Chapter 345 – Cold Night

Punk’s response to Ben Lajie wasn’t merely perfunctory. In fact, he genuinely had a plan of his own.

But don’t misunderstand—Punk was no master strategist with near-demonic intellect. He had only been in the Hoth Mountains for a month at most, and most of that time had been spent gathering intelligence. Punk wasn’t capable of devising some flawless, intricately connected master scheme.

In truth, his plan was quite simple: just a bit more ruthless in method, a bit faster in execution, and a bit more precise in understanding human nature… that was all.

For this almost improvised plan, Punk had full confidence. In fact, he could guarantee with absolute certainty that once the plan was set in motion, unless a Legendary powerhouse intervened, it would undoubtedly succeed.

The only problem now facing Punk was… how to set this utterly insane plan in motion without any hindrance!

——————Divider——————

The moonlit night in the City of Enchanting Maple Flowers was desolate. The curfew on the streets prevented people from moving about freely. Moonlight filtering through the clouds cast upon the cobblestone ground like scattered white frost, and under the influence of the chilly wind sweeping through every corner of the city, the City of Enchanting Maple Flowers had almost entirely taken on a frigid hue. Even the red bricks on the houses seemed to carry an added chill.

Punk, clad in a black robe with red patterns, walked unhurriedly down the street. With the enhancement of “Mass Suggestion,” even striding boldly in the middle of the empty street wouldn’t attract the attention of the patrol guards.

At this moment, Punk held a small test tube in his hand. Through the transparent glass, one could easily see the half-tube of slowly writhing gray liquid inside.

Gently stroking the mouth of the bottle with his finger, Punk’s eyes were filled only with a harsh, emotionless coldness.

“Graybone Virus Stock… Thinking back now, it feels like a lifetime ago. The gains from Doleiz City back then were truly unimaginably vast. Although the golem made from Bilan was left behind in the Dillon Kingdom…”

As Punk infused the Graybone Virus in the test tube with a large amount of vitality and placed the stock under a beam of moonlight, watching the virus that had lain dormant for over five hundred years slowly begin to regain its vitality and writhe, a sinister, icy smile crept across his face.

“The Graybone Virus, Haitzita’s Magic Box… I suppose I should thank that big spider, Tisha Xia’er, for these.”

The cold wind swept up some dust from the ground, the particles glinting sharply under the moonlight—the footsteps of winter were drawing nearer, and the blizzards of the Hoth Mountains were already brewing beneath the veil of clouds.

Although he had told Ben Lajie he needed to find a place to rest, Punk had no intention of actually doing so. On this silent night, he planned to immediately set his plan in motion—without informing the bewildered Ben Lajie still at the inn, and without notifying Joni Zordas, who was busy handling official affairs. That’s right, he was going to act first and report later. By the time those two realized what was happening, they would have no choice but to follow Punk’s plan.In Punk’s plan, the core objective was to force Ovakain Acidmaw—a stubborn turtle refusing to leave its shell—out of his Magic Tower. However, achieving this was no easy task. Ovakain was no reckless black dragon but a wise spellcaster. While insults and taunts would enrage Joni Zordas, they would only make Ovakain inwardly mock his enemies’ immaturity and foolishness.

Thus, to lure him out, Punk needed to employ a substantive threat—one so dire that Ovakain would risk his life to address it, even knowing full well it was a trap.

So, what threat would Ovakain care about most?

The answer was simple—the Dragon Roar Kingdom!

Punk believed that if the Dragon Roar Kingdom faced an existential catastrophe, Ovakain, who valued this nation above all else, would undoubtedly intervene without hesitation. Therefore, to force Ovakain’s hand, all that was needed was to create a disaster capable of threatening the Dragon Roar Kingdom.

Joni had the same idea, but perhaps blinded by hatred or overly reliant on the so-called power of honor, he actually planned to rely on a straightforward military assault to defeat the Dragon Roar Kingdom’s army and then compel Ovakain to rescue them—a laughable notion. Even Ben Lajie could see that Maple Leaf Kingdom’s ragtag forces of the old, weak, and infirm were no match for the Dragon Roar Kingdom’s half-dragon army. Expecting these “honorable troops” to conquer the Dragon Roar Kingdom? Joni might as well hope to ascend to Legendary status overnight!

Mockery aside, Punk acknowledged the feasibility of Joni’s approach. Now, he needed to make Joni’s army more intimidating—so fearsome that even a mob of the frail and elderly could make the mightiest Kingdom tremble!

As for the specific method…

Standing by the bank of the city’s only canal, Punk expressionlessly poured half a bottle of Graybone Virus Stock into the water.

“By modifying the genetic runes to prolong the onset of death, and ensuring sufficient vitality for rapid viral replication… Joni, oh Joni, see how I’m saving you trouble? Soon, you’ll just need to lead the entire nation in a Charge against the Dragon Roar Kingdom. Trust me, no matter how formidable their half-dragon army is, they won’t be able to stop nearly ten million people charging at once… Of course, combat effectiveness might be questionable, but rest assured, in terms of sheer lethality, it’s more than enough to wipe out dozens of Dragon Roar Kingdoms. I refuse to believe Ovakain would still stay hidden then!”

The moonlight had already been shrouded by clouds, plunging the riverbank into profound darkness once the last glimmer faded. A chilly breeze rippled the slightly gray-tinged water, and soon, every wisp of shifting gray dissolved slowly into the crystal-clear river.

Punk had no worries about the virus spreading. Maple Leaf Kingdom’s semi-collapsed society long lacked crucial departments like epidemic surveillance. Moreover, the slightly modified virus had a longer incubation period and subtler symptoms.Moreover, Ben Lajie and Joni Zordas were both completely ignorant of alchemical spells. Even if they discovered something, Punk didn’t believe these two fellows would have any solutions to the problem. As long as he could persuade Joni—who valued so-called “honor” above all else—to exploit this “sudden” epidemic, as long as he could restrain the conflicted fat old man Ben Lajie’s “unnecessary” kindness, and as long as he could finally launch an otherworldly version of a “zombie siege” against the Dragon Roar Kingdom… Ovakain would absolutely be unable to resist intervening, unless he wanted to watch the Dragon Roar Kingdom perish in the plague!

Satisfied, Punk nodded and stored the remaining Graybone Virus Stock back into his Storage Ring. Then, after carefully inspecting the “Mass Suggestion” spell on himself, he cautiously floated away from the riverbank.

Poisoning was a major taboo in the world of Faerûn. Even though the Graybone Virus was extremely low-level, bad luck could still attract the attention of Legendary Experts. Punk had to ensure he wouldn’t be discovered, leaving not even the slightest trace of evidence. With “Haitzita’s Magic Box” shielding him from Divination Spell detection, it would be far too troublesome to leave clues like footprints or magical residue.

Votes, please~

(End of Chapter)