I Became the Progenitor Vampire-Chapter 243 - 244: The Trapped Glory Light, The Increasingly Complex Glory World (15,000-word Legendary - )

Chapter 243 -244: The Trapped Glory Light, The Increasingly Complex Glory World (15,000-word Legendary Chapter)

Signing a soul contract? Glory Light was taken aback.

At present, not everyone was qualified to sign a soul contract with Lide Kachar at the Crimson Mage Tower.

The apprentices who worked in the magic factory all signed contracts with Vina or Carlo, the first factory manager of the magic factory. Lide Kachar no longer signed contracts personally; his little maid was more than capable of handling these matters.

Moreover, not every apprentice could sign one, only those truly qualified to enter the magic factory were allowed to sign soul contracts.

Once a contract was signed, it meant one wholly belonged to the Crimson Mage Tower, which would spare no effort to cultivate them.

If a soul contract was not signed, it was simple; one could only engage in peripheral work forever, take care of logistics, or like Glory Light, deal with demon beast furs. The treatment received was far inferior to that of contract signers, basically belonging to the lowest rank.

Apprentices recruited by the Crimson Mage Tower were informed about this from the start; those who disagreed couldn’t even enter the gates, so the lives of all the tower’s apprentices were basically tied to the Crimson Mage Tower.

There were those who did not sign, many of whom were spies sent by other forces. They would be rigorously questioned with spells, and if found unproblematic, they were expelled; if there were issues, they were dealt with on the spot.

It was this cut-throat, with no so-called fairness; in this world, being a mage lord was the most prestigious profession.

How could one become a person above others without paying a price?

Especially for the poor and ordinary families, having a mage lord could likely provide protection for the entire family, and such temptation was too great.

Not to mention signing a soul contract, there were plenty willing to offer themselves as slaves.

After pondering for a moment, Glory Light straightforwardly agreed; after all, he was a player, what was there to fear?

He did not believe that signing a contract could have any impact on him.

“Do you know the incantation for the soul contract?”

“Of course, I learned it before,”

“Good, let’s begin.”

Glory Light did not delay, immediately starting to recite the incantation taught to every apprentice by the Crimson Mage Tower.

“oi…pf…nq… Great Divine Residence that controls death and souls, I am your loyal servant, I am your most devout believer, I am willing to borrow Your power to sign a soul contract with my master.

If the contract is annulled, I will offer my soul to serve You for eternity, great Death God.”

When the last syllable fell, Lide Kachar’s expression became somewhat peculiar.

Because he truly sensed Glory Light’s soul in front of him.

However, unlike others, Glory Light’s soul seemed to be protected by a special force. He could not truly erase the other party’s soul, but he could erase Glory Light’s traces in Glory World.

That is the legendary… account deletion.

“What’s going on here? Have I become a GM, a game administrator? Can’t kill the player but can delete their account??”

Lide Kachar’s eyebrows raised, and at the same time, a hint of regret lingered in his heart—such a pity that he couldn’t fully control the soul… Otherwise, he truly would have become a standard villainous dark boss.

At this moment, Glory Light’s face was quite peculiar too.

Because he heard the system’s prompt.

“Ding, you have signed a soul contract with the master of the Crimson Mage Tower, Lide Kachar. He controls your soul and can erase your trace at any moment.

Once your trace in Glory World is erased, your account will be deleted, and everything will be wiped clean.”

Damn it, what kind of crap is this???

The oath is actually real??? This NPC actually has the power to delete my account anytime??

Damn, I’m going to beat the crap out of that game designer today.

At this point, Glory Light was beside himself with rage.

He thought such an oath was just a system procedure, but damn, it’s real, and the other party could directly end him. And this ending was a million times stronger than any other; direct account deletion, utterly inhumane and outright outrageous.

Seeing Glory Light’s resentful face, Lide Kachar wanted to laugh but could only hold it in. This guy must have gotten a system prompt.

Hahaha, these dumb players probably never expected the system to pull a stunt like this.

Although you don’t die, but what about an account deletion, are you scared yet??

Months of effort gone with the flick of a finger, enough to drive anyone insane.

“Very well, Glory Light. Now you’re one of our own at the Crimson Mage Tower. This is Magic Blood, incredibly precious, capable of instantly advancing you to a full-fledged mage. This is your reward.”

Glory Light’s expression brightened a bit as he reached out to accept it, then immediately showed a rich smile.

Right now, he felt that being a big shot’s little brother was not such an unacceptable thing.

Diluted Magic Blood

Upon drinking, immediately restores 30 points of magic power.

After drinking, magic power recovery rate increased by 100%, and can heal injuries.

Explanation: Blood processed through a mysterious treatment, filled with incredible energy.

The original properties of Magic Blood were not like this,

Magic Blood

Upon drinking, immediately restores 50 points of magic power.

Bloodline race drinking it have their body recovery rate increased by 1000%, and can heal injuries.

Explanation: Blood soaked in Bloodline holy objects, filled with incredible energy.

However, to prevent the players from realizing, Lide Kachar specifically instructed Harrison to add many magic materials to it, changing the properties of the Magic Blood.

But all in all, despite certain changes, the Magic Blood still retained various incredible effects.

“You may drink it now.”

To become an official mage, a mage apprentice needs sufficient magic power as a source to draw the magic node.

Lide Kachar was uncertain whether players needed the same approach, which is why he summoned Glory Light in the first place.

Currently, Glory Light was his guinea pig. He needed to test various ideas on him, and then he would report back to his data analysis team, for all in the Crimson Moon to use as a reference or to learn from.

After all, the guy couldn’t die; it didn’t matter how he was experimented on.

“Have you learned the magic node for Small Fireball Skill?”

Glory Light nodded excitedly, “I have, I’ve memorized it,” then looked around somewhat self-consciously.

“Lord Lide, right here??”

