Outskirts of Vienne City.
A slender figure flickered in and out of sight in the forest, finally stopping on the branch of a withered tree.
He, or she, wore a black raven mask over their face and a hooded black cloak that completely enveloped them. They seemed to be deep in thought, and two points of light faintly gleamed from a black mist on their shoulder, as red and hollow as the pupils on the mask.
"The Dawn Saintess of Misha County purified Hofur City."
The low murmur from beneath the mask was soft and magnetic. He casually pulled out a piece of bloody fresh meat from his pocket and offered it to the black mist on his shoulder, repeating the intelligence he had heard from someone earlier: "A place blessed by God... two thousand infected people recovered, and the Violet Empire is about to hold a supreme meeting... She's only been in office for less than a month, and it was in a remote little place like Kalan City. How did that guy manage to do it...?"
A hint of gloom flashed in the dark red eyes beneath the mask. He raised a hand to gently cover one of his eyes, calling out to the 'child' that should have returned to him by now.
...
...
No response.
"Did something unexpected happen?" He sighed softly, his right hand, adorned with a feathered glove, clenched tightly in front of him: "Damn it, why now of all times...?"
The man slowly unclenched his hand, revealing a dark purple feather in his palm.
"Northward, huh... A bad Premonition. I hope I'm just overthinking it."
He casually tucked the purple feather into his collar, and then was swept over by dozens of ravens descending from the sky. When the flock dispersed, there was no longer a single human figure in the dead and bizarre withered forest.
Forty minutes ago.
Mo Tan was lying by a bonfire, gazing up at the starless sky. He was picking his teeth and burping, occasionally looking back at the nine-tenths cooked, wide-eyed fish head that was also gazing at the sky with him, feeling no guilt whatsoever, and even having an urge to sing.
"Hmm~ Sorry, I miscalculated the time." He grinned at the fish head beside him without an ounce of sincerity: "Looks like it'll be another seven or eight hours before I can see stars, hmm, but since I could make you so delicious without any seasoning, you shouldn't have any regrets, right?"
The fish head, of course, couldn't speak, so it just continued to stare wide-eyed at the starless sky.
"Don't be so resentful, smile~" Mo Tan did a lazy flip to sit up, crossing his legs and grinning at the fish head in front of him: "Don't be shy."
The dead fish, of course, couldn't speak, so it just continued to stare wide-eyed at the starless sky.
Mo Tan continued to amuse himself by teasing the dead fish: "I think I'm still a little hungry, how about... hmm?"
He suddenly narrowed his eyes, pulled a flashy and ornate dagger from his waist, and looked up into the distance.
A raven, completely black, was flying towards him.
"If fish can be roasted, then birds should be edible too, right...?"
...
Half an hour later.
Mo Tan contentedly left the stream with a pair of roasted wings, two wide-eyed heads gazing lonely at the starless sky behind him.
...
Game Time PM18:40.
【You have been emergency disconnected. Please choose whether to reconnect.】
"..."
【Reconnection starting...】
【Connection complete, loading character information.】
【Welcome back, Chaos Evil Mo. Innocent World will now load. Good night.】
Shavin Empire, King's Capital Troon.
Pardon Avenue, Zui Jue Residence.
Mo opened his eyes on a completely black stone chair. This was the innermost large room in the mansion, with no light whatsoever, and even the walls were painted pitch black, filled with an indescribable sense of oppression.
But that was enough...
Although he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about black, since it was clearly disliked by most other colors, there was no need to seek trouble. And from another perspective, wasn't the result of all colors coming together that ink-like darkness?
So it could already be said to be quite beautiful.
Mo lazily surveyed the undecorated space around him, feeling quite satisfied.
No superfluous things was a good thing, because there were already too many superfluous things.
The door opened.
Mo didn't even need to look to know who it was, so he didn't. He just gently adjusted the mask on his face: "There really are too many superfluous things..."
"Greeting someone with 'superfluous' and 'things' right off the bat is a bit undignified, wouldn't you say?" Ji Xiaodao casually closed the door, then conjured several dim streaks of fire on the surrounding walls, illuminating this space filled with ill omens: "My Sin Duke."
Mo gave her a cold look: "If you don't want to use my name, at least don't add those boring prefixes."
