Chapter 399: Black Emperor (Literal Meaning)

The old count rotated his eyeballs, which seemed noticeably brighter than before, his gaze sweeping over the people beside the bed and finally landing on the priest.

Actually, many things don't require much thought; once there's tacit understanding, it's a case of hearts in sync.

So he slightly opened his lips.

"Was it this young lad who saved me?"

The priest nodded.

"Yes, his name is Wai Shu, truly a doctor of superb skill, able even to dispel such a complicated curse."

All one can say is that he's a crafty old fox; this count is also someone who knows how to get things done. He forced his body to endure, having his wife help him up, and grabbed Ji Ming's hand.

"I am truly grateful, kind young man, you have saved the peace of this land!"

"It's merely a trivial effort for a professional."

Ji Ming was about to say some polite words, but he sensed that there might be something hidden in the old man's strange remarks.

One must understand that the old man appears very steady; he is not the type who likes to spout nonsense, suddenly going crazy upward or slipping down.

After a brief thought, he straightforwardly voiced his doubts, questioning the old man's latter statement.

Who would have thought the count's face darkened, and he actually let out a sigh.

"Doctor, I originally didn't know this, but when my curse flared up, in a dazed moment a flash of insight came, and I actually recalled some things……"

The situation is like a seesaw; since someone can be pinned down below by missing an opportunity, there will surely be clever people who seize the chance to rise, successfully reaching a higher stage.

Thus, for many nobles, the arrival of the Pioneers is a crisis, but it may also be an opportunity; if one's ability is solid and credit sound, they might even profit from it.

Moreover, after entering the central region, the players also changed their previous hardline stance, not only ceasing their forcible interference in local affairs but also adopting milder means to communicate with the local authorities, opening with various kinds of mutually beneficial business cooperation requests, truly akin to a wealth-bringing child.

While Count Cold Pond clung to tradition, he wasn't completely unaware of adaptation; being advanced in years, he needed to leave something for his descendants, and naturally also wanted to profit from this.

So, upon hearing that a group of Pioneers had sent envoys to his territory, his first act was to invite them into his castle to show goodwill.

Who would have thought……

Even half an hour later, after Ji Ming left the count's castle with a bag of money, he still felt the numbness in his heart had not faded.

There was once a man who resembled a transport corps commander and was skilled at driving dump trucks, who shouted into his phone camera a deafening question: "Where aren't there good and bad people?!"

So, since there exist nobles like Jueque, Fengying, and Hantan who are hard to find fault with, even barely counting as having a positive image, the Pioneers naturally aren't all saints either.

The unfortunate old fellow thus encountered a gang of bastard players, gradually falling into their honey‑tongued cooperation trap through remote communication, and was tricked into signing an unequal cooperation agreement on their home turf.

Although he saw through their scheme at the last moment, preventing his title and lands from falling into their hands after his death, while being covered by guards as he fled, he still fell victim to their vicious hands.

Well, that wording might still be too flattering; it should be called a shameless sneak attack!

However, being a noble, he naturally had a family heirloom life‑saving trump card, which kept them from killing him on the spot; even the curse was only temporarily suppressed.

Thus he managed to cling to life, stubbornly holding on for over three days, lasting until Ji Ming's arrival, turning danger into safety rather than letting his death become an unsolved case.

As for that ruthless, extremely arrogant Pioneer who would unleash such a vicious curse at the slightest disagreement……

The old fellow furrowed his brows, his mouth grimacing like a toothache.

"I actually only saw him in person once; he was extremely black, extremely black, extremely black……"

After omitting at least ten more 'extremely black's……

"Such an extremely black fellow! I've lived over sixty years and have never seen anyone like him; I've only heard that in the Lingxi Kingdom's desert beyond, there exist some people who look very black."

"Ah this."

The game's gates are open, and it has already recruited hundreds of thousands, so it's not surprising to have relatively lucky individuals, or even black people specially recruited as talent, who might possess speed or impact resistance beyond human limits.

