Chapter 475: The Bauhinia Road Incident
To maintain his image, Zhou Ning didn't make any obvious effort to eavesdrop. Instead, he stood at a distance, using Observation Haki to identify and listen to their conversation while occasionally slipping food into his mouth.
During this time, several noblewomen approached him one after another, striking up conversations — some even hinting at spending the night with him.
Zhou Ning turned them all down without batting an eye.
As someone who came from a nation of devoted food lovers, nothing mattered more than good food…
He finally had a chance to fill his stomach. As he ate, he made sure his movements appeared elegant. He did still care about keeping up appearances.
Meanwhile, every word of their conversation landed clearly in his ears.
If he remembered correctly, all the people speaking were residents of Bauhinia Road. Only one of them was someone whose name he'd committed to memory — Dylan Morton, the only count present. His status was far from simple. He came from the same lineage as the Morton family of the Bryston Kingdom — the "Courage" Mortons — a house of extremely high standing.
The Morton family's ancestor, Brynd Morton, had served as a trusted aide handpicked by the Pirate King during the second simulation of the Apocalypse World. He had once been timid, but through the Pirate King's encouragement, he became courageous. In a way, Zhou Ning shared a faint connection with him.
Right now, they were discussing the strange events occurring on Bauhinia Road.
The situation was actually very straightforward. Every night past midnight, strange banging noises could be heard on Bauhinia Road. Some servants claimed to have seen a creature covered entirely in black fur. They had invited priests from the War God Church several times, but perhaps because the War God Church wasn't adept at handling this sort of supernatural disturbance, nothing unusual was discovered.
"Ahem…" Perhaps because the topic had shifted toward the War God Church, Smith Hall walked over and gave two subtle coughs. The nobles immediately stopped talking.
Zhou Ning raised a brow. He recalled a plot line that had appeared in the game in his previous life, one he remembered reading about on the forums. Back then, he had only recently started playing. He was still miserably grinding quest loops in the Bryston Kingdom to learn Fire Dragon Magic, so he hadn't paid much attention to the storyline — just the general outline.
That plotline had later become a medium-sized instance dungeon, considered a perk exclusive to players in Nathaniell.
Beneath Nathaniell City lay a relic dating back to the era of the Four Heroes, said to be related to Louisa Hall and Molly Cronin. Within that relic was an altar capable of resonating with deities — similar to the Penance Church's Sun Emblem — with a chance of triggering a divine descent.
The Wolf Cult had used this altar to summon the Plague Direwolf Ulysses, firstborn son of the World-End Direwolf Gleipnir and the Giant King Queller.
Divine blood and ancient giant blood flowed in his veins. He was unimaginably powerful. The Wolf Cult summoned him in order to contaminate the water sources throughout Nathaniell and destroy the entire city, but their actions were discovered by Smith Hall, who had tracked them down.
The protagonist-blessed Smith Hall then used the same altar to trigger the descent of the War God Bloomfield, who destroyed the Plague Direwolf Ulysses.
In Zhou Ning's previous life, this battle had been edited into the game's cinematic series — one of the events that made Smith Hall famous among players, granting him his central role.
Of course, in this life, Zhou Ning wouldn't see that happen. He was here now.
Thinking it through, the truth might indeed be along these lines. Then he remembered his current quest — the bounty on Nigen Hart, the Wolf Cult's High Priest. Could Nigen Hart have infiltrated Nathaniell specifically to excavate this relic, setting the events of that storyline into motion? Zhou Ning suddenly understood.
If his guess was right, there was a good chance he could complete both quests at once!
Just then, Zhou Ning noticed that in the corner to the right, Viscount Hall was speaking privately with Smith.
He had no intention of eavesdropping. Moving to an empty corner instead, he lowered his voice and asked:
"Molly, I heard that the relic underground has something to do with you. Do you remember anything about it?"
Molly's cool voice echoed in his mind, tinged with frustration:
"I don't remember. In fact, I don't recall ever coming to Nathaniell. When I was alive, the city I lived in was called Abbott City, in the east of the continent."
"The western continent back then was still a wild region, ruled jointly by the Byron Kingdom, werewolves, and some elves — and the king of the Byron Kingdom was a giant. It's said he possessed the bloodline of the Giant King Queller. More details will have to wait until we enter the relic."
Zhou Ning mulled over her words carefully, his teeth aching a little.
Many of these things were news to him. The former Byron Kingdom had turned into the Byron Republic; its king had become a footnote in history after being forced to abdicate more than two hundred years ago. Who would've thought that this king mentioned in a single line of history books was related to the Giant King?
The matter seemed to involve deities and angels again. Was he truly cursed to live out a detective's fate?
Still, these high-level quests were exactly what he wanted. With a protagonist halo of his own, there was no reason Smith Hall could do it while he couldn't.
"There must be plenty of secrets hidden down there. Maybe you'll even recover some memories," Zhou Ning said with a small smile.
"I hope so." A trace of yearning slipped into Molly's voice.
About five minutes later, Zhou Ning saw Smith Hall and Viscount Hall finish their discussion. Smith came over to bid him farewell before leaving.
As expected — just like Sherlock — every nation's elite teams were always busy.
Zhou Ning withdrew his gaze thoughtfully and approached Viscount Hall. After hesitating for two seconds, he asked casually:
"Mr. Hall, I'd like to know more about the strange events on Bauhinia Road."
He flipped his hand, revealing the task plaque. Viscount Hall immediately understood, his expression brightening with excitement as he said joyfully:
"Wonderful — so you accepted this bounty. Please wait a moment, I'll gather the others."
Before long, Dylan Morton and the others who had been discussing the matter earlier followed Viscount Hall over. All of them eagerly explained the situation in full.
The overall story matched what Zhou Ning had already overheard, but there were still many details he hadn't known.
All the banging sounds occurred after 1 a.m., starting around last month — likely around December 11. At first the noise didn't last long, but over time it grew longer, the location ranging from No. 47 to No. 51 on Bauhinia Road, and expanding to No. 62 in recent days.
But in the last few days, the noises had weakened significantly — now barely audible.
As for the creature covered in black fur, it resembled a wolf, though a large canine couldn't be ruled out. It hadn't only appeared on Bauhinia Road but had also shown up on nearby Golden Law Avenue and Iron Law Street, frequently attacking humans. Four to five people had already been killed.
Hearing this, Zhou Ning's first thought regarding such a wolf-like creature was a druid — they excelled at controlling wild animals.
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