Online game: Mistakenly became a female character, started by slaughtering millions of chickens.

The true source of darkness....

After accepting the mission, Su Yu frowned and walked straight out of the slum alleyway.

By this time, the night within the game had deepened.

As Su Yu walked down the empty streets, the old hunter's words echoed in his mind—the true source of darkness pointed to the underground of the city lord's mansion.

If even the City Lord's Mansion, an official institution, has fallen, then the scope of this game's storyline is probably much larger than imagined.

Drip!

Just then, a rapid message notification interrupted his thoughts.

Su Yu opened the communication panel and found that it was a guild-wide email from Lin Qingyue, who also sent him a private message.

[Private Message] Qingge·Qingyue: "Su Yu, tomorrow at 12 noon, the guild will organize a raid on the newly released 10-player dungeon, Dark Cavern. Be sure to meet at the West Gate on time."

"Team copy?"

Su Yu raised an eyebrow.

He casually opened the long-dormant world channel.

The next second, countless messages flooded the screen like a waterfall, almost crashing his chat window.

[System Announcement: The server-wide first 10-player raid dungeon – Dark Crypt (Lv.10 - Lv.15) – will officially open tomorrow at 12:00 PM! The first team to clear it will receive a unique server-wide achievement and rewards!]

[World] Passerby A: "Holy crap! The raid is open again! Legendary rewards? Seriously?!"

[World] Dynasty·Hegemony: "The Dynasty Guild is buying top-tier equipment (Lv.8 and above) at high prices! We'll buy crystals directly, as many as you have! For the first clear!"

[World] Arrogant World: "Heh, the first pass will definitely belong to our Qing Pavilion. That guy, stop dreaming."

[World] Merchant Lao Jiu: "Large quantities of red and blue potions for sale! Prices have gone up! Get yours now!"

Seeing this crazy scene, Su Yu's eyes lit up instantly.

"Gold prices soaring? Equipment shortages?"

This isn't the start of a raid, it's clearly a harvest festival for韭菜 (a term for inexperienced investors)!

He glanced at the newly dropped [Dark Overseer's Whip (Blue)] in his backpack and casually typed a message in the chat:

"Selling a Lv.10 blue weapon, high attack and control effect, private message for price."

However, less than 0.1 seconds after he sent the message, it was completely drowned out by countless messages of "collecting gold", "forming teams", and "arguing", without even making a ripple.

"..."

Su Yu shook his head helplessly.

"Forget it, it's best to avoid getting involved in this kind of commotion, but since the boss has spoken..."

He opened his private messages and sent a message to Lin Qingyue:

[Reply] Su Yu: "Received, President, I will be there on time."

After closing the chat window, Su Yu's lips curled into a smile.

Raid rewards are finally back!

"..."

After dealing with the trivial matters, Su Yu refocused his attention on the mission.

It was already late at night. The enormous city lord's mansion, like a sleeping behemoth, sat in the center of the city, with a fully armed guard standing every few meters on the towering walls.

[Task Progress (3/7): The Dark Side of Things]

[Objective: Infiltrate the outskirts of the city lord's mansion and gather intelligence about the underground.]

"The agility attribute comes in handy now."

Su Yu lowered his body and did not go through the main gate, but instead went around to a dark corner behind the city lord's mansion.

After equipping the Minotaur King's Soul-Protecting Katana, although the speed-up effect hadn't been triggered yet, his high agility combined with the shoes made him as light as a black cat.

*Swish! Swish!*

He lightly tapped his toes twice on the wall, and like a ghost, he vaulted over the three-meter-high wall, landing silently in the grass inside.

As soon as they landed, footsteps could be heard from not far away.

Su Yu held her breath.

Two patrolmen, dressed in black armor and clearly more elite than ordinary guards, walked over.

[City Lord's Guard (Lv.10 Elite)]

"...Have all the goods been delivered tonight?" one of them asked in a low voice.

"Shh! Keep your voice down!"

The other man looked around nervously before whispering, "They were just brought in through the secret passage under the dry well in the back garden. Those 'sacrifices' were specifically requested by the higher-ups. If anything goes wrong, we'll all lose our heads."

"I really don't know what's hidden underground... Every time I get close to that place, I feel a chill run down my spine."

"Stop asking questions! Shut up if you don't want to die!"

The two talked as they walked away.

Su Yu poked his head out of the bushes, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

"The back garden... the dry well and secret passage... the offerings."

Intelligence obtained.

Ding!

[System notification: Task (3/7) has been completed!]

[Clue obtained: An entrance leading underground.]

Su Yu didn't want to alert the enemy. Now that the location was confirmed, forcing his way in was definitely not an option (it was full of Lv.10 elites, too many of them). He had to go back and discuss a plan with Hamu.

"..."

Dawn City, a slum.

Ten minutes later.

After listening to Su Yu's report, Hamu frowned deeply.

"The dry well secret passage... that used to be the entrance to the old sewers, I never thought they would turn it into a transportation channel."

Hamu pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "But young man, you can't just go in like that. Now that it's a major transportation hub, the security will be extremely tight, and you're dressed like that..."

He glanced at Su Yu's signature reddish-brown cloth robe:

"They're too conspicuous; they'd probably be riddled with bullets before they even got close to the dry well."

"What should we do then?" Su Yu asked.

"camouflage."

A sly glint flashed in Hamu's eyes: "Although the city lord's mansion is heavily guarded, many nobles and merchants will be coming and going recently in preparation for the banquet. If you can get a decent set of noble attire, you might be able to sneak in."

"Aristocratic attire?"

Su Yu thought for a moment: "What about the clothes in the store?"

"No, the ones in the shops are too fake." Hamu waved his hand. "Go to the black market. There's a tailor there called Old Ghost who specializes in making incredibly realistic disguises, but..."

Hamu paused, then warned, "The black market only recognizes money and power. That old devil is notoriously greedy and ruthless. You have to be careful not to get double-crossed by him."

Ding!

[System Notification: The hidden quest "Prologue to the Dark Night" has entered its fourth stage!]

[Mission Name: Masquerade Ball]

[Mission Description: Proceed to the underground black market in Dawn City, find the tailor "Old Ghost," and obtain a set of [High-Rank Noble Disguise].]

[Note: You may encounter malicious attacks from black market forces.]

"A double-cross?"

Upon hearing this word, Su Yu was not afraid at all; instead, she laughed out loud.

He touched the divine katana in his backpack, which hadn't seen much blood yet, and his eyes became somewhat amused: "That's great."

"What I like most in my life is being double-crossed by others."

"Because that way... I can rightfully take it back."

Su Yu turned around and disappeared into the night once again.

This time, however, his target was not the bright city lord's mansion, but the city's dirtiest and most chaotic place—the underground black market.