Blood Stained

Let’s temporarily turn back the clock to before the magic array was activated…

At a cargo container area in a port in Tel Aviv.

Two enormous cranes stood still next to piles of stacked shipping containers, their suspension arms hanging there.

Tian Lie and Nicole walked in the middle of the cargo yard, looking at the towering stacks of containers around them, their faces filled with seriousness.

After entering Tel Aviv, the system’s prompt led them here, and the coordinates indicated this as the mission location.

However, upon arriving here…

Silence prevailed.

“I believe there will be another faction choice, but this time, I think it won’t be that simple,” Tian Lie glanced at Nicole and lifted the sack on his shoulder.

Nicole’s eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, especially several points with peculiar terrain, which she looked at multiple times.

Just then, the system sent a notification.

“System Prompt: Target person escort mission completed. Please place the target person in the designated container with the number XXXX.”

After receiving this message, Tian Lie immediately looked at Nicole. “Did you receive it too?”

“Yes.”

Tian Lie licked his lips and said, “It seems like this is the turning point for the second stage.”

“How so?” Nicole inquired.

“Choosing not to kill the target person is definitely not unique to us; there are others as well. When we finally enter the third stage and have the chance to become part of the Dark Camp, there will undoubtedly be some selection or even battles. I don’t think it’ll be that easy.”

“In that case…”

Before Nicole could finish her sentence, Tian Lie suddenly twitched his eye corner. “Someone’s coming!”

At the entrance to the container yard, an armored money transport vehicle roared in, showing signs of bullet holes and a flat tire, indicating it had gone through intense combat to reach this point.

After entering the container yard, the driver of the vehicle probably noticed Nicole and Tian Lie standing in the middle of the road and immediately stopped the vehicle.

Tian Lie and Nicole exchanged glances and cautiously took a few steps back. Tian Lie positioned himself beside a shipping container.

At this moment, the door of the money transport vehicle opened.

A person jumped out from the passenger side and shouted from a distance, “Don’t move, let’s talk first.”

As he spoke, the person raised his hands, making it clear for Tian Lie and Nicole to see his hands, and then slowly walked out from behind the car door.

Tian Lie couldn’t help but laugh as he looked at her.

He initially thought it was “him,” but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a “her.”

This girl had short hair, the kind that was so short it almost stuck to her scalp. She was very slim, with a figure like a board. She wore a denim jumpsuit, chewed gum in her mouth, had heavy makeup on her face, including smoky eye makeup, black lipstick, and a second ring on her ear in the shape of a short sword.

If it weren’t for her slender figure, coupled with the subtle curve of her chest, one might actually mistake her for a man.

Tian Lie, upon seeing this individual, couldn’t help but reveal a hint of amusement. He gave Nicole a knowing look, ignoring whether she understood it or not, and walked briskly towards the newcomer.

“Natasha, it’s been a while, dear.”

Tian Lie’s tone was warm, as if he were an old friend not seen in years.

The short-haired girl seemed puzzled for a moment, standing in place and looking at Tian Lie. “Do… do I know you?”

“Of course, Diamond Barbie, Natasha, dear. Your reputation in Europe has always been quite something.”

This woman named Natasha fixed her scrutinizing gaze on Tian Lie. “I don’t remember anyone I know being like you.”

“That’s quite normal; you’re a big star in this circle,” Tian Lie chuckled, then patted the sack on his shoulder. “So, have you decided to join the Dark Camp as well? Ah, let me think… I understand now. You must have some personal grievances with those self-proclaimed ‘light’ lunatics in Jerusalem, so I guess you wouldn’t want to be in the same faction as them, right?”

Natasha’s expression grew more serious. “Who are you really?”

As she stared coldly at Tian Lie, suddenly, a chill seemed to permeate the air around them.

“Don’t be so tense.” Tian Lie took a few steps forward and stopped just when there was about ten meters of distance between them. “We might be on the same side. Look, what’s in this sack of mine? This is my target person.”

Natasha remained cautious, her gaze shifting past Tian Lie to Nicole behind him. “Is that your companion? Which team are you from?”

“No, no, no, we’re not from the same team. We’re two independent and glorious freelancers,” Tian Lie laughed heartily.

There was a hint of disdain in Natasha’s eyes. “Freelancers? In this day and age, are there still two freelancers willing to work together on a mission? Who in this world would trust anyone? Aren’t you afraid your companion might throw you into the pot and cook you?”

Tian Lie intentionally spoke loudly, “Impossible! Oh, I forgot to tell you, my companion and I, while we’re not teammates, we are a couple.”

“You… What the fuck are you saying?!!!”

