it!” Brother Loyalty shouted, feeling in his heart that the manufacturing industry was too easy to make money. Countess Sharon priced each gun at 15 gold, and he bought them from her at the original price, then effortlessly resold them to make a profit of 5 gold coins. Indeed, monopoly business is the most exciting. After sending off Scholar Xiao Zhou who was shaking his head and complaining about profiteers, Brother Loyalty picked up an unfinished drawing and, not very proficiently, used his mechanical hand to grab a charcoal pen to write and draw. He still had a Hidden Quest “Otherworld Skyfire”, and this old brother was racking his brains to create something for Lord Murphy. Although modern-style rifles and bullets had already been made, how could this level reflect his awesomeness? He planned to come up with something “more hardcore” before the quest deadline. Now with the help of Countess Sharon, a mechanical engineer, many ideas that Brother Loyalty couldn’t realize before now had a foundation for implementation. However, before he finished his drawing, he saw a money pouch being thrown onto the counter. Because Lady Shani was walking out of the shadows. The clan leader of the Thorn clan wore a rare look of approval on her beautiful and gentle face. Her golden braids hung low behind her as she walked up to her great-great-grandson, nodding with satisfaction and saying: “Just now, you made a correct decision. I’m delighted to see that you’ve finally understood the distinction between ‘loyalty’ and ‘duty’ and viewed the true value of your followers with the rationality a ruler should possess. Your weakness and unnecessary kindness are being stripped away bit by bit, allowing the hero’s blood of Boris within you to awaken. But you seem uneasy because of this?” “Yes, Grand Duchess,” In front of his ancestor, Andrei didn’t hide his unsettled state of mind. He said in a low voice: “I know this is necessary, and I’ve made up my mind to learn from Grand Duchess Tris’s experience in rebuilding the Blood Vulture Clan to rebuild my faction. But this approach of treating human lives as grass and personally pushing loyal servants into the abyss of war really doesn’t make one happy.” “You’re still young, you don’t understand yet. All loyalty must be tested by time or hardship to achieve perfection.” Lady Shani didn’t rebuke Andrei for his weakness. She said softly: “You can’t hope to be as lucky as Murphy to encounter a naturally submissive personality like Maxim as a loyal servant. You need to find your own Maxim. Or personally cultivate a ‘monster’ that belongs to you from among your servants. War has always been cruel. But it will forge strength and help you distinguish truly worthy loyalty. Ah, it was the right choice to leave you in Transia earlier, Andrei. Both your sister and I have received the gifts you sent back to North Wind Castle.” The Thorn Grand Duchess nodded with satisfaction and said: “You didn’t see your sister’s emotion when she saw that grotesque ice sculpture. She praised that her younger brother had finally grown up and proudly placed that ice sculpture in the great hall of the ice palace for all her subjects to admire your courage and strength. You have gained her initial approval. Of course, I’m also very satisfied with the vampire heart you sent. The heart of Wolfsbane, the power of wilderness and savagery. Child, keep it up, let yourself be polished into a perfect and brilliant raw gem under pressure, you will realize your ideals with this.” “I’m honored, Grand Duchess.” Andrei’s desire for recognition in his heart finally gained some satisfaction, which also soothed his uneasy heart. But he knew that such a small matter wasn’t worth Lady Shani coming in person. The appearance of his ancestor at Crimson Citadel must mean something more important. So he waited patiently. “The 100 palace sword guards your sister has gifted you are already on their way. They will arrive at Crimson Citadel in half a month,” Lady Shani instructed: “But this is not the main purpose of my visit here. Help me arrange a meeting with Lady Tris and Lord Murphy. I bring them good news and intend to immediately fulfill the agreement that has been completed.” Saying this, Shani glanced at Andrei. She said: “Murphy is about to receive the recognition of the Wolf Queen to become the true governor of Transia, but this also means that you will miss out on the throne of this fief. Will you feel uneasy or discouraged because of this?” “No, ruling Transia was never what I pursued,” Count Andrei answered very calmly: “This is neither the country I once swore allegiance to, nor the place I decided to demonstrate my talents. For me, this is just a stop on my journey, where I gain courage and growth to better serve my true lord. Regarding Murphy’s imminent ascension as the ruler of Transia, I will only respond with enthusiastic applause and sincere blessings. This is what he deserves.” “Very good, such bearing is also the demeanor of a king.” Lady Shani was even more satisfied. A strange smile appeared on her gentle face as she reached out with a “benevolent” smile and patted Andrei’s head, saying in a low voice: “You made the right decision. Lord Murphy thinks he can rest easy after defeating the gnolls and receiving the allegiance of Countess of Seicob. But he may not know that this is just a small achievement he has just completed, one that can hardly be praised. The real trouble is about to come. For rulers, maintaining authority and deepening rule is always more difficult than pioneering. Let’s hope Murphy is prepared.”

Chapter 290:

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