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Chapter 338 - Three Hundred Thirty-Five: "You Despicable Villain

Chapter 338: Chapter Three Hundred Thirty-Five: "You Despicable Villain

Sherrod stood at the doorway, his armor gleaming with a golden light, his cheeks slightly flushed, looking as if he had been waiting there for quite a while.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation," he said to the old lady.

"..." The old lady didn’t speak, just looked at him.

"Captain. It’s now six o’clock in the afternoon, time for the second sweep task," Sherrod turned to Su Ming’an, "I planned to complete the second sweep task with you last night, but found you were not in your room. Did you go on the task alone last night?"

"Yes." Su Ming’an knew he couldn’t hide his overnight absence from Soul Hunt.

But surprisingly, no one pursued the matter here, not even Aelas seemed concerned.

After all, Ming’an’s identity as a descendant of Su Rin, combined with his S+ Charm and Rulers’ cooperation, even with players snitching, these NPCs, inherently advantaged in favorability, wouldn’t easily believe the players.

"Then let’s get ready to go," said Sherrod with a smile.

"Now?" Su Ming’an glanced at the setting sun. It wasn’t night yet, and the concealed Soul Clan shouldn’t be roaming around.

"You haven’t had dinner yet," said Sherrod. "There’s a good barbecue place that opened recently, and I’d like to invite you to join me."

Su Ming’an paused for a moment, "Didn’t we already go?"

He almost thought there was an error in his memory of the rollback, remembering that they had already eaten there...

"No, not the one from last time." Sherrod’s smile remained radiant, "Because I just came back from outside, I really miss the cuisine of Pulaya. Going alone would be too conspicuous, so I can only invite you to join me..."

Su Ming’an fell silent for a moment.

Thinking there was nothing pressing, and it might be good to improve this man’s favorability, he agreed to the invitation.

He said goodbye to the old lady, pocketed her photograph, and left the bungalow.

...

[Received a C-Level temporary task: Deliver the photograph.]

[Task description: Deliver Gerald’s family picture to the Soul Hunter leader, Aelas, at the central Soul Hunter Department.]

[Task reward: Aelas favorability +10, 30 points.]

...

Faint sounds of a woman’s cough came from behind the door.

Although the old lady did not expressly say so during the conversation, Su Ming’an caught on that her daughter Jiajia likely had a terminal illness.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been necessary for the old grandfather to go to Yun Shang City alone in search of the so-called cure.

Now that a message had come down from Yun Shang City saying no need to wait anymore, it also meant...

Su Ming’an looked back once more.

The bungalow by the river, its clothesline empty, the cloth used for drying salted fish also taken down.

The river shimmered with a glistening golden sheen, quiet on the street, the bungalow quiet as though asleep in the sunset.

He understood the old lady’s intentions.

Perhaps she admired Su Rin from sixty years ago, perhaps she wanted to look after him, an orphaned young man, perhaps seeing him become a Soul Hunter so resolutely, she wanted to talk with him.

...or perhaps he reminded her of her sacrificed son, little Hel.

In this conversation, she tried to mature him with her slow speech, imparting brief wisdom.

The family was indeed struggling, with the sick daughter and the old lady both becoming burdens, only the young granddaughter Lele was holding up the family. Now, the only hope was shattered, and the daughter’s illness was beyond saving.

"Sherrod," Su Ming’an spoke to the Knight of Light nearby, "that family, haven’t they received a sacrifice subsidy?"

Sherrod was slightly taken aback.

"Their son was a sacrificed Soul Hunter, right? They should have received financial support. Why are they struggling so much?" Su Ming’an asked.

"Does the Captain take an interest in these matters?" Sherrod rarely questioned in return.

"Curious."

"Actually," Sherrod paused, "they have received the subsidy, just, the form of distribution was somewhat special..."

"How so?"

Su Ming’an asked.

"..." Sherrod was silent for a moment.

He seemed reluctant to answer the question, but was constrained by the Knight’s Spirit not to lie.

After hesitating for a moment, he awkwardly changed the subject.

"Captain, let’s talk about the barbecue restaurant we’re heading to later..."

It seemed Sherrod really didn’t want to say it.

Su Ming’an had already planned to ask Aelas about it tomorrow when he delivered the photos. The leader of the Soul Hunters should know about this.

He and Sherrod walked past the streets. Near the Eastern District, there was a cleared field where many farmers were working.

He heard the residents murmuring:

"... Have you heard? The Southern District is under martial law."

"It’s said that a group of Soul Hunters disobeyed orders and went to fight the Soul Clan on their own, and all died..."

"It’s such a sin... There aren’t many Soul Hunters; how could some still disobey orders? What are we going to do now..."

