“You all have great talent. This batch of zing Gel and Combustion Oil you made is quite excellent. Most importantly, youpleted them within the perfect timeframe, without making your eagerpanions wait too long.”


    When night fell that day, Tris, who had finally had enough of cking off, remembered that she still had a batch of apprentice workers waiting for her in her alchemy workshop.


    Thus, she donned the appearance of the Patriarch making her rounds, apanied by her newly formed Patriarch’s Guard, and under the escort of Bonnie and a few elite guards, she marched grandly to her alchemy workshop located in the outer city ruins.


    She inspected the products made by the 10 apprentices who aspired to walk the path of an Alchemist, selected by Leading Pigeon. The barrels of clear Combustion Oil and the tofu-like crystallized zing Gel delighted Tris greatly.


    She had long known that these otherworldly students possessed exceptional learning and practical abilities, and her observations today only reinforced this impression.


    Although these two items were not particrlyplex alchemical products, it still required some practice for Novice alchemy apprentices to achieve such outstanding results.


    That the little yers had performed so well right from the start exceeded her expectations.


    Receiving Lady Tris’s high praise, the little yers beamed with delight, and they all expressed sincere gratitude to Miss Lumina in private chats.


    The reason they could perform so well was that Lumina had been guiding them, teaching them how to control the dosage of these blended materials, use more effective multi-stage filtration methods, and even imparted some basic filtration crystallization techniques.As for why Lumina knew these things…


    Did you really think she spent every day ying games and shooting guns as a graduate student?


    These were basic operations in theb, you know? That mysterious Concrete Sister was keen on recruiting Lumina as her graduate student, and it wasn’t just because of their friendship.


    “Oh, this zing Gel is exceptionally well-made! I haven’t seen such perfect quality in years.”


    Tris examined each one and immediately noticed the astonishing quality of the few pieces Lumina had made.


    Her eyes lit up, and she held up a piece of zing Gel, sniffed it, and then carefully inspected it with her Grandmaster Alchemist skills before eximing in awe:


    “This is already more effective than the products made by some mediocre alchemists who have practiced for two and a half years! My warrior Lumina, I have underestimated you! It seems your talent in alchemy is no less than your marksmanship and musical sensitivity.”


    “It’s a pity there’s no centrifuge or polymer filter membrane.”


    Lumina, however, was still unsatisfied. The spirit of an experimentalist made her quite critical of her own products, feeling that their Quality could be further improved.


    Tris heard her soft muttering and rolled her eyes, asking in a low voice, “Are the centrifuge and polymer filter membrane alchemy tools from your side? What are they used for?”


    “Uh, the former is…”


    Lumina was about to exin to Lady Tris, but then Leading Pigeon coughed loudly, snapping her back to her senses.


    Was she really going to exinboratory equipment to an AI?


    Ah, Lumina realized she had gotten too immersed in the game.


    It was hard not to, with these NPC characters seeming so human-like. Tris’s expression of curiosity made Lumina feel as though she was genuinely conversing with someone from another realm.


    “It seems these are the secret techniques of the alchemists from your side. I understand, I should not have been so presumptuous.”


    The cunning Tris blinked her eyes, unbothered.


    Like an experienced hunter, she understood the importance of timing. After all, given the little yers’ unrestrained nature, she had plenty of ways to extract useful information from them. Since the little yers hadpleted their tasks as apprentice workers, Tris should provide them with rewards.


    She toyed with her luxurious Nocturne scepter, cleared her throat, and asked:


    “I have witnessed your talents and abilities, and perhaps my alchemy can finally find its official heir. However, the teaching and learning of knowledge have always been a two-way journey. Therefore, I must also seek your opinions.


    Warriors, are you willing to follow me in studying the mysteries of alchemy and apply your wisdom to the pursuit of truth?”


    The clear, melodious note sounds appeared on the little yers’ character interfaces, signaling that the “Alchemy Apprentice” job was avable for advancement. Nine out of the ten little yers immediately epted Tris’s invitation without hesitation, while the already-apprenticed Leading Pigeon received three thin scrolls of knowledge from Tris’s hand.


    【Basic Alchemy Recipe: Midnight Swift Oil】, 【Basic Alchemy Recipe: Crimson Healing Salve】, and 【Basic Alchemy Recipe: Improved Moondust Explosive】 have been obtained.


    Note!


    These recipes, exclusively owned by Grandmaster Alchemist: Midnight Knowledge Specialization and improved by Lady Tris, must not be shared without her permission!


    The subsequent note sound made Leading Pigeon blink his eyes. It seemed that the transmission of knowledge on this continent was still confined to the master-apprentice tradition, without establishing a widespread and practical knowledge-sharing system.


    As a student from a prestigious university, Leading Pigeon scoffed at this inwardly, finding it somewhat uneptable.


    No wonder the level of civilization here remained so low, even with the existence of unscientific things like Spirit Power. How could you possibly advance academics with this hoarding mentality? And although he couldn’t share this knowledge in-game, he should be able to share it on the forum for everyone’s appreciation, right?