Nicole couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted from behind.

“Darling, don’t be shy; I’m just telling the truth,” Tian Lie turned his head and smiled at Nicole.

“Just who are you people?” Natasha’s eyes seemed as cold as ice. “If you don’t clarify, I don’t mind eliminating two suspicious individuals from the same faction.”

Tian Lie thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Well… I can’t reveal my identity, but… you can trust me because… I know Odin.”

The mention of Odin’s name caused Natasha’s expression to change instantly. She looked at Tian Lie with a mixture of astonishment and suspicion.

“You know Lord Odin?”

“Of course,” Tian Lie smiled. “We have a pretty good relationship. You know, he’s about… a head taller than me and has this habit of speaking slowly, one word at a time. Oh, and by the way, he has a double-headed snake tattoo on his lower abdomen, right?”

While others might not know about it, the detail of a double-headed snake tattoo on the lower abdomen was something that only a select few would be aware of.

This detail made Natasha’s trust in Tian Lie increase slightly.

“You really know Lord Odin?”

“Absolutely, we even cooperated in an Instance in Iceland together. Of course, I was just a temporary partner, and I followed his orders. It was quite a challenge to get through that Instance.”

“The Instance in Iceland… was that the mission to find the statue of the goddess?” Natasha asked casually, trying to appear nonchalant.

“Haha! You’re quite cunning. Don’t try to test me any further. The Iceland Instance mission was indeed about finding the remains of a witch, not a goddess statue,” Tian Lie chuckled.

Natasha finally breathed a sigh of relief. “So, you really have cooperated with Lord Odin!”

“Absolutely.”

After Tian Lie’s confirmation, he continued, “Alright, further discussion here would only be a waste of time. If we want to complete the mission, it’s best to hurry to the location of the third stage instead of continuing to doubt each other here.”

“One last question,” Natasha looked at Tian Lie. “Since you know Lord Odin, you must have had a drink with him. What’s his favorite drink? Single malt or…”

“No, no, no,” Tian Lie shook his head with a smile. “Dear Natasha, please don’t keep testing me. Odin, that guy, never drinks alcohol. Just a sip, and his face turns red. Poor guy, as a Nordic man, he’s strangely allergic to alcohol. But he does make a delicious codfish dish.”

Upon hearing this, Natasha finally let go of her last bit of concern. “You truly are a friend of Lord Odin! He wouldn’t casually invite someone to enjoy his personally cooked codfish.”

With that, the frost in the air around Natasha finally disappeared.

“Then please have your companion step out of the vehicle,” Tian Lie smiled. “Since we’ve all arrived at this gathering point, it seems we’ve made the same choice… we’ve all chosen the Dark Camp.”

A sly glint flashed in Natasha’s eyes, and she let out a whistle.

Soon, the door of the money transport vehicle opened, and a guy jumped out from the driver’s seat.

He was a typical middle-aged Jewish man, but he was dressed in a bulletproof vest and standard police gear. He had a tall and muscular physique, but if you looked closely, you’d notice something strange about his gaze.

It was vacant.

“Is this… your teammate?” Tian Lie appeared puzzled.

“No,” Natasha shook her head, her expression somewhat triumphant. “This is my target person.”

Nicole behind Tian Lie also looked surprised.

“Your target person?” Tian Lie asked in astonishment.

Natasha spoke with great solemnity, “For this Instance, I too am a lone wolf.”

“What about your companion? Odin? Why isn’t he participating in this Instance with you?”

Natasha’s tone grew complex as she hung her head and took a deep breath. “Lord Odin… was killed by someone a few months ago!”

Tian Lie’s expression changed. “He… is dead?”

“Yes, he was cruelly killed by members of the Thornflower Group,” Natasha whispered.

Tian Lie glanced at Natasha. “That’s terrible news.”

“I will continue Lord Odin’s legacy,” Natasha said coldly. Afterward, she whistled, and the guy wearing the police vest immediately walked over.

Tian Lie rubbed his chin. “How are you controlling him? Holding a target person under your control and turning them into your driver? Ah, I understand now. Your skills must have also received some guidance from Odin, and you’ve gained the ability of the Ice and Snow Spirit, right?”

Natasha looked at Tian Lie with some caution. “It seems you know quite a bit. Someone like you can’t possibly be an unknown.”

“Perhaps because I prefer to keep a low profile. You see, in this game, low-profile individuals might actually survive longer.”

Natasha glanced at Tian Lie, then at Nicole. “You have a point. While I can’t fully trust you yet, I believe… there’s a possibility for cooperation.”

“Yes, that’s what I mean,” Tian Lie smiled and extended his hand.

