Chapter 76: Reputation Crisis!?

Whether Silver King Lycan’s corpse was inside Lai Kaion City was a question that didn’t need immediate proof.

Whether it was to stop the Witch Hunting, inherit the noble title, or find a way to lift the Curse, their final destination would inevitably be Lai Kaion City. However, Blaze and the others currently faced a massive problem: how exactly were they going to bring this all to an end?

The Deputy Lord knew Arcadia’s Secret, yet he still used the Foreigners to conduct Witch Hunting and eradicate the Arcadians. Judging from his actions alone, he was completely deranged. They couldn’t expect such a lunatic to obediently hand over the position of Lord. The worst-case scenario would be an all-out war.

"Fortunately, the Arcadia Territory isn’t very large. Even if a war breaks out, the scale won’t be too big."

Blaze looked at the Map in his hand, made a quick comparison, and nodded seriously. Naturally, this drew an annoyed, embarrassed glare from Audrey, but even she had to admit that at a time like this, having a small territory was actually a good thing.

"Arcadians have a gentle nature by default, so the military is almost entirely composed of the direct descendants of the Arcadia Clan. Combined with the clan’s tradition of intermarrying among close relatives, do you know what that means?" Audrey leaned forward and tapped her index finger against the giant map of the Arcadia Territory spread out on the table. "Loyalty, mutual protection, and most importantly, they might all possess the ability to transform into Werewolves."

An army of a few hundred men might sound laughable, but if those few hundred were all bloodthirsty, ferocious Werewolves, it wouldn’t be funny at all.

"We can’t have the Silver Believers and the villagers help us siege the city. They should be treated as ordinary civilians, not Werewolf Warriors," Audrey added.

"Then there’s only one way left: the Foreigners," Herbie said, raising her index finger. "Those six Vice Aliens have already agreed to help us stop the Witch Hunting and have sought help from the powerful guild, [Fairy Kingdom]."

"[Fairy Kingdom]?" Blaze was taken aback. He hadn’t expected to hear that name here, but he could only chalk it up to a massive coincidence.

After all, he had just recently asked [Fairy Kingdom] for help, hoping they could figure out a way to stop the Witch Hunting. Because he hadn’t received an immediate reply, he had been feeling quite uneasy. At the time, he had been hesitant and didn’t include the fact about the Arcadians being affected by the Curse in his letter. Besides, even if he had, the other party wouldn’t have believed his baseless claims enough to interfere with the other Foreigners.

Therefore, he had remained pessimistic about whether he could actually get the Foreigners’ help.

"The Foreigner named Greenland said she has a way to make the other Foreigners believe their words." Herbie wore a solemn expression, clearly doubting whether this could actually be done.

Unless they saw it with their own eyes and heard it with their own ears, no one would ever believe that the Arcadians were suffering from a Curse.

"How do they plan to make the others believe?"

"..." Blaze fell silent. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the Six Vice Group, but for some reason, he couldn’t shake an ominous premonition.

***

[Fairy Kingdom] was a famous frontline strategy group that had defeated numerous Special Monsters. Among their achievements were incredible feats that benefited the entire player base, such as unlocking the Beastman Species option. They frequently posted all sorts of strategy guides on their exclusive X account.

But today, they dropped a massive bombshell.

It was a video titled: [The Untold Scandals Between the Black Beast Knight and the Future Countess].

At first, many netizens sighed in disappointment. They thought the hardcore gaming guide group, [Fairy Kingdom], had finally degenerated into posting clickbait videos. After all, who didn’t know what kind of person the Black Beast Knight was? Sighing, they clicked on the video anyway.

Their initial lazy attitudes instantly vanished when they saw the Black Beast Knight whispering intimately into the ear of a beautiful Female Knight. They sat up straight, their eyes widening in shock.

As they speculated about the relationship between the two, their attention was gradually captivated by Arcadia’s Secret, which was being narrated in the Black Beast Knight’s deep, low voice. Those who followed [Fairy Kingdom] were all players deeply immersed in this world, so they easily got sucked into the story.

The video didn’t end after the Black Beast Knight finished telling the story. Next came footage of the Black Beast Knight dueling a gigantic Werewolf. They saw the teenage boy’s furious roars, the Werewolf who defied death and fought against the Curse for the sake of love, and the Silver Believers struggling helplessly in the quagmire of darkness.

