Chapter 41:

Tris, who was carried on Murphy’s back, drank a few bottles of wine to suppress the pain from her wounds while fleeing, so she was still a bit dazed when they reached the “safe zone” outside the city. After sensing the decrease in the concentration of astral energy, Tris opened her eyes with difficulty and looked puzzledly at the small players beside Murphy. She couldn’t help but ask: “Little Murphy, who are these...” “They are my servants, I’ll explain the details later,” Murphy said softly to Tris, and instructed: “I’ll have my assistant take you to a safer place now. Wait for me there and tend to your injuries. I’ll join you after dealing with the troubles here.” Tris looked around. Noticing the dazed survivors who had escaped the city crying in anguish, she thought Murphy stayed in this dangerous place to try to rescue more people. This made Tris admire her little Murphy for being such a kind vampire. She didn’t stop him, but refused to leave. She said to Murphy: “I’ll stay here. Don’t rush, listen to me! You know nothing about the dangers of the Astral Realm. I have some experience and can tell you that the current situation in Kadman City is very, very special. It’s so special that nothing similar has happened on the entire continent for nearly a thousand years. You have no relevant experience, Murphy. If you re-enter the city, you’ll have to improvise. As for my injuries... I’m a vampire, and you’ve just rescued so many people.” Tris blinked and said: “It’s reasonable for them to pay a ‘blood tax’, isn’t it? Don’t worry, I only need a little blood to recover, so I won’t be a burden to you at the very least.” “This...” Feeling Tris’s insistence, Murphy hesitated for a moment, but instead of refusing, handed Tris over to Miriam to lean on while collecting the “rescue blood tax” from the survivors. For the civilians who had lived in Kadman City for a long time, vampires’ demands were nothing unusual. Moreover, they had to rely on Murphy and the Blood Servant army to survive the current situation. So when Tris asked for the virgins among the crowd to offer their blood, several young girls were immediately pushed out. No one dared to defy Tris at this moment. Seizing this opportunity, Murphy also assigned scouting to his useless elders. He planned to take the chance to satisfy a long-standing doubt in his mind, just what level was Tris’s strength? He hadn’t forgotten that when rescuing Tris from the manor ruins earlier, there was also the corpse of what looked like a formidable BOSS-level astral monster lying beside her in terms of size and aura. This fully proved that Tris was definitely not as useless as she appeared. When Murphy’s Scouting hit Tris, who was currently embracing a young girl and absorbing her blood to recover, she immediately noticed it. Turning her head and finding it was little Murphy staring at her, she gave him a friendly and charming smile, made even more seductive by the blood stains around her mouth. Just like the legendary vampire enchantress. The nearby small players were dumbfounded. They had noticed this female vampire being very intimate with their NPC Murphy when she was slumped on his shoulder earlier. Now they were wondering about the relationship between Murphy and Tris. But when they saw this, all the small players were almost instantly captivated by Tris’s bewitching and mature demeanor. “Damn! This woman is too seductive. With that modeling... I have a feeling the 3D area may see a storm of blood and lust.” Meow King murmured in a low voice. The other small players nodded in agreement. As regulars and “art connoisseurs” of the 3D area, they highly approved of Meow King’s judgment. The only pity was that the terrible wounds extending from Tris’s neck downward severely marred the stunning beauty she should have possessed. At this moment, Murphy also received specific feedback about Tris. A semi-transparent information tag appeared next to her: Name:【Crimson Witch】Tris Cavendina Chia Lorraine Lessenbra Level: 40 Golden Body Regular Template【Lost Elite Template due to Dried Blood Essence】 Profession: Level 30 Dark Spirit Sovereign/Level 30 Grandmaster Alchemist/Historian – Theology Specialization Status: Soul Weakness, Severe Wounds, Ominous Aging Evaluation: Dangerous, Friendly Intimate【Dependent】 “?!” Murphy’s pupils contracted at this moment. So Tris was a Golden-level vampire? And those two professions sounded formidable too. No wonder she used to be an elder of the Blood Vulture Clan and always called herself the most talented elder. When drunk, she would reminisce about her wonderful past life and how she had conversed with a bunch