Natasha hesitated for a moment, looked at Tian Lie, and then shook her head. “Cooperation is fine, but let’s skip the handshake. I don’t like physical contact with men.”

“Uh?” Tian Lie was taken aback.

“I dislike men,” Natasha’s tone sounded somewhat proud, and she looked towards Nicole. “Shaking hands with her is perfectly fine.”

…

Inside Natasha’s money transport vehicle, there were indeed no other individuals. However, when she opened the door, Nicole couldn’t help but whistle at the sight of a car filled with various weapons.

“Did you rob a police armory?” Nicole asked.

Natasha’s attitude towards Nicole was noticeably better than towards Tian Lie. “My target person happens to be a policeman. I went to the police station to find him and thought, since I’m here, why not pick up some weapons that might come in handy on the way… you know, darling.”

Nicole was probably the first person to be called “darling” by another woman in a flirtatious tone. Her expression was somewhat unimpressed.

…

For participants who chose not to kill their target person, upon arriving at this cargo yard, they would receive a system prompt requiring them to place their target person inside a designated container.

Each person had a different container number assigned by the system.

The three of them completed their tasks separately and patiently waited for the system to release further instructions.

Nicole and Tian Lie stood together, while Natasha, although now in an alliance, remained cautious and stood at a distance near her target person’s container.

“Do you really know that Odin person?” Nicole asked quietly.

“Yes,” Tian Lie nodded.

Nicole continued in a hushed tone, “Who is he?”

“He’s a well-known Awakened,” Tian Lie thought for a moment. “Quite powerful.”

“Are you truly friends with him?” Nicole pressed on.

Tian Lie smiled and glanced at Natasha in the distance before turning his attention back to Nicole. “What do you mean?”

“I think you were lying just now. In the time I’ve known you, aside from everything else, I can easily tell when you’re lying by your tone,” Nicole said coldly. “You were deceiving that girl.”

“Of course, I was deceiving her,” Tian Lie shrugged nonchalantly. “What else could I do? It’s the quickest way to gain her trust. Should I have started a fight with her when we first met?”

Nicole frowned. “What’s the relationship between that girl, Natasha, and Odin?”

Tian Lie chuckled. “You could say she’s his disciple, perhaps even Odin’s woman.”

“Uh?!” Nicole was stunned and glanced at Natasha in the distance.

Though Natasha wore heavy makeup, she appeared to be quite young, and her development didn’t suggest much femininity.

“How old is this Odin you know?” Nicole asked.

“He’s probably old enough to be your uncle,” Tian Lie chuckled.

“But… this girl… she’s at most twenty years old!” Nicole sighed. “Since you’re not a friend of that Odin, how do you know so much about him?”

Tian Lie’s gaze turned cold.

He stared at Nicole deeply, then uttered a sentence.

“Because, I killed that Odin. In an Instance, he fell into my hands, and I killed him… I spent a full six hours doing it! He vomited out everything, even about wetting the bed in his childhood.”

Nicole’s body shook, and she looked at Tian Lie in disbelief.

Tian Lie smiled faintly. “Are you shocked?”

“You…” Nicole frowned.

“Cruel? Savage?” Tian Lie said coldly. “If you knew what kind of person Odin was, maybe you wouldn’t think that way.”

Nicole took a deep breath and said, “I don’t understand what kind of hatred would drive you to kill someone and torture them for six hours.”

Tian Lie looked up at the sky and slowly said, “Odin’s team was called the Nordic Warriors. However, in that team, there was only one man, Odin. This means that in that team, apart from Odin, all the other members were girls… very young girls.”

Nicole widened her eyes, “A harem team?”

Tian Lie’s expression turned disgusted, “If it were only that, I wouldn’t bother torturing that scum. But that guy was indeed a disgusting pervert. His favorite activity was to participate in low-level difficulty Instances everywhere and recruit young female Awakened into his team. Then… slowly ‘cultivate’ them. The younger they were, the more he liked them. This bastard had been infamous in the Awakened’s circle for over ten years. Can you guess how many girls like Natasha he ‘cultivated’?”

“These young girls didn’t understand anything. Falling into his hands and being groomed for several years, they started idolizing him. Their minds were twisted!”

With a harsh tone, Tian Lie spat on the ground, “When I killed Odin that time, there was a little girl with him, probably no older than half your age.”

Nicole’s face also turned pale.

“Killing such scum is nothing. I only regret that I tortured him for only six hours.”

…

A few minutes later, more people arrived.

Tian Lie and Nicole stood together, while Natasha immediately made her choice and joined the two.

The three people made up a temporary team.

