Chapter 60:

Poor Khaki Tony Tai was utterly despairing. He shouted himself hoarse for a long time but no one paid him any attention. Finally, the Witch Hunter guarding him got annoyed, came over and slapped him on the ear, then stuffed a dirty rag into his mouth. The young player was dazed. Although it didn’t hurt, this humiliating treatment dealt a huge psychological blow to the young man. When had he ever suffered such indignity? His northeastern hot-headedness flared up and he struggled, wanting to headbutt the witch hunter. But the witch hunter just nimbly dodged backwards, perfectly evading Khaki’s attack. The three other captured, bruised and battered laborers watched dumbfounded. Hey man, are you really that brave? This is their territory, you know. The four of us against their thirty, tsk, we’re still slightly outnumbered. Brother Khaki, let’s just drop it. No need to tangle with these barbaric Witch Hunters. On Khaki Tony Tai’s side, he was getting anxious too. He only had six hours of gaming time per day, he didn’t have time to play tie-up games with these Witch Hunters. Seeing that no matter how much he shouted, no one came to his aid, heaven and earth remained deaf to his pleas. He was thinking maybe he should just kill himself and reincarnate, since in three days he’d be a free man again. Then he could bring his family’s invincible Brother Niu Niu and other brothers to kill their way here and bury all these bastards! While he was having this internal struggle, he suddenly saw a gray-haired female Witch Hunter stride out from the village, say a few words to the guard, then come up and grab his rope to pull him up. When Khaki Tony Tai saw her draw a short blade to cut his ropes, he immediately realized his chance had come! The cool counterattack scenes from all the cop shows and action movies he’d seen kept replaying in this jock’s mind. So the instant his hands were freed, he went to grab the female Witch Hunter’s throat. But Natalie didn’t pay any attention to this novice’s counterattack. She leaned her upper body back, then lightly swept with her left foot. The inexperienced Khaki Tony Tai trying to attack fell straight on his face with a thud, and Natalie then stepped on his back. As everything went black before his eyes, his player interface performed a “disappearing health bar” trick right in front of him. With a swish, only one-fifth of his health remained. Of course, his digitized body wouldn’t have that much reaction, but this standard and deadly backhand strike had thoroughly cowed Khaki Tony Tai. He realized he probably couldn’t handle just any random Witch Hunter in this camp. Oh man, had he just wandered into some kind of team dungeon instance? “Stay still!” Natalie dragged the disheveled Khaki up from the ground and stared into his eyes, saying: “I know your master is Murphy. I’ve seen him! The Battalion Commander wants to see you, so don’t try any more tricks.” This line was presented to Khaki through his player interface’s translation. He gritted his teeth, convincing himself that completing the quest was more important. Besides, how could a real man like him pick a fight with a girl? So he obediently nodded and followed Natalie into the village. Along the way, he didn’t forget to record the locations of the visible sentries he saw, and tried his best to assess the strength of this Witch Hunter faction, in order to fulfill his role as an “undercover worker.” But the more he saw, the more hopeless he became. If each of these Witch Hunters in the camp were elite monsters, maybe even his side’s NPCs wouldn’t stand a chance if they attacked together. But everyone on the forum had been saying that Murphy’s elder matriarch, Lady Tris, was actually a skeleton-level faction leader. If the rumors were true, the two sides might still be able to fight it out. But thinking carefully, since the NPCs on his side could give him quests to act as their envoy, it meant these neutral mobs were probably open to communication. And realizing that his upcoming conversation with their leader would directly impact the next main story quest line, Khaki Tony Tai couldn’t help his heart racing with excitement. No matter what young people think, they do tend to have active minds. Just as he was thinking about how to match wits and courage with the enemy leader, and how to present himself as Lord Murphy’s envoy, bold and unyielding, Natalie pushed him into the room where the commander was located. A bright gas lamp sat on the table in front. Old Finoch sat behind the table, the great oak blade at his side. He raised his head to look at the young player, showing a gentle smile like a world-weary barfly uncle with many stories. Khaki Tony Tai wanted to put on airs of politeness, but the moment their eyes met, he saw the old knight casually pinch and snap one of the oak seeds he was toying with. Natural Spirit – Mind Enthrallment! Instantly, Khaki felt an invisible force press down on his thoughts, a heavy whispering voice speaking to him. He suddenly felt dazed and muddled, knowing this state wasn’t right, but found it very difficult to