Chapter 204

At the Secret Prayer Church headquarters, Thor's final lightning strike upon death had directly shocked a group of members offline.

Baron Stara took off the helmet on his head and stood up, the Dark Ring pendant swaying on his chest.

"Your Holiness, long time no see." Baron Stara brushed the dust off his robe and said casually to Woody.

"How dare you be disrespectful to the Pope!" The Deputy Bishop looked at Baron Stara's sloppy appearance, and his anger flared up instantly.

Woody reached out and blocked the Deputy Bishop, his eyes fixed on the pendant on Baron Stara's chest. "Is this your source of confidence?"

"This is the divine artifact bestowed by the Great Lord!" Baron Stara held the pendant on his chest with a fanatical expression.

After Baron Stara spoke these words, the wriggling shadows around them immediately lunged at him. Black hands seemed as if they wanted to tear him apart and drag him into the shadows.

The Dark Ring flashed slightly, and Baron Stara escaped into the darkness. All the shadows missed their target, entangling in place and tying themselves into a complex knot.

Woody frowned. Looking at Stara's fearless gaze, a sense of disgust welled up in his heart. However, the aura radiating from the Dark Ring could not be fake; it was truly identical to the aura of the Lord he felt when he prayed.

Also, how could it not be identical? The Dark Ring was the handiwork of Dormammu, and the power Woody gained when praying was exactly the power of Dormammu simulated by Ding Hao. The two were exactly the same, with no difference at all.

"Your Holiness, my worship for today has not yet been performed. May I be allowed to pass?" Baron Stara looked at Woody and said word for word.

Woody's heart stirred, and he dispersed the entangled shadows. "Write a report for me. Do not let there be a next time."

Looking at Woody's cold gaze, Stara remained unmoved, though he did not say anything else.

Holding the Lord's power and receiving the Lord's grace, yet being intimidated by a mere mage to the point of not daring to spread the Lord's glory—you are simply not worthy of being the Pope.

The Lord has now bestowed grace; it must be a command for me to purge the cowardly. Once I complete the task assigned by the Lord and capture those thieves who call themselves Lamp God Followers, the order will naturally be restored.

Baron Stara watched Woody's retreating back and thought silently in his heart.

Behind Baron Stara, church members who had emotional problems due to character death were walking toward the psychological counseling room, supporting each other while silently reciting prayers in their hearts.

Among them, several had not died for the first time in these past few days. Baron Stara had to collude with people in the Dark Souls world, so there had to be a messenger, and the mortality rate for messengers in that world was very high.

It was precisely because Baron Stara's forceful demands led the psychological counseling room to operate against Woody's wishes that Woody was summoned.

It wasn't that Baron Stara didn't want to deal with Woody now; it was just that after leaving the Dark Souls world, the power of the Dark Ring was suppressed by this world, and the energy consumption had become extremely high. If Woody kept stalling, Baron Stara would soon be forced to emerge from the darkness.

At the same time, Thor also contacted a small faction within the Dark Souls player community.

"Frank, do you know the Golden Tooth Building?" Thor looked up at Frank and asked.

"Why are you asking about that?" Frank certainly knew where that was, or rather, anyone who had even slightly brushed against the criminal underworld would know it. "That's Kingpin's territory."

"I asked if anyone knew about those despicable ambushers, and someone replied to me, but he said to go to the Golden Tooth Building and talk in detail with a guy named Bullseye." Thor pointed at the message on the computer. "Who is this Kingpin?"

"The underground emperor of New York and its vicinity," Frank introduced calmly.

"He's not a good person," Peter chimed in from the side. He had encountered Kingpin's men several times while maintaining order in the Crown District.

"It's fine if he's not a good person." Thor twisted his neck. "Good people don't get caught up in double-crosses."

"I think it's better not to have contact with him," Peter muttered. Just thinking about having a serious discussion or even cooperating with Kingpin made his whole body feel uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, I just want to know who exactly ambushed us today. If you run into this person doing evil again in the future, call me, and I'll help you tear him apart," Thor said, putting his arm around Peter's shoulder.

