You're Finished, I'm Telling You, Murphy Holds Grudges

The noisy rescue operation continued until the first ray of dawn.

The good news was that because Cadman City was shrouded in chaotic astral energy, sunlight couldn't penetrate, allowing True Vampires like the Young Miss to move freely. And last night's rescue was a great success!

Three consecutive searches brought the number of rescued people to an astonishing 409, doubling the population of the survivor camp.

The bad news was that the easy, simple phase was over.

The areas ahead were all intensely shrouded by Astral Shadows, which Murphy's Little Players called "monster wild zones." The concentration of Astral Shadows there was so high it could extinguish a torch, making it impossible for ordinary people to enter in large numbers.

Even worse news was that according to the Young Miss's in-depth reconnaissance, she could confirm that the outer edges of those heavily shadowed areas alone had at least 200 life signatures.

This meant that at least 200 more people were waiting for rescue from the outside.

Thus, a choice was placed before Murphy.

"Rescuing this many people is actually enough."

Mirian, who hadn't slept all night, yawned and quietly said to Murphy, who was looking at a map:

"I just spoke with a few appointed Militia Captains. The survivors are very grateful for your help. They saw those dangerous Astral Beasts and Fear Derivatives with their own eyes last night.

Going deeper into the city will be very dangerous, and some reported seeing many people flee into the maze-like Sewers. A large-scale rescue is impossible under these circumstances.

So, they can understand the choice you make.

One of the nuns even asked me to tell you not to be too hard on yourself."

"What about morale?"

Murphy asked. Mirian nodded vigorously.

"It's higher than I could have imagined!

I thought such an operation would make them more terrified, but it turns out that rescuing more of their kin didn't make them uneasy; instead, it injected them with courage and stabilized their mindset.

Some young people even volunteered to join the search and rescue teams. They are people who still have family in the city and are unwilling to give up."

"This proves our actions are correct, Mirian. The initial collective identity has been shaped. It would be a shame to give up now."

Murphy glanced at three markers on the map.

These were the locations of three family warehouses he had heard about from Triss, which perfectly coincided with the areas not yet searched. This immediately gave Murphy an idea.

He said to Mirian:

"Have the Militia Captains under you select the people with the strongest fighting will, organize them, and hand them over to Maxim to formally establish the 'Cadman Self-Rescue Army.'

Don't worry, I won't send them to their deaths.

I plan to burn the areas where the search and rescue is complete to completely eliminate any residual Astral Shadows. I need them to establish a defense line outside these areas to support my warriors' upcoming assault.

Those people surrounded by monsters are still alive!

We will attempt one last rescue for them.

You need to explain the purpose and process of this operation to those people and ensure they understand their duties.

If they retreat before my warriors withdraw, they will be executed as deserters! There is no room for discussion on this matter."

He glanced at the Crimson Handgun on Mirian's waist.

It hadn't been fired last night, but that might not be the case going forward.

"I understand."

Mirian let out a sigh of relief and said:

"I know time is precious. I'll have everything ready in two hours. I'm going to get some shut-eye."

"Mm, go ahead."

Murphy patted Mirian's shoulder to encourage her, then he called Maxim over.

This guy had been at the forefront of last night's operation. His cheeks were covered in scratches from Astral Beasts, and he had cuts on his neck and cheeks. Relying on his decent combat power and better armor and weapons, he was not in mortal danger.

"Max, I need you to command the 'Cadman Self-Rescue Army' organized by Mirian and establish a defense line in front of the explored areas."

The vampire drew a line on the map and said to the exhausted Maxim:

"You need to hold out until my warriors finish their breakthrough into the 'monster wild zones' and then settle the people they rescued along the defense line until the operation is over."

"Yes, Lord!"

Maxim responded with a standard Blood Vulture Salute, but then he frowned and said:

"I don't doubt the will and courage of your warriors at all, but their strength is still a bit lacking, and with so few people, sending them in there is basically sending them to their deaths."

"The Young Miss, Adele, and I will act with them."

Murphy waved his hand.

"My warriors are destined for great things in the future, and they must adapt to this kind of intense combat as quickly as possible. I also want to see their limits.

Look, here they come!"

The vampire pointed at the makeshift shelter. Brother Wu Miao and the Student Faction inside had already gotten up.

They were online, and it just so happened that Lumina and the other four were nearing the end of their game time, making it the perfect moment for a shift change.

"Yo, Lumina, what are you up to? Where'd you get these little mud sprites?"

Brother Wu Miao, carrying his War Halberd and rubbing his eyes, sauntered over and saw Lumina, looking disheveled, playing with a group of children.

She was also holding a small, dusty girl in her arms.

The latter seemed frightened and clung tightly to Lumina, refusing to let go.

In response to Brother Wu Miao's question, Lumina looked up with a very proud expression, gestured to the children beside her, and declared loudly:

"I rescued them all with my own hands last night. Pretty impressive, right? Thirteen of them in total."

