The only player in the Marvel universe

Chapter 169, the Dark Book, is considered relatively mild compared to many other cult books.

The two men swarmed through the castle like locusts, leaving it completely ransacked, taking everything of value they could find.

Du Mu naturally reaped the biggest rewards, storing the vast majority of valuable items in his game inventory. Blade, following behind Du Mu, could only manage to pick up some unwanted scraps.

On the one hand, my hand speed is simply not fast enough; on the other hand, my eyesight is also poor.

These vampires clearly didn't have the habit of storing cash; they mostly kept jewelry, antiques, and exotic works of art. Blade knew nothing about this, so he could only pick out items that looked valuable.

He watched as Du Mu casually glanced at the items and then decisively picked out more than a dozen items, his movements swift and efficient, which aroused his curiosity.

"Do you understand the value of these things?"

"Know a little bit."

"Can you tell that this is valuable?"

Blade raised the kettle in his hand.

In his opinion, this kettle was probably the most valuable thing he owned.

Du Mu glanced at the information on the kettle and nodded: "It's quite valuable. It's from several hundred years ago. I estimate it can sell for a lot of money."

Blade was overjoyed and asked, "What is this?"

"A certain vampire was using a chamber pot from his human days."

"."

Blade's expression froze, and he quickly threw away the water bottle in his hand and vigorously wiped his hands.

What kind of weird fetish do these vampires have, collecting their own used chamber pots?!
Du Mu was indeed skilled in his craft. He tapped and examined the walls, and before long, he found a hidden secret room behind what appeared to be an ordinary stone wall.

The secret room was not large, and it was filled with various objects from several centuries ago.

Du Mu's gaze swept quickly across the entire space, finally settling on the bookshelf standing against the wall.

The bookshelf was neatly arranged with many ancient books, most of which were covered with a thin layer of dust, and it was obvious that they had not been read much.

However, one particular ancient book, entirely black, stood out.

The Dark Book (Dracula Edition)

[Description: An abridged version of the Dark Book, compiled by Dracula based on one of the original Dark Books. It records the origin story of the progenitor of vampires, as well as the deeds of Dracula, and also includes some dark magic, including Dracula's summoning rituals.]

[Note: Due to its dark nature, this copy will continuously erode the reader's mind. As the reading time and depth increase, the reader's sanity will continue to decline. If the reader's mental attributes are too low, it may lead to irreversible mental madness and cognitive distortion.]

The Dark Book!?
Du Mu raised an eyebrow, quite surprised.

He had heard some monks mention this book while he was in Kamar-Taj.

Just as the origin of white magic comes from the Book of Vishanti, written by the dimensional trinity Vishanti himself.

The completely opposite system of black magic originates from the Dark Book.

It is said that the author of this book is a very powerful ancient evil god.

The book contains various powerful dark magic spells. Learning just one or two of them would be enough to instantly elevate an ordinary mage to the top, easily crushing most mages in the world.

However, this book is very strange. Anyone who reads it will be unknowingly influenced by that ancient evil god. At best, their personality will change drastically; at worst, their mind will be twisted, they will lose themselves, and they will eventually become a living vessel for the ancient evil god to descend into the world and bear his power.

Du Mu never imagined that Dracula, this vampire, would be involved with the legendary Dark Book.

No wonder Dracula not only knew magic, but could also use such powerful magic.

"It seems that this must be the divine book that the vampire elder was talking about."

Du Mu carefully examined the ancient book before him, which exuded an ominous aura.

Although this is only an abridged copy, the dangers it contains should not be underestimated, as can be seen from its description.

Despite this, Du Mu was quite interested in the contents of the book.

Although the cost of black magic is enormous, its power is also truly immense.

That's why most evil mages possess some form of dark magic. In their circles, if someone doesn't even know a single dark spell, they'd be embarrassed to greet their fellow practitioners.

As for the so-called heretical books, Du Mu wasn't particularly afraid, speaking as if everyone hadn't read a few heretical books.

Back when he was full of curiosity, he read through every so-called evil book he could find on a certain website, and he was still perfectly fine.

For Du Mu, compared to those evil books, the Dark God Book was a rather mild choice.

However, just in case, Du Mu put on the idiot ring before starting to look through the Ghost Cult's version of the Dark God Book.

The contents of the book are written in an ancient script that is incomprehensible to ordinary people.

