Chapter 48: Citizens Already?

April 3rd, 6:00 AM. In the game world, it was 6:00 PM, and the sun was just setting.

Dachun's Seamanship skill had made rapid progress, reaching Advanced Level 10 before coming to an abrupt halt. Even with four Sea Souls infusing the hull, he gained no more proficiency.

What was going on? Was it really this difficult even to reach the Expert tier in his expectations?

Elaine was equally perplexed: "Perhaps the most diligent training in front of a mirror can never compare to a true performance on stage. The Expert tier isn't something you can just casually achieve."

*I'm surrounded by a bunch of watered-down experts anyway!*

Dachun wrestled with a dilemma: "Does this mean I have to find a real, large-scale ship to practice on?"

Elaine thought for a moment: "I wonder if that fellow, Valapiku of the Sea Otter, is still around? He looked like a subordinate of the Great Wraith; perhaps we could look for him?"

"I have the plague! Even if he's still nearby, there's no way he'd let me board his ship, right?"

Wait! That wasn't the point!

A creeping sense of unease washed over Dachun: "I wonder if his familiars are still around? If they are, could they be lurking on the island and constantly monitoring me?"

"You've been lying flat out on the street the entire time; there's nothing for him to monitor even if he tried."

Just then, groups of figures began to appear on the streets under the alien sky.

Elaine gasped in astonishment: "Ghosts! It's dusk now, just the right time for them to come out."

Dachun asked in shock: "So, this is what the soul perspective sees—ghosts that normal eyes can't perceive?"

Elaine wasn't entirely certain either: "But why do they seem to have shadows in this state?"

The next instant, the shadowy figures gathered in a tight circle around Dachun. From his lying-down perspective, it looked like a massive crowd of celestial deities looming over him like towering mountains.

Dachun had a very bad feeling about this.

One of the ghosts spoke up: "It's this damn Lord! Step on him!"

What the hell!

A crowd of "celestial deities" raised their feet and began to stomp wildly. A metallic clanging echoed from the alien sky, completely blocked by the steel diving suit.

Dachun was dumbfounded: "They have physical forms?"

Elaine said in a deep voice: "After all, they are ghosts from over a hundred years ago, and today they absorbed so much necrotic energy. It's also possible they absorbed something from the defeated oozes, coupled with your accumulated hatred driving them to upgrade into evil wraiths. It's entirely possible for them to manifest physically at night."

Holy crap, holy crap!

Yet this also gave Dachun a sudden flash of inspiration. Wasn't this the equivalent of a ghost night market from folklore? Bustling with life and activity as soon as night fell, and returning to a desolate ruin by daylight.

Dachun perked up: "If they have physical forms, doesn't that mean they're citizens? Can we run a night market?"

Elaine scoffed: "But right now, it's a citizen riot."

Dachun felt a massive headache coming on: "Then what should we do?"

"Your steel diving suit shouldn't care about a beating, right?"

"That still doesn't solve the problem!"

"I don't really know either. You're the Lord, figure it out yourself."

*You're my assistant AI, a female secretary! How can you not know?*

Dachun panicked: "No, no, you need to learn! Once you learn, you'll understand!"

Elaine replied with surprise: "Then go ahead and teach me?"

Dachun felt a bit awkward: "Aren't I figuring it out right now?"

Fine, how hard could being an official be? Although he had never been a manager himself, whatever a manager could do, he could probably manage too. As for what he could actually do, the manager would probably just chuckle!

Right at that moment, a screeching sound of metal dragging across the ground came from the pavement, and an angry roar echoed: "This damn Lord broke my trophy, I'm going to smash him to death!"

Crowds of ghosts excitedly cleared a path, shouting: "Smash him! Smash him!"

Dachun abruptly saw a tall, robust ghost dragging a heavy iron hammer as he came running over. *Holy crap!! A trophy? Could he be Smith, that true master from the blacksmith shop?!*

The next moment, a hammer came crashing down!

It felt like the moon colliding with the earth! Sparks flew across the entire contract space with a deafening roar and a jarring tremor!

——System Prompt: Warning! Your body has suffered a powerful external impact. You are about to exit the soul state and drunken state, and will be forcibly awakened!

Ah, what?

The scene shifted violently, and Dachun snapped his eyes open!

——System Prompt: Your body has absorbed the energy infused by a powerful evil wraith and fused it with the residual toxins in your system. You have gained 445 points of Illusion Value. Illusion Value can be used to cast skills such as Illusion and Invisibility. The basic activation requires 10 Illusion Points. You can also consume all your energy points to achieve the maximum effect of the skill...

...

*Illusion Value again?! Are you serious about giving me this much?*

But it didn't increase his health, and this consumption far exceeded that of his clone alt! As expected, different races yielded different effects?

Just then, the surrounding crowd cheered once more, and the blacksmith raised his heavy hammer high, charging up for another strike!

Holy crap!

He must be the strongest among the evil wraiths. Dachun had to project the majesty of a Lord to suppress him. Subduing this one should be enough to keep the entire group in check. The key was knowing his name; cursing someone directly by name provided an extra effectiveness bonus against anyone!

And the only way to suppress him was, of course, through illusions!

——System Prompt: You have activated the Illusion skill. The current default illusion replicates your own appearance, and you can adjust the size of the illusion...

Max out the Illusion Value immediately!

The next instant, Dachun's size surged to the height of a two-story building, towering directly over the blacksmith in his player form, and he roared angrily: "Smith, what do you think you're doing?!"