"Just kidding, Sin Duke who belongs to no one." Ji Xiaodao leaned against the wall, her Dark Elf-unique silver hair looking sickly and enchanting in the firelight. She smiled faintly: "Are you feeling better?"
Mo was clearly not interested in this topic, so he just said softly: "Did she depart?"
"She departed." Ji Xiaodao clearly hadn't expected him to answer her properly, so she went along with Mo's words: "She came by this morning, but since you were still offline, she left directly. Do you want me to send a message to check on her?"
Mo shook his head slightly, and chuckled softly with amusement: "You two get along quite well."
"While I don't intend to deny that." Ji Xiaodao toyed with a few strands of silver hair on her shoulder, her ruby-like eyes curiously looking at the stone chair in the firelight: "But how did you come to the conclusion that 'we get along quite well'?"
"Just an irresponsible intuition." Mo answered distractedly, then after a long silence, he continued to ask: "How strong is she now?"
Ji Xiaodao touched the 【silent return】 at her waist, shrugging: "In a spacious and complex environment, if I only use one sword, I can't beat her. If I use two, she can last ten minutes. With Shadow Weaving, five minutes. Going all out, three minutes."
"That's enough." Mo nodded slightly, then asked again: "Then how strong are you? Compared to Cordova in Banshee City last time."
Ji Xiaodao frowned slightly, then suddenly pulled out the twin swords from her waist, swung them twice in the air, creating flickering streams of light, and then re-sheathed 【silent return】 and 【night rain】, saying in a deep voice: "In the same environment, 30% chance of winning. In this haunted house of yours, 60%, provided he doesn't tear down the house."
Mo nodded, his slender index finger tapping the armrest, lost in thought.
"Is that guy really a player?" Ji Xiaodao recalled Cordova's almost cheat-like destructive power, and couldn't help but say softly with lingering fear: "He's too strong."
She seemed to have forgotten that there was an even more terrifying person in front of her. At that time, Mo had instantly killed Cordova with just one move...
So Mo just continued to close his eyes and think, completely ignoring her.
Ji Xiaodao also realized, and quickly added: "You don't count, you're completely a monster."
"That Cordova isn't strong." Mo lazily lifted his eyelids, sweeping the girl with his lifeless eyes: "I'm not strong either..."
Ji Xiaodao rarely pouted: "I mean among players!"
Mo chuckled: "Do you think there's any difference between us so-called players and NPCs like Garros, Fara, and Galahad in this world?"
Ji Xiaodao was stunned for a moment: "No?"
"Of course not." Mo slowly stood up and walked to the door of the room: "From the moment we appeared in this world through the game pod, including our dimension, there's no difference between us and those NPCs."
A hint of confusion appeared in the Dark Elf's cool eyes.
"We are far from qualified to talk about what is strong and what is weak." Mo Tan pulled open the door, looked up at the sky, and a playful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "At least for now."
Ji Xiaodao walked behind him, took a thick long coat from her satchel, and handed it over: "Cold."
"No need." Mo shook his head, then gently patted his shoulder.
A wide black cloak suddenly appeared behind him, emblazoned with three large, fragmented emblems whose original shapes were completely indiscernible, giving off a feeling that was nothing short of eerie and bizarre.
Two murky flames ignited beside him, emitting warmth enough to envelop both of them.
"You!" Ji Xiaodao's eyes widened in surprise, and she exclaimed: "You've recovered?!"
"Heh, it's an unexpected pleasant surprise..."
【Broken Cage】
Equipment Type: Cloak - Set
Quality: Unique Excellent (Growable)
Attributes: Stamina Cap +5%, Agility Cap +5%, Dexterity +5%, Stealth Level +3, Cunning School skill cooldown -10%, Shadow School skill cost reduction -10%, Dual Wielding Weapon Specialization +1, All skill costs except Shadow School +30%, Sin value growth rate increased by 100%.
Trait: Original Sin Curse, Additional Skill: Vicious Retribution
Equipment Requirements: Faction 【chaotic evil】, Current world collapse degree higher than 5%.
Set Effect: ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
【Note: Reward for liberating 'Great Sin'】
...
【Vicious Retribution】
Equipment Skill (Active)
Cost/Restriction: Target must have a timed negative status effect.
