Chapter 1 An Inconspicuous Place

Sulen rode his motorcycle at top speed along Solomon Street and arrived at an inconspicuous rental house in the Franklin District.

After all the commotion today, he didn't plan to continue showing his face or contact anyone.

He'd hide first to avoid being found by certain special means.

As for other things, he'd wait until the heat died down.

Besides, now that the [Lilith's Vampire Ring] was in hand, he intended to take this opportunity to advance to Rank 6.

Once he advanced a major rank, his combat power would skyrocket, and he would be more prepared to deal with any unforeseen events.

...

In the room, Sulen placed Crow Grandfather on the bed, serving him with good food and drink.

This was the most important "insurance," and he couldn't be careless.

He also sat on the sofa and exhaled a long breath.

His nerves had been tense, and only now did he feel a little relieved.

Sulen replayed everything he encountered today in his mind and sorted out the general outline: "Since it's confirmed that young master William is the mastermind, daring to plot against Rodriguez's old monster, then Duke Raphael must be involved. The prediction of my actions was so precise, it looks like some kind of prophecy secret technique, and the use of 'Prism Barrier' should be from the surviving priests of the Agapemnon Temple..."

Having confirmed the identities of his enemies, Sulen felt more confident.

That young master William had killed him once, and now he's back... he must get rid of this guy to eliminate future troubles.

William's Rank 6 strength was once daunting, but now it was no longer a threat to Sulen. But behind him was the Regardi family, the former Mafa royal family, so he couldn't be careless.

If he was going to kill, he had to find a suitable opportunity.

As for Duke Raphael, this was a bit of a headache.

This "Sixth Councilor" had a vague momentum to dominate the Congress, with immense power that the other veteran noble councilors couldn't do anything about.

Moreover, throughout this incident, Duke Raphael had no handle to be grabbed, and there was no way to reason with him.

However, Sulen felt that someone like him who always sought revenge wouldn't talk about reason or evidence.

But assassinating Duke Raphael was almost impossible.

Even if he could kill him, besides causing a pile of trouble, there would be no real benefit.

Sulen suddenly thought of something, his eyes shifted, and he thought, "I remember there was intelligence in the memory I peeled off that said there was a secret Mechanical Warfare Factory of Raphael's near 'Gold Digging Island'?"

Thinking of this, the pirate's heart in his chest suddenly burned again.

You plotted against me, isn't it okay for me to take some compensation?

That war factory in the desolate sea seemed to be a secret base similar to "Old Lundon." It specialized in researching mechanical creatures like mechanical octopuses, and the key was that the defensive forces were not very strict!

It just so happened that Sulen felt that his war workshop was still lacking in various aspects, while Raphael's mechanical factory, which had been secretly researched for decades, had plenty of materials, technology, and technicians...

Well, after the wedding blessing, he would go mess with him!

Thinking of this, Sulen felt that the depression of being plotted against today had dissipated a lot.

Moreover, being plotted against this time wasn't all bad.

Now that there was a commotion, people with good information probably knew that "Grim Reaper" was "Fick."

Which meant that even if they knew he had neuro-mechanical technology, there was no point in chasing him.

Because normal people would think that the technology must have fallen into the hands of the Lance family.

This was one of the benefits of Sulen agreeing to the marriage.

With the name of the marriage on his back, the Lance family would have to help him block some storms.

Sulen felt that Yekaterina, while not exactly a friend, was a good partner.

...

But in the end, everything depended on strength.

Next time he encountered such a conspiracy, if he was strong enough, he would make those conspirators lose a few teeth.

Just as Sulen was about to catch his breath, he suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air and glanced at the wound on his arm.

This was the wound from being cut by the [Siegurd's Dragonslayer Dagger].

Originally, this kind of minor external injury should have healed on its own with his physique, but now it was still bleeding non-stop, and there were signs of redness and inflammation, like an infection.

If it hadn't been for the physical suture with the silk thread, he probably would have bled to death.

Now that he had some free time, he had time to deal with the wound.

Sulen removed the thread from the wound and saw a mysterious force on the wound that prevented healing.

He took out a few advanced wound cleaning potions and repeatedly rinsed the wound, and the force slowly dissipated.

After using more than a dozen bottles, it was completely cleaned. The wound also began to heal.

