Chapter 20:
Murphy had to admit that he had indeed underestimated his adorable little players.
After listening to Lumina's thought process, even he, an orthodox vampire, stood dazed in the woods for more than ten seconds before coming to his senses. At this point, his gaze towards the innocent-looking Lumina became quite strange.
He knew that players liked to do some abstract activities, but this one, even by the moral standards of a great villain, seemed to have crossed the line.
However, according to the negative moral standards of a vampire as a member of the Midnight Clan, it was just right. This seemingly sunny foreign student girl might be a natural black heart? Or maybe even a little yandere?
She went that far?
Murphy only hesitated for a few seconds before making up his mind.
"Your suggestion is a bit risky, I need to consider it carefully."
Murphy said to Lumina with the solemnity an NPC should have, then took out the weapons and armor from the spirit bag at his waist and let the little players try them on and familiarize themselves with their performance.
This also included some alchemical bombs and a powerful but heavy immovable automatic hunter's crossbow seized from the Witch Hunters.
"Why are they all cold weapons?"
Twenty minutes later, the Meow King and his party came back escorting the professionals.
The notebook provided by Murphy already had many parameters written and drawn on it by Onboard Joy Stick, who had found a very suitable ambush terrain in the woods. But when he came back and saw the weapons and armor on his side, he couldn't hold back.
"I'm not familiar with cold weapon combat."
Joy Stick picked up a vampire-style swift sword and waved it in his hand, saying somewhat clumsily to the Meow King:
"But I know a few guys who play shock troop melee battles, their skills with heavy greatsword techniques are top-notch."
"We'll talk about that later, just tell me if these things work or not?"
The Meow King waited for the result, and after inspecting the current equipment situation, Joy Stick's eyes lit up when he saw that automatic hunter's crossbow.
He quickly walked over, fiddled with it for a bit, and after hearing from Niuniu about the rapid-fire performance of this thing, he pondered for a moment, slapped his thigh, and said:
"Mount this thing on a cart! Make a simple armored car compartment to serve as a fire platform, that girl over there! I heard from Meow that you're a good shooter, right? Then you can be the sniper.
I can also play long-range support, and we can use these black bombs to set up some land mines and such."
Joy Stick sat down on that big knife and waved his hand, saying:
"If we start the action tomorrow, then we have to start digging fortifications now. The enemy has armed soldiers, even if it's just World War I level firepower, we need a few foxholes.
If possible, we also need to dig a trench line! Since they're delivering military supplies, they're not going to shoulder it or pull it by hand. Since they have vehicles, a trench line would be very useful.
The road through that grove of trees has been abandoned, so they only have one path to take.
It's a pity we don't have enough gunpowder, otherwise we could make some cannons or something."
"You're getting more and more brutal as you go on."
The Meow King rolled his eyes, but then had a bright idea and immediately reported to Murphy. When he heard that the players were going to stay up all night to build fortifications here, Murphy was stunned.
He didn't mind the players staying here as free labor, since he had already reported the matter of the blood servants to Lady Femis.
He was just surprised that the little players were more eager about this than he was?
But on second thought, they weren't actually going to die, and it was just a military game, which was a lot more fun than his situation.
"Okay!"
Murphy nodded and said:
"I'll get you some tools, do what you need to do."
After saying that, he left the little grove and handed the rest of the matter over to his little players. He brought Maxim back to his own carriage and called Miriam onto the carriage.
"I have a task for you."
Murphy took a deep breath and said softly to Miriam:
"I'm going to lure away Lady Femis's servants, and you take the opportunity to go to the carriage holding the Witch Hunter prisoners. They've been tortured and interrogated by vampires for the past two nights, but they should still be conscious at this point."
"What are you going to do?"
Miriam looked horrified.
She had realized that things were not right, but Murphy didn't give her a chance to refuse, and then he didn't move his mouth but used his ventriloquism skill to transmit the next words directly into Miriam's ears.
