Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

```

"Huh? Another update?"

The update news from the Faction Shop filled the three people who were on their way back to the city with surprise.

"Let's see what we have here..."

"Spiritual Power Enchantment... Spirit's Breath... Spiritual Energy Maxims... Wow, all related to Spiritual Energy?"

"Spirit's Breath?" Gu Lan, who was sitting in the same car, perked up his ears when he heard this keyword.

Xu Ruoguang and Gu Lan were currently the only two new friends who had gained the trust of the trio.

Gu Lan had a hearty personality, and even though she belonged to a guild, all her guild members could be said to be workers she had hired with money.

Saying she was on her own wasn't exactly wrong.

Xu Ruoguang, although new to the group, had fought tooth and nail for those ordinary refugee NPCs, and had also earned their heartfelt adoration. Plus, with the "Alpha Swordsmanship" he demonstrated, he met the organization's standards in both strength and character.

The trio had decided to select one of the two as the candidate for the talent recruitment task assigned by their organization.

As potential future companions, everyone naturally traveled together on their way back to the city. At this moment, Gu Lan, who was sitting in the same car, was more curious about the mysterious organization mentioned by the trio than ever.

"What's this Spirit's Breath?" The mature woman asked straightforwardly. She had heard this term from Xu Ruoguang before, but the guy had only heard bits and pieces about it himself, and when pressed for details, was unable to elaborate.

Kuang Xin, after carefully reading over the description of this new item listed in the Faction Shop, hesitated before explaining, "It seems to be a way to use Spiritual Energy, which can reduce consumption and increase power... that's what it says!"

"Can you all learn it?" Gu Lan, looking at the trio, was somewhat surprised.

"Ah~" Kuang Xin nodded as if it were a matter of course, "As long as it's listed in the Faction Shop, we can all learn it. It's guaranteed teaching; if you can't learn it, they'll keep teaching until you do. However, you have to pay the corresponding faction contribution. And earning faction contributions is quite straightforward, right now we're just..."

"That's nice..." Gu Lan said with genuine envy on her face.

From what she had experienced since entering the game, it was unbelievable for these three to find an organization willing to nurture them as players.

Dai Lian laughed and sent a voice from the driver's seat, "No worries, once you join the organization, you will be able to learn it too. The leader treats everyone equally. We'll take you to meet our boss when we get back, and if he agrees to take you in, then we'll be comrades in the same pit."

"Didn't the boss say he only wants one?" Kuang Xin spoke honestly, only to be pinched by Gong Yan, who was sitting behind him.

The girl smiled and looked at the two new recruits, "It's okay. Although the leader did say that he indeed only wants one for now, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Our leader's ambition... is huge."

"But, we'll complete the task first when we get back. Holding onto it for too long invites trouble. We can get the task rewards first, and there's no rush to meet the leader afterwards. Besides, it's so late, it wouldn't be convenient for the leader to see us." Dai Lian made arrangements from the front, and then spoke to Xu Ruoguang, "Hey, Guang...

after we get back, you should take a task first, okay?"

Dai Lian had some unconventional ideas...

About this reward pool task, everyone subconsciously thought, based on their past gaming experiences, that there could only be one ultimate winner.

But who says the winner can only be one person rather than a group?

Dai Lian decided to try a new approach, testing whether submitting the task as a group would allow them to split the reward pool's experience fairly.

They were brothers after all, aiming for fairness.

...

Black Street was dead quiet at night.

It was very late.

Even the moon was hiding behind the clouds, too shy to come out.

The folks living on Black Street were probably deep in slumber, not even the rumbling engine of the car, akin to a tractor, could wake them from their dreams.

No one came out to see what the fuss was about.

There was not even a soul to curse.

Driving a car on the not-so-spacious roads of Black Street, Dai Lian curiously surveyed the pitch-dark houses on both sides.

No lights were visible inside, nor any sound of people.

Were they sleeping that heavily? Or had they all gone to the arena to enjoy some entertainment?

With questions on his mind, the car continued to move slowly forward.

They weren't too familiar with Black Street; plus, even if there was something out of the ordinary... what's there for them players to fear?

The dim light from the car pierced through the darkness of the night, gradually disappearing into the depths of the street.

From afar, as the car drove deeper into the street, it looked as if it were willfully diving into the gaping maw of a monster, and in the corner that sunk into the seemingly bottomless depths, two faint voices arose.

"Grandpa... shouldn't we warn them?"

The speaking rat person twitched his nose slightly, as if sniffing at the increasingly intense scent of danger in the air.

Endowed with special abilities by the "Benevolent Father," he was not only capable of infecting rats, but he also had certain rat-related abilities of his own.

Like... an acute perception of "danger."

There was something wrong with Black Street.

At least there was something wrong today.

