Wizard: Surviving in the Steam Age with Points for Demon Hunter

Chapter 99 She's here to destroy my Dao heart! (Bonus Chapter 23 for first-time subscribers)

"Cordos deep-sea abalone, Simon's snow mushrooms, and cheese from Cland..."

On their way back, following the menu provided by Ewan, Wayne and Carly made a special detour to a high-end store in the Ruhr district to buy the ingredients.

"We can buy more snow mushrooms and cheese, but we don't need the abalone... Are you sure Yuan means these are all things I like to eat?"

"Isn't that right?"

Carly pondered for a moment, then shook her head. "No, this isn't one of my favorite foods."

"Whatever you say," Wayne said, not pressing the matter further, and put the abalone back on the shelf. "There are 16 shillings left. Is there anything else you'd like to eat?"

"Um... is that okay?"

"...That's grass, isn't it?"

Wei En looked in the direction she was pointing, and there was only a small green vegetable with tiny leaves.

"You're the one eating grass? That's clearly green jade from Kland," Carly scolded playfully.

"Okay, anyway..."

Anyway, Yu'an has already paid, so let's just listen to her.

"I've bought it."

As they spoke, the two of them, carrying large and small bags, headed towards Golden Street.

It's worth mentioning that Wayne also bought a white dress at the store, which cost him nearly £1.

Carly blushed for a long time for no apparent reason, but when she finally realized it wasn't a gift for her, she was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear into a crack in the ground.

However, he was truly thoughtful; he was even willing to spend money to buy clothes for an undead creature...

As darkness fell, Wei En belatedly realized that the sky was already covered with dark clouds, brewing a storm.

Having been in this world for more than ten days, this was the first time he had encountered rainy weather.

No, even including the time my predecessor spent here, it only rained once in over a hundred days.

It's quite a strange phenomenon, especially for a city like Castel that's so close to the sea.

Carly noticed this too. "Hurry, hurry, it looks like it's going to rain."

"Um."

The streets were filled with people hurrying along like them, most of them trying to finish some business before the last bell rang.

Those believers who had hated the Secret Investigation Division for disrupting the Dawn Festival during the day stopped hurling insults when they saw the uniforms on the officers' bodies.

To Wei En's surprise, he had thought these Dawn Believers would keep targeting their Secret Investigation Division, but it didn't even last a day.

The two ran in silence for a while, then Carly suddenly spoke up and asked, "Wein, you said last time that the Dawn of Faith was a lie, right?"

"Not really..." Wayne looked into Carly's clear eyes, and the lie he was about to tell wouldn't come out. He could only nod and admit, "We're still a long way from the path of faith in the dawn."

"I knew it. I didn't believe it when Melbell told me this. So you really aren't a believer in the Dawn..."

Wayne didn't know how to explain this matter. The taboo object, the resurrected coffin, was still a secret, especially not to be revealed to the people of the Dawn Church.

"Have you ever thought about truly embarking on the path of faith and becoming a believer in the dawn?"

Wei En hesitated, then shook his head and refused, saying, "I won't consider it."

Dawn and Storm, for now, seem to be nothing more than a sanctuary disguised in a glamorous guise. In contrast, the likes of the Cult of Despair and the Eternal Life Society are purely evil, which he avoids at all costs.

Moreover, it would be difficult for him to place his hopes on the Lord of Dawn.

No, more accurately, it will not be entrusted to any god or sovereign.

Throughout, Wayne's goal never changed; he simply wanted to live a good life in this world, nothing more.

Carly nodded dejectedly. "I understand."

She didn't know why hearing Wei En's rejection made her feel so bad.

Just like when I heard in the morning that the Dawn Cultists hated the Secret Investigation Bureau and that Melbell had taken action against Wayne.

In her presence, Melbell was a very gentlemanly and polite knight, kind and benevolent... but to outsiders, he was cold, cruel, and even bloodthirsty.

It seemed like everyone around her had changed, no longer the wonderful people she used to think of.

Perhaps, this is how it was always supposed to be?

"Carly, don't think too much about it. Go back and cook a nice meal, then get some rest so you can work better tomorrow."

