Chapter 323:

Words : 3015 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

“Holy crap, Brother Stick, weren’t your subordinates supposed to be elites? How did they end up getting wiped out?” While Murphy and Lord Payne were conversing, the little players who had just suffered a team wipe disaster in Seicob City began their post-disaster discussion. Little Rich Brother’s somewhat exaggerated cry of surprise rang out from the private communication, making Joy Stick, who was far away in Seicob territory advancing towards the Blood Vulture Clan’s southern armory, respond with a pained expression: “Ah, it’s just a slip-up, very common. The good news is, the intelligence and maps we bought from the little countess for 150,000 gold coins are genuine, there really is a great treasure under Seicob City. The bad news is that place is a high-level map. I think for small team treasure hunting, we’d need at least a Silver rank player to lead the charge. If we want to deploy on a large scale, it might even trigger a hidden team instance. You should have seen how the entire dead city came alive. I can only say compared to Seicob City, the ghoul army we encountered in the Crimson Citadel sewers was just an ‘appetizer’.” “Damn, is it that impressive?” Feel You Poor’s first reaction was shock, he asked: “But isn’t Transia supposed to be a ‘newbie village’? How can there be high-level dungeons in a newbie village? What were the developers thinking?” “It’s not necessarily a team instance.” At this time, Meow King, who had just finished bandaging himself while sitting on a gargoyle, also joined the “group chat”. With a sense of relief after surviving the ordeal, he said to Little Rich Brother: “When we were asking Knight Valand for leave earlier, we saw the Osprey Knight discussing something with the little countess. We only caught a few words, but it definitely had something to do with the old Count of Seicob. I guess while we were being surrounded by the undead army, they also encountered unexpected events in the city, so there’s definitely a possibility that Seicob City might become our ‘friendly unit’ in the future. Didn’t your buddy Life Is Pretty Good trigger a new profession earlier that had an undead-related ‘Coffin Bearer’? I think Seicob City might be the high-level transformation place for necromantic powers. Look at the classic game plots, they’re all designed this way, there must be a super huge quest chain that ultimately guides us to help the little countess reunite with her father.” Speaking of this, Meow King grinned and imagined: “Perhaps this is Transia and Lord Murphy’s trump card? Maybe after the Black Plague arrives, if the war situation becomes unfavorable, it will evolve into Gnoll Army VS Undead Sea? Damn! Thinking about it this way, maybe going for Undead Controller is the meta answer for the next version!” “You’re dreaming too big. Just look at the quantity and power of the undead faction in Seicob City, even if they opened up the necromancer profession, what good would it do? You’d need at least several thousand necromancers to control that place, right?” Brother Stick wasn’t nearly as optimistic. Perhaps because the setback made him regain his vigilance, he started considering issues very realistically. Now sitting on the flying gargoyle high in the air, with the professional pilot Tobacco Mulberry controlling the huge gargoyle to fly both steadily and quickly, Brother Stick looked ahead at the ground while comparing it with the treasure map obtained from Lord Murphy. He said: “Let’s not talk about Seicob City for now. I just want to report to you that although we were completely wiped out this time, we did gain something, about 50 gold bars will be handed over to you after I get back.” “Awesome!” Little Rich Brother exclaimed: “To get gains in this situation, as expected of Brother Stick. But I don’t need that much right now. The administration hasn’t opened the banking system yet, I can’t just dig a hole somewhere and bury the gold bars, right? Besides, your team suffered such heavy losses, don’t you need to replenish? You obviously need money more than I do right now, Brother Stick. I know you’re under pressure, but don’t worry about it! I’m not a heartless boss trying to exploit you guys, you don’t need to push yourself so hard.” “No, business is business.” Joy Stick said very firmly: “Whether you want it or not is your business, but I need to position myself correctly. Otherwise, our cooperation won’t be able to continue. How about this, I’ll keep 10 bars as compensation for the brothers later, and you take the rest. Use it however you want.” “Isn’t your good friend Life Is Pretty Good an administrative professional, going to be a village chief in the future?” Meow King suggested from the side: “Transia needs rebuilding now, they’ll need startup capital to develop the village quickly. Instead of investing in Brother Stick’s team like you, why not use these 40 gold bars to invest in your friend’s village. I can tell your brother is no ordinary person, looks gentle on the surface but actually has hidden depths, probably planning something big. Trust me, investing in him definitely won’t be wrong! It might even be a hugely profitable deal.” “Hmm, makes sense! He’s my own brother after all, should support him when needed.” Little Rich Brother was quickly convinced and agreed to Joy Stick’s distribution plan. Finally, he advised: “If you guys need help, just say something. I’ll gather people at the Crimson Citadel to bring reinforcements to you. Don’t just care about face and hold back from asking, that’s going to cause problems.” With that, he actively hung up the communication. Brother Stick put away the computation bead with a silent face while Meow King came over and said: “Your boss is really a great person, good in every aspect, just a bit too naive. No wonder he was