Fortunately, the game system had a translation function, so these obscure and difficult contents were transformed into easy-to-understand modern text in Du Mu's eyes.

According to the book, the progenitor of vampires was not Dracula, but a great wizard from the lost civilization of Atlantis.

This powerful wizard read the authentic Dark Book and, following the forbidden rituals recorded in it, transformed himself into a vampire, becoming the world's first vampire.

However, after the passage of time, this progenitor of vampires saw through the illusions of life and grew weary of eternal existence. Like a peerless master in many martial arts novels, he passed on all his power to Dracula, his vampire successor, and finally took his own life.

Yes, the progenitor of vampires has thus met his demise, becoming a mere background story mentioned in passing, taking up less than half a page of the entire narrative.

Then comes Dracula's own story. Like most protagonists in novels, he gained the power of the progenitor of vampires and embarked on a path of extraordinary rise to power.

This story of how he rose to power takes up 95% of the book, spanning hundreds of thousands of words. It's long and tedious, with Dracula shamelessly boasting about how great and awesome he is.

Calling it a dark book is an understatement; it's more like Dracula's self-indulgent writing. If it were posted on a certain online novel platform, it would flop in no time.

Du Mu, his face dark, quickly skipped through the pages and finally found the black magic content he wanted among the scattered pages.

It's outrageous that a small amount of dark magic was found in the Dark Book!

Du Mu browsed through these black magic spells and found that half of them met the learning requirements, and there were several skills that could be learned in a day.

As expected of dark magic, the barrier to entry is indeed much lower than that of legitimate magic.

Du Mu immediately put away the Ghost Cult's version of the Dark God Book, intending to study it later when he had time.

After confirming that there was nothing of value left in the castle, the two left without lingering.

Before leaving, Du Mu threw more than a dozen specially made high explosives into the castle.

There was no particular reason; it was just something I did on a whim.

Boom! !
A violent explosion resounded throughout the heavens and the earth!

In the series of explosions, the ancient castle, which had stood for countless centuries, collapsed with a deafening roar, raising clouds of smoke and dust.

Du Mu, the culprit, had already quietly left before the explosion and was nowhere to be found.

Several hours passed.

In the once desolate ruins of the ancient castle, a viscous, blood-red energy slowly seeped out from the depths of the earth, eventually outlining a tall human figure.

When the crimson energy receded, it was revealed to be Dracula, who had already been killed by Du Mu!
Dracula stood atop the ruins, gazing in the direction Du Mu had left, a smug smile on his face.

"You wouldn't believe it, but I actually had a backup plan all along. I hid my blood deep underground, so that after I die, I can be resurrected after a period of time without any summoning ritual." In fact, Dracula was indeed killed by Du Mu, but he successfully won the resurrection battle again through the blood he left behind.

This is precisely Dracula's most relied-upon ability: true immortality!
But the joy of rebirth did not last long, and Dracula's expression quickly darkened.

"Damn humans, just you wait! Once I leave this place, build my vampire army, and enslave humanity on Earth, I will make you suffer the most excruciating torment imaginable!"

He couldn't accept that he had died at the hands of a mere human.

This humiliation must be repaid!

"I'm afraid you can't leave here."

Just then, a calm voice came from behind Dracula.

Dracula was startled and immediately turned around, only to find a figure standing behind him.

The man was dressed in a light yellow monk's robe, holding a wooden fan in his hand. His large hood covered most of his face, making him look very mysterious.

Dracula was already in a bad mood, and hearing this man's words only fueled his anger.

"Another clueless guy pops up. He says we can't leave, so we can't leave? Who does he think he is?!"

"Just an ordinary person who happened to be passing by."

The newcomer slowly pulled down his hood, revealing a neutral face and a bald head.

Wow! Bald!

Dracula, naturally disbelieving this, asked warily, "Are you also sent by the Holy See?"

At this moment, Dracula was extremely wary of anyone who might be connected to the Papacy.

It is clear that Du Mu left a considerable shadow on him.

The bald man retorted, "Do I look like someone from the Vatican?"

Dracula was speechless for a moment.

Indeed, the other party's appearance is more like that of a Buddhist monk than that of the Vatican.

Just to be on the safe side, Dracula pressed on again: "Then do you know Holy Light?"

"will not."

The bald man's answer was crisp and concise.

