Chapter 23: Storming the Count's Estate

Dachun began to swim stealthily behind the bat, which eventually came to a halt at the carcass of the Dog King. It was obvious that the creature was drinking the Dog King’s drug-infused blood.

Dachun suddenly realized: could it be that after Ailian’s body was discarded, this bat had fed on her as well? If so, this blood was essentially a relic of her. Since she was soul-bound to him, he was able to see—or more precisely, perceive—the bat’s appearance. That had to be it. Aristocrats would only discard bodies at night, and the bats, being flying monsters, would naturally be the first to arrive, followed by carrion-eating fish to devour the remaining flesh.

If that were the case, Ailian’s next quest was highly likely to involve killing this bat. That seemed impossible, though; he had to avoid walking into such a trap.

As he drew closer to the bat, the number of players in the vicinity dwindled. This was perfect. With no players around to interfere, he could focus on practicing his breath-holding and swimming in peace.

***

Meanwhile, the appearance of the Bat King had thrown the Shinzen team into chaos, forcing the members to jump into the water to avoid being attacked. The bats, however, ignored the players and clustered densely over the Dog King’s carcass.

A team member reported, "That guy Dachun has followed the bat here too."

The Young Master was shocked. "He actually wants to ambush the Bat King?"

The team members found it unbelievable. "That’s the most difficult flying boss to fight. Normally, you’d need spells, bows, or capture nets—unless he’s stolen some incredibly powerful item!"

The Young Master said in a low voice, "Well, then we’ll see just how powerful the item he stole is. Everyone else, rearrange into a containment formation!"

At this moment, the Young Master’s resolve wavered slightly. He hadn’t originally intended to make a high-risk investment at the Count’s mansion; the so-called cooperation was merely a way to squeeze out Curry while simultaneously creating a "Big Red-Name" (a player with a high notoriety level). Now, it seemed the potential rewards for success were unimaginably high, and even in failure, they would still achieve the basic goal of creating a Big Red-Name. By comparison, committing so much manpower to surround a single sewer-dwelling player seemed less cost-effective.

"Sneak-Shot Immortal!"

"Young Master, I’m here!"

The Young Master asked, "Have you seen the video of Dachun infiltrating? If it were you, how confident would you be?"

Sneak-Shot Immortal replied, "If the main force attracts enough attention in the front courtyard—especially by pinning down those guard dogs—I could try to climb over the wall from the backyard. I’d need three buckets for leverage, but I wouldn’t be confident about breaking into the house to steal the treasure."

The Young Master frowned. "Can you set a fire to support the front courtyard?"

"Yes, but I’d need ten miner’s lamps. The oil from ten lamps would be enough to start a fire instantly."

The Young Master was satisfied. "Get ready immediately."

"Captain of the Warrior Regiment, Hidaka-maru Saito, reporting! The Northern, Western, and Southern regiments have all returned to the city gates! We are ready to form ranks to deal with the harassment of the stray dogs!"

The Young Master nodded. "Let me see the results of the Warrior Regiment’s training! And let those Curry guys see what we’re made of!"

"Hidaka-maru, received!"

However, the expected scene of dogs being sliced like melons did not occur. Faced with the majestic, parade-like advance of the machete formation, the stray dogs didn’t dare to approach. Even the elite strays fled at the sight—the nature of stray dogs was indeed to bully the weak and fear the strong, perhaps compounded by the loss of the Dog King’s leadership.

Though disappointed, the Young Master was also quite approving. "This is fine. Though returning to the city was a bit slow, it’s excusable."

Just then, Singh called. "Mr. Shinzen, your Warrior Regiment has stunned me. We have a better suggestion."

This was the shock effect he wanted! The Young Master felt smug. "Let’s hear it."

"Since your Warrior Regiment can deter the stray dogs and they happen to be positioned at the three city gates, you could expand the formation to encircle the strays and drive them toward the Count’s mansion. Then, release the fish buckets. Most of the strays will attack the mansion, and our chances of success will be much higher!"

The Young Master paused. "You’re clearly just afraid of taking losses, aren't you?"

***

Singh laughed. "Mr. Shinzen, don't you think what I’m saying makes sense? Besides, your warriors are all focused on leveling up at full speed; they haven't had time to practice swimming. If they went into the sewers, they’d be no different from ordinary players, and they’d be just as helpless against the Boss."

He had to admit, the man had a point. The Young Master even began to admire him for noticing things he had overlooked.

The Young Master immediately asked his team, "How are the Sea Merchant Guild’s fish buckets coming along?"

"They’re already loaded on the wagons and ready to move. There’s a pack of stray dogs around the wagons; the fish meat is effective on them. The personnel to receive the treasure are in position."

Excellent. Having "white-name" players (players with no notoriety) receive the treasures stolen by the "red-names" was the key to the whole plan. The Young Master checked the process, confirmed there were no errors, and contacted Singh again. "How are your people?"

"Perfectly prepared!"

"Then move."

The Young Master didn’t care what their standard for "perfect" was. As long as nothing went wrong, it was fine—and if something did go wrong, it might be even better.

***

The Golden Throne.

The commotion in Black Iron City was so massive that it had escalated to a siege of the Count’s mansion. This caught the interest of Michael, the top-ranked player who was monitoring the entire situation.

The butler was worried. "Sir, are you really not going to intervene? You could stop them with just one phone call!"

Michael smiled. "Why stop a bunch of idiots? Let them test the loopholes in the noble’s estate. The previous vulnerability where a single player could climb into the building and quickly find the pills must be patched."

