Whispering Grimoire (2-in-1)

"This Necrotic Plague Plan can serve as supporting documentation when submitting the mission. I estimate it can be exchanged for some Merit Points or something similar," Bai Xiaowen said. "It will allow the higher-ups to clearly understand the severity of the Necrotic Plague and formulate corresponding countermeasures."

After putting away the plan, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi each drew one of the Lich Ebizer's Golden Treasure Chest.

Li Shuyi drew an antique scroll.

[Withering Mist Scroll: S-Tier item. Creates a mist with a radius of 10 times the user's spirit (meters). All enemies within the Withering Mist's area will accumulate "Withering" stacks over time. Each stack Withering all enemy attributes by 10%, up to a maximum of 5 stacks.]

Following the scroll's instructions, there is a smaller line of text: To use this scroll, one must possess the Advanced Level 7 Meditation Specialty.

"An S-Tier item, indeed very powerful. Unfortunately, it requires level 7 Meditation, which I don't currently meet the requirements for using," Bai Xiaowen said.

Bai Xiaowen's current Advanced Meditation level is 4, and he can break through to level 5 in a short time. At that time, under the title of "Ultimate Academic Ace", he will be able to reach level 6, but he is still 1 level short.

Developing Battle Specialty requires a lot of time and cannot be rushed. However, Bai Xiaowen is very talented in Meditation Specialty. He is an awakened individual with Mental Specialty and has Super Brain. The breadth, depth, and duration of his Meditation far exceed those of ordinary mages, so his improvement will be rapid.

This [Withering Mist] scroll is best suited for large-scale battles; if used properly, it can rewrite the outcome of a war.

Then, Bai Xiaowen drew the last Loot Card from the Lich Ebizer's chest.

A golden light shimmered, and an image of a book appeared on the front of the card.

"Is it Skill Book?" Li Shuyi asked first, then shook her head and laughed after seeing it clearly, "Okay, it's equipment. I misread it."

This is a book-shaped piece of equipment called [Whispering Grimoire].

[Whispering Grimoire (Bind on Pickup)]

[Quality: Heroic Tier (Gold)]

[Equipment Slot: Off-hand]

[Equipment Requirements: None]

[Attribute: Spirit +3]

[Additional Skill: Whisper: Designate a target (ally or foe), roll the dice, and cast a random spell on the target. The higher the number you roll, the higher the spell's star rating. Cooldown: 24 hours.]

[Durability: 42/45]

[Note: This depends entirely on skill!]

"This equipment is quite special. It seems pretty good, with added attributes and skills. These are the characteristics of top -Top-grade Gold Equipment," Li Shuyi said. "It's just that the added skills are a bit hard to understand."

Bai Xiaowen read the text about the additional skills twice, his expression somewhat strange.

"This babbling skill... it's probably best not to use it under normal circumstances."

Bai Xiaowen shook his head, "There are too many uncertainties. If you designate the enemy as the target, what if a buff-type spell is randomly cast... The mechanism of designating a target first and then casting a random spell is too problematic."

Li Shuyi understood.

The skills attached to this [Whispering Grimoire] include random spells that are not controlled by the wearer. For example, if Bai Xiaowen targets an ally and wants to cast a buff spell, what if he gets "Flame Burst"? A fireball the size of a washbasin is no joke. And if he targets an enemy and gets a buff like "Master's Blessing" or "Protective Holy Seal," that would be pretty frustrating too.

As expected, an exceptionally fine gold necklace like the [Arbiter's Resolve] is extremely rare and hard to come by.

"It's alright. This off-hand item is fine as a regular Gold Gear with +3 Spirit," Bai Xiaowen said, taking a more relaxed approach. "In critical situations, you can target an enemy and try your luck—generally speaking, damage and debuff spells are much more common than buff spells."

Bai Xiaowen's Desert Eagle is a one-handed ranged weapon, which is perfect for equipping with the [Whispering Grimoire]. However, when using the Desert Eagle's "Rapid-Fire Mode" skill, if his strength is below 20, he needs to hold the gun with both hands, at which point he has to remove the off-hand equipment.

Switching weapons and equipment is fine during combat. However, switching weapons and equipment usually causes a slight lapse in concentration, and doing so during intense combat could result in being killed by monsters.

Both boss chests have been opened. Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi were incredibly lucky, as these slightly low-quality chests yielded loot that exceeded the average value.

