Chapter 401
Yuki looked at the red-haired girl standing solemnly in the distance and asked with a smile:
"Miss Funina, what do you think the Supreme Council do to me if I go to Night Capital this time?"
After the initial excitement of victory subsided, Funina looked bewildered and conflicted. Yuki gone too far this time. With all the Night Watchers of the Southern Legion as witnesses, he was indeed the mysterious powerful figure sent by headquarters, and he had to be.
The news has now spread throughout the entire continent. You can't exactly call it a Night's Minions, can you? What about morale?
Okay, even if morale is irrelevant, the Night Watchers has laid its cards on the table. Won't its minions become even more unscrupulous and start fighting right in the heart of the continent? Are they really going to retreat into the shadows and maintain neutrality?
"I... I don't know. I imagine your feelings are also very complicated."
It's no wonder it's complicated. Who would be willing to abandon everything and turn back like the wind? In the end, it all comes down to strength. You can't handle the players, so you can only put on my tiger skin for some deterrence.
Yuki knew perfectly well what the Night Watchers leadership had been thinking.
Making Yuki a sword would be a win-win situation, even if it meant killing just one more player. He was willing to break his oath and provide some convenience for this. But in the end, he found himself being held hostage by Yuuki, and now he's filled with suspicion but can't do anything about it.
He had requested an airship to go to Night Capital on his own initiative. The Supreme Council naturally wanted to stop him, but the news had already spread throughout the continent. By this time, the charade had become real. Trying to expose it now would not only be a matter of slapping himself in the face, but would also expose his weakness, cause morale to explode, and then a super strongman who had suppressed the southern battlefield would retaliate in a frenzy.
The Slothed Bishop and his gang have been giving the Night Watchers a lot of headaches. Yuki has dealt with them, even an idiot could do such a simple math problem.
"But you're quite courageous, daring to go to Night Capital obstacles," Funina said through gritted teeth. She realized she seemed to have been tricked and had unintentionally made things worse.
As the airship was about to depart, a clear order finally came from her superiors: she had to stop Yuki. But she was just a lowly Level 4 Night Watchers. Should she just cling to Yuki's trouser leg and cry?
"Courage? Do you think those gentlemen would hide executioners to take me down?" Yuki crossed his arms, dismissive. "If that were the case, I wouldn't let them lift a finger. What do you think the residents of Night Capital would see if we just Soul Blunderbuss?"
"Yes, there's infighting among the Night Watchers's higher-ups. All those 'retreating' and 'indirect' schemes and shady characters have to jump out. Your greatest strength Night Watchers is your tight organization and clear command. If you lose even that, you're nothing but meat on our plates, and you'll die even faster than ordinary people."
As soon as she finished speaking, Funina felt all her strength drain away, and she leaned against the wall. They had planned this all along; it had nothing to do with intelligence or logic, it was all about one thing:
Players receive rewards for killing Night Watchers, but most haven't done so because of the risk-reward balance. If there's no risk, who wouldn't want more points?
You think you can use me as a weapon? You're not worthy!
Yuki snorted. He could disregard oaths, wealth, and power, but surely he wouldn't risk his life because of doubt.
"This Miss Funina is so pitiful," Ilina whispered, prompting Homura Akemi to nod repeatedly.
They were completely outmaneuvered and had no chance to resist.
"To be precise, all the players in this instance are pitiful."
"That's what Mona corrected me," she said, swinging her legs with obvious pleasure. If it weren't for all these people watching, she would have already pounced on Yuki and hugged his hand.
This is my brother; he can do anything!
Night Capital just around the corner, and the streets were packed with people.
It was a cheer for the heroes, a shower of Petal, just as Yuki had said, the Dark Night Continent desperately needed a victory to uplift its spirits.
This doesn't solve the fundamental problem, and the ever-expanding Dark Night Tide will not stop. But the most precious thing in the apocalypse is hope. From royalty to ordinary citizens, who wants to be wiped out city after city like pigs and dogs?
The Dark Night Tide will extinguish more than half of the lights, and the player war will turn a city into a dead zone. Take the 'Survivors' for example, each of them is covered in a terrifying virus. Dr. William only needs ten minutes to infect the city and turn hundreds of thousands of people into disgusting zombies.
And he already did it; those horrific photos appeared on the front page, suddenly making people feel how blissful it is to be swallowed by the night. If it weren't for the Dark Night Tide, there would probably be millions of zombies roaming the continent now, and even the Night Watchers would be exhausted to death.
"Players are far more ferocious than the night; they even use souls as tools."
Looking at the cheering crowds in the streets, Yuki felt he had done a great thing. Players were like mobile natural disasters, and their threat couldn't be judged solely by their combat strength.
For example, Dr. William and the Ashura Rhinoceros Beetle: the former wouldn't last more than five minutes, but when it comes to destroying a civilization, his G-Virus is extremely efficient.
"And then I won the bet."
Ignoring the triumphant ceremony on the ground, the airship flew directly towards the black tower, the headquarters of the Night Watchers, a crucial department that players could never infiltrate.