of bigwigs in the Blood clan. Murphy had thought it was just the delusional rambling of this drunkard. “I will stay with my elder and servants guarding this safe passage. You must search for survivors as quickly as possible and bring back any supplies we need!” As soon as he finished speaking, the computation beads of the players let out a soft ‘ding’, indicating a quest update: 【Prologue: The Last Night of Kadman City Phase Two: Disaster Day! Details: The warriors from another realm have decided to rescue the innocent citizens of Kadman City before it is dragged into the Astral Realm, and have persuaded Murphy to assist them. But your actions must be swift, as the situation continues to worsen. Objective: Rescue innocents and scavenge for necessary supplies. Requirements: Rescue no less than 600 survivors total. Each player must collect no less than 200 pounds of food, medicine, ammunition and valuable miscellaneous items. Time Limit: 72 hours. Rewards: Some Portia Gold Coins, unlock next quest stage.】 The small players who accepted the quest set out immediately in squads. The Dorm Six Brothers and Niuniu were naturally one team, while Meow King and his two bodyguards went another way, with Joy Stick as their “attachment”. It was evident that even in the early testing phase, different factions had already formed among the small players. “Any thoughts on this quest?” Electronic Succubus asked as she sidled up. Meow King pondered and said, “Don’t waste time on the streets. Let’s go to those fancy-looking residences, the environment in this game isn’t just flat textures. In reality, the nicer the residence, the more valuables inside. We can definitely find stashed good equipment and such in those places. We’re outnumbered, we can’t compete with the students in quantity. We’ll take the efficiency route. What do you say, Brother Stick?” “You said it all, what’s left for me?” Joy Stick rolled his eyes. “Let’s just stick to this area and not go further. I’ll find a high point to keep watch while you scavenge. Remember to find some carts or something, shoulder-carrying won’t let you haul much. We’ll split the profits evenly in the end?” “No problem! Move out!” Meow King waved his hand grandly and led his two bodyguards, zeroing in on the tallest, most luxurious house on the street to smash their way in. In contrast to their small team’s clear objectives, the more numerous student faction didn’t have many ideas. They just advanced down the main road toward the city center. Chatting and laughing merrily along the way, like they were on a field trip. Foolish, but truly reckless. After Leading Pigeon suggested skirting the dangerous astral rift area, they quickly reached a consensus. Crossing through collapsed buildings, they picked up some coins and portable supplies, soon reaching the large rift Murphy had expressly forbidden them from crossing. “Whoa, so grand! Just like a giant pit!” Ah Yuen exclaimed in awe, and the other small players also hurriedly took photos. This rift that a dimensional meteorite had violently gouged across the entire city was nearly a hundred meters wide. Instead of a dark sunken pit below, peering over the edge revealed what looked like a “galaxy” hidden within. Those points of light flickering with an ominous violet radiance against the gloom, like dangerous radiation. Cheche stood at the edge, squinting down as he could hear unsettling screeches emanating from below. “This is definitely a high-level map!” he said resolutely to his good friends. “I bet we’ll have to be at least level 20 before we can come back and explore it.” “People! Look, there are people across the rift! Lots of them!” The short but eagle-eyed Cyborg Snail raised his hand and pointed. The student players all looked over, vaguely making out strangely stiff, wandering silhouettes in the smoke and sandstorm-like obscurity on the other side. Then seconds later, a dark figure flew out from among them, drawing an arcing trail that had the players gaping before crashing right in front of them. “What the hell?” The players jumped back in fright, forming a tight circle, as the daring Niuniu prodded the smoke-shrouded pile with his spear. As the dissipating smoke revealed two figures clutching each other like mother and daughter, Niuniu suddenly exclaimed: “It’s the Young Lady! And her maid! Hey, didn’t we leave the maid in the carriage? How did she get here? They’re badly injured.” “Quick! It must have triggered a story event. Take them back to Lord Murphy!” Leading Pigeon whistled smugly, “See? I told you all, take a walk around and open up the map a bit before doing quests, and good things happen!”