Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Hoodlum was in a crouching pose, but not because it had a lower center of gravity to allow better defense and attack. His spine was badly deformed, so he had to crouch.

  “That’s Hoodlum!”


  Aside from the commanding officer George, other Knights also recognized Hoodlum. But George didn’t speak because, before him, the Victorians were displaying strange behaviors.

  A lot of gamers were standing beside Hoodlum and chasing other Victorians away. They began shouting various things.

  “Give way, give way. This place is reserved by the Hoodlum Yoga Association. Individual gamers, please go to other places to fight. Thank you!”


  “Individual gamers, give way. This BOSS is ours. There is another BOSS over there. Please cooperate.”


  “We’ll kill you if you don’t give way.”


  Hundreds of gamers gathered and shouted. It was very intimidating. George noticed that a lot of Victorians had left this area for other places.

  Hoodlum crouched on the ground, not attacking immediately. He removed the Short Sword from his mouth and said to his Guild members, “Once we start fighting the BOSS, attack fast. If you’re seriously wounded, die immediately, then revive and ride the horses here. We have horses on both sides of our Guild. The reinforcements must be fast. Don’t lag behind in the battle.”


  After speaking, Hoodlum placed the Short Sword in his mouth again. George thought that it wasn’t necessary to hold the Short Sword in his mouth. Moreover, wielding double Short Swords wasn’t as powerful as a Shield and a Short Sword.

  But it wasn’t the time to critique Hoodlum’s combat technique.

  Hoodlum was the leader of this group of Victorians, and he had already proven himself in the Gladiator Arena. Though George thought that Hoodlum was inferior to him, he was still a respectable warrior.

  When two leaders met on the battlefield, it would be a death duel!

  George wasn’t afraid of such a battle. He swung his weapon and picked up a Round Shield from the side. The surrounding fighting continued unabated. The Knights from the York Territory and the gamers of Victoria City purposely gave lots of empty space to George. The Knights did so because of their honor as Knights, while the Victorians did so because they were being cleared by the Hoodlum Yoga Association.

  “You’re an opponent worthy of respect. I’ll try my best not to kill you because the Duke needs you.”


  George swung his weapon and walked to the middle of the battlefield. To him, it was his duel ground.

  Hoodlum was taken aback, not having expected George to speak to him directly. A gamer who was at the side shouted excitedly, “Chairman, you’re awesome! Even the NPC recognizes you. Dragonborn was killed twice, but none of the NPCs recognized him.”


  “Don’t be too excited. Proceed as planned.”


  Hoodlum spat out his Short Sword and reminded the excited Guild member. Another Guild member asked, “Chairman, shall we surrender? Perhaps they’ll send you back to the Castle for the Strange Encounter Mission.”


  “Impossible. Do you see how vicious the battle is? Even if we want to surrender, it’s too late!”


  “Okay. Don’t talk about surrendering. The discussion is over. Take the equipment and horses. I can’t let my brothers lose equipment because of me.”


  Hoodlum wanted to bite the Short Sword with his mouth but found it troublesome. The Guild members at the side gave an “OK” hand gesture and said, “Don’t worry, Chairman, I’ve started the video recording.”


  “Good, proceed according to our plan!”


  Hoodlum shouted, “Fight the BOSS!”


  Hoodlum charged towards George. He wielded the double Short Swords and attacked George viciously!

  George’s eyes glinted coldly when he saw the various shortcomings!

  He grasped his Shield tightly and rammed against Hoodlum. He saw the gap in Hoodlum’s attack and used the Shield to ram Hoodlum’s body. Hoodlum flew out like a kite with a broken string. This blow didn’t kill him, but he broke a few bones and was suffering.

  Though the warriors of Victoria City hadn’t broken down, to George, it was just a matter of time.

  He intended to knock Hoodlum unconscious and capture him, but he instinctively felt danger. Suddenly, tens of arrows flew towards him.

  He lifted his Shield, and the arrows landed on it. Some arrows hit his armor, but they didn’t penetrate its protection. But the impact of the arrows made his body ache.

  George was furious. Was it not supposed to be a duel? Why were there sniping arrows?

  Before he recovered, another volley of arrows was fired at him. In response, his Knights dashed towards the group of Victorians.

  He saw someone using a strange language, and a fireball appeared in his hands. He then directed the fireball at George.

