CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 49: A TOWN PRETENDING TO FUNCTION

Chun finished his noodles at the noodle shop, took a nap until noon, and continued with another bowl of noodles. Then, after two nights of gaming, he noticed that his hair was becoming greasy, so he headed to the salon to wash and blow-dry his hair for more than half an hour.

Although it seemed like a waste of time, he needed people to feel he was wasting time—the persona is crucial!

By the time he returned to the internet cafe, it was already 12:30.

The smiling girl at the counter greeted him, "Mr. Ding, your private room has been cleaned..."

"Thank you!"

Then a group of gaming experts greeted him, "Brother Chun, Silver City is booming! Last night Sariel’s celebrity Lucky Blessing caused all the blacksmith shops to churn out top-grade items, boosting the strength of all professional teams by a notch!"

"The Azure Sky Team upstairs got lucky and received a few Knight’s Bows, directly forged to advanced level 10, just a step away from expert..."

"The village battles will be lively when the time comes!"

At some point, people started sharing unrelated things with each other, and this made Chun feel somewhat guilty about hiding the guild matter.

But there’s nothing he can do now, just hold on.

After chatting idly for about ten minutes, Chun pretend leisurely returned to his private room.

Immediately logging on, he was surprised to find a scene of campfires alight and laughter echoing everywhere.

A row of system messages flooded the screen:

——System Alert: Welcome to the game, it is nighttime 12:46 on the Golden Continent. You have received the midnight carnival blessing from Black Flag Island.

Blessing Effect: Your consumption recovery accelerates, and you receive a layer of damage resistance Guardian Barrier, lasting 1 day. Extra resistance against damage from undead dark attributes.

——System Alert: You received the Silver City midnight carnival blessing, with full recovery of illusion skill value. You gain an attribute bonus from special tapioca burn wine, temporarily increasing physical strength limit by 188%, increasing recovery speed, resisting fear, trembling, and cold. Negative status effects include blurry vision and unstable movement. Duration: approximately 1 day.

——System Alert: You received the Sacred Artifact Rings forged by Master Smith "Ring of Greedy Evil Spirit Undead" and "Grandmaster’s Prayer Ring".

——System Alert: You equipped "Old and Shabby Nurse" outfit and are activating "Dance of Evil Spirits".

...

Holy Shit, what’s going on!? Night market? Sacred Artifact?!

Aileen laughed, "Don’t move recklessly, I’m dancing, when I dance, they see you as an evil spirit too."

Only then did Chun realize his Steel Diving Suit had been removed and replaced with a shabby dress from who knows where, surrounded by a crowd laughing as he danced.

Chun was both surprised and pleased, "What happened?"

Aileen laughed, "The blacksmith initially crafted a necromancer ring filled with resentment with bad intentions. But then he broke through the technical bottleneck and realized the expertise of a grandmaster, satisfying his life’s wish and understanding the breakthrough. So he infused the ring with resentment, cleansed himself, and became a Good Spirit. Then he crafted another Grandmaster’s Sacred Artifact Ring and delivered it with great credit, and he even called on everyone not to make it difficult for you, so the lights were lit, and the ball began."

Holy Shit, grandmaster enlightenment! An NPC who can return Magic Gold Sacred Artifacts is definitely worthy!

Chun immediately spotted a great righteous figure emitting white light in the smoky crowd! Good, I must appoint him as Deputy City Lord!

Chun hurriedly checked the ring’s attributes:

——Ring of Greedy Evil Spirit Undead: Death Holy Artifact, exclusive for Necromancers. Special Skill 1: Absorb Resentment. Special Skill 2: Resentment Vent. Can be handed to a master-level jeweler for processing and upgrading to Divine Artifact.

Absorb Resentment: The necromancer ring can absorb a large amount of resentment to enhance the user’s power, restricted to Necromancers.

Resentment Vent: The necromancer ring can release stored resentment in a concentrated burst, causing high-pressure stream damage with fear and frenzy effect.

——Forging Grandmaster’s Prayer Ring: Sacred Artifact, physical strength +50, luck +5, total damage to Necromancers increased by 50%.

Enhances the proficiency of forging skills, increases the success rate and quality of forging equipment. Can be handed to a master-level jeweler for processing and upgrading to Divine Artifact.

