Ren Suo left the Tactical Bureau this time, returning fully laden with spoils.
"Yu Kuangtu, a Level 1 Bond, Bond Ability ’Flame Overlord’: Able to use Spiritual Energy to condense flames."
This Bond Ability was related to the Spiritual Energy Quantity. Ren Suo tried it and found he could not condense and throw a Fireball, but he could enchant his fist. Using half of his Spiritual Energy, he could condense a flame gauntlet for 60 seconds. A fist swung with it exploded his own hand.
Luckily, Ren Suo himself was a Healing Cultivator, and he was experimenting in the back mountain. Enduring the pain, he healed his fist, and there were no further issues.
As an offensive capability, ’Flame Overlord’ was a bit weaker than ’Wax and Wane’ for the moment, but the former came with a burning attribute, which might get even stronger as the Bond Ability developed. Besides, just because Ren Suo hadn’t mastered ’Flame Overlord’ didn’t mean his game character couldn’t!
In addition, Ren Suo had also taken a key from Yu Kuangtu.
"Two-Star Flame Key: Extra chance of receiving fire-related rewards increased by 15%."
Now, Ren Suo had two One-Star Keys and one Two-Star Key, but the Treasure Box gifted by "Mage Under the World Tree" was Three-star and remained unopened.
After organizing his gains, Ren Suo slowly pondered the words Yu Kuangtu had spoken.
It wasn’t the barbecue love story of Yu Kuangtu that he delved into but the information Yu Kuangtu disclosed:
"Demons and Ghosts are getting stronger."
With the opening of the Spirit Treasury, the world’s Spiritual Energy was rising, and obviously, humans were not the only beneficiaries. All life was accumulating strength—potentially more rapidly than humans, who required Cultivation Techniques because Demons and Ghosts could grow stronger merely through inhaling and exhaling Spiritual Energy. Compared to the relatively smaller population of cultivators, Demons and Ghosts—which could mutate and transform from animals, plants, non-living things, and even humans—naturally boasted a larger population advantage.
Even if Demons and Ghosts still couldn’t withstand ordinary firearms, as their physical condition improved, they could completely avoid critical damage and even anticipate and dodge attacks.
Due to the urban setting, ordinary police or military personnel suffered enormous casualties against Demons and Ghosts. The city terrain and public safety concerns also made it unsuitable for large troop battles. Instead, small teams of Tactical Cultivators, adorned with ’Clothing’, had a lower casualty rate and faster response times, ensuring the safety of citizens without hindering economic development.
This was precisely the purpose of the Tactical Bureau.
Ren Suo, on the other hand, thought of the game "Midnight Walker."
The clients he encountered in the game, although hard to gauge in turn-based combat, probably weren’t much weaker. Especially the Half-Demons, which could evolve into first turn combat power at almost any time, with some even surpassing the first turn in terms of damage.
Ren Suo, although envious, couldn’t do anything about it. Awakeners could surpass ordinary cultivators in certain aspects. Plus, because Awakeners weren’t fully conscious, it was more like the Awakened Meridians were controlling them instead of them using awakened spells. They fought without regard for the consequences, naturally posing a greater threat.
For now, the Tactical System’s primary approach to dealing with Demons and Ghosts was to capture them if possible, but if there was any criminal activity, depending on the severity, they could also be killed on sight.
The Demons and Ghosts that were exposed typically came to attention due to murder or causing injuries, which was why the Tactical System was so busy.
In "Midnight Walker," most of the clients had yet to commit murder and were merely ’Hiders’ with the thought in mind.
Initially, Ren Suo thought that after uploading the game, it might cause public panic, but now he felt that perhaps... it could be a good thing.
Indeed, the seasoning methods of the Fairy Palace Food God were uniquely its own, but that didn’t mean the authorities would lack other means to soothe Demons and Ghosts. Whether it was expanding the cultivator community, establishing a complete cultivator certification system to help potential Awakeners discover their abilities, or formally recruiting Demon Species, Ghost Class, and Monster Types, it could all reduce the frequency at which Demons and Ghosts became hostile. Moreover, once the video was uploaded, people worldwide would learn that the ’Fairy Palace Food God’ appeared to cater to customers such as Demons and Ghosts, which would naturally push governments around the world to take this issue seriously.