The newcomers included seven individuals, likely belonging to four different factions.

It was evident that three of them were solo players, while the other four seemed to be part of a team. However, this four-person team looked the worst off, with all of them covered in wounds. The leader of the group was a tall man carrying a curved blade, and his body was soaked in blood!

After a tense standoff where they eyed each other warily, they cautiously kept their distance.

Tian Lie took the initiative and made a gesture inviting them to proceed.

Soon, the three solo players rushed to their respective containers and tossed their target individuals inside.

As for the team, two of them maintained defensive postures while the other two walked to a container and placed their target individual inside.

Tian Lie checked the time.

At that moment, the system delivered a notification!

“System Prompt: Dark Camp Selection Commences, Bloodline Assessment Completed! Your target individual has undergone bloodline scrutiny by the Demon King, and you have entered the Dark Camp! Please immediately eliminate or expel other faction members within the gathering point to qualify for access to the final stage’s mission location.

This selection process has a duration of 5 minutes. If you fail to eliminate faction forces within the gathering point within the stipulated time, the mission will be considered a failure!”

Tian Lie received this message and immediately looked at Nicole.

Nicole nodded at him. “Received. I passed the bloodline assessment.”

Both of them then turned their gaze towards Natasha. Natasha’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she still replied coldly, “Don’t look at me. My target individual has been accepted after the assessment.”

Just then, in the distance near one of the containers, a solo player shouted in anger, “Bastard!! What the fuck is going on here!! What do you mean by ‘assessment failed’!! The person was assigned by the system!! It’s not like I chose the target myself!!”

While this player was angrily shouting, another solo player suddenly went silent and turned to sprint towards the exit of the cargo area!

The four-person team quickly surrounded him, and the man wielding a curled-blade knife leaped into the air and struck down at the fleeing solo player!

Tian Lie stood still in his place, wearing a cold smile. “Has the slaughter begun? Hmph…”

…

Another dock area in Tel Aviv.

The warehouse gates were open, and a few awakened individuals wearing Thornflower insignia protective suits stood at the entrance.

Inside the warehouse, several individuals were anxiously pacing back and forth.

“Can’t reach the team leader?”

“No.”

“What… What do we do now? Should we kill the target individual or… go through the bloodline assessment? What did the team leader say the last time we contacted him?”

“The team leader said… whatever.”

“Wha… whatever?!”

…

Jerusalem.

Beside the Western Wall.

Shen sat there quietly with an exquisite wine glass by his side.

“Damn you, Rudolf. Are you satisfied now?” Shen looked at the sky, a bitter smile playing on his lips as he muttered to himself, “The demon’s instance, you just had to meddle, didn’t you?”

Just about ten meters behind Shen, a female warrior clad in black armor was kneeling on one knee.

This female warrior had golden hair, a pale complexion, and long slender legs. Even while kneeling, her graceful physique was evident, far from ordinary.

As if she had heard Shen’s muttering to himself, the female warrior lifted her head, speaking with respectful yet icy tones, “Lord Shen, I apologize, but I’m acting on orders. Our leader instructed me to accompany you here, and if you make any move, he will consider it a breach of our agreement. According to the agreement, he can withdraw from this instance, but you are also not allowed to take any action.”

“What is this, a spectator sport?” Shen chuckled, “Standing outside the sandbox, watching ants fight inside? When did this Rudolf person become interested in such boredom?”

The female warrior shook her head in silence.

Shen suddenly glanced at her, “So you were sent by your master to monitor me? Aren’t you afraid I might kill you?”

“You can certainly do so,” the female warrior replied meticulously, “Killing me would be effortless for you. But if I were to die by your hand, it could be considered a breach of your agreement, and then…”

“Hahaha,” Shen suddenly burst into laughter, “So he can do as he pleases and no longer abide by the agreement, right? So… did your master send you as cannon fodder? Or does he want to deliberately provoke me?”

“I am here only following orders, and I won’t speculate on our leader’s intentions,” the female warrior replied firmly.

Shen squinted his eyes as he looked at the female warrior, then suddenly spoke, “Arlyn, you know, I think you’re quite a remarkable talent. If you ever decide to join me, you’d be most welcome. It’s certainly more interesting than following a madman all day…”

Before Shen could finish his sentence, Arlyn suddenly raised her head, and a spark flashed in her eyes!

Crack!

Although she didn’t stand up, she swiftly drew the longsword from her waist and forcefully plunged it into the ground in front of her!

“Lord Shen! It’s one thing for you to say that once, but if I ever hear you insult our leader again, I may not be your match, but this sword, even if it doesn’t touch your blood, will certainly be mine!” She declared fiercely.