Wei En didn't know what she was thinking, but he could clearly sense that she was in a bad mood. After offering a symbolic word of comfort, he didn't know what to say next.

This isn't about picking up girls. He should use the time he has to find topics to chat about to get back to his place, study and research, and improve his skills.

"Um."

Carly nodded slightly, her bright eyes lowered, and anyone who wasn't blind could see that she was very downcast.

"I wish I thought like you..."

"Um?"

"I mean, I longed to become a saint of the Church of Dawn a long time ago, but now..."

Wayne was surprised to hear this from Carly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "So what do you hope for? Is it the fame you'll gain after becoming a saintess, or the responsibilities you'll bear?"

"I," Carly paused, wondering if it was her goal or expectation.

She remembered when she was very young, when Euan had just moved to the city of Castor and opened the Morris Clinic.

Every day, she and Yu'an faced all sorts of "sick" people.

Some of them suffered from disease, some were injured and bled a lot, and many more were contaminated people whose bodies were deformed.

Yu'an would treat their symptoms one by one, especially those deformed individuals, always cutting off the deformed parts of their bodies...

They all seemed to be in great pain, screaming and howling in agony, their voices unusually shrill.

Therefore, from that time on, she resolved to embark on the path of faith, hoping to become a clergyman so that people could be freed from calamities, plagues, and pollution...

Those scenes, like clear pictures, flashed through her heart, as if forming a book of memories that she could always look back on.

Carly snapped out of her reverie, as if realizing she had been lost in thought, and said sweetly, "Perhaps I just want to punish all evil."

"Sanctions?"

Wayne looked at Carly with a bright smile in surprise, as if he were meeting her for the first time. Based on his understanding of Carly, shouldn't the answer at this moment be - healing?

"Yes, that way many people will no longer suffer, be sad, or be desperate... That's right, that's what I've hoped for since I was a child."

"Is that so... um?"

Before he could finish speaking, Wayne saw Melbell's hateful figure appear at the intersection of Golden Street.

He's like a persistent ghost; I saw him again!

Despite his thoughts, Wayne remained wary and vigilant, watching the figure with suspicion, ready to use a blink spell to escape at any moment.

"Melbel," Carly noticed him too, "what are you doing here? I'm warning you, don't hurt Wayne, understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Throughout the entire encounter, Melbell's eyes never left Carly, and she seemed completely oblivious to Wayne beside her.

"But you've come at the perfect time! We bought lots of delicious food, why don't you come too?" Carly looked at him expectantly.

"No need, I was just passing by..."

"Come on, don't be shy." Carly grabbed his arm and dragged him toward Golden Street.

Wayne: "..."

Well, looks like my plan to freeload dinner tonight is ruined...

……

……

At the same time, in a secluded, dimly lit room, a dozen figures sat around a long table.

Each of them wore a magnificent crown or headdress, and their robes, which signified their noble status, were embroidered with their family crests and adorned with jewels or gold ornaments.

At the head of the long table sat a handsome young man with broad shoulders and thick, long black hair that accentuated his noble bearing.

Everyone sat calmly in the black high-backed chairs, some with their arms crossed, others unconsciously fiddling with objects in their hands, glancing occasionally toward the door.

Ta-da...

"They're here."

Then Sayyam pushed open the door and came in. After scanning everyone, he walked to the end of the long table without saying a word.

The young man smiled, picked up his glass, and said, "Gentlemen, praise is due to the glory!"

"To the great glory!"

Everyone raised their glasses together, as if celebrating a victory.

But as they put down their glasses, one of the middle-aged men, with a effeminate face, looked at the end of the glass and said, "You shouldn't have attacked him, old Ceres."

"He knows too much." Sayyam remained unmoved, looking down as he fiddled with the ring on his finger.

"He's just an ordinary investigator; there are many ways to force him to give up the investigation. But your actions just now almost caused things to go wrong. That lady from the Montoya family won't care about anything else."