previously given such a hard time by those old foxes when running his company.” “The better he is, the more pressure I feel. Using slacking as a means to fight wit and courage with stupid bosses is one thing, taking advantage of a kind little fool is another matter, doing this all the time would make my conscience uneasy.” Joy Stick shook his head and said: “Let’s not talk about these things anymore, let’s discuss the next action.” “What’s there to discuss? You find the place, we charge down there and do a round, that place is so remote, I don’t believe it can spawn powerful guards!” Meow King pursed his lips, after staying silent for a moment he bumped Joy Stick’s shoulder and asked: “How much is your ‘Potential Release’ bar?” “10%, what about you?” Brother Stick turned back to ask, Meow King shrugged and said: “I’m at 13%, a bit more than you. This thing needs to reach above 70% to open the Silver Trial. At our current progress rate, it probably can’t be done in two months. Come to think of it, I’ve always felt we used the wrong method. The potential release at the Black Iron Rank stage shouldn’t be just about fighting. Otherwise, with our recent battle frequency and intensity, we shouldn’t be unable to reach even 20%. We need to properly research this when we have time later. Otherwise, it would be too stupid to still be at Black Iron Rank when the Black Plague breaks out. I heard that when the Black Plague really comes, Black Iron Rank will be everywhere, Silver Rank won’t even be worth mentioning. Our individual power is still too weak right now.” “That’s not what you’re saying, you still haven’t broken free from the traditional level-up-by-grinding power model.” Regarding this issue, Joy Stick clearly had different views. He said: “Let me give you the simplest example: Lord Murphy is also Black Iron Rank, but you’ve seen his combat power, do you think ordinary Silver creatures are his match? Of course, you can say that’s the privilege of main story NPCs, but I think in a 100% realistic game we’d better not have such naive thoughts. Learning from seniors on the path of power is the correct way. Perhaps we should learn from Lord Murphy, you know he practices swordsmanship with that demon blade in the Blood Vulture Halls every day. I’ve secretly observed before, he practices different sword styles every day. Perhaps this is the secret of potential release. Not just fighting, but also learning.” “Learning, huh.” Little Hands, who was applying poison to his daggers and short swords nearby, raised his head at these words. Rolling his eyes, he said: “What age are we all? We don’t study hard in reality, and you want us to settle down and get certificates in the game? That’s totally unrealistic.” “I’m just saying, I don’t have definite answers either, right?” Joy Stick snorted and said: “Perhaps Black Iron Rank potential improvement just needs to be slowly ground out over time. Didn’t the NPCs say so? This stage must be slow, this is the time to build foundation and create your own combat style. Rising to Silver Rank too quickly will only waste potential. Speaking of which, if we follow this logic, then the content of the Silver Trial definitely won’t be about combat, right?” “I heard it’s something called ‘Atavism’.” Old Tune also joined the discussion. Hugging his beloved hunting rifle and taking out a snuff bottle to put under his nostrils, he said in a low voice: “I talked about this with Grandma Marianne at the Adventurer’s Guild camp before. Grandma told me that the Silver Trial content is different for each race, but the common point is that they all need to trace the source of their bloodline and obtain so-called ‘Ancient Power’. For example, many members of the Adventurer’s Guild are Caith people, the racial talent of Caith people from Greenleaf Island is related to nature spirit power. Once they complete Silver transformation, not only will their Witch Hunter skills be enhanced, but they can also obtain new racial skills from racial talent awakening. Grandma Marianne said she had seen Master Witch Hunters obtain powerful ancestral powers like ‘Summoning Thunder Eagles and Flying Lions’ when breaking through at Silver Rank. She gave the simplest example – Young Lady Femis. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but after the young lady came back this time, her wings are at least twice as large as before, and her flying speed is at least twice as fast. Perhaps this is the Silver transformation of Blood Vulture vampires?” “Hmm, does it mean ‘exploring power within’?” Black Stockings Brother rubbed his chin and speculated: “From Professional to Black Iron is releasing body potential, from Black Iron to Silver is releasing racial bloodline potential, then from Silver to Gold probably needs to seek external enhancement to complete life form evolution?” “This isn’t right!” Shield Bearer Led More Than Three to Five Pecks quickly found a blind spot. Frowning, he said: “According to Grandma Marianne’s explanation, each race has their own bloodline potential to explore, but we players aren’t even subdivided into races! We’re just humans, and we don’t even know if we’re Caith, Silan, or Nord? Or even human subspecies like mountain folk or barbarians, the developers haven’t done any content in this aspect. No wonder our potential release bar grows so slowly. I guess we might have accidentally discovered a hidden bug.” “This can’t be called a bug, right?” Meow King team’s last member No Fap said quietly: “At most it’s incomplete gameplay. Perhaps the developers are making content for this aspect? I think given Reality Realm’s update frequency, completing player race subdivision is just a matter of time. Maybe they’ll open a choice later, letting us freely choose which human race we belong to. At that time, the Silver Trial will truly be complete. Ha, no wonder NPCs keep emphasizing