Chapter 53: The Dagger Revealed When the Picture Ends
Sherlock walked ahead with the other Sunwatchers following behind, speaking softly, "As per usual protocol, the Kingdom of Bryston holds its welcome ceremony for foreign guests in Withershire Cathedral Square. Once the bell strikes twelve times, we all enter the Darkland Fortress together."
It was drizzling lightly outside, but the moment they stepped into Withershire Cathedral Square, the rain ceased and the skies turned clear. This was due to a massive alchemical formation buried beneath the plaza, capable of altering the weather so that it was always sunny here, regardless of the conditions outside.
Zhou Ning nodded in acknowledgment. He'd seen this scene several times in his previous life when playing the game. In the game, Bryston was already the most powerful of the Six Nations. Its faction leader, King Charles VI, was a pompous fat man who proclaimed himself the Sun King. Whether receiving players or foreign envoys, he always enjoyed making a late entrance to assert dominance. He consistently ranked first on the list of the least-liked faction leaders.
To Zhou Ning, Charles VI was basically just another version of King Jiji.
As they entered Withershire Cathedral Square, the ceremonial band in the distance was playing Bryston's famous tune "Matilda." The envoy from Ruins had already arrived—a black-haired middle-aged man with a hairstyle eerily similar to Ami Donkey's, his face perpetually wearing a kind and gentle smile. As for Charles VI, though the ceremonial unit was here, the king himself was nowhere to be seen.
Looks like his royal highness is "fashionably late" again…
Zhou Ning let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Is there anything I need to do?" XB asked in a whisper, hoping to trigger a quest.
"Not for now."
Zhou Ning shook his head. Just then, he noticed Kien West walking over with a middle-aged man dressed in a Sunwatcher uniform. They left the crowd and headed toward them. Kien gave Zhou Ning a friendly nod, then turned to Sherlock and asked, "What's going on? The matter at Vick University has been resolved?"
"All wrapped up. I left a few people there to handle the aftermath." Sherlock then repeated Zhou Ning's suspicions to Kien, whose expression turned serious. "That's very likely. Thanks for the heads-up."
Zhou Ning's interface chimed with notifications:
[Sunwatchers' Favorability +1200!]
[Sunwatchers: Friendly (200/1500)]
[Reputation in the Kingdom of Bryston +1600!]
[Bryston Kingdom: Respect (100/6000)]
XB's interface also updated, unlocking two new factions. Bryston started with a friendly status, treating him as a regular citizen. The Sunwatchers, however, still regarded him coldly.
"Man, following the protagonist really is the way to go!" XB was on the verge of tears.
"Follow me and stand behind me later," Kien West instructed in a low voice as he led them back toward the lineup.
"His Majesty the King hasn't arrived yet?" Sherlock asked.
"No." Kien West shook his head. "The Ruins delegation is here to discuss the territorial dispute over Pulcloud. His Majesty doesn't intend to make any concessions, so he's deliberately keeping them waiting."
Zhou Ning couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. Sure enough, the tradition of King being fashionably late was part of the game from the very start.
Following Kien to the lineup, they stood behind him and discreetly observed the other side. The mission was clearly centered here—and that envoy from Ruins definitely looked suspicious.
Despite the ever-smiling face, Zhou Ning keenly noticed yellowish stains on the envoy's right thumb and index finger—the telltale sign of prolonged contact with crucibles and test tubes. His instincts immediately flagged this man as suspicious.
The other entourage members didn't show any obvious signs—for now.
About ten minutes later, the sound of wheels echoed from afar. A lavishly decorated carriage rolled in. Zhou Ning's eyes lit up—only King Charles VI, that pompous dog, would dare to ride into Withershire Cathedral Square.
The carriage came to a stop. An attendant opened the curtain, and sure enough, Charles VI was helped out, grinning as he walked up to the Ruins envoy. "Welcome to Darkland."
After a round of diplomatic pleasantries, the envoy opened a box and presented the national letter to Charles VI, as per custom.
As Zhou Ning's eyes swept over the national letter, a prompt popped up on his interface:
[Unknown Artifact: ??????]
Unknown artifact?
Zhou Ning's heart skipped a beat. According to the game's lore, these were peculiar relics passed down from the Age of Heroes—often found amid weather anomalies across the continent. Some were extremely useful, but more often than not, they brought misfortune and disaster.
