Cultivate Myself, Isn't That Okay? Chapter 37

"Put Kaisa's matter aside for now. If she doesn't make a move, I shouldn't alert her."

"My strength is still too weak. I need to get Lin Qi to advance to Second Tier Transcendent as soon as possible."

There was another troublesome matter.

Ryan had originally planned to find an opportunity to kill Kaisa after taking out Adler, thoroughly clearing his name in the process. But now that Kaisa was an infiltrator with unknown strength, he had no idea how likely he was to succeed in killing her.

Then again, Kaisa was an infiltrator, but she was working for him now. If Adler died, then on the surface, Kaisa would become one of his subordinates.

Besides, probably not many people knew Kaisa's identity, so the information about him should still be confidential... Mm, it had to be.

"Let's see whether Shari can add a new character after changing classes. If she can, I'll have an Alt Account test the waters."

A level 1 Alt Account could die if it died.

As long as it could probe Kaisa's true capabilities, any number of deaths would be worth it.

Over the next three days, Ryan searched for the location of Cassola Prison while having 'Shari' explore the dungeon.

'Lin Qi' relayed Cassidy's plan to High Priest Lia, then continued waiting for Cassidy to make her move. Whenever she had nothing else to do, she focused on grinding levels.

After becoming a Priest, 'Lin Qi' was no longer as busy every day.

She left the management of the church to the Priest. She only needed to show her face each day.

With her extra time, 'Lin Qi' went to Berman University's old campus to hunt Evil Spirits. Surprisingly, the Evil Spirits that spawned there were as high as level 20, and elite monsters occasionally appeared as well. In two days, 'Lin Qi' smoothly reached level 19 and was now pushing toward level 20.

Not only that, she also obtained a copy of Swiftness.

Ryan directly gave the skill to 'Shari' to learn.

However, her frequent leveling accidentally landed 'Lin Qi' on Berman University's trending list. The Blood God Cult incident from not long ago had prompted a group of bold students to explore the old campus, where they happened to run into 'Lin Qi' while she was farming monsters.

Late at night, in an abandoned building, an unknown battle.

The sight of 'Lin Qi' wielding a dagger amid flashing blades was terrifying enough. Those who witnessed it described 'Lin Qi' as a vengeful spirit wandering the old campus, earning her the title of Killer Ghost.

Fortunately, 'Lin Qi' had a habit of concealing her appearance while grinding, and it had been nighttime, so Ryan wasn't worried about being recognized... Well, it wasn't as though anyone had truly dared to get that close.

"It should be somewhere in this area."

Inside the office.

Based on his memories, Ryan marked two possible locations for Cassola Prison within the city.

'Shari' had extracted information from a Blood Cult Member and confirmed that her location was inside the city. However, there were two possible sites, and too much time had passed—the map information Ryan had seen through Kaisa no longer matched the present-day layout.

The prison site in the West District had now been turned into a Commercial Street. Though the underground space would not have been affected, there were too many people coming and going, so the Blood Cult was unlikely to choose that location.

The prison in the East District, meanwhile, was located within a slum. Its conditions were just right.

After preliminary investigations over the past two days, they had basically narrowed down the approximate location.

But before he could act, Jonathan suddenly came to see him.

Three days of lying low seemed to have stabilized Berman City's situation, but as long as Cassidy remained, peace was impossible.

This time, Cassidy had made preparations. She needed the League of Fire's cooperation to launch an assassination plan against Adler.

The moment Ryan heard that, he knew the glorious day when he could kill Adler and clear his name had finally arrived!

Chapter 46: Echoes of War, God of Slaughter Class? [4k5]

After three days of planning, Cassidy finally came up with an operation plan.

Mass Day at the Gate of Janus would be in two days. She would attend and create an opportunity that appeared to leave her open to attack.

It was not a plan guaranteed to succeed, but Cassidy had no choice. Recently, Adler had fully embraced a strategy of hiding in his shell. Every day, he diligently performed his duties as Secretary-General, wholeheartedly working for the citizens of Berman City.

Anyone unaware of his true identity would probably praise him as a "fine secretary."

In truth, Adler was indeed extremely cautious. Other than municipal work and necessary social engagements, he hardly went anywhere.

He would even quietly disappear every night without returning home, leaving Cassidy no chance to lead people in an attack on Adler's residence.