"Golden, don't be so harsh,"

Another extremely magnetic voice rang out, "Fortunately, this time the objective has been achieved. Thanks to Tossian, we have successfully drawn the Black Pearl's attention to the west coast. Next..."

"But I've lost three sons!"

"Didn't we save one for you? That third young master, I remember his name was Bean, right?"

"I'm saying, I've suffered heavy losses this time, and you need to compensate the Ceres family!" Sayyam looked up and scanned the room, finally fixing his gaze on a young man at the end of the long table.

"What do you say, Mr. Ron Ernst?"

"Of course I agree to your request, and I believe everyone here will agree as well." Lan'er smiled gently, displaying great poise. "If you have any other requests, you may also bring them up."

"I want half a percent more!"

"Impossible! Sayyam, this plan is..."

"Alright, Golden, old Ceres's request isn't unreasonable... Well, I agree. What about you?"

"agree."

I second that.

"..."

Seeing this, Sayyam managed a weak smile. "Thank you all."

"That's settled then, everyone go back and prepare."

Of the dozen or so people present, all except Golden calmly got up and left.

Once everything had calmed down, only Lan'er remained seated at the head of the table, swirling the red wine in his glass. "I must thank you for your help this time, which prevented the plan from going awry."

"Oh? How are you going to thank me?"

A figure stepped out of the void, and it was none other than Mitra, the favored one of the Lord of Desire!

……

……

In the end, Wayne did get to taste Carly's cooking: cheese-baked snow mushrooms and green jade rice.

The taste was surprisingly good—indeed, the only downside to expensive ingredients is that they are expensive!

A meal costs nearly 2 gold pounds. What kind of family can afford that?

After a moment of internal monologue, Wei En patted his slightly full stomach and stood up. "I'm so full, I'm going back now."

Like Melbell, he ignored the other person's presence, not even glancing at them.

"Okay, thank you for helping me wash the vegetables today. I'll treat you to a meal next time."

"I'm leaving now."

"Huh? Are they leaving already?"

Carly watched the two leave, and after thinking for a moment, decided not to follow them. Melbell had promised her that she wouldn't harm Wayne, and she trusted her.

Sure enough, after waiting for a while, she did not hear any sounds of fighting outside.

"Hehe, maybe two people who never get along will eventually become friends, just like Yu'an and Na... Na, who was it again? Never mind, I don't remember."

Unbeknownst to her, Melbell, standing at the door, looked at the wary Wayne and whispered, "You'd better keep your distance from His Majesty, or that sword from last night will surely fall on your head!"

After saying that, he slipped away, completely unconcerned about Wayne's reaction.

[You are targeted by Melbell Osiris's murderous intent. Assessment: Good luck, he's full and probably doesn't want snacks. Reward: Survival Points +2.]

"Your Majesty..."

The person this guardian knight cares about most is indeed Carly.

Wayne glanced calmly at the spot where he had disappeared, then turned and opened the door to his residence. Fine, I was just as eager to shove a musket into your mouth and blow your head off!

He went up to the second floor and saw the zombie lady waiting at the stairwell. He smiled and handed her the bag he was carrying. "I bought you a new dress. Want to try it on?"

"skirt?"

A red glint flashed in Sharapova's pale, lifeless eyes as she stared blankly at the bag in her hand.

This was the first time in her countless lives as a ghost.

"I'm sorry I ruined your dress before, so I wanted to give you a new one..."

Whoosh, bang.

Wayne watched the zombie lady turn and leave quickly, disappearing into the room. "...I hope you like it."

Clang, clang clang...

"Boom!"

Just then, as the night bells rang, a muffled clap of thunder sounded in the sky.

Wayne returned to his bedroom in the attic and looked out the window at the torrential rain and the small patch of night sky.

Holy crap, this is really something else.

In the dark, stormy night sky, the red moon remained clearly visible, as if it were lower than the clouds themselves!

But he knew very well that was impossible.

"Is the corrupting power of the Crimson Moon unaffected?"

To date, Wayne has only known one power that can prevent contamination: the light of the Church of Dawn, which includes lanterns, streetlights, and candles.

That's all.

Tsk, why think about these things? It's too far removed from our lives.

