I Became the King of Villains in the Game

"Urgh!"

Feldman coughed twice and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Two dark shadows slipped out of his ears and vanished into thin air.

"Damn it! H-how are you so strong?!"

Feldman struggled frantically to get up, but he simply couldn't. If not for the wraiths empowering him, that kick would already have killed him.

The image of a figure's back flashed through his mind-a figure he had briefly glimpsed in the study, talking to Daniel.

Fear and loyalty spread through his heart, then erupted.

"You'll never get anything out of me! Die!"

Feldman roared hysterically and sprang off the ground, his eyes pitch-black. He lunged straight at Chen Lun through the air, his face crazed, and shouted:

"Even if we die together, I won't betray him!"

The black smoke around Feldman's face grew thicker until it obscured his features. His voice emerged from within it, deep and resolute, yet warped and distorted.

He's lost control... does he want to take me down with him?

The thought flashed through Chen Lun's mind.

He immediately struck, unwilling to let an unexpected mishap bring him down.

Scorpion Tail Needle!

He spun and kicked backward, his foot shattering the air.

Bang!!

Feldman flew backward, past the building's entrance, and landed on the steps. The supernatural toxin left him unable to get up for the moment.

"Fire!"

Chen Lun gestured, and Gary immediately understood and gave the order.

The Iron Fist Gang's underlings pulled on their Iron Gauntlets, raised their Blunderbusses, and fired at Feldman.

A volley of crackling blasts rang out.

Feldman abruptly transformed into a misshapen monster, three anguished human faces appearing on his neck, chest, and abdomen.

"Aaargh...!!"

A dense shower of iron nails and glass shards struck him. He howled in agony before finally ceasing to struggle.

Once the dust settled, Chen Lun walked out of the building.

Seeing Feldman still twitching faintly, he crushed his head underfoot!

[You killed Councilor Daniel's butler, Feldman (empowered by wraiths), and gained 500 experience points]

"Urgh!"

"Urrgh, bleurgh!!"

Many of the Iron Fist Gang's underlings who had witnessed a supernatural being lose control dropped to their knees and vomited painfully.

Some even clutched their heads and rolled on the ground.

Fortunately, Feldman had died quickly, so they hadn't watched for long. Otherwise, they might all have died on the spot.

If even a few of them underwent uncontrolled mutations due to mystical contamination, it would spread like a plague, triggering an uncontrollable chain reaction.

Of course, Chen Lun wouldn't allow that to happen, lest it attract the Containment Bureau's attention.

"Have someone collect his body, seal it up, and find somewhere to bury it."

Worried that the Iron Fist Gang might simply dump Feldman's corpse into a drainage channel, Chen Lun made a point of giving that instruction.

"Yes, sir."

Gary bowed behind him.

Having been enhanced by High-Concentration Fruit Honey, he had greater resistance to mystical contamination and hadn't suffered like his underlings. He felt only a slight discomfort, which he could still endure.

Frowning, Chen Lun nudged Feldman's corpse with the tip of his shoe, but found nothing valuable on him.

The painting had also become a useless sheet of blank paper.

He sighed inwardly. The trail had gone cold here.

But Chen Lun wasn't discouraged, because he now knew that Councilor Daniel was involved in all of this.

Now that he knew his target, he would get to the bottom of things sooner or later.

"Finish the two tasks I gave you as soon as possible. If you run into trouble you can't handle, notify me like you did this time."

After leaving Gary with those final instructions, Chen Lun walked away.

"Your will shall be obeyed, sir!"

Gary placed a hand over his chest and bowed.

Early the next morning.

After a simple breakfast, Chen Lun read in his room.

Including the time he had spent reading after returning the previous night, he had nearly finished the Collection of Tomb Art Appreciation.

It was almost noon.

[Through careful reading, you gained 220 experience points]

[You have finished reading the Earth Faction mystical book, Collection of Tomb Art Appreciation (progress: 100%)!]

[You gained an additional 1 skill point and 1 attribute point]

Chen Lun let out a long breath. He had finally wrung every last resource out of the book.

Although his main class could only have one entry, preventing him from taking on [Tomb Raider], he could still gain the corresponding experience points by reading.

However, since it wasn't part of his own [Fate Faction], the rewards were halved.

The 1,000 experience points he should have received had dwindled to 500.

"There's nothing left worth exploring in the bookshop downstairs. Hopefully, the Iron Fist Gang will bring me some good news soon."

Chen Lun sighed.

After putting away the Collection of Tomb Art Appreciation, Chen Lun planned to head downstairs to Mrs. Caroline's place for a quick bite.

As soon as he opened the door, he heard a commotion in the stairwell.

He hurried down to the third floor and found it packed with people.

Most of the neighbors were there, along with quite a few residents from across the street.

"Oh, little Connie, don't blame yourself... Mr. Hood has simply returned to Lady Rose's embrace."

Mrs. Caroline was comforting Connie, who was in her arms.

Connie hugged Mrs. Caroline, her shoulders shaking nonstop.

"...Sob, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have decided on my own to stop Dad's medication!

I killed him! It was me!"

Connie sobbed, growing agitated.

Standing outside the crowd, Chen Lun could see into Connie's living room through the half-open door.

A motionless man lay in a rocking chair.

"Connie's father died."

Froy appeared beside Chen Lun and spoke softly.

She shook her head slightly and sighed.

"It was caused by withdrawal from Fruit Honey."

Chen Lun nodded, indicating that he already knew.

Chapter 48: Funeral

Under the laws of the Trisoul Empire-specifically, the requirements of the Sun Codex-and traditional funeral rites,

the dead had to be buried that same day.

A quiet monk from the Moon Church had arrived. He looked to be in his thirties and stood silently in a corner of Connie's room, waiting.

Mr. Hood had already been placed in a plain coffin, which stood in the middle of the living room.

Mrs. Caroline had closed her flower shop for the day. She wanted to spend more time with poor little Connie.

Several neighbors who were close to Mrs. Caroline sat on the sofa, surrounding Connie and offering quiet words of comfort.

But Connie remained despondent, responding only intermittently.

Chen Lun watched them, considering a few things.

His future plans lacked a technical talent like Connie, because he needed to establish an organization similar to the Containment Bureau's Supernatural Workshop, one capable of producing equipment continuously.

It would be useful both for trading with other powers and for draining the players' wallets once they arrived.

He admired Connie's talent and intended to take her along when he moved to the inner city.

But this clearly wasn't the time to bring it up.

Chen Lun glanced at the Moon Church monk in the corner, then turned to Froy beside him and said quietly:

"Give Connie a little extra care over the next few days."

Froy tilted her head and "gazed" at Chen Lun for a few seconds, then pressed her lips together and nodded gently.

"All right."

Chen Lun sensed that Froy seemed a little hurt. He was startled at first, then realized that his tone had been wrong.

"Sorry, I just..."