A Core Ship From The Start

But looking at the system prompt in front of him at this moment, Duanmu Huai’s mood was far from uplifting.

[Task “Angry Soul” completed]

[Task evaluation: Barely passable]

[Although you were not his first choice, the combat power you displayed barely won his approval]

[Triggered follow-up task “Sleeping Girl”]

[Soul Cards +5]

Damn it… Duanmu Huai really wanted to curse. Although he had indeed failed two instances in a row, and the system evaluation wouldn’t be high, but what’s with this heavy tone of disapproval?

Besides, you lousy system, who are you to despise me?

Only in the end did Duanmu Huai finally realize what the man wanted to do. Speaking frankly, he was tormented by the guilt of being a father and the pride of being a scholar, suffering immensely, asking for relief. By chance, Duanmu Huai arrived, so this wretched fellow dumped his burden and went to eternal sleep in that world with his daughter, leaving all his troubles to Duanmu Huai!

What kind of person is this? You pursue your peace of mind and just throw the trouble on me and run away? A real moral degradation… Right now, Duanmu Huai only regretted that he didn’t smash the man’s head into pieces when he dealt with the BOSS earlier.

Also, the name of the task “Angry Soul”, misled Duanmu Huai and made him think that it was the purple-haired girl who was angry because of her father being killed. But in fact, “Angry Soul” referred to the man’s anger at his own twisted and weak will — in other words, he was furious at his own incompetence?

I should’ve smashed you to death just now… Wait, it seems like I did just that.

Oh well, talking to a dead person is pointless.

Duanmu Huai silently crossed out the task and started looking at the Soul Cards in his hand.

Because the task’s evaluation was low this time, he only got five insurances cards.

[Ghost Mansion (Bronze)]

[Consumption: 1]

[Whenever your servant (except the resentful Spirit) is destroyed, summon a Resentful Spirit to the battlefield]

[Ghost (Bronze)]

[Consumption: 2]

[Attack: 2]

[Defense: 2]

[Critical Hit]

[Undying Resentment (Bronze)]

[Consumption: 2]

[Deals 3 damage to a chosen enemy]

[Undead System (2): Changes 3 points of damage to 5]

[Shortcut to Death (Bronze)]

[Consumption: 2]

[Gives one’s servant a (Critical Hit) effect]

[Anserjo (??)]

[Consumption: 3]

[Attack: 2]

[Defense: 2]

[Sealed (Cannot be used)]

Five insurance cards, the last one couldn’t even be used, fine, it was expected, it was expected.

Undead-system cards have a special feature known as the (Undead Technique) design. It has many special effects that require enough Death cards in the graveyard to activate. For example, the [Undying Resentment] card, which means when there are two death cards in the graveyard, you can activate Undead Techniques to raise the original 3 points of damage to 5.

Of course, after activating the Undead Technique, the respective amount from the graveyard would be reduced by 2.

And the Death cards in the graveyard naturally come from the cards destroyed in battle.

Luckily, Duanmu Huai was not short of Death cards since he could summon puppets indefinitely, and each puppet destroyed was equivalent to +1 in the graveyard. As a result, Duanmu Huai had nearly a hundred Death cards in his graveyard, far too many to use. But now with the Undead System cards in hand, Duanmu Huai could create a positive cycle ——by using puppets to stack the graveyard, then killing enemies using [Undying Resentment]. If he could get more powerful Undead cards later, the cycle of puppet-stacking would become even stronger!

Not only that, but Duanmu Huai’s biggest gain this time was the Bronze card [Shortcut to Death].

The reason was simple. It would give his servant a Critical Hit effect!

Critical Hit!

The Undead System’s Critical Hit was a rule-class killing curse, unless the opponent had a special ability such as (unaffected by special effect) and could only be knocked down frontally, otherwise it would basically mean certain death.

This meant that if Duanmu Huai encountered a high-ranking demon like the Bloodthirsty Demon again, he wouldn’t even need to risk dispatching Ogis. Instead, he could simply summon a puppet, apply the “Shortcut to Death” critical effect to it, and let the puppet touch the Bloodthirsty Demon, who would immediately drop dead.

However, Duanmu Huai had no plans to use this card on himself or on Ogis because critical effects were permanent, only disappearing upon death. Therefore, to be safe, Duanmu Huai planned to use this card in conjunction with a puppet. This way, the cost-effectiveness was relatively high, there was no need to worry about consuming thermal energy, and more importantly, he could use and discard the puppets without qualms.

Moreover, with this card combined with “Ghost” and “Resentful Spirit,” it would be much easier to deal with the followers and minions of the Filthy God.