At this time, Sulen took out the dagger that exuded a scarlet glow and looked at it, muttering, "This [Dragonslayer Dagger] is really evil enough."

It was more like a short sword than a dagger.

On closer inspection, there were ancient and mysterious纹路 on the scarlet glowing blade. Some were alchemical runes, some were metal forging patterns, and some were special纹路 that he didn't understand.

And it was very magical that the right eye couldn't see these special纹路, only the All-Knowing Eye of the left eye could see a blurred shadow.

"Such advanced inscriptions, this is probably the legendary god-level rune."

Sulen observed carefully for a while, like appreciating a peerless treasure.

The inscriptions on this dagger gave him a lot of inspiration.

It was like seeing the stars twinkling in the night sky, although untouchable, he had also seen the scenery in the sky.

It was identified as a "Fallen Demonic Weapon."

But now, it was probably an alchemical dagger of the "Sealed Item" level.

Sulen frowned, thinking with some difficulty: "This dagger needs to absorb the blood essence of high-level beings to maintain its sharp special effects. Augus also used it to kill people every day, and only slowly had this kind of sharpness. It's not easy to maintain."

This was indeed a magic weapon.

The most common "high-level beings" were humans.

It needed to kill people every day to maintain this almost evil sharpness.

The Rodriguez family would take it to various prisons in Lundon to execute prisoners, including some high-level professional prisoners, and it had been warmed for decades to achieve its current sharpness.

Sulen didn't have these conditions.

He had just tried it, and pouring blood bags didn't work. He had to stab and kill living beings to have a weak buff bonus.

He wasn't a murderer, killing people randomly every day to maintain a weapon.

That is to say, if this dagger fell into his hands, the blade would slowly dull.

It was really a pity.

After all, whether it could slay a dragon was another matter, but this was a top-level weapon that could hurt a Rank 7 professional.

"I wonder if zombies count as living beings?"

Sulen thought of something.

If zombies could also maintain this dagger, that would be great.

Although the cost was a bit high, it was still acceptable.

He thought about slowly trying it later.

Moreover, this dagger had another special effect, that the higher the level of the living being killed, the greater the temporary sharpness effect would be.

When Sulen looked at the dagger and saw that there was a description of "Drink Divine Blood, Restore the Light of the Demonic Weapon" in the appraisal, his thoughts also became active.

Sulen's eyes showed anticipation, and he thought, "So, using 'Divine Blood' to temporarily enchant it will have a miraculous effect on this dagger?"

No one else definitely had "Active Divine Blood," and it didn't even exist in the entire plane.

Because this was a plane with broken laws, it was impossible to have truly divine creatures.

But Sulen had it!

Each member of the Mirror Organization had a piece of a fallen angel's limb, which was definitely a true god.

Although he had already refined that heart into an implant, Mr. Mirror still had some "Divine Blood" in stock.

Moreover, the divine fire of this fallen angel was fused by Pestoa, so theoretically, this fallen angel wasn't dead yet!

His blood might have a miraculous effect on this dagger.

Thinking of this, Sulen also felt that this dagger would definitely be of great use in the future if it fell into his hands.

...

The next morning, the weather was clear.

The rumbling noise of the first steam intercity train passing by outside on the street woke Sulen from his meditation.

He opened his eyes, looked at the blue sky outside the window, and his eyes were full of vigor.

This night of meditation not only restored the injuries from yesterday's battle, but also digested the knowledge he had reaped yesterday.

"Hoo~ This harvest is really not simple..."

Sulen had an unprecedented sense of fullness of knowledge in his heart.

Yesterday's battle reaped Augus, as well as those one or two hundred Golden Knights, and the amount of knowledge was so great that he only felt that he had digested it almost now.

Not to mention the old monster, this old monster who had lived for more than a hundred years was unmatched by ordinary people in terms of knowledge and alchemical knowledge.

However, after being trapped at the threshold of Rank 7 and knowing that he couldn't break through, this old monster went more into studying power and strategy.

But even so, he had thoroughly researched almost all the fields he could involve in alchemy below Rank 7.

Although he hadn't comprehended the knowledge above Rank 7, he had also come into contact with some of it.

This gave Sulen a great advantage, and he immediately had a feeling that his knowledge had doubled.

