Chapter 101: Unexpected Ambush
Just like the other charismatic villains, while Mad Clown's combat prowess probably wasn't as high as this template's, Zhou Ning could say with confidence that in terms of utility, this one still fell short.
Having seen that previous simulation, Zhou Ning knew all too well: combat power wasn't everything. A lunatic who excelled at manipulating human nature and had absolutely no bottom line was truly terrifying.
Zhou Ning sighed. If only Mad Clown had Killer Queen's Stand ability… A Mad Clown with Killer Queen would absolutely be a trump card-tier character—he might even stand a chance against Vampire Zhou Ning.
"I'll use this template to trace back again tonight and test its strength. Who knows, maybe there'll be a surprise."
There was still a small amount of ordinary skill points left unused. Most players typically spent those on life skills that couldn't be leveled with experience points.
However, in Apocalypse Game, ordinary skill points could only be used to level up skills below Expert-level. For anything Expert and above, only Golden Skill Points worked. After thinking it over, Zhou Ning decided to hold onto them for now. He was confident he could raise Puppet Alchemy to Intermediate in the next day or two, and then use the points to reach Advanced. That'd be more cost-effective.
The next morning, Zhou Ning arrived at the school library in a great mood. His clan's motto—Knowledge is Power—required him to read at least two books a day, and the hidden quest Literary Life also called for reading.
What a coincidence. Everything seemed almost tailor-made for him.
Today, Zhou Ning's main goal was to look for historical texts from the Four Heroes era, as well as information on the ancient Modorik people. After that simulation, he'd become very interested in that period.
If only I could see myself praised in the history books. Zhou Ning loved that kind of content.
Historical texts were on the fourth and fifth rows of shelves, a vast sea of tomes, making it extremely hard to locate specific ones.
After thinking it over, Zhou Ning walked around to the front desk at the library entrance and looked toward the librarian.
"Do you have any historical texts about the Four Heroes period? Or information on the ancient Modorik people? Any kind is fine."
It was only then that Zhou Ning realized the librarian had changed at some point. Now, sitting at the desk was a girl with orange-red hair, wearing clothes full of patches.
One glance at her figure—large chest, beautiful face—confirmed it: this was none other than the players' beloved "main wife," Cress Bradenreiser.
"One Roshin—ah, sorry, force of habit. This one's free. But I'll have to look for it."
Cress blushed and quickly turned around, walking over to a set of drawers behind her. Under the history tag, she located the one labeled "Modorik," pulled out a card, and pointed Zhou Ning toward the appropriate shelf.
"There's only one book on the Modorik people—Anecdotes and Customs of the Old Continent by Scott Murray. It's on the fourth row, second shelf. There are twelve books on the Four Heroes, but only three are historically relevant. With your access level, you can only borrow one right now: Historical Studies of the Four Heroes Era by Edwin Henry. That's on the third row, fourth shelf."
Zhou Ning was slightly surprised—he hadn't expected documentation on the Four Heroes era to be so scarce.
After thanking her, Zhou Ning walked over to the shelves Cress had indicated and pulled out both books for checkout.
Back in his dorm, he couldn't wait to crack them open and start reading.
Moments later, Zhou Ning furrowed his brows. Perhaps due to age, more than half the text had faded, making it hard to decipher.
But just then, a system prompt popped up:
[You are self-learning Archaeology. Due to your Willpower, your proficiency has increased by 2 points (Extreme Calm +0.2, Divine Blessing +1)]
"The Four Heroes Era—an age shrouded in mystery yet filled with grandeur. It is said that during this time, the weather was still stable, and the world had three distinct seasons: the Season of Sprouting, the Season of Growth, and the Season of Harvest... each governed by a different goddess."
"In that era, the gods still watched over the world, and supernatural powers were widespread. The Four Heroes stood at the pinnacle of those powers—said to be agents of the gods themselves."
"Based on surviving records, the steam engine we use today was invented by one of the Four Heroes. Historians generally credit this to Sir Archibald, the Flame of Justice."
"...As for the identities and backgrounds of the Four Heroes, only two have verifiable historical records: High Priestess Louisa Light and Archibald McLeish, the Flame of Justice. Their legends have lasted nearly 600 years. Even now, the Kingdom of Falric still maintains a hereditary noble title for their descendants."
"Regarding the other two heroes, incomplete sources suggest one of them died by assassination. There are two major theories: treason or blasphemy. It's as if his deeds were forcibly erased from history, shrouded in mystery."
"...So to this day, we can only remember them through the statues that stand along the banks of the Seton River."
Zhou Ning raised an eyebrow. So all records about me were basically wiped from history. But what really piqued his curiosity was: What exactly did Molly do?
Molly: …
Her voice sounded a bit down: "Don't ask me—I don't remember either."
Zhou Ning chuckled and didn't press further. He turned his attention back to the book in front of him.
He kept reading until his reading progress reached 5002/10000 before letting out a long sigh and lifting his head.
He hadn't found any useful clues in either book. The Four Heroes section was vague and nebulous; all he knew was that his descendants might still live in the Kingdom of Falric.
As for the Modorik book, it was even worse. All he learned was that they were a minority who lived in the ancient Kingdom of Ruins, and had a tradition of using Modorik blocks to store important documents. Alchemy was rumored to have originated from them.
Still, there was one silver lining: after finishing the two books, a notification appeared before his eyes.
[Your proficiency in Archaeology has reached 100%. You have gained the Life Skill: Archaeology (Beginner)]
[You have obtained: Historical Fragment ×2]
"Not bad. Can't have too many skills."
Zhou Ning packed up the books and placed them on his desk to return tomorrow. Then, he put on his hat and left the dorm, heading for his alchemy lab.
Today, he planned to push Puppet Alchemy all the way to Advanced in one go.
At the corner of the alley, just one more turn away from his lab, an overwhelming sense of danger suddenly surged through him.
Almost on reflex, Zhou Ning bent his knees and rolled to the side.
CRACK! A bolt of lightning struck the exact spot he'd just been standing.
If he'd hesitated even half a second, he'd probably be nothing more than a charred corpse by now!
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