Chapter 24: Ascending to a Demonic Bat

At this moment, in the sewers, Dachun was stunned by this sudden city-wide announcement! What was going on?

He immediately switched to the forums to check, only to find a massive scene of tens of thousands of people besieging the Earl’s Mansion!

"Holy crap, I was just talking! They actually went through with it!?"

Just then, Elaine let out a hearty laugh: "Interesting, how delightful!"

——System Notification: You have completed the Evil Spirit Contract quest "Destroy the Earl of Ramier Khan’s Mansion."

It actually finished!

Taking advantage of her good mood, Dachun asked: "The quest is done, what about my reward and blessing?"

Elaine let out a cold snort: "What does that have to do with you? You didn't do anything, why should you get a blessing?"

Dachun was dumbfounded: "We had a deal that even if it was lightning or fire destroying the mansion, it would count!"

Elaine laughed: "Then you should thank the heavens and the gods!"

Dachun panicked: "No, no, no, you met me, so your luck improved! You have to thank me for the good fortune I brought you."

Elaine chuckled: "Is that so? Then let's see just how much good fortune you can bring me!"

——System Notification: Warning! Your body is being controlled by an evil spirit and cannot act independently. You have received the Evil Spirit Contract quest "Handle the Vampire Bat King."

"Holy crap, not again! I actually have to deal with the bats!?"

Dachun was anxious: "What are you doing? We can't beat that!"

Elaine ignored him with a cold snort, controlling Dachun's body to surface from the water. She reached into the inventory, pulled out that diary, tore off the page with the formation-breaking spell, and with a flick of her wrist, the page instantly vanished and slammed onto the swarm of blood-sucking bats!

The bat swarm scattered in a panicked frenzy. The Bat King took flight with a piercing shriek.

Amidst the screaming, Dachun felt his entire body shudder, the screen itself trembling. The smaller bats around them exploded in mid-air, turning into clumps of blood mist that converged upon the Bat King. The Bat King’s body expanded rapidly like a balloon, becoming plump, oily, and bright red, like a large, round lantern floating in the air!

"Holy crap! She threw a formation-breaking page she couldn't use herself at the bats to break it? Where did she buy such a useful formation?"

——Blackiron Frontier City Announcement: Warning! The city’s hidden boss, "Vampire Bat," has absorbed a large amount of blood essence and mutated! The Blackiron Frontier City Adventurers' Guild has issued a bounty: "Slay the Mutated Bat King!"

——System Notification: Warning! The Mutated Bat King has acquired the advanced skill "Blood Poison Aura." You must avoid the aura's damage!

——System Notification: Warning! The Mutated Bat King has acquired the advanced skill "Ultrasonic Pulse," which will severely disrupt the sewer environment.

...

Dachun was stunned!

It was a mutation! In this game, it wasn't just players who leveled up and improved; some bosses, if left unchallenged for too long or if they killed too many people, had a chance to evolve and grow stronger. Bats, being famous, long-standing monsters that feed on blood, were even more likely to have a backstory, and the chance was clearly higher after absorbing the blood of the Dog King.

But that wasn't the point. The point was that the Adventurers' Guild consisted of high-end NPCs, and as a "Red Name" player, if he ran into them, he would definitely be killed instantly!

The next moment, Dachun’s body began to dive, barely resisting the radiation of the aura. As for the ultrasonic waves, he couldn't feel any power behind them at all.

Dachun hurriedly asked: "What exactly is going on?"

Elaine snorted: "That's exactly what's going on. You swim yourself."

With that, Dachun finally regained control of his body.

The next moment, buzzing and chirping sounds echoed throughout the sewer. Dachun was even more shocked. He shouldn't have been able to hear the surface from underwater; it was clear he was sharing Elaine’s hearing again!

——Blackiron Frontier City Announcement: Warning! The city’s hidden boss, "Mutated Bat King," has disturbed and summoned the super-hidden bosses, the "Plague Rat King" and "Cockroach King." The entire city must take precautions!

——Blackiron Frontier City Announcement: Attention all districts, please ensure plague protection measures are in place within 1 minute!

...

Dachun was dumbfounded once more. The three giants of the sewer were all here. It turned out the ultrasonic waves had disturbed the Plague Rat King! This was terrifying; if it broke out, the whole city would face a plague!

Then, Dachun heard sirens and shouting footsteps everywhere on the streets—along with the clanging of sewer covers being closed one after another.

Dachun finally understood. The Mutated Bat was used to draw out the Plague Rat King, forcing the whole city to cover the sewers and thereby preventing the Adventurers' Guild's pursuit. This also meant that the player team chasing him in the sewers would be trapped inside, unable to get out!

Following that, Dachun’s vision felt like a cheat code. He could see countless tiny things surging and flying in the pitch-black sewer—all rats and cockroaches? Was this all from sharing Elaine’s abilities?

Fortunately, none of the three sewer giants could enter the water, and as a "Scavenger," he was immune to toxins. These wealthy players were too afraid to surface, so he was finally safe!

The Mutated Bat stopped screaming and began to move. It was truly slow, like a floating red lantern. Even more, its belly was so swollen that the skin looked like a lantern covering, and one could even see the blood flowing inside. With skin that thin, its defense might not be zero; it might even be negative, exploding at the slightest touch. If his spiked collar could just poke it once—or if it flew into him blindly—maybe he could burst its belly?

And since it had gorged itself like this, it surely had to return to its lair to digest, right? That might be his chance!

Thinking this, Dachun grew excited again. He would follow it to find the lair first.

...

At this time, the Shenqian team was completely shocked and confused. This series of mutations and the sudden appearance of the Plague Rat King had turned the entire sewer into a chaotic mess. It was a foregone conclusion that the entire team would suffocate in the sewers.