Solidifying a magic node required absolute silence to prevent disturbances from others, a point about magic that the official mages reiterated over and over during their lessons. Solidifying a magic node in the hall was, to put it mildly, rather inappropriate.

“Just solidify the Small Fireball skill. I’ll protect you, there won’t be any problems,” Lide waved his hand, urging the other to start, “Hurry up, before the potion’s effects wear off.”

Hearing this, Glory, who was initially hesitant, no longer delayed and immediately sat down on the sofa and downed the Magic Blood all at once.

Then he began to solidify the magic node for the Small Fireball Technique, a Level 1 spell, following the methods he learned at the Crimson Mage Tower.

Betty watched Glory’s actions and yawned out of boredom; to this Northern Land Valkyrie, magic was utterly dull.

Seeing Isa, who was clinging to Lide’s side unwilling to leave, she shrugged indifferently, not wanting to stay any longer, and left.

She was going back to get a good sleep, and at the same time, she privately complained that she would never listen to anything about magic again.

It was too soporific.

Vina reached out her hands and quietly massaged him from behind, while Isa, the little girl, sat close to Lide, breathing in the scent at the tip of her nose, feeling very content.

Even if the two girls didn’t speak, just being by Lide’s side felt exceptionally comfortable and satisfying.

That kind of psychological dependence was indescribable.

Lide played an incredibly important role in the lives of the two girls. Without him, they would have lived completely different lives, which would have undoubtedly been a horrifying nightmare.

Lide didn’t think that much, his spiritual power spreading around, his gaze firmly fixed on Glory, carefully observing his actions.

“A familiar magic fluctuation. It seems the players don’t enjoy privileges like in other games, where they can instantly learn skills with a slap on a skill book.

They have to solidify magic nodes one by one, just like the natives of Glory World.

It’s a good thing it’s this way, or else this group of players might indeed cause a huge impact on Glory World in a short period of time.”

What made players most powerful was not only their ability to resurrect infinitely but also their ability to quickly level up and learn various skills. However, such an unsolvable situation hardly existed in Glory World.

The bug of infinite resurrection could be broken by a Soul Contract.

And learning skills was not much different from the natives of Glory World; perhaps with system assistance, it was somewhat simpler, but it definitely wasn’t easy.

The results of the experiment were at least somewhat satisfactory to Lide. If players could grow unrestrictedly, it would undoubtedly have a significant impact on him, especially since his subordinates were bona fide natives.

Now, players were undoubtedly suppressed, and although they could resurrect infinitely, growing up also required a tremendous amount of effort. It wasn’t possible to reach max level in three to five months or a year, as in other games.

Thinking about this, Lide’s thoughts began to wander.

From the current situation, Glory World hid countless secrets, especially the fact that he could change his physical body in the real world after crossing into the game, which was simply unimaginable.

So, what was the original intention of developing this game? Were players really just plain players?

Why didn’t Earth increase the players’ privileges? Even learning skills had to be like the native residents of Glory World; what did that mean?

Who is really in control behind the game company?

If Glory World is truly an existing Otherworld, how does Earth have the right to insert players into it?

In a world that has gods, a Transcendent existence is on par with a nuclear bomb. Gods, far more powerful than the Transcendent, could probably beat any country on Earth with ease.

Even if the Earth combined its forces, it might not be enough against a god. In the settings of Glory World, their combat power obviously exceeds the usual limits. Considering the vast lands of the Main Plane of Glory World also reject the descent of gods, it indicates how powerful they are…

Lide couldn’t organize his scattered thoughts, nor could he make sense of them.

He currently had too little information. He had also ordered the Data Analysis Department to search for information on “Glory,” but it was always blocked by an invisible force. Hundreds of people couldn’t find a trace of useful information.

And the only one who could do this must be the official developers.

So he could only pay close attention to this information, unable to find the reasons online.

“But no matter what multi-universe Plane or what Magic World it is, being strong oneself is the truth.”

Lide slowly returned his thoughts to the present, finally coming back to the most fundamental things.

To make oneself stronger.

That was the foundation of everything.

No matter what the future holds, nothing could go wrong if he became strong.

If he held a power that could contend with the Divine, would he still need to worry about these things?

Pop~

The intense magic fluctuation from Glory next to him interrupted Lide’s thoughts. This player who had drunk the revised Magic Blood was now undergoing the process essential to becoming a Mage.

Building a Magic Node.

Lide possessed an unimaginable magic affinity for an outsider, so building a magic node was effortless for him; naturally, he wasn’t clear on how these average individuals managed it, but he found it very simple.

However, seeing the struggle and difficulty on Glory’s face, he knew that even as a player, it wasn’t easy.

After all, this was the occupation of Mage, rated ten out of ten stars in difficulty on the official site.

One Sunshine Hour, two Sunshine Hours…

After a total of five Sunshine Hours.

The previously closed-eyed Glory’s aura surged.

Official Mage.

He leveled up.

Lide could clearly sense the magic around Glory’s body was much more active than before, although it still looked like a small flame to him, it had progressed much from the initial matchstick.

Curiously, he opened Glory’s attribute panel but found no changes except that the level had gone from 1 to 2, leaving him somewhat disappointed.

Is that all?

He specifically opened his own system panel and looked at the system notification, feeling somewhat speechless at the information there.

“Ding~ Crimson Mage Tower Mage Apprentice Glory has broken through to become an Official Mage, the strength of the Crimson Mage Tower has been enhanced, reward player experience — 10”

When Lide was Level 10, he received 200 experience points when Vina became an official Mage. Now at Level 14, an apprentice upgrading to an official Mage earned him only 10 experience points, which was negligible compared to the 50,000 points needed to level up.

To level up by upgrading apprentices to official Mages, he would need four to five thousand individuals. Even scouring Green City wouldn’t guarantee finding so many apprentices with the qualifications to become official Mages.

