Isn't Cultivating Myself Okay?

"Mm..."

A rather underwhelming reward.

Ryan stared at the Game Interface. Once the spell's effects faded, Cassidy had somehow changed into a platinum-white robe. She held a staff, her expression icy.

Hand of Darkness, a pack of filthy schemers!

A Huge Profit

Cassidy was furious. If 'Lin Qi' had been blown to pieces by that bullet just now, she would have regretted it for the rest of her life.

'Lin Qi' was someone she wanted to win over, someone with limitless potential in the Gate of Janus. They were friends, too. Even setting benefits aside and speaking only of feelings, she did not want anything to happen to 'Lin Qi'.

Especially not because she had been protecting her.

Once she confirmed the attacker's strength, Cassidy stopped holding back. She swung her staff, and the incantation spilled from her lips.

Magic erupted in midair, unleashing a terrifying strike in the direction Cassidy faced and directly shattering more than half the carriage within its range!

BOOM!

Chunks of blasted metal and debris from the carriage flew everywhere, along with the Transcendent who had launched the attack.

"Third Tier?!"

A cry of alarm came from within the explosion.

The attacker clearly had not expected Cassidy to possess such strength. He was blasted into the air, and before he could steady himself, a staff glowing like scorching flames descended from above.

"Die!!!"

Jonathan roared.

At the critical moment, a shadow shot out and blocked the strike for the man.

An explosion rang out in midair. Jonathan landed in the carriage and hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Cassidy shook her head. "Thanks to Lin Qi."

"Lin Qi, how are you?"

"I'm fine."

'Lin Qi' was already leaning in a corner of the carriage, receiving treatment from a Gate of Janus Transcendent.

Of the two Transcendents who had accompanied her, one was a healer. Such professions were exceedingly rare among Transcendents. To ensure that nothing happened to 'Lin Qi', High Priest Lia had specifically assigned one to her.

Even so, Ryan really wanted to say, can you fucking stop healing me and let me eat Roasted Chicken on the side?

Your healing spell wasn't even as effective as my Roasted Chicken!

"Your Highness, be careful. That man is Kasa, a Third-Tier Transcendent from the Hand of Darkness. His strength is close to the Fourth Tier, and his profession is Shadow of Humor. That shadow is extremely powerful in combat."

If Jonathan had not been tangled up by the shadow earlier, Kasa could never have broken through his defense and attacked the train.

Although Jonathan's magic level was lower than his opponent's, the Son of the Sun had high growth attributes, so the gap in their strength was not great.

"Shadow of Humor? What a trash profession."

Ryan curled his lip before the Game Interface.

Although it was a Hidden Profession in the game as well, it controlled shadows in battle. In a one-on-one fight, it was basically two against one—the advantage was mine.

The ability looked incredibly cool, but its growth attributes were actually low. It only had four stars in magic, and none of its other attributes even reached four stars. It was nowhere near as good as the Silent Nun.

Still, strength close to that of a Fourth Tier Transcendent was already considered top-tier in a small place like Berman City. If Cassidy had not made arrangements beforehand, then according to the original itinerary, the Royal Guard alone would not have been able to stop the Hand of Darkness's attack when they arrived here.

Come to think of it, wasn't the beginning of the game a lot easier than this?

As he pondered, the two sides began fighting again. Ryan sipped his coffee as he watched the battle. As for 'Lin Qi', once her health had recovered to half after receiving treatment, she went off to start killing elsewhere.

The harriers had all been killed, but Heretics gave experience too.

Not to mention the First Tier Transcendents, there were even several Second Tier ones among them. Killing even one with a sneak attack would be a huge profit.

'Lin Qi, you're injured.'

The Gate of Janus Transcendent following beside her hurriedly called out to stop her.

'Cultists deserve to die. In the Name of Janus, let them go to hell.'

Watching 'Lin Qi' rush out with a dagger in hand, the two Gate of Janus Transcendents exchanged glances. Admiration rose in their hearts—she truly was someone the High Priest had taken a liking to.

"Sir, your coffee."

Inside the Coffee Shop.

Ryan ordered another cup of coffee and continued watching the situation at the Train Station.

The battle was nearing its end.

After 'Lin Qi' used a sneak attack to finish off an injured Second Tier Transcendent, the battle on Cassidy's side also came to a complete end.

Kasa, the leader of the Hand of Darkness, could not defeat the two-on-one assault. Jonathan seriously wounded him with a blow from his staff, and he only managed to flee in disgrace by using his shadow to cover his retreat.

Once he left, the remaining Hand of Darkness members were leaderless. Jonathan led his people in a frenzied slaughter, killing nearly all of them.

At this point, only a few people were still putting up desperate resistance. Ryan did not have "Lin Qi" continue slaughtering them. Instead, he wandered around the battlefield and began looting the corpses.

"What are you doing?"

Having dealt with a Heretic, Echo tilted her head and looked curiously at "Lin Qi," who was crouched beside a corpse and feeling around in the air.