He had taken Creed's advice and brought the words "lie low" to their fullest expression.

Mass Day was an important ceremony of the Gate of Janus. Many people from the city government's High Level would attend. Cassidy had asked Bill for help, and he would bring Adler along.

Then they would need to lure Adler away alone.

"Isn't that an obvious trap?" After hearing Jonathan's account, Ryan was puzzled. "Would Adler really be that stupid?"

Jonathan took a drag from his cigarette and said leisurely, "Who knows? That guy is deeply calculating, but his current situation is delicate. I feel like he's waiting for something—perhaps reinforcements. But even if reinforcements arrive, it'll be hard for him to find an opportunity with the entire city under lockdown."

Ryan rubbed his chin. "Why doesn't the Princess consider leaving Berman City? If Adler finds out she's leaving, he might get desperate and lash out."

"Heh~ That old dog Adler would be so happy he'd howl."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't think it's safer outside Berman City, do you?"

"True."

Ryan nodded. If Cassidy truly left Berman City, the next place she reached might not have another loyal Jonathan, nor would it have a Ryan Master like him.

Unless they had the Old Emperor send someone to pick them up directly.

But Cassidy clearly had ambitions. She wanted to carve out a territory for herself in Berman City; otherwise, she would have hauled ass out of town on a train overnight.

But the key now was dealing with Adler. Cassidy did not have that much time to wait. If this failed, she might directly open the Inner World inside City Hall and take Adler out.

"Then what do we do?" Ryan asked.

"I'll take the League of Fire, and you'll take the Bureau of Investigation. Publicly, you'll be protecting Her Highness the Princess and the mayor, so among us, you're the one who can get closest to Adler."

"The princess will leave on the day of the mass. There should still be Adler's people at the General Bureau. When you arrange the defenses, leak a little information and make sure Adler finds out."

This was like Jiang Ziya fishing—only the willing took the bait.

Ryan replied, "How about I personally take charge of the princess's protection? I'll keep an eye on those people so nothing happens to her."

"That would be ideal. Her Highness the Princess's safety is the most important thing." Jonathan sneered. "Adler lost Norman. He's probably regretting it so badly his guts have turned green."

If Norman were still around, they would be in trouble.

After all, no operation Inside the City could bypass the Bureau of Investigation.

But now Ryan was the one in charge. It would not be nearly so easy for Adler to mobilize Police Officers.

After Jonathan left, Ryan contacted Adler and told him about the attack.

"Damn it! I knew that woman Cassidy was going to come after me." Adler's voice was full of rage. "That bastard Jonathan is a madman too. He watches me while I'm at work, watches me after work, and even watches me when I go home. He's Cassidy's dog!"

"Ryan, thank goodness for you. Jonathan would never dream that we're on the same side."

Who the hell is on the same side as you...? Ryan persuaded him, "Lord Adler, this is obviously bad for us. Why don't you find an excuse to decline that day?"

"No. The mayor already spoke to me about it not long ago, and the princess will be there too. How could I possibly not go?" Adler thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "But this works out perfectly. We can turn their scheme against them."

"How so?"

"Now that we know their plan, isn't this exactly our chance?"

"But hasn't our support failed to arrive?"

"That's why, Ryan, you're our last hope!"

Ryan smiled.

Why else would he have been in such a hurry to tell Adler the news?

That Old Man was incredibly cunning. He never did anything unless he was sure of it. If Ryan wanted to lure him into acting, his only hope was to get involved himself.

Because Adler was also someone desperate to accomplish something big. The Train Station attack had failed, and his standing in Grand Duke Marganna's eyes had plummeted—though it might have been nonexistent to begin with, falling straight through the earth's core. He was desperate to prove himself.

If Ryan did not go, Adler definitely would not move around carelessly. He would stay beside the mayor the entire time, and might even have a crowd of reporters and guards following him. With those ordinary people around, Cassidy would not be able to make a move easily.

But now that Ryan was going to protect Cassidy, he had a reason to get close to her. Naturally, Adler was willing to take a gamble.

If he won, Grand Duke Marganna would reward him handsomely.

If he lost, at worst he would abandon what little remained of the Hand of Darkness. Adler would make sure to preserve his own safety first anyway.

"Ryan, if this succeeds, I'll introduce you to the Grand Duke!" Adler tempted him. "She is an emperor chosen by heaven, the one destined to rule the Empire. If you are fortunate enough to meet her, you will surely be won over by her charm."