"But maybe he's just lying to you right now," Peter continued.

"Then that's perfect. We'll just tear down his crappy building, which will be just enough to let you vent your anger," Thor raised his right hand, his arm muscles bulging.

Peter looked at Frank, wanting him to say something.

Frank spun the gun in his hand. "If you really don't want to go, just wait at home for our news."

Peter opened his mouth, thought for a while, and then nodded. "Then I won't go. You guys be careful. Also, if he tries to make a move, remember to message me."

At the Golden Tooth Building, Frank and Thor took a taxi to this building, which had been brazenly established by criminals.

"Those guys at the entrance seem to be players," Thor said to Frank as soon as he got out of the car.

Frank looked at the side entrance of the Golden Tooth Building. Several tall, thin men were standing there, with large tattoos on their exposed skin. One of them was holding a small knife, tossing it up and down; he certainly looked the part.

"How do you know?" Frank asked in return. He only felt they were thugs under Kingpin; he didn't feel there was anything special about them.

"They are wrapped in a scent of souls. Someone among them must have just strengthened themselves or exchanged for a skill," Thor said very confidently.

Frank looked at Thor in surprise. He had such a keen sense of smell? A rough man with a delicate mind?

The two walked side by side toward the side entrance. As they got closer, the guys next to the side entrance looked up and locked eyes with Frank.

"Players? What level? How many skills exchanged?"

After Frank walked in, before they could even speak, the other party asked first. Then, they pulled a piece of paper from the table next to them and handed it over. The paper listed several different levels of compensation, with the lowest level earning five thousand dollars per month.

While Frank was looking at the standards for each level, Thor stepped forward. "We aren't here to look for work. Where is Bullseye?"

Hearing the name Bullseye, the man sitting behind the table raised his right hand, and the magic inscription on his fingertips lit up.

Thor struck first, his right hand reaching out and directly clamping onto the man's wrist, bending it hard to the side. Looking at the man who cried out in pain, Thor patted his face. "Did no one tell you that it's best not to cast Soul Arrow at close range?"

Frank spun his gun on the side. He had originally thought that if Thor made a move, these guys would also grab their weapons, but it turned out they were just watching. They really didn't care about any underworld code of conduct.

"Lord Bullseye is on the 13th floor. I'm just a gatekeeper. Ouch, ouch, ouch, stop bending it, it's going to break." The man's body twisted continuously in the direction Thor was applying force, and he opened his mouth to beg for mercy loudly.

Thor let go. This Bullseye was interesting; he even set up a threshold. It was just that this threshold was a bit too low, not even as good as ordinary street thugs. The guys who tried to extort him when he was repairing cars in the past were all tougher than this person.

"Get up and lead the way." Thor tapped the table.

"Two guests, please follow me." The guy who had been watching the show on the side put away the small knife he had been tossing up and down and said to Thor.

"Soul Arrow again? Why does it feel like this magic is particularly common?" Frank asked Thor while walking.

"It is very common. As the only newcomer discount magic, it costs one hundred souls for a character in the game, and one thousand to bring it outside the game. It counts as the one with the highest cost-performance ratio at the moment," Thor explained.

Frank nodded, stepped into the elevator, and watched the thug leading the way press the button for the 13th floor.

Ding~ The elevator arrived.

The thug reached out and blocked the elevator door.

"You aren't coming with us?" Frank asked.

"Two guests, Lord Bullseye is waiting for you inside. I won't disturb you further," the thug said.

Thor walked out directly at this moment, not caring at all whether the thug came along or not. Frank also walked out of the elevator; he was just being cautious out of habit.

However, it was actually of little use. If there really was an ambush or the other party had some other intentions, it made no difference whether this thug led the way or not. Frank didn't think Kingpin would care much about the life of one subordinate.

After exiting the elevator and walking forward two steps, Frank heard a chopping sound.

