Kenley was not about to give them a chance! His decision was swift and decisive—he didn't go straight after the merchants, but instead sprinted toward the nearest carriage.

  With his agility-enhancing +10 equipment, Kenley moved so fast that to the merchants watching, it looked like a gust of wind.

  "He's so fast!" one of the merchants exclaimed in surprise.

  "Stop staring, do you want to die? Get on the carriage!" another merchant swore.

  Just as they were about to board the carriage, Kenley arrived at the same time.

  "Ah!" followed by several screams. But at that moment, something unexpected happened.

  The last merchant suddenly activated a sturdy blue magical shield, protecting himself.

  Clang! Kenley's sword was deflected by the magical barrier with a loud sound. Kenley was stunned. What kind of defensive magic was this?

  Then he realized that the merchant was the one he had seen earlier—the one wearing exquisite magical accessories.

  "Please, don,t kill me! Please don,t!" The merchant cried, huddled inside the carriage with his hands over his head, pleading desperately.

  Magical accessories? Kenley froze. This seemed to be the same merchant with the exquisite accessories from before.

  Identify!

  Damn it, there was no information at all! It seemed like he had hidden it somehow.

  The shield only lasted a few seconds before it disappeared.

  The merchant had a necklace hidden in his clothes and was shrinking back, trying to conceal it. Because the necklace was covered, Kenley couldn,t identify its properties.

  "Give me that necklace, and I promise I,ll spare you." Kenley,s gaze was cold. He was worried that this guy might try something under the protection of the accessory's invincible defense time. He wouldn,t be able to do much if that happened. His plan was to get the necklace from him first, just in case it could also offer defense.

  "Thank you, thank you! Blessed Mother, I,ll give it to you! Please spare my life!" The merchant said, his voice filled with gratitude.

  He immediately reached into his clothes to pull out the accessory, but his movements were slow.

  Kenley feigned lowering his guard and lowered his sword, giving the merchant a false sense of safety. His main goal was to trick the merchant into handing over the accessory.

  The merchant lowered his head and slowly took the accessory out, but Kenley couldn,t see his expression clearly.

  At that moment, the merchant,s face suddenly twisted into a grimace, and he growled through clenched teeth,"Die!"

  A gleaming dagger mysteriously appeared in the merchant,s hand, and he thrust it violently toward Kenley,s heart.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Medusa's deadly poison! The eerie glow of the dagger was something Kenley knew all too well! Where had this guy gotten a silver-tier monster's deadly poison? If he was struck, even ten lives wouldn,t be enough to survive!

  A cold sweat broke out on Kenley,s body. But his reaction was quick. The benefit of his +10 agility came into play. He suddenly jerked his body to the side, his long-standing PK training kicking in at just the right moment to dodge the lethal thrust.

  The slave merchant,s dagger grazed past Kenley,s body, but fortunately, Kenley managed to avoid it just in time!

  Kenley immediately raised his long sword and swung it backward in a swift motion, not giving the merchant a second chance to strike! A sharp "splurt" sounded as the gush of blood sprayed like spilled ink, instantly staining the inside of the carriage, resembling a coat of vibrant oil paint.

  Seeing the merchant's eyes widen in disbelief as he fell, Kenley was still shaken, his dilated pupils trembling slightly. If he had been a moment slower, he would have been finished. The poison from the silver-tier monster would have killed him with a mere scratch—he was only level 10, and even a graze would have been lethal!

  After calming himself for a moment, he turned his attention to the body. Kenley carefully wrapped the dagger in cloth and put it away, thinking it might be useful in the future. He then proceeded to collect and organize the corpses of the merchants, including the necklace, "Adding more stock."

  But Kenley didn't have the mood to check the equipment's attributes at the moment. This was a busy road, and someone could show up at any time. He needed to quickly clean up the aftermath and avoid being seen.

  Kenley's mental fortitude was strong. Although he had just killed someone, he quickly adapted. It wasn't that he wanted to, but his long-standing professional training told him not to stop, to avoid giving himself time to think. Moving forward kept his focus sharper.

  After briefly counting his spoils, Kenley raised an eyebrow. Merchants were indeed different. They were far wealthier than the guards he'd encountered earlier. Though they didn't have valuable gear, they had plenty of money. Just from this merchant caravan, he had earned 460 silver coins, and with the loot from the tomb earlier, a rough estimate would put it at around 5.8 gold coins.

  If this were in a game or the previous expansions, Kenley would have been a small-time tycoon by now.

  Finally, after tidying up, Kenley turned to the prisoner carriage at the back and took a quick look—Inspect!

  He had rushed here earlier without a proper inspection, but now he had the time to look more closely. There was quite the assortment of slaves in the cages. The people from the royal capital really had no preferences.

  There were werewolves, pigmen, lizardmen, and more, but no humans (vampire princesses aside). The orcs were probably meant for hard labor or to be sent to the gladiator arenas for the entertainment of the nobles.

  Kenley immediately slashed through the chains of the cages. He wasn,t interested in these strange beasts. They were all low-level, low-growth creatures, weak and harmless, so he decided to give them a chance at freedom.

  The beasts saw Kenley easily take down the entire merchant caravan and didn,t dare to make any moves. After Kenley let them go, they ran into the forest without looking back. As for what trouble they might cause later, Kenley couldn,t be bothered.

  Finally, Kenley reached the vampire princess...

  Her silver hair cascaded down like a river of stars, her blood-red eyes as mesmerizing as snake-eye gemstones. She wore tattered brown cloth, and her torn garment revealed her fair skin, making her look even more alluring in her youthful thirteen or fourteen-year-old form.

  A black slave collar was tightly fastened around her neck, and her melancholic gaze followed Kenley,s every move. Her ragged attire failed to fully cover her lower body, exposing her long, white legs, while her curled-up feet showed her unease.

  She was only level 3, and from Kenley,s memory, he recalled that the lucky player had managed to level her to 99. He wondered if she could complete the transformation quest for the Golden Body.

  [Ex-Princess of the Fallen Kingdom · Vampire · Tia]

  [Race: Undead]

  [Level: 3]

  [HP: 12/30]

  [MP: 0/60]

  [Notes: The once glorious kingdom collapsed in an instant. The light of the church drowned in dark corridors. Who still remembers her voice?]

  Glancing at the shackles on her hands, Kenley immediately realized that the reason her MP was 0 was because the shackles were restricting her.

  He looked over to the corner and saw a dirty jar filled with what appeared to be filthy blood drained from some creature. Were they feeding her this? No wonder her HP was nearly gone—these merchants were truly heartless.