Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

"?·Baxter."

"Why is there a question mark? Does the Undead have names with question marks?" Shen Ye couldn't help but ask.

"These are three brothers from a vampire family who, due to causing trouble and having no money to live on, were kicked out by their family and sent to the battlefield, where they were all blasted to bits by a magic crystal cannon from the Human Race," said Bone Spear.

"That is indeed tragic—but what does this question mark mean?" Shen Ye asked.

"It means these three guys looked so much alike and had exactly the same name that it was impossible to tell who was the elder brother and who was the younger one," Bone Spear said.

"—Do they still have family?"

"They do have an old home, but none of them were of much use. They have probably all died there by now."

"The three brothers... that can work, but didn't they die? Don't the undead armies keep records?"

"About that, I remember I've mentioned to you before—"

Suddenly, Shen Ye understood and continued Bone Spear's words:

"For the Undead who don't die, they are usually just left outside. If they survive, they survive."

"Exactly, that's how it is!" Bone Spear said, "Vampires have tenacious life forces. It's quite common for them to come back to life after ten days or half a month."

"But what if these three brothers survived?" Shen Ye asked worriedly.

"No they won't. I saw that cannon fire with my own eyes—the three brothers were turned into dregs—the entire unit was annihilated—In fact, I was injured in that shelling too, and that's when I met you," Bone Spear said.

"How do I use it?"

"Wait—"

A slight greenish Soulfire emerged on the nameplate.

The Soulfire quickly vanished.

"Done, it has now been soul-bound to you—don't be surprised, as an Undead Divine Descendant, I am still proficient in the art of controlling armies," Bone Spear said.

Shen Ye finally relaxed, picked up the nameplate, and fiddled with it casually.

Before long.

A few bulky abominations began checking identities one by one.

An abomination came up to Shen Ye, picked up the identity nameplate, and muttered:

"A coward who fled from the battlefield..."

"Show some respect when you speak. Our Baxter Family is not to be trifled with," Shen Ye said.

"But you fled the battlefield."

The abomination, staring with a pair of green pupils, said with a scornful tone.

Bone Spear whispered quietly, "Ignore it, just endure it for now and let it pass, don't cause trouble."

But Shen Ye slowly stood up, staring at the abomination and said:

"I was smashed to pieces by the Human Race's cannon. When I woke up, I couldn't find my troops. Hearing that the army had retreated, I thought of returning to Eternal Night City. What about you? Have you ever been to the battlefield?"

The abomination stared at him.

He didn't back down in the least.

The other abominations also gathered around.

"Thinking of starting a fight?"

Shen Ye said with a sneer.

Suddenly, the train began to slow down.

Gradually, it came to a stop.

The abominations stopped surrounding Shen Ye and each found a corner to rest in.

"Come on, hit me if you dare."

An abomination made a provocative gesture at Shen Ye.

Shen Ye just looked at the other party expressionlessly, until they retracted their hand in disappointment.

A phantom appeared at the end of the carriage.

At that moment.

A Night Charm Ghost dressed in uniform appeared in the carriage.

Even by the standards of the Undead Race, she could be considered a beauty.

This Ghost flashed an apologetic smile and gracefully waved to all passengers:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm really sorry—"

"There was a problem with the earlier announcement, the wrong content was played."

"We have now safely arrived at Eternal Night City."

"Please disembark."

As she spoke, a Skeleton Demon responsible for cleaning emerged from behind her, holding cleaning tools, and started making its way toward each seat.

"We've arrived so soon?" a Lizard Demon asked.

"Do not underestimate the speed of the Ghost Train, outside is the Eternal Night City station. Please exit in an orderly fashion; we will be returning shortly." The Night Charm Ghost revealed a sweet smile.

The Lizard Demon lifted the window.

Indeed, outside was Eternal Night City, bustling with all sorts of buildings.

"This is much faster than flying on my own."

With a sigh, the Lizard Demon stood up, walked through the aisle, and disembarked.

Gradually, more passengers began to disembark.

The Night Charm Ghost kept counting the number of people, her gaze constantly sweeping the carriage.

Until the carriage was completely empty.

"Respected Vampire Lord, isn't Eternal Night City your destination?"

She suddenly asked.

"It's not." Shen Ye enunciated.

—He was the only person left in the carriage.

"So where exactly do you wish to go?" The Night Charm Ghost cocked her head as she looked at him.

Shen Ye said lazily, "Cross through Kyrgyzstan to that distant Mauritius, and from Maldives reach Qiqihar, then head for Daxing'anling, keep going along Buenos Aires, until Venice is seen, and finally disembark at Qianqing Palace."

The first announcement had said it would pass through Hell in five minutes.

All the windows were shut.

So, are we still in Hell now?

The Night Charm Ghost was momentarily stunned, her gaze moving up and down, finally resting on his soldier's dog tag.

"...Did you... come down from the battlefield?"

The Night Charm Ghost asked.

"That's right, I killed many enemies but was put into a deep sleep by a cannon blast, though today I awoke," Shen Ye showed his soldier's dog tag.

The Night Charm Ghost pondered for a few moments, then suddenly smiled:

"Then you should pay an additional fare, the journey ahead will cost two hundred Bone Coins."

"All right," Shen Ye said.

Without asking anything, he readily paid the fare.

The Night Charm Ghost counted the Bone Coins, nodded in satisfaction, and disembarked.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

The train slowly began to move again.

Its speed increased more and more, as if everything was getting back on track.

Shen Ye then quietly asked:

"You've never ridden a train before, have you?"

"Nope, wait, why didn't we get off? And why did we give so much money? Are we really going to some Qianqing Palace?" The big Skeleton was utterly confused.

