Chapter 5:

Morland Village in the southwest of Kadman City, being close to the trade route, has become a stopover for merchants traveling to and from the Transia region. The whole town has developed quite well by riding on the tertiary industry. Murphy had never been here before. He had never even left Kadman City, but from the words of the aide driving beside him, he learned some inside information about Morland Village. For instance, this was the fief of a vampire elder, and the village chief was an old blood servant who secretly did some unsavory deeds in the eyes of humans and made money for that vampire elder. The whole village had a large number of vampire worshippers, so it was considered a “safe zone” for the Blood Vulture Clan. “However, you still need to go thirty more miles east, my lord. That area is not safe.” The tall aide, whip in hand, said softly to Murphy who was munching on a dry bread: “Lord Jed told us before we set out that there were several Witch Hunter squads active in that area. They are the hounds of the Pioneer Legion and have destroyed quite a few villages that worship the vampires. The Lim Village where I was born, well...let’s not go into that, it was horrible.” Murphy did not respond. While eating the bread, he pricked up his ears sharpened by the night and tried hard to perceive any potential danger around with his vampire senses enhanced by the darkness. Although the 【0/10】 summons tag on the character card gave him great confidence, necessary precautions were still needed. Seeing Murphy not responding, the aide did not continue either, but Murphy had actually been observing him secretly. This guy’s getup was quite bizarre. Like a vampire walking under the sun, he had wrapped himself up from head to toe, almost like a mummy, only exposing his eyes. But Murphy could tell it was definitely not just out of reverence and imitation for his vampire master by a blood servant. Because even this guy’s eyelashes were white. By human standards, that was clearly abnormal. “You know, Lord Jed sent you all out to ‘help’ me with a hidden intention, right?” Murphy finished the bread, dusting off the crumbs from his hands and said in a low voice: “Are you mentally prepared?” After a few seconds of hesitation, the young aide clenched his fists and nodded: “Yes, Lord Jed did not hide the dangers of this journey, and the nine of us chosen were not random, or perhaps...” He paused, as if he had made a great determination before completing the next words: “Or perhaps this is just a ‘waste disposal’. Ah, my lord, I don’t mean that! I’m not calling you a waste, I just mean, as you can see, we nine are the crippled and weak among the blood servants.” “No need to explain all that, even if you were slandering me, I wouldn’t mind.” Murphy was big-hearted. Over the past month in Kadman City, he had heard much more vicious insults, and his mind had already toughened to the point of near nerve ending necrosis. He just waved his hand and curiously asked the aide: “Those eight in the carriage, I don’t care if they all die on the road, they’re actually already dead, their frail hearts just don’t know it yet. But you’re different! Your life force is very robust and strong. Even stronger than ordinary people, you should be the ideal candidate for a blood servant warrior. Don’t doubt my judgment! I’m a vampire, discerning life force is my instinct.” Facing Murphy’s inquiry, the aide hesitated for a moment, but eventually took off his hood and face covering under Murphy’s curious gaze, revealing a complexion even whiter than a vampire’s. As well as completely white eyebrows, beard and short hair, and the skin on his neck was so pale that the blue veins underneath were clearly visible. Albinism? Murphy blinked. In this extremely closed and superstitious region ruled by vampires, such a condition would indeed be considered an anomaly or some kind of ominous sign. No wonder he kept his face covered all this time. “I’m also a defective product, they all call me a ‘monster’.” The aide said bitterly: “I was abandoned by my parents as a child, and it was Lord Jed who took me in. Now that the lord needs me to contribute to the clan’s cause, I have no second thoughts.” But he maintained his composure better than Maxim, after all, even as a supposed “waste” supernatural being, his physical abilities could still crush human veterans. “They dare! It seems the so-called midnight authority of the Blood Vulture Clan can no longer scare anyone, just a paper tiger.” The unfortunate vampire rebuked Maxim beside him, then narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at the village entrance. Those Witch Hunters who had ambushed them rushed out of the village to search outside when they realized there were no targets in the carriage. Fortunately, there were only four of them. Murphy breathed a sigh of relief, while simultaneously crouching down and making spell-casting motions. That’s right, he was going to “unleash his ultimate move”. The same experience as high noon surged within Murphy, but this time summoning more minions almost instantly drained his meager dark spirit energy. Then six flashing beams of light rapidly wove together, coalescing into humanoid forms that materialized beside Murphy in the blink of an eye. The Leading Pigeon who had made an appearance already gave his body a practiced stretch. The other five dorm mates looked around dazedly after regaining consciousness, all standing there dumbfounded, clearly stunned by this “ultra-realistic game graphics”. The pigeon wasn’t lying! This game looks exactly like reality! “Holy shit! Awesome!” One guy exclaimed excitedly and then reached for his pants, looking like he was about to do something very inappropriate. But this commotion could not escape the notice of the four approaching Witch Hunters. Although it was nighttime, that excited shout pinpointed their target location. Without hesitation, the leading Witch Hunter raised his hand crossbow and pulled the trigger. With a “poof” sound, the guy who had just yelled “awesome” and grabbed his crotch was hit straight in the head. He collapsed without a sound, crumpling into a pile of scattered light particles. This stunned both Murphy and Maxim. Damn! Just entered the game for less than 3 seconds and got fragged. Brother, are you kidding me? Is it really that hardcore? The commotion also startled the other summons, who instinctively hit the ground, narrowly avoiding the crossbow bolts shooting out of the darkness. “Why did only six of my warriors come?” Murphy counted in shock. He had clearly summoned ten, but the Leading Pigeon crouching beside him and covering his head heard the NPC’s surprise and turned to complain: “This is office hours, brother! Not everyone has as much free time as us poor students, you know. By the way, what’s going on here? Who are those people? Why are they trying to kill us?” Hearing his “otherworld warriors” mention they had to go to work, Murphy nearly lost his composure. I’m telling you about the grand plan to save the world! And you respond by saying you have to go to work? Aren’t you guys ashamed? Work, work, what kind of work? Can any work be as fun as playing games? But the vampire took a deep breath and quickly reframed his mindset, speaking in the tone of an NPC giving a quest: “It’s the grand plan! More precisely, the first step of the grand plan! I must let you brave but inexperienced otherworld warriors get familiar with the brutal combat of this savage world. Before truly embarking on the grand plan, I must train you into warriors capable of taking on ten foes alone. However, your performance in this first battle has disappointed me. Perhaps being ‘mobile blood packs’ is your ultimate destiny. Get up! My warriors, don’t lie there shivering like a little chick, it’s too disgraceful and unbecoming. Listen! My servant and I will charge straight in, you disrupt them from behind! Otherworlders, this is your last chance. If you are this useless, I will have to give up on you and seek other more qualified warriors. Now! Go forth, for our grand plan! Warriors, charge!”