"I heard that a lucky Soul Hunter who escaped brought back news that there’s a new ruler of the Soul Clan there, called ’White Slaughter,’ with three heads and six arms, and can eat thirty people in one meal..."

It seemed the news about the new leader of the Soul Clan had already spread.

However, whether it was because Sevya was good at blocking information, no one mentioned his real name; even the news that was spread was somewhat absurd.

Su Ming’an passed by them, entering the barbecue restaurant.

Sitting in the steaming barbecue restaurant, Su Ming’an finally understood what Sherrod meant by "it’s too conspicuous to go alone."

The girls here were each more enthusiastic than the last. Just by sitting here for a while, he was harassed by four or five girls coming up to greet him.

If Sherrod, a Knight of Light, had come alone, he probably would have been harassed endlessly, as being a knight was an occupation even more popular than that of a Soul Hunter. Bound by Sherrod’s moral standards, he couldn’t be too rude and could only gently refuse.

... No wonder Sherrod couldn’t come to eat alone.

Su Ming’an, overwhelmed by the harassment, called Lin Yin and Lv Shu who were strolling nearby to join him.

With Lin Yin as a shield, the number of people coming to greet them decreased significantly.

He watched as the meat in front of him disappeared at a visible rate, Sherrod’s fork hardly making it to the plate.

After managing to grab a few pieces of meat, Su Ming’an decided to give up his spot to Lin Yin and Lv Shu and left with Sherrod.

It had just gotten dark, the moon hung low in the sky, and the roof of the Royal City Palace, topped with glazed tiles, was clearly visible, flowing with the clear moonlight.

"According to the mission intelligence, that member of the Soul Clan has been hungry for a long time and is bound to come out to hunt at night," Sherrod said.

Su Ming’an nodded.

"I still have some doubts," he said. "It was an area that had already been cleared, so logically there shouldn’t be any Soul Clan appearing again. Why were there any that escaped the net?"

Sherrod’s expression became slightly strained.

"Maybe that member of the Soul Clan has some tricks up their sleeve?" his tone also hesitant.

They walked along the blocked streets, showing their IDs before entering Thirteenth Street.

Thirteenth Street was particularly quiet at night, with no boats moving along the waterways. The only sound on the empty streets was that of rats scurrying.

Su Ming’an and Sherrod turned down several streets, conducting door-to-door searches, but saw no one suspicious.

Su Ming’an was particularly attentive to any smell resembling disinfectant, but he smelled nothing.

Logically speaking, if the Thirteenth Street harbored a Soul Clan member, he should have been able to detect their scent.

They walked through the quiet streets from one end to the other, finding nothing at all.

In front of a lawn, Sherrod stood up.

"It seems the Soul Hunter intelligence was mistaken." He breathed a sigh of relief, then looked down, "I’m sorry, Captain, it seems there was a mission dispatch error on the part of the Soul Hunter Department. There likely isn’t a lurking member of the Soul Clan in Thirteenth Street. However, to be safe, I will still stay here all night. If you have other matters, feel free to attend to them."

"It’s not your fault." Su Ming’an knew this knight really liked to take all the blame upon himself.

Su Ming’an already knew that there was very likely no Soul Clan member in Thirteenth Street.

...There was no trace of the Soul Clan, who knew where they came from.

The intelligence from the Soul Hunt Department was really poor, wasting his entire evening. He wondered if any Players were causing trouble.

"Then I’ll head back first," said Su Ming’an.

He still had to complete the third level of the Demon King and Brave challenge, and he had no time to waste on this meaningless mission.

"Sweet dreams," said Sherrod.

...

Su Ming’an walked along the night road and pushed open the door to his room.

The room was especially dim, and the wristwatch on his wrist lit up automatically as he entered.

As he walked toward the bed, he suddenly heard a gust of wind, as if something was rushing toward him.

He saw a shadowy figure shrouded in black mist.

...Someone?

Just as he was about to respond, his body had already reached the bed, and in an instant, his field of vision drastically changed.

[You are the great Demon King guarding the castle, please prepare for a final showdown with the Brave who will challenge you!]

...

The system’s voice rang in his ear, lofty.

He frowned slightly.

Obviously, someone had infiltrated his room, preparing to strike from the shadows.

But the night level had started before he could see the attacker’s face. By now, the attacker was probably staring at the empty bed, utterly confused.

...Now he could only wait for today’s level to end before returning.

It shouldn’t be a big deal.

He walked out of the church, pushed open the doors, and the guards on both sides bowed to him. The system’s voice continued in his ear:

[However, as a fledgling, new Demon King, your resources and strength are limited.]

[Currently, you have a hundred Resource Points and one hundred and forty-six soldiers willing to follow you.]

