You used my flowers.
Luorui'er ran through the increasingly dense forests of southern Fitz Province, her expression still blank, but her movements betrayed her inner anxiety.
Then a voice suddenly rang in her mind. The voice was old and hoarse, but it seemed to have a slightly reassuring effect.
"Yes, Cardinal..."
Luorui'er said in as calm a tone as possible:
" The Fitz Province has fallen."
"The entire territory?"
"... the entire territory."
"Um."
The voice didn't sound angry; instead, it carried a hint of expected calm.
"Then come back. I have something for you to do."
A slightly hoarse voice came through:
"Of course, you can refuse..."
"I accept, Your Honor, for the glory of the Fitz Family."
Luorui'er didn't say anything more and quickened his pace.
Over the past two weeks, thanks to the dedicated efforts of various players, Luorui'er has experienced countless misfortunes, including but not limited to "embezzlement of rations and pay," "soldier mutiny," "keeping private armies," "armed mutiny," "collusion between internal and external forces," "deception of superiors and subordinates," and "passive resistance." Aside from not meeting his end at the old crooked tree at the tunnel exit, he has thoroughly experienced what is known as a "Chongzhen simulator" in another world.
Perhaps the most dedicated people in the entire Black Pine City to her work were the dozen or so migrants from other towns who were responsible for digging the tunnels, but unfortunately, she ultimately gave the order to execute them.
Black Pine City is like a tattered burlap sack; it looks intact, but it leaks more and faster than a sieve.
Despite the situation, Luorui'er remained relatively calm. Perhaps due to her extensive use of symbiotic plants, she was always in a numb state where nothing seemed to matter.
But she wasn't stupid after all. Knowing that she had completely lost power, the only thing she could do now was to run away.
As the archbishop of a province, Luorui'er's full-speed running was not slow; he could even rival a Hoofed Beast.
In addition, the stimulating and analgesic effects of her symbiotic plants allowed her to run at top speed for several days without sleep.
Along the way, Luorui'er reflected on his previous decision-making errors, ultimately arriving at only one conclusion—
I shouldn't have made enemies of those rebels.
Whether they're heretics or Son of God, just avoid getting involved.
Once back in the Holy City, I'll request to become a bishop in a more remote place. If Cardinal Sailesi continues to make me do such dangerous things, then it's time to run away.
Perhaps the southern empire would welcome this remnant of the old aristocracy...
Even she herself hadn't expected that Sailesi's symbiotic plant would be so powerful—
A single offspring, having multiplied countless times, can drive a person completely mad and plunge them into a dreamlike state simply by drinking a drop of its blood. If Sailesi were to unleash his full power, who knows what this world would become...
And the rumor turned out to be true: whoever uses his symbiotic plant can hear his telepathic communication. It seems I'll have to be more careful in the future.
With that thought in mind, Luorui'er's figure gradually disappeared into the dense forest.
In the southern part of Black Pine City, a battlefield stained with blood.
The Root Network has been deployed, and temporary teleportation points have been set up. Soul Returner are emerging from the tree hollows in an endless stream.
Seeing the scene of severed limbs flying everywhere, they quickly joined the battle, soon cutting down more than a dozen half-tree people into logs without roots or crowns, and pinning those bloodthirsty guys to the ground.
"Dude, buddy! How are you?"
Having already passed his transformation period and returned to his human form, the [ Shit Appraisal Master ] clutched the [ Good Times Don't Last ] body in front of him, feeling as if he were attending a funeral.
But the other person's body was twitching, as if he himself was committing murder.
[ The Good Times Don't Last ] Although its body was twitching incessantly, it showed no intention of communicating, making it practically indistinguishable from Blood Corpse.
Just then, [ Shit Appraisal Master ] received a private message:
"Brother, can you see this?"
This isn't from in-game chat; it's from the real world.
"Can... how come you're talking to me like this?"
[ Shit Appraisal Master ] looked at the guy struggling beneath him, then at his [offline] status, and was momentarily dumbfounded.
My computer seems to have crashed.
"What?"
"My body just won't cooperate; I'm basically in a bug-like state right now."
"Retreat and then advance again?"
"It's no use, I'm still in the same body after logging back in."
"Isn't there a suicide option?"
"That didn't work either, I don't know why."
So what do you want me to do?
"Isn't that obvious? Just kill me already, so I can be resurrected."
"Fine, I've wanted to kill you for a long time."
[ Shit Appraisal Master ] closed the chat window, and a three-edged thorn, several centimeters long, quickly grew from his palm and pierced into [ Good Times Don't Last ]'s back.
His body, which had been pinned to the ground and was convulsing wildly, twitched a few times before falling still; he was clearly dead.
[ Shit Appraisal Master ] pondered for a moment as he looked at his companion's body, which was gradually losing its Vitality. [ Good Times Don't Last ] was able to accurately send him a private message asking him to help kill him, which meant that the other party must have logged in and seen that he was the one controlling him.
What about the players who don't know the controller?
He looked around and saw that there were still a large number of players whose bodies were convulsing.
A thought flashed through his mind, and he quickly found the official website forum and changed the topic sorting to chronological order.
Sure enough, almost everything that caught the eye of the [ Shit Appraisal Master ] was in one word: Urgent!
[Urgent! Anyone in the southern suburbs of Black Pine City? My character is stuck in a bug, please give me a quick kill, thanks!]
Has anyone experienced this kind of bug? All five senses are normal, but the body doesn't obey my commands, as if it's being controlled.
[Help! I can't commit suicide, what should I do? Is this account ruined? Can I create a new game character?]
[...]
A number of similar topics appeared on the latest page, more than a dozen in total, all posted in the last few minutes, requiring several scrolls to reach the end.
Having played this game for so long, [ Shit Appraisal Master ] knows that whenever this kind of topic quickly tops the charts, it's either something very good or a serious bug.
Last time, someone got stuck in the anti-gravity zone of the Wilderness of Chaos, and over a hundred messages circulated in an hour, which was very annoying.
This time, it clearly belongs to the latter category as well.
Although he didn't know why it turned out this way, [ Shit Appraisal Master ] showed the post to the players around him.