In the final moments, a team member still managed to capture a video of Dachun following the Bat King. At this stage, even with the mutation, the Bat King might not be as formidable as before. If they had a crossbow or something to shoot its belly, they might really create a miracle!

But with the sewers in such chaos, the Young Master believed this "Dachun" would surely die. Once he did, his gear, items, and pet eggs would drop, and they could still seal off the sewers for a carpet search.

"Notify the members in prison to keep an eye on when this Dachun revives. Once they revive, have them gather at the beach to practice swimming!"

"Understood!"

The Young Master watched the video again: "Is that a magic book he’s holding?"

The team member was also shocked: "A magic book that a newbie can use? Could it be the legendary Apprentice's Grimoire?"

Another team member added: "No, the more a newbie can use an item, the more high-end it is. It might be a Sage's Grimoire!"

The Young Master was irritable: "Send this video to the Tali team. Let them know the Earl’s Mansion is full of treasures, and all the effort is worth it. Next time, keep going!"

"Young Master, the sentencing results for our Red Name team are out. It’s still not enough to reach the lowest level of the prison. Should we riot?"

"Go ahead and riot. If once isn't enough, do it a few more times..."

The Young Master had no patience for these minor details: "How is the situation with the secret filming of the 'Immortal'?"

The secret filmer responded: "There's no movement in the backyard where I am."

The Young Master instructed: "Dig into this female NPC. Do everything to win her over!"

"Understood."

...

The secret filmer knocked on the crate, and Amy’s voice came from outside: "It’s safe now."

He pushed the crate open and saw Amy stepping on a large barrel of laundry: "You're washing all this by yourself?"

Amy replied: "Yes. Warrior, please don't talk anymore. Just move this crate under the wall and you can escape."

The secret filmer shook his head righteously: "I’m not escaping. I came here specifically to resist the Earl’s tyranny—let me help you wash!"

Amy panicked: "That won't do. This is my training."

The secret filmer was stunned: "What training?"

"Training to be a dancer. Dancers have to practice their hand and foot strength from a young age."

A dancer again!? The secret filmer was intrigued: "Why do you want to become a dancer?"

While asking, he quickly observed the clothes. They were all low-grade bedsheets and coats, clearly belonging to servants and guards, not sexy dancer outfits—he instantly formulated a plan!

Amy’s voice was bitter: "To pay for my father’s medical bills, we borrowed a lot of money from the Earl, but my father died anyway. Then the Earl took my sister to be a dancer to pay off the debt, and she died last week too. So the Earl took me to continue paying off the debt, and that's why I started training by washing clothes!"

This kind of script was the easiest to exploit, especially since she was just a little girl!

"Have you ever thought that your father’s illness might have been caused by the Earl poisoning him? Just to force you to owe him money?"

Amy trembled violently!

The secret filmer continued: "Listen to me, you have to be calm! First of all, if you make it as a dancer, it’s a great profession. You can even squeeze into the noble circles. You must seize this opportunity and even gain the Earl’s trust and favor! Once you have the Earl’s trust, whether you want revenge in the future or to look forward, you’ll have plenty of room to act—and I can help you!"

Amy finally snapped out of it: "It’s impossible. The Earl is very greedy. Before the debt is paid off, he won't have any favor for me!"

The secret filmer asked quickly: "How much do you owe the Earl?"

Amy was a bit dazed: "Counting my father’s and sister’s medical bills, plus interest, it’s probably tens of thousands."

The Young Master, who had been watching the live stream, made the final decision: "Tell her our chamber of commerce will help her pay it off. Ask her how the payment method works."

Amy, upon receiving the reply, was incredulous: "Why help me?"

The secret filmer smiled brightly: "Because you helped me first! Besides, no matter how bad things get in the future, it won't be worse than it is now!"

Amy was moved to tears: "My mother is polishing shoes at Iron Flower Square. She knows how to pay it back."

The secret filmer smiled: "Very good, leave this to our chamber of commerce. As for now, I’ll hide in the crate and stay. Let me help you wash the clothes—"

Amy was stunned: "But—"

The secret filmer interrupted sternly: "Listen, if you wash slowly, no matter how you train, you won't be appreciated. If others see that you wash faster and better, they will hand you more clothes to wash, and you’ll have more opportunities to train! Once you achieve excellent results and gain trust, you can try to go to the kitchen to see if you can get more food. When you can enter and leave the kitchen freely, you’ll have access to even more places..."

The secret filmer had three real intentions. First, help her wash until there was nothing left to wash, then he could wash the dancers' and other ladies' undergarments—that was the burning, perverted soul of a top-tier quest-runner! Seeing how Dachun wore a dancer's outfit earlier made him truly envious and jealous!

Second, his rogue class quest and his newspaper interview quest were about collecting all sorts of messy intelligence. He could hide in the Earl’s Mansion to gather important secrets—even knowing what underwear the Countess wore or who she was having an affair with would be valuable gossip for the tabloid.

Third, once he infiltrated the kitchen, he would even have the chance to poison the Emperor. Although he didn't plan to poison the Earl for now, mastering the kitchen was a basic skill for high-end rogue players. This was the most important value in cultivating Amy as an inside agent!

Amy seemed to understand: "I know! Are you hungry?"

The secret filmer smiled: "Not for me. Give it to those guard dogs. Building trust starts with the simplest things, like dogs."

"You can eat some too..."

...

At this point, the Young Master clapped in satisfaction: "Very good, you really are doing it faster and better. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to train in the future."

The secret filmer wasn't embarrassed at all: "Thank you for the praise, Young Master! I will work even harder!"

The Young Master gave another instruction: "Head of the Maritime Chamber of Commerce, Yougao Wan Yeteng! You personally handle the mother who polishes shoes."

"Yougao Wan, received!"