...

Chun was dumbfounded, "Is this the power of a grandmaster? Only a bit of Magic Gold can forge such powerful equipment. If it’s a mine, wouldn’t it be wholesale Sacred Artifacts?"

Aileen laughed, "You’re thinking too much. Sacred Artifacts and Divine Artifacts depend on mood and inspiration. Mass-produced items don’t have a soul."

Alright. But crafting through players doesn’t mention inspiration, it’s just betting on luck, isn’t it?

Chun was thrilled yet troubled, "It’s too unsafe to have such valuable items on my red-name character, and this necromancer ring seems to be exclusive for necromancers; I can’t use it!"

Aileen laughed, "But I can use it, I have no physical form and don’t use attack magic; this ring perfectly compensates for that. Why not give it to me? Also, some non-exclusive attributes you can actually use too, it’s like we’re sharing."

Chun was surprised, "We can share? How to give it?"

"Like this!"

——System Alert: You received the Evil Spirit Contract task "Gift the Ring of Greedy Evil Spirit Undead".

——System Alert: You completed the Evil Spirit Contract task "Gift the Ring of Greedy Evil Spirit Undead", the Evil Spirit Aileen has gained ownership of the necromancer ring. (Note: Due to the special situation of Evil Spirit Possession, you still retain partial usage rights)

Aileen’s triumphant laughter echoed in his mind!

Holy Shit, your contract tasks really follow your whims!

Chun quickly asked, "It’s still on my hand, right? Will I drop it when I die?"

Aileen laughed, "Although it’s on your hand, since I possess you, it’s like it’s on my hand. As for whether it will drop, it’s hard to say."

Got it! The item belongs to her, the drop rate is based on her. If it’s me, the red-name character, it’s a 100% drop!

Aileen added, "Once you have money, you can also go back to the city’s insurance company and buy insurance to bind it, then it definitely won’t drop."

Your item, I’m buying insurance, typical of you!

Chun sighed, "When do I ever get the chance to return to the city like this?"

Aileen remembered something, "It seems there’s an insurance company right here!"

Chun was incredulous, "An insurance company run by undead? Effective?"

Aileen laughed, "I don’t know, you’re the City Lord, figure it out."

This immediately reminded Chun of a realistic problem, even if a bunch of undead lit up the night market, there was absolutely no economic activity, right? Do undead need the basic necessities to drive internal and external demand?

Finally, the dance ended.

The blacksmith was the first to applaud: "The ball is over, everyone disperse!"

The crowd wisely laughed and dispersed.

Chun stepped forward to greet: "Mr. Smith—"

The blacksmith turned back indifferently: "Call me Tie!"

Huh?

Chun sincerely thanked him first, then got straight to the point: "Old Tie, I’d like to appoint you as the Deputy City Lord, are you willing?"

The blacksmith laughed heartily: "A once-in-a-lifetime thing I never dared dream of, try appointing me then?"

This talent is surprisingly cooperative!

—Black Flag Order Prompt: Invalid operation! Cannot appoint the deceased to office or incorporate the deceased as citizens.

Chun was dumbfounded: "Cannot appoint or incorporate?"

Holy shit, then what’s the point of the token? To immigrate the living here? Who would want to come to Plague Island?

The blacksmith laughed and said: "That’s unfortunate! What plans do you have as the new City Lord?"

Chun asked blankly: "My token is invalid, do you still recognize me as the new City Lord?"

The blacksmith chuckled: "I’ve never heard of a leader being recognized through a token! Losing the people’s support would make them overthrow him just the same!"

The people’s support!

Chun suddenly understood, maybe this is the best state! What am I most afraid of? After painstakingly taking over the island almost completely, what if Fafnir just waves a small hand and takes back the token, making me a mere caretaker! Now with the token not in control, I’m not afraid of it being taken back. As long as I have the people’s support, they will still recognize me!

Chun got excited: "I’m new here and don’t know the place well. Old Tie, could you give me some guidance?"

The blacksmith said: "We were also awakened today by a strong force. Perhaps because we’ve been dead for so long, many of our memories from life have faded, making us seem unclear, but our professional skills are mostly intact. We can pretend to maintain the semblance of a town based on long-term habits from life, but clearly, that’s not sustainable. Could I ask, who awakened us?"

