Every Frame Costs a Million in Production!

As they got closer and closer to Cadman City, the two "sentinels" on the cart, A Cha and San Wudou, were chatting happily. They saw their NPC jump over and immediately got up to greet Murphy.

The Vampire's eyes rolled, and then he spoke to the two Little Players in the tone of an NPC giving a quest:

"In ten more minutes, we'll reach Cadman City.

Perhaps I should explain the taboos of the city to you, to avoid unnecessary risks. Also, you will accompany me to meet my Progenitor, Madam Triss.

She's a rather 'eccentric' Vampire, and there are some things I must make clear in advance."

"Ding!"

The sound of the quest "A Day Trip to Cadman City" being triggered immediately energized the two Little Players. They then followed the prompts and began calling others to log in in the game group.

The main quest for the new area had been activated.

"Stop slacking off and get online to do quests!"

Their call had an extraordinary effect. Within five minutes, the Little Players had crawled out of their "corpse-lying" state. Eleven Little Players gathered around Murphy, ready to listen to the NPC's bragging.

The five who had died in the woodland ambush would revive tonight. They would then appear directly in Cadman City, saving them the two days and two nights of travel. For a moment, it made them a little envious.

It was clear that the players were very interested in the first "main city" to appear in the game.

They stood on the cart, taking out their captured monocular telescopes to gaze at the city, occasionally sharing their thoughts.

Murphy had intended to take advantage of this time to tell the players about the local customs, but before he could speak, the second carriage in front suddenly vibrated.

To Murphy's surprise, Miss Femis, who should have been sound asleep in her coffin having her "beauty sleep," actually appeared of her own accord and jumped onto the roof of the carriage in a manner unbefitting her elegance.

"Look! The Rich Loli has spawned!"

Electronic Succubus shouted from the crowd, and the players marveled.

They had figured out the respawn patterns of these NPCs over the past two days. Because she was a proper Vampire, Miss Femis only appeared after nightfall.

This NPC had a very cold personality.

However, if you were polite, humble, and good with your words, she would casually offer pointers on using Psionics. Some of the players who were good at acting had already learned the basic skill "Psionic Shock" from Miss Femis.

Although Psionic talent in this world was determined at birth, the players were clearly in the category of "exceptions to the rule."

Not only could they clearly perceive Psionics, but they also learned Psionic techniques very quickly. This made Miss Femis marvel inwardly.

Although she didn't show it on the surface, she had actually become interested in Murphy's unique group of followers.

Murphy claimed these warriors were Mountain Folk he had gathered from the north in Morland Village. Miss Femis didn't believe a word of this nonsense, but since Murphy was unwilling to say, she wouldn't ask.

In any case, their existence posed no threat to the Blood Vulture Clan.

Seeing Miss Femis appear on her own, Murphy knew something had happened. He quickly hurried over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Psionics are converging abnormally! The speed is incredibly fast. A massive amount of Psionic energy has wrapped around Cadman City, even forming tides. My Psionic communication with the Blood Vulture Corridor has been blocked for the past two days, likely because of this.

Something must have happened in the city!"

Miss Femis's expression was grim. She felt uneasy, so she unfolded her wide blood-red wings in the overcast weather and floated in place. She then looked down at Murphy and said, "I'll go back and check. You all speed up!"

"Okay."

Murphy nodded with a serious expression. He watched as Miss Femis closed her wings in mid-air, then accelerated with a leap into near-supersonic speed, disappearing from everyone's sight in the blink of an eye.

"The Rich Loli flew away!"

"Wow, her wings are so cool. This dev is too good!"

The Little Players erupted in excitement.

Someone even used the recording function of their game helmet to capture the moment. Meanwhile, Murphy had already reached the lead carriage and shouted to Maxim, "Quick! Speed up, something's happened in the city!"

The Loyal Servant's face immediately changed. He flicked his whip, striking the packhorse pulling the cart to increase its speed. However, less than a minute later, Murphy also felt what Miss Femis had described as Psionic turbulence.

As a Psionic Apprentice, he could clearly feel the free-floating Psionic energy in his surroundings gathering at a terrifying rate, like an invisible storm that had reached its final stage of brewing. It was a terrifying entity, like a tornado capable of destroying and leveling everything!

To those who could perceive Psionics, the direction of Cadman City felt like a super-atmospheric pressure vortex.

The oppressive force made Murphy's breathing heavy.

"What... what is this?"

He endured the pressure from the chaotic, massive Psionic energy, panting as he looked towards the city. The sense of foreboding grew more real.

He didn't have any particular feelings for this city.

But the problem was that Madam Triss was still in the city, so please don't...