Finally, there's Jericho's chest Terror Knight Commander. The team's Kill Contribution rate was 89%, with Li Shuyi accounting for an unusually high 64%.

It must be said that "Zhao Yun's Mark" is truly powerful. Jericho remained mounted on his Bone Warhorse, hacking and slashing, and the combined attacks from the others dealt him very little damage. It wasn't until Li Shuyi activated Zhao Yun's Mark, knocking him off his horse and severing Jericho's arms and leg within 30 seconds that Jericho was finally at the mercy of the attackers. Therefore, it's quite normal for Li Shuyi to have a 64% Kill Contribution.

Furthermore, Jericho's Battle Rating is A, which means he gets a full 3 draws.

"You have obtained a special item: Jericho's Log. This item is guaranteed to drop and will not be added to the loot list."

An old diary appeared before me. Its style was surprisingly similar to Ian's Log.

"What is this?" Li Shuyi asked curiously.

"No need to look, I've already guessed it," Bai Xiaowen shook his head. "Jericho must be Ian's comrade-in-arms, a knight of the Black Edge Arbiter Corps. He probably discovered the problems in Redleaf City and came here to try to find out the truth, but he was tricked by Lord Maki and the Lich Ebizer, contracted the Necrotic Plague, and became the Terror Knight Commander."

Li Shuyi glanced through the log and found that it largely confirmed what Bai Xiaowen had said.

"Luckily Bonita is gone, otherwise she would definitely be heartbroken," Li Shuyi sighed.

Bai Xiaowen also felt a mix of emotions. He shook his head and said, "Alright, this isn't reality, it's the Spirit Realm... Let's see what's in Jericho's treasure chest."

Three draw chances were used up in turn, and a notification message came from the Spirit Realm:

"You have obtained a special item: Broken Oath."

"You have obtained the item: The Cry of the Dead."

"You have obtained an Elite Tier blue item: Knight's Bracer."

The Broken Oath is another Temporary Team-Building Item, still limited to Awakened Beings below level 6 (including level 6), for 2-person teams exploring the Spirit Realm. In any case, its value is no less than a piece of Gold Equipment, although bound-on Top-grade Gold Equipment may not be so valuable.

[Cry of the Dead: A-Tier item. Summons an Elite Terror Knight to fight for you for 600 seconds. The Elite Terror Knight possesses Charge, Sweep, and Enslavement skills. Current uses: 2/2.]

This item is nearly as valuable as the [Bronze Man Token], and its effect is excellent when used at the right time. Needless to say, Bai Xiaowen is the most suitable person to give this kind of summoning item to.

The last item, the [Knight's Bracer], is Blue Gear with only one simple attribute: +2 Strength. This attribute is quite worthwhile, and Li Shuyi can use it.

After the BOSS's treasure chests are opened, it's the turn of the Elite Chest. However, these Elite Chest are often heavily overrated, with bandits' Kill Contribution usually accounting for 40% to 80%!

The reason for this is that Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi's focus is on the three bosses. As for the Elite Tier undead soldiers and Elite Tier Terror Knight, they basically just casually attack them when they run by, so it's understandable that their contribution points are low.

Of all those Elite Chest, I only got two pieces of blue equipment.

The [Standard Knight Greatsword] is a two-handed weapon with high attack power and a highlight being its additional 15% Parry rate. However, its attack speed is a major drawback, being too slow. The second piece of equipment is called [Smooth Bone Shield], a light shield that can Block a certain amount of physical damage, and it was assigned to Li Shuyi as a backup.

Ordinary treasure chests are even less impressive; they're basically just small pouches filled with Psionic Points...

After opening the treasure chest, the two of them gained nearly 20,000 more Psionic Points. The deficit that Bai Xiaowen had incurred from using the Orochi Nagi was basically recovered, and their total Psionic Points returned to just over 60,000.

The excitement and thrill of the continuous lottery draws helped the two recover somewhat from their exhaustion after their intense battle.

"Let's go, we still have a lot to do."

They have already occupied Redleaf City, but the city is far from pacified. The remaining Undead Legion, without a leader, are fleeing in all directions. And the ordinary human residents of Redleaf City, having witnessed this terrible war, are in a state of great panic.

Yes, Bai Xiaowen advanced all the way to the Lord's Manor, where he was basically facing Undead Legion. But that doesn't mean that all the residents of Redleaf City are undead— Redleaf City has a population of tens of thousands. If they were all undead, even if each person threw a bone, it would be enough to overwhelm Bai Xiaowen's army.

