Shakedown

Bai Xiaowen calmly raised his gun and fired. "Master Kevin, this isn't quite what we agreed on."

Kevin's lips twitched. "Half the credit for storming the Justice Court goes to you."

Originally, Bai Xiaowen was only considered to be assisting, and the credit should go to Kevin. Now that the credit is split 50/50, Kevin feels that he has made a concession.

"No need, you can have all the credit." This kind of credit, which can't be exchanged for Merit Points, is just empty fame. It might be of some benefit to reputation, but Bai Xiaowen doesn't want it.

"Then what do you want?" Kevin wasn't at ease at all; instead, he sensed something was amiss.

Bai Xiaowen smiled, his eyes narrowing, and said sincerely, "My requests aren't high. Master Kevin, a hundred or so copies of books like the Frost Tome, the Flame Tome, and the Arcane Tome would be fine. Also, dragon blood is said to be good for beauty, health, and strengthening the body; a dozen or twenty bottles would be excellent..."

"..."

Kevin was speechless.

Judge Costello's powerful slash exhausted the last trace of cold from Kevin's Frost Armor, leaving a deep wound on Kevin's body from which blood gushed.

This sword strike was truly excruciating, causing Kevin's Life Value to plummet. Although he was very strong, he was, after all, just a spellcaster. While he possessed powerful magical attacks, his own defense was not strong. Without his shield skills, taking a melee attack from a Advanced Boss was still quite damaging.

"Hiss..."

Kevin grunted and tore open a scroll. Silver-white rune lines lit up above his head, intertwining and descending from the air, clinging to his black robe and transforming into a slightly ethereal silver-white rune armor.

Bai Xiaowen's Insight revealed that the scroll Kevin was using was called "Spell-Energy Armor," which could temporarily increase armor and Block melee attacks.

Costello strode forward, his Melee Specialty far surpassing Kevin's. He completely ignored Kevin's attempts to dodge and thrust his sword into Kevin's chest. The tip of the sword paused as if it had struck thick leather after piercing the surface of the silver-white Spell-Energy Armor; the strike was blocked without hesitation.

However, many of the silver-white rune lines on the Spell-Energy Armor broke apart with this sword strike, clearly indicating that the Block effect had a time limit.

On the other side, High Justice Hurd also began chanting his divine spell once again.

Kevin was in a bind, and he angrily said to Bai Xiaowen, "I can give you one of those spell feat books you wanted, but only one! You have no idea how difficult it is to make one!"

Of course I know.

Bai Xiaowen muttered to himself. He had seen the price from Steward Grima; a spell specialty book cost 2,000 Merit Points, which was equivalent to the reward of one or two A-Tier or higher missions.

Bai Xiaowen hadn't expected to succeed in extorting Kevin; his plan was to let Kevin stall for time and reveal more of his cards. Just as Kevin was scheming against him, Bai Xiaowen was also deeply wary of Kevin.

Now that Kevin seemed to be softening his stance, Bai Xiaowen was naturally overjoyed, and then...

Enter negotiation mode!

"Three books! Plus a bottle of dragon's blood!"

The dozens of books and bottles of dragon blood I offered earlier were outrageous and showed no sincerity in negotiation. Now, I believe the price Bai Xiaowen is offering is much more sincere.

Kevin was furious. "No dragon blood! Not a single drop! Do you know how precious dragon blood is? And I can only give you one spellbook at most... Hiss!"

"Fine, I don't want the dragon blood anymore, give me three spellbooks! I want the whole set!" Bai Xiaowen shouted.

"Impossible, at most two books..."

Three books!

This negotiation was unfair. During this time, Bai Xiaowen had already dealt with the court guards, while Kevin was being ganged up on by two highly coordinated high-level bosses... The Spell-Energy Armor on his body had already collapsed by more than half.

Of course, Bai Xiaowen couldn't act recklessly. If the price was too high, Kevin might be determined to back out of the mission, leaving Bai Xiaowen with no choice but to flee. This would mean the mission to attack the Justice Court would fail, which would benefit no one.

Kevin was like a Kuomintang unit during the Chinese Civil War, on the verge of collapse, desperately calling for help from allies to "give us a hand." He offered to give them two boxes of silver dollars as a thank you gift, but if Bai Xiaowen, as an ally, demanded too much and wanted Kevin to sell his pants, Kevin would definitely refuse.

At worst, we can just break up. If we can't hold on, we can retreat. If I'm unlucky, you'll suffer the consequences too!

--Of course, the above situation requires the background music of a mainstream Chinese drama.

Bai Xiaowen stuck to her price of three spellbooks, refusing to budge no matter what Kevin said.

