Murphy led the little players through the woodland behind the front lines, and they soon reached the site where the Midnight Hunters had fought the convoy.
Traces of the solar psionic outburst still lingered here. The plants and flowers on the ground had been scorched, and the bodies of the convoy's guards lay scattered everywhere.
The dismembered remains, the warriors fallen beside the wagons, the terrible corrosion dark psionic energy had left on their armor, and the blood-drained corpses on the ground all gave the players a sense of just how fierce the main battlefield had been.
Compared to this, their fight in the ambush zone had been child's play. Come to think of it, weren't there still five or six cavalrymen in the trench at the ambush site, left there with broken legs?
"Damn! This is a downright massacre!"
Meow Brother spat out the complaint.
The only two members of his old crew still standing beside him, Electronic Succubus Lao Qu and Duo Dao Le San Wu Dou, roughly counted the bodies and then exclaimed in astonishment:
"Did the sixty vampires under the young lady kill more than two hundred and forty soldiers and Witch Hunters, then get away without a scratch? That's insane!"
"Actually, it's not that surprising. We can hold our own against ordinary soldiers in a blade fight, and vampires are supernatural beings to begin with. The young lady's group is made up of elite troops, and vampires get all sorts of bonuses at night. A group of them could pull this off without it being all that strange.
"But there's no way they didn't take a single casualty!
"Maybe the vampires took the bodies with them?"
Happy Stick circled the grass, which looked as if a gale had swept through it, still puzzled. Then he saw A-Cha crouch down in front of him, scoop up a handful of red ash from the ground, and hold it up.
The student looked at the others with a strange expression.
"Look at this ash! Doesn't it look like the ashes of that bastard vampire our NPC drained dry earlier?"
The question sent a chill through everyone. They immediately scattered to search the woodland.
"I found two piles over here!"
"There's some here too—lots of it. I even found a half-burned vampire outfit."
"There's ash like this everywhere! Damn, were all the vampires killed? Did not a single one escape? Who did this?"
As reports came in from all around, the woodland—which had fallen deathly silent now that the battle was over—seemed to turn horrifying all at once.
The little players huddled together, looking around nervously as if afraid some huge, fire-breathing monster would charge out of the surrounding shadows.
The young lady on Chen Dian Niu Niu's back was unconscious. She'd had an arm hacked off and was regenerating, so she probably wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Murphy, too, felt a chill creeping up his back.
Ever since he'd come near this place, he'd felt as if someone were watching him from the shadows, and the sensation made his whole body tense.
He knew better than the little players just how destructive these elite Midnight Hunters could be when gathered together. That made him all the more aware of how terrifying the unknown force that had trapped and wiped them out in this woodland must have been.
There might be individuals in Transia capable of standing against vampires, but whatever could leave them unable even to flee, forcing them to wait helplessly for death, was clearly beyond Murphy's experience and imagination.
"We can't stay here."
Murphy decisively addressed his little players.
"Collect anything we can still use, then let's get out of here! Search the Midnight Hunters' belongings carefully for their psionic bags. That way, we can carry more stuff."
"Psionic bags? What are those?"
Happy Stick, still a newbie, nudged Meow Brother's shoulder and asked. The latter explained in a low voice:
"They're spatial backpacks! Our NPC has one on his belt. All the gear we have came out of it. I bet the psionic bags the vampires left behind are the reward for this mission. They've gotta give us a few little backpacks when we first start playing."
"Sounds about right."
Happy Stick nodded, then turned to rummage through the piles of ash.
Sure enough, he found a filthy red bag among them. Unfortunately, its previous owner had locked it with psionic energy, so they would have to wait for the psionic imprint to fade before they could open it.
Aside from the nearly forty psionic bags left behind by the vampires who had been reduced to ash, the players also found dozens of usable rifles and several large ammunition crates among the soldiers wiped out with the convoy.
The hardworking little players even recovered the startled packhorses from the nearby woods. Then they tried to strip the intact armor from the soldiers, like locusts sweeping through and leaving nothing behind.
But Murphy thought it best not to linger.
So they quickly loaded what they'd found onto a wagon, took the unconscious young lady with them, and hurried away.
After they had all left, a gray falcon about the size of a plump pigeon silently soared into the night from a tree branch at the edge of the woodland. It banked nimbly, then disappeared from sight.
At the entrance to the Filthy Swamp, White Knight Finoc placed the only two surviving psionicists from the battlefield into a carriage left behind by the vampires. One of them was still conscious, and heat shimmered from his body.
It was the aftereffect of gathering a large amount of solar psionic energy in a short time. But he had only assisted with the Solar Flare spell earlier. The one who had actually cast it had burned himself to nothing in the blazing psionic energy.
Just like the vampires who had been purged, he had been reduced to ash.
That was the price of trying to wield the sun.
The sun was merciless to vampires, but it showed no mercy to humans either.
As he gulped down water, the surviving psionicist rasped to the old knight:
"Thank you, Sir Finoc. Without you, we wouldn't have survived tonight."
"I didn't come for you."
The old knight had little regard for these psionicists from the Tower of Rings. His tone was cold as he said:
"I just happened to lend a hand. I'll take you to the border of Transia. After that, you're on your own."
"Wait, Sir Finoc."
The psionicist pleaded:
"The cargo we were escorting is still in the woods. Please help us recover it, I promise! As long as we make it back to General Loren, I'll do everything I can to put in a good word for the White Oak Warband."
"The mission has already failed!"
The old knight didn't care in the slightest. He waved a hand and said:
"You made too much noise in vampire territory. Surviving at all was a stroke of luck. If I were you, I wouldn't fret over cargo that's as good as lost. I'd be asking myself how the vampires found out about this supposedly top-secret escort mission.