After opening his eyes, Glory revealed an expression of deep joy.

“Oh, an official mage at last, hahaha, he finally became an official mage!!!”

And then he couldn’t help but feel a wave of sorrow. This game is just too hard.

He had been a mage apprentice for so long, and it took him more than three months with the help of magic potions to become an official mage.

This damn game is simply inhumane.

It’s too hard to play!!!

Glory Light cursed the game developers a hundred times over in his heart, a hundred times over.

“Lord Lide, I’ve become an official mage!!”

Lide watched Glory Light, who was unable to contain his excitement, and smiled slightly.

“Very good. From today on, you can start seriously studying magic with the instruction department of the Crimson Mage Tower, Glory Light. I believe in you, you can become an excellent mage.”

I…

Have to study magic again?? Glory Light’s face instantly turned as bitter as a gourd, and he once again felt the pain of learning magic, just like the hardships of school.

Being academically challenged is too difficult.

Magic is an extremely deep subject. It’s not like some rubbish game with just a few hundred or thousand words of backstory, but a complete magic system.

From the origin of magic to the structural analysis of magic nodes, to the application and properties of magic, and so on, even the most basic magic books number in the dozens, and that’s not to mention the advanced books.

The densely packed bookshelves always manage to make Glory Light’s legs go weak.

“Thank you, Lord Lide, I will definitely work hard,” Glory Light said, his voice choked with tears, to his boss.

Lide almost laughed out loud at the sight of this guy’s agonized and conflicted expression.

Enjoy the joy of magic.

“Very good, I will have the teaching department take special care of you. From now on, you will be tested monthly, and you’ll also receive individual tutoring every day.”

Glory Light, who had planned to slack off, stiffened. Looking at Lide’s beaming smile, he was on the verge of tears.

Thanks a lot.

After Glory Light left, Lide was in a good mood. This fool, you’ve tasted the deadly poison of magic, haven’t you?

He inherited two hundred years of memories from the Blood Clan Ancestor, so he knew all too well about the knowledge reservoir one needed to learn magic.

The Blood Clan Ancestor was a transcendent talent at first, but even so, he spent decades stumbling and bumbling, collecting magic books until he reached level 10 and started developing the Bloodline. Only then did life start getting easier for him.

Of course, this also had something to do with the fact that the Blood Clan Ancestor was originally an ordinary farmer who couldn’t even recognize letters. His lack of knowledge and temperament hindered his development.

It wasn’t until the Blood Clan Ancestor reached level 10 and started developing the Bloodline, truly becoming a king of his race, that he began to enjoy the thrill of power and started to develop the Blood Clan frantically.

That’s what led to the later conflict—due to the Blood Clan’s rapid increase in number, where they needed to hunt humans on a large scale, which angered an extraordinary existence in Green City and resulted in a war. Or rather, it wasn’t a war as much as a one-sided thrashing where an extraordinary mage wiped out thousands of the Blood Clan with a single spell.

If it wasn’t for the chaos of the battlefield and the Blood Clan Ancestor’s lack of power making him undetectable to the extraordinary mage, the Blood Clan might have been truly annihilated.

————

————

————

“Lord Lide, are these adventurers from the lost worlds really that formidable??”

Once Glory Light was out of sight, Vina curiously asked, having collected a lot of information about adventurers from other worlds lately, following Lide’s orders.

But apart from their talent for endless rebirth, she didn’t seem to notice that their talents were particularly high, at most, they only seemed a bit stronger than ordinary people.

“Don’t underestimate them, eternal rebirth is the strongest talent, bar none.

An ordinary person who has lived for a thousand years will definitely be more powerful than a genius who has lived for just a hundred. The truth is that living longer is the real advantage.”

Lide felt a bit sentimental about this. Fortunately, the Bloodline is a Longevity Species, not having to worry about lifespan.

The Bloodline’s longevity doesn’t mean eternal life but as long as one doesn’t get killed, they won’t die until their soul vanishes into nothingness.

But no one knows how long it takes for a Bloodline to naturally turn into nothingness… because in the ancient times, a legendary strongman encountered a Bloodline demigod who had lived for two hundred thousand years.

And elves, a well-known longevity species, only lived for twenty to thirty thousand years as demigods.

So no one has ever seen a Bloodline die of old age; they are usually killed after a few hundred or a thousand years.

They generally die by homicide.

Because the longer they live, the more effective they become as alchemy materials, so the longer they live, the more likely they are to be targeted.

The twenty-thousand-year-old demigod Bloodline was turned into a half-demigod bone staff and is still preserved in the treasure room of a human empire to this day.

“Do you need me to recruit more adventurers?”

Vina, the clever girl who normally saw Lide’s will as her standard for action, nodded and asked. She never questioned his decisions, right or wrong.

“This isn’t urgent. We can have Golden Wheat Commerce rally a group of adventurers, but they must sign contracts with us,”

Ever since Lide got his hands on the Crimson Moon, he was less enthusiastic about recruiting players in Glory World.

Players are too unpredictable. Even with contracts, it’s hard to contain their restless hearts, and they might cause trouble at any moment.

On the contrary, the Crimson Moon can sign contracts with players, controlling them right from the source. You can disregard an NPC, but would you dare to cross your boss?

To limit these professional gamers, Lide signed contracts for at least ten years, usually starting at fifteen years.

For this, the salary he offered was three times higher than the industry standard.

Lide didn’t care about this at all; money was no longer an issue for him.

As long as there is demand, he could obtain large sums of money at any time.

The daily output value from the magic factory, when converted into RMB, is absolutely an astronomical figure.

He just didn’t rush to exchange it in order not to disrupt the market.

The thirty-plus million he put into the Crimson Moon, if according to his plan, wouldn’t take many months to be completely used up.

But he wasn’t in a rush, he could wait until the 3,000 gold pucks he had previously sold were spent by those who had purchased them, there was no hurry to sell more.