The entire area fell silent in an instant!

Startled, the blacksmith dropped his iron hammer to the ground, then stamped his feet and howled in rage: "I—have—no—idea—what—I'm—doing—either!!!"

He was suppressed!

He had to seize this hard-won opportunity to turn the situation around! Explain himself? Impossible! Besides, Elaine had said that evil wraiths don't listen to explanations. What if triggering certain keywords set them off again...

Dachun's thoughts raced frantically, and he could only blurt out the most common foreman cliché: "Why are you all gathered around me? Go back to whatever you're supposed to be doing!"

The crowd stood there in a daze, completely unresponsive.

*What the hell, are they dead set on rioting and refusing to take the Lord seriously, or have they been dead for so long that they genuinely don't remember what they're supposed to do?* He had to gamble on the latter and actively assign tasks to them.

Dachun immediately pulled out a piece of magic gold: "Smith, go forge me two rings! Let me, the newly appointed Lord, see if your skills match up to that trophy of yours! If they don't, don't blame me for breaking it!"

Smith shuddered violently: "Magic Gold!"

The crowd broke into a commotion as well: "Magic Gold!!"

*Holy crap, they all recognize it?*

This verified his suspicion: they had already gotten wind of the magic gold while they were still alive, which was why the entire island had been silenced. In that case, magic gold was probably their obsession! He could use it to divert their hatred.

Dachun immediately had his talking points: "Why are you shouting so loud? Keep it a secret! Work hard, everyone gets a share!"

Smith immediately walked back to the blacksmith shop in great excitement: "Secret! Keep it secret!!"

He had handled him! Now it was time to put on airs of authority!

Dachun continued to shout sternly: "Keep it a secret! Everyone back to work!"

The crowd excitedly scattered in all directions, wandering aimlessly down the streets.

Did it work? Although he had no idea what kind of chaotic commotion they might wander into, as long as they weren't rioting, it was fine.

Dachun canceled the illusion and let out a huge sigh of relief. He even felt a sense of utter exhaustion; this had been the critical moment that would determine the development of Black Flag Island.

Elaine recovered her senses as well: "You actually gave the magic gold to that blacksmith? What if he doesn't return it?"

Dachun sighed helplessly: "Then I'll curse him in front of everyone for lacking integrity!"

Elaine retorted coolly: "It's completely normal for evil wraiths to lack integrity."

Dachun sighed even more deeply: "Then I'll go around chatting with these ghosts one by one, and the topic of conversation will be his lack of integrity. At least we'll have a common topic of discussion."

Elaine scoffed: "You really act like a gossiping old woman."

*Isn't that your specialty anyway?*

Dachun was exhausted. He checked the time; having pulled an all-nighter, he was tired, hungry, and barely holding on: "I'm going to rest. Handle things while I'm away—especially watch out for the familiar's surveillance, and don't expose yourself."

"Understood."

...

Dachun logged off and went outside for breakfast. Afterward, just like yesterday, he slept until noon before returning.

As soon as he stepped downstairs, the rich aroma of instant noodles hit him. The group of hardcore gamers turned around to greet him: "Morning, Brother Chun!"

"Brother Chun, how did your escape go?"

Dachun naturally denied it: "It was such a scam! I was just out fishing and accidentally crossed the boundary. How can that possibly count as an escape?"

"Then is Brother Chun alright?"

Dachun smiled helplessly: "With the state I'm in, it makes no difference whether I'm alright or not. I'm just muddling through."

"Don't rush, Brother Chun. Just take it easy, you'll definitely be able to uncover a hidden map..."

Dachun discovered a new development: "Did everyone change classes to warriors?"

A chorus of curses rose from the group: "The big shot finally stopped blocking the entrance after dragging us down for three days. Now, thousands of people are scrambling for every single class-advancement monster-killing quest outside..."

"Might as well keep mining. Once there are fewer people, I'll go do the class quest. Probably have to stall for a few more days."

*Holy crap!* Presumably, all the red-named players had been thrown into the water prison, so the big shots no longer needed to camp the entrance.

Dachun greeted the barista: "I wasn't here this morning. Please arrange for the cleaning staff to tidy up the private room."

The barista smiled and said: "Sure thing, I'll arrange it."

...

Meanwhile, the top player Michael had just finished dinner when he received a report from his butler: "Sir, there are new developments regarding the Shiqian team. They keep feeding kills to the Messenger of Hell to help him advance, and they're utilizing the Earl's estate's influence to hunt down the Messenger of Hell in search of the magic power stone..."

Michael smiled: "The hunt failed?"

The butler replied: "Sir, the Messenger of Hell is only a small bat; it's difficult for him to contend with the Earl's treasure hunters through a short period of advancement. Moreover, the location of the magic power stone has shifted away from its original tunnel, and it's being guarded by a toad-like monster. This is a bit abnormal!"

Michael grew interested: "Could it be that sticking strictly to the original development parameters is considered normal? Why couldn't it be the result of autonomous AI growth?"

The butler said: "Autonomous growth is certainly a good thing. I will continue to monitor the situation."

Michael nodded: "In addition, this Shiqian team doesn't plan to use the teleportation array; are they preparing to tunnel straight down to hell?"

"That seems to be the case. They're using the Earl's connections to send all the red-named players down there, so they aren't lacking manpower."

Michael smiled: "Interesting. I'd love to see what happens when someone digs straight down to hell."