My Players Are So Fierce

Murphy had already prepared to respond to the provocations from the ancient fierce enemy, but he didn’t expect things to start developing in a “strange direction.”

The two problems he needed to solve had actually merged into one?

Could there really be such a good thing?

“You’ve made a terrible accusation, Osprey Knight,” Murphy said gravely to Knight Valand on the other end, holding the core bead.

“I’d believe anything bad the Wolfsbane Clan does, after all, pursuing violence and fear is the style of those thugs, they don’t even try to hide their nastiness. But to mingle with gnolls and secretly support an foreign warlord who’s about to wreak havoc on Transia when the Black Disaster is imminent… tsk tsk, this is an accusation on a whole different level.

Although I don’t like those savage scum, we need evidence in matters like this. Those bastards are still members of the vampire race, after all.”

“If you want evidence, go find it yourself!” Knight Valand replied irritably.

“We just intercepted this information, maybe those Blood Vulture traitors are playing with us at the cost of their lives? You said you wanted to rebuild mutual trust, and the Count of Seicob has already fulfilled his obligation. You can treat it as false.

It doesn’t make any difference to us.

That’s all.”

With that, the communication was cut off.

Because Murphy’s bead was in open voice mode at the moment, it allowed Regent Miriam, who was present, to hear the warning from the Seicob wing cavalry. The strangeness of this matter made this local non-vampire stand up abruptly.

She exclaimed, “Do you think this is true? Some faction of the Wolfsbane Clan is trying to use gnolls to destroy us?”

“It makes a certain amount of sense, just judging from logic,” Murphy said, rubbing his chin.

“Now that the threat of the Black Disaster has been confirmed, if the Wolfsbane Clan launches an attack on us Blood Vulture remnants again, it would be equivalent to ignoring Lord Payne’s order to prepare for war. They wouldn’t be that stupid.

And having the wandering gnolls in Transia carry this out seems reasonable from all aspects. After the gnoll warlord destroys the Crimson Citadel, those long-waiting Wolfsbane ruffians can swoop in and take out the gnolls who did the dirty work.

This way, they won’t be reprimanded, and they’ll even be praised by Lord Payne for stopping the gnoll uprising in Transia.

What a simple and perfect plan, full of a kind of quick and easy beauty.

I guess this probably isn’t old Edward’s personal handiwork, an ancient one wouldn’t leave such easily detectable traces for a group of barbaric mountain cavalry to capture.

Korando… hiss, why does this name sound so familiar? I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before?”

Murphy rubbed his brow in confusion.

He had so many things to deal with on a daily basis now that even his vampire memory seemed to be somewhat insufficient. Instead, it was Miriam in front of him who reminded him:

“Isn’t this the elder of that Wolfsbane little ruffian we killed in the Smuggler’s Woods? Didn’t he say he was a ‘descendant of Korando’?”

“Oh, right, our dear Mr. Joban, I’ve forgotten about him for too long, this is too inappropriate,” Murphy nodded.

He took out the Wolfsbane sword-cane that he had “collected” for a long time from his spirit bag, holding it in his hand and examining it carefully. There was still dried blood on it, the midnight blood of Murphy and Joban had left traces of a death duel on this sword-cane.

He also kicked George, the Astral Direwolf lying at his feet, who was drowsy.

The ability to summon this fellow was also bestowed by that “gift-bearing child” Mr. Joban. In many ways, he was Murphy’s “benefactor” at the beginning of his destiny.

“What a small world,” the vampire lord stood up, playing with the sword-staff in his hand. He said to Miriam:

“I was thinking of sending this thing back to Greenleaf Island to announce the death of Mr. Joban to his elder after the situation in Transia stabilized, adding another stroke to the ancient hatred. I didn’t expect him to deliver himself to our doorstep.

Fate is often so wonderful in many ways.”

“Won’t this be very dangerous?” Miriam asked worriedly.

“That gnoll warlord Kenport from the Dark Mountain range already has nearly 20,000 gnoll barbarian soldiers, which is enough to overwhelm us. Now with the Wolfsbane Clan meddling in the middle, is our current strength really enough?

Although I was against large-scale conscription among the survivors before, now it seems that Maxim might be able to be busier?”

“Not enough! New recruits can’t be used right after being drafted, they need training, and I don’t think the Wolfsbane Clan will give us that time,” Murphy shook his head and said:

“But you don’t need to worry too much, I already have a preliminary plan. The best part is, if the gnolls really have assistance from the Wolfsbane Clan, it means we’ll also have a group of angry warriors joining us on the battlefield.

You don’t need to worry about this.

War is men’s business, at least at this stage.”

The vampire lord patted the weary Miriam on the shoulder and said softly:

“Go back and rest. Tomorrow we’ll set off for Bataxin City, where you’ll work with Knight Palen to secure that war aid from the Kingdom of Nordtov for us. Your complexion looks terrible, Miriam, perhaps you should quickly find some helpers for yourself.