Especially involving some high-level secret fields, he was even more eye-opening.

He also had a clearer understanding of the various corrupt situations in the upper class of Luying.

And those one or two hundred Golden Knights also made Sulen feel that the harvest was extremely great.

[Golden Spear Legion Battle Formation], [Golden Shield Legion Battle Formation], [Dragon Slaying Battle Formation], [Seventy-two Kinds of Variation Essentials], [Secret Recipe for Medicinal Bath], [Forging Drawings of Golden Heavy Armor]... and so on.

This "Golden Holy Shield Heavy Armor Knights Legion" was one of the top legions in Luying, and it was also a noble legion that had been passed down by the Rodriguez family for hundreds of years.

It was said that it was a training method passed down from an ancient Dragon Slaying Knights Legion.

Sulen digested those memories, and it was true.

This kind of group charge was indeed effective against single large magical beasts and top-level professionals. Various variation tactics were also centered around charging and filling positions. What exchanging breaths, interrupting, replenishing when exhausted, various tactics almost considered everything in the battle.

Normally speaking, the combat power of those three hundred riders yesterday was completely enough to face one or two Rank 7 professionals without falling behind, and even had the possibility of killing them.

Theoretically speaking, as long as the momentum was high enough on average, it was feasible to slay a dragon.

Sulen couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

The combat power of these elite knights was not comparable to the rabble of pirates. Three hundred riders were enough to rely on tactics to kill seven in and seven out among tens of thousands of pirates.

If it weren't for the [Storm War Hammer], a great weapon, he really wouldn't be able to beat them!

And the "Battle Formation Method" was a secret that was not passed down by the major legions of Luying. These were intangible assets accumulated by various families in actual combat for thousands of years.

These could be directly used on the puppet legion.

The legion battle formation was the most effective means to truly transform the numerical advantage into quality combat power!

Sulen immediately had the idea of ​​forming a golden heavy armor puppet legion after harvesting this knowledge.

He had a large pile of Rank 3 and 4 puppets, as well as Rank 5 and 6 mechanical armor. If he could rely on these low-level combat powers to besiege and kill top-level professionals, the combat power of the puppet legion would be truly terrifying!

There was also that knowledge.

The Rodriguez family had very harsh conditions for recruiting family knights, and they were all elites of the same rank.

These noble knights had the experience of studying at various alchemical academies, and after a harvest, he harvested a large pile of various miscellaneous knowledge.

This was the most satisfying harvest Sulen had ever reaped.

...

Just as Sulen was thinking, the newsboy's hawking sounded downstairs.

He opened the window, threw down a few coins, and exchanged them for a few newspapers.

After flipping through them, sure enough, he was on the front page of the newspaper again.

The title of "The Empress Metropolitan News" was: The lawless madman "Grim Reaper" makes a big disturbance in Lundon, murders high-ranking nobles, and commits heinous crimes.

The title of "Lundon Daily" was: "Grim Reaper" appears in Queens District, battles with various gangs in Lundon, and smashes the scene where a noble member cruelly sucks the blood of young girls;

The financial backers behind several newspapers were different, and the tone of description was also different.

The Rodriguez family's newspaper naturally condemned him, but avoided mentioning anything about Augus.

And the Lance family's "Lundon Daily" published in detail the on-site photos of Augus's distortion and blood-sucking of young girls that Sulen had previously taken in that other dimension.

Augus was anxious to renew his life and had the gang kidnap a large number of young female professionals, which caused no small storm.

Yesterday, Sulen also had Sabina's people hand over the rescued surviving girls to the Lance family.

Now that there were photos and survivors, the Rodriguez family would definitely have a headache.

Political enemies would not let go of such a good opportunity, and there would inevitably be major fluctuations in Lundon's political situation.

Sulen didn't care about those things he couldn't interfere with. He quickly flipped through all the newspapers and saw another message he was concerned about: S-level wanted criminal "Hell Judge" Jerome Offast, brutally killed thousands of people, now wanted throughout the city!

Although the black and white photo accompanying the picture was a bit blurry, Sulen immediately recognized the guy in the flame demon form as Old Cowboy.

However, it didn't seem to be the secondary death state when he left yesterday, but a more exaggerated demon lord.