Wayne opened the pocket watch toolbox and took out several tools belonging to the intelligence officer: a telephone, a typewriter, and a blue and white box.

"Batman has one identity by day and another by night. I'm an investigator by day and an intelligence officer by night, but why is there such a big difference?"

Even if we don't expect someone to spend a fortune to buy out the farm owner—the bank—they should at least ensure he can escape the scourge of black bread every day, right?

Wayne shook his head, trying to dispel these random thoughts. "Work, work, there's still a lot of work to do today."

He didn't get to take advantage of the ghosts yesterday because he was staying near the council, but he absolutely couldn't miss out today.

With this in mind, he had a burst of inspiration and typed away at lightning speed, writing thousands of words in a flash.

"On August 15th, 1578 (Gregorian calendar), I apologize, but the city-state of Castel held a grand celebration these past two days. The Church of Dawn announced that its saintly candidate would be going to study at the Secret Investigation Bureau..."

"Furthermore, I also discovered that the Black Pearl, which attacked the cargo ships in the port, did so in an attempt to force the various ship-owning nobles of the Castel city-state to surrender their ships..."

"Death is not the end of the quest for knowledge—Wayne Loft, intelligence officer of Castel City."

The celebration had to be reported. It was such a big event that if he didn't report it, the Shadows would.

The reason for choosing to report one more piece of information about the Black Pearl... was simply to make more money. I figured I should at least get an extra hundred or so gold pounds.

Clang.

coming.

Wayne hurriedly opened the blue and white box, and upon seeing its contents, his smile froze. "Six, six pence??"

Damn, why is there so little this time?

I remember last time, I received several gold pounds for reporting a piece of information that he thought wasn't that important. Why is it like this time?

Little did he know, Olivia Tapia, the intelligence liaison officer far away in Crand, was happily toying with his intelligence, thinking, "Hmph, I'll take all your money!"

Wei En, annoyed, took out the money from the box. "What's going on? The liaison officer's relative is here again?"

Fortunately, he finished his commission from the Ceres Manor today and received a sum of gold pounds; otherwise, he would have had to stay up all night making potions to sell in the Nightmare World.

With that in mind, he took out the exchange list and wrote down the names of the items and the gold pounds required for each exchange on a piece of parchment.

After several recent battles, he has gained a clear understanding of his own strength.

Its advantage lies in its strong ability to sustain combat. Whether it's the recovery ability of the Calamity Contract or the instant death trigger of the death trait, it can extend the combat process indefinitely.

To put it bluntly, he can wear down and torment his opponent, and as long as the opponent shows a weakness, he can keep at it relentlessly.

However, the drawback is even more obvious: it cannot penetrate the defenses of those with strong melee abilities...

This has nothing to do with his own magical power; it's simply because his current attack methods are too simplistic, and his attack strength relies entirely on the power of his musket.

Therefore, when choosing spells, Wayne focused on those that were powerful and effective against melee superhumans.

At the same time, he also chose two additional defensive spells—Bone Wall and Mental Shield, which are the most commonly used spells by necromancer and mystical wizard apprentices.

"A defensive spell, 15 gold pounds, that's 30 gold pounds... An offensive spell, huh, 50 gold pounds? Add another one, and it's 20 gold pounds short..."

Wayne looked at the items on the list, frowned, and thought for a moment. It seemed that he had no choice but to go to the Nightmare World first.

Well, there's no rush to learn new potions. Let's exchange for some materials to make Enlightenment Potions first.

He acted on his thoughts immediately; having already advanced to the rank of advanced wizard apprentice, he had nothing left to hide.

I directly exchanged 50 sets of materials for crafting Enlightenment Potions with the Ghost School through the blue and white boxes.

15 shillings a serving, and a perfect one can sell for 3 gold pounds—that's enough!

Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to make all of them perfect potions; instead, he made them according to a 1:1:3 ratio, resulting in mostly excellent potions.

He will not sell them all at once this time; he will keep a portion of the perfect-grade ones for his own use.

It took Wayne nearly two hours to make 50 doses of Enlightenment Potion.