Just as he was about to speak, the Ruins envoy pulled a dagger from within the national letter. With that ever-smiling face, he suddenly lunged toward Charles VI.
This is… "the dagger revealed when the picture ends"! [T/N: An idiom meaning hidden intentions revealed at the final moment.]
Kien West had been on guard. He swiftly drew his gun and shot the attacker in the chest. The envoy's body stiffened, blood trickling from his lips, yet he still lunged stubbornly toward the king.
The others reacted immediately, pulling their guns and firing.
After taking six bullets, the envoy finally collapsed, lifeless.
But what sent chills down everyone's spine was that even in death, the man's face still bore that gentle smile. The national letter slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a soft plop.
"Wait!"
Zhou Ning sensed something was wrong and was about to speak when Charles VI interrupted, pointing furiously at the Ruins delegation. "Arrest them!"
Yet before anyone could act, the remaining Ruins delegates each pulled out a dagger and, with crazed expressions, stabbed themselves in the abdomen without hesitation.
Blood splattered everywhere, and the air filled with the overwhelming stench of iron.
Then, the pooling blood on the ground flowed together, forming a strange six-pointed star array. It began to glow, centering on the book that had fallen open, and formed a narrow rift in midair.
Everyone on site was stunned. Through the rift, they saw a bizarre world: a blood-red sky, countless long stone bridges linking ruined structures, and below those bridges, a vast river of blood.
"That's… the Blood Realm?!"
The legendary domain of blood elementals—home to countless elemental monsters. This kind of content wasn't supposed to appear until the Elemental Chaos expansion!
Zhou Ning's hair stood on end. "Fall back!"
Without hesitation, he drew his gun and fired at the book on the ground. The shot struck true, making the book leap up and close shut.
As the pages snapped shut, the spatial rift began to slowly disappear. But before Zhou Ning could breathe a sigh of relief, a shadowy figure squeezed through the closing rift and landed on the ground.
It vaguely resembled a human, with a blood-red worm-like body and a face—yes, a human face—embedded at the head. Two glowing red eyes stared out.
It immediately burrowed into one of the corpses.
Without any explanation, everyone at the scene was suddenly gripped by a terrifying sense of imminent danger.
"That's a Blood Worm! Don't let it get close! It's not strong by itself, but once it absorbs enough blood, it splits—try using fire on it!" Zhou Ning shouted while opening fire on the corpse.
The body quickly shriveled, and the Blood Worm split into three. They immediately lunged toward more corpses, rapidly multiplying and rushing toward the living.
"Ice Storm!" "Meteor Shower!"
Kien West, one of the kingdom's top meteorologists and knight-arbiters, unleashed one weather spell after another. Though he managed to stop a good number of them, the swarm of Blood Worms continued to charge toward the crowd.
The scene descended into chaos.
And then it happened.
A burst of colorless, terrifying aura exploded from Zhou Ning's body, radiating outward in all directions. Since he hadn't had time to distinguish friend from foe, those closest to him were immediately stunned for a second and forced a step back. The entire space seemed to tremble. At the same time, the swarm of Blood Worms across the plaza was thrown into a stunned state, and the system interface went wild:
[Your Conqueror's Haki dealt 109 damage to Blood Worm. Mental gap: 25 (40–15). Blood Worm stunned. Target killed. You gained 65 EXP.]
[Your Conqueror's Haki dealt 93 damage to Blood Worm. Mental gap: 24 (40–16). Blood Worm stunned.]
[Your Conqueror's Haki dealt 111 damage to Blood Worm. Mental gap: 27 (40–13). Blood Worm stunned. Target killed. You gained 72 EXP.]
…
[You were struck by Wayne Sturwell's Conqueror's Haki. You took 79 damage. You are stunned.]
XB, standing right beside Zhou Ning, was instantly stunned by the indiscriminate effect. His HP dropped to a sliver. Though his character was unconscious, he was fully aware in real life. Mouth agape, trying to say something, he stuttered and finally could only gasp and blurt out two words: "Holy crap!"
The livestream chat exploded. Everyone watching through XB's POV saw exactly what had just happened.
"Holy crap, that's Conqueror's Haki! That's insane!"
"This has to be another protagonist-exclusive skill. Coach, I want to learn this!"
"Waaah! My husband is too powerful!"
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