Some shed tears; others muttered to themselves.

A frenzy erupted in the comments section under [Fairy Kingdom]’s account.

[Detail Freak: Why does it feel like a segment is missing?]

[Big Bruiser: They probably cut out the player PvP part. It’s totally normal; top-tier players don’t like exposing their combat styles.]

[Monkey Hand Still Hasn’t Dropped: That Black Beast Knight actually looks exactly like Blaze from Balkan City.]

[Golden G: Let me get this straight. If those Silver Werewolves transformed upon hearing the bear roar because they mistakenly thought the person roaring was in danger... then isn’t this exactly like pretending to be injured in the wild, tricking wild animals into coming to the rescue, and then taking the opportunity to...]

[Heartless Liver Emperor: The Arcadians are all Pure Love War Gods!]

[Wolf Hunter: Damn it, I need to change my username!]

[Greenlannd: Doesn’t that mean we’re just being used as tools for a power grab!? Don’t tell me we won’t even be able to redeem the Knight Profession anymore?]

[Heartless Liver Emperor: Whoa, it’s Lanlan!]

[Greenlannd: Damn it! I thought I could get the Knight Profession and avoid going to jail. Where is the way out for Vice players?! The devs aren’t giving us a chance to survive!]

As the players argued and [Greenlannd] successfully directed their hostility toward the Witch Hunting, [Fairy Kingdom] seized the perfect moment to step in.

[Fairy Kingdom: We hope to enlist the help of all players to halt the Witch Hunting event, jointly attack Lai Kaion City, and assist the NPC Audrey Arcadia in inheriting her noble title.]

[Fairy Kingdom: This might be a World Level quest that unlocks the Werewolf species, and it’s time-limited. For the benefit of the vast majority of players, we reluctantly decided to make this public.]

[Black Witch Order: World Level quests like this are usually designed to advance the storyline and add new species. Even if you monopolize it and complete it alone, you can’t monopolize the rewards. No wonder you guys went public with it.]

[Black Witch Order: You probably learned your lesson from last time when you monopolized the World Level storyline for the Beastmen, only to find out the reward was simply adding the Beastman Species as a selectable option for everyone.]

[Golden G: They’ve appeared! The Fairy’s arch-nemesis.]

[Fairy Kingdom: We only published this storyline because we were asked for help by an NPC. You guys wouldn’t want a 16-year-old boy like Romeo (Picture: This Werewolf right here) to just die like this, would you?]

[Single DOG: 16 years old... Doesn’t that make him a married shota?]

[Black Witch Order: Elaborate on the married shota part!]

[Fairy Kingdom: Anyway, we hope everyone can log in and lend a hand. At the very least, let’s pause the hunting for today.]

[Blocked User: I know this is highly inappropriate right now, but I have to say, I’m completely sold on the older Countess sister and young Knight boy dynamic! I’m going to gather some reference materials and start producing fanart!]

[Black Witch Order: Elaborate on the older Countess sister and young Knight boy... Wait, no, please check your DMs. Let’s discuss this in private.]

Of course, not all players intended to cooperate. Some refused to give up on the Special Profession right in front of them, while others had spotted their bounty targets in the video. They quietly logged in and headed to the Arcadia Territory, each harboring their own ulterior motives.

***

"Blaze, I need to talk to you," Greenland said, bursting into the meeting with a solemn expression that screamed bad news.

"What’s wrong? Are the other Foreigners refusing to stop?"

"You don’t need to worry about that. Thanks to my brilliant acting skills, I’ve successfully stirred up everyone’s sympathy for the Arcadians and their fury toward the Deputy Lord." Greenland lowered her voice. "But the trouble is regarding your personal reputation."

"Personal reputation?" Blaze was completely baffled. How much worse could the Black Beast Knight’s reputation possibly get? However, he simply replied, "If it can save the future of the Arcadians, this level of sacrifice isn’t even worth mentioning."

"This sacrifice might be a bit too massive." Greenland cautiously glanced over her shoulder. Upon noticing that Audrey was squinting in their direction, she lowered her voice even further. "You and Audrey have been targeted by a dangerous individual. That person likes to draw certain..." Greenland formed a circle with her furry left hand and held up a single index finger with her right.

"Oh... and?" Blaze didn’t immediately grasp the implication.

"The main characters will likely be you and Audrey."

"You Foreigners are such perverts!"