"I can't be bothered with you, you're just a dud product," Shen Ye said.

He stood up, looked toward a corner of the carriage, and gestured at the Hate that had previously challenged him:

"Hey, I genuinely appreciate the gesture!"

The abomination curled its lip into a ferociously terrifying smile, giving a thumbs up:

"Have a pleasant journey, vampire!"

Shen Ye settled back into his seat, a smile also on his face.

"What's going on? What happened?" The skeleton was confused.

"Idiot, it's good that I came—if it just provoked me, it hoped I would be blinded by anger and not get off." Shen Ye said.

"Why wouldn't you get off?"

"Outside is the first layer of hell."

"Wha—"

The skeleton's voice cut off, and only after a long while did it continue:

"So, stepping out would mean death, directly becoming an undead slave to the first layer of hell, right?"

"Yes."

"So the fare is just for a ride to the first layer of hell, and that's why they charge again afterwards?"

"Exactly." Shen Ye said.

At that moment, a blonde beauty with a trolley entered the carriage.

"Fresh entrails—"

"Brains, kidneys, marinated intestines!"

She shouted while walking along.

"Excuse me, please bring it here, and let my abomination brothers take whatever they want, it's on me."

Shen Ye waved to the blonde beauty.

"Okay." The blonde beauty smiled and pushed the cart straight through the empty carriage, coming up to the abominations.

"Brother, you're too kind." One of the abominations buzzed.

"It's you who are too kind, help yourselves to the food, this is just a small token of my appreciation."

Shen Ye said.

"Haha, then thank you very much." The leader of the abominations said.

They really weren't shy about it.

——Until the ghost train arrived at the real Eternal Night City station, they were still eating.

"No need for change."

Shen Ye asked the price, took out several dozen bone coins and placed them on the table, then headed towards the carriage door.

"Hey, young vampire, take this—with this thing, if you can't make it in Eternal Night City, then use this item."

The abomination leader, buried in eating, casually tossed something over.

Shen Ye caught it and looked.

It turned out to be a half-damaged eyeball, upon rolling it, a line of small text emerged within:

"Veterans' Guild recommendation certificate number seven, abomination eyeball."

Shen Ye looked up at the abomination and asked loudly:

"You've been to the battlefield too?"

"Of course, it's quite an accomplishment to have lived to come back, vampire." The abomination said.

That explained it.

The other had recognized that he was a man who had come off the battlefield, and so decided to help him.

It seemed that in any world, the strongest bond between men was always formed through shared experiences, through carrying the load together.

——Even without having fought side by side, a mutual recognition was enough to prompt one to offer a helping hand.

"Thanks, uncles! I'll buy you a drink next time!"

Shen Ye put away the item and thanked them again before walking out of the ghost carriage.

"Where are we going now?"

He asked the skeleton.

"To the auction house, of course. You have so many bone coins that you can completely afford to buy me the materials I need, so I can perform the Technique to go to hell." The skeleton said.

"Are we really going to hell like that?" Shen Ye said with some uncertainty.

"…I don't know." The voice of the skeleton wavered a bit.

The two lapsed into silence.

After that recent occurrence, neither felt confident in their hearts.

"We need to change our plan of action."

Shen Ye stated decisively.

"How should we change it?" The skeleton asked.

"From now on, I am Baxter, and I will act in Eternal Night City under his identity—this is for our own protection, and on this basis, we will find a way to hell." Shen Ye said.

"Okay… But where do we go now?" The skeleton asked.

"Veterans' Guild." Shen Ye said.

Ten minutes later.

The two stood at the counter of the Veterans' Guild.

The abomination eyeball had been handed over as a token, along with the soldier's dog tag.

The counter clerk was still a Night Charm Ghost.

A blonde bombshell.

——This race had an appealing image and high perception, making it very good for finding work.

While waiting, Shen Ye asked the skeleton:

"Exactly how many types of creatures are there in the Undead Race?"

"There are so many, I can't explain them all at once, but just remember the basic three categories,"

"Pale Shadows are non-human, post-mortem undead, and shadow beast entities;"

"Soul-casting Holy Bones are bone entities, like me, and also like the Bone Dragon, and even Necromancers belong to this category;"

"Dark Roses are humanoid undead, like this beautiful Night Charm Ghost in front of you, as well as Fear Witches, vampires, Liches, werewolves, and so on."

At this time, the waitress placed a small badge on the counter.

"Go ahead, young vampire, enter through door number three."

"Thank you."

Shen Ye took the badge and walked forward, soon coming upon door number three.

There was already a long line outside the door.

After a wait, it was Shen Ye's turn.

He pushed the door open and entered.

Inside sat a human uncle, wearing a long coat, a hood, his complexion ashen, shrouded in deathly aura.

"Necromancer," the skeleton reminded.

"Why are necromancers considered bone entities?" Shen Ye asked.

"Don't know, but releasing Bone Spear as a first move is the combat style of a Necromancer, and their weapon of choice is also a bone staff." the skeleton said.

"Welcome, young soldier," the Necromancer spoke.

"Greetings, noble Necromancer," Shen Ye said with a small bow.

"I have checked all your information, and the messages from the battlefield match. You are indeed a brave warrior…"

"So, what kind of job are you looking for?"

Shen Ye was taken aback.

I didn't ask earlier, so is this place for arranging work for veterans?

Then I'll be going—

Wait a moment!

If a job was arranged, wouldn't that mean his identity was cleared and he could show his face in Eternal Night City without worrying about being pursued?

With this thought, Shen Ye showed a sincere smile:

"Anything suitable for us vampires will do."

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