Chapter 56: Episode Three
Even though King Charles VI was overweight, as a faction leader, a massive health pool was a must. His combat strength wasn't bad either, as the royal family itself descended from a prominent line of knights. Zhou Ning guessed their family tradition focused on skills related to command and presence. Combined with the constant protection of the Sun Guards, he should have been incredibly difficult to kill.
But somehow, the lunatics from the Life Alchemy Society had actually pulled it off.
Zhou Ning couldn't help but let out a long breath.
In the world of Apocalypse, the death of a faction leader wasn't a simple matter. Unlike in other online games, they didn't just respawn. They could only be killed through major plot events, and once they died, they were gone for good.
There was a saying in Apocalypse: the life of a king is tied to the fate of the nation. With the death of Charles VI, Braxton's economy would inevitably decline, and the nation would face all sorts of instability.
Furthermore, a huge number of main story quests from the original game that centered on Charles VI would now be completely scrapped and rewritten. Even as a transmigrator, Zhou Ning now found it impossible to predict the future of the plot.
"What a mess," he sighed, looking up at the sky.
Still, his situation was manageable. The ones in real trouble were the Imperial Guards. With their king assassinated, they must be in a state of utter chaos. Zhou Ning felt a surge of relief that he hadn't accepted Qi En's invitation to join them. If he had, he would be just as miserable, stuck under lockdown, which was no better than being in prison.
He pulled out his pocket watch and clicked it open. It was only 2 p.m. After a moment's thought, Zhou Ning decided to head back to his alchemy lab. The way John had been looking at him that morning, with a distinct sparkle in his eyes, had left him feeling unsettled.
On the way back, the weather turned, the rain shifting to snow that soon dyed the canal banks white. Nearby, several police officers were stopping and questioning a suspicious-looking passerby. As if that kind of random questioning will get them anywhere, Zhou Ning thought, shaking his head as he walked along the canal toward his workshop.
He had three main goals for the near future.
The most important, of course, was to complete the certification for his custom "Roaming Gunner" class. A complete class system required at least six professional feats, two core buff skills, and more than ten active skills.
Zhou Ning was close. He had six feats: Marksmanship, Ripple Breathing, Precision Mechanical Production, Mysticism, Puppet Alchemy, and Observation Haki.
He also had two core buff skills: Ripple Breathing and Armament Haki.
All he needed now were four more active skills to complete the class framework. He could get them through more simulations or by random chance; the main thing he lacked right now was experience points.
Finally, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, Zhou Ning sighed.
His second goal was simpler: quickly level his Alchemy skill to Advanced, then use Goethe's Alchemy Manual to jump directly to the Expert tier. At the Expert level, one could truly enter the upper echelons of alchemy, mastering several powerful formulas and smoothly advancing the Alchemist's Apprentice subclass.
The third goal wasn't as urgent. He planned to upgrade his Puppet Alchemy skill, but that would require a huge amount of experience and Victoires, which was out of his reach for now.
The first and second goals could be pursued simultaneously since alchemy granted a lot of experience. After returning to his lab, Zhou Ning skillfully lit the whale-oil lamps on the wall and laid out his crucible, alcohol lamp, dropper, scale, and test tubes.
He wasn't far from reaching Advanced Alchemy, so he decided to take advantage of his free time to grind some levels. The current bullet order from the Imperial Guards was only 200 rounds, but he could use the extra materials to craft Flame Oil and keep it in reserve.
He heated the beaker with practiced ease, adding lead salt as the potion began to boil. Perhaps due to the recent increase in his Agility, Zhou Ning found his success rate for crafting Flame Oil was incredibly high, and his speed had improved as well.
By the end of the afternoon, Zhou Ning had produced nearly fifty vials of Flame Oil and accumulated over 10,000 experience points. At this rate, two more sessions would be enough to push his alchemy to the advanced level. To be honest, if his herbs hadn't run out, he felt he might have been able to reach it today.
Knock, knock.
A polite knock came from the door.
Zhou Ning, who had just finished cleaning his workbench and was relaxing in his recliner, got up and opened it. Mrs. Tulin, his landlady, was standing outside holding a tray.
"Good evening, little Wayne. Come and try the cupcakes I made," she said with a warm smile.
"Thank you, Mrs. Tulin," Zhou Ning said, sincerely accepting the plate. "Would you like to come in for a bit?"
"No, dear. The smell of alchemy makes my nose itch," Mrs. Tulin said, peeking into the room with a smile. "Perhaps my husband would be more willing to visit."
"Mr. Tulin is an alchemist?" Zhou Ning asked curiously.
"He used to be a very good one. But not since the Butcher War."
Mrs. Tulin didn't seem to want to elaborate and quickly changed the subject. "What do you think of the cupcakes? I added a little extra cocoa powder tonight."
"They're great," Zhou Ning said with a smile and a thumbs-up.
What a nice old lady, he thought after seeing her off. He returned to his recliner, settled in, and opened the game forums.
Sure enough, XB had already uploaded the video from his live stream. It had been pinned to the top of the forums with the title: "Everything That Went Down with Wayne Stewell."
He clicked on it. The video was shot entirely from XB's perspective, covering everything from the orientation ceremony to the final slaying of the bloodworm. It even included a full recording of the items in Zhou Ning's personal shop, making for a very compelling watch. Of course, Zhou Ning noticed that XB, ever mindful of his image, had carefully edited out the embarrassing "I'm your idol" part.
The post had already accumulated tens of thousands of replies and was still climbing.
"Holy crap, I'm shook. Is this the power of Wayne Stewell? (read in an anime voice)"
"I was on the fence about what class to play, but now I know. Roaming Gunner is my destiny!"
"OMG, I'm a closed beta player stuck on the northern server! Can someone tell me how to get to the capital?!"
Scrolling through the praise was one of Zhou Ning's favorite pastimes, but before he could fully enjoy it, a new prompt popped up on his panel:
[Important Notice: The third episode of the Apocalypse series has been released on the forums and all major platforms. This series is automatically generated by the game's optical computer. Players interested in the game's background lore are encouraged to watch.]
Zhou Ning felt a wave of resignation.
Originally, the third episode was supposed to be about the Day Watchers. It told the story of how they solved the Streel Family Portrait case with the help of Leandro de Pesa. Zhou Ning had seen that episode in his past life; it had a young Sherlock Holmes vibe and was quite interesting.
However, with the assassination of Charles VI, the Imperial Guards clearly had more pressing matters to attend to. Zhou Ning could guess with his eyes closed what this new episode would be about. He was, however, quite curious to see it, especially since he wanted to know how Charles VI had died.
The episode opened with a bird's-eye view of Wake Forest University, then zoomed in to show the viewers the scene of the orientation ceremony. The camera didn't linger on the crowd; instead, it panned across and locked directly onto Zhou Ning, dressed in a white shirt, black vest, and black jacket.
Zhou Ning: "..."
I don't know what's wrong with this AI director, but it seems to have a fixation on me.
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