```

Today, when they came out to explore, the Rat sensed a faint but distinct whiff of danger in the air.

And as the residents who lived on the street were almost all summoned away by some force using an unknown excuse, that sense of danger only grew stronger.

It became so strong that the Rat was reluctant to step any closer.

Insisting on this, the elder Gilder didn't force the issue.

They didn't know what was happening, but leaving now would be too regrettable.

If he was tasked to understand Black Street, how could he say he understood it if he didn't observe a potential incident from a first-person perspective?

So, the two of them stayed at a distance from Black Street, waiting to discover more "facts" to corroborate the Rat's perception.

Unexpectedly, what they awaited first was the return of the lord's three subordinates.

To alert or not to alert?

The Rat's perceptions were not absolute, and Gilder, inexperienced in this realm, couldn't make an accurate judgment due to his lack of knowledge.

After some hesitation, they decided to let the lord's three subordinates go ahead and scout the situation.

Since they were subordinates valued by the lord, even though they didn't possess his level of strength, they were likely not that much worse.
Find your next adventure on empire

If they encountered an incident, escaping probably wouldn't be a problem.

The two, hidden in the shadows, quietly awaited any possible incidents, the Rat's small eyes gleaming like bright black gems in the dark.

Gazing towards the direction constantly sending out danger signals, the Rat's slender body trembled unconsciously…

Gilder's hand reached into his bosom, where a small flare gun was concealed.

This was an agreement with the lord—if they encountered something of great impact and difficult to resolve, they could use the flare gun in an emergency to summon him.

The lord had promised that as long as it was within the visible range of the flare gun, he would rush over as quickly as possible, regardless of the situation.

But unless absolutely necessary, Gilder was reluctant to summon the lord for no reason.

However, the atmosphere of Black Street at the moment was truly hair-raising.

He was prepared for this...

Suddenly, Gilder's aged eyes narrowed slightly, and he murmured softly, "Someone else is coming…"

"Swoosh!"

"Swoosh!"

Two figures leaped out from the unseen dark alley.

Too far away to hear what they were saying, Gilder could only discern through the night's dim light that they seemed to be holding some special instruments in their hands.

…

"Such a heavy demonic presence!"

"No one's here, where have all the people gone?"

A distinctive insignia of the executors from Arbitration Place flashed, and the tall, thin man scanned the area with a cold face, "It seems this place has become a breeding ground for demons."

Usually, when such a situation occurs, it is because the area has been completely seduced and corrupted by the demons' Believers.

All the ordinary people would have turned into Believers of demons to conjure such an intense demonic presence.

This was a judgment based on experience.

His medium-height companion shook his head, "Don't jump to conclusions, it could also be the 'Demon Child' phenomenon that the Place mentioned recently."

The Demon Child was an adversary they had never encountered before. Faced with a fresh opponent, no amount of thinking outside the box seemed too much.

The tall, thin man shook his head, "Anyway, let's find the main culprit first."

While speaking, the tall, thin man channeled Spiritual Energy into a crystal ball-like object in his hands.

This was a creation from the Place specifically designed to track demonic presence, albeit with a very small sensing range. It only issued a warning and provided a vague location when it detected a definite demonic presence.

In fact, they were alerted by the crystal ball, which suddenly went off, and hurried over from nearby.

Ever since the last incident where the executor responsible for this area along with a temporary executor returned unsuccessfully, they had taken it upon themselves to watch over this area.

An executor's actions were mostly autonomous. As long as they ensured not to waste too many resources on the same matter or area, their actions were actually quite free.

After maneuvering the crystal ball in various directions and triggering it with Spiritual Energy, it quickly pointed the two men in a direction—

The depths of Black Street.

The red dot flashing within the crystal ball seemed to scream at them like a demon.

The tall executor put away the crystal ball and said coldly, "Let's go!"