Murphy's appearance in the Smuggler's Woodland quickly sparked a "spooky enthusiasm" among new and old players, and the presence of the main NPCs here shows that they have indeed triggered a great hidden plot.

On the other hand, Murphy's appearance style also made the eyes of veteran players shine.

He didn't fly over this time, but appeared in front of everyone on a very peculiar skeleton horse that was decorated like a monster fused with bones and steel.

It looks like a skeleton cavalry vehicle, but just from its appearance and appearance, you can tell that this thing is definitely a "high-end product"!

"Mistress Murphy's new mount is so handsome! Is this the dog planner painting pie again? So what the hell can you get this kind of skeleton warhorse from the Scarlet Keep later? ”

The itchy shovel brother whispered to Niu Niu beside him, who did not answer immediately, but looked at the posture of Lord Murphy in front of him.

I have to say that the ominous things like vampires and skeleton war horses in a gloomy style are really a perfect match, and what stands out is a "cult flower boy style".

"Some kind of premium reward, presumably?"

Ah Ru, who likes brainstorming, couldn't help but think:

"You see, we've seen skeleton cavalry in the Smuggler's Woodland and almost got overturned by them, does this mean that the hidden plot that was triggered has something to do with skeletons?

There is a precedent for this!

Just like the various equipment sold by the Blood Rat Gang in the sewers is related to ghouls, I guess we can get this special vehicle reward after we finish this story? ”

"Ah, why a ground vehicle?"

Touching you poor also likes the gorgeous style of the skeleton war horse, he couldn't help but complain:

"Why don't you just make winged invincibility? How handsome a flying skeleton horse is! So I can take to the skies with my Stinky Treasure. ”

"Well, great idea!"

Murphy next to him was moved.

He immediately decided to write down the little rich brother's thoughts in his own small notebook, and then asked the corpse witch to try if he could add wings to the skeleton war horse.

This thing belongs to the Undead Construct.

Its body is dead, and it is currently relying on the Death Psionic Energy to support the structure of the body to continue moving, so theoretically its form is not confined to a fixed form, so adding wings sounds outrageous but definitely doable!

However, before Murphy could share with his young players the "hidden story" of the Smuggler's Woodland, he received a psykeric communication from Tracy.

"You said that the corpse witch is Adele's elder?"

When the lord heard this, he twitched the corner of his eye.

But when he thought about the time when the Corpse Witch said that he died in the filthy swamp more than twenty years ago coincided with the time Adele fled into Transnesia, he couldn't help but think more about it.

He immediately realized that he could extract more information from the corpse witch through Adele's connection, so Murphy didn't stop there, and after encouraging his little players to draw cakes for them, he handed over the command scepter and skeleton horse to Hogg to be at his disposal, and he spread his wings and flew back to the Crimson Keep at dusk.

Lord Hogg, the Bloodclaw Chieftain, will also be confused.

It had thought that asking Master Murphy's warriors to step in could solve the problem it was currently facing, but it didn't expect that less than half a day after these guys entered the Smuggler's Woodland, the Bloodclaw Clan's big trouble had been completely solved.

In the Gnoll Outpost, Hogg clumsily manipulated the elite skeleton army with the very cold Command Scepter in his hand.

After a few minutes of use, it regretfully held the scepter in its arms.

This thing is powerful!

It could control the elite skeleton army for its own use, but unfortunately, there were only about two hundred necromantic creatures bound to this scepter.

This means that the other skeleton soldiers roaming the woodland are still a big threat to the Bloodclaw Clan, but the most troublesome elite skeleton army is under his command, which undoubtedly makes the Bloodclaw Clan's strength multiply several times in an instant, which also means that it has finally become the "King of the Glade" in the true sense.

With the clan brutes and elite kobolds under its command, plus this skeleton army, it can even claim to be the second force in the Dark Barony, second only to the "Unbreakable Wall" Krimu Fortress!

"Lord Hogg, what are you going to do with this weird-looking bone horse?"

Nash, the little man who followed Hogg, looked at the skeleton warhorse that had stopped quietly not far away, waiting for orders, and said with some regret:

"It's pretty powerful, it looks like it's something that the Overseers deserve, but it's too big for us gnolls to ride."

"Then contain it in the clan treasury."

Hogg narrowed his eyes and said very sly and decisively:

"Give it as a gift to the strongest of the warriors who are kindest to us! Since there is only this one, then naturally it can only be given to the most powerful champion!

Nash, go and deliver the order.

Tell the good news to the warriors we have hired to get the ultimate gift from the Bloodclaw tribe in this bounty hunt, whoever kills the most skeletons.

Ah, I probably understand how to use their powers.

