Chapter 379: Episode Twelve
The name of the new map was City of Sin. Zhou Ning had seen movies and manga with the same title before, but judging from how the Traversal Simulator worked, it probably wouldn't be anything like what he imagined.
The price was a little cheaper than before—only 160 Traversal Coins—which suggested that the difficulty shouldn't be too high.
Next, he looked at the Milestones section. In the world he had just come from, Zhou Ning had obtained two new milestones. Unlike achievements, milestones could activate special attributes, and some rare ones even came with unique titles.
His earlier Force of a Thousand Strengths I, II, III were examples of the former.
As for the two new ones, they seemed to be even more powerful—[First Emperor]and[Deus ex Machina].
Among them, [First Emperor]was a diamond milestone—something Zhou Ning had never seen before in his past life—and it even came with a title, "First Emperor."
[First Emperor: +1 to Legend, +3 to Authority. Greatly enhances mental intimidation skills such as Dragon's Might, Psychic Pierce, and Conqueror's Haki. Increases intimidation against humanoid creatures by 20%.]
The title had to be manually equipped. When Zhou Ning tried it on, his reflection in the mirror appeared more mysterious and imposing. A golden title—"First Emperor"—hovered above his head, making him look particularly striking.
To be honest, this title was far better than ones like Phantom Thief, Spider-Man, or Dark Warrior. The only downside was that it sounded way too over-the-top. If the optical brain ever recorded it, Zhou Ning, being an honest man, would feel slightly embarrassed.
As for the other milestone…[Deus ex Machina]was also pretty good.
[Deus ex Machina: Increases your affinity with machinery by 15%. Mechanical constructs gain +15% HP, +7.5% Attack, and +7.5% Defense.]
Although he didn't currently rely much on mechanical combat, since he had integrated the four great alchemical disciplines using Mr. Turing's notes, improving his Alchemy proficiency had become highly cost-effective.
After reviewing all his gains, Zhou Ning opened his Skill tab and checked his newly acquired skill, Mystic Code Creation. It was similar to Life Alchemy and allowed him to create various types of magical equipment.
But unlike in games, the only crafting recipe he currently possessed was for the Stone Mask, which puzzled Zhou Ning slightly. It seemed that the mystic codes he could craft were tied to his various templates—like Vampire Zhou Ning's Stone Mask or Pirate Zhou Ning's Dark King equipment.
In the Mystic Code Creation menu, there was also a skill called "Find Formula," which had a 24-hour cooldown but required large amounts of rare materials such as mithril and krysilver. He still had some mithril in storage, but krysilver could only be mined in the Sepharic Kingdom—and it was extremely expensive.
Another money-burning skill… Zhou Ning couldn't help but sigh deeply.
——
December 17th, 1:00 PM, Canal District, Bryston Kingdom Supreme Court.
The courtroom, which could hold 3,500 spectators, was packed. Over 3,000 citizens had come to witness the trial of this horrific case.
Facing the wall behind the judge's bench were murals of three flowers: the tulip representing justice, the vervain symbolizing fairness, and the Southveil Rose representing the Bryston Kingdom—all intertwined to form the Supreme Court's emblem. Chief Justice Bert Bryce, wearing a judicial wig and robe, sat solemnly at the bench. On his desk stood a statue of a male deity holding a balance in one hand and a trident in the other. Behind the statue twined thorny vines, and a pure white dove hovered above the god's head.
This was Blomfield, the God of War and Justice—one of the Seven True Gods. Unlike Bryston, which mainly worshipped the Sun Goddess, the Nature Goddess, or the Earth Goddess, the War God's cathedral was located in the Sepharic Kingdom. Thus, people often said: "The true law resides in Sepharic."
Across the courtroom stood the defendants—former Navy Minister Todd Ruth and Bobby Sawyer—slumped in defeat.
Zhou Ning, wearing a black wide-brimmed hat, sat quietly in the last row of the gallery, inconspicuously observing the proceedings.
After a long list of crimes was read aloud, Chief Justice Bert Bryce tapped his gavel and began pronouncing the sentences:
"Former hereditary noble and Speaker of the Lower House, Earl Karl Robbins, is sentenced to death by hanging for planning and participating in the Darkland Massacre."
"Former hereditary noble and Chairman of the Poor Relief Act Legislative Council, Harrison Rivers, is sentenced to death by hanging for planning and participating in the Darkland Massacre."
"Former Navy Minister Todd Ruth is sentenced to thirty years in prison for inciting the king and participating in the Darkland Massacre."
"Former Finance Minister Bobby Sawyer is sentenced to twenty years in prison for inciting the king."
As Bert Bryce's judgment echoed through the courtroom, Todd Ruth and Bobby Sawyer's faces turned ashen, while the spectators erupted into thunderous applause.
But ironically, the true culprit—King Charles VII—was never mentioned, protected by his royal status. And the two masterminds behind the massacre, Karl Robbins and Harrison Rivers, still roamed free.
"Karl Robbins… Harrison Rivers…"
Zhou Ning silently repeated their names. Especially the former—if his guess was right, that man was a high-ranking member of the Curse God Cult.
He and that little tattered book in his hands were the direct causes of this catastrophe—and a major threat to Zhou Ning himself.
If possible, Zhou Ning intended to end both of them personally—to give the countless dead a proper reckoning.
Then, his own name was read aloud. Bert Bryce's expression turned slightly awkward as he announced the verdict:
"Wayne Sturwell, for gravely endangering royal security, is sentenced to exile. Execution to take place within three days."
The moment the words left his mouth, loud jeers erupted from the gallery. Then, a single voice began shouting—quietly at first, then louder and louder, until it filled the entire hall:
"Wayne Sturwell! Wayne Sturwell! Wayne Sturwell!"
"Order!" Bert Bryce slammed his gavel repeatedly.
But the scene had already spiraled out of control, forcing an adjournment.
Exile?
Zhou Ning exhaled softly, lowered the brim of his hat, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and walked out of the courtroom without looking back.
At that moment, he truly understood Mr. Turing's words once again:
"There are no legends in Darkland."
——
Finally enduring the end of the maintenance period, Jinse hurriedly took care of her personal needs in the restroom and cafeteria before diving into her immersion pod to log into Apocalypse.
"Updating…"
"Update complete…"
"Connecting to server…"
"Welcome to the world of Apocalypse 2.0!"
Unlike the previous 1.X version, whose login screen had always shown Nyastora bound in chains, the 2.0 version featured a new visual: on the left stood Wayne Sturwell, hands in pockets, right knee slightly bent, facing off-screen; opposite him were several Children of the Planes—the fiery swordsman Leandro, the ruthless alchemist protagonist Pushilin with his alchemy flask, and the heavily armored Punishment Gun, Emlyn.
So cool! Jinse barely restrained the urge to fangirl-squeal and quickly logged into the game.
But before she could enter, she had to watch a cutscene—the twelfth episode of the ongoing series, freshly edited by the optical brain. It played right before the 2.0 PTR launch as a recap of the first arc.
Anyone could guess who the star of this episode would be.
Wayne Sturwell, of course.
As a die-hard fan, Jinse's excitement surged. She was eager to see the full story behind that tragic incident.
-------
[Support me and read ahead on Patreøn: patreøn.com/craxx_real.]
[WN Exclusive Powerstone Event: For every 50 powerstones, +1 chapter.]