3,000 gold pucks distributed among 100,000 players meant that even if only a thousand players got some, each would only have an average of 3 pucks, and 100 players would share just 30 pucks.

It may seem like a lot, but what could 30 gold pucks do in Glory?

They couldn’t even buy a decent set of dwarf armor.

It would certainly be enough to buy food to eat, but to purchase weapons and equipment, it was far from sufficient.

Glory was a torn society, with the upper class and the common people living as entirely different concepts of life.

In a place where a loaf of white bread could be bought for just two or three copper pucks, a handy blade for a professional could cost 10 or even 20 gold pucks, and anything of rare quality would start at 30 gold pucks or more.

The higher the quality, the more expensive it was.

The gap between rich and poor was huge, with 90% of wealth concentrated in the hands of nobles and professionals, leaving commoners to live lives devoid of much hope.

“As you wish,” Vena smiled easily, “Do you need me to prepare some food for you?”

Food?

Lide nodded, “Prepare a few plates of demon beast meat, we’ll eat together.”

It seemed like ages since he had tasted the flavor-rich demon beast meat from Green City, the strong magic power in it always made it a lingering delight, like a treasure sword.

After eating meat from a level 10 demon beast with the two girls, Lide addressed some of the decisions that needed his attention at the Crimson Mage Tower as reported by Vena.

As the master of the Crimson Mage Tower, with his absence accumulating several matters that only he could decide.

Like how to handle the inventory of magic scrolls, how to allocate the extra gold pucks earned over the past two months, and so on.

Because of a large number of undead appearing to the north, Lide decided to let Vena take charge as she saw fit and even encouraged her to increase the scale of their purchasing.

The magic scrolls produced by the Magic Factory now had a guaranteed market, not only monopolizing Green City’s magic scroll market but also gaining significant reputation in the south with the Crimson Mage Tower—an item released would be instantly sold out.

The scrolls produced by the Magic Factory were of stable quality, uniformly made, a fundamental difference compared to those made by smaller towers where individual mages crafted scrolls by hand.

Because the latter were handcrafted individually, they sometimes varied in power, sometimes too strong or too weak, leading to inconsistency in quality.

Mercenaries out in the field really disliked these unpredictable products. They calculated for a spell powerful enough to kill a demon beast, but a weaker spell meant a high chance of problems arising.

Or suddenly, a spell might be too powerful, destroying the demon beast’s carcass entirely, which also infuriated the mercenaries.

The scrolls from the Magic Factory, however, produced on assembly lines, were uniform in quality with little to no discernible differences.

And it was these products that were greatly favored. Everyone knew exactly what power they had, allowing them to calculate directly,

rather than relying on luck with scrolls from other towers, hoping for a strong spell but potentially facing a dangerous situation with an unexpectedly weak one.

“Lord Lide, regarding the sale of a single magic scroll to the Dark Contract, the Level 2 magic scroll ‘Thunder Burst’ that our factory produced is being sold to the Dark Contract.

Because ‘Thunder Burst’ is very powerful and nearly impossible to dodge, it’s extremely popular with adventurers.

Many nobles have even inquired if it’s for sale, and they’re willing to pay 30 gold pucks per scroll.”

Lide had specifically allowed the Crimson Mage Tower to produce a magic scroll exclusively for the Dark Contract to support them.

And the price was set the same as a Three Circle spell, this margin of profit allowed the Dark Contract, previously decimated, to rebuild in a short span of time.

“No, the Thunder Burst technique cannot be sold to any power outside of the Dark Contract—it isn’t a matter of profit.

If anyone asks, directly tell them we are unable to manufacture it,” Lide Kachar said, pausing for a moment, his gaze piercing as he looked at Vina.

“For the Dark Contract now belongs to our Crimson Mage Tower.

Now, the Dark Contract is ours.”

He had gradually started to let this girl, whose loyalty was nearly absolute, into some of the secrets.

Although he hadn’t told her about the matter of Dawn City, the girl still knew he held a considerable force on the frontier.

The young maid never probed for information; she always believed that Lide Kachar would tell her what she needed to know; if he didn’t, it must be something she was not suited to know at the moment.

“You really are amazing,” Vina said, her eyes shining with intense surprise upon hearing Lide Kachar’s words. The renown of the Dark Contract didn’t merely circulate in the underworld; even the nobles of Green City were well familiar with this entity.

And today’s up-and-coming noble of Green City, Vina, was naturally no stranger to it.

In fact, to curry favor with the Crimson Mage Tower and the White Tower, a great noble had sent a formal letter to the Royal Capital a few days earlier, seeking to officially grant Vina the status of nobility. By estimates, the news would spread within a maximum of half a month.

By then, this spokesperson for the Crimson Mage Tower and the White Tower would become a true noble.

Vina’s role as the spokesperson for the two Mage Towers was due to the relationship between Spark and Lide Kachar, as the current White Tower and the Crimson Mage Tower were in very close cooperation.

This collaboration was not only on the business front but even the White Tower had dispatched a formal team of Advanced Mages to train Mages for the Crimson Mage Tower.

So, within Green City, the Crimson Mage Tower and the White Tower were almost equated with each other.

Seeing Vina’s delighted expression, Lide Kachar laughed heartily. In this world, Vina definitely ranked among the few who cared not for his status and position.

Before his Divine Priest appeared, she was almost the closest and most trustworthy person to him.

————

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————

Three days passed by in a flash.

Lide had stayed in Green City for three days because once his plan to plunder population started, he likely wouldn’t have time to return in the winter.

And these few days, the news of Undead invasions from the north grew more and more intense.

Especially the large cities with populations exceeding five hundred thousand, like Sorins City, several times sent out pleas for help to the external world, and the news that they were once breached by the Undead caused a huge uproar.

Even Green City, thousands of kilometers away, felt the storm brewing.

