Naiser's Verbal Sparring

"What? What does that Earl of Monte Cristo call himself?"

"I am Naraku—I don't know the rest," You Can't See Me replying in the private chat. "But I guess he meant '[I was sent by Nerull],' since that mission was something he saw in Andrew's memories," You Can't See Me guessing.

Xiao Yu, however, felt that it might not be that simple. A bold thought popped into his mind: Could this Earl of Monte Cristo Xiao Yu Naiser?

"About that reward," You Can't See Me.

Xiao Yu immediately gave him another 1000 points and instructed him, "Don't tell anyone about this."

You Can't See Me 'll readily agree.

Xiao Yu closed the private chat channel, but his heart pounded. Damn it, could the Earl of Monte Cristo be Naiser? But that's impossible, he should still be in prison. No, I have to verify this right away.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the others, "I'm going back to the city. You guys have fun on your own. Chenghong Moli, let's go."

The others weren't in a hurry to leave; there were many strange things in this ruin, and they might even find some benefits.

Xiao Yu and Chenghong Moli retraced their steps.

As they walked back the way they came, Chenghong Moli asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why are you in such a hurry? Did something happen?"

Xiao Yu explained somewhat impatiently, "Those three people were from the Sky World. They were all members of the Council of Sages. They were involved in the incident where they tried to trap millions of players in the game with Shen Yuan. I originally thought they would have been eliminated after the computer was formatted, but I didn't expect them to survive. So I suspect that those guys have been released. I have to confirm it."

As they were talking, suddenly, a dark figure appeared in front of Xiao Yu, blocking their path.

But he was a Dark Wanderer.

Xiao Yu was startled when he saw it, thinking to himself, "Damn, how come this stuff has been splattered in these ruins too?"

As the two approached, the Dark Wanderer immediately raised his head, his dark underside peering at them.

"Foolish mortals, you have not seen the truth of this world. This world is nothing but a false, filthy, and depraved place. Only the realm of the true God is the eternal kingdom. Awaken! Consecration your blood, flesh, and souls for the eternal coming of our Lord."

Go to hell!

Because the passage was quite narrow, Xiao Yu had nowhere to dodge, and in his anxiety, he casually slashed with his sword.

Little did they know that the seemingly mysterious Dark Wanderer was all bark and no bite. He didn't even try to dodge when the sword struck him on the head, and immediately exploded with a bang.

It left behind a small pile of Ashes and a black soul fire floating in mid-air, and was instantly killed.

Xiao Yu intended to leave, but as he passed the corpse, the black Soul Fire Fragment seemed to sense their approach and suddenly flew towards him.

The black Soul Fire Fragment instantly disappeared into his body.

"Holy crap, what's going on?"

Xiao Yu was startled.

Then his mind suddenly went blank. Xiao Yu thought, "Am I about to read memories?" But nothing happened. There was no fog in front of him, and no additional memories appeared in his mind.

[System notification: Absorbed Soul Fire Fragment, learned new skill - Dual-Wield Weapon Specialization +1.]

"Huh, not bad luck," Xiao Yu thought to himself. "But why wasn't there a memory reading process this time? Could this black soul fire be a defective product? And why did the Soul Fire Fragment fly over on their own?"

He stood there stunned for a moment, but investigating whether Naiser was still imprisoned was more important to him. He shook his head, continued forward, and soon walked out of the ruins.

The two returned to the camp in one go, and then Xiao Yu immediately logged off.

Pushing open the hatch of the gaming pod, Xiao Yu climbed out and looked around blankly. He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Everything around him seemed perfectly normal.

"What's wrong?" Chenghong Moli asked curiously as she climbed out of the game pod.

"It's nothing. Contact your superior immediately and ask if Naiser is still in prison. If possible, arrange a visit for me. I need to see him with my own eyes."

Chenghong Moli picked up the phone, dialed, and after a brief conversation, Chenghong Moli put it down and gave Xiao Yu a strange look. "Naiser has been in prison the whole time, and Shen Yuan and the others are too. They can't possibly be released. Are you sure you want to go see them?"

Xiao Yu nodded. "I have to go and see."

An hour later, in the National Network Bureau's prison, Xiao Yu shook hands with the agent named Old Li.