He didn't know what it would be like after dying several times.

Sulen also breathed a sigh of relief: "The old man is not dead yet."

After carefully reading the contents of the newspaper, he also learned that after Old Cowboy helped him stall the "Punishment Lawyer" Elmer yesterday, he returned to Parrot Street and killed almost all the gang members.

Then last night, before the newspaper was printed, he washed in blood several major slave trading headquarters such as the "Sun Slave Chamber of Commerce Headquarters" and the "Narwhal Company".

Sulen looked at the list of deaths, and several major slave traders and arms dealers were killed, so the commotion was so big.

Sulen finally understood why Old Cowboy would say the words "many people will die".

This kind of killing was probably related to his ability.

...

Sulen read the newspaper and had a general understanding of the aftermath of yesterday's commotion.

Sabina hadn't contacted him, which meant there was nothing particularly important.

At this time, he took out the [Lilith's Vampire] ring.

He had just made a big commotion, and he would definitely have to avoid the limelight these few days, so he might as well advance.

This rental house was safe enough.

The Congressional Library was three blocks away, and Mr. Black was there.

If someone really came to him, someone would be able to support him immediately.

It was also the hiding place that Sulen had specially chosen before.

After a night of recovery, his condition was excellent. He identified the success rate of merging the cursed materials, which was 1.5 percentage points higher than yesterday.

This probability increase was probably because he had digested that knowledge and had a deeper understanding of the laws.

With Dr. Banks's potion suppressing it, the畸变probability was less than 8%, which was completely worth a try.

Sulen put Crow Grandfather on the balcony, collected the bed, cleared out the space, and began to arrange the alchemical array for advancement.

The alchemical array required to advance to Rank 6 was very complex. Usually, Rank 5 professionals at this step would need to ask some master-level array masters to help arrange it.

But this was not difficult for Sulen, and the materials had already been prepared.

Super-large high-purity crystals from the sea ruins, the highest quality red copper, mithril, and agate powder bought on the Lundon alchemical market, and the blood of Rank 7 magical beasts as a tonic...

Everything was the best material he could get, and there was almost no possibility of failure due to the material.

Before long, he had arranged the heptagram formation for professional advancement.

Then Sulen stood naked in the center of the formation, put on the vampire ring, and chanted the alchemical general mantra that was full of ritual: "Following the law of equivalent exchange of all things, praise the glory of the original creator, and witness the miracle of creation with alchemy..."

For a time, the alchemical array lit up.

...

The real shock caused by Sulen killing Augus yesterday was far more turbulent than what was on the newspaper.

From last night to now, the dark tide in Lundon was surging, the royal family, the intelligence service, the police station, and various large and small forces were surging in the dark.

In the Lockevalen River, I don't know how many corpses sank overnight.

Rodriguez was still in a panic due to the assassination of his ancestor; William, the young master of the Regardi family, was also investigating who the "big man" who hindered the official action was; Duke Raphael was busy devouring the Congressional seats vacated by the turmoil, drafting a new military law; the intelligence service and the Lundon police station were busy with various pursuits...

Just when the forces of Lundon were in a mess, Yekaterina had already taken a motorcycle to an inconspicuous villa in the South City.

After getting off the car, she tidied up her black dress, and after making sure there was nothing indecent about it, she walked towards the house.

Without taking any followers, Yekaterina stepped up the steps and rang the doorbell.

"Ding dong~"

The doorbell rang, and a middle-aged woman who looked like a housekeeper opened the door, made a welcoming gesture, and said, "Oh, Miss Yekaterina, you're here~ Please come in, the master is waiting for you to play chess on the second floor."

"Yes."

Yekaterina nodded politely to the female housekeeper, and then entered the house.

There were no other servants in the house, and the decoration was very ordinary. It was just that the mountain of books made people think that the owner of the house would be a very knowledgeable person.

Probably because the old man was afraid of the cold, the fireplace was burning firewood during the day, crackling.

After walking a few steps, the moment Yekaterina stepped on the stairs to the second floor, her expression changed for a moment, and she actually found that her mood fluctuated in an uncharacteristic way.

Since entering the Holy Realm, this kind of uncertain wandering thought had never happened before.

The different color was instantly restrained, and she continued to go upstairs calmly.