Undead, these creatures had disappeared from the public view for a long time. Apart from adventurers and mercenaries who would occasionally encounter these deathly beings, most ordinary people might never see one in their entire lives.

But these creatures of legend had once again swept forth, causing such a huge sensation at their very appearance, which was a great shock to both nobles and common folk alike.

Reportedly, the Undead disaster striking within the Radiant Empire was even more terrifying.

Particularly, an adventurer from a Lost World played a significant role in this natural disaster. It is said that the knight named Broken Sword, riding a Ghost Dragon with countless Undead armies, had swept through city after city.

Igniting a true Undead calamity.

The knight known as Broken Sword thus became an entity detested immensely by the Radiant Empire, but unfortunately, his Undead identity meant that even though he was killed several times by the Lost World adventurers, he remained unharmed.

Even because of Broken Sword, the Radiant Empire had severely clamped down on all adventurers from the Lost Planes, with many players being permanently banished.

Along with this, the empires surrounding the area significantly tightened their control over players.

Lide Kachar’s face was full of astonishment when he heard the news; he hadn’t expected that it was actually the players who had instigated the situation.

He immediately returned to Earth and started checking related posts on the forum. However, in contrast to the tense atmosphere of Glory, the forum was filled with voices of envy, jealousy, and hatred,

While others were riding Ghost Dragons, causing an undead scourge, they were still miserably working to make a living, which nearly brought them to tears.

As a result, the knight of the Broken Sword, already famous, was spontaneously dubbed by all players as the Supreme Glory – the Undead Emperor.

Of course, this Undead Emperor was just a rookie who had just acquired a hidden profession and was only at Level 3.

Rumors and gossip, combined with the panic facing the undead, plunged this great city of the southern province into anxious turmoil.

Additionally, the news of an orc invasion had also reached the ears of the ordinary citizens of Green City.

Just like last year, before the Frost Month, the orcs’ wolves began to appear within the territory of the Nolan Empire.

The fortresses built along the border for defense didn’t offer any resistance; upon discovering traces of orcs, they immediately retreated.

Innumerable residents swarmed to flee the border, heading toward various major cities of the border to seek refuge.

There are many cities in the southern province, among which there are ten large cities with a population of over five hundred thousand, but Green City is the only giant city with a population of over a million.

This is the political, military, economic, and cultural center of the south, and the destination for most refugees is still Green City.

That’s because other cities have histories of being attacked or even fallen to orcs, only Green City has never seen orcs appear beneath it.

Moreover, there is the presence of the Transcendent beneath the Ancestor Crown.

When Harrison relayed the message that the Dawn City army was ready for the first population plunder, Lide Kachar bid farewell to his little maid and Isa, returning to Dawn City.

The Crimson Mage Tower was under the care of the White Tower, influenced by Spark, and even protected in secret by the Dark Contract.

Even though the Magic Factory was indeed an object of envy, no one dared to make a move.

With Betty also stationed there, he had nothing to worry about.

On the other hand, he had to personally oversee the population plunder in Dawn City.

Since the beginning of the year, work had been done building breeding grounds to expand the number of Magic Language Bats, planting food, building new houses, expanding the city, enlarging the army, and establishing a more complete system… all this preparation was for the population plunder in the Frost Month.

He had been waiting for this moment for a year now.

This year, Dawn City must make a big score during the Frost Month.

The newly constructed houses could not remain uninhabited.

When Lide Kachar returned to Dawn City, he still arrived a step late; the first batch of troops set out to plunder the population had already departed.

This time, Emi, a Level 15 Shadow High Priest, personally led the team, deploying a total of 300 Bloodlines including the Fourth Generation Bloodline, along with a total of 800 Magic Language Bats, forming a massive aerial squad. This army had once used spells to rout over ten thousand orcs.

Now, as the orcs had just stepped into the border, the orc army hadn’t penetrated deep into Nolan territory, so the faster they acted, the safer it would be.

On the third floor of City Hall, Harrison’s expression was somewhat excited.

“Clan Leader, according to the reports from our spies, the population that Marquis Emi has gone to plunder is at least three thousand people, and our Bloodlines have already locked onto a total of over ten thousand refugees.

If all goes well, our population will double within a month at most.”

Hearing this, Lide nodded with satisfaction.

For today’s event, they had made far too many preparations in advance.

“Very good, I hope to see Dawn City filled with humans after Frost Month,” he said.

His great sword had long been starving for action. The very foundation of Dawn City was its population; with a population, anything was possible, but without it, even the Bloodline couldn’t thrive.

A sustainable development strategy was the core of his plan, but it always needed people to carry it out, and the current population of less than ten thousand in Dawn City was far too little.

———

———

Emi sat atop a Magic Language Bat, rushing toward her destination under the cold moonlight.

Behind her, a sky-obscuring swarm of bats with ten-blade wings flapped ominously, a scene reminiscent of Abyss Demons emerging, as if doomsday had arrived.

Even as they moved through the night, they carried an aura that set hearts racing.

The plundering of humans, this was the Shadow High Priest’s first time doing so, and Emi was somewhat excited about it.

As a veteran who had spent decades in the Knight Temple, Emi knew all too well what a population meant for a force.

It could be said that after a year’s worth of development, the potential of Dawn City’s population of less than ten thousand had been nearly exhausted; they needed fresh blood.

The Dawn Mage Tower needed apprentices, the uncultivated lands needed farmers to till them, the Dawn Sect needed believers, and the Bloodline’s survival needed humans to provide fresh blood…

All of this would be resolved in this winter, as Dawn City, like parched land, needed the water of humanity to flourish.

“Marquis Emi, the refugee group is just ahead!” Audis flew to Emi’s side, flapping his wings with excitement in his eyes.

The second-generation Bloodline, following Lide due to their own lack of strength, had now become second-tier commanders. When they went out with level 15 top combat forces, they generally followed their commands.

