Weird Child

The workshop fell deathly silent. Looking at the stunned crowd, Lincon said nothing more and quietly left.

In fact, when he decided to choose the hidden career, he had already prepared himself for people leaving the fortress.

He did not intend to hide it from them. The preparations he had made during this time could not possibly escape everyone's notice. Rather than have them come asking one by one later, it was better to be honest now and let them make their own choices.

This decision might bring Longwind Fortress's hard-won momentum of growth to a halt, but Lincon did not regret it.

He called Zhang Rui over and told him that a C+-Rank Black Tide would strike in fifteen days.

Upon hearing the news, the smile on Zhang Rui's face, which had been there ever since the canal was dug through, froze. He stood there in a daze.

Lincon patted Zhang Rui on the shoulder. "If anyone wants to leave at a time like this, let them take some Sunlight Potatoes and go on their own."

As he spoke, Lincon gave Zhang Rui a calm look. "Of course, if you still want to leave, tell me in advance. I'll prepare some things for you."

The moment those words were spoken, Zhang Rui's face reddened. In a rare serious tone, he said to Lincon, "My lord, I won't leave!"

"From the moment you took my family and me in and let us join Longwind Fortress, I have been a person of Longwind Fortress in life and a ghost of Longwind Fortress in death. It's only a C+-Rank Black Tide. I believe that with your abilities, you will definitely get through it safely."

With a determined gaze, Zhang Rui turned around resolutely.

"I'll spread the news. No matter how many people choose to leave, I'll stand by your side."

Watching Zhang Rui's departing back, Lincon lowered his eyes, lost in thought.

On the main Career Panel, only a little over a hundred subjects had reached 80 Loyalty, while the fortress's total population was 836.

With a loyalty rate of one in eight, Lincon could almost foresee the fortress soon becoming completely deserted.

"Whew—"

Lincon let out a soft breath as he watched the Dark Veil surging madly toward the fortress from the distant horizon.

Another day had passed, and darkness was about to descend.

Yet instead of returning to his room, he picked up his familiar lantern. With the Ancient Maple Guardian and Reed Assassin following behind him, he temporarily left the fortress.

Lincon walked farther and farther until he had completely left the Shrine's range.

Walking through the deepening darkness, he soon arrived before a ruined village.

Great Cang Village.

Ever since the panel had appeared, this was Lincon's first time returning here.

Back then, while searching for his comrades, he had passed through this place. Even during the day, it had given off a dark and eerie feeling. Simply approaching it had made his hair stand on end.

But this time, Lincon stood at the village entrance, handed a lantern to the Reed Assassin behind him, and ordered it.

"Go in and take a look!"

A Shrine was strapped to the Reed Assassin's back. Upon receiving the order, it did not hesitate. With a whoosh, it plunged into the dense darkness.

Lincon opened the panel and used the Shrine's Eye to observe Great Cang Village.

He saw the Reed Assassin moving with the Shrine on its back, while the lantern's light revealed the surrounding scenery.

From the branches of a withered old tree hung an upside-down human skeleton stripped of flesh. A layer of shriveled, wrinkled skin covered it, and tiny wisps of fluorescent light occasionally crawled through the empty sockets of its skull.

As the lantern swept past, the desolate village appeared utterly ruined. Black Insects densely covered the exposed yellow earthen walls, rapidly scattering when they sensed the light.

The doors of several houses stood open. Darkness slowly writhed like viscous gel, and a human head with hands suddenly rolled out from within.

The Reed Assassin stopped, and the image through the Shrine's Eye froze.

Then, a child with a face as pale as paper skipped out from inside and bent down to pick up the human head from the ground.

The head kept struggling, seemingly trying to break free of the child's control. But no matter how hard it tried, the child's hands clamped down on its body like iron pincers.

On the other side, Lincon could not help raising an eyebrow.

"A person?"

"Impossible. How could a person exist in the darkness? What rank of dark creature is it?"

Lincon had the Reed Assassin launch an attack. He planned to first test this dark creature's strength.

He had entered the darkness this time to hunt dark creatures. If he encountered a C+-Rank Weird Calamity, he could test himself against it, gauge the strength of C+-Rank Weird Calamities, and prepare for his main career advancement.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Golden needles shot out from the Reed Assassin and flew toward the child standing before the door.

"Hiss, hiss!"

The golden needles instantly pierced the child all over, yet it seemed completely unaware. It slowly raised its head and looked toward the Reed Assassin.

"Hehehe."

An eerie laugh came from its mouth. Its pale little face looked terrifying when it smiled. Its open mouth had no upper or lower lips, while its eyes were pitch-black, like two deep, dark holes.

Even through the Shrine, the sight sent a chilling shudder through Lincon.

The golden needles on the other party gradually blackened and decayed, eventually turning into black liquid that dripped from its body.

Thud...

The child released its hands, and the Head Ghost finally escaped its clamped grasp. But before it could celebrate for long, a foot stomped down on it, effortlessly crushing it apart.

The E-Rank Head Ghost was like a toy before the other party, able only to be toyed with at will.

At that moment, the Reed Assassin also sensed the danger. Golden needles erupted from its body again, wrapped in Dark Energy as they flew toward the child a second time.

But this time, the child did not foolishly remain where it stood. It took a step forward and vanished, leaving only bursts of giggling in the surrounding air.

Yet in the very next second, it suddenly appeared behind the Reed Assassin and reached for the Reed Assassin's head with both hands.

It seemed to want to remove the Reed Assassin's head.

That thought was quickly confirmed.

From Lincon's viewpoint, the Reed Assassin's head was easily plucked off by the child as though picking fruit.

However, the child did not seem to be having an easy time either. Its hands were covered in golden spikes, and black smoke continuously rose from its damaged palms.

Only then did Lincon realize that it was actually a paper figure!

Fortunately, the Reed Assassin was a plant. Its head was merely for appearances, so it would not die even if it was removed.

But Lincon, who was in Great Cang Village, quickly reached a conclusion.

"The Reed Assassin is no match for it!"

Judging from the fact that it could be injured by golden needles infused with Dark Energy, this child's abilities should not have reached C+-Rank. It should be a D-Rank Weird Calamity.

However, a D-Rank Weird Calamity was already an extremely dangerous existence in the darkness. If one was careless, even a C+-Rank ability user had a high chance of suffering a disastrous defeat.

While observing the Weird Child's attack methods through the Shrine, Lincon quickly entered Great Cang Village.

It was not because he could not bear to lose a Reed Assassin, but because he needed to fight it personally and use the battle to hone his techniques for dealing with Weird Calamities.

After all, the requirement for his main career advancement was to kill a C+-Rank Weird Calamity alone. He could not even bring summons.