Upon hearing this, Dracula's tense nerves finally relaxed, and a sinister smile crept onto his lips.

"Since you weren't sent by the Holy See and don't know Holy Light, that makes things easier. I'm in a really bad mood right now!"

Dracula grinned and walked toward the bald man.

In his eyes, this bald man was thin and had an unremarkable aura; he was an easy target.

Moreover, since the opponent doesn't possess the same holy light as Du Mu, he has even less to fear.

The bald man watched him approach quietly, his face remaining impassive: "I advise you to calm down."

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly calm now."

Bloodlust surged in Dracula's eyes.

Having slept for hundreds of years, it had only eaten a maid vampire upon its resurrection, and the taste was indescribable.

Then he fought Du Mu for a long time and died. Up until now, he hasn't even had a decent meal of blood and is starving.

At this moment, he could no longer suppress his desire to suck blood, and the bald man in front of him was the best food!

Offer me your blood!

Dracula laughed wildly, opening his blood-red maw to reveal two sharp fangs, poised to pounce on the bald man.

The next moment, he saw the bald man casually flick his wrist, and the surrounding space shattered, cracking like a broken mirror. At the same time, dozens of scarlet energy chains shot out from these broken spatial fissures, dancing wildly in the air like venomous snakes.

Dracula: "."

If you're so awesome, why didn't you say so sooner?
Look, this was a misunderstanding. Let it go this time, but don't do it again next time!

Dracula casually retracted his fangs, scratched the back of his head, and gave a clear smile: "Well, I suddenly remembered I have some things to take care of at home, so I'll head back now. Do as you please."

Before he finished speaking, a pair of huge bat wings suddenly spread out from his back, flapping wildly as he tried to escape.

However, as soon as his feet left the ground, the scarlet chains wrapped around him like shadows, binding him layer by layer and turning him into a solid mummy. They forcibly dragged him in front of the bald man, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not break free, and he could not even use his transformation skill.

The bald man said seriously, "Dracula, you are too dangerous. Your power must be limited."

Dracula: "???"

S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, inside the director's office.

Hill handed Du Mu a brand-new eagle-shaped badge with a smile on his face.

"Agent Du Mu, you have completed this mission exceptionally well. According to procedure, this is your Level 8 Agent Badge. From now on, you officially have Level 8 clearance from S.H.I.E.L.D., which allows you to access higher-security databases and has the authority to call upon more strategic resources."

"Ok."

Du Mu accepted the eagle emblem and casually tossed it into his game inventory.

He only cared about advancing his status in the game system; as for improving his agent level, he didn't pay much attention to it, considering it an insignificant background element.

But in other people's eyes, it's not like that at all.

Level 8 agent—this is a level that countless agents within S.H.I.E.L.D. struggle to achieve.

Even top agents like Black Widow and Hawkeye are only Level 7 agents in S.H.I.E.L.D., still some distance from Level 8.

To become a Level 8 agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., one needs not only outstanding abilities, but also sufficient experience and loyalty.

For example, Mayor Coulson, who is also a Level 8 agent, worked diligently at S.H.I.E.L.D. for more than ten years, participating in countless missions, and his hair thinned day by day before he finally reached the position of Level 8 agent.

Du Mu, on the other hand, has achieved this leap in just a few months since joining S.H.I.E.L.D., at a rocket-like speed.

It's simply a miracle!
Of course, no one would question this decision.

Within the entire S.H.I.E.L.D., Du Mu's abilities are definitely among the best.

Needless to say, his mission efficiency is exceptional. He can accomplish the workload that would require the cooperation of hundreds of ordinary agents. Complex operations that would take others months to complete can often be easily finished in a day or even half a day.

Writing his mission reports alone exhausted more than a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. civilian staff.

In addition to Du Mu's style of doing things, his mission reports are arguably the most difficult to write among all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

The reports are numerous and complex, requiring at least tens of thousands of words to be written every day, far exceeding the word count of some online novel authors.

It is said that a clerical worker named Mei was overwhelmed by being assigned to process Du Mu's mission reports for several consecutive days. She eventually gave up her clerical job and applied to be transferred to Coulson's action team, becoming a field agent who was on dangerous missions every day.

She stated that she would rather face ten fully armed terrorists than compile another mission report for Du Mu.

One can imagine how painful it must have been to write Du Mu's task report!
(End of this chapter)