The butler sighed. "It’s mainly because this Count took his strongest guards to the banquet; otherwise, such a low-level vulnerability wouldn't exist."

Michael laughed. "That’s why this is an opportunity for the AI to learn. Otherwise, artificial intelligence will never mature."

The butler remembered something. "This Bat King must be feeding on the Dog King’s carcass. Bats are one of the monsters with the highest mutation rates. Looking at the current situation, the probability of mutation is quite high."

Michael nodded. "This is actually a rare testing opportunity. If the spiritual pleasure derived from a meal of foie gras is 3, and the pleasure from sex is 10, then the real pills are 100. What we need to do is digitize these pills to become spiritual nourishment after consciousness is uploaded, so that consciousness doesn't become devoid of emotional joy after leaving the flesh. Such immortality would be meaningless. Therefore, testing the upgraded pills is very necessary. I am very much looking forward to this bat mutating; it is the sublimation of ordinary data into higher-order data! Once the mutation is successful, the game’s Inquisition will naturally be triggered to recover the samples."

The butler was anxious. "Will ordinary players discover this secret?"

Michael was dismissive. "I actually hope they have all sorts of strange wisdom to help us solve various problems. I’m becoming increasingly impatient with that R&D team; their thinking is too rigid."

"Sir, they’ve started!"

"I look forward to their performance! By the way, how is Sariel?"

"The two hired warships have retreated; only the *Silver Queen* is struggling to hold out. The Mermaid’s hypnotic song is simply too strong. Even with spirit pendants, the NPCs of Silver City can hardly resist it."

Michael sighed. "He shouldn’t have many privilege points left."

The butler said, "Not to be disrespectful to Mr. Sariel, but some problems are bound to arise with his design style. He will surely succeed."

Michael sighed. "Perhaps! But the interfering NPCs haven't appeared yet. That is the true test."

***

Outside the walls of the Count’s mansion, under the encirclement of the Shinzen Warrior Regiment, a large number of stray dogs were concentrated in the noble district.

Three wagons broke through the pack of dogs and stopped at the wall. Dozens of players, their feet bandaged for protection, nimbly unloaded the buckets, poured out the fish, and stacked the buckets in one fluid motion.

The Count’s mansion immediately sounded the alarm. The players instantly turned "red-name." Ignoring everything, they continued to hurl buckets of fish into the courtyard. The stray dogs, like a black flood, jumped onto the buckets, vaulted over the wall, and were instantly locked in a bloody brawl with the guard dogs.

A moment later, tens of thousands of miners from the Curry team surged toward the high walls like a long dragon. What greeted their eyes was a slaughterhouse—the disparity in combat power between the stray dogs and the guard dogs was like facing a meat grinder.

The miners poured into the courtyard, instantly falling as corpses under the clubs of the security guards. But it didn’t matter; tens of thousands were enough to exhaust their stamina!

Just then, flames suddenly erupted in the backyard.

The sudden fire threw the Count’s mansion into total chaos! At this point, the flood of miners finally breached a gap and charged into the mansion. Miner’s picks clattered against doors, windows, and walls, sending glass flying everywhere!

At that moment, the bell of the Count’s mansion rang again. The security guards from several neighboring estates were coming to provide support!

—Noble District Warning: All personnel in the entire district must evacuate within 1 minute! Otherwise, all will be treated as red-names and punished!

"Nani!"

"What the...?"

The Young Master and Singh never expected that there would be a mutual defense mechanism among the nobles! Was the only option to retreat?

At this time, Sneak-Shot Immortal, who had just succeeded in setting the fire in the backyard, was preparing to act on his instincts—though he couldn't get back out. Since he had completed the Young Master’s task and still had the major objective of conquering the bar dancer Vivienne, he couldn't afford to be a red-name. There was only one way: jump into the fire and commit suicide before anyone saw him turn red.

Just then, a girl’s voice rang out: "Warrior, come here!"

He had been seen!

Sneak-Shot Immortal looked over in a panic. In the backyard, a young girl was waving at him from a doorway!

I’m not a red-name? Did I trigger an event!?

Sneak-Shot Immortal didn't hesitate and followed her inside. It was a laundry room, containing only a small girl in a maid’s outfit and mountains of clothes.

*So desu ne!* This girl must be a child laborer cruelly exploited by the nobles. She wasn't on the side of the nobles, which explained why he hadn't turned red!

The girl pointed to a box. "Hide in here!"

It really triggered! Sneak-Shot Immortal asked excitedly, "What’s your name?"

"My name is Amy! Someone is coming, don't say a word!"

After saying this, she closed the lid, and he heard the sound of clothes being piled on top of the box.

It was more successful than he had imagined. This was true infiltration of the Count’s mansion!

Sneak-Shot Immortal immediately reported to the Young Master, "Young Master, I’ve met an insider and successfully infiltrated to hide!"

This massive success instantly encouraged the hesitant Young Master. He immediately boosted the morale of the equally hesitant Singh. "Don't retreat! Strike while the iron is hot—destroy everything you can. Afterward, the Count will definitely have to hire workers for repairs, and we can blend in with the workers to act again!"

Singh clearly wasn't stupid. "No way—"

The Young Master immediately interrupted, "I’m transferring another 100,000 to your account!"

Singh instantly perked up. "Then let's charge!"

Since the Curry Consortium was working so hard, the Young Master quietly recalled his Warrior Regiment. "Everyone, withdraw from the district!"

The massive investment in blocking the city gates at the start had been to buy time for the Warrior Regiment to develop and level up in the village; the Warrior Regiment absolutely could not afford to become red-names and end up in prison.