CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 48: CITIZENS AT LAST?

April 3rd, 6 AM, game world 6 PM, the sun had just set.

Chun’s sailing technique advanced rapidly to level 10 and then came to a halt, even with the ship infused with 4 Sea Souls, there was no increase in proficiency.

What’s going on? Is it tough to even reach Expert level as expected?

Aileen was also puzzled: "Perhaps training in front of the mirror can never compare to a real stage performance, reaching Expert level isn’t something one can achieve easily."

I’ve gathered a bunch of fake experts, alright!

Chun was torn: "Do I need to find a real large ship to practice?"

Aileen thought for a moment: "I wonder if Villapico from the Sea Otter is still around? Seems like he’s a henchman of the Great Evil Spirit, maybe you can find him?"

"But I’ve got the plague! Even if he’s nearby, there’s no way he’ll let me onboard, right?"

No, that’s not the point!

Chun felt uneasy: "I wonder if his Magical Pet is still around? If it is, could it be lurking on the island, monitoring me?"

"You’re just lying there on the street, how could he monitor anything?"

At that moment, figures began to appear on the street beyond.

Aileen was surprised: "Ghosts! It’s dusk, perfect time for them to come out."

Chun asked in disbelief: "So, does the Soul Perspective allow us to see ghosts that normal eyes can’t perceive?"

Aileen wasn’t sure: "But they seem to have shadows in this state?"

The next moment, the figures gathered around Chun, who was lying down, making it look like a group of Celestial Gods towering over him like mountains.

Chun had a bad feeling.

A ghost spoke: "This Dog City Lord, step on him!"

Holy shit!

A group of "Celestial Gods" raised their feet and stomped wildly, producing a clanging of metal that was fully blocked by the Steel Diving Suit.

Chun was astonished: "They’re tangible?"

Aileen spoke solemnly: "After all, they’re ghosts from a hundred years ago, having absorbed so much Death Qi today, possibly retrieving something from the defeated Slime Monster, coupled with the hatred pushing them to upgrade into Evil Spirits, appearing in physical form at night is possible."

Holy shit, holy shit!

But this ignited an idea in Chun’s mind: isn’t this just like the ghostly night market in folklore? At night, it’s bustling, but in the daytime, it’s desolate.

Chun was energized: "If they’re tangible, they could be considered citizens, right? We could start a night market!"

Aileen chuckled: "But it’s a citizen riot now."

Chun was overwhelmed: "So what do we do then?"

"Your Steel Diving Suit doesn’t fear a beating, right?"

"That doesn’t solve the problem!"

"I don’t really know, you’re the City Lord, you figure it out."

You’re supposed to be an assistant AI, the secretary, how could you not know?

Chun panicked: "No, no, you need to learn, learn and you’ll understand!"

Aileen was surprised: "Then go ahead and teach me?"

Chun felt embarrassed: "Aren’t I already trying to figure it out?"

Alright, how hard can being a leader be? Though I haven’t been a supervisor, what they can do, I surely can too. And what I can do, they can only chuckle at!

At that moment, a metallic scraping sound came from the ground, followed by an angry shout: "This Dog City Lord messed up my trophy, I’m gonna hammer him to death!"

The excited ghosts made way and shouted: "Hammer him! Hammer him!"

Chun suddenly saw a tall, strong ghost dragging a hammer running over, holy shit!! A trophy? Could he be the true Master Smith of the smithy?

The next moment, the hammer struck down!

As if the moon collides with the earth! The whole Contract Space erupted with sparks, earsplitting noise, obscuring everything in trembling!

——System Message: Warning! Your body is suffering from a powerful external impact, you are about to end Soul State intoxication and forcibly awaken!

What the—?

The scene suddenly changed, and Chun abruptly opened his eyes!

——System Message: Your body absorbed strong energy infused by the Evil Spirit and fused with the remaining toxins within you, you gained 445 points in Illusion Skill Value. Illusion Skill Value can activate skills like Illusion and Invisibility; basic activation requires 10 points of Illusion Skill Value. You can also use all Energy Value for maximum skill effect...

...

It’s Illusion Skill Value again! Are they serious giving so much?

But there’s no increase in Life, plus the consumption far exceeds a Clone’s small account! As expected, different races yield different effects?

At that moment, the surrounding crowd cheered again, and the blacksmith gathered strength and raised the hammer high again!

Holy shit!

He must be the strongest among these Evil Spirits, I must exert City Lord authority to subdue him, subdue him and the group should follow suit. The key is knowing his name; knowing the name and scolding it explicitly has an extra effect on anyone!

And to subdue him, using Illusion is the way!

——System Message: You activated the Illusion skill, current default Illusion is copying your own appearance, and you can adjust the Illusion size...

Max out the Illusion Skill Value!

In the next moment, Chun’s size increased to two stories tall. He stood towering over the blacksmith in his player form and shouted angrily, "Smith, what are you doing!!!"

