Volume 2 Chapter 35: The First Signs

“You guessed right. He was the Werewolf you brought!” Qin Lun said lightly. “After he died, his body slowly returned to human form. I believe he was originally a human!”

“Maybe it was a Half-Being the family captured before…” Bonnie said hesitantly.

“Maybe!” Qin Lun turned his head and looked meaningfully at Bonnie.

“Doctor Stan, are you doubting that the Albert Family… makes Half-Beings?” Qin Lun’s strange gaze made Bonnie’s face turn red, and he glared angrily at the doctor.

“Rest well!” Qin Lun smiled faintly and looked away. “Your injuries are very serious. The Witch’s acid missile contained strong undead poison. I’m afraid you’ll need other Demon Hunters to use Divine Light magic to help purify it!”

Bonnie heavily lay back down on the flat cart and fell silent.

The intense pain on his face made the blond young man feel a bit dazed. He reached up and untied the bandage on his face, gently touching the uneven wounds. The touch of his fingers made his face twitch slightly with pain.

There would be no more of that handsome and charming Bonnie Albert from now on! Bonnie thought self-deprecatingly.

“Bang!” The cart jolted violently, and several corpses piled beside him slid down. Their faces turned to look directly at Bonnie, only inches away.

Bonnie only felt that the two deep blood holes in Odo’s eyes seemed to want to tell him something. Little Blair’s eyes reflected a strange glow, and the innocent, peaceful smile on his face was so vivid, as if he had come back to life.

A strong sense of suffocation rose in Bonnie’s heart. He felt cold all over, and a deep sorrow uncontrollably surged out. He held back the bitterness in his heart, reached out, and closed his companions’ eyes. He took a deep breath and turned Odo and Blair’s heads away.

Rest in peace, my friends! I will always remember your Sacrifice. I am Demon Hunter Bonnie Albert. No matter what I face, I will remember the Demon Hunter’s oath, protect the human world, and fight all evil to the end, until my last breath!

A long time later, Bonnie’s low voice broke the silence in the cart again.

“Doctor Stan, did the Witch die? What did you find in the Witch’s Cottage?”

“You and the Witch were both badly injured at the same time. I gave the Witch the final blow. She turned into a pile of ashes!” Qin Lun’s calm voice came from the front of the cart. “There were many magic traps in the Witch’s Cottage. I didn’t touch those magic tools, but I got her intelligence notebook recording information in this area!”

“Intelligence notebook? Does it have records about the Epidemic Disease situation?” Bonnie’s eyes lit up, and he asked nervously.

“Yes! In fact, I already know the true source of the Epidemic Disease!” Qin Lun thought for a moment, then spoke. “When we return to the camp, I will inform everyone.”

Bonnie fell silent again but did not ask further about the source of the disease. After a while, a sigh suddenly came from the back of the cart, as if the blond young man was muttering to himself.

“Doctor Stan, no matter what, I am first a Demon Hunter, and only then the heir of the Albert Family. Regarding the Werewolf matter, I will ask my father for an explanation!”

Hearing Bonnie’s sigh, Qin Lun’s lips curled up slightly. He flipped his right hand, and the Dagger of Sin disappeared back into his sleeve.

This adventure brought Qin Lun great gains. First, he tested the practicality of the Combat Model for the first time. Although this Combat Model had many limitations, under certain specific conditions, it could still play a huge role.

Second, Qin Lun obtained the key clue for the “Investigation” mission. It could be said that completing the mission next would follow naturally; it just depended on how far he wanted to go.

The final gain was that Qin Lun finally understood what his ultimate weapon was when facing creatures that surpassed human limits like the Witch Maiar and Demon Hunters.

If judged by physical attributes alone, neither Qin Lun nor Joey could defeat the Witch or the Demon Hunters. Against a powerful creature like the Witch Maiar, who was hard to kill with one blow, even a sneak attack offered no hope of a successful kill.

However, putting aside physical attributes, Qin Lun had another killer move: the Serial Killer aura that Joey possessed. Every kind of life, including humans—a intelligent life form with severely degraded beastly nature—had the potential instinct to sense the malice of other creatures.

The moment Qin Lun and Joey’s personalities switched, the ferocious aura Joey emitted—treating life like grass, toying with other beings like ants—would instantly shock the enemy. Before they could adapt, Joey would have a brief means to counterattack.

This was the greatest gain Qin Lun obtained from the battle with the Witch.

Qin Lun focused his mind on the Death Notice. Looking at the few items in the Storage Space, he once again checked some of the prompts he had received.

“Moonlight Grass: Potion material, use unknown, requires appraisal, can be brought into Shattered Starry Sky, exchange price: 50 Shattered Crystals.”

“Magic Eye: Equipment material, use unknown, requires appraisal, can be brought into Shattered Starry Sky, exchange price: 100 Shattered Crystals.”

“Golden Silkworm Dust: Potion material, use unknown, requires appraisal, can be brought into Shattered Starry Sky, exchange price: 200 Shattered Crystals.”

“Maiar Crystal Ball: Mysterious item, cannot be appraised, can be stored in Storage Space, cannot be brought into Shattered Starry Sky, cannot be exchanged.”