Effect:
1. Releases a 【Vicious Retribution】 on the designated target, randomly removing one negative status effect from the target. Cannot be exempted by any means, priority defaults to highest.
2. Each time 【Vicious Retribution】 removes a negative status effect, it forcibly sets the target's Stamina to zero, and prevents it from recovering in any form for 10 minutes.
3. When 【Vicious Retribution】 successfully targets units of the 'lawful good', 'chaotic neutral', or 'Absolute Neutral' factions, the target will enter a 3-minute 【Ecstatic Imprisonment】 state. During 【Ecstatic Imprisonment】, the target cannot be attacked, cannot move, cannot use skills, cannot use items, cannot use talents, and equipment traits are sealed.
4. When 【Vicious Retribution】 successfully targets units of the 'chaotic evil' faction, it triggers the 【Retribution】 effect, dealing 20 points of true damage to the target per point of their Sin value.
5. The cooldown of 【Vicious Retribution】 is 3 times the remaining duration of the dispelled effect.
【Note: There has never been any salvation.】
...
Game Time PM11:53.
Tianzhushan Grand Arena, Novice Field.
Mo Tan, clad in bright silver plate armor, stood astride a goat. The phantom of a rage-red lance danced like a lotus in the sky, instantly sweeping two fat black bears seven or eight meters away, where they struggled for a long time but couldn't get up.
【Knight Skill - Rage Red Lotus】
Knight Active Skill
Mastery Requirements: Possess a Knight class, Strength 20, Constitution 35.
Cost/Restriction: 150 Stamina, Mounted state, Equipped with a melee weapon.
Effect: Performs a continuous thrust in a fan-shaped area within three meters in front of you, lasting 3 seconds, with slight flame damage. Attack frequency depends on your Strength, Dexterity, and skill proficiency. Cooldown 3 minutes.
【Note: This move was a unique skill created by Red Lotus Knight Kashuo Yan during his chuunibyou phase. It was famous throughout the entire Knight Academy for its dazzling effects, exaggerated movements, high consumption, and mediocre damage. Decades later, Kashuo, who had become a legendary knight, refined this move again, making its effects even more dazzling, its movements super exaggerated, its consumption incredibly huge, and its damage almost zero, yet it received unanimous praise from the industry. However, ten years after the refined version of 【Asura Burning Lotus Revolving Lance】 was listed as a compulsory course in major Knight Academies, Red Lotus Knight himself personally came out to explain the principle of this move, leaving a comment of 'utter nonsense', causing many academic experts and knights who praised this move as incredibly awesome and perfect to lose face...】
Every time he saw this skill, Mo Tan couldn't help but sigh at how wonderful that Red Lotus Knight was, and was very glad that he hadn't received that 【Asura Burning Lotus Revolving Lance】 as a quest reward.
"Hey~ Now you don't have your bear babies protecting you!" Ji Xiaoge, her face blooming with a smile, floated to the top of the opposing dwarf hunter's head, then instantly ascended higher and pulled out a strangely shaped, unique weapon from her satchel, steadily pointing its six steel-bound tubular barrels at the opponent.
【High-Pressure Valkyrie Gatling GAU-0.8】
Category: Engineering Creation
Creator: Ye Ge, Lu Wei · Feizierban
Quality: Excellent
Durability: 500/500
Usage: Fires specially-made rice with a caliber no greater than 1.5mm, firing rate 4 grains/s.
Maximum Capacity: Half a pot.
Traits: Extra Large Capacity, Easily Damaged (Durability Consumption * 3)
【Note: The GAU-0.8 utilizes a linkless feeding system, which not only reduces overall weight but also lowers the risk of ammunition jamming. The feeding system uses a dual-end design, allowing spent rice casings to be recycled into the rice drum without being ejected, effectively avoiding potential damage to the fuselage. The design of the feeding system is based on the later M61 system, but incorporates more advanced technology and materials to reduce weight.】
Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump!!!
30 seconds later.
...
"The Wang Wang Squad won again, damn it!"
"Woof Woof is awesome!!"
"Awesome, awesome!!"
"Did you guys notice, that Half-Orc beauty is getting fiercer every time!"
"Yeah, and the other Half-Orc beauty is getting cuter every time!"
"Get lost!"
Chapter 187: End