Of these, 10 are of excellent quality, 10 are of good quality, and 30 are of perfect quality... If you keep 15 for yourself, the remaining potions should be able to sell for over 60 gold pounds.

Compared to the cost of materials, the profit is only one time the cost.

"To be on the safe side, this is the way to go."

Boom!

Amidst the thunderous roar, a bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky, as if to shatter the radiance of the red moon.

Ok?

Wei En turned his head and glanced at it, his breath catching in his throat. His eyes widened as if he had seen something unbelievable.

Under the hazy red moonlight shining through the window, a gigantic monster emerged from the depths of the gray fog, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Countless tentacles coiled, twisted, and extended, as if trying to devour the entire city-state.

"What... what is this?"

[You have spied upon the deep-sea behemoth Rasim; your very essence is about to undergo a mutation. Evaluation: Close your eyes! Special Reward: Mental Level +1.]

[Note 1: Rahim, the deep-sea behemoth, is a gigantic and bizarre mutant, the overlord of the deep sea, possessing the ability to alter the ocean and weather.]

[Note 2: The deep-sea behemoth Rahim hates being stared at, and usually chooses to blind those who spy on it.]

Before Wei En could react, he felt his head slam into the ground, and then he heard a charming rebuke behind him: "You dare to stare directly at that monster? Are you out of your mind?"

"Claire?" Wayne sat on the ground, clutching his head, looking at the newcomer. "You, why are you here again?"

Claire plopped down on the chair next to her, casually crossing her legs. "Is this how you treat a lady who just saved your life?"

Pink, absolutely pink...

Wei En was certain he had seen it clearly; she had chosen to leave empty-handed today, just like him—what was this vixen up to?

"Hey, why aren't you saying anything?" Claire looked at his dazed expression. "Did you get your eyes gouged out?"

No, no.

Wei En snapped out of his daze and quickly drew the curtains, not daring to look outside again.

"I thought you were faking it before, but now I believe you. You really don't know much about some common sense."

"Yes, thank you for saving me just now."

"That's more accurate!"

Claire touched her wet clothes, a look of disgust on her face. "The rainwater in Castor has a fishy smell, it's really awful."

"..."

Wayne looked at Claire, who seemed like a normal woman in a family... and what was under her rain-soaked skirt...

"Why don't you go take a shower first? It's right next door."

"Oh? I'll borrow it for a bit, we'll talk about it later."

Seeing Claire sway as she left the studio, Wayne quickly took a deep breath and adjusted his posture. It was just a hair's breadth away from becoming obvious.

Wayne kept recalling the giant deep-sea monster he had just seen, and its ugly image instantly dispelled Claire's image from his mind.

Only then could his restless emotions be suppressed.

Seriously, why is she here again?

And yet they're so unrestrained, they're practically here to destroy my Dao heart!

Hopefully she'll leave soon, otherwise tonight's plans will be ruined again...

Not long after, Claire finished showering, changed into a clean dress with a shorter hem, and walked over with a fresh fragrance.

"I didn't expect that you, an apprentice of the Ghost School, are really different from others. Apart from that little zombie, you don't have anything else more disgusting."

Wayne's expression returned to normal. "What are the other apprentices like?"

"Hmm," Claire mused, "filthy, reeking of rotting corpses, and with a gloomy face..."

"Then I don't think you seem like a member of the Eternal Life Society as described in the Secret Investigation Department..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Wayne regretted them. Why did they sound so ingratiating?

"Really? I'll take that as a compliment."

"What brings you here so late? It's only been less than a day, and I haven't even started investigating that matter you mentioned yet."

Claire sat down next to him, a pitiful look on her pretty face. "I'm really just staying here temporarily this time..."

Wayne: "..."

It's confirmed, she's here to destroy my Dao heart!

PS: This chapter is a two-in-one chapter to make up for the two chapters that were owed. I still owe everyone one bonus chapter for first subscriptions and one bonus chapter for monthly votes.

Waaah, I'm even thinking of raising the threshold for extra chapters with monthly votes next month.

(End of this chapter)