As for the “Sleeping Girl” mission, Duanmu Huai currently had no way to complete it. The mission required him to visit at least five Soul Fragment Worlds, and he had no clue where to start, so he could only take his time.

Anyway, the attack power of that card wasn’t very high. After taking a look at it, Duanmu Huai understood why the purple-haired girl was able to exchange blows with him evenly.

The card’s ability level of 2 in both attack and defense was only on par with his own.

Although it was a core card, Duanmu Huai couldn’t see what was so impressive about it.

Anyway, he decided to set it aside for now.

After obtaining six Soul Cards, Duanmu Huai left the Falling Moon Forest and returned to The City of Silver. The Elf Scout had given him several pieces of intelligence, but apart from the Falling Moon Forest, Duanmu Huai hadn’t triggered any missions. Hence, he didn’t waste any time. Since there were no missions triggered, most of them were probably just rumors.

Upon returning to The City of Silver, the city was still in a shabby state. The streets were practically devoid of pedestrians, only soldiers were guarding the city walls. The city gates, originally damaged, were finally repaired. This was no surprise as Duanmu Huai had heard from the Elf Scout before leaving that due to the attacks of the Ratman and Evil God Cultists, most of the residents had fled the city in panic.

After greeting the castle guards, Duanmu Huai entered the castle.

However, to Duanmu Huai’s surprise, when he arrived at the castle hall, he did not see Elisa and her mother, nor Captain Kado, but rather the commander of the reinforcements who had come previously. What was his name again?

Nevermind, it didn’t matter what his name was. At this moment, the man was confidently seated in the lord’s position, leisurely watching Duanmu Huai.

“Ah, what a surprise, Sir Black Knight. I didn’t expect you to return.”

“I’m just here to see Elisa. Where is she?”

Duanmu Huai looked around the room and asked softly in a low voice. Upon hearing his question, a self-satisfied smile spread across the man’s face.

“Ah, rest assured; Miss Elisa and her mother are both safe… On the contrary, you… perhaps you should consider your situation.”

As he spoke, the man snapped his fingers. The next moment, a large group of fully-armed Brutal Believers rushed out from all directions, bearing long swords and shields, and surrounded Duanmu Huai.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Duanmu Huai glanced around and asked coldly, to which the man responded with a slight smile.

“Actually, it’s nothing. I’ve just reached an agreement with some people who wished to keep you here… Ahhhhhh!!!!”

However, before the man could finish his sentence, Duanmu Huai swung his War Hammer and interrupted him with a “bang” that broke his legs.

“Attack, attack!!”

Upon seeing the man being attacked, someone quickly shouted. The Brutal Believers raised their crossbows aiming at Duanmu Huai’s helmet. But in the next moment, the soldiers’ vision was abruptly split in two as if cut by an invisible blade. Following that, all the fully-armed soldiers in the hall wielding shields and swords were cleaved into scattered chunks of flesh, littering the floor.

Only then did Ogis lower her hands, with a fleeting glow on the puppet threads on her fingertips.

Duanmu Huai was indifferent to these trivial matters. He strode forward to approach the self-appointed lord.

“You actually dared to trade with the Evil God, betray order, and become a pawn of Chaos!”

“You, don’t come any closer!!”

Seeing the towering warrior in black armor approach, the man whose legs were broken was now pale with fear. He tried desperately to struggle, but he couldn’t move at all.

“I am the lord appointed by the Emperor himself. If you kill me, it is equal to being an enemy of the Empire… Ahhhhhhh!!!”

Before the man could finish his sentence, Duanmu Huai stepped on his hand, instantly crushing the man’s right hand.

“So what?”

“…You…doing this is to challenge His Majesty the Emperor…”

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai reached out to grab the War Hammer that had broken the man’s legs, and lifted it high overhead.

“Betraying order, siding with the Chaos agents must die no matter if he’s an Emperor or King. The minions of Chaos must be eradicated!”

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai’s War Hammer smashed down with force!

“Bang!!!”

Blood mixed with brain matter splattered on the wall. The man’s body jumped up like a fish out of water, then fell heavily to the ground, no longer showing any sign of reaction.

“Hmph.”

Duanmu Huai retracted his War Hammer without sparing another glance at the fool’s corpse.

He didn’t expect such a thing to happen. It seemed that reality was indeed not a game…

“Well, I didn’t expect you to be so fast… I thought I could make it in time.”

Just as Duanmu Huai was thinking, a voice suddenly rang out from behind him. Turning around, he saw the Elf Scout supporting a badly wounded Kado and waving at him. Behind her were the flustered Elisa and her mother.

“But luckily, it seems I’m not too slow, am I?”