"666! Awesome! I bow to you, heroine!"

Happy Stick, standing nearby, immediately gave a thumbs-up.

They had already learned about the big rescue operation from last night in their group chat. Black Silk Brother had even written a heartfelt, lengthy post detailing how the brave Lumina had crawled into a ventilation shaft to save two children.

This significantly changed the impression these guys had of the brave and capable international student.

"A true heroine, Lumina."

"I'm impressed, Lumina. No wonder getting your Master's felt like a walk in the park. Lumina, you're my idol from now on!"

"Lumina, give me a hug!"

"Get lost, you pervert!"

Ge Bao and his dorm mates came over, joking with the Lumina.

They were all students, and being close in age made it easy for them to become friends.

Gu Gu Ji and Meow Meow Shark crouched down to greet the children, but the latter were all gathered around Lumina, looking at these "big uncles" with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

With the abundant nutrition of modern people, none of the players' game characters were below 165cm. Niu Niu, in particular, with his 194cm height, seemed like a giant to these children.

Given the poor productivity and vampire-like oppressive rule in the Transylvania Region, malnutrition was the norm.

"Ah, my time's up, I have to log off."

Lumina glanced regretfully at her remaining 2 minutes of daily game time. She yawned, placed the little girl in her arms on the ground, patted her head, and said:

"Say 'sister'!"

The little girl looked at Lumina with reluctance and whispered in a strange accent:

"Heh heh heh."

"Good girl, I'll play with you again tomorrow."

Lumina tickled the little girl's nose, then stood up and said to Brother Wu Miao:

"I'll leave them in your care. Even though they're NPCs, they're too intelligent. Don't do anything bad, you guys."

"Don't worry."

Although Brother Wu Miao was a bachelor of considerable age, he wasn't heartless. Occasionally, when he felt like it, he would even participate in charity events. Seeing the lively expressions of these NPC children, who looked like little mud sprites, he patted his chest and said:

"You go get some rest. We'll handle the rest. We big guys won't let you, a little lady, look down on us."

Black Silk Brother and Jie Chong were also exhausted and, after greeting their boss, asked for leave to rest for the day.

Brother Wu Miao happily approved.

It wasn't that he was a bad boss; he could be quite demanding when he wanted to be, enough to pick out a nice streetlight for himself. The main reason was that the market had been sluggish lately, and their software outsourcing studio hadn't received any orders. It was only right to let the brothers relax and have some fun during this time. Moreover, for a small boss, letting employees play games at home was cheaper than team-building outings.

"Wu Miao, the hidden quest we triggered can't be shared."

Brother Nitou Che specifically warned Wu Miao and the others before logging off:

"But based on our experience, you need to dig deep into the quest details.

The game's development team is quite cunning and hides many clues. If you can find them, you'll get the hidden quest. Although we don't know the reward yet, I estimate it'll be better than an ordinary quest."

"Thanks for sharing. Go get some rest. You guys really pulled an all-nighter."

Wu Miao and Brother Nitou Che were friends in real life, so their conversation was natural. Meanwhile, Shovel, rubbing his waist, complained:

"Are they not hiring more people for the test group? How can this few people get anything done? If fifty fearless brothers had gone out last night, we could have explored at least two more blocks."

"Fewer people is better."

Wu Miao narrowed his eyes and said:

"See how good the game atmosphere is right now? If a few chaotic evil meme lords came and started causing trouble, it would be truly disgusting. Not to mention, seeing NPCs and just attacking them, those kinds of players are extremely unstable bombs in this game.

And I suspect the officials will make a move. Just wait patiently."

A few minutes later, the 11 newly logged-in Little Players received three exploration quests from Murphy.

[Test Task: Explore Secret Vault 001]
[Quest Description: This task is part of the game's testing and does not count towards the main questline, but you can still receive rewards.]
[Madam Triss, whose background is shrouded in mystery, has shared the locations of three secret vaults belonging to the Blood Vulture Clan in the outer districts of Cadman City. However, these vaults are located in densely populated areas that have been overrun by Astral Beasts and Fear Derivatives after the calamity. Murphy has decided to launch a surprise attack to reclaim the resources within the vaults and search for any surviving life. This operation will be led by the last three Blood Vulture Scions, with actions taking place simultaneously at the three locations.]

Mission Objective: Reclaim Caves [0/3], Rescue Trapped People

Mission Reward: Blood Vulture Clan Recruit Armor [6/6]

Tip!

This mission requires group assignments. Please proceed to the three NPCs after the group assignments are complete to commence operations.

"I'm with San Wudou and Old Qu. You guys send Niu Niu over to us."

Brother Wu Miao immediately said to Leading Big Pigeon, the leader of the Student Faction:

"We'll follow Lord Murphy."

"Why should we?"