“Witch’s Notebook: Mission-related item, does not require appraisal, can be stored in Storage Space, cannot be brought into Shattered Starry Sky.”

“Prompt: Apostle 70053, you obtained unverified intelligence from the Witch’s Notebook. Based on this intelligence data, the possibility of the world plot quality rising to Planetary Level is 78%, and the possibility of rising to Stellar Level world plot is 42%.”

“Prompt: This intelligence has revealed the Satellite Level world plot ‘Investigation’—the truth of Stephen Albert’s death. Verifying this intelligence or obtaining Stephen’s true whereabouts will be considered mission completion.”

“Prompt: Current World Exploration Degree is approximately 0.207%, waiting for the Apostle to provide follow-up intelligence data.”

In fact, the magic traps in the Witch’s Cottage were not as numerous as Qin Lun had said. Due to time constraints, the Witch Maiar had only set a few simple traps at the laboratory door. After he got the Witch’s confession, he easily broke these few magic traps.

However, in the Witch’s Cottage, aside from that surveillance notebook, there weren’t many other valuable items, or rather, few items that could be brought into Shattered Starry Sky. Qin Lun couldn’t use the Witch’s magic tools; only a few special materials received the Soul Mark’s recognition.

Moonlight Grass was the name used in Shattered Starry Sky; in this world, it was also called Magic Grass. This plant had slender leaves and emitted a hazy, mysterious glow in the Storage Space. There were more than ten plants in total.

Magic Eye was a spellcasting material for Witches, made from a swamp monitor lizard’s eyeball. It was as big as a fist, and the lizard’s slit pupil inside sparkled, seeming to retain the ferocity and cunning from when it was alive.

Golden Silkworm Dust was the powdered remains of a silkworm-like creature, also a spellcasting material, but in the Soul Mark’s recognition, it was a potion material.

As for the Maiar Crystal Ball, it was one of the Witch’s magic tools, used for divination and prophecy. It was also an important magic device capable of temporarily preserving Souls. The Witch Maiar used it to store and transfer human Souls, mainly for making Half-Beings.

After Qin Lun obtained the Maiar Crystal Ball, following the Witch’s spellcasting steps, he used it to absorb Frank’s Soul. At this point, the originally clear and transparent sphere of the Maiar Crystal Ball now contained a cloud-like mysterious substance inside, often shimmering with soft flashes of light, looking very much like the characteristics of a spiritual life form.

Before the Witch’s final release, the intelligence Qin Lun obtained was that he must quickly find a suitable host body for Frank’s Soul. Otherwise, as time passed, the Hunchbacked Servant’s Soul would grow weaker and weaker until it disappeared.

The reason Half-Beings didn’t have complete Souls was partly because the Witch intentionally erased the human Soul’s memories and emotions, and partly because the host body fused from multiple creatures wasn’t suitable for a human Soul, causing the Soul to be torn during the transfer process.

According to the Witch, if Qin Lun wanted to perfectly revive Frank, he must find a human corpse similar to his original body in a short time. Otherwise, even if revived, he would just be a walking corpse.

The Witch told the doctor this information, certainly not with good intentions, but hoping he would make a mistake in a moment of urgency and fall into darkness. However, Qin Lun had his own ideas about how to revive Frank; he hoped to try another possibility.

Aside from these few materials and the Maiar Crystal Ball, Qin Lun’s biggest gain from this mission was the Witch’s Notebook. Thinking of the intelligence recorded in this Witch’s Notebook, Qin Lun couldn’t help but take the notebook out from the Storage Space. He rubbed his fingers over the notebook’s leather cover and fell into deep thought.

The Witch’s Notebook used this world’s ancient script to record this Witch Meisha’s observations and experiences in this area. With the Soul Mark’s translation, Qin Lun could understand these ancient characters from the Witch era.

Witch Meisha was only sent to this area by the Witch Maiar over ten years ago, responsible for monitoring the Odia Region and the periphery of this forest’s patrols. Every so often, she had to record the situation in this area in the form of a notebook and report back to the other Witches.

Because the Witch Maiar and the Demon Hunters had signed the Millennium Pact, contact between the two sides was very rare. Most of the intelligence recorded in the notebook was trivial and tedious. Things like the Demon Hunters sending scout teams into the outskirts of the Maiar Forest were already considered the most valuable material in the notebook.

However, among these trivial matters the Witch Maiar considered unimportant, two pieces of intelligence greatly shocked Qin Lun. One of these was about Witch Meisha’s predecessor, the Witch who was in this area before she took over.

That Witch’s name was Mary, Mary Claire. Claire in the ancient Maiar language had a meaning related to weeping; translated into this world’s current common language, it was called Nina (Nienna).

This Witch Mary’s surname was the same as Stephen’s wife’s name!

If not for the tombstone Qin Lun saw that night, he wouldn’t have noticed this piece of intelligence. Even if he saw it, he would only consider it a coincidence. But now…

Under the wheel of fate, there are no coincidences, only inevitabilities! Even Apostles of the Shattered Starry Sky, upon entering a world, seemed to become part of fate!

Qin Lun raised his head, his deep gaze seeming to pass over the vast Maiar Forest and project onto the Albert Castle atop Odia.