Normally, those undead soldiers would disguise themselves as human, maintaining the fragile and false facade of Redleaf City.

After Bai Xiaowen invaded Redleaf City, the undead soldiers dropped their disguise. The residents of Redleaf City, already terrified by the bandits under Bai Xiaowen's command, were even more panicked when they saw their familiar guards transformed into undead monsters, witnessing a grand battle between bandits and the undead unfolding in Redleaf City. They were completely at a loss for what to do.

Many residents of Redleaf City chose to run with their spare tire.

In fact, these people have all been infected with the Necrotic Plague, but to a relatively mild degree.

The first infected in Redleaf City were officers under Lord Maki, followed by guards. According to the [Necrotic Plague Plan], the Lich Ebizer was very cautious when spreading the plague, never showing himself and spreading it slowly along the route of officers, guards, inner city square, outer city, and slums, trying not to attract attention.

Even so, the anomalies in Redleaf City aroused suspicion in Jericho, the Black Edge Arbiter Jericho, which led to the subsequent events.

Bai Xiaowen and his companion emerged from the Underground Research Lab and began rewarding the meritorious bandits, as well as settling the residents of Redleaf City.

Bai Xiaowen knighted Kitz and granted him an abandoned farm in White Stone Town as his fief. This delighted Kitz, who had thought that the lord's promise to knight him was just talk, but he hadn't expected it to come true so quickly.

A bandit had become a knight—something Kitz had never imagined.

As for which godforsaken place his fiefdom was, Kitz didn't care at all. In any case, he was now a nobleman.

The other bandits were filled with envy and jealousy, especially the Elite Tier bandits who considered themselves no less powerful than Kitz, who were burning with envy.

"Kitz's investiture is just the first step," Bai Xiaowen said calmly, silencing the bandits' murmurs. "In the next two weeks, I will invest a second batch of knights. Fight bravely under my command. I don't care about your background; those who achieve merit will have the opportunity for promotion."

Within half a month?

The bandits were astonished; this short time seemed almost within reach. This perfectly suited their impatient and opportunistic nature, instantly making their eyes light up.

Generally speaking, lords are very cautious when bestowing knighthoods upon their subjects. This is because bestowing a knighthood means granting a fiefdom and taking a small portion from one's own territory.

Bai Xiaowen then distributed the wealth he had plundered from Redleaf City to the bandit guards in batches. Redleaf City was indeed much richer than White Stone Town. Bai Xiaowen only took out a small portion of the gold coins from his treasury, and it filled the pockets of every bandit, even their hands were full.

Next, Bai Xiaowen wrote a public notice to reassure the people.

In the announcement, Bai Xiaowen described his side as being ordered by the Empire to come to Redleaf City to exterminate the undead lord Maki and destroy the undead's lair. In any case, this wasn't the first time he had used the Empire's name.

However, in the announcement, Bai Xiaowen revealed the truth about the Necrotic Plague, stating that the residents were likely already infected and would become undead servants after death.

Bai Xiaowen's frank reason was to find volunteers for human experiments Necrotic Plague.

In the announcement, Bai Xiaowen detailed some symptoms of the early, middle and late stages of infection with the Necrotic Plague, and explained that the Empire's scholars are now stepping up their research on treatments for the Necrotic Plague, and need to conduct experiments on infected individuals at different stages.

The notice, instead of calming the people, fueled the panic among the residents of Redleaf City. No one wanted to die and become a mindless undead servant.

A minor disturbance occurred in Redleaf City. Some rioters, feeling they didn't have many days left to live, began looting, vandalizing, and even committing murder and arson. However, Bai Xiaowen had already ordered the bandit guards to break up into smaller groups and patrol the area. They successfully apprehended a number of the thugs who were looting and vandalizing, tied them all up, and sent them to the Underground Research Lab.

Two days later, Zombie Doctor had enough samples. Of course, not all of these samples were from criminals; there were also several volunteers who had volunteered to serve as human test subjects.

There are noble people everywhere, and there are also despicable people. Bai Xiaowen could only ask the Zombie Doctor to take care of those volunteers as much as possible and not let them do experiments with too high a risk factor.

Two days later, in the afternoon, the bandit guards were patrolling the city walls of Redleaf City. Suddenly, a sharp alarm whistle sounded.