Legendary Item, Ring of Death!

After leaving the General Bureau, Ryan drove to Berman University. Not long after getting out of the car, he was stopped by someone.

"Hey, buddy, have you heard of 'Blood Sacrifice to the Blood God'?"

Chapter 40: Legendary Item, Ring of Death!

What sacrifice? What god?

The four little vendors from Gou Cao are still chasing me!

Ryan instinctively wanted to blow this Heretic away with a shot, but on second glance, he realized the guy seemed to be an ordinary person.

The young man before him was probably in his early twenties, about Jack's age. He was definitely a university student.

As for whether he was a supernatural being, after seeing enough of them, Ryan could still tell a wild boar from a domestic pig.

A fanatical Believer?

These days, there was no shortage of young people corrupted by strange ideas. At least thirty percent of the Bureau of Investigation's daily cases involved Heretics causing trouble.

These Heretics were not true supernatural beings. They had merely come into contact with related beliefs for some reason. In milder cases, it was probably just a bout of teenage delusion, suddenly wanting to destroy the world or something. After making a scene and becoming a joke, they would get arrested, taught a lesson, then go back to living honestly.

In serious cases, some were eroded by Outer God Power through coincidence. Though they were not supernatural beings, their minds became contaminated, and that was dangerous.

Such people could easily corrupt those around them through propaganda about Outer God beliefs, causing their influence to grow larger and larger. This was currently the most common form of expansion among Outer God Religious Forces.

Still, the guy in front of him looked like he belonged to the former category.

Ryan crossed his arms and nodded. "Go on. I'm listening."

"The great Blood God Doklodus, He is the Deity who governs war and glory. Did you know that? When the enemy's iron cavalry marched into the Empire's territory, when our people died miserably beneath gunfire, when we had all lost hope of victory, only the Blood God could save us!"

The young man spoke excitedly. "If you've heard His name too, come on, say it with me—Blood Sacrifice to the Blood God!"

"Mm-hm, and then?" Ryan took out the work notebook he carried with him and recorded what had just been said. "Anything else? How many people are in your group?"

"Wow, you're interested too, aren't you?" The young man seemingly found nothing wrong with this. Lowering his voice, he said, "But this isn't the place to talk. Come with me, and I'll introduce it all to you slowly!"

Ryan had just been about to say there was no need and that he could take him to the Bureau for an introduction, when he suddenly remembered something.

"Berman University... Wait, I remember now. Wasn't this a side quest in the game?"

He looked toward the university entrance and found it increasingly familiar. When Jack had mentioned Berman University before, he had not reacted, but now that he stood here, dead memories kept flooding back.

A side quest, a super item!

He could not help it. He had lived in this world for more than twenty years. Though he had only recently awakened his Past Life Memories, both his past and present selves were still him. The tangled memories made some things difficult to recall clearly.

Like side quests in the game—he really could not remember them unless he saw them with his own eyes.

"Kid, does your school have an old campus area?"

The young man froze. "You're not from our school?"

"No. My younger brother is. I came to find him."

"I see. Well, that's fine. Our Blood God Cult never cares about status. As long as you sincerely believe in the Blood God too, we're brothers from different fathers and mothers!"

Who the hell is your brother? Ryan complained inwardly.

"As for the old campus area you mentioned, hehe~ not only does it exist, it's also the Blood God Cult's secret base... Come on, come on, I'll take you there!"

The university student was extremely enthusiastic.

Ryan had assumed he would need some kind of student ID, but the old man guarding the gate did not even glance at him.

Past the entrance was a main road lined with lush camphor trees. It was evening, and students came and went, chatting and laughing beneath the setting sun. In June weather, skirts fluttered everywhere along the roadside, making Ryan sigh inwardly—university life really was the best.

"Huh? Captain Ryan? Why are you here?"

Just as Ryan was enjoying the youthful atmosphere, Jack walked over from the opposite direction. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder and was preparing to head home.

Berman University allowed its students to go home at night.

"Captain?" The university student beside him shot Ryan a puzzled look.

Ryan chuckled. "That's a special way us brothers address each other. Jack, my boy, of course I came to find you."

As he spoke, he gave Jack a look.

"Ah, I'm... Mm, I'm Jack, my boy. Captain, did you need something from me?"

What a strange way of addressing someone. Captain Ryan was really not good at naming things.

"I came to call you home for dinner. But this brother says he wants to show me the greatness of the Blood God... Brother, my younger brother is interested in this stuff too. Why not bring him along?"

"Of course!"

The university student did not suspect anything. He was delighted that Ryan had recruited one more person. "Come on, follow me. We'll be there soon. We even have a ritual at seven tonight!"

"That sounds perfect."

Ryan wrote the words "illegal gathering, Cult Sacrifice" in his notebook.

The university student leaned over. "What are you writing?"

Ryan calmly closed the notebook. "Nothing. I'm recording your famous words so I can tell all my brothers about them later."

"Hehe, I didn't say anything famous. Later, I'll introduce you to the Blood God Cult's Priest. He's the greatest speaker!"

The university student could not wait any longer and quickened his pace.

Jack glanced at Ryan and wisely did not say anything more.

A security officer, investigating a case. But when had so many fanatical Heretics appeared at their school?