  “Shucks! Magician!”


  George couldn’t help cursing……

  Sherlock sat in front of his computer and browsed the videos that the gamers had uploaded to the discussion forum.

  After opening the 3-minute video recording function, the gamers started making in-game recordings. For example, in the Black Volcano battle and the Victoria and York Territory battle, many gamers uploaded videos to the discussion forum.

  “It’s a vicious battle at Victoria City, Lord Sherlock,” Bru said while Sherlock was watching the battle scenes.

  “Isn’t that good? The battle provides combat experience, equipment, and horses. With that many Knights, they might be able to create the first Cavalry unit. If Victoria City is able to occupy the York Territory, it will provide more resources to Eternal Kingdom. It’s highly beneficial to us.”


  “Lord Sherlock is wise.”


  Bru agreed with Sherlock, but he asked with worry, “But if Victoria shows their power too early, it will attract the attention of the Surface World. The politics and conflicts of the nobles and the religions are complicated and dangerous compared to the simple Underworld.”


  “I share your concern. What do you think I learned as a superior Devil? Everything is under control, Bru.”


  A “Pom” sound was heard.

  A black kitten extended his paws and covered his head, then lifted his head to look at the parrot perched on a cabinet.

  A wooden cup rolled on the ground beside the black kitten. Eggface turned his head to observe the noise.

  “Aiya, apologies,” the parrot said as he sidestepped to another wooden cup and extended his leg……

  “Grrr—!”


  The black kitten’s hair stood on end, his eyes filled with murderous intent. He leaped towards the cabinet as the parrot kicked the wooden cup at him.

  The nimble black kitten dodged the wooden cup, which brushed past his body, as he landed on the cabinet.

  “I’ll tear out all of your feathers!” the black kitten said to the parrot as he crouched his body threateningly.

  “Ha? You? When Michelangelo was conquering the world, if not for Michelangelo, I would have killed you. Now that you’re a kitten, it’s too easy for me to kill you.”


  The parrot laughed sinisterly while he shifted his legs along the support like a real parrot.

  The black kitten was ready to leap, but Sherlock grabbed his neck and looked at the parrot. Sherlock waved his hand, and the parrot flew and landed in Sherlock’s hand. Then the parrot lowered his head and looked aggrieved.

  However, it was difficult for a parrot to make such a complex expression.

  While Sherlock was thinking of roasting or steaming the parrot, there was a knock at the door.

  Sherlock turned his head to look at the door while he threw the black kitten and the parrot to the side. The two animals quickly returned to their own nests. Meanwhile, Eggface staggered to the door and opened it.

  “What’s up?”


  At the door was Brainiac.

  “I’d like to meet Lord Sherlock. I have a matter to discuss with him.”


  “Come in, Brainiac,” Sherlock shouted.

  Eggface gave way and let Brainiac walk in. He then shut the door so that the gamers outside couldn’t peep in.

  Brainiac walked to Sherlock and put a letter in front of him.

  It was a letter addressed to Brainiac.

  “What is it?”


  Sherlock looked at the front of the envelope. Since he didn’t have Brainiac’s approval, he didn’t examine the contents.

  “These are the letters sent by my mentor, Professor Bacon.” Brainiac put every letter in front of Sherlock and said, “Initially, I thought it was an ordinary letter. But these few days, the letters have been too frequent, and the contents have been strange.”


  “Is that so?”


  “Yes, like this letter. My mentor said that he bought tens of things of Bone Strengthening Powder and asked me if I wanted some.”


  Eggface, who was standing at the side, said, “Most likely, your mentor is old, so he requires more tonics. Did he send you the Bone Strengthening Powder?”


  “This is the problem. He didn’t send any even though I waited for a long time.”


  Brainiac shook his head.

  “You’re saying that your mentor deceived you, so you feel that your mentor is strange?” Sherlock pondered and said, “Perhaps he forgot because he needs to help those poor female students? He’s a helpful teacher, so he has a lot of matters to deal with.”


  “That’s what I thought initially until I examined those letters carefully. I discovered that there was a difference in timing between me receiving the letters and my mentor writing them. I followed the timing that my mentor wrote them and arranged them in chronological order. Then I examined the contents carefully. I found out that my mentor left a secret message—Do not look for me. It is dangerous.”