But a black wizard who can cast curses…… just sounds a bit too comical.

"Since he's qualified to discuss cooperation with you, and only revealed his true identity at the end, his team must be sizable, right? Is it a large group of people who are very, very black?"

"No…… uh, I mean, first of all, there are indeed not a few very black people, but more people look like us…… mainlanders, not much different, and there are also a few who look like you, that is, Easterners."

"Ah?"

Now Ji Ming was completely bewildered; that black wizard was actually commanding a group of.

No, this is just too outrageous, even like a bizarre reverse‑hell joke!

Meanwhile, seeing the doctor still wearing a look of surprise, the somewhat embarrassed old man sat upright and scratched his head.

"Besides, I'm a noble, so I can tell he really is rich, his spending is quite lavish, even to the point of not being ordinary lavish; the way he rewards his subordinates makes it seem…… as if this money wasn't earned by him at all."

So, this is a wealthy, spell‑casting, cruel‑hearted, black‑person domain……

"Right, I just remembered another crucial point! All of them call that very, very black fellow……"

The Yangyue World lacks this term, so the game system simply outputs it in its Chinese pronunciation.

Thus the old man adjusted his lips and tongue, as if learning to speak for the first time, earnestly and with difficulty producing as standard a syllable as possible.

"Emperor!"

???

There's a saying: that vibrant, teeming hotbed with its special matching mechanism has not lacked brilliant civilizations, nor hard‑core tough individuals worthy of the title 'Emperor'.

Even if you subtract ancient Egypt, there is the Ethiopian Empire, which has endured a thousand years, with ample martial virtue, rising against the version's odds, and twice defeated a certain losing great power, only able to pay reparations.

But more often, it's those who constantly push the lower limits of humanity, hoarding wealth greedily, stripping people bare; after reading their deeds, even opening a history textbook makes one feel that the average humanoid star is surprisingly amiable.

——Could it be that my little work 《Dual Moon Struggle》 has also produced a Tongliao Benevolent Ruler?

So……

How did even this kind of beast end up mixed into my game?

What is the game system feeding on?

Ah?

Even a beast that surpasses human limits counts as a talent, right?

Although it was agreed that management would be relaxed during the public test, hearing that players did such things, Ji Ming still felt……

Alright, if the officials can't handle it, then I can at least act in my personal capacity, right?

However, the crafty rabbit has three holes, and perhaps that wizard also knows his own noble birth, so he did not tell the Old Count where his stronghold was; in the Cold Pond Territory he only gave a vague location.

So, since he can be so cautious and the Old Count has now been gravely ill for three full days, it's likely that even this place has already been abandoned, perhaps his forces have already withdrawn from this noble territory.

「……」

Fine, a fool's a fool!

But just as Ji Ming was about to use his official position to subtly issue a search mission, dig three feet into the ground, and ask players to help locate their whereabouts, he suddenly heard someone calling his ID.

"Wai Shu! Are you Wai Shu?"

He turned his head and saw that standing there were two youngsters who stuck out like sore thumbs.

The boy on the left, dressed in noble attire and cheerfully waving at him, bore the ID 【Cicada Rain】.

The awkward boy on the right, clad in iron armor and carrying two cloth‑wrapped longswords on his back, bore the ID 【Ghost Cutter…】.

"It's Ghost Cutter, not Demon Slayer!"

Hearing his somewhat nervous shout, Ji Ming:

"Uh, I know, the difference between those characters is huge; nobody would mistake them, right?"

Now ShanShang Li, who named himself 【Ghost Cutter Sword Hero】, was completely embarrassed.

So why did ShanShang Li, who in the final chapter of the previous volume explicitly said he was too busy in the real world and didn't want to enter the game, end up actually getting into it?

Besides being genuinely moved by the phrase "more real combat opportunities," the bigger reason was his friend beside him… whose surname is Matsui.

Considering that almost every major corporation in that seaside town happened to share those two characters as a surname, and he never knew why, but he had been suffocated by a life of wealth since childhood.