    As he thought this, he heard Lady Tris instruct:


    “Now that you are my apprentices, you must follow the rules among alchemists.


    In my workshop, there are recipes for several basic potions. You must produce the finished products within a day and a night. I will use this to judge your specialties in the field of alchemy and tailor different learning ns for you.


    Begin now.


    Each person should make five doses of each potion.”


    With Lady Tris’smand, the manufacturing task was issued, prompting the yers to immediately get busy, while Tris herself calcted on the side. The potions made by the ten yers would be enough to sustain her workshop for a while, and all she needed to give in return was a verbal acknowledgment and the casual time to teach them a few alchemy recipes.


    Roughly speaking, wasn’t this equivalent to obtaining something for nothing?


    How clever she was!


    However, the smugly triumphant Tris had not yet realized the yers’ monstrous demand for potions and consumables. Unlike the true warriors of this world who carefully calcted their resources, if given the chance, the yers would apply the best alchemy ointments to their weapons even when fighting the lowest-level Spawn of Despair!


    Otherwise, how could they embody the yers’ nonchnce and pursuit of efficiency?


    “My warrior Lumina,e with me.”


    Tris used her ventriloquism skill to speak softly in Lumina’s ear. Lumina, who was browsing the basic antidote recipe, paused for a moment, looked around, and then quietly exited the room.


    Tris was already waiting for her outside.


    “What are the principles and effects of those two tools you mentioned earlier?” Tris asked in a low voice.


    “Please understand my insatiable curiosity as an alchemist.”


    “Ah, this…”


    Lumina blinked her eyes, thinking to herself, ‘This AI-portrayed NPC is quite interesting. Couldn’t you just look it up online if you really wanted to know?’


    Hey, this game truly took yer immersion to the extreme.


    She didn’t mind and proceeded to exin the working principles of the centrifuge to Tris, even sketching a rough diagram on her notebook.


    She considered it as boosting her favorability rating.


    After all, she had already started the “Warrior of Cavendina” quest line, and Lady Tris’s personal reputation was something she couldn’t afford to neglect.


    But just after Lumina finished her exnation, a Hidden Quest was quietly triggered.


    【Special Hidden Quest: Otherworldly Knowledge (1/5) Triggered!


    Quest Description: As a Grandmaster Alchemist and Spirit Sovereign, Lady Tris is extremely curious about knowledge from other worlds. She yearns to witness more otherworldly wisdom as a small supplement to her pursuit of truth.


    Spirit Sovereigns deeply understand the preciousness of knowledge, so Lady Tris is willing to offer more rewards for this knowledge.


    Quest Objective: Bring more otherworldly knowledge to Lady Tris, with the value to be determined by her.


    Quest Reward: A certain number of Blood Vulture Grand Duchess’s treasury keys.


    Note!


    The Quest Reward will be given by Lady Tris based on the value of the otherworldly knowledge obtained, with a minimum of 1.


    Note!


    This is a unique Hidden Quest that cannot be shared. Revealing this quest information will greatly diminish Lady Tris’s favorable impression of you.


    Note!


    This is a continuous quest chain. Afterpleting it five times, the next stage will be triggered.


    Developer Note!


    This quest is one of the development team’s attempts to enhance yer immersion and role-ying experience. If testers are fortunate enough to trigger this quest, they can search for professional information online toplete it. Afterpletion, please submit quest reports and improvement suggestions in the forum feedback area.


    If positive feedback is received, quests of this type will be added as ‘easter eggs’ to manufacturing-rted features.】


    “!!!”


    Lumina fell into contemtion upon seeing this quest.


    She now suspected that she had boosted Lady Tris’s personal reputation to a certain threshold, which activated such a personal quest.


    However, the content of this quest seemed rather dubious. What exactly constituted ‘valuable otherworldly knowledge’?


    How should this value be judged?


    As an exceptionally intelligent graduate student, Lumina quickly devised a n. As an ‘experienced role-yer,’ she hesitated for a moment before softly addressing Lady Tris, who was studying the centrifuge diagram:


    “Lady Tris, as you said, I am also a member of the ‘alchemist’ profession in another world, though we don’t call it that there. What I want to know is, do you have knowledgeparable to the periodic table of elements here?


    That is, aption and arrangement of the various unique elements that constitute the entire world, based on their internal characteristics, forming the fundamental knowledge for the study of alchemy?”


    “Yes!” Tris raised her head and exined, “We have the ‘Alchemist Sage’s Stone Tablet,’ which was initiallypiled by the Sun Priests of the Sanghai Empire. It is a table of the twenty-eight elements that constitute all things, arranged ording to their sensitivity to Spirit Power.


    Any formal alchemist must memorize theplex mappings and reaction rtionships on the tablet.


    One could say that thebinations of these twenty-eight elements form the foundation of current alchemy, and countless people have tried to improve upon it, but no one has seeded.”


    “Impossible!” Lumina immediately shook her head. “The microscopic substances that make up a world cannot possibly consist of only twenty-eight elements! It is evident that those Sun Priests’ methods of observing all things were still very primitive. Of course, perhaps we are not discussing the same thing.


