Chapter 261:
This wasn’t because the rough and barbaric people of Transia had suddenly learned tolerance, but because the camp guards had conveyed specific information.
A group of very evil Wolfsbane vampires, unable to stand the sight of the disaster-stricken Transians living their lives, had traveled thousands of kilometers from Greenleaf Island to kill the Blood Vulture vampires here.
Now, the two vampire factions were clashing with swords in the city’s sewers, and whoever won or lost would directly decide the future of Crimson Citadel, which had just begun to show signs of improvement.
At this critical juncture, Murphy’s order for everyone to stay in the camp and not go out was more like protection than imprisonment.
Of course, protection has always been a two-way street.
The strong have the power to protect the weak, and the weak have the right to decide whether to accept that protection.
Therefore, in the workers’ gathering area of the forward camp, Heaven’s Chosen Grayman was stunned to see several foremen who had come to his tent to “petition.”
Heaven’s Chosen Grayman and his brother Bricklayer had also wanted to join the excitement in the sewers, but Baroness Miriam had firmly rejected their request to participate in the battle.The reason was simple.
They were exceptionally outstanding administrative Professional players.
Before entering the sewers, Murphy had already given clear orders that unless all the members of the Blood Vulture Clan and combat Professionals were dead, these hard-to-find “prized possessions” were not allowed to go to the battlefield and die in vain.
Administrative Professional players going to fight might satisfy their own desires.
But the price would be that if they died recklessly, they wouldn’t be able to log in and handle official business for three days. Now that Transia was in the midst of reconstruction, how many things would be delayed by such actions?
Moreover, given the generally poor combat skills and physical fitness of administrative Professionals, they might be able to bully gnolls or ghouls, but when faced with characters like vampires with maxed-out agility, they’d probably be lying on the ground after just one round.
For details, refer to Lady Aqua’s encounter three days ago, which resulted in her being instantly killed.
Originally, Heaven’s Chosen Grayman and Bricklayer were about to log off to eat, but they were startled when several emotionally charged NPCs suddenly burst into their tent.
“What, what, what? What are you saying?” Heaven’s Chosen Grayman pushed up his glasses and exclaimed, “You want to go help? Help who? Help the Wolfsbane fight the Blood Vultures? I thought Murphy was treating you quite well, even though you work hard every day and don’t get much pay… but surely you don’t hate him to that extent, right?”
“No, sir!” The lead foreman waved his hands and said, “We want to help our local vampires, the Blood Vultures! The workers all say that although the Blood Vultures aren’t very nice, they’ve managed this place quite well recently and even drove away the gnolls. Even though we rarely see Lord Murphy, we all feel that Lord Murphy is different from other bad vampires.
He’s not so bad, and might even be a bit good.
But if other vampires come and take over this place, we’ll all have to go back to living the way we did before. I mean, Kadman City is gone, who would still want to pay blood tax to vampires?
Besides, many of the workers here were rescued by Lord Kudel from the Astral Realm disaster, we still owe Lord Kudel our lives!”
“Umm, but I can’t take you out either,” Heaven’s Chosen Grayman said anxiously. “I’m not even allowed on the battlefield myself.”
“Of course you can’t go to the battlefield, you’re a learned and talented gentleman,” the foreman said earnestly. “How could someone as pampered and delicate as you go to the battlefield and risk your life like us common folk? Your mind is so sharp, if you died senselessly on the battlefield, who would lead us to continue building houses? What I mean is, we’ll go! The workers have all received militia training from the Witch Hunters recently, we know how to deal with vampires, those Witch Hunters taught us specifically.
Transia has been at war for so many years, we’re not afraid of fighting.
And there are still firearms that the great chef Shovan, oh, now we should call him ‘Master Shovan,’ secretly brought back to the camp. Although Lady Miriam doesn’t allow us to discuss it, everyone knows where those things are.
We can go help!