  Brainiac frowned and said worriedly, “My mentor is in great danger.”


  “No, according to logic, if he didn’t wish for you to visit him and be in danger, he wouldn’t purposely remind you,” the parrot abruptly interjected.

  “Are you a fool? He’s a mentor. Would he leave a secret message that says: Come and save me, please! That would be a loss of face! If I was him, I’d do the same thing to attract attention and send out a request letter for help!” Polio explained his thinking.

  The parrot and the black kitten were about to bicker, but when they saw Sherlock pondering, they shut their mouths.

  “Don’t worry. With my close relationship with Professor Bacon, if he’s in danger, I’ll not sit by and do nothing. We have to consider if the letters were written by Professor Bacon. That, or if it’s an elaborate trap to tempt you. I know that the words look like they are from Professor Bacon, but sometimes, the truth isn’t apparent.”


  Sherlock stood up and picked up his windbreaker before walking outside. He said to Brainiac, “Come with me. Let’s go to Specter College to find out more. The college will definitely know something.”


  “I’m very grateful to you, Lord Sherlock!”


  Brainiac bowed to Sherlock and followed him out of the room.

  Eternal Kingdom and Specter College weren’t directly connected by Teleport Portals. Only Specter College’s examination grounds were linked to Eternal Kingdom by Teleport Portals, and it was quite a distance from the examination grounds to the college grounds.

  To get to Specter College, Sherlock had to transit via Winterfell.

  When Sherlock and Brainiac submitted their applications to visit Specter College at Winterfell, they were immediately approved. When the coordinates of the Teleport Portal were adjusted, Sherlock and Brainiac took it to Specter College.

  Sherlock was surprised when Professor Bacon didn’t receive them. Instead, it was Professor Cabbage.

  Professor Cabbage was a teacher at Specter College. In a meeting, she expressed distrust in the superior Devil and suggested that Specter College terminate collaboration with Eternal Kingdom.

  The proposal wasn’t accepted by Specter College. Besides Sherlock, nobody could help Specter College solve the graduation problem.

  “I’m happy to meet you, Brainiac and……” Professor Cabbage was dressed in a professional office lady costume. She looked at Sherlock and Brainiac before greeting Eggface.

  “Welcome, Black Dragon.”


  “Call me Master of Dark Flames,” Eggface corrected her.

  Professor Cabbage ignored Eggface. She also ignored the parrot on Sherlock’s shoulder and the black kitten Polio by Sherlock’s leg, as they were merely pets.

  “It has been a long time since we met Professor Cabbage. Your bones look whiter now. The bone color suits you nicely, especially when you’re such a beautiful lady,” Sherlock said with a smile.

  “You’re such a tease, Lord Sherlock,” Professor Cabbage said without emotion.

  Just as Brainiac was going to state his intent and ask about Professor Bacon, Professor Cabbage waved to Sherlock and said, “Professor Bacon managed to contact you. I thought he had no intention to contact you. It’s good for you to visit us, as there are many issues of collaboration that we have to flesh out. Please, follow me.”


  Professor Cabbage gestured for Sherlock to follow her, then led everyone forward.

  Brainiac was about to speak, but Sherlock stopped him. Sherlock shook his head at Brainiac.

  Soon, the group of a Dragon, kitten, parrot, Sherlock, and Brainiac caught up with Professor Cabbage. It was recess time, and the college was full of joyful Lich students.

  They noticed the group following Professor Cabbage, and most of them recognized Brainiac.

  “Is that Brainiac, the rare genius? Oh my god, I have the chance to meet him!”


  “He looks powerful. He’s indeed a rare genius.”


  “Hasn’t Senior Brainiac graduated? Why is he at the college?”


  “I guess he’s transferring some Labor Union files or has come here for an investment pitch. Perhaps he has written a book.”


  The Lich students chatted enthusiastically, but none of them dared to talk about Professor Cabbage.

  Professor Cabbage warned the chattering students to return to their classes.

  She then brought Sherlock and his followers to her office.

  She exhaled and took out a thick book before saying, “This is the latest updated graduation examination guide. I’m usually in contempt of such a guide, but recently, I received a new version with some shocking contents.”


  Professor Cabbage said gravely, “I discovered that your combatants from Eternal Kingdom used the Power of Sacred Light. Please explain, Lord Sherlock.”