Ge Bao rolled his eyes and said, "Everyone knows you guys plan to grind favorability points, and Niu Niu is the strongest combat power at this stage! No way, unless we switch things up! You guys follow the Young Miss, and we'll follow Lord Murphy. Isn't a powerful yet adorable Three-No Rich Loli more appealing?"

"Stop arguing!"

A Cha next to him couldn't help but complain:

"Except for Madam Adele, the other two are important NPCs who just joined. We'll definitely have to max out favorability with them later. Is it worth fighting over this now?"

Beside him, the short Bionic Snail made a gesture of pushing up his glasses, even though his character didn't have any.

Seeing Brother Wu Miao and Ge Bao bickering, he couldn't help but suggest:

"How about we draw lots? Eleven people divided into three groups, there's bound to be one group short of people."

"You three follow me! The rest report to Fimis!"

As they were noisily dividing themselves into groups, Murphy directly designated the trio of Brother Wu Miao.

This made Brother Wu Miao secretly delighted.

He felt that it was definitely because his group had high favorability that Lord Murphy actively chose them.

However, they soon had no time to be happy, because the Despair Derivatives near Secret Vault 001 were simply too numerous!

Their numbers and density were almost five times higher than in the surrounding areas. On the complex terrain of the ruins, those rolling black wisps of smoke continuously poured out like a small-scale "monster siege."

However, these intangible entities didn't interfere with the Little Players as much as they did yesterday.

Their skill proficiency had generally reached the "Proficient" level, and they had completed their initial job transfer. With the buffs from their class talents and teamwork, they could often fight multiple enemies at once.

As for the dangerous Astral Beasts, not a single one was found from beginning to end.

Murphy guessed this might be related to the day-night cycle.

Even though there was no sunlight in the city now, those Astral creatures were still affected by Solar Psionics and wouldn't leave their "nests" during the day.

Under these circumstances, entering the Secret Vault wasn't as perilous as Murphy had imagined.

Of course, this ease was for Murphy, who had already triggered the Black Iron Trial.

For the Little Players, whose character levels were all still between 3-4, facing the Despair Derivatives rushing from all directions put them under immense pressure from the start.

Brother Wu Miao roared, directing his two "vajras" to defend and block with their shields, while he continuously cast Psionic Shock, appearing determined to follow the Caster route.

They were struggling to hold on.

It was like a tightly wound spring, with the risk of snapping at any moment. But Murphy only stepped in to help relieve the pressure when they were on the verge of collapse. It wasn't purely for the amusement of watching the players struggle, but because he needed his Little Players to grow quickly.

Before they left, he had also given the same instructions to the Young Miss and Madam Adele, asking them to properly fulfill their basic conduct as NPCs, to not interfere if they could help it, and generally not to excessively interfere with the Little Players' actions.

"We have reached the Secret Vault location. I need to cast a spell to break this seal, and I cannot be disturbed during this process!"

Murphy said sternly to the three disheveled Little Players, "Therefore, you must hold off the continuous onslaught of Despair Derivatives."

Damn it!

As expected, this kind of escort mission is the most annoying type of mission in all online games! Fortunately, Lord Murphy is steady enough and doesn't run around screaming and pulling monsters.

"We can't hold on, Lord."

Brother Wu Miao wiped the sweat from his face.

He realized he had underestimated the test difficulty of this game's beginner instance. With their current equipment and level, they were completely unable to cope with such a large-scale Derivative attack.

"Thump."

Murphy threw three bags in front of them. The Vampire said to the three Little Players:

"I've seen your performance just now. You have already met the qualifications to become Blood Vulture New Recruits. I've brought you better armor, which will help you last longer in this dangerous land.

When you can't hold on anymore, break out, and Maxim with his 'Cadman Self-Rescue Army' will provide backup."

Upon hearing this, the three Little Players immediately perked up. They opened the bags and were overjoyed to see the complete set of Finely Crafted Recruit Armor.

The Retainer Leather Armor they were wearing was already tattered from constant combat. These better pieces of equipment, with their various minor Enhancement Stats, would clearly improve their combat power.

"Hold on! Warriors."

Murphy said to the three Little Players behind him as he walked into the Secret Vault Passage.

"The longer you hold out, the more supplies I can get from the Secret Vault, and the smoother our cause will go."

But what he was actually thinking was:

The pressure test for the players officially begins!

Weren't you guys always clamoring to grind instances?

Here you go, an instance has arrived, and this time I'll let you grind until you're sick of it.

Also, the three of you have been making lewd jokes about me and Triss on the forum and writing vulgar little stories, right? Although that story was quite exciting and well-written, that's not the point!

Lord Murphy is very vengeful!

Therefore, learn to enjoy the upcoming battle, little guys.

P.S.: Thanks to "Sheng Xia De Fang Si" brother for the reward! The extra chapter will be included in the mass update, and I've also received word that it will go on sale on September 1st.