"...Fine! I'll give you three spellbooks! You keep that guy Herd occupied for me!" Kevin said through gritted teeth.

"You promise?"

"I promise!"

"You swear?"

I swear!

"You'll write a written agreement?"

"..."

Kevin's Spell-Energy Armor finally shattered, and he roared, "I'll give it to you now... Fight!"

Kevin flicked his wrist, and three spellbooks flew out, rustling in the cold wind.

[Tsk... With such sincerity, it would be unreasonable to delay any longer...]

Bai Xiaowen caught the three spellbooks, Insight them with his Insight skill to confirm they were correct. He muttered to himself, then smiled and stored the spellbooks in his Storage Space. He had originally wanted to delay a little longer to force Kevin to reveal some of his trump cards, but judging from Kevin's appearance, he was probably nearing his limit.

Thump, thump, thump... The Butcher strode heavily toward High Justice Hurd.

"I really am a principled and honest good person."

Bai Xiaowen said with considerable emotion.

Kevin snorted. Without High Justice Hurd's interference, he could now focus entirely on dealing with Judge Costello.

A string of tiny Frost Shard shot out like a machine gun, causing Costello to slow down drastically. Kevin took a deep breath, and dense fire energy condensed at the tip of his left finger.

"Flame Spear!"

Costello's eyes narrowed, and the light shield on his left arm, engraved with a cross, suddenly flashed with holy light, transforming into an illusory cross pattern that stood before him.

"Shield of Suffering!"

While using his defensive skills, Costello also tried his best to move around and break free from Kevin's lock-on.

However, his maneuvering was futile; Kevin's Meditation Specialty was incredibly powerful. Moreover, Costello himself had been slowed down.

The Flame Spear traced a slight arc before striking Costello directly.

Boom!

The cross pattern on the Shield of Suffering shattered like glass, and the next second Costello was sent flying backward, his body charred black!

Bai Xiaowen could clearly see that Costello's Life Value suddenly dropped to 40%! Of course, his Life Value were already low to begin with.

Bai Xiaowen quickly calculated that Kevin's Flame Spear had dealt nearly 400 points of actual damage to Costello! Moreover, the Flame Spear also had a subsequent burning effect, which would continue to erode Costello's remaining Life Value.

If Kevin had possessed this level of strength two years ago, Goliya and the other nuns would have been no match for him, and Bai Xiaowen's Class Change quest would likely Cool Cool.

High Justice Hurd flipped open the legal code with a clatter and loudly chanted, "You will be saved by the Lord..."

"Stop him!" Kevin gasped for breath; if Costello got nursed back up again, he was really going to lose it.

Bai Xiaowen shrugged, opened his left hand, and a magic book with comical faces drawn on it flipped open with a rustling sound, revealing three transparent dice rolling.

Whispering Grimoire Additional Skill: Whispering activated, points drawn: Er-Er!

Random 2-star spell - Sandstone Touch!

Beneath High Justice Hurd's feet, a pair of sand-and-stone hands appeared, gripping Herd's ankles tightly. This two-star spell had the effect of immobilizing, but could not interrupt the casting.

However, High Justice Hurd's chanting abruptly stopped, as if an invisible force were controlling his... mouth.

"You will be saved by the Lord and receive eternal salvation... I am indeed a good person who is principled and trustworthy."

Justice Herd's face paled. The healing magic he had conjured vanished without a trace, and his deep-set, grey-blue eyes were filled with disbelief.

The sudden interruption during the chanting of sacred texts and the casting of divine spells, uttering such arrogant words, was a devastating blow to Chief Justice Herd's faith. Pale-faced, he stammered, "Merciful Lord, forgive my arrogance, just as you forgive the lost lamb who has turned back..."

Kevin breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. Although he didn't know what kind of evil method Bai Xiaowen had used, it was an undeniable fact that Herd hadn't cast a healing spell on Costello. He took a breath and continued to wave his wand, releasing a string of tiny Ice Spike.

On the other side, after quickly completing his self-redemption and psychological rebuilding, Herd turned his hateful gaze toward Bai Xiaowen.

"You devil, how dare you Desecration my faith! Accept your punishment!"

Buzz!

The Skeleton Champion Charge his greatsword. The Whirlwind Slash struck Herd squarely, abruptly interrupting his next spellcasting!

After summoning the Skeleton Champion, Bai Xiaowen sighed, "I think what you repeated was perfectly normal... But if you went further back, saying things like 'you guarantee, you swear, you sign a contract' while chanting divine spells, that would be Desecration against the Lord of Light..."

