Chapter 182 – Meeting

When Punk found Bloodclaw in the crowd, the guy was holding a large bunch of “Rolin Flowers” (pale blue decorative blossoms) and cheering excitedly along with the masses.

Witnessing this scene left Punk utterly speechless. Should he call this guy reckless or just plain thick-skulled? Or perhaps both?

Regardless, he had no intention of letting Bloodclaw continue tempting fate.

Punk had to admit that Bloodclaw was quite skilled at concealing his aura. In Punk’s perception, the vampire warlock before him—aside from his abnormally pale complexion—appeared no different from an ordinary young man: equally frail-looking and equally foolishly infatuated.

Punk had no plans to join him in celebrating the Frostsnow Festival. He wanted to head to Black Fort as soon as possible to purchase supplies before returning to his base to continue experiments. So without any regard for Bloodclaw’s musical immersion, Punk strode directly over and snapped his fingers lightly in front of the vampire.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of knuckles cracking, a small burst of intense bright light exploded before Bloodclaw’s face.

“Ouch! What are you doing? I was just about to see that beauty’s—!”

As a vampire warlock, Bloodclaw undoubtedly detested light elements. He immediately stopped staring intently at the beauties on stage and turned to glare discontentedly at the expressionless Punk.

But Punk was even more irritated than Bloodclaw. He got straight to the point:

“Enough nonsense. Where are my Doclayna Man-Eating Fruits?”

“Your fruits? At least for now these two little things still belong to me.”

Hearing Punk demand the fruits so bluntly, a flash of anger surfaced in Bloodclaw’s eyes. Still, he retrieved two purple-black, apple-shaped fruits from his pocket and tossed them to Punk.

“Here, take them. Someone as stingy as you will never be popular with women.”

“I don’t need to be popular with anyone, and I certainly don’t need you reminding me of that.”

Punk retorted indifferently, then carefully inspected the Doclayna Man-Eating Fruits before storing them in his Storage Ring.

“Good. Pleasant transaction. Now we should leave. That Victor is definitely more troublesome than anticipated, and I don’t want any trouble!”

“Tsk tsk tsk, you really have no appreciation for beauty. See that girl on stage?”

Bloodclaw spread his hands and shook his head, then pointed at the stunning young woman leading the performance on stage:

“That girl is incredibly beautiful, right? Let me tell you—she’s an Apprentice-Level Priest, the most talented cleric in the Dillon Kingdom’s Frostsnow Church. If we could offer her as a sacrifice to the Storm God Talos¹…”

“Play with fire on your own. I’m not joining you. Not even gifting me a Docleina Man-eating Tree would change my mind!”

Hearing this dangerously tempting “suggestion,” Punk outright rejected the suicidal fantasy. After all, the Frostmaiden Sinya was still a Lesser Divine Power—her true form existed at the Legendary level. Punk had no intention of inexplicably provoking a deity!

“How boring. I was just joking! You didn’t actually take me seriously, did you?”Hearing Punk’s resolute refusal, a cold glint flashed in Bloodclaw’s eyes, but his expression immediately shifted to one of playful banter. He lightly swung his fist as if to give Punk a friendly punch.

However, Punk deftly dodged Bloodclaw’s fist without changing expression. He no longer wasted words on this nonsensical warlock, instead calmly turning to walk toward the city gate.

Seeing Punk heading for the gate on his own, Golem Two—who was completely concealed in a linen robe—followed closely without missing a step. Bloodclaw could only shake his head helplessly.

“What a guy with zero appreciation for art. Even if you don’t offer that little beauty as a sacrifice, she’d be fun to play with yourself. Whatever… Hey, wait up! Are you sure you’re a mage and not a ranger, moving that fast?”

Noticing that Punk’s pace didn’t slow in the slightest but actually quickened, Bloodclaw promptly stopped his meaningless muttering. In the next instant, his body moved like a fish through a sea of people, chasing after them with exceptional agility.

The two Formal-Level powerhouses soon broke away from the crowd, striding side by side toward the towering city gate. Throughout this, Punk didn’t utter another word, leaving only Bloodclaw chattering incessantly beside him, continuously boasting about which race among his collected maids had better skills or fairer skin.

This pointless chatter only ceased when both approached the city gate.

Vic’s vigilance toward Sunset City truly hadn’t relaxed in the slightest. As Punk reached the city gate, this sentiment involuntarily surfaced in his heart once more.

Even during the city-wide revelry of the “Frost Snow Festival,” a full squad of soldiers remained diligently patrolling the gate area.

“Damn it all. Do you think Vic has too much time on his hands? What’s the use of deploying these trash? Is an army supposed to attack Sunset City at this hour? Or does he think these useless guards can stop us?”

Bloodclaw scowled from a distance as he watched the soldiers meticulously inspecting identification credentials of those entering and exiting the gate. This wasn’t the usual perfunctory check—to prevent unidentified individuals from slipping in, there was even a richly attired priest stationed at the gate maintaining detection divine magic.

Seeing this, Bloodclaw couldn’t help but stop and curse under his breath.

Clearly, neither Punk nor Bloodclaw possessed any identification credentials.

“In a way, it’s somewhat useful—at least we can’t use the main entrance,” Punk remarked without indulging in random complaints like Bloodclaw. Upon spotting the priest continuously maintaining detection magic, Punk realized that casually tossing a silver coin to the guards for easy passage—as they might have done ordinarily—was impossible. Without hesitation, he turned toward the nearly fifty-meter-high city wall.

Truth be told, Bloodclaw wasn’t wrong: a squad of ordinary soldiers and a standard city wall couldn’t possibly stop two Formal-Level “monsters”!

As for Vic’s heightened vigilance during the Frost Snow Festival when foot traffic surged dramatically, Punk had deeper reflections he kept to himself.”Unknowingly, six years have passed since the civil strife in the Kamos Kingdom. If Prince William truly possesses the capabilities as rumored, he should have completed the transition and consolidation of power by now. However, the Kamos Kingdom must be fraught with significant internal conflicts at this moment, which is likely why Prince William would choose to divert these tensions through war—especially with the steadfast support of an Imperial Kingdom ally… No wonder the Dillon Kingdom is so deeply concerned.”

While pondering this brewing conflict, Punk closely followed Bloodclaw, who had already scaled the city wall moments earlier, rushing toward the battlements.

What Punk didn’t realize was that the imminent tension between the Kamos Kingdom and the Dillon Kingdom was inextricably linked to him—it was precisely the destruction of the strategic stronghold at Doleiz City that had finally pushed the Kamos Kingdom to unleash its long-suppressed desire for invasion.

Yet even if Punk had known, he would likely have dismissed it with a laugh. Armed with military knowledge from Earth, he understood the significance of Doleiz City’s existence far better than Bahanger or Kangkai ever could—but that wouldn’t evoke even a shred of mercy in him!

(End of Chapter)