The three of them walked out of the City Lord's Mansion. This time, even the stairs seemed to be very cooperative and no longer creaked.
The armor at the corner gently knocked the ground with his weapon, as if saying goodbye to Lu Mingze.
After leaving the City Lord's Mansion, Cao Qian felt relieved. Unlike Lu Mingze, the City Lord's Mansion was like a huge devil's cave. The oppressive atmosphere made Cao Qian and Guan Ling nervous. It seemed that they would be attacked by walls, windows, stairs and even air at any time and anywhere.
Only Lu Mingze seemed to have a purifying barrier around him, and it felt more comfortable to lean on him.
The solemn atmosphere faded. Cao Qian reached out and tapped Lu Mingze's shoulder, frowning and asking, "You really can't see that everything in the City Lord's Mansion is a monster. They're not as kind as you say. They only want to devour the innocent people who enter the City Lord's Mansion."
Lu Mingze looked directly at Cao Qian, his eyes sparkling like stars in the night sky. He said seriously, "I know."
Cao Qian was slightly stunned.
Lu Mingze said, "There are bloodstains inside the armor. They must have been left behind by the person trapped inside after a frantic struggle. The dangerous scenes described by the armor regarding the wall clock, table, chair, and sofa must have happened before, otherwise the armor wouldn't know so clearly."
Guan Ling couldn't help but ask, "I thought you didn't know. Then why did you say those things to them?"
"I want to know their true intentions," Lu Mingze clenched his fists, then slowly lowered them, saying softly, "I don't think we can treat them by human standards. They are not human."
Cao Qian thought for a moment, then understood what Lu Mingze meant. She said, "In their eyes, humans are no different from ants and insects in our eyes. They are not of our species. Moreover, those monsters act entirely on instinct. Each of their behaviors seems to be the result of a certain instinct being magnified. It's not that they voluntarily possess the characteristics of life, but that some force makes them alive, and it's a single instinct that keeps them alive."
"I understand. You satisfied their previous single desire and gave them a new one with your words—protecting the town. You transformed their evil desire into a desire to protect. This method is indeed more effective than violently demolishing the City Lord's Mansion. After all, our goal is to rebuild the town, not destroy it..."
She touched her chin, looking as if she understood something, and at the same time her opinion of Lu Mingze changed. This little prince with virtual pink flowers floating all over his body was smarter than she had imagined.
"Huh?" Lu Mingze blinked and whispered, "I didn't think that much... I just thought that they hurt humans before because they had difficulties. Once the difficulties are resolved, will they be willing to work with me to rebuild and protect the city? If they are willing, then bygones be bygones, they will atone for their sins and punish the sinners with their own abilities. If they are unwilling and still want to hurt humans, then as a human being and the new lord of the town, I can't let them continue to hurt others. Even though I don't have much offensive ability, I will also eliminate these hidden dangers!"
After saying this firmly, Lu Mingze chuckled again: "But I've always been lucky. The monsters I've encountered are all good ones. They're willing to help me."
Lu Mingze looked at the personal attributes on the bracelet and thought that 100% luck value was really great!
Guan Ling, who was watching, said weakly, "I don't think this is a matter of luck..."
He agreed more with Sister Cao's statement that Lu Mingze had forced a wish on the monsters with simple minds and emotions. The monsters probably didn't know why they became guardians.
Cao Qian and Guan Ling looked at each other and silently swallowed what they wanted to say.
Forget it, Lu Mingze thinks he is lucky, so that's just luck.
Lu Mingze did not go looking for gold immediately. He climbed up the statue to greet him, which was polite.
He was covered in dust in the dirty City Lord's Mansion. Except for his eyes which were still bright, the rest of his body was gray, but this did not detract from Lu Mingze's appearance.
The moment he touched the statue's base, a voice suddenly entered Lu Mingze's mind: "You're not dead?"
"Ah?" Lu Mingze was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern. I have already got the map."
Statue: "I'm not concerned about you. I'm wondering how you survived... Never mind, it's not important. You've already seen the location of the gold shop on the map. This time I must remind you that the gold shop at night is more difficult to deal with than the one during the day. It's best to go during the day."
Lu Mingze was a man who humbly accepted other people's suggestions. He nodded and said, "Okay then, I'll get rid of the bandits first."
"Bandits?" the statue asked doubtfully. "How do you know there are bandits outside the city?"
Lu Mingze said: "The armor in the City Lord's Mansion told me."
Statue: "The armor that keeps running around in the middle of the night? The armor that drives everyone who wears it crazy?"
"Yes, the armor that protects the city lord's mansion and patrols the town."
Statue: "I don't think we're talking about the same armor... Never mind, it's unimportant. Bandits do need to be eradicated, otherwise the town won't be able to prosper. But you must remember one thing: you must show no mercy to bandits. They are different from the monsters in the City Lord's Mansion."
Lu Mingze listened carefully to the statue's instructions.
