Chun swam along with the bat, watching as it flew into a corner of the wall, its glow becoming blurred.
There's a hole at the top of the wall! Sure enough, there's a cave.
Chun immediately surfaced, only to be met by buzzing Little Strong Kings flying around! Fortunately, the Suppression Aura from the Sacred Artifact was in effect, causing them to fly around it instead of crashing directly.
Chun suddenly found that the surroundings were pitch-black, apart from being able to see through the wall to spot the bat's glow; he couldn't see anything else. The previous overhead view that allowed him to see the swarm of rats and Little Strong Kings was completely gone! Is it because the bat drilled into the hole?
Chun suddenly realized: "Aileen, is this bat considered your clone? Were we sharing the bat's vision earlier?"
Aileen chuckled: "So what do you want to do about it?"
Could it really be? Chun got anxious: "It'd be a shame to kill it!"
Aileen laughed: "I never said we must kill it, do as you see fit! Aren't you supposed to be lucky?"
True! The mission was named "Handle" the Blood Bats, killing them would resolve her resentment, but fully subduing them would be even more beneficial. Regardless of the outcome, she would be happy.
Chun found the bat's glow suddenly stopped moving: "Has it returned to its nest to rest?"
Aileen laughed: "Maybe it gorged too much and got stuck in the hole?"
Holy Shit, stuck!? If that's the case, such luck couldn't be better!
Chun immediately got ashore, his foot injury still present, but fortunately not infected.
Touching the wall, it was covered in slippery moss, making it impossible to climb to the hole above with Basic climbing skills. He needed something to stand on, but where to find it in the pitch-black surroundings? Even finding some scattered stones or bricks was pointless.
Chun suddenly thought about the Dog King's body and the Corpse-eating Fish King's body, both large and floating in the water, he could drag them here. With a carrying capacity of 400, it was possible to drag them ashore to stand on, so he went back to drag the corpses.
Chun dragged along the shore, his pet following in the water, with both his Sacred Artifact's Suppression Aura and the pet's Fish King's Mighty acting like double barriers, driving away all flying insects and rats. Even if the Rat King or Little Strong King appeared, he had Purification as forewarning to jump into the water and hide immediately. It felt like being the king of the sewers! Later, when stronger, he would team up with Sherry to do a bounty mission and take them down—
Sherry! Right, without players seeing now, he should report his safety to her.
Chun took out the Attendant Badge and put it on, a bunch of messages from Sherry immediately came through: "Are you okay?" "Are you in danger now?" "Where are you?"
No need to say, she saw I had done something big after the city-wide announcement.
As Chun prepared to reply excitedly, Aileen coldly remarked: "Under the contract, you're not allowed to disclose any information related to me, or else—"
Chun froze: "Is that in the contract?"
Aileen coldly laughed: "The right of explanation is mine! But, this is a Mage's Attendant Badge, aren't you honored?"
Chun was surprised: "What do you mean?"
Aileen laughed: "You know, the technique diagram in my diary was bought from an Old Witch, who had over a hundred attendants throughout her life, all died as cannon fodder! You're just cannon fodder too."
I'm a player, not afraid of dying, and I'm happy to have a lifelong meal ticket!
Chun got impatient: "You're just here to stir things up, aren't you annoyed?"
Aileen was even more excited: "I'm an Evil Spirit, not annoyed at all! You say you're in love with that bitch Vivian, is it true love or fake love?"
Chun got angry: "You can't curse her!"
Aileen laughed heartily: "Look, you didn't answer directly, you hesitated!"
Chun had to shift the topic to her: "Are others just using me, and you, the Evil Spirit, are actually good to me instead?"
Aileen chuckled: "Actually, if you think about it from another angle, maybe the only one you can truly trust is me!"
Holy Shit, what logic is this!? Chun was speechless: "How weird is that angle supposed to be?"
Aileen chuckled: "Then take your time thinking about it! Quietly think."
Alright, finally she shut up and quieted down.
But after this interruption, Chun really wasn't in the mood to report his safety to Sherry, given his situation wasn't safe at all. It was more like calling for help, which would only delay her precious learning time at the Magic Tower. Better wait until he deals with the bat and escapes.
Now Chun was really full of thoughts analyzing the meaning of Aileen's words. Although she didn't give a quest reward, just based on this statement, it was an obvious sign of greatly increased likability.
Considering his current situation of offending the consortium, Vivian and Sherry also being under the consortium's watch, possibly having their mission usurped... Even with clones, but those clones were supervised by a fake Angel, and the consortium could usurp them even in Hell... Nothing was secure!
Chun then asked: "Aileen, is there truly no one who knows of your existence?"
Aileen smiled: "I'm merely a departed inconsequential person, and you're the only one aware of my existence."
Chun suddenly realized, this is her value! Only possessing me, exclusively mine, without the risk of being usurped by the consortium!
Aileen laughed and asked: "Have you figured it out yet?"
Chun replied humbly: "I've figured it out, my voice was a bit loud earlier."
Aileen laughed heartily: "Then fulfill my wish with gratitude. With my help, whatever tricks that bitch Vivian plays, I'll help you deal with them!"