Because Xiao Yu was a minor celebrity and had cooperated with the National Guard Bureau, he was considered one of their own. Furthermore, the National Guard Bureau and the National Network Bureau were sister organizations, so Xiao Yu's visitation request was not met with any difficulties.

"See? Naiser is perfectly fine in prison, isn't he?" Old Li said, pointing to the monitor screen.

Sure enough, in the surveillance footage, Naiser was lying on his bed in his cell, engrossed in reading a book.

"Because he can't use any electronic devices, Naiser can only read novels and such every day now," Old Li explained.

Indeed, under surveillance, Naiser appeared completely normal. Could the Count of Earl of Monte Cristo really have been sent by Nerull? However, Xiao Yu still felt something was amiss. "No, I must see it with my own eyes."

Old Li sighed. "Alright, if you insist, but I suggest you don't get too close to him or have any physical contact. That Naiser has a deep-seated grudge against you, and he might do you a disservice."

Five minutes later, Xiao Yu arrived at the cell door and could clearly see Naiser through the glass window.

"Naiser, you have a visitor," the accompanying robot guard called out into the room.

Naiser turned around, glanced at Xiao Yu through the transparent glass wall, a peculiar smile suddenly appeared on his face, and then walked over.

"Hello, Xiao Yu, it's been a long time." He stood behind the glass wall, hands behind his back, and said with a nonchalant expression.

This cell has a transparent glass wall, allowing a clear view inside from the outside; it's somewhat like a display fish tank.

"It has indeed been a long time," Xiao Yu looked Naiser up and down, trying to find something unusual about him. However, to Xiao Yu's relief and disappointment, Naiser seemed to have nothing special about him at all.

He appeared quite calm, as if he had already accepted his fate of being imprisoned forever.

The only thing that puzzled Xiao Yu was that Naiser was unusually calm, seemingly showing no anger whatsoever.

"You seem to be doing well. I thought you'd start cursing me out the moment you saw me."

"Heh, swearing and cursing is something only losers do. As for me, do you think you've already beaten me?"

Xiao Yu couldn't help but laugh. "I think this is obvious. You're inside, I'm outside, you have absolutely no chance of turning the tables."

Naiser held up one finger and waved his hand. "No, no, no, if you were really that sure, you wouldn't have come to see me."

As Xiao Yu was momentarily stunned, Naiser moved closer to the glass wall and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "You think you're outside and I'm inside? Heh, I think you're the one locked inside."

Xiao Yu's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. Was this just Naiser bluffing, or did it have a deeper meaning? "What do you mean?"

"Nothing, just thought of some interesting things." Naiser gave a strange smile that Xiao Yu found incredibly irritating.

(It must be a bluff. That's right, he has absolutely no chance of turning the tables. He just wants to make me uneasy. Hmph, does he think I'll fall for it? How naive.)

"Oh, really? Since you're so comfortable here, then I won't bother you any longer. I wish you a pleasant stay in prison. If I remember correctly, your sentence will end in 235 years. I hope we'll meet again someday."

"We will surely meet again someday -- so goodbye, my friend." Naiser said, picking up the book behind him again and holding it in front of his face to read.

Xiao Yu was almost certain of his guess, but when he saw the cover of the book, he was suddenly stunned. The title of the book was clearly "The Earl of Monte Cristo".

Holy crap, you still say there are no ghosts?

However, Xiao Yu couldn't figure out what was going on. Was the Count of Earl of Monte Cristo really Naiser, or was he someone Naiser sent?

Even as he walked out of the National Network Bureau building, Xiao Yu still seemed somewhat dazed.

"What's wrong? Didn't you see Naiser? What's there to worry about?" Chenghong Moli asked curiously.

"It's nothing, I just feel like I've overlooked something."

Caw! Caw! Caw! A piercing cry interrupted Xiao Yu's thoughts. Xiao Yu looked up and saw a crow perched on the top of a tree in front of him, cawing at him.

Xiao Yu looked at the crow and could see its bright green eyes staring intently at Xiao Yu, as if trying to tell him something.

For some reason, that crow reminded Xiao Yu of Medivh.

This is probably because Medivh often turned into a raven and flew around when he was in the Sky World.

Xiao Yu thought to himself, "I must find Medivh as soon as possible."

Since Kairoz and the others survived, there's no reason why Medivh, who gained divine power, couldn't. But how will Medivh survive?