"Holy crap! The sky is tearing open!"

Brother Wu Miao's startled cry shattered Murphy's illusions.

The Vampire and his Loyal Servant looked up sharply, only to see the overcast sky of that day seemingly being torn apart.

Unspeakable black energy surged from a rift that suddenly appeared in the sky like wisps of smoke. Those strange beings took form in the material world, and faint points of starlight could still be seen pulsing within them.

It was like a dim nebula appearing in broad daylight.

Murphy didn't know what it was, but Cadman City before his eyes was already enveloped by that black substance from the sky, like an object being pulled apart in a black storm.

The Vampire maximized his field of vision.

He could even see the Salokdar statue atop the city's tallest Blood Vulture Spire being broken down into rubble that defied gravity, dancing in a storm of purplish streams of light.

But this was just the beginning.

Less than half a minute after the sky split open, a meteorite enveloped in black flames roared down from the horizon.

Amidst the shocked roars of a group of Little Players, it slammed fiercely into the center of Cadman City. Then, one Dimensional Meteorite after another continued to fall, igniting towering flames within the dark nebula that poured down from the sky.

In just a few minutes, the magnificent medieval-style city before the players' eyes was as if a naughty child had wiped away a third of it from the ground.

Black fissures appeared amidst the earth's tremors and violently tore across the city, swallowing the collapsing buildings into the ground, as if drawing them entirely into this doomsday scene where the Gates of Hell had opened.

The impact of the meteorites brought terrifying dull thuds, and the strong winds stirred up by the collision and annihilation of massive amounts of Psionic energy made the draft horses panic.

Murphy could see many panicked Vampires flapping their wings and rushing out of the city, but they would soon be entangled and enveloped by those dark, smoky energy wisps, like small insects crashing into a spiderweb, unable to struggle for long before being completely consumed by the power from the Astral Plane.

"Triss..."

Murphy whispered her name, then clenched his fist, got up, and rushed towards the packhorse, only to be stopped by Maxim.

The loyal servant couldn't just watch Murphy rush towards a disaster that was clearly beyond human power to stop. However, the Vampire dodged away with a strange and graceful sidestep, then jumped onto the back of the packhorse, drawing his Swift Sword and cutting the harness.

He reached out and patted the old horse's neck fiercely. It neighed and charged forward.

Murphy knew he had to get back before things got any worse! He had to get into that city, no matter what was causing trouble there.

Because Triss was still there!

That useless Monster Girl who had saved him more than a month ago, and with whom he had depended on for survival for a month when he was at his weakest alone in the Otherworld, was still in the city.

He could convince himself that he was taking care of Triss, but the truth was, it was Triss who had protected him through the most helpless period after arriving in the Otherworld.

"Don't you dare die!"

Murphy gritted his teeth and roared in his heart:

"I won't let you die! I'm back, I'll be by your side soon! Hold on!"

"The damn developers are at it again!"

At this moment, the Little Players were stunned, watching the "cutscene." Hao Ge Ge, in the crowd, bit his fingertip and yelled:

"We just arrived and haven't even entered the city yet, and they're already doing this. This clearly has the feel of an opening CG! A whole city just wiped out like that? So exciting."

"This graphics quality is killer, it's so captivating. I feel like this is a real-time rendered CG scene, every frame feels like money burning."

"Heh heh, I recorded it. I'll post it on the forum later and let those five unlucky guys drool over it."

"But the main city is gone as promised, what do we do now?"

The players started arguing, and then the sharp-eyed Che Che suddenly shouted:

"Look! An NPC! Lord Murphy is riding a horse and running over!"

They turned their heads and saw Murphy riding the old horse towards Cadman City, which was being ravaged by disaster, and then he was swallowed by the black wind carrying Astral Psionics surging from the front, disappearing as if into a sky full of scattered yellow sand.

"A quest! It must be a quest trigger! Maybe even a main quest!"

Happy Stick shouted and said:

"Let's go! Who can drive a cart, hurry up and follow! Damn it, looks like I need to learn how to ride a horse quickly."

Meanwhile, in the chaotic, doomsday-like Cadman City, Triss's dilapidated Manor Lord residence had collapsed amidst the tearing of the ground.

Triss, wearing a red coat, with disheveled hair, held a Psionic Convergence Light Blade in her hand. She clutched her abdomen and painstakingly shuffled outwards, leaning against the wall.

Behind Triss were two bizarre-looking beasts. Their dead bodies lay on the ground, decomposing into black and gray Astral Psionic energy, making the filthy atmosphere in the manor, filled with dust and shaking violently, even heavier.