About ten minutes later, the three of them arrived at Berman University's old campus area.

The sun had set, and the streetlamps cast a pale glow. The entire old campus had long been abandoned, looking eerie and gloomy beneath the night sky.

Ryan remembered now. Many years ago, a major fire had broken out here, covering a third of Berman University's grounds. The most severely damaged central area had later been sealed off, gradually becoming the old campus area over time.

For some reason, the school leadership had not dared to renovate the old campus, leaving it untouched until now.

The side quest had mentioned that the fire was actually a Cult Sacrifice. More than a hundred students had died, shocking the entire city.

The supernatural relic that descended during the ritual had drawn countless supernatural beings into a fierce struggle, but its final whereabouts remained unknown.

"Our territory is over there!"

The university student pointed at an abandoned building not far away.

That place was on the outskirts of the old campus, so it had been preserved relatively well.

"Are the others all there?" Ryan asked.

"Of course. We agreed to gather at seven. Most of them should be here by now."

"Good." Ryan walked toward a public phone booth nearby, inserted a Copper Coin, and dialed the Department General Bureau's duty line. "It's me, Ryan. Bring some people to Berman University's old campus... Mm, ten or twenty will do."

The university student stood to the side with a completely baffled expression.

What was going on?

Jack patted his shoulder reassuringly. "It's fine. It'll be over soon."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Wait a moment. Some of my brothers are coming too... Jack, wait here and don't let him run around."

"Got it, leave him to me!"

"Hey??? What's going on? Why are you holding me down???"

After handing the university student over to Jack, Ryan passed through the old campus's barricade fence and headed deeper inside.

He followed a weed-choked path onward.

He remembered this quest quite well. It was a campus, an old campus, and he had entered it at night back then too. The horror atmosphere had been cranked to the max.

But now he was a supernatural being as well, and he had a Character Card. Even if he encountered an Evil Spirit attack, there was nothing to worry about.

He just was not entirely sure where the item was.

It was pitch-black, and things were definitely different from controlling a game. If he had not happened to be here, it would have been more suitable to send Lin Qi.

"Hm?"

"This should be the ritual site. I remember it being somewhere west... There. That's it."

A house burned into ruins appeared in his field of vision. To the west lay a desolate wreckage site with only a few scorched walls remaining. The house had collapsed, leaving nothing but broken ruins.

Ryan found an inconspicuous doorknob beside one of the walls. After pulling it open with force, he saw a staircase sloping downward.

It was a basement.

Because the place was so well hidden, Ryan had spent quite a while searching for it back then.

The basement was pitch-black. He took out a prepared lantern from the game Backpack. This had originally been for Shari, but unexpectedly, he was the one using it now.

The lantern illuminated the stairs. The ancient gray floor was covered in dust, and Ryan cautiously made his way down, observing his surroundings.

The reason he dared to enter alone was because this side quest belonged to the early game. The monsters encountered in the game were not high-level, so even if he ran into one, he would not be in danger. At worst, he would use up a Character Card.

However, that supernatural item was exceptionally good. It was an upgradable piece of equipment, the kind that could be used all the way to clearing the game.

The basement was not large. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a room on the right side, less than thirty square meters in size. It contained bookshelves, a table, and various daily necessities.

There was a bed farther inside, and a skeleton lay on it.

Whooo~

A gust of cold wind swept over him.

It made the lantern sway twice.

Where would wind come from in a basement?

Ryan stared at the skeleton.

[The usurper never ceases its steps of transgression, and we all know this thing is monstrously evil. I spent my entire life burying it away. O dawn, grant me eternal Guardian Power!]

The voice sounded like an old man's deep cry. Honestly, hearing someone suddenly speak in such a gloomy basement still made Ryan's scalp prickle.

Clack, clack, clack~

Just as he had expected, the skeleton suddenly moved.

This side quest could only be accepted at a low level. Once you passed that stage, there was no way to obtain it again. Its overall difficulty was not high, but low-level characters still found it somewhat difficult to fight.

The skeleton held an axe burning with Golden Flames.

Dawn and golden fire—both were symbols of the Son of the Sun. Ryan was curious what method the other party had used to persist for so many years.

"I'll test it first."

He did not rush to use a Character Card. He extended his right hand, and a silver-white Cross Sword stretched out from within his body into his grasp.

There was no one else around, so he did not have to worry about being discovered.

Ryan also wanted to see just how powerful this thing was.

"Come on!"

Whoosh!

Ryan slashed down with his sword.

Then silver-white flames burst forth with dazzling brilliance. Under Ryan's astonished gaze, the Cross Sword sliced diagonally through the skeleton's body, severing the axe it had raised to block and splitting its entire body in two!

Clatter~~

The skeleton instantly collapsed into a pile of bones.

"Holy shit, that strong?!"

One strike, and it was dead?

This skeleton had to be at least level fourteen or fifteen, and it was even a mini-boss, right?

Amid his surprise, Ryan felt a wave of weakness wash over him. The magic power in his body was like a drained pool... not a single drop remained!

"Whew!"

He dropped onto the ground and rested for quite a while before recovering.

"This sword... is absurdly powerful. But I can only use it once. After one strike, I completely lose my ability to fight. If it kills the target, fine—but if it doesn't, I'm dead."