focus his will to resist. Willpower check! The player’s willpower is too low, critical failure! Mind Enthrallment great success! Khaki Tony Tai’s consciousness was instantly trapped in inescapable mental domination. But since it was a harmless, suggestive spell effect, instead of being forcibly disconnected, he strangely entered a third-person perspective, as if hovering outside his own body, watching himself dazedly walk up and sit across from the old man. Just like a marionette on strings. Oh no! The opponent was cheating! No honor in battle! Don’t get in our way then. We can easily pretend we never saw you.” The old knight’s words were translated by the player interface for Khaki to read. He blinked, then asked: “But isn’t the gathering of over a thousand vampire worshippers here a threat to you?” “Maybe to the Goldflower Kingdom, but not to us.” Old Finoch waved his hand dismissively, saying: “Take your companions and leave. Don’t doubt our sincerity, with your paltry strength, if we wanted to take action we’d just steamroll right over you. No need for any tricks.” “Oh.” A quest completion notice popped up in front of Khaki, along with a prompt to return to camp, report to Murphy, and claim his reward. This fired him up, making him wish he could sprout wings and fly back right away. But before leaving, Khaki Tony Tai suddenly remembered a post he’d seen on the forum, so he turned back and asked: “Um, well, a friend of mine has a replica of an Avalon holy blade, and he’s been trying to find the secret behind this replica, which apparently was seized from you guys. So, could you give him a chance to inquire about it? It’s really just to ask, no other intentions. With your overwhelming strength, you’re not afraid of a weakling warrior like him, right? Just academic discussion, don’t get the wrong idea.” “Hmm?” After this request was translated by the computation bead, the White Oak Master was truly surprised. Where did that wondrous vampire Murphy find these equally wondrous “summons”? These guys looked human, but their gall was more voracious than a man-eater’s appetite! Letting you keep your life was already great magnanimity. Instead of hurriedly thanking me and running off, you turn around and want to find an “academic exchange” opportunity for your friend to bring a seized holy relic replica to us? Aren’t you afraid that once he comes in, Natalie will give the signal by smashing a cup, then five hundred axe-wielding thugs will take turns asking if you’d prefer wonton noodles or chopping block noodles? The old knight glanced at Natalie. She had already clenched her fists, feeling these Murphy lackeys were clearly mocking her. If The Battalion Commander wasn’t here, the scout captain might have drawn her blade to hack them down. “Fine!” The White Oak Master didn’t know what he was thinking, but he showed a subtle smile, stood up and nodded to Khaki Tony Tai, saying: “We welcome Lord Murphy’s brave warriors to visit here anytime, as long as you have the courage to come.” “Hoo, got it.” Khaki grinned and gave the old knight a thumbs up, saying: “You’re not a bad guy, you know! I’ll go tell this to Brother Meow, maybe he’ll come by tomorrow, might even bring gifts. Hey, I can see you guys are busy, no need to see us out. We’ll just be going then. Bye now!” So under the hawkish glares of the Witch Hunters “seeing them off”, Khaki Tony Tai boarded a rickety cart gifted by the Witch Hunters with the three laborers who had been terrified into jelly, and soon disappeared into the night. After he left, Lieutenant Frayzer emerged from a nearby house. He was clutching a notebook, having taken notes from the old knight on his conversation with that Blood Servant, though since he couldn’t understand their otherworldly language, he could only record the old knight’s side. The lieutenant looked at the old knight with a peculiar gaze, saying in a low voice: “Your words just now really surprised me. I know you have no loyalty to the kingdom, but such blatant disloyalty is unexpected. It seems the people’s disdain for you is not without reason. But do you truly plan to let those vampires and their followers go?” “They’re not our target.” Old Finoch leaned on the oak holy blade, saying softly: “The war is over, and blades should be sheathed. But if they don’t know their place, I don’t mind shedding more Blood Vulture blood on this land they’ve tainted. But we should prepare for that possibility.” “Hmm?” The lieutenant didn’t understand what he meant. Then he saw the old knight shake his head, saying: “Don’t you wonder why Murphy and his companions have to recapture the city no matter what? Salrokdar isn’t dead. He’s still in the city, perhaps wounded, or worse. But he should still be alive. How fortunate...” Leaning on the great oak blade, the old knight broke into the frigid smile of a golden champion. He gazed into the ominous night distance and said in a deep voice: “Finally a chance to personally settle that ancient personal grudge with the Blood Vultures. But that strange little fellow just mentioned ‘Tris’. Surely not the ‘Tris’ from my memory?”