"Sin may cling to him, but the souls of the dead are equal. I am willing to offer them their final salvation," "Lin Qi" said.

"Is that necessary? They're only Heretics."

Echo wished she could tear these people to pieces.

"Of course it is. God is merciful."

[You obtained Roasted Chicken*1.]

"Tsk~ Roasted Chicken, Roasted Chicken, Roasted Chicken. Why is it all Roasted Chicken? Isn't there anything good?"

[You obtained Magic Scroll of Physique*1.]

"Huh?"

[Magic Scroll of Physique]

[Quality: First Tier]

[Effect: Increases Physique by 20% for Ten Minutes after use.]

"It's actually a Magic Scroll. Good stuff."

Ryan nodded in satisfaction. That was more like it. How could an entire battle yield nothing but Roasted Chicken?

Though it was a one-time consumable, it could save his life at a critical moment. Sometimes, death came down to just that tiny bit of difference in strength.

"It's over. The haul isn't bad."

Ryan opened "Lin Qi's" personal attributes.

Name: Lin Qi

Gender: Female

Job: Silent Nun

Level: 17

Physique: 21.5

Spirit: 19.5

Magic Power: 28.6+2

Comprehension: 11

Charm: 15

Skills: Swiftness lv2, Purification lv1

Job Skills: Summon Demon Spirit, Demon Spirit Entanglement

Backpack: Soul Eater's Certificate, Magic Scroll of Physique, Soul Jade*6577, Roasted Chicken*12...

...

...

No matter how things turned out, he had enjoyed himself on his end.

Next, as long as he reached level 20, he could start considering advancement.

After setting "Lin Qi" to auto-play, Ryan switched to Shari's Game Interface. Outside, the fighting was earth-shattering, while the prison remained as quiet as ever.

His Alt Account was still digging the tunnel, but to avoid being discovered, it could only dig in secret. The efficiency was frighteningly low. Ryan planned to keep digging for another two days and see how it went. If that still did not work, he would have to find a way to break in from the outside.

After finishing his coffee, Ryan returned to the Bureau of Investigation. About an hour later, Jonathan returned as well.

"Her Highness the Princess has gone to Aideburg. Mayor Bill is receiving her, so we don't need to handle what comes next."

Aideburg had troops stationed there, and its security was far tighter than that of the Bureau of Investigation. At this stage, Bill would not make a move against Cassidy, so Ryan was not worried.

"Director, what should we do with the guy we captured?" he asked.

"What else? When the time comes, we'll use him as a witness to Norman's crimes. We'll nail down the charges first. Just wait and see. With a Bureau of Investigation director dead, plus the Train Station incident, tomorrow's news will be everywhere again."

Jonathan waved a hand and left after only a few brief instructions. He had found some clues concerning the Hand of Darkness. Tonight, he still had to lead the League of Fire into action, so he left the Bureau of Investigation to Ryan.

Thinking about it, Ryan found it strange. He was clearly just a Vice Captain, so why was he always doing a Deputy Director's work?

Even the actual captain of the Criminal Investigation Department treated him with utmost politeness, wearing an expression that said, "Just give the order." Damn bootlicker... Well, keep it up. Ryan Master was very satisfied.

No wonder so many people loved promotions and raises.

After organizing the evidence of Norman's crimes, Ryan went to the cells to check on the supernatural being they had captured. The man had already been strung up and beaten twice, and had basically lost the ability to resist.

Once he had confirmed there were no problems, he finally left the Bureau of Investigation.

That evening, seven o'clock.

East District.

Inside a bookstore.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Norman is dead, and the attack plan failed! Ryan, our situation is terrible now. For Grand Duke Marganna, we can only rely on you from here on out!"

Lord Adler said with a grim expression.

"I'd go through fire and water, Lord Adler."

I'll try to write another two chapters tonight~

Three Years Later, Then Another Three

The bookstore had been opened by someone Lord Adler found, specifically for occasions like this when he needed to show himself in person.

After receiving word that the attack plan had failed, Lord Adler was utterly devastated. He had prepared for this plan for so long, spent so much money, raised so many people—and it had actually failed?

More importantly, he had only just assured Grand Duke Marganna. He had to make up for the loss now, or who knew whether that Grand Duke might fly into a rage and have him chopped off.

But bad news came one after another. Before he arrived, he had received a message from the Hand of Darkness: people from the League of Fire had raided their base, and Kasa had decided to have the remaining people scatter and lie low for the time being.

In other words, the Hand of Darkness would find it difficult to do anything for him in the short term.

He had not yet reported today's matter to Creed. He did not dare to—not until he came up with a solution for what to do next.

And that hope undoubtedly rested on Ryan.

"Through fire and water," Ryan said at once. "For Grand Duke Marganna, I wouldn't hesitate to stake my life on it. Lord Adler, just tell me what to do. How about I find an opportunity to assassinate Cassidy?"