If this continues, you’ll be crushed by the heavy work pressure.”

“I know, I’ve already written a letter and sent it to Shaldor port through the Carpe family’s channels, but my classmates and those senior and junior students might not be willing to come to a place like Transia,” the Crimson Regent sighed and said:

“Our place has such a bad reputation on the continent, even with promises of high positions and generous salaries, not many people would be tempted.”

“That’s because their vision is poor,” Murphy snorted and said:

“Those who are used to adding flowers to brocade with their petty cleverness are destined to be nothing more than boring embellishments under prosperity anywhere. Only those with great determination who understand the value of sending charcoal in snowy weather are qualified to share in this delicious cake we’re baking.

Such virtue is destined to be possessed by only a few, just as true talent is always rare.

If they don’t come, then we’ll cultivate our own!

I firmly believe that Transians can manage our homeland and our land just as well. You need to hurry up and design the administrative system with Professor Malcolm. Only then will your pressure be reduced.

Otherwise, when your body breaks down, I’ll have no choice but to turn you into a vampire to prevent you from dying of overwork. You must understand, if it really comes to that point, I won’t ask for your opinion anymore, my regent.”

“Don’t tempt me with that eternal life in darkness, Murphy, I barely managed to refuse it,” Miriam grinned. She shrugged and said:

“My hair can probably hold on for a while longer, I’m a young person full of energy! So let’s each do our own job, my lord. Please have your professional warriors ready, I have many questions to ask them on the way to Bataxin.”

“Mm,” Murphy nodded, watching Miriam leave the office.

Then he played with the core bead, sending out a random event trigger mission to the six dormitory brothers who were currently enjoying the pleasure of the great gnoll hunting operation in the night, along with Meow King and his old friend Don’t Need Hands to Show Off.

The six student party members led by Leading Pigeon were all students from the finance department of prestigious universities, while Meow King had many years of experience in the business world, and his old friend Little Hand was a professional financial speculator.

These people gathered together were enough to form a “financial advisory group” for Miriam, combining theory and practice. Of course, at their level in another world, they certainly wouldn’t be involved in such national decision-making, but haven’t they at least seen pigs run even if they haven’t eaten pork?

Who hasn’t played armchair politician on the internet?

This was precisely an opportunity to give them the power to participate in actual decision-making, while deepening the veteran players’ profound understanding of “game freedom.”

Killing two birds with one stone!

As for whether this would affect the ongoing great gnoll hunt?

No!

It wouldn’t.

There were also gnolls around Bataxin city.

These damn things were very “evenly” distributed everywhere in Transia, like seasoning sprinkled on bread. No matter where they went, they could find enough gnolls to hunt.

It was unrealistic to completely eradicate the gnolls from this land.

They bred too quickly!

What Murphy wanted to do was to take down those large nests, and finally leave only a few insignificant scattered soldiers. This would also perfectly complete Her Majesty the Wolf Queen’s task.

After issuing the random event mission requiring specific little players to gather at the administrative office early tomorrow morning to set off with Miriam, Murphy left the Blood Vulture Halls.

He needed to visit the Blood Pact Knights’ camp in the ruins cemetery of the main city district.

He wanted to inform Lady Lainnia about the intelligence that the Wolfsbane Clan might be involved in the rise of the gnoll warlord. He believed this news would be enough to make the Blood Pact Knights’ anger soar, and once solid evidence was obtained, Murphy could take the opportunity to request more support from Lord Payne.

Incidentally, he could also irritate that old Edward, a bastard he had never met but was already at odds with!

But just as Murphy spread his wings ready to fly, he sensed Tris’s presence at the alchemy cottage in the outer city district, which immediately piqued Murphy’s interest.

How come this Blood Vulture Grand Duchess, who always used to find a good place to slack off in the night, was so well-behaved tonight, still working overtime in her cottage? Was there something important to do?

Murphy made an almost 90-degree high-speed right-angle turn in the air and flew towards Tris’s alchemy cottage. However, his spirit vulture Revnor was actually flying above the old city district at this moment, allowing Murphy to directly see the situation in the alchemy cottage through it.

Tris was still slacking off.

She was holding a bottle of wine, satisfying her oral desires, but she wasn’t exactly slacking off.

Because at this moment, she was teaching those apprentices who had learned alchemy in her capacity as a Grandmaster Alchemist, and they were now gathered in the open space of Tris’s cottage, chattering about something unknown. Murphy had to amplify Revnor’s senses to the maximum to hear a few threads of their conversation.

“Is this going to work?” a little player apprentice alchemist said anxiously in a low voice.

“You’re imitating that thing from reality, right? But in this world, we haven’t discovered anything like gasoline yet, and you’re just messing around with alchemy?”