that Black Iron Rank improvement can’t be rushed, turns out the developers haven’t finished developing this content! Really crafty.” “Hey, if we follow this logic, I estimate this aspect will definitely be completed before the Black Plague breaks out at the latest.” Meow King grinned and said: “The dog developers surely won’t throw a bunch of Black Iron Rank players into the cruel Black Plague battlefield? That would be too heartless.” “That’s right, so now we just need to wait patiently.” Brother Stick nodded, while Tobacco Mulberry controlling the gargoyle’s flight in front spoke up: “We’re almost there, brothers, hurry and get ready. Brother Stick, bring the map over for me to look at, let me choose a good spot for precise landing.” “Coming!” Joy Stick moved over in the crowded gargoyle back and unfolded the map in front of Tobacco Mulberry. The professional pilot glanced at the positioning point, compared it with the terrain below, then nodded and said: “Good, it’s in the mountains ahead. This place is really remote though, we’re already at the border between Seicob territory and Saxony forest. Why would the Blood Vulture Clan put their armory here?” “It’s said this armory was built right during the Second Night War.” Joy Stick explained: “The background at that time was that the Old Religion was launching a major invasion into the mountain folk’s forest, wanting to conquer the mountain folk here while fighting vampires, so Salrokdar established an armory here to be ready to support the Portia Federation’s mountain warriors at any time, but this place wasn’t used in the end. However, since the Blood Vulture Clan’s armory was already built, they just hid it away for future needs. The southern armory is in the same situation. But its construction time was a bit earlier, reportedly built after the Third Black Plague occurred. That place is very secretive. Even Lady Tris isn’t very clear where that armory actually is, only saying it seems to be near Fort Crimea, but definitely somewhere in the Baroness of Shadow’s territory.” “I’m saying can you be more serious? We’re treasure hunting here! Deal with this one first before talking about the southern one. This treasure hunting line is basically exclusively yours, so don’t look at that mountain while standing on this one.” Meow King was quite open-minded. A few minutes later, the huge gargoyle slowly landed in a wooded area. Meow King jumped a few times after landing, then took out the map in his hand to distinguish directions, and said to his team members: “Tobacco Mulberry, use your Sky Eye to see if it’s around here?” Professional scout Tobacco Mulberry had been “flying the gargoyle plane” all day and was tired, but he didn’t say much, just very unhappily pinched his hand gesture and activated the detection technique again. The perspective suddenly shifted to an aerial view, allowing him to take in the terrain of the nearby mountains. Joy Stick received the mission to explore the Blood Vulture armory from Murphy, but Murphy himself wasn’t very clear where the Blood Vulture armory was hidden, and could only give a general location based on Tris’s reminder. But the Blood Vulture Clan wouldn’t just hide things in some random corner. According to Tris’s speculation, that place should be near some remote village in this area. Guided by this information, Tobacco Mulberry quickly discovered a suspicious area, near a stream in the valley where he found a not-so-large settlement. Just as he was about to report, Tobacco Mulberry suddenly made a puzzled grunt. He took out a spirit power artifact used to enhance detection effects from his bosom, zoomed in his aerial view perspective again, and then exclaimed: “Not good! That village that might be the treasure hiding place has been destroyed, and there’s still fire burning. There are people over there! They’re moving things from underground to the surface. Damn! Brother Stick, the armory you’re looking for might have been taken by someone else first!” “F**k! This can happen?” Joy Stick was immediately enraged. His treasure hunting journey had been going poorly everywhere, and now he was holding back his anger. Furiously rising to his feet, he grabbed the wing cavalry war sword and was about to rush over to deal with those thieves, but was pulled back by Meow King. The cunning social person asked his team’s scout: “How many people are there? Can you tell what kind of people they are?” “Not many people, just over ten.” Tobacco Mulberry adjusted his artifact to see more clearly while answering: “The terrain over there is complex, I can’t see their specific characteristics for now, but I saw people flying between the rocks, should be vampires? But definitely not from our side.” “Can fly, and can accurately find this secret place, definitely those Blood Vulture traitors we didn’t clean up thoroughly before!” Three to Five Pecks shouldered his impressive heavy shield and one-handed hammer, saying to others: “I heard from Lord Maxim’s descendant that there are still some Blood Vulture traitors wandering in the forests in Seicob territory. The mountain folk don’t allow too many vampires to enter their forests, causing Lady Adele’s assassins to be unable to effectively track them. However, the mountain folk seem to be hunting these vampires who betrayed Transia, and the Blood Rat Gang has long-term bounties on them, just bring back vampire hearts and you can get the reward. This is the Blood Vulture secret vault, it makes sense these traitors would know its location. Hey, isn’t this a coincidence? We must take them down! Just in time to make up for Brother Stick’s losses.” “Right! How can we not eat meat that’s delivered to our door?” Joy Stick said with a sinister smile: “Let’s go! Brothers, take them down! We’ll split the bounty evenly.”

Chapter 323:

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