Pushing open the half-closed door, in the large living room, a man with a fierce look was rapidly firing darts at a target on the wall. Each dart accurately hit the bullseye, incidentally splitting the previous dart directly in half.

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"The accuracy is quite high, it's just that the power isn't much," Thor gave his evaluation after watching for a few seconds.

Bullseye stopped, turned to look at Thor, "Want to try?"

"I'm not good at this. Frank, show him a trick," Thor nudged Frank and said.

"..." Frank looked at Thor's reckless appearance. He had originally thought Thor's loss of humanity was minimal due to his large base, but now it seemed he was even more uninhibited than when he started?

"Show him a trick, so he doesn't think I'm just bragging," Thor continued. If his current situation didn't forbid it, he would have made a move himself long ago.

Frank sighed. He had to perform for free today. Who knew if Kingpin was sitting behind the surveillance cameras watching the show.

Bullseye spread his hands toward Frank, revealing the remaining darts in his palm.

"No need." Frank raised his hand and flicked it toward the target. A burst of energy hit the target with a 'pop'. After a few creaking sounds, the specially reinforced target shattered into pieces directly from the bullseye and fell to the ground.

"I told you, the precision is enough, the force is a bit lacking. Learn well," Thor said with reflected glory.

"Alright, alright, let's talk business," Frank said, pulling the topic back.

Bullseye put down the darts in his hand, walked to the wall, reached out and pulled on it, tearing down a curtain. The projector's light cast some portraits onto it.

"Earlier today, this person urgently purchased a batch of materials and some equipment from us, but didn't pay with souls; instead, he killed the person we were trading with," Bullseye pointed at the Wretch on the screen.

"Hmm... don't all Wretches look the same? Can you tell anything from this?" Thor asked.

"No, the longer a body is used and the higher the level, the more differences there are." Bullseye clicked a few times on the projection, pointing out several more special areas.

"What equipment did he stiff you on?" Frank asked.

"Some accessories engraved with Soul Arrow, Strengthened Soul Arrow, and Multiple Soul Arrow," Bullseye said.

Soul Arrow is indeed the most common magic. Many higher-level hollows, after being burned, would drop this kind of magic equipment in addition to souls and ordinary equipment. This is a favor given by the Dark Souls World Consciousness, but because the drop rate is relatively high, the market has never been very good.

"He asked to buy a batch from us at three times the market price, and then after inspecting the goods, he instantly killed an eleventh-level knight wearing full-body armor. The knight was also carrying accessories that increased magic resistance and constitution," Bullseye continued.

Frank looked at Thor; he didn't know much about the mechanics of Dark Souls.

"Above level ten, you can undergo a preliminary job change. Knights have constitution bonuses and can also obtain several simple game skills, the kind that can't be brought out of the game," Thor explained. "However, this game has a high degree of freedom; you can change your job to a knight and then do what a mage does."

"So is level eleven considered high or low?"

"It's not low. Their levels are cleared every time they die, starting from scratch, but the skills and enhancements brought into reality are retained."

Frank understood a bit. Players are actually divided into two categories: one is pure ordinary people, whose combat power mainly relies on in-game means like grinding levels and equipment; the other is like them, who brought some things in before entering. Even without levels or equipment, their combat power wouldn't be bad, and might even be stronger than most ordinary players.

"That's right, so we think this person should have some ability himself. He might be some super criminal or a user of the Emotional Deep Web," Bullseye continued. "Our loss this time is not small. Besides the equipment and materials, the souls needed to pull an eleventh-level knight back up are also quite a lot. However, this is also our benefit; for personal losses caused by accidents in the company's arrangements, the company will compensate a portion."

Thor blinked. Why did he start talking about this for no reason? He didn't care much about that knight, and even less about company benefits. He hadn't even leveled up when he could have used souls; there was no need.

Frank smiled and didn't take the bait. Bullseye was trying to recruit for Kingpin. He really hadn't expected that criminal groups would now have to mention benefits when recruiting. He wondered if there were also regulations like five social insurances and one housing fund.