And now that the security of the woodland has been entrusted to the warriors, our patrolling brutes no longer need to be afraid.

You go to the best hunters and brutes in the clan to form a team, and I will lead them into the filthy swamp once the clan is settled, and we must find a way for Lord Murphy.

That's what we have to do! ”

——

"Are you sure that guy is your Uncle Bella who escorted you out of the swamp and died because of it?"

Murphy summons Adele in his office after returning to the Crimson Corridor, and Sister E's expression is quite subtle.

Faced with Murphy's inquiry, she hesitated and replied:

"It really is!

I'll never forget Uncle Bella's face and his voice, but it's not quite, and death seems to take away something that belongs to him, making it strange to me.

I've talked to it.

All I can tell you, my lord, I can't trust it as completely as I used to.

As it says, it is now just a cursed dead, a controlled corpse witch, it does not even have free control over its own existence, and naturally it cannot express its emotions without reservation.

But there's one more piece of news you need to know. ”

Adele paused, and she said:

"It's not just Uncle Bella who was resurrected by the Gnoll Warlock, my Aunt Bernice was also resurrected as a Knight of Hades and manipulated by the Gnoll Warlock.

Uncle Bella, having heard of our battle in Translasia, realized the power we possessed, and so he begged me to save his wife.

It told me that he could exchange some 'dangerous' information for this help. ”

"So, your Uncle Bella did have reservations about me in the previous conversation, what a cunning guy."

Murphy snorted, and he asked:

"Can you describe for me the Uncle Bella you remember?"

"Hmm."

Adele immediately replied:

"Uncle Bella is a half-elf, and like my father, he was once a gladiator of the Mejewa family.

He used to be better at psionic powers, and Uncle Bella was one of my strongest supporters when my mother planned her escape.

His yearning for freedom was as unquenchable as a flame, and Uncle Bella served as the defense commander of the valley after we entered and lived there.

He and Aunt Bernice are in a partnership.

They were a deadly duo in the arena, they had been fighting for years, and they had a daughter born in the same year as me.

I remember her name was 'Lisa' and she was my best playmate as a child.

But as you said, Uncle Bella was also a cunning man, and the first half of his life determined that his way of thinking must be from the perspective that was most beneficial to him. ”

"Can you give me some advice?"

Murphy nodded, and he asked again:

"If I need to make some mutual aid agreement with your Uncle Bella, where do I start?"

"Free!"

Adele replied in the affirmative:

"I believe that the person who was able to escape from the gladiatorial arena with my mother at all costs could not have complained about his second life after an unexpected resurrection and being manipulated by the gnolls.

Even if it has come back from the dead, it will never be willing to serve the gnolls!

Actually, I think Uncle Bella may have been secretly plotting another escape in the name of 'freedom'.

I feel like we can work with him on this, the Bone Biting Clan Gnoll Warlocks who are busy in the filthy swamp are our enemies on both sides! ”

"Well, that makes sense, you can bring it in."

Murphy crossed his fingers and said to Adele, and Sister E pushed open the door and walked out, returning to the office with Bella the Witch a few minutes later.

The creature was shackled with brass restraints on both hands and feet, which did not interfere with his movement.

However, through these suppressed things made by Triss herself, the spiritual energy of the corpse witch can be suppressed to the extent of extreme weakness, and its threat can be minimized.

Seeing Murphy again, the corpse witch Bella couldn't help but scold fiercely:

"I should have set myself on fire and burned you bastard to death on the edge of the swamp, you bitch! How dare you turn the only daughter of 'Free Hand' Mona and 'Shadow Hydra' Truman into vampires!

I curse you! Murphy!

I curse you that you will end up in Hades, and you will never be freed! ”

"Curse, ha, if such a weak curse could really make a vampire fall into Hades, then our race would have been wiped out eight hundred years earlier."

Murphy knocked on the table very unceremoniously and said:

"So please calm down, Mr. Bella.

If you've listened to Adele's story, you know that I saved her and brought her back to the world below midnight from the tragedy of being a blood ghoul.

I don't ask for your thanks, but at least not so bad!

Alright, let's get down to business.

Tell me all about your previous trevally, about the gnolls who manipulated you, what the hell are they doing in the swamp? ”

"Ahh If there is a choice."

Bella sighed like a living person.

The corpse witch pulled his hood back up to cover his corpse-like form, and he whispered:

"They're looking for something, something incredibly important to the Gnoll race, a lost treasure to be exact.

From the King of Bites who mysteriously disappeared at the end of the Fourth Black Apocalypse one hundred and ten years ago.

According to legend, the King of Biters fled into the Filthy Swamp after his defeat.

