Chapter 34:

Murphy had slept for a full seven hours. When he woke up, it was already late morning of the next day. Fortunately, there was no sun in the forest, otherwise the intense sunlight alone would have been enough to turn him into a pile of ash. The more accustomed he became to the life of a vampire, the more he could feel the limitations of this race. This fatal weakness to sunlight alone was enough to negate all the advantages vampires possessed. Terrible gaming experience! Bad review! If he could change races, Murphy would definitely switch to a regular human or another race, like an elf. “Let’s go.” Murphy quickly freshened up and drank the virgin’s blood that the Young Lady had brought to “replenish” him. He didn’t want to know where the eccentric vampire lady had obtained these “supplies.” The lady herself probably didn’t know either, given her abnormal personality. He gestured to Maxim and Miriam, and then the two carriages set off one after the other, heading towards Kadman City. The front carriage was loaded with miscellaneous items, including the 3,000 computation beads, the firearms, weapons and armor collected by the players, as well as some blood-stained money. These were the startup funds for Murphy’s enterprise, guarded personally by the loyal Maxim. The rear carriage was driven by Miriam, carrying two coffins, one for the Young Lady, and the other reserved for the still unconscious Lady Adele. Murphy thought that with the Young Lady’s lifestyle as an orthodox vampire, she had probably taken refuge in her coffin once the sun came up. However, when he entered the carriage, he found that the Young Lady was not resting, but rather adorning Lady Adele’s coffin. Sheesh... the scene looked quite poignant. Dressed in a crimson robe, Lady Adele lay motionless in the black coffin, her hands folded on her flat belly, appearing to have stopped breathing. The Young Lady stood beside her, placing a few dried white roses around her and sprinkling some light, fragrant perfume. The scene looked like a final farewell. But in reality, this was just a “daily routine” for vampires. As an orthodox vampire, such meticulous attention to detail was essential to showcase their elegance and nobility as “midnight aristocrats.” “Thanks to the essence of fresh blood you provided her, she will only need two days to regain consciousness, sparing her the arduous transition that other vampires require months to adapt to their new life.” The Young Lady, veiled behind a black shawl and cloak, remained fully covered even in the dim carriage to avoid the irritating heat from the sun’s rays. As she arranged the settings in the coffin, seated on her own coffin board, she said to Murphy: “I haven’t thanked you yet, Murphy. Not just for the victory against the transport team, but I know the extra effort you made for Adele. You didn’t have to go that far, and I owe you a personal favor.” “There’s no need to be so polite, Young Lady. After all, I did it for myself as well.” Murphy sat at the rear of the carriage, watching the Smuggler’s Woods grow more distant. Leaning against the wall, he propped his chin with his left hand and said softly: “Given my current status, I can only accept this one progeny. Although I am from the Tris lineage, it doesn’t mean I can tolerate my first progeny being as useless as I once was. I just want to give her the best. However, given Lady Adele’s loyalty to you, she and I will need some time to gradually become accustomed to each other.” “You are her elder.” The Young Lady said in a low voice: “Whether she is willing or not, she must obey you! The blood bond will change her mind, and one day she will forget all emotional connections to me. Yes. One day... She will only fight for you. To be honest, I regret it a little now, Murphy.” Murphy wondered if the Young Lady was trying to back out and renegotiate terms. So he didn’t respond, waiting for her next words. But instead, she fell silent for half a minute, leaving Murphy quite perplexed. As he marveled at the Young Lady’s unpredictable ways, he changed the subject and asked: “What’s the deal with Adele’s bloodline? Why does she have one-fourth elven blood? Where did you find this oddity? There haven’t been any elves in the Transia region for hundreds of years, right?” “Ah? She’s actually a half-elf?” The Young Lady, who had been reaching to cover Adele’s coffin board, was taken aback by Murphy’s words. Her reaction made Murphy’s eyelids twitch. Good grief! This is your most loyal and only blood servant, yet you didn’t know about her hidden race? You brought her along without knowing anything about her? That’s awfully reckless! “Because I’ve never tasted Adele’s blood, nor have I allowed any other vampires to do so. Combined with her complete lack of elven traits and her usual silence, that’s why I...” Probably seeing the surprise Murphy couldn’t conceal, the Young Lady explained: “But I don’t think it’s that important. She’s loyal and capable enough, and in the face of excellent work ability, one’s origins are a trivial issue. Besides, Adele has been with me for twenty years. I’ve watched her grow up day by day. She’s like a daughter to me. “These are the rewards you deserve! They come from the transport team we intercepted last night. I never expected they would risk offending the halflings by smuggling these computation beads. But perhaps it was fate. These items, originally intended for killing and war, can undoubtedly serve a more valuable purpose in our grand plan!” The little players didn’t know what the computation beads were, but this didn’t stop them from picking up hints from the NPC’s words. Combined with the update notes on the official forum, they easily guessed that the beads were the “player interface” temporarily added to the game by the developers. “So, we even had to reclaim our own player interface?” Meow King toyed with the jewel-like computation bead, complaining to Onboard Joy Stick beside him: “Damn! This is too hardcore, isn’t it?” “I think it’s quite good,” Onboard Joy Stick rolled his eyes. “It’s more immersive than just being handed an interface for no reason, right? This game really takes immersion to the extreme. But logically speaking, how do we use this thing? Voice control? Or mind manipulation?” “The computation bead is a wonderful crystallization of steam engineering. It needs activation. Wait a moment, my warriors.” Murphy took out the fourth-generation prototype computation bead hanging from his neck and infused it with spirit energy. A red light flickered on the smooth gem surface as the internal spirit differential engine’s gears began to turn. An invisible, specially tuned spirit energy emanated from Murphy’s core computation bead, resonating with the subordinate beads. In an instant, the “player interfaces” in the little players’ hands finally activated. Leading Pigeon stared dumbly at the computation bead in his hand. He could feel the small object emitting a soft humming sound like a precise instrument. Then, a semi-transparent spirit energy screen projected in front of his eyes, hovering above his palm, with text flickering: 【Computation Bead Activated! Initializing, please wait User Information Scanned, Mind Binding Complete! Player Attributes Loaded! In-Game Communication Channels Grouped! Friend List Loaded! Translation Module Loaded! Information Recording & Map Functions Loaded! Subsequent features still in development, stay tuned. Enjoy your gaming experience.】 “This little thing is so smart!” Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche stared at the semi-transparent screen in his hand. He tentatively tapped one of the listed modules, and his personal information was projected in a refreshed interface reminiscent of the XP system. “Strength 5, Agility 5, Endurance 5, Intelligence 5, Perception 5, Charisma 5... why are they all 5? Is this a glitch?” Cheche snorted in displeasure. He felt the official team was mocking his measly combat power of 5, then turned to look at Niuniu beside him. Upon seeing Niuniu’s player interface, he burst out laughing, unable to contain himself. “Ha! Intelligence only 2! Niuniu, are you serious? The official team has classified you as mentally handicapped! Bwahahahaha!” Seeing Cheche clutching his stomach, laughing until his sides hurt, the unamused Precipitation Niuniu clenched his fists, knocked Cheche over, and shouted: “My Intelligence might only be 2, but did you not see my Strength is 8? You trash with 5 combat power dare to mock me! If I don’t spank you today, I’ll write my name backwards! A few people, come here! I’ll strip Cheche’s pants, you guys find a tree! That one over there looks good, thick and big enough, let’s use that! Come on, let’s do the Aruba Walk!” Upon seeing the screaming Cheche stripped of his pants and hoisted up for the “traditional performance” of the Aruba Walk, the other unscrupulous players burst into laughter, marveling at how realistic the game’s physics engine truly was. Even Murphy beside them wore an amused aunt’s smile, feeling that the little players were indeed passionate. If he didn’t have to remain dignified as an NPC, he would have loved to join and reminisce about his long-gone youthful days. But the next second, he saw Meow King slink up beside him and say shyly, twisting and turning: “That... forum reward...” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Murphy deadpanned. This made Meow King’s eyes go wide, accusing the NPC of withholding his reward. But then he saw Murphy rub his forehead in confusion and say: “Although I don’t know why I should reward you, it seems there is a voice in the back of my mind telling me that you have indeed made efforts towards the grand plan that I am unaware of. So come, my warrior Meow King, I happen to have something suitable for you here.”