Players Descend, Good Thing I Have a Traversal Simulator

Chapter 56: Episode 3 of the Series

"Even though Charles VI was fat, as the leader of a faction, it was only natural that he had a long health bar and decent strength. After all, the royal family's lineage was that of the most prestigious Code Knight. Based on Zhou Ning's deductions, their code likely emphasized authority. Coupled with the close protection of numerous Sunwatchers, it should've been practically impossible for him to die.

And yet, those madmen from the Life Alchemy Society actually pulled it off.

Zhou Ning couldn't help letting out a deep breath.

In Apocalypse, the death of a faction leader isn't that simple. Unlike other online games, they don't revive—you only die for real if it's a plot death. And once dead, they stay dead.

The game world of Apocalypse adheres to the concept of the divine right of kings. The existence of a monarch is directly tied to the national fortune. With the death of Charles VI, Bryston's economy would inevitably decline in the coming period, and instability would arise across the board.

Moreover, many of the main storyline quests from Zhou Ning's past life involving Charles VI would be completely scrapped and rewritten. Even as a transmigrator, he could no longer accurately predict where the plot would go.

"Damn it!" Zhou Ning cursed toward the sky.

Still, things weren't too bad for him. The ones in real trouble were the Sunwatchers. With their king assassinated, they were probably running around in a panic. Zhou Ning felt lucky he'd turned down Kien's invitation.

Otherwise, he'd be caught in the mess, completely locked down like a prisoner.

He pulled out his pocket watch and flipped it open with a click—it was only 2 PM. After some thought, Zhou Ning decided to head back to his alchemy lab. This morning, John had looked at him with such sparkling eyes that it still gave him chills.

On the way back, the weather changed again—from rain to snow—and in no time, the canal banks were blanketed in white.

A few police officers nearby had stopped a suspicious-looking pedestrian and were questioning him. As if that would get them any useful info. Shaking his head, Zhou Ning continued toward his lab along the canal district.

He had three main goals for the near future.

The most important was to complete his certification for the "Wandering Gunslinger" class. As previously mentioned, a complete class system required at least six class specialties, two core buff skills, and over ten active skills.

Zhou Ning had nearly fulfilled those requirements. His class specialties now included Marksmanship Mastery, Ripple Breathing Technique, Precision Machinery Crafting, Occultism, Puppet Alchemy, and Observation Haki—six specialties in total.

His two core buffs were High-Speed Execution and Armament Haki—so those were complete as well.

All that remained were four active skills to officially complete the class system. Whether by simulation or random mix-and-match, they were doable. What he really lacked was experience.

"Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," Zhou Ning sighed.

His second goal was straightforward: he wanted to level up Alchemy to Advanced in a short time, then use Goethe's Alchemy Manual to jump straight to Expert. Reaching Expert was the real threshold where he could start comprehending powerful formulas, and his secondary class, Alchemy Apprentice, could finally be upgraded.

As for the third goal, it wasn't urgent yet—he planned to upgrade Puppet Alchemy, but that required a massive amount of experience and Vecktas, something he couldn't afford at the moment.

Goals two and one could be pursued simultaneously, since alchemy could earn him lots of experience. Upon returning to the lab, Zhou Ning skillfully lit the whale oil lamp on the wall and took out his crucible, alcohol lamp, droppers, scale, and test tubes one by one.

He wasn't far from reaching Advanced Alchemy, and now was a perfect time to grind it up during this lull.

The Sunwatchers had only ordered 200 rounds of bullets for now. The extras could be made into Flame Oil and stored for later use.

With practiced ease, he heated the beaker, waited for the potion to boil, and added lead salts. Maybe it was due to his sudden spike in Agility—over the past few days, his success rate with Flame Oil had shot up, and his crafting speed was off the charts.

By the end of the afternoon, Zhou Ning had brewed around 50 bottles of Flame Oil and gained over 10,000 XP. If he did this two more times, he'd likely hit Advanced Alchemy with no problem.

Honestly, if he hadn't run out of herbs, he might've already made it there today.

Knock knock! Someone politely knocked at the door.

Just after finishing cleaning his desk and settling into the recliner for a break, Zhou Ning got up, turned the doorknob, and opened it to find Mrs. Turing standing outside with a tray.

"Good evening, little Wayne. Come try my homemade cupcakes," Mrs. Turing said with a smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Turing." Zhou Ning accepted the tray and sincerely thanked her. "Would you like to come in and sit for a bit?"

"No need, I'm a little allergic to alchemical fumes." She glanced into the room and smiled. "Maybe my husband would be more interested in visiting."

"Mr. Turing's an alchemist?" Zhou Ning asked curiously.

"He used to be a good one. But ever since the Butcher's War, he hasn't practiced."

Apparently not wanting to delve further into that topic, Mrs. Turing quickly changed the subject. "So, how's the cupcake tonight? I added a bit more cocoa powder."

"It's great." Zhou Ning smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.

"What a lovely old lady," Zhou Ning remarked after seeing her off, then returned to his recliner and casually opened the forums.

Sure enough, XB had already uploaded the livestream recording and it was pinned to the top. The title: Bits and Pieces with Wayne Sturwell.

Clicking in, the video followed XB's perspective, from the start of the celebration to the final kill of the Blood Worm—no detail left out. It even included the contents of Zhou Ning's personal shop, a nonstop highlight reel. Zhou Ning did notice, however, that XB had conveniently edited out his embarrassing "I'm your idol" moment—clearly, he had an image to maintain.

The thread already had tens of thousands of replies and was still growing.

"Holy crap, I'm shook—so this is Wayne Sturwell's true power?! (anime voice)"

"I was still debating class choices, but now I've decided. Wandering Gunslinger is my final pick!"

"Damn, I was in the closed beta and stuck in the Northlands. What do I even do now?"

Lurking and watching people praise him had always been Zhou Ning's favorite hobby. But this time, before he could soak it all in, a prompt popped up on his interface:

[Important Notice: Episode 3 of the Apocalypse series has been simultaneously released on the forum and all platforms. The series is auto-generated by the neural core. Players interested in the game's lore are encouraged to watch.]

Zhou Ning was already numb to it.

Originally, the protagonist of Episode 3 was supposed to be the Sunwatchers. That episode told the story of how, with the help of Leandro de Pessa, they cracked the Streal family portrait case. Zhou Ning had watched it before—like a fantasy version of Young Justice Bao, pretty entertaining.

But with the sudden death of Charles VI, the Sunwatchers obviously had no time for such side plots. Zhou Ning could already guess what this episode would cover just by using his big toe.

Still, he was genuinely curious—especially about the cause of Charles VI's death.

The camera started from a birds-eye view of Vick University, zooming in slowly until it became clear the scene was set during the celebration. Then the camera panned sideways—and without hesitation, locked right onto Zhou Ning, dressed in a white shirt, black vest, and black coat.

Zhou Ning: "…"

What the hell was this AI thinking? Why was it always picking on him for content?

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