But at this moment, there were only a few people on the top platform, who opened their arms to him whether he wanted to or not.
A fake infiltration, employing various Transcendental Grade skills, involves taking enormous risks to sneak in like a thief.
True infiltration involves using influence to intimidate others and leveraging shared interests to make those who are hostile towards you come to you willingly.
Emiya, Illya, Homura Akemi, and Wolf all felt like they were dreaming. Just two days ago, they were still thinking about how to evade the Night Watchers' pursuit and enter the core area of the continent. They hadn't even thought about coming to Night Capital; they just wanted to find a small village to hide in.
Just 40 hours later, they arrived in Night Capital, at the Night Watchers headquarters, as VIPs.
How ironic! Is this Hidden Sage really that powerful?
Homura Akemi glanced furtively at the man at the front. Both were well-known lone wolves in the Reincarnation Game, yet the difference between them was so vast; they weren't even on the same level.
She was a pawn, and Raymond was the player.
Yuki followed the gaze and saw Homura Akemi immediately lower her head, a gesture of respect that pleased him greatly.
The ability to rewind time and transform any equipment in a dungeon into low-level Chaos Item for storage was expected.
She even kept several megaton-class nuclear bombs, which could be used in the future.
Then there's the legendary 'Sekiro', a master assassin with a causal-level 'Ninja Kill' skill that guarantees massive damage. He's equipped with a Chaos Grade- level 'Healing Medicine Gourd' that can even regenerate severed limbs after a few sips.
"Don't say anything later, just watch my performance."
Yuki turned his head, the airship landed, and the cabin door opened. The mortals knelt on one knee, not daring to look directly at the Savior passing by.
It was noon, and the tallest building on the Dark Night Continent was extremely bright. Yuki saw five men and women in black uniforms and tricorn hats standing in the distance, looking at him with complicated expressions.
Disgust, apprehension, and helplessness mingled with a sliver of hope.
Good eyesight, I like it.
Yuki smiled gently, his black boots clicking on the floor. He showed no nervousness or timidity; he stood tall and proud, truly like a victorious Night Watchers returning home.
"Funina, please introduce the members of the Supreme Council to me."
The red-haired girl walked over blankly. She was truly confused. As a staunch Night Watchers, she had now brought her minions to headquarters and even met with the Supreme Council.
As for the so-called "traitors," she's probably at the highest level.
"This is Lord Klein of the Inquisition." She stood between the two sides and extended her hand to a lean, elderly man with a goatee.
"Yes, we've met before." Yuki recognized the old man as the one from the coffee shop. The old man's lips moved, and he nodded with a wry smile.
Klein to confirm whether Yuki could be of use, but within just a few days, Yuki had already come to him on his own initiative.
"This is Chief of Staff, Lord Motesen."
The second person was a middle-aged man with black hair, who rarely smiled, but had the gentlest expression.
Motesen, the leader of the Oath faction, believed in quelling catastrophes by any means necessary, and my approach gained their approval.
Funina, the guide, had already provided the information, and Yuki smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.
"This is Ms. Mofei, Deputy Chief of Staff."
With brown hair and sparse wrinkles, she was a serious woman, resembling an old woman from a convent. She was expressionless and did not greet Yuki.
She's Ms. Molly's sister, and since her family died at the hands of the players, she naturally doesn't have a friendly attitude towards her. If Yuki hadn't indirectly helped her avenge her, a fight would probably have already broken out.
"Director of the Dark Night Research Institute, my direct superior, Lord Robertson."
This was a rimless, brown-haired Night Watchers with a scholarly air. He seemed indifferent to everything and showed little reaction when introduced.
The head of the Dark Night Research Institute —yes, he's someone we absolutely must win over; the clues lie with him.
Yuki, on the other hand, paid the most attention to this Night Watchers, then turned his head to look at the last man, a middle-aged man with a mustache, a slightly plump figure, and a shrewd air about him. This man didn't need any introduction from Funina.
"Commander of the Night Watchers, Lord Erickson."
"Nice to meet you. You really dare to come, huh? That stubborn girl Funina must have already given her opinion to the Supreme Council, right?" The slightly plump middle-aged man took the initiative to come forward, a shrewd smile on his face.
"Why wouldn't we dare? In terms of combat strength, the five of you combined are no match for us, and you can't afford the cost of 'internal strife'." Yuki also stepped forward, Mona and the Night Watchers became visibly tense.
The two people walking opposite each other seemed unconcerned, chatting casually.
"Your words are somewhat arrogant, and the price you pay is not light."
"Not at all, you're the one who's at a greater loss. We have many options; at worst, we can go back and steal the Soul Lamp. But the Night Watchers only has one path: to retreat into the Night. Oh, and that path isn't easy either; there's a very powerful minion lurking in the Night, isn't there?"
"You could guess that? Funina shouldn't know this secret."
"It's easy to guess. With your methods, if you could easily slip into the tidal zone, you would have done it already. Businessmen don't care about oaths, they only care about risk and reward. This catastrophe will take away more than 70% of the continent's population, and what you're considering is how to preserve the remaining 30% and use the surviving Night Watchers to reshuffle the deck."