No matter how bad the Blood Vulture Clan is, they’re still our Transian bad guys, it’s not for those Goldflower vampires to come and bully them. And how should I put it…”
The foreman started to fidget a bit embarrassedly, he stammered and said:
“Lord Murphy promised that those finished houses would be for us to use during the winter, we’ve all promised our wives and children at home that we’d have good houses to live in. We’ve been working so hard lately that we haven’t had time to stock up on wood and food.
If we suddenly lose those houses, how are we going to get through this winter?
We came here to ask you to plead with Lady Miriam, to let us take guns and go help. If that’s not possible, we can use Molotov cocktails! Those things pack a punch!
They burn as soon as you throw them out, so, let us burn those damn Wolfsbane vampires to death!”
Heaven’s Chosen Grayman finally understood.
He looked back at Bricklayer, who squinted his eyes and slapped his thigh excitedly, saying:
“What do you call this?! Look, what do you call this?! This is what they call ‘the people’s hearts can be used’! The people of our great Transia rejoice at the sound of war, spreading the news eagerly. This is the rhythm of becoming invincible in the world!
Let’s go!
I’ll take you to find Regent Miriam!”
“Don’t go! Damn, there’s a curfew right now.” Heaven’s Chosen Grayman tried to stop him, but the already fired-up Bricklayer didn’t care at all. He argued vigorously:
“That curfew is for NPCs, how can it control me, a noble player? Why are you playing the game so obediently? What are you trying to do? Help! Don’t you understand? When war breaks out, do you think the enemy cares if you’re an administrative profession or not?
Lord Murphy favoring us is just game mechanics, but monsters don’t care about that. If you don’t take the chance to practice now, what are you going to do if you’re really attacked in the future?
Close your eyes and wait for death? Do you understand subjective initiative?”
“Damn! Although I know you’re bullshitting, what you’re saying actually makes sense. Let’s go, let’s go together!”
These two immediately rushed out of the tent with the foremen, quickly gathered the construction workers together, and selected several dozen of the most capable fighters from among them. They then marched imposingly towards the administrative building.
Halfway there, they encountered the middle-aged trio who had also sneaked out, and the two groups immediately hit it off. Half Off With Full Coverage, as the camp’s security supervisor, went straight to open the camp’s armory. Guns and explosives smuggled in from the Goldflower Kingdom were distributed, and several boxes of Molotov cocktails that Brother Loyalty had just finished making and submitted were carried away.
Their commotion was so big that it alarmed the other administrative players. After a brief and smooth conversation, the remaining administrative players also “defected” one after another, joining this group of “rogue” fellows with excitement about causing trouble.
Then, unsurprisingly, they were blocked by Meow King at the sewer entrance as they approached with a menacing air.
“You bastards, get back right now! Are you bringing a group of NPCs here to be mobile blood bags for the vampires?” Meow King was shocked.
He jumped up and down on the spot, cursing loudly:
“No one’s stopping you if you want to go die yourselves, but these NPCs can’t go! Do you understand how precious manpower is now? Once they die, they’re gone for good, don’t you get it?”
“What the hell do you know!” The oldest of the group, Dump Truck Iaido, clutching a masterwork hunting rifle and covered in explosives, cursed back:
“You know the nature of this game too, we can lead the charge, but when it comes to defending the homeland and all that, doesn’t it have to be the NPCs? Why do you think they’re designed to be so smart and so real?
They all have growth potential!
If you don’t let them see blood now, when something really happens in the future, how many nails can you hammer with just one broken ship? We have so few people, we can’t protect them completely on our own.
They need to learn to protect themselves.
Get out of the way quickly!
Do you understand that the people’s hearts can be used? Do you understand that it’s better to let them through than to block them? If you keep blocking us, we’ll beat you up too! Let me tell you, if you get beaten by NPCs, that’s on you, no one will back you up.”
“Damn it!” Meow King was about to argue back after being scolded, but he was unexpectedly pulled by a cunning little hand from behind. Old Brother whispered a few words to him, and Meow King immediately had a change of heart. He coughed a few times.