These true Otherworld Creatures were flung into the material world when the Astral Rift opened. As Cadman City was currently being crushed and pulled towards the Astral Plane, these ferocious beings were feasting amidst the chaos.

Unfortunately, these two had chosen the wrong opponent.

No matter how useless Triss was, she had been an Elder before, so dealing with two brainless beasts was naturally not a problem. However, the Loss of Control of her Psionics caused Triss's old wounds to flare up.

Every step she took now made her body tremble.

"Bang."

Triss's legs gave out, and she collapsed in front of the kitchen.

Leaning against the dusty wall, she panted, looking at the city outside the collapsed wall of her main residence, which was already completely enveloped in black smoke and flames.

"The little brat said he'd be back in seven days. I've been opening a bottle of wine right on schedule every day to cheer myself up, but it's the eighth day and there's still no sign of him... I'm dying here!

And there's no one to collect my body."

The useless Monster Girl complained bitterly.

She dissipated the Psionic blade in her hand, reached out to the broken Steam 800 refrigerator lying on the ground, and with great difficulty, picked up the last half bottle of wine from inside.

Though she cursed Little Murphy for being disloyal, Madam Triss was actually happier to see things develop this way. With Murphy's sharp wit, he surely must have taken to heart the advice she'd given him when he left.

Perhaps her Little Murphy had already fled north, crossing the northeastern part of Transylvania and entering the Nordtov Kingdom. While living in the terrible climate of those Northerners' homeland wasn't a pleasant prospect, it was still far better than staying in Transylvania to await death.

"Hmm, he should be gone by now, right?"

Madam Triss took a large swig of wine, suppressing the intense pain from her wounds.

When she turned her head, she saw the bread Murphy had left her scattered everywhere by the tremor that had just occurred. A hint of sorrow, barely concealed, surfaced on her pale face:

"It's good he's gone.

Only by staying away from me, a useless person who brings misfortune, can you, my little one, fully enjoy the life you fought so hard to reclaim. We'll be in different places from now on, and I'll be content if you can write me a letter now and then.

If only there were a postal service that could deliver letters to the Astral Plane."

She made a small, sarcastic remark and then, in the gradually collapsing ruins of the manor, tilted her head back to gaze at the sky, now completely covered by black, smoky wisps of Astral energy.

Faint, pulsating points of starlight could be seen, like nebulae. This was the mysterious and chaotic Astral Plane opening a portal into the material world.

Madam Triss could clearly feel the foundations of Cadman City being destroyed.

The city would either be pulled into the Astral Plane or, worse, torn to shreds in the boundary between the material world and the Astral Plane. But this was a premeditated attack.

After all, the Astral Plane had been stable for the past several hundred years; such destructive fluctuations couldn't appear without warning.

The enemy must have used unimaginable resources to achieve all this. Furthermore, the "Serenade" barrier that should have protected the city hadn't activated, meaning something major must have happened within the Blood Vulture Clan.

Who could it be?

Madam Triss's expression shifted from pain to contemplation, and then quickly from contemplation to indifference.

Who cares who did it!

Cadman City was doomed today!

The Blood Vulture Clan would suffer heavy losses, perhaps even be buried entirely. The scene she had longed for over a hundred years was being realized today without any warning.

"Ha, which passing Star God is doing me, Triss, this favor! Hahahaha."

The dejected Madam Triss tilted her head back and gulped down a large mouthful of wine. She stared intently at the changes in the sky and muttered to herself:

"This is retribution! Salokdar, do you see? This is your retribution, you dog! Everything you built over the past 400 years will be destroyed today, in a matter of minutes.

This is all you deserve!

Yes, yes!

I know I can't escape either.

I'll die here too, but who cares? I've gotten my money's worth just seeing this before I die. Besides, the only one who cared about me during these past hundred-plus years of hardship, Little Murphy, has already left.

My dear Little Murphy...

Live well, far away.

Don't be too sad when you hear of my death. For your pathetic Progenitor, it's just liberation. A clever and adorable little guy like you will surely find other support."

"Boom!"

Another deafening sound, and the ground of Madam Triss's manor was ripped open.

Amidst the surging black and gray smoke, the whimpers of some monster clearly reached the depths of the collapsed ruins. Covered in dust and grime, Madam Triss struggled to pull her leg free from the bricks. She wanted to leave, but her surroundings were already sealed off by Filthy Psionic Energy.

She had nowhere left to go.

So, Madam Triss finally relaxed completely.

She raised the last bit of wine in her hand, as if bidding farewell to the entire city.

"Goodnight, Cadman City. Farewell, Blood Vultures... Little Murphy, if you can hear this, don't you dare come back! This city... is already beyond saving."