"That's truly something to look forward to!"

Good. Adler, now I had no choice but to kill you.

Ryan only wanted to curse inwardly. You want to introduce me to Marganna? You think I'm not tainted enough already?

Besides, what charm? She was a little brat barely five feet tall. Her face was just a bit prettier, her boobs a bit bigger, her skin a bit nicer... Hiss—come to think of it, Marganna had always been quite a popular character in the game. A bunch of lolicon perverts!

Yeah, Ryan planned to make a Loli alt account later too. Nothing weird about it—he mainly wanted to see how different identities and classes worked, so he could make better use of the characters, right?

Like nuns, assassins, tanks—he could not just play one class all the way through, could he?

After finalizing the details of the attack plan with Adler, Ryan opened the game. Over the next couple of days, he intended to see whether he could grind "Lin Qi" to level 20 and complete her Second Job Advancement.

Loading Lin Qi's Character Interface, Ryan had her scout the location he had previously deduced in his place.

On the interface, Lin Qi, dressed in a gray-black robe, walked through the slums. From time to time, she saw raggedly dressed people along both sides of the road, either huddled inside old, dilapidated houses or simply lying on the ground.

Lying flat—the true face of the slums.

But it was not that these people were unwilling to work hard. They simply did not have the conditions to do so.

Ryan knew the conditions of the Empire's lower classes all too well. At least in Berman City, the upper class controlled all resources. The good jobs were filtered layer by layer, leaving only grueling manual labor at the bottom, the kind that barely guaranteed a living.

Even then, crowds of people could not find work.

Those who had been reduced to Slaves or similar statuses had it even worse. Their personal freedom was stripped away entirely, leaving them little more than empty shells.

"Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat rot; by the roadside lie the bones of those frozen to death... The ancients truly did not deceive us."

He was getting too old to bear looking at this. Lin Qi headed toward the target location, arriving at the area Ryan had marked after about half an hour.

Nothing seemed unusual from the outside. After circling around without finding anything, Ryan did not rush. He had Lin Qi keep watch nearby. As long as any Cultists appeared, she would definitely notice them.

At seven in the evening, darkness completely enveloped this district. The slums, which had received no municipal development, were pitch-black. There was not even a Coal Lamp in sight.

By moonlight, Evil Spirits slowly began appearing one after another within Lin Qi's field of vision.

"They really did spawn at night."

Ryan had been pondering a question: were Wild Monsters also part of the game mechanics, just like loot drops and Treasure Chests? Otherwise, evil spirits existed in so many places—if they attacked people, how many supernatural incidents would there be?

Yet among the cases handled by the Bureau of Investigation, only a small number involved deaths caused by Transcendent Power. Unless there was a large-scale Sacrificial Ritual, Cultists were still less ruthless than Noble Merchants.

Either these evil spirits did not attack people, or they could only be things spawned by the game mechanics.

[Lingering Rift Spirit lv22]

"Pretty high level."

In Ryan's experience, places where higher-level Wild Monsters spawned had definitely seen something happen. For example, the old campus of Berman University, where a sacrifice had taken place—Wild Monsters there were very high-level.

By that logic, something must have happened here too.

Otherwise, could a bunch of poor bastards really produce such a high-level evil spirit after dying? Ryan didn't believe it.

Since he had nothing better to do, Ryan simply had 'Lin Qi' grind levels here. But even as he kept farming until nearly ten o'clock, there was still no movement.

"Looks like there won't be any action today."

The entire city was under lockdown now, especially with the curfew still in place. With the Hand of Darkness getting beaten into the gutter, the Blood Cult would naturally proceed with caution. After all, they were still preparing to do something big.

After setting 'Lin Qi' to AI Standby, Ryan switched to 'Shari's' Character Interface.

[You discovered an altar.]

"Huh?"

A new map appeared before Ryan within the Character Interface.

"Fuck, she got out of the maze?"

Ryan froze. Damn, what kind of overpowered AI was this?

Ever since learning that Karut Maze lay beneath the prison cells, Ryan had basically given up on exploring it himself and left the whole process on AI Standby.

After all, he had to avoid being discovered while mapping out the maze at the same time. Doing both simultaneously was genuinely too difficult. Where would he find the time to study it?