He stepped aside and said in a drawn-out voice:
“Let me make this clear, if anything happens to the people you’re bringing in, don’t blame it on me!”
“Brothers! It’s time to protect our home and country! This place belongs to us Transians! Let those Greenleaf dogs go back to their kennels!”
Dump Truck Iaido raised the hunting rifle in his hand and shouted in a hoarse voice:
“Brothers, it’s time to sacrifice for our country! Charge with me! For your homes, for your wives and children, charge!”
He was the first to rush into the sewer, yelling, followed by a group of administrative players shouting and charging in, with NPCs also getting caught up in the excitement, carrying torches and guns on their backs as they rushed in.
After the Meow King’s group of 7 let them charge in, Meow King coughed a few times and said in a drawn-out voice:
“Listen up, everyone! I just saw that many of these workers have already converted to our faith and are followers of our Avalon Church!
As protectors of Avalon, how can we stand by and watch our believers being bullied by the evil Wolfsbane vampires?
Brothers! Follow me! Now is the time to protect the faithful and spread our teachings!
The big boss of Avalon is watching from above, it’s time to show our sincerity and strength!
Charge!”
As he took the lead, the old church players patrolling around also let out a roar and followed, they had been looking for a good reason to participate in this vampire main quest line, and now the opportunity had presented itself.
“Holy shit! You can do that? These cunning social players are really something else!”
Feel You Poor, who was flying in the sky with his manticore Stinky Treasure, widened his eyes. He immediately shouted to the “professional breeder” Bursting Belly patrolling below:
“Quick! Let’s follow them to fight monsters and loot equipment—ahem, I mean, to offer our loyalty to our god Avalon!”
A few minutes later, Amber’s anxious voice sounded in Guildmaster Natalie’s Computation Bead, the scout shouted:
“Guildmaster, those apprentices ignored the vampires’ warnings and rushed in, what should we do?”
“What else can we do?”
Natalie rolled her eyes. She had been waiting impatiently on the ground and gripped the hilt of her battle dagger “Punishment” at her waist, kicking open the sewer entrance cover at her feet, and said:
“At this point, are you still planning to slack off on the surface? Did they bring in local believers? If so, we have a reason to intervene in the vampires’ internal affairs.
Let’s go!
The holy land generously bestowed by our god cannot fall into the hands of the vulgar Wolfsbane vampires!
In the name of faith, the Witch Hunters join the battle tonight!”
——
“Fuck fuck fuck! We’re completely outmatched!”
In the sewer, Path of Mud and Oil, who was being chased by 2 Wolfsbane vampires, ran for his life while cursing:
“We’re all vampires, why is your defense penetration so strong when we’re fighting with blades? Are you all vampires turned by a bunch of gorillas?
With such strength, why be vampires? Why not be werewolves?
Damn it!”
His complaints were not without reason, mainly because the stat distribution of these Wolfsbane vampires was the extreme opposite of the Blood Vultures. How could an agility-focused Blood Vulture vampire win in a blade fight against these powerhouses?
Every hit from them was an overwhelming critical strike.
If it weren’t for the maxed-out agility of the Blood Vulture Clan and the life-saving Blood Wings, he would have been broken through in one encounter.
However, although Path of Mud and Oil was fleeing, he had actually gained something. 2 Wolfsbane hearts were lying in his Spirit Bag, which was the reason why the 2 Wolfsbane swordsmen behind him were in hot pursuit.
Just earlier, he and his good friend Khaki Tony Tai had used a “suicide tactic” to kill 2 Wolfsbane elites. As for Khaki himself…
He had already been sacrificed as the “consumable” of the “suicide tactic”.
When you can’t win in a head-on fight, you can only use these “unorthodox tactics”. For players who get a new life every 3 days, sacrificing one’s life is just an extreme optional battle strategy when necessary.