Uh!?
Chun suddenly remembered something: "Don't you have a mother and sister?"
Aileen sighed, "Yeah, they're also saddled with debt, so we'll have to figure out a way to help them shake it off, and that means only—"
Holy shit, trigger the mission to kill the creditor!?
Chun hurriedly interrupted, "Stop talking, bat first!"
Chun found the floating corpse, the two floating corpses weren't far apart, so Chun decided to start by pushing the smaller Dog King corpse from behind.
Before that, he ate some dry food brought out from prison on the shore to replenish his hunger and physical strength. Luckily it's a game, otherwise, what kind of experience would it be to eat in such an environment?
Once his strength recovered, Chun officially went into the water. The double Suppression Aura immediately dispersed the surrounding Cannibal Fish that were swarming to gnaw. Gotta say, this dog's hide is pretty thick and tough to chew; if he had a Skinning Technique tool like a small knife, he might actually make a small fortune.
—System Notice: Congratulations! Your muscle memory has successfully recalled Basic Swimming Technique level 3... Life+1.
Great! Not only could he regather skills, but pushing it wasn't as hard as he imagined—no, clearly those Cannibal Fish hadn't gone far, they churned at the edge of the Suppression Aura, creating a pushing force with their pushing.
There's actually such a good thing, then might as well use the dog corpse to push the Corpse-eating Fish King's corpse along with it.
Though he thought this way, executing it was another matter entirely, it felt like having a soccer ball balanced on his head, utterly unstable.
After a long fuss, Aileen got impatient watching, "Is that how you apply force?"
Chun was startled, "Do you know how?"
"Let me do it!"
—System Notice: You have lost control of your body, you activate the Evil Spirit Possession skill "Dance of Evil Spirits"!
Holy shit, does this dance actually have a use?
In the next moment, Chun swayed from side to side in the water like an eel, and suddenly two constantly fluctuating progress bars appeared when pushing the dog corpse with both hands.
Chun was shocked! Weren't these progress bars just like when he struggled against the Little Demon over the pickaxe exhausting physical strength on the first layer of lava? He learned Disarm and even upgraded Fishing then! Which means this Dance of Evil Spirits also involves a balance of retraction and release?
Under the wriggling of the Dance of Evil Spirits, the dog corpse indeed wobbled and pushed the fish corpse forward.
—System Notice: Your wisdom is outstanding, understanding by analogy, you triggered a hidden skill "Module Combination"!
Holy shit! This long-awaited skill notice appeared again before having a chance to comprehend it!
Yesterday, it was a whale pulling nine interconnected boats, and now it's him pushing two floating objects! The common point between them is—wholesale? Being led by a boss?
Aileen chuckled, "If you've figured it out, go ahead!"
Chun hurried, "I haven't figured it out yet!"
"Then there's nothing I can do, do you know how it feels when I control you? It's as tiring as doing hard labor myself. I'd rather control a bat and try flying..."
Turns out her true intention wasn't to kill bats, but to fully control?
Anyway, let's focus on fully understanding this Module Combination for now.
Chun focused intently, monitoring the strength and direction control on the two progress bars of his left and right hands, the pushing becoming increasingly smooth, but he hadn't comprehended it by the time they reached the target location,
Chun felt indescribably frustrated, "Can I practice a little longer?"
Aileen snickered, "Practice a little longer? Do you have some misunderstanding about dancing? Sometimes, a dancer has to concentrate all her body weight on her toes for a single move, you think practicing a bit can achieve that? Not to mention you, can those Warriors do it?"
Chun was stunned, "I'm a guy, do I really have to practice dancing?"
Aileen laughed, "You could be a juggler!"
A juggler! Isn't this the monopolized trade of Tata War God at Third Brother's place?
Fine, the whale didn't lead, the Dancing Girl didn't lead, this Module Combination must be a very difficult divine skill to comprehend, only waiting for another opportunity.
Chun went ashore first, placing 6 stones on the ground to free up the weight limit, feeling his strength restored to its peak, he successfully pried the Fish King's gill and dragged it ashore, that's the power of 400 points of load capacity! Dog King wasn't much of a problem, dragged it ashore and stacked it on the Fish King.
Then, stepping on the corpses, he first tried to jump, failed!
Aileen said, "You have an injured foot, normal jumping won't work, let me!"
—System Notice: You start the Dance of Evil Spirits...
Chun began spinning on one leg like a ballet move!
Holy shit, spiraling to the heavens? Wait a minute!
Chun hurriedly said, "My stones are still on the ground!"
Aileen snorted, "If you wanted to bring those stones with you, there's nothing I could do, throw them into the hole!"
Chun was taken aback, "Won't that provoke the Bat King?"
Aileen laughed, "If it really provokes it, don't you still have 5 of them? Throw them at it! Didn't you say you're lucky?"
Is this even doable? It seems it's the only option, no matter how precious the stones are, flinging them is their essence. Whether it's too fat and gets stuck or its belly bursting, it all depends on luck; the worst-case scenario was originally to die in the Boss's lair and have gear explode.