The whole place fell silent instantly!

The blacksmith was so shocked his hammer fell to the ground, then he stomped and howled angrily, "I—don’t—know—what—I’m—doing!!!"

That shut them up!

We must seize this rare chance to turn the situation around! Explain things clearly? Impossible! Besides, Aileen said that Evil Spirits don’t listen to explanations, what if keywords trigger them again...

Chun’s mind raced, and he could only come up with the most common foreman phrase: "Why are you all surrounding me? Just go do what you’re supposed to do!"

The crowd was stupefied, standing there without any reaction.

Holy shit, are they determined to riot and don’t care about the City Lord at all, or have they been dead so long they really don’t know what they’re doing? I can only bet on the latter and actively arrange them.

Chun immediately pulled out Magic Gold: "Smith, craft me two rings! Let this new City Lord see if you’re worthy of that trophy! If you’re not worthy, don’t blame me for breaking it!"

Smith shuddered suddenly, "Magic Gold!"

The crowd stirred up, "Magic Gold!!"

Holy shit, they all recognized it?

Then this verifies my suspicion—they knew about Magic Gold while alive, so the whole island was wiped out? Maybe Magic Gold is their obsession! It can be used to shift their resentment.

Chun immediately had more to say: "Why shout so loud? Keep it secret! Work well, everyone will have some!"

Smith immediately walked back to the forge excitedly, "Secret! Secret!!"

Got him sorted! Now, let’s show some swagger!

Chun continued to yell loudly, "Keep it secret! Everyone work!"

The crowd also excitedly scattered and roamed the streets.

Success? Though I don’t know what they can wander around achieving, as long as they don’t riot, it’s fine.

Chun canceled the illusion and took a deep breath, feeling almost drained—this is the critical moment for Black Flag Island’s development.

Aileen also came back to her senses, "Did you really give the Magic Gold to this blacksmith? What if he doesn’t return it?"

Chun was helpless, "Then I’ll scold him publicly for being untrustworthy!"

Aileen snorted, "It’s normal for Evil Spirits to be untrustworthy."

Chun sighed further, "Then I’ll chat with each ghost, and the topic will be his dishonesty—at least we’ll have a common topic."

Aileen chuckled, "Like a gossip monger."

Shouldn’t that be your specialty?

Chun was already exhausted, he checked the time—he’d been up all night and was starving and couldn’t hold on: "I’m going to rest, handle things while I’m gone—especially watch out for the magical pets’ surveillance, don’t reveal yourself."

"Got it."

...

Chun logged off and went out for breakfast. Then, just like yesterday, he slept until noon before coming back.

Downstairs, the aroma of instant noodles hit him, and all the big shots turned and greeted, "Morning, Brother Chun!"

"Brother Chun, how’s your escape going?"

Chun naturally denied, "It was a trap! I was just fishing at sea and accidentally crossed the boundary. How could that be considered escaping?"

"Then Brother Chun, are you okay?"

Chun smiled helplessly, "In my current state, whether something happens or not makes little difference, just taking it slow."

"Don’t worry, Brother Chun, take it slow—you’ll definitely find the hidden map..."

Chun noticed something new, "Has everyone switched to Warrior?"

The group cursed, "The big shot finally stopped blocking the gate—it held us up for three days. Now, there are thousands competing for a monster-killing quest to switch professions..."

"It’s better to keep mining; wait for fewer people to switch professions and do the quest, probably delayed for a few days."

Holy shit! Probably all the red names are in the Water Prison now, and the big shots don’t need to block the gate anymore.

Chun also called to the bar counter’s Little Sister, "I won’t be here this morning, arrange for a server to clean the private room."

The counter’s Little Sister smiled, "Okay, got it."

...

At this moment, the first player Michael had just finished dinner and received a report from the butler: "Sir, there’s new movement on the Divine Team’s side—they’re continually feeding the Hell Envoy kills to promote its rank, and are using the Count’s Mansion’s power to capture the Hell Envoy while searching for Magic Stones..."

Michael laughed, "Failed to capture?"

The butler said, "Sir, the Hell Envoy is just a little bat, and it’s hard to compete with the Treasure Hunter through rapid promotion and Count’s backing. Also, the Magic Stone’s location has shifted from the original pit, guarded by frog-like monsters—this seems a bit abnormal!"

Michael showed interest, "Is simply following the original development settings called normal? Could it not be the result of intelligent and autonomous growth?"

The butler replied, "Intelligent growth is certainly good, I’ll continue to monitor it."

Michael nodded, "Also, isn’t the Divine Team planning to use the Teleportation Array anymore, but instead intends to dig straight to hell?"

"Yes, currently they’ve sent all the red names down using the Count’s connections, so there’s no lack of manpower."

Michael chuckled, "Interesting, I’m also curious to see how directly digging to hell turns out."

...