However, no Bloodline felt uncomfortable with this arrangement. In a world where strength was respected, power was the only voice that mattered; experience had no value.

In the darkness of night, Emi looked down from the pitch-black sky, and from a thousand blades away, she saw groups of people, their torches faintly illuminating the surrounding woods, like beacons in the night pointing them in the right direction.

A flicker of excitement passed in her eyes as she waved her hand, “Follow the plan, we can’t let these humans scatter in panic.”

“Yes, action starts,” Audis turned and began issuing orders.

Over three hundred Bloodline divided into groups, some surrounding the refugees to prevent them from escaping in terror,

while the others flapped their wings above the crowd, hunting and exerting maximum pressure to break their will to resist.

“Ah!! Vampires!! Run…”

“Why are there vampires? Goddess above, have you also abandoned us?”

“No, it’s not possible, I don’t believe it, this must be an illusion!!”

“…”

The crowd below immediately erupted into chaos as Bloodline suddenly appeared from the sky above, causing the greatest panic among the humans.

These were the legendary vampires, after all—who wouldn’t be afraid?

Terror and helplessness were the only expressions on the faces of all the humans.

Even many people had already given up resisting, preparing to embrace the arrival of death, facing so many giant bats that resembled demons, no one could escape.

Even at this moment, the terrifying aura emitted by the Bloodline’s deterrent power was far overshadowed by the exaggerated wingspan of the Magic Language Bats, these newly cultivated demon beasts unique to the Bloodline merely relied on their huge bodies to intimidate the humans.

“We are the Holy Light Bloodline, we won’t harm you…”

The Bloodline that had long been involved in plundering populations had already developed a set of phrases to handle the refugees.

How to deal with resistance, how to act when they complied, what to do with soft resistance, and so on, these matters were all thoroughly understood by the Bloodline in charge of leading the team before coming.

The crowd below, seeing such an irresistible scene, dared not resist, they could only look up at the Bloodline in the sky with utter despair.

They had already smelled the scent of death.

Audis flapped his bat wings and flew next to Emi, “Marquis Emi, we should now go forward to soothe the people’s hearts, and then take them back to Dawn City.”

Emi watched the scene with interest, he originally thought there would be a fight so he had come specifically to escort them, but he didn’t expect it to be so smooth, these refugees had no strength to resist.

Indeed, that was the case, how could a group of refugees who lost their homes resist the Bloodline?

He dismissed the notion with a careless wave of his hand.

“I am only here to prevent the appearance of powerful enemies; how you do your job doesn’t concern me.”

“Yes,” Although both were second-generation Bloodline, strength spoke volumes, and Emi, a Level 15 Shadow High Priest, naturally wasn’t someone Audis, a Level 10 Advanced Mage, could compare with.

Smooth, everything was extremely smooth.

Not even once did Emi have an opportunity to make a move throughout the process.

This group of more than three thousand refugees, completely devoid of the will to resist, was directly intimidated, then taken aboard the Magic Language Bats and returned to Dawn City.

Emi felt greatly moved by the fluidity of the process.

Indeed, not common were the ones trained by the Ancestor Crown.

The first round of population plundering took a total of three Sunshine Hours, mainly because these three thousand people were afraid and dared not climb onto the backs of the Magic Language Bats, wasting a lot of time.

As for resistance, there was not even a hint of it.

Nobody wanted to seek death.

Even knowing these were vampires, terrified in their hearts, dying later was better than dying sooner.

Besides, the other side didn’t actually lay hands on them, instead, the self-proclaimed Holy Light Bloodline promised them countless benefits, although not many people were willing to believe the terrifying vampires.

But, what if?

What if it was true?

Under such circumstances, the hope given by the Bloodline provided all the refugees an excuse for their own weakness and fear of death.

Human nature is always like this, after oppressive madness, giving a glimmer of hope can make people truly hold on to hope.

When dawn came the next day, upon learning that the first batch of people from Frost Month would be transported back to Dawn City,

the entire city was abuzz.

Although the Bloodline had previously announced that they would go to assist more humans back to Dawn City after Frost Month, urging all residents to be prepared,

the residents were all excited about this decision.

Because Dawn City was too large, the place where they lived was too spacious.

Although there were bustling downtown streets, after all, with a population of less than ten thousand, the liveliness was limited.

But if the population continued to increase, they believed life would be better; at the very least, the streets would be much livelier.

Recker was in charge of today’s reception task; as the head of the logistics department, Recker’s position in Dawn City had almost become something ordinary residents needed to look up to.

Especially since Recker also had a halo of a legend that he was personally invited by the Kachar City Lord to be the captain of the logistics team, winning him countless respects.

“Lord Recker…”

“Good day, Lord Recker.”

“…”

Recker, clad in armor, did not have as calm a heart as his expression showed. Respect and awe were the attitudes of the residents around him.

This was something he only experienced in Dawn City.

As a mercenary who had once traveled north and south and even been to the Royal Capital of the Nolan Empire, Recker had been through a lot.

But it was because of having been through a lot that he felt all the more the preciousness of his current life.

This city had everything he longed for, even if he wasn’t the head of the logistics department, he was willing to die to protect such a city, to draw his sword in defense of the glory of Kachar City Lord.

This was no longer the place of fear it once was, but his home, he had family, friends, his everything.

“The logistics team, coordinate with the Security Team to maintain order; don’t stand inside the security line…”

Recker stood tall and proud, loudly commanding order.

Seeing Recker’s gallant figure, many of the original residents of Eric Town proudly lifted their heads, boasting to the people around them that this was one of our own from Eric Town.

And like Lord Recker, we joined Dawn City at the same time and are among the earliest residents; our land and homes were personally allocated to us by Kachar City Lord.

Pride was practically spilling out of their chests.