From the believers' perspective, chanting the Bible and the law to perform divine magic is essentially about obtaining a divine response through prayer. Therefore, since Herd didn't utter the words "you make a written agreement" to the Lord of Light, Bai Xiaowen felt that Herd's faith had escaped a disaster.

Herd tried to continue casting, but was repeatedly interrupted by the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier. Bai Xiaowen then followed up with attacks, leaving Herd speechless with frustration.

Divine spells with casting animations and incantations were unusable, Herd could only use the instant-cast basic law spell— Smite— to attack, which undoubtedly reduced the threat significantly. Under the combined attack of Bai Xiaowen and the summoned creatures, especially with the Butcher's poison mist reducing his resistances, his Life Value plummeted like an avalanche.

When Kevin killed Judge Costello, Bai Xiaowen didn't forget to fire a shot to get some contribution points... Whether or not a treasure chest would drop was secondary; as a level 7 Boss Tier, Costello's 21 points of Black Soul Stone growth and Soul Essence were real benefits.

With Costello's death, High Justice Hurd was also eliminated by Bai Xiaowen.

Kevin glanced at the Butcher, then at the Skeleton Champion and the swordsmen, and said with narrowed eyes, "You're quite strong; you killed Herd so quickly."

"Thank you for the compliment." Bai Xiaowen smiled.

In terms of damage output, Kevin is actually a cut above. As a mage, Kevin is the epitome of a one-hit kill; when he strikes, it's devastating. Bai Xiaowen, on the other hand, deals damage from multiple points, quickly whittling down the opponent's health.

However, in terms of overall ability, Bai Xiaowen has a clear advantage. He has many summoned creatures that can help him withstand damage, allowing him to safely deal damage in a defensive manner.

If Kevin had a tank in front of him, these two Advanced Boss wouldn't have been a match for him. This is also a major reason why Kevin is so obsessed with necromancy; after all, undead creatures are generally considered to be the best value for money among all summoned races, and they even occasionally have some kind of advanced technology to enhance them.

"Let's go, to the North Palace!" Perhaps Kevin recognized Bai Xiaowen's strength, because Kevin's expression towards Bai Xiaowen became much more amiable. But the thought of the three spellbooks Bai Xiaowen had extorted from him still made him feel annoyed...

Bai Xiaowen reached out and grabbed High Justice Hurd's Golden Treasure Chest, then followed Kevin to the North Palace.

Kevin became more talkative along the way, subtly inquiring about Bai Xiaowen's whereabouts over the past two years, which Bai Xiaowen casually brushed off.

Before they even reached the North Palace, the two encountered Grima and a group of the Resistance Army soldiers.

"So quickly, the battle in the North Palace is already over?" Bai Xiaowen, somewhat surprised.

Grima frowned. "No, North Palace has absolutely no decent resistance... That bitch Glandis escaped!"

"This..." Bai Xiaowen looked at Li Shuyi, who was also somewhat dejected.

"Xiao Wen, you killed the boss of the Justice Court. Did you get a notification that the main quest was completed?" Li Shuyi asked in a low voice through the team channel.

Bai Xiaowen gently shook his head and replied through the squad channel, "No. Even the city guard commander Nazir doesn't meet the requirements, so the less powerful Grand Judge and Presiding Judge certainly won't qualify either."

"What should we do? Glandis has run away again. It seems the main quest will be difficult to complete here." Li Shuyi was a little worried.

Bai Xiaowen breathed a sigh of relief, "It's okay, we have a total of 15 days, and only about a third of them have passed. There will be an opportunity."

By this time, the Imperial Army in Northshire City had been completely routed, with only sporadic resistance remaining. Grima ordered the Resistance Army, guided by the Viking Volunteer Army, to quickly clear out key areas of the city.

By this time, the battle to capture Northshire was essentially over.

Bai Xiaowen's Black Soul Stone has reached level 5 with a growth rate of 2670/2000 and has stored 2705 points of Soul Essence, which can be described as a great harvest.

In the square before the Justice Court, facing the summoned residents of Northshire, Grima loudly proclaimed that Northshire, along with the entire Northshire Territory, would be incorporated into the autonomous territory of the Viking Resistance Army led by Usok, breaking away from the control of the Empire!

The majority of the residents of Northshire were Vikings, and many welcomed and supported the arrival of the Resistance Army. Only a small number of other ethnic groups who had migrated there were somewhat uneasy, with the Imperials being particularly anxious.

The previous statistics on Black Soul Stone were inaccurate. Monsters killed during the Scavenger quest in the previous world, as well as the Boss Tier Naheh, were not included in the calculation. The two errors in the previous text have been corrected.