The more she heard, the wider her eyes grew, and when she finished listening, she was so terrified that she covered her ears and screamed:
"You're crazy! If they find out, we'll be…"
"So don't let them find out! Don't worry, this is how we vampires do things. Even if it gets out, other vampires will only praise me for being cruel enough, and I'll take that as a compliment and gladly accept it.
The problem is, you have to act immediately."
Murphy covered Miriam's mouth with his hand and said to her:
"Don't be afraid. At high noon, when the sun is at its most scorching, even a vampire like Lady Femis has to sleep in her coffin.
As long as you're not stupid enough to open their coffin lids, no one will jump out and hurt you.
All you have to do is deliver a message!
Think about it carefully.
Even if the Witch Hunter prisoners don't agree to cooperate, they won't betray you! Even if they say something, the vampires will just see it as a malicious attempt to sow discord.
Tomorrow is the day of action!
If they don't seize this last chance, what awaits them when they return to Kadman City will be a fate worse than death.
In the face of the spirit interrogation masters' methods, their willpower is useless, and those secrets will eventually be dug out, bringing death and destruction to their comrades.
Believe me, Miriam, this is an opportunity for all of us!
I promise you, no matter what the outcome of tomorrow's action is, you will gain your freedom! After returning to Kadman City, I will personally send you off to join a merchant caravan heading to the port of Shaldor.
I swear by my Elder Lady Tris!"
Miriam stared at Murphy intently, and after nearly a minute of silence, she gritted her teeth and asked:
"Why are you doing this? They're your own kind! You're pushing them into the fire pit."
"They're not."
Murphy closed his eyes slightly and gestured with his hands, saying:
"I've shown them smiles, and they've responded with scorn. These past two nights, didn't you hear how they referred to me? A rat in the mud hole, the trash of Kadman City!
I'm relatively gentle, but I'm also not so tolerant that I can pretend not to have heard all this. And I don't intend to entrust my fate to that young lady's potential mercy.
My only kindred in the night is still waiting for me to return to the manor in Kadman City.
If I die, Tris will surely be very lonely and sad. And have those vampires treated you well? Miriam, why bother considering their future?"
"Why not let Maxim go?"
Miriam said fearfully, hugging herself:
"He's more loyal, you should trust him more."
"Maxim is very loyal, but he's not good with words, and you, you have the wisdom in your mind to persuade those prisoners."
In the dim carriage, Murphy extended his hand to Miriam's trembling shoulder and said softly:
"I've never asked, and you've been very tactful in never bringing it up, but we both know that you have something in your hands that can help those Witch Hunters escape."
"You're responsible for getting me safely to the port of Shaldor after all this is over! And give me enough compensation for a lifetime without worries!"
Miriam bit her lips until they bled, but in the end, she made up her mind, raised her head and grabbed Murphy's collar, and scolded him:
"I will never come back to this godforsaken place of Transia in my life, and this is what you owe me, Murphy! You listen carefully. You owe me a huge favor!"
"Yes, I promise I will repay it, and do everything in my power to ensure you benefit from it for the rest of your life."
Murphy grinned and took out his worn pocket watch to check the time, saying:
"There's still an hour until the sun's most intense moment, when the vampires' senses will be dulled to the extreme. Move swiftly and decisively, I'll have Maxim assist you."
——
"Lady Adele, my blood servants have gathered in the woods and have begun digging fortifications for Lady Femis' action tomorrow."
Thirty minutes later, Murphy, fully wrapped in a cloak that covered him thoroughly but still left him wilted by the sun, came to Femis' blood servant next to this mature lady dressed as a maid with a cold indifferent look, and said:
"But they need tools and manpower, so I need to reassign all the human servants from your caravan to go help."
"This is not in accordance with the regulations, Mr. Murphy."
Adele glanced at Murphy as she rested beside the carriage, her stark black and white eyes full of scrutiny and vigilance.
She had been observing Murphy these past two days.
But the more she observed, the more she realized this guy was different from every other vampire she had seen. If it weren't for confirming that Murphy was truly of the Blood Clan, Adele would have thought he was a genuine cunning human.