Instantly, such words triggered a wave of envious looks from the surrounding crowd; the first batch of residents joining Dawn City was an honor more enviable than boasting gold pucks.

“Here they come, they’re coming!!”

“Look at the sky!”

“So many Magic Language Bats!”

“…”

With the shouts of the residents, countless Magic Language Bats appeared in the sky, their huge silhouettes directly covering the sky.

The refugees sitting on the backs of the bats, originally very worried, upon seeing the crazy waves and excited shouts from the people on the ground, felt a subtle shift in their hearts; their previously tense mood inexplicably relaxed a lot.

This city actually had humans! The vampires didn’t deceive them.

In the blue sky, countless huge bats soared with their wings, the fierce bat wings with barbs capable of piercing a knight’s armor, their vast bodies stirring up gusts of wind with each flap.

Under their hairless gray skin, swollen muscles towered; these colossal bats were the dominant melody in the sky.

Lide quietly watched this scene from the window on the third floor of the City Hall.

The City Hall was established near Dawn Square, and he could directly see the scene inside the square.

Seeing the residents cheering, he felt somewhat moved; he still remembered when the first group of residents arrived, and the entire square was silent, lit only by the flickering, undetermined light of magic lamps and torches.

He had to personally step in to suppress the fear in the hearts of the residents.

Now, he didn’t even need to show up in person anymore.

All the work below was handled by others, and even done better than he could have.

Lide turned to look at Harrison, who had just stepped into the office.

“Harrison, you must take personal responsibility for the plundering of the populace. I’ll be in the manor during this time. If there’s something you can’t handle, come to me directly,” he said.

“Yes, Clan Leader.”

“I need to continue my research on improving magic for some time.”

The plundering of people was a prolonged affair, and it might even span the entire winter.

Now, besides the planting of winter wheat that hadn’t stopped, all the working focus of Dawn City was shifted to the plundering of people.

Though busy, the City Hall had the ability to handle it all; thus, he had the time to study magic.

Because he didn’t need to do the specifics, just being present here to stabilize morale was enough, as well as making decisions on matters that Harrison couldn’t decide.

He didn’t need to run around for Dawn City’s food, clothing, or even farming tools like he did last year.

He had spent a whole year resolving these matters.

That is to say, at the city’s busiest time now, Lide was the most leisurely person among them.

“As you wish, Clan Leader.”

After giving Harrison some more instructions, Lide returned to his own manor.

After a year of busyness, he finally had the time to resume studying his magic.

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on freeweɓnøvel.com.

However, before that, Lide returned to Earth to handle some matters of the Crimson Moon.

Zhao Yue, the deputy general manager, also happened to have something to discuss with him.

“Mr. Li, don’t you think it’s time to assign a few assistants? Otherwise, we have a hard time getting in touch with you,” she said.

Bringing up this subject, Zhao Yue was somewhat resentful. After Lide took over Crimson Moon, he gave her all the authority, and now she was nearly managing the entire company by herself.

Although there were quite a few senior executives, she was the only one who really made decisions.

At first she was happy, thinking this showed Li’s confidence in her, but then she realized… Lide never really intended to manage the company.

“We can do that, you start looking for them,” Lide said casually.

Hearing Lide’s unceremonious words, Zhao Yue’s mouth twitched fiercely, thinking when did she become his personal secretary?

She was at least the deputy general now and should be able to speak with him on equal terms, right?

“Alright, I’ll have Ten Moon Headhunting make the arrangements.”

“Thank you,” Lide said nonchalantly, nodding. He was quite satisfied with his secretary… deputy general, as she had outstanding abilities in various aspects.

Suddenly, as if something occurred to him, Lide said outright, “From now on, let the company allocate 30% of the profits every year as a performance bonus for all employees, with the management team taking half. You can work out the specifics of the distribution.”

Zhao Yue, who was originally full of frustration, suddenly found Lide incredibly endearing.

Such a generous boss.

30% of profits, that was simply…

“Thank you, Mr. Li. I’ll go arrange this right away~” Her voice became much sweeter.

Lide took it for granted; he didn’t lack money, only a group of people who could work for him.

Only when the company’s interests align with the employees’ will they work harder. He didn’t have to make empty promises; cash incentives were straightforward. If they wanted to earn more, they had to work harder.

“Uh-huh, is there anything else?”

Hearing this, Zhao Yue remembered the main official business for today.

“The clubs that traded with us for Glory Gold Pucks have asked to purchase more, and other clubs that got the news are also seeking to buy.

I made a preliminary count, and their current demand is for 8,000….”

Lide was slightly startled upon hearing this; 8,000? That was close to 400 million. These clubs really were rich.

“We don’t have that many, only 5,000 available.

Arrange it so that the clubs that have previously purchased from us reduce their proportion, and those who haven’t can increase their proportion.

This time we are the sellers’ market, so we can increase the price to the market rate.

Also, after this round of sales, keep the funds obtained on the balance sheet. If there’s not enough for establishing the Data Analysis Center, you can continue to allocate funds without cutting back…”

Hearing Lide’s words, Zhao Yue’s mood immediately brightened.

Her main purpose for calling today was because of Lide’s generous moves: not only recruiting numerous professional gamers but also establishing a 300-person data analysis center.

The little over 30 million on the Crimson Moon’s account wouldn’t last long, and she had thought about discussing with Lide the possibility of reducing some expenses.

But with a single move, Lide had spent several billions.

With this money in hand, she felt completely reassured.

Having surplus food at home meant there was no reason to panic.

“Yes, Mr. Li.”

“We’ve already recruited players with beta testing qualifications, right? Let our people go to Green City and get money from my NPC subordinates.

Furthermore, I might be a bit busy recently. If anything major comes up that requires my decision, give me a call directly. Also, inform me once you’ve found a suitable assistant.”

Zhao Yue cracked a slight smile at those words; Lide’s intent was clear enough—don’t bother me unless it’s important.