With these thoughts, Ren Suo focused and continued to tackle "Midnight Walker."
「The ninth day, London.」
This was Ren Suo’s third visit to London—in the game, that is.
The first was "Assassin," the second "Devouring the Spirit of the World."
Compared to the earth-shattering events of the first two visits, the third venture in "Ghost Walking" was much more serene.
It was still a certain park, and the homeless people in the park were still turning a blind eye to the Ghost Stall. The night’s fog was damp and heavy, and Ren Suo felt that even without the mysterious power of the game, ordinary people would probably not be able to see the Ghost Stall hidden in the foggy woods.
After the female store owner set up the Ghost Stall, she pulled out a suit of armor from the drawer, then took out an urn of spirit ashes.
What she did next was quite impressive: she poured the spirit ashes into a bowl of rice, then poured the rice into the armor.
In no time, the armor was filled by a strong physique.
"Health to you, Ma’am," the Red Armor bowed deeply and went off to stand guard.
However, at this moment, Ren Suo, controlling the female store owner, asked, "Red Armor, what is the system of extra personnel in the Martial Spirit Squad?"
Ren Suo hadn’t found any information on the Martial Spirit Squad’s extra personnel system on the internet, which he found odd, so he directly asked Red Armor in the game.
"It’s a unit composed mainly of non-human entities," Red Armor held up two fingers. "Besides myself, there is also the Blue Monk and the Kappa, whose strength is only slightly lesser than mine."
Hearing this, Ren Suo’s eyebrows twitched. Those names... they were obviously famous monsters. Right now, most countries were primarily observing Demons and Ghosts, and organizations that were willing to accept and trust them so quickly were definitely rare. It seems there were some higher-ups from Flourishing Sakura pushing things along.
Even though he obtained important intelligence, Ren Suo had no way to explain the source of information and could only try to deduce from various news sources that ’Flourishing Sakura might have a troop composed mainly of monsters.’
Customers began to arrive one after another, and with the help of the free 1% Holy Water, the frequency of battles during Ghost Walking in London significantly decreased, leaving many customers easy to deal with.
But Ren Suo remained highly vigilant: This city was ranked second in Concealment Concentration, and the likes of Ghost King Jack the Ripper or Ghost Lord Moriarty could appear at any moment. Moreover, with countries starting to search for the Fairy Palace Food God, the next moment could bring a horde of British Supernaturals for a free meal.
As time went by, Ren Suo unknowingly served a hundred and twenty customers, and the game time reached 3:45.
At 3:48, a troublesome Demon Species customer came and was driven off after five rounds.
At 3:51, a True Demon came for a free meal, was fed shit, and crippled in two rounds.
At 3:54, a lonely Half-Demon arrived. It was his birthday, and Ren Suo made him a cake enriched with lots of Enjoyment + Confidence + Loneliness, and he left satisfied.
At 3:59, he finally came!
He was dressed in Victorian-era leather clothes, wearing a hat that covered his mouth and nose, a long coat and trousers, carrying a large meat saw in his right hand, and a long, old-fashioned handgun in his left.
The Ghost Warrior Red Armor immediately went on alert, placing his hand on the hilt of his blade.
And Ren Suo had already thought of what meal to prepare for him: A man skilled in murder and dressed immaculately had too many angles to play...
The female store owner began, "May I ask you—"
However, just as he was about to approach the Ghost Stall, he suddenly swayed, and blood spurted from the back of his neck.
The female store owner didn’t finish her sentence.
Red Armor went to observe, then turned his head to the female store owner. "Ma’am, he’s dead. Shall we loot his belongings?"
Ren Suo blinked in astonishment.
In a castle several kilometers away from the Ghost Stall, a little girl comfortably resting suddenly yawned, smacked her lips, clung to her sister’s arm, and whispered,
"...The baddie I sent for Sister Mefala is gone..."