“Thud”
An arrow shot from behind, hitting Path of Mud and Oil’s shoulder, causing him to stumble and break his flight posture, falling towards the ground.
The Wolfsbane warrior running wildly behind, who had fully exposed his “Wilderness Transformation”, let out a cold and eerie laugh in the darkness while holding a heavy crossbow.
In their view, this weak and cunning Blood Vulture had no escape now.
But there’s always hope when all seems lost. Just as Path of Mud and Oil had resigned himself to fate and drawn his wing blade, preparing for an all-or-nothing exchange, he suddenly heard a commotion from behind. On the world channel, Heaven’s Chosen Grayman reported coordinates:
Heaven’s Chosen Grayman: 【Brothers, lure the monsters to sewer entrance number 3! We’ve brought the militia, our firepower is definitely sufficient! Don’t say we administrative players aren’t helpful, hurry and lure them over to help you farm monsters!】
Path of Mud and Oil: 【Good brother! You’ve come at the right time, I have 2 elites coming right over!】
“Get ready!”
Heaven’s Chosen Grayman immediately yelled.
He himself aimed a hunting rifle forward, while the worker squad he led also raised their guns, and other workers grabbed Molotov cocktails and were lighting them.
A few seconds later, Path of Mud and Oil, covered in blood, came tumbling out from around the corner, falling flat on the ground with his health bar nearly depleted. The 2 enraged Wolfsbane vampires howling and pouncing out behind him were suddenly faced with over 20 dark gun barrels aimed at them, along with more than 10 lit Molotov cocktails ready to be thrown.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
In that instant, the grayish-green eyes of the 2 Wolfsbane members who had exposed their Wilderness Transformation widened, filled with the words “F**k, you Transians fight dirty”.
“Fire!”
Grayman was so excited his voice trembled.
To be honest, although he had entered the game quite early, apart from the dungeon battle in the Blood Vulture Halls, he had barely fought at all.
“Bang”
The bullet he fired predictably missed.
But it didn’t matter, as long as the density was high enough.
In an instant, 20 bullets fired out, causing the 2 Wolfsbane thugs to bleed all over, and almost simultaneously, 10 Molotov cocktails smashed into them, setting them ablaze like human torches. Path of Mud and Oil, who had been lying on the ground with only a sliver of health left, suddenly felt a surge of courage. With a roar, he jumped up and thrust his wing blade into one of the guy’s heart.
Similar scenes quickly spread throughout the sewer. The Wolfsbane thugs, who had been chasing and killing the Blood Vulture children, soon realized they had fallen into a terrible “encirclement”.
Those civilians who came to join the commotion weren’t Blood Servants at all! They hadn’t undergone the necessary training.
The Children of Wolfsbane could tell this. These dishonorable Blood Vulture Clan members actually sent civilians to the battlefield, something even we Wolfsbane thugs wouldn’t do.
Shameless Murphy!
And you still dare to call yourself a good person?
“Swoosh”
A silver-gray blade burning with blue-green Purifying Flame slashed across the waist of a Wilderness Transformation, amidst the latter’s screams, the midnight power of the vampire was incinerated by the purifying force from Avalon.
In the scattering crimson ashes, Natalie flipped her wrist, twirling her blade before sheathing it.
She could feel that she was surrounded by several Wolfsbane pups.
But she wasn’t panicking.
Not just because she had passed the Silver Trial and was advancing towards a new realm, but more because she came prepared this time.
Facing the wild Wolfsbanes’ simultaneous attacks from 4 directions, Natalie lowered her body and gripped the hilt of the Watcher’s sword on her back with her left hand.
Feeling the slight vibration of this Great Oak Sacred Blade, the gray-haired witch hunter said softly:
“You’ve finally decided to talk to me, it seems my efforts have gained your recognition. Of course, I also find these Children of Midnight quite annoying, but isn’t calling them ‘poopoo’ a bit too much?
Your choice of words is really uncivilized, Sir Sacred Blade.”