“Yes, Mr. Li, I understand. I’ll find you an assistant as quickly as possible.”

After hanging up the phone, Lide sent out a message to confirm the trading method for the gold pucks, ensuring everything was in order before entering Glory.

The Crimson Bond, due to Glory not yet being open for public testing, was mainly engaged in preparatory work for the early stages. Although tedious, the management of the Crimson Moon was more than capable of handling it.

While he was in Glory, he could still vividly perceive his physical state on Earth, which is why he made a point of returning to Earth periodically to cope with eating and toileting issues.

Moreover, if a phone or other loud noise sounded, he would be aware.

Thus, he didn’t worry about missing anything of importance.

However, he had recently encountered a phenomenon that left him quite astonished: as long as he drank enough fresh blood in Glory, his earthly body could go very long without needing food.

It seemed that the deeper he merged with Glory, the more the magic power existing within it could transfer into his earthly body via his soul.

What’s more, his body in Glory was becoming increasingly similar to his body on Earth.

All of these miraculous circumstances prompted Lide to ponder even more about Glory.

This miraculous so-called “game” hid far too many secrets, and it was foreseeable that not only he, but every player involved, would come to notice these details.

What the future held would be difficult to predict.

Fortunately, he stood at the forefront of everyone this time.

————

————

————

In Dawn City, Lide arrived at his estate’s study and began to examine his attribute panel.

It had been a long while since he last improved the Small Fireball Skill.

He had dabbled in research during his spare moments, but he hadn’t delved deep.

Currently, he had improved only two spells: Mage’s Hand and Small Fireball Skill.

He had added a Transformation function to Mage’s Hand, and he had modified the Small Fireball Skill to allow for rapid spellcasting.

It could be said that each had its use. The improved Mage’s Hand had already become the most commonly used spell by all spellcasters in Dawn City. The Small Fireball Skill wasn’t lacking either and was indispensable in combat.

However, with the escalation of battles, these two spells could no longer keep pace with his progress. He needed more powerful spells to compensate for the shortcomings in his combat capabilities.

After all, whether the predicted change would happen at level 15 was unknown, and he didn’t like pinning his hopes on uncertain events. He preferred to be in control.

“So which spell should I improve this time? If I continue from the Small Fireball Skill, then the Big Fireball Skill is undoubtedly the best choice.”

A few days ago, triggered by Cap’s challenge, he had seriously studied the Big Fireball Skill, but the spell, with more than 200 Magic Nodes, left him quite distressed.

Although it only seemed to increase by 150 Magic Nodes compared to the Small Fireball Skill, the difficulty of improvement had increased tenfold.

“The Small Fireball Skill is fast enough, but as combat power increases, its effectiveness diminishes.

In battles like against Cap, the Small Fireball Skill is practically a joke; even a spellcasting team of hundreds couldn’t take down a level 18 Beastman King with it.”

Battle consciousness could improve. The necessities at level 10 would obviously differ from those at level 14.

At level 10, he thought of how to deal with opponents of the same caliber, but after experiencing high-end battles at level 14, he considered how to unleash higher damage to overpower higher levels.

The Small Fireball was still a sharp tool in low-end battles or when an enemy was immobilized.

But for high-end combats, it was no longer suitable—its low damage was a fatal flaw.

“And it’s not just attack spells; I lack sufficient life-saving equipment, which is extremely fatal.

Although the Bloodline’s talent grants me exceedingly tenacious vitality, going defenseless and without protective gear will not withstand focused attacks.

The insufficiency of my attack capabilities must be resolved, and my defensive abilities also need to be strengthened.

Thus, I need to research two spells: one for attack and another for defense.”

After muttering to himself, Lide slowly turned his gaze to the Big Fireball Skill and Mage Shield.

The Big Fireball Skill was directly related to the Small Fireball Skill, and having thoroughly researched the latter, moving on to the former would be relatively easier.

Besides, based on the result of the improved Small Fireball Skill, the Big Fireball Skill seemed to have significant untapped potential, making it worth investigating.

As for the shield, this classic Mage Skill was as widely known as the Small Fireball; every Mage had one.

Not learning the Small Fireball Skill meant you were not a Mage, and not learning the Mage Shield meant you were a Mage who did not measure up.

The Mage Shield, known for its fast casting time and strong defense, is a robust defensive skill. Before any battle, every Mage would cast a Mage Shield on themselves.

Privately, Lide estimated that his cast Mage Shield could withstand a full-force blow from a same-level warrior.

Which meant a level 14 warrior could breach his shield with a single all-out attack.

Of course, he hadn’t found anything wrong with this before the spur, as most Advanced Mages had learned skills like Void Walking or Spatial Jumping.

Most Mages could escape death as long as they weren’t killed in one hit.

However, Lide now sought a shield that could withstand attacks from at least a level 15 warrior; a level 14’s defense was no longer sufficient to satisfy his needs, particularly since “the thirties are as fierce as wolves, the forties as strong as tigers”…

And he also sensed there was significant room for improvement with the Mage Shield, which could only withstand one hit—this was far too futile. It should last against at least a dozen blows.

After careful consideration, Lide settled on the paths to improve both spells.

He aimed to increase the Big Fireball Skill’s potency, to unleash power close to the level of the Three Circle Magic’s Bursting Fireball in a very short time.

The Bursting Fireball, with its 600 Magic Nodes, would be too time-consuming to improve—perhaps the entire Frost Month wouldn’t see any results. Therefore, he decided to work on the Big Fireball Skill.

As for the Mage Shield, he sought one that was more solid and offered greater protection…

With the approach determined, Lide embarked once again on a perilous journey of magic improvement.

With 50,000 milliliters of Magic Blood thoroughly prepared, he plunged into the refinement of magic.

PS: I’ve written too much, too lazy to divide into chapters… don’t scold me.