Seeing Adele refuse, Murphy didn't waste words with her.
He turned and pulled open the door of the large black carriage where Lady Femis was staying, reaching out to knock on the little walnut coffin where the young lady was resting.
This action startled Adele.
She couldn't even maintain her cold genteel demeanor, jumping up and grabbing Murphy's wrist while glaring at him furiously.
"You see, either you obediently send people to help! Or I'll wake the young lady at this uncivilized hour and discuss this issue with her."
Murphy shook off this deep and inscrutable maid lady's hand.
That precise action just now let him judge that this lady maid's strength was definitely above his own, even stronger than some of the vampires in the squad.
This might be a human assassin or wanderer at the Black Iron Body realm, but Murphy wasn't afraid of her, because the two didn't have the same "status position."
He straightened his collar and pointed at Adele's exquisite nose, saying:
"I am a member of the Blood Vulture Clan. Even if the young lady wants to punish me, she'll have to wait until we return to Kadman City. But for a maid who has made her master lose face, perhaps the rotten mud of the Foul Swamp matches your maid dress better."
"Forgive my bluntness, but you are doing something dangerous, Mr. Murphy."
Adele's tone grew even colder.
She could feel that Murphy was deliberately provoking her, but she didn't know why this weak vampire would do such a thing. Was it really just for some tools?
"But I'm quickly losing interest in continuing to talk to you, a brainless human bitch!"
Murphy's lips revealed his vampire fangs, and he said to the maid before him in a gloomy tone:
"Be mindful of your position, you bitch!"
This sentence completely made Adele's face turn an ugly color.
Her hand was already on the hand cannon secured to her leg under her long dress, but after a few seconds, this loyal maid took a deep breath to calm herself down.
She realized that she was being led by the nose by Murphy, and now was clearly not a good time for infighting.
So she stepped back and took out a silver handbell. With an icy glare at Murphy, she then rang the bell to summon the human servants of the caravan.
This little commotion perfectly concealed the movement from the carriage at the back of the caravan.
Maxim, wearing a mask, stood guard beside the carriage. His expression was unseen, but his breathing revealed his tension. He didn't know what Lord Murphy was doing, but he knew this was the moment to test his loyalty!
Inside the carriage, Miriam was carefully making her way around the two coffins placed in the large compartment.
On her knees, she approached the female Witch Hunter Natalie, who was bound by horrifically cruel instruments and covered in blood, clearly having suffered inhumane torture. But when Miriam reached out to touch her cheek, she struggled to open her left eye.
Her right eye had already been beaten into a bloody pulp.
"Shh!"
Miriam made a gesture for silence to Natalie in the dim light, then carefully looked at the coffin beside her, afraid the vampire interrogator inside might suddenly jump out.
Then she took out a piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it in front of Natalie's eyes, activating the seemingly ordinary metal bracelet on her wrist to make it glow, illuminating the words on the paper.
The female hunter's bloody face was initially dazed, but after reading the words on the paper, her eyes widened.
Miriam didn't linger too long.
She had only come to give a signal this time. After seeing Natalie nod to her, she wrote another sentence on the paper and held it in front of the hunter's eyes.
"Surprise attack tomorrow night, target the Goldflower supply convoy! Endure through tonight, I will come to release you tomorrow."
After she left, Natalie looked at her three comrades in the dim carriage compartment. They had all been tortured beyond recognition.
Blood servants could not be trusted!
She was convinced of this. This was surely Murphy the vampire causing trouble in the shadows.
However, the infighting among the vampires had nothing to do with them, the Witch Hunters. If this battle could deal a major blow to these gathered Midnight Hunters, then the Witch Hunters were willing to be used as cannon fodder.
Her squad members were already dead, so the vampires must also die!
Only then would it be fair enough.
"Bang"
With all her strength, the female hunter kicked over the barrel of bloody water beside her feet.
Letting the blood splatter to conceal Miriam's lingering scent, then she closed her eyes to enter a meditative rest and accumulate what little strength she could.
Tomorrow night.
The final showdown comes tomorrow night!