It and its bravest guards attempted to return through the swamp to the mossy valley of the Dark Mountains in an attempt to make a comeback, but the Lord of the Biters entered the swamp and never came out again.

The King of the Gnolls who had nearly toppled the continent must have died somewhere in the swamp.

But the problem is that there is a legend that has always been circulating in the Biting Bone Clan.

It is said that the King of Biting Bones has something in his hands that can give the Gnoll a unique power, allowing one lucky individual to become the king of all Gnolls!

It was with that treasure that the Lord of the Biting Bone was able to condense an army as large as the Fourth Black Calamity, and you know, with the character of the Gnolls, it is impossible for them to form a dark tide of that scale under natural conditions.

Therefore, I personally feel that this legend still has some credibility. ”

"Did they find it?"

Murphy was not surprised to hear about the lost treasure of the Bone King.

It is quite normal that such a person who has been dead for more than a hundred years can still cause some unnecessary situations.

As for the treasures

Perhaps, but Murphy doesn't really care.

After all, it was a racial treasure of the jackals, and others couldn't use it in their hands.

But you can't use it yourself and you can't let the enemy get it, and the meaning of victory is not just to get something yourself, and letting others go home empty-handed is also a very useful strategy.

Faced with Murphy's question, Bella the Witch let out a strange laugh, and it said in a long voice:

"As I said, it's been more than three years since I was resurrected, and it's been three years since my consciousness was pulled back from the chaotic underworld to the physical world, which means they've been active in the swamp for a long time.

The filthy swamp, though enormous, was not so big in front of a sleepless legion of the dead, and those gnolls had rummaged through almost every part of the swamp, and they found nothing.

They couldn't find it!

They are not destined for them!

By the time I had been ordered to leave the swamp and set up an observation outpost in the Smuggler's Woodland, the Plague Warlocks had already focused on entering the Swamp Forbidden Lands.

They were suspicious that the treasure they were trying to find was hidden in that dangerous place.

If you want me to say, I think it's a desperate way to kill yourself."

"Forbidden land?"

Murphy narrowed his eyes and asked:

"What's there?"

"One or more legendary beasts."

Bella shook her head and said:

"Bernice and I died at the hands of those things, and Adele should remember it."

"Ninki Nanka, the Elven word for 'serpent'."

Lady Adele explained in a cautious tone:

"Legendary creatures hidden in filthy swamps, like a mix of a serpent and a lizard, all I remember was the behemoth glowing in the swamp and disappearing followed by an earthquake of terror.

That's not a life that mortals can fight against, Master Murphy, please don't have any interest in things that only exist in legends.

The fact that the gnolls dared to provoke the beast showed that they were crazy enough and desperate enough. ”

"But it's an opportunity!"

Bella the Witch then said:

"The Gnoll Warlocks intend to challenge the swamp monsters in search of the Bone King's lost treasure, and they will surely throw all their power into it.

This means that they will relax their monitoring of the rest of the swamp.

All it takes is an elite team!

I can take you to infiltrate the camps that the gnolls have set up in the swamp, and we can steal our life boxes back.

I assure you, Lord Murphy, that as long as you can get your life box back, and as long as you can give us freedom after death, 45 corpse witches and knights of Hades, including me and Bernice, will be loyal to you! ”

"Master, I'm willing to do it for you!"

Adele also earnestly pleaded, saying:

"I also hope that Uncle Bella and Aunt Bernice will be able to escape this humiliation of being enslaved, which I owe them."

"No, kid, you don't owe us anything."

The corpse witch shook his head and said:

"Mona has brought us a favor that we will never be able to repay in our lifetime, and Bernice and I have never regretted dying to protect you, and you don't have to blame yourself for it."

"But I don't have that many elites in my hands at the moment."

Murphy got up and shook his head, and he said:

"At least vampires can't be used, and there are only so many people left in the Vulture Clan, but, Adele, there seems to be no progress on your faction and your warrior selection.

I know your character is not very willing to devote your energy to this kind of thing, but now you have enough reasons to perfect your command.

I've given Hogg orders.

It needs to find a safe path through the filthy swamp for me, and the Blood Rats are a force you can mobilize, and as you say, since you're willing to share the burden for me, you can do it now. ”

He said to his heirs:

"You will preside over this matter, you will plan it, you will recruit you to execute it, I will not be involved in it or point fingers, I will stay in the Crimson Keep and expect a good result."

"Hmm."

Adele nodded, and then Murphy's gaze turned to the corpse witch Bella, and he said:

"On the other hand, since we are now 'our own family', Lord Bella, there are some things that I can ask more calmly, about Dusk.

Tell me everything you know! ”

(End of chapter)