Thus, on the thirteenth day of the open beta, after both of them drew the extremely precious game licenses, they set off together on their own otherworldly adventure.

It turned out that Matsui's wealth was indeed solid, and ShanShang's family martial art was no exaggeration.

After a month, he successfully led his patron to become a level‑30 god who could bark freely among players, and repaid the debt of "I'll buy you a helmet if you show off and fly with me."

As a celebration, spurred by Matsui's remark "If you want adventure, go where no one has gone before!" they arrived at the Cold Pond Territory, which had just opened today.

Just after entering the city, sharp‑eyed Matsui spotted an "old acquaintance" who certainly didn't know him, but as long as he recognized Matsui it was fine.

Since they could enter the 【Hard Map·Radiant Core】, which only level‑30 players can access, it was clear the two in front of him were hard‑core players, so Ji Ming, who values talent, walked over.

"It's me, what's up?"

Then he discovered that 【Cicada Rain】 was even more of a social terror, frantically retelling his bizarre closed‑beta exploits of swinging a shovel to beat goblins, while pulling him into a photo.

"Brother Wai Shu, you're my idol—can you teach me how to take photos!"

In just three minutes, Ji Ming's memory of them shifted from 【Cicada Rain】 and 【Ghost Cutter Sword Hero】 to recognizing the definitely different status, at least remembering the surnames Matsui‑kun and ShanShang‑kun.

So Ji Ming couldn't help but think to himself: rich, talented, good looking—this guy must be a top‑tier Tokyo‑style protagonist in real life.

Poor ShanShang, whose emotional intelligence was lacking, couldn't join the conversation at all and, because of his odd outfit, was treated like a monkey by passing pedestrians.

And true to being a conglomerate heir, Matsui was clearly talking about game anecdotes, but with an inadvertent little turn, it became.

"Matsui‑kun has been playing Double Moon Struggle since the closed beta, so he must have already found clues to the hidden quest by now, right?"

Although his hint wasn't that blatant, being a thousand‑year‑old fox, Ji Ming—who could spin a whole tale in Liaozhai—still grasped his meaning.

But he didn't directly reveal the answer; instead, he opened a Tai Chi swing.

"Actually I'm also new here, I can only say I have a tiny spark of inspiration, but you two—are you here to scout a path for others in the guild?"

"But we never joined any guild."

Matsui patted ShanShang's shoulder and burst into laughter.

"Mainly because of him—who calls himself a ninja yet dresses like a samurai; if he acknowledges the lord, that looks will surely doom him to a minor‑clan fate, right?"

This EastJapan‑style Gouzi joke took a lot of effort from Ji Ming, who only managed to keep his facial expression without hypnotizing them.

…Fine, maybe later we'll have to fight many players; having two helpers isn't too many.

So Ji Ming activated the 【Cold Pond Shadow】 mission, indicating he had successfully lifted the vile curse on the Count and completed the first half of this hidden quest.

"Oh, we need to investigate clues and find the criminal gang that harmed the Count? Isn't that a detective game?"

"If we find the gang, we'll have to defeat them, and anyone daring enough to strike the Count must be strong!"

Matsui loves games, ShanShang loves slashing evil thieves, so they both naturally joined Ji Ming's ad‑hoc squad.

According to the Count's clue, their first destination was naturally a meeting point that, though no longer significant, was still worth a look.

However, a week ago players couldn't even enter Cold Pond Territory, and even when the black wizard later met the Count in person, it was arranged in another noble territory some distance to the south.

Thus the meeting point they controlled remotely was actually a hotel in a modest town in the southern part of Cold Pond.

And during the first few meetings, the black wizard's group hadn't shown their true colors yet, so the sharp‑witted Count naturally sent someone…

But the result was helpless; the greedy local boss dealt with the Pioneers purely for money, taking cash without caring about anything, and he knew nothing…

What!?

Ji Ming didn't believe it, so he teamed up with the other two to launch a special operation, storming the hotel, grabbing the fat boss, dragging him into the cellar for a good beating.