Chun candidly explained: "Actually, I only know that in life he was a very powerful Treasure Hunting Captain, and after death, he became a strong evil spirit. I was just playing hide and seek with him, then he somehow awakened the entire city’s dead to find me."

The blacksmith asked: "Does he know there’s magic gold here?"

Chun frowned: "He should have guessed there would be."

The blacksmith said: "Maybe that’s his other purpose, to turn this place into an Evil Spirit City, coupled with the plague to make it even harder for the living to land. Maybe there are other Evil Spirit Cities in the world. If we could establish contact, we might restore the town’s functions, but it probably still wouldn’t relate to the living. It depends on your decision."

Indeed! Find another Evil Spirit City to teach management skills! Once the Evil Spirit City forms, this place becomes a territory nominally governed by the token but beyond its control!

Chun asked again: "Can Hell City work?"

The blacksmith shook his head: "I don’t know! I have no idea what hell is like."

Then I’ll have to use an alt to find an opportunity to ask that fake angel Maria? But negotiating with demons is like asking a tiger for its skin, need to be careful.

As they spoke, the two returned to the brightly lit street. Sure enough, they saw clerks standing diligently in the empty, dilapidated store pretending to work. The barkeep at the tavern was earnestly wiping a broken bottle with a ragged black cloth at the shabby counter.

It was supposed to be a bizarre or amusing situation, but Chun oddly thought of himself also pretending to work.

The blacksmith said seriously: "Don’t ask them about unhappy things! Their clearest memories are of those last chaotic times. Don’t ask me either, I don’t want to mention it; I’m afraid I won’t be able to suppress hatred and turn into an evil spirit again!"

Holy shit! That’s cutting off my channel for information? Must focus on the future?

Just then, an evil spirit in a tattered doctor’s gown greeted: "Hey, Dog City Lord—"

The blacksmith glared angrily: "Talk nonsense and I’ll hammer you!"

The evil spirit immediately cowered and changed his wording: "City Lord, when will you pay our wages in arrears for over a hundred years?"

A crowd of evil spirits immediately jeered: "Yeah, wages in arrears for over a hundred years!"

Holy shit!! Is this payback for me trying to collect over a hundred years of taxes from them?

Chun waved his hand: "It cancels out the hundred years of taxes you owe!"

The evil spirits immediately clamored: "Doesn’t cancel out! Taxes are only one-tenth of the wages! You still owe us nine-tenths!"

Holy shit, they actually have logic!

Chun got anxious: "But your property value has increased! It’s been going up for over 100 years, there’s property tax! How does it not cancel out?"

The evil spirits were immediately dumbfounded: "I have property?"

"Isn’t it living in the collective dormitory of the guild?"

Seeing the situation was not right, Chun waved his big hand again: "The City Lord has allocated properties for you! Look at all the empty houses in our city, two per person is more than enough, one to live, one to rent—why don’t you thank me? Let’s hear that applause!!!"

The blacksmith led the applause!

The evil spirits, though still bewildered, were evidently pleased: "Housing distribution!"

Chun felt this group of evil spirits was like those with amnesia-induced neurosis, who could erupt anytime once they regained clarity, so he still needed to establish authority! And establishing authority—Chun thought of that severely injured Slime Monster. It’s rare to encounter such a professional match for my Cleaner Fish, might as well take advantage of the invulnerability effect from this merry blessing, plus the physical boost from drinking and the ring, to face it!

Chun said: "Old Tie, I’m going to take out that Slime Monster deep in the mine, can you—"

Chun suddenly hesitated. Although he really wanted him to help, losing a trusted master over such a dangerous matter would be too much of a loss.

But the blacksmith immediately got excited: "Want my help? No problem!"

Holy shit, the more straightforward you are, the less I can let you take risks.

Chun decisively refused: "No, no, help me spread the word that the City Lord is going to challenge it alone to establish his authority."

The blacksmith then understood: "Got it, you do need to establish authority. This Slime Monster is also a necromancer; the ring I made for you will help."

So he clapped and shouted: "Everyone, the City Lord is going to eliminate the Slime Monster..."

The evil spirits burst into laughter: "Him? Open the betting, open the betting!"

No respect...