    Nevertheless, if you need it, I can bring back the periodic table from our side.”


    “Oh, your world’s alchemists’ analysis and judgment of the truth of all things?” Tris immediately became interested.


    This was exactly what she wanted, but she knew she couldn’t appear overly delighted at the moment. Following Murphy’s advice, she maintained theposure befitting an NPC and nodded, saying:


    “If possible, bring it back for me to inspect. If I confirm it is valuable knowledge, I will not stint on rewarding you.


    Remember this, Lumina, my warrior: as an alchemist, you must never neglect your curiosity about the truth of all things. The day you lose that curiosity is the day your alchemist’s career ends!”


    These words elicited a rather subtle expression from Lumina, as her mentor often said simr things to her.


    As a researcher, one must always maintain sensitivity and curiosity toward scientific progress. Once that curiosity is lost and one’s attention is drawn to other mundane matters, one can only descend into mediocrity.


    ——


    “Not bad, this four-hundred-year-old vixen still knows how to conceal her thoughts, she’s not hopelessly stupid,” Murphy said.


    In the night, on a secluded tower amidst the Kadman City ruins, Murphy stood at the tower’s edge, holding the core bead to review the Hidden Quest Tris had just issued to Lumina.


    Tris had truly studied his quest-issuing techniques diligently, now even knowing to add “notes” proactively.


    However, the final “Developer Note” was added by Murphy to deepen the yers’ preconceived notion that “the otherworld is a good game.” This was an understandable rationale, while emphasizing immersion and role-ying, asionally throwing in a “Developer Note” could effectively amplify the contrast between “reality and virtuality,” subconsciously reminding them that this was indeed an overly realistic “virtual game.”


    It was necessary!


    Murphy was well aware of this. He couldn’t arouse “the other side’s” suspicion for now.


    “Actually, I probably don’t need to be so tense,” Murphy mused as he stroked his chin in the night.


    “As long as this game still has logging in and out, yer interfaces, and system updates—these ‘necessary elements’—the little yers will undoubtedly consider it an overly realistic game.


    Perhaps some sensitive individuals might discover the truth in the future…


    Ah, we’ll deal with that when the timees. If worstes to worst, we can just kick them out.”


    With these thoughts, he pushed the issue to the back of his mind and gazed down at the city ruins below from this vantage point.


    This ce could hardly be called “ruins.”


    Thanks to the efficientbor of the organized Scavengers and Cleaners from the Survivor’s Camp, the entire outer city area had been swiftly cleared. Thend was leveled, damaged houses beyond repair were demolished, and the surviving houses were refurbished. Numerous wooden structures had already been erected at the city’s edge.


    Murphy’s n for the city district was to provide his subjects with shelter before winter arrived, lest they starve or freeze to death. With three months until winter, the current pace should allow them toplete the project.


    If they could secure more manpower, the construction speed would only increase.


    And there was even better news! The vampire lord opened his territory interface, and under the main base of the outer city ruins, seven viges and the border town of Bataxin had already been added as subordinate territories.


    Together, the over 3,000 people had reported back with 30 pending yer slots.


    This was great,fortable, and excellent!


    If Murphy wished, he could have another 30 yers enter the game tomorrow, but at this initial stage, he couldn’t let people in at random.


    At the very least, he needed a reason.


    But what reason could he use to open the next batch of test slots?


    He couldn’t just do another online update, could he?


    If updates were that frequent, the little yers would have opinions too. Ah, from this perspective, these adorable little guys were really quite demanding…


    “Excuse me, vampire boy, is this the legendary ‘Crimson Citadel’? Why do I only see a pile of ruins?” a crisp voice suddenly rang out behind Murphy, startling the vampire lord.


    He turned to see a blondedy wearing a white felt hat and a red-and-white court dress, standing politely behind him, observing him.


    Her gray-blue eyes, flecked with crimson, and the thorn insignia adorning her chest sent a chill down his spine.


    Subsequently, Murphy noticed the blood-stone si ring on her finger, identical to the Blood Vulture Grand Duchess’s seal ring, immediately recognizing the identity of this slender, uniquely gentle beauty with the same twin braids as “Cammy.”


    “I pay my respects, Thorn Grand Duchess!” Murphy bowed where he stood, full of reverence. “Your presence graces the entire Crimson Citadel with radiance. Please,e with me, our Blood Vulture Grand Duchess has been waiting for you.”


    “No rush,” the Thorn Grand Duchess waved her hand, her tone gentle. “Before meeting the Blood Vulture Grand Duchess, I have some personal matters to discuss with the Count of Kadman concerning a foolish but well-meaning underling of mine. He is a bit silly but not weak, full of ambition yetcking the means to realize it. In my view, he is a rotten log, unworthy of significant responsibilities.


    “Nevertheless, he is my descendant, and having him caged means the face of the Thorn n has been trampled underfoot. So, I’m looking for a bold madman named ‘Murphy.''”


    The Thorn Grand Duchess appraised Murphy from head to toe, shing him an impably beautiful smile, and said in a clipped tone, “Could you please take me to find the one who has disgraced me, little Murphy?”