The statue said, "On the day of disaster, the most terrifying thing wasn't the monsters, but the human heart. Once the malice in their hearts is amplified, freed from the constraints of morality and law, some people become completely different. And under the influence of some mysterious power, some of these people can no longer be considered simple bandits. They have become half-demons, half human, half demon. Half-demons are extremely powerful at night, but... I think you are more suitable for attacking bandits at night."
"Why?"
"During the day, they can disguise themselves, pretending to be ordinary residents and deceiving you, a little fool, but they can't do that at night. Their demonic nature is aroused, and they can't hide their half-demon bodies." The statue said seriously, "But they are stronger than the monsters in the City Lord's Mansion. You'd better find weapons and magic that can purify the half-demon."
It's still a world of swords and magic! Lu Mingze was a little excited and asked with a map in hand: "Where can I find weapons and magic?"
The statue was almost fooled by Lu Mingze's smirk: "How could a treasure like that be marked on a map? I just know that such a thing must exist, and it is in the city. You still need to work hard to find it. I can tell you that the weapon is a sword inlaid with gems. No, there are no gems now. It's an ordinary iron sword. It used to be my sword."
Lu Mingze heard another "beep" sound, and the narration reminded him that the task progress was 0.36. Another task three with a progress of 0.1 appeared on the bracelet, which was to find the lost sword of the statue.
Lu Mingze was a little happy that the third mission was found so quickly, but he was also worried. In such a big city, where could he find weapons and magic?
At this moment, the bracelet engraved with the name "Xing Ye" became hot. Could it be that Xing Ye is coming?
Lu Mingze was a little excited. He was able to enter the game world thanks to the old mirrored phone case Xing Ye gave him. He believed that Xing Ye must know something, and he really wanted to meet Xing Ye.
He clapped his wristband quickly, hoping someone would appear.
Unexpectedly, this time Xing Ye was not there, but a book appeared out of thin air.
Lu Mingze: "???"
The book is very thick, but it is entirely white paper, without a single word.
Cao Qian and Guan Ling thought that someone else would show up, and were surprised to see it was a book. They gathered around Lu Mingze and wanted to see what was so special about the book.
"What is this?" Lu Mingze clapped his wristband frantically.
The "Challenge Fate Game" bracelet speaks hesitantly, and saying one more word seems to be fatal, so you have to tap it hard to make a word come out.
After taking pictures for a long time, a page finally appeared on the bracelet, which was the personal attribute panel. Lu Mingze found that a "Props" column appeared on the personal panel.
Props: A book that will make you a "winner in life" if you understand it. If you want to use it, you must love it. It has incredible depth and can answer 99% of your questions, but to make it speak, you must love it.
Lu Mingze: "…"
Xing Ye's bracelet is so weird...
He had no choice but to hold the book and ask, "How can I find the sword and magic?"
The book flipped open without a breeze, revealing the first page. A single line of words appeared on the blank paper: "The city has suffered a great disaster, and bandits have looted it. Most buildings, even the City Lord's Mansion, have been destroyed." Search for relatively intact buildings in the city. In a town that has been looted, it's unlikely that any buildings would remain intact without special protection.
"I see," Lu Mingze said to the book, "You are really smart!"
The book didn't answer, and the words on the pages slowly disappeared.
Guan Ling sighed, "A book is smarter than me, why didn't I think of this?"
Lu Mingze asked, "The bracelet said that if I like you, you will be able to discover more potential. The bracelet also uses 'he' instead of 'it' to describe you. Does this mean that you are a human male?"
The book lay open quietly, with no words appearing on the blank pages.
Lu Mingze was not discouraged and continued to ask, "Why can I only develop my potential if I like you?"
This time the book answered, as if someone was writing, and a line of beautiful regular script appeared one after another on the page -
because I love you.
Lu Mingze's face suddenly turned red. He had been confessed to by many people, but he had never felt his heart beating like a drum like this before.
It was clearly just a sentence, just five words, much simpler than previous love poems and love letters, but it made Lu Mingze's heart moved.
"Who are you?" Lu Mingze asked. He actually had a guess, but he needed a book to confirm it.
The book says: I can't say.
After this line of words disappeared, the book page closed automatically and Lu Mingze couldn't open it no matter how hard he turned.
"Let's go," Cao Qian said, "Let's divide the areas according to the map and split up to find relatively intact buildings in the city."
She is very fast and can run to more places.
"Wait a minute," Lu Mingze said, "I might have another way."
He closed his eyes for about five minutes, then opened them and searched the map for a while. His finger landed on a building. "Here, the only church in the city. It's the only one still intact."
"How do you know?" Cao Qian asked.
It was only five minutes. What did Lu Mingze do during this time when he closed his eyes?
"Ask the mirrors in the city. My initial skill, 'Magic Mirror of Truth', allows me to see the images that each mirror has reflected. In this city, only the mirrors in the church are still intact." Lu Mingze explained.