Upstairs, she happened to see an old man with white beard studying the endgame on the chessboard with great interest by the small table next to the bed.

A different color flashed in Yekaterina's eyes.

She didn't expect that this old man, who had refused any visits for several years, would actually agree to her request to visit.

At the same time, the old man also looked over, and a pair of wise turbid eyes showed a kind smile, and he greeted: "Katyusha, come, play a game with the old man."

Hearing this greeting, Yekaterina seemed to return to ten years ago, when the ignorant little girl followed her father to visit and messed up the old man's study.

She smiled and said, "Okay, Grandpa Pierre."

...

The housekeeper brought tea,

Katyusha sat opposite the old man, and the two arranged the chess pieces and started playing.

On the black and white chessboard, exquisite crystal chess pieces fell step by step, making crisp sounds.

Time was slow and peaceful.

The old and the young went back and forth.

Yekaterina played very seriously.

On that pretty face, she sometimes frowned in thought, sometimes rejoiced, and sometimes puckered her mouth for her bad move... like a naive little girl.

In front of this old man, she had no disguise.

After one game, another game.

Yekaterina didn't show any impatience, she looked very carefully, and chatted with the old man about some unimportant trivial matters.

But most of the time, she was listening quietly, and the old man was talking unhurriedly.

"The girl's chess skills are getting higher and higher... Not bad, not bad, she has restrained her sharpness and has a long-term layout. Although she is a woman, no one can match her chess skills."

"Grandpa, you flatter me."

"I saw the young man yesterday, and your eyesight is really good."

"Katyusha didn't expect that you would help him."

"Haha, it's rare to meet a good young man. Besides, even if I don't help, he will be fine. It's just doing him a favor."

"≧◠◡◠≦."

"By the way, Katyusha, how is your great-grandmother doing recently?"

"She... has passed away."

"Why didn't I hear you say it? Oh, I only have these three or two friends in this old bone, and since she is gone, I should go and see her off anyway."

"I'm sorry, Grandpa. Great-grandmother went to Shanyin, saying she was going to see an old friend. Her old family didn't want others to know, so they didn't tell anyone."

"Oh, is that so. Then I know who it is... I almost forgot that she was very close to a boy from a civilian family when she was in the academy. At that time, many people in our academy were very envious. I didn't expect that after so many years, she hasn't forgotten."

"Great-grandmother went to Shanyin before, she said that what she couldn't bear to give up the most were a few old friends in Lundon. She also said she wanted to see you, but thinking that it might be the last time, she didn't want to come. So she just left cleanly."

"Well, that's her character."

"Ah... Great-grandmother also told me some little secrets. She said that Grandpa Pierre, you fought for her when you were young. And then, you were beaten."

"Hahaha, she told you all these embarrassing things about me? Oh, I remember that it was more than eighty years ago, it seems to be the summer of 915 in the Luying calendar..."

"Alas, with her leaving, there are even fewer things worth remembering in this world for the old man. The friends around me have left one after another, as if someone is drawing one thread after another in your life, and in the end, there seems to be nothing to miss."

"Girl, you won't dislike my old man's nagging, will you?"

"No. Grandpa Pierre, do you want to know a secret?"

"Oh, tell me?"

"When I was a child, I secretly read Great-grandmother's diary, and she praised you in the diary for being handsome and elegant."

"Is that so? Oh, if I had known earlier, I would have done everything without hesitation."

"But, she said, she doesn't like you either. Because you don't understand poetry. She also said that the world in your eyes is too high, and people can't reach it."

"Hahaha..."

"..."

Smiling, a little crystal clear light appeared in the old man's eyes.

Unconsciously in those conversations, he looked back on his life.

Looking back now, what is still clear is only the memory of those old friends.

The old man just said: The memories that are still clear are only those few old friends.

Hearing the answer, Pierre's face also showed a kind and satisfied smile. After pondering for a while, he said, "Girl, before I die, I want to accept a disciple."

Speaking of this, he paused, then looked at Yekaterina and asked, "Are you willing to be my disciple?"

Yekaterina seemed to have foreseen something, stood up solemnly, and cupped her hands to perform a master-disciple salute: "Teacher."

With this bow, the pattern of Luying would be different from now on.