“What do you mean messing around! This is the ratio I found through scientific experiments, that’s what you call skill, okay?” another new player scolded, seemingly very upset by his companion’s distrust.

This was a truly new player, one of the 70 players who entered the game together with Lady Aqua and Life Is Pretty Good, but unlike the other little players who were now hunting gnolls, his level was not only not high, but he hadn’t participated in any external battles at all.

He seemed to have been delving into the alchemy of this world all along.

This guy’s ID was “What Color is Loyalty”, which sounded like a Khorne worshipper.

And at this moment, this fellow in his forties was smilingly fiddling with several glass bottles, pouring some strange things into them.

“F**k! Be careful, if that explodes in your hand, we’re all done for!” another little player exclaimed, but Brother Loyalty sneered and said:

“Do you think I’m stupid? I’ve added a stabilizer to it, okay? It will only ignite quickly when it encounters an open flame. Step back! All of you step back! Don’t you see Lady Tris watching?

Now let this otherworldly alchemist demonstrate to the beautiful mentor what ‘the art of war’ is!”

He waved his hand to make the surrounding little players and NPC apprentices move away, then carried a straw man as a target and set it up in the yard.

By this time, Murphy had silently glided onto the eaves above the yard. Tris must have sensed it, but the Blood Vulture Grand Duchess was now fully focused on watching the “new trick” that the little players in front of her were pulling off. She was also very curious about what kind of new gadget these little guys would create with their “otherworldly knowledge.”

So under the interested gaze of Murphy and Tris, Brother Loyalty held a bottle half-filled with liquid and stood at the front, while another little player tremblingly held a torch. After Brother Loyalty stuffed a rag into the bottle to soak it, the latter immediately lit it and then quickly retreated to a safe distance.

“Burn! Burn!” Brother Loyalty shouted, violently throwing the lit bottle in his hand towards the straw man in front of him.

The bottle traced an elegant arc and shattered on the target. At the moment of impact, a dazzling flame rose into the air, the scattered liquid carrying flames in all directions, instantly igniting the surrounding area within a few meters, and also adhering to the ground to form a sea of fire.

“Incendiary bottle? Molotov cocktail?” Murphy saw this scene and immediately knew what these guys had come up with, and couldn’t help but inwardly criticize harshly:

“You guys are really something!”

Tris also nodded with satisfaction when she saw this scene.

Although this was just a secondary use of Combustion Oil and Blazing Gel, which already existed in alchemy, and there were no less than seven variants of such thrown incendiaries in basic alchemy, which didn’t seem worth being surprised about, she, as a Grandmaster Alchemist, clearly saw the advantages of this crude handheld weapon.

First, the raw materials were cheap enough.

It could be made with wine bottles and Combustion Oil, and a small can of Combustion Oil could be used at least five times when prepared in this way.

Second, the production was simple enough.

It was so simple that even a person with no alchemy experience could learn it after watching once, making it very suitable for militia and new recruits to use.

Finally, there was an effective functional extension.

Tris clearly saw that this “Brother Loyalty” had just added different ingredients to several different bottles, so she asked:

“My apprentice, will adding those ingredients give this simple weapon different effects?”

“Of course, my mentor. Please allow me to introduce you to the weapon I personally developed, which I have named ‘Loyalty Red No. 1’!” Brother Loyalty explained to Lady Tris with a face full of joy, pointing at those bottles:

“I changed the ratio of ordinary Combustion Oil to make it more viscous, and divided the standard portion of Blazing Gel into three parts and added them in a fixed proportion, thus forming its basic formula.

But on this basis, we can add some common materials to give it more effects beyond simple adhesive burning.

For example, adding white phosphorus powder can make its instantaneous explosion burn more violently, adding flour can make it melt metal, adding peanut butter can make it burn longer when adhered, adding some herbal extracts can make it release poison gas when burning!

I found acid in your laboratory, which can be added to give the flames a corrosive effect when added.

I believe that more ratios and more utilities will be developed as it enters the battlefield. It’s simple, but it’s the war weapon that best suits our territory’s current situation!

May I ask, is this finished product satisfactory to you?”

“Hmm, although simple, it has myriad uses. Indeed, it’s not bad alchemy wisdom,” Tris took a sip of wine and praised:

“You will become a true Grandmaster Alchemist in the future, and I must reward you.”

After saying this, Tris pulled out an alchemy formula scroll and handed it to the joyful Brother Loyalty. However, the latter still made a request, saying:

“I currently have a second ongoing research project, respected mentor. I want to improve the firearms currently in our territory, but I need those tools for modifying specialized bullets.”

“Alright, I allow it,” Tris nodded and waved her hand, saying:

“Go ahead and experiment boldly. The essence of the alchemical way lies in experimentation. Also, the incendiary bottles are very useful, our warriors need them. Make 300 of them within three days! Loyal Maxim will pay for this.

Of course, you need to convince him first.”