Hundreds of beams of white light flashed.

Over a hundred puppet-like figures appeared before him, the white light flowing like a torrent, creating a spectacular scene.

Devotee stood at the forefront, followed by Jin Qiangwei and the black Devotee. A sandbox floated up in front of Su Ming’an, and the game interface unfolded in an instant.

[The current level is "Demon King and Brave"·Third Level.]

[Third Level Task: Expand the Demon King City to the Third Level.]

[You can earn Resource Points to expand your glorious Demon King City by maintaining balance in your army’s battle array, completing the level tasks, accomplishing temporary tasks, or fulfilling your subordinates’ wishes!]

[Blessings to you—the Omnipotent Demon King!]

...

The mission for this level was to expand the Demon King City to the Third Level.

Su Ming’an had expanded the Demon King City once last night; currently, its level was First Level.

If he wanted to expand it to the Third Level...

He glanced at the store interface, which showed a direct expansion to the Third Level costing 8000 Resource Points.

Points... Last night’s second level had only earned him 2600 Points. He had even specifically spent 1500 Points to deal with Sevya.

But he knew the game progression wouldn’t purposely hinder him; as long as he found the right strategy, he wouldn’t get stuck here.

He furrowed his brow while carefully observing the sandbox, tapping here and there, continuously sending out soldiers until he finally discovered a breaking point.

Beyond the plains that represented warfare and the cities behind, the overseas regions had also been unlocked. He tried sending Devotee to explore overseas and was startled by the sudden gain.

[Devotee went mining in the mining area, returning fully loaded.]

[Mission Evaluation: Great Success!]

[Gained 1000 Resource Points.]

...

So those overseas regions were mining areas.

Despicable, you even know how to mine?

Su Ming’an immediately ordered other soldiers to complete those missions, and then kept sending the Despicable to those overseas strongholds to mine. Two hours before 8 AM, Su Ming’an had already amassed over eight thousand Resource Points.

But at that moment, a message suddenly popped up.

[Emergency Mission: Natural Disaster!]

[Disaster strikes, territory shrinks, troops suffer heavy casualties, insufficient Sin Values generated. Lord Demon King, please spend Resource Points promptly to repair these disasters! Otherwise, it will lead directly to massive deaths of soldiers!]

[Resource Points Required: 8000.]

...

Su Ming’an knew this level wouldn’t be so simple.

He glanced at his Resource Points, knowing that to truly handle this disaster, his level mission would inevitably fail. Two hours, he definitely wouldn’t have enough time to gather another eight thousand Resource Points.

Just as he was in a dilemma, the Despicable returned from completing the mission.

A message popped up in front of the Despicable:

[Lord Demon King. Please send me to deal with the disaster.]the Despicable said.

Immediately following, a system alert popped up, asking Su Ming’an whether he chooses to send the Despicable to handle this disaster.

Su Ming’an chose "Yes."

The next instant, the figure of the Despicable vanished, and the disaster was promptly mitigated.

...Despicable, Omnipotent.

Su Ming’an immediately expanded Demon King City, and as a beam of white light rose from the church, the scale of Demon King City expanded again. Not only did high defense barriers appear around it, but the number of armored soldiers increased, and armor even began to appear on his own body.

[Demon King City expanded to Third Level.]

[Completed the third level mission, gained 2000 Resource Points.]

[Level mission completed, third level cleared, do you wish to exit the instance? If you choose not to exit, it will automatically exit the instance after one hour and fifty-eight minutes (Pulaya time 8 AM sharp).]

...

Su Ming’an chose No, continuing to idle at the entrance of the church.

Resource Points continued to rise steadily, the situation looked very good, and even the natural disasters had been completely repaired...

He stared at the sandbox representing the Despicable with a triangle, the Despicable appeared to be on the edge of the battlefield, doing something unknown. This guy’s time for handling the disaster mission seemed a bit long, he had almost waited for a full two hours...

Suddenly, a system alert coldly popped out.

[The Despicable from Heaven was influenced by the local military, loyalty plummeted.]

[The Despicable from Heaven refuses to return to Demon King City.]

[The Despicable from Heaven decides to break away from Demon King City, you have lost the Heir·Heaven’s Despicable.]

[Honorable Lord Demon King, you can designate the next soldier as your Heir now!]

...

Immediately thereafter, Su Ming’an saw the sandbox, where the triangle representing the Despicable suddenly disappeared, no matter how he searched, he could no longer dictate the Despicable’s actions.

A list of soldiers’ names unfolded before his eyes, seemingly awaiting his selection to become the next Heir.

...How could there be betrayal?

Su Ming’an’s eyelids twitched violently.

He seemed to understand the intention behind this instance.