"Funina did a great job. She sold me out before negotiations even started."
"Don't blame her. Any Night Watchers can find out about your reputation, 'Merchant' Erickson." Yuki stopped, standing less than half a meter away from the slightly overweight man, and gave him the same mercenary smile.
"But that's precisely why I'm so determined to cooperate. It's too much trouble to discuss things with a hothead who's full of empty promises; I prefer my own kind."
Erickson raised an eyebrow, his smile turning playful, "You're quite the businessman, aren't you?"
"Of course you're not as good as me, but people like us don't care about Justice or evil, we only care about risk and reward, and only the latter is the most secure."
Their eyes met, and neither of them spoke. Erickson came from a wealthy merchant family and rose to the rank of commander through scheming. He didn't care about rules and regulations and was very flexible in his methods.
He was despised and scorned, but no one can deny that he made the Night Watchers rapidly expand and free it from long-standing moral constraints.
Why should the Night Watchers have to keep their oath, not marry or have children, sleep during the day, and suffer through the night on watch? It makes no one want to do this arduous job.
Strength represents power, and power represents wealth. During his reign, the number of Night Watchers increased several times over.
Although their morality has deteriorated rapidly, without such a large number, they wouldn't even have the right to resist in this instance.
This is an extremely clever and shrewd businessman who laid out his plans at the very beginning of the instance. Because the Night Watchers's leadership system is a centralized democracy, with seven councilors voting to decide the outcome, Yuki even suspected that the two who fell were deliberately killed by him.
After all, Molly and Burmoga are staunch opponents; if they were there, Yuki wouldn't dare to come.
A hundred meters in the air, the wind howled past. Yuki and Erickson looked at each other, and a few seconds later, they opened their arms and embraced each other very affectionately.
"Welcome, Mr. Raymond. I'm sure you'll have many surprises for me."
"That's for sure. Even bigger surprises are yet to come. We'll definitely achieve your dream."
"Oh? You even know about my ideal?"
"Isn't it about ensuring that effort equals reward? The Night Watchers should stand above all nations and become the true arbitrators."
"My dear friend, if only you had come sooner."
Ah?
Not to mention the Night Watchers, even players like Mona were dumbfounded. What happened to the expected verbal sparring and intense confrontation? What was this scene of old friends reuniting?
Illya nudged her best friend with her elbow and whispered, "Mr. Raymond wouldn't have used mind control, would he?"
How would I know?
Mona stared intently, thought for a while, and then found a clue.
Back when he left Rosen City and first came to Night Capital, Yuki was already studying the high-ranking leaders of the Night Watchers. There was no such thing as mind control; it was clearly a pre-prepared explanation.
Yes, Yuki had already studied the seven council members, especially this commander. He was different from the commander-in-chief of the Defense Force and could hardly be considered a hero, but in a catastrophe where the enemy was strong and we were weak, he was the most outstanding leader.
To wage war against all players for the sake of dignity? The last woman to declare war on all nations was Empress Dowager Cixi, and she's long gone.
To launch a desperate charge into the night in honor of an oath? That Slothful Bishop must be grinning from ear to ear; isn't this just handing over points?
He simply saw through the nature of the cataclysm and found patterns in previous cataclysms: the only thing that can ever defeat the players is the players themselves. The Night Watchers should conserve their strength and use it as leverage at crucial moments to break the balance of power.
Therefore, Erickson has been selecting 'business partners', and Yuki is not the only one taking a similar path; at least five factions have followed the same strategy.
However, some of them were too clumsy and were completely fooled by the Night Watchers, unable to handle this complex relationship of being both allies and enemies, so they simply resorted to control skills.
Some of them were too honest and Justice, genuinely wanting to help the Night Watchers win, but before they could gain the Night's Watch's trust, they were hunted down by their own kind.
Ultimately, the reason lies in the Night Watchers's unique leadership structure. The Commander-in-Chief lacks absolute authority, faces obstacles even when trying to get close to the players, and is even less able to persuade his colleagues.
But Yuki appeared at just the right moment, and no one could stop him, whether they opposed him, agreed to him, or remained neutral.
"The timing is good, but it won't be easy for the two of us to join forces in business." Erickson seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and gestured to his four colleagues behind him. "You have to convince them first, otherwise they might agree verbally but cause trouble behind the scenes. You don't want to waste your time on these idiots, do you?"
Yuki turned his head and saw Mofei, Klein, Motesen, and Robertson standing quietly. Each of them had different opinions and represented a deeply entrenched faction that even the commander could not touch.
"Don't worry." Yuki smiled confidently and waved his hand like a master.
"I will give them a reason they can't refuse."
Chapter Thirteen: Where did the Saber King find the monster!?
The Night Watchers, Headquarters, High Council Chamber.
This is a large hall of nearly a thousand square meters, with gray and white walls covered with portraits of all the commanders from the past thousand years.
The hall was solemn and simple. The slightly ornate crystal chandelier was purchased by Erickson himself. On one side were tiered seats, and on the other side were seven high-backed chairs, where the remaining five Level 1 Night Watchers sat.