"They even knew when you'd arrive and which route you'd take!
"This can't be explained by a simple leak."
"I..."
The psionicist was at a loss for words.
But he realized the old knight was right.
It was now far more important to alert General Loren that the Blood Vultures might have infiltrated the Pioneer Legion than to recover the missing cargo.
"I understand. Sorry for the trouble."
He stopped pressing the matter. The old knight lowered the carriage curtain and led it toward the Transian border with his own scarlet warhorse. A falcon named Swiftshadow swooped down from the darkness and landed precisely on the old knight's shoulder, chirping away at him.
Old Finoc kept nodding. He took a handful of sunflower seeds from his pocket and fed them to the falcon. It chirped happily, as if thanking him.
For a White Knight, speaking with animals was only the most basic ability.
He narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself:
"The ones who came to clean up the mess were just a vampire apprentice and his human blood thralls? What on earth is Salokdar up to?"
"My brave warriors, I have good news for you!"
After returning to the temporary camp near the ambush zone, Murphy wasted no time gathering the little players together. He announced loudly:
"Just now, I finally found a vital component for perfecting my summoning spell in one of my fellow vampires' psionic bags. All we have to do is wait patiently for one more day! Then you'll be able to establish a lasting connection with this world and remain here almost permanently, without relying on my summoning!"
The little players didn't quite understand at first, but Meow Brother and Ge Bao, who were quicker on the uptake, immediately cheered.
"Active login is coming!"
Meow Brother shouted to the others:
"The useless dev team at Alpha finally finished the stress test for the testing server! Damn, we won't have to camp in front of our headsets waiting for test announcements every day anymore."
Once they understood, the other players cheered too. Meanwhile, A-Cha sidled over to Murphy, rubbing his hands as he spoke in a low voice:
"We'd be more than happy to offer you our loyalty. But Lord Murphy, your grand plan clearly needs more outstanding warriors like us. I mean, I've got a few absolutely trustworthy brothers back in my world. How about..."
"I'd love to summon an army too, my brave warrior."
Murphy sighed theatrically.
"But even with your help, I'm still just a weak vampire summoner. I have to return to Cadman City first and prepare for my Trial of Strength to obtain the Black Iron Body. I understand how eager you are to make a name for yourselves and serve the grand plan, but you'll need to learn patience."
"Got it. More testing slots will open in the next phase, right?"
A-Cha snapped his fingers.
He'd gotten the answer he wanted. Murphy, as expressionless as a real NPC, replied:
"I don't know what you're talking about. The sayings of another world are truly profound.
"Very well, my brave warriors. I know you're all delighted by this news. So am I. But first, I must send you back to your own world.
"Once I've adjusted the summoning spell, we can set out together on the journey back to Cadman City."
"Lord Murphy, you smile so happily whenever you mention Cadman City. Is there a lady waiting for you in town?"
Meow Brother boldly cracked a joke. Murphy shot him a fierce glare and flicked a finger, and Meow Brother, still grinning, dissolved into motes of light before everyone's eyes.
"Damn, he really can force us offline! Is this GM mode?"
Spicy Gugu Chicken, standing right beside Meow Brother, yelped in surprise.
Everyone knew this was just how the game represented "logging off," but the NPCs in this game were so intelligent that, after spending enough time with them, they gave the impression of being real people.
"I'll see you tomorrow, warriors."
Murphy nodded to the little players with a vampire's elegance. The next moment, ten lights faded into the night, and the temporary camp, which had been bustling just moments before, fell silent.
He looked around and suddenly felt a little lonely, like someone left to clean up after all the fun was over.
But he soon remembered that he'd be heading home before long. After three days at most, he'd see Triss again, and his loneliness was instantly filled with anticipation.
Wouldn't Triss be astonished to see him like this?
"Lord Murphy!"
Maxim's call jolted Murphy out of his reverie. He turned to see his loyal servant hurrying over.
"I helped Mirian pry open the convoy's cargo crates. She recognized what was inside and insists that I bring you over right away! She says those things are extremely important, and you have to decide what to do with them immediately!"
Murphy heard something troubling in Maxim's serious tone and asked:
"What are they?"
"I don't recognize the precision machinery."
His blood thrall relayed the message.
"But Mirian insists those things could bring us complete destruction!"
Murphy was alarmed and immediately followed Maxim over.
The large cargo wagon still lay overturned, but one of the crates that had been thrown clear was already open. Mirian sat on top of it, looking worried. When she saw Murphy approach, she handed him what she was holding.
The vampire took it and felt its weight in his hand.
It was about the size of a pendant, but beautifully crafted.
Its rhombus-shaped base was made of silver-gray metal, with a square gemstone set into it. It looked like some strange pendant, but the design was remarkably simple, with hardly any unnecessary decoration or scratches.
The clan leader's intelligence had clearly stated that this convoy was transporting military supplies. In other words, the "jewelry" in Murphy's hand couldn't possibly be what it appeared to be.
"What is this?"
He held it up and looked at Mirian.
She sighed and said quietly:
"The halflings' third-generation psionic calculation orbs, the pinnacle of steam engineering. They're strictly controlled military equipment in Chardo Port.
"Since the Ten-Year War began, they haven't been allowed to be exported. Anyone caught smuggling even one across the border would be shot first and questioned later.
"But there are at least three thousand complete sets here. If assembled into a calculation matrix, they'd be enough to equip an army.
"Murphy...
"Believe it or not, we've really gotten ourselves into serious trouble this time."
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