Chapter 290: Monster Raid
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"F*ck! D*mn, that One Inch ‘Sword’! How dare he pull off such a move! We won’t be able to leave Thunderstorm Castle unoccupied now!"
"Hmph! Obviously, he’s afraid of us!"
"You got that right! That little boy doesn’t dare take us head-on! That’s why he’s playing tricks like a schoolgirl! What a p*ssy!"
In an instant, members from Lone Desert Smoke had started to flood the guild channel with a massive number of angry complaint despite the warnings from Hundred Shots. It was clear that the system announcement was not narrowcasted to Zhang Yang alone, but to all members of Lone Desert Smoke.
Zhang Yang shook his head. There was more to this. He spoke in the party channel, "Lone Desert Smoke is big, but our presence does not necessitate the usage of such a rare item. We are strong. We are large, having 20,000 members. But all that is nothing against the might of an entire city! Our strength is not even up to scale!"
"What do you mean?"
"I’m saying that One Sword Stroke is a man with big ambitions. Not only does he intend to have the Territory for himself, at the same time, he wants to crush the Territory that belongs to us! That way, he would be the only person to own the one and only Territory in China! It is a good strategy. Why have competitors at all if you can crush them directly and leave everything to yourself?"
Everyone looked at Zhang Yang, their eyes wide open in realization. One Sword Stroke was indeed a greedy man!
"Noobie tank! How did that spineless worm get himself a Monster Attack Order? If Imperial Sky really do get their hands on the second Territory Order, we should get ourselves a Monster Attacking Order and raise them hell on Earth!" cried Wei Yan Er, puffing with angry steam.
Han Ying Xue interjected just when Zhang Yang was about to open his mouth. "These monsters, are they hard to subdue?"
Zhang Yang replied with a sulk on his face. "That is a good question. For that, which I do not have any answer to."
During a Monster Attack event, only the guild members of the Territory could participate in the war. Once the battle starts, non-affiliated players will be automatically kicked out of the warzone. In his previous life, Zhang Yang had only managed to catch a few glimpse of how a monster attacking event took place. Some guilds were able to overcome the madness, while the unfortunate ones will be washed away by the waves of monsters.
Everyone knew that Zhang Yang was the person to go to, the person who knew it all, the beta tester; where no matter what sort of trouble they got themselves into, as long as Zhang Yang shone a light over their shadow, they would always get it right. But now, with even Zhang Yang left clueless, everyone knew that something was not right. Perhaps, this time, they were really in trouble.
Like the angel of death itself had just passed through the scene, the atmosphere was deathly silent and tense. The party went quiet. Everyone was fidgeting in their own way, wracked with worry. The atmosphere felt so tense that a single drop of needle could probably blow up the place.
Zhang Yang laughed. "Relax, guys. The game developers would not create something impossible. I’m sure there will be a way for us to prevail. As long as we work together, we will surely prevail."
"Okay!" Everyone replied in unison.
Since the in-game time and real world time had been set to 3:1, everyone took the opportunity to train heavily. Perhaps, before the decisive battle starts, they could just gain a little more strength. This was particularly true for those who had a nine in their levels. With just one more level to go, they could at least make some vital changes if they could, such as changing into new equipment, or obtaining new skills. That being said, Zhang Yang had just taken notice that he had not yet obtained his Level 70 class skill even though he was already at Level 71. Her then rode on his white bear and rushed over to Ani, the Warrior class instructor.
As always, Ani’s sexy body and alluring posture had drawn in a few perverted male swines, ogling at her from the side. Judging by the level of these useless scum, they had been squandering here for a long time. Their levels were only around Level 20 to 30. Without wasting any more time, Zhang Yang proceeded on and claimed his skill.
The Level 70 Warrior class skill was {Spear of Obliteration}.
[Spear of Obliteration]: Trust your weapon forward and deal 100% melee physical damage to a target. Attack ignores all Defense value. While Shield is equipped, this skill will generate a huge amount of aggro on the target.
Requirement: Melee Weapon
Range Distance: 3 – 30 meters.
Cool Down Time: 10 seconds.
This skill is the only ranged skill that a Warrior could have. The skill does not consume any Rage. The animation of the skill itself was rather flashy. However, since the skill was a ranged attack and had a 3 meter "blind spot", a Warrior would have to move away in order to use this skill, since all Warrior are melee attackers. That, or the skill could be used to start a fight. Besides that, this skill could be used in turn with {Thunder Strike} during PvP fights to kite an opponent to death.
With great power, comes great responsibility. This skill was strong, and it cost Zhang Yang 700 gold coins to learn. It could not be avoided. The developers had set it that way. There is no way of escaping the expenditure of this pot of gold.
After getting himself a new skill, Zhang Yang went to the auction house to do a little shopping. Lately, players have been getting smarter and better at doing business. Items such as recipe and skill book that would only reveal their use upon learning, were not auctioned before their functions had been determined beforehand! The players will do their research through forums or the item database, and set the price of the item only after they had determined the items’ capabilities.
Take the [Beginner Mobility Potion] that Zhang Yang obtained yesterday. That bargain was truly a purchase of once in a blue moon. The kind that you could only encounter but not seek. Still, after searching for a bit, Zhang Yang managed to find himself another good bargain. It was a [Pet Skill Engravement Scroll]!
This scroll functioned as a means to Engrave a pet skill and allow another pet to learn the fore mention skill. However, the skill that is Engraved will be lost from the host. It was just like the "cut-and-paste" function in a computer, the original skill will be moved, instead of being copied.
Though the [Gold-Eared Bear King] was currently the strongest pet in the game, it was only temporary. After Level 80, there will be Violet-Platinum tiers, Level 110 will have Mythical tiers, Level 140 will have Ethereal tiers and so on so forth. At most, this white bear could only follow Zhang Yang until he reached Level 110, after that, the bear will have reached its limit and could no longer aid Zhang Yang any further.
It was a shame that the bear had learned a decent skill, that is the {Icy Build}. The skill was extremely strong against Ice based attacks! It would be extremely wasteful to let the skill be discarded along with the bear. Now, with the help from the [Pet Skill Engravement Scroll], it would solve the problem! Zhang Yang could easily pick out the skill that he deemed worthy and use it on the next pet he gets!
It was another shame that this absolute item had only two stocks in the auction house. Both of them were sold at 5,000 apiece. Without hesitation, Zhang Yang took out his wallet and purchased both items, keeping them in his own personal storage until later use.
With the upcoming war drawing closer and closer every second, Hundred Shots was constantly rounding up members in the guild channel. The emergency announcement requested that all higher-level players to gather tomorrow night at 7pm (real-world time) to participate in the Territorial Defense. With that, many players were getting their hopes up by training vigorously and making preparations for tomorrow.
Seeing his own guild members working round the clock for the war tomorrow, Zhang Yang could not allow himself to slack off, since he was the guild master after all. Just as he was his the way to the grinding field, he received a voice call from Snow Seeker.
"Guild master Zhan Yu, Imperial Sky has found the second Territory Order. The war will start tomorrow. We, Crimson Rage would like to form an alliance with Lone Desert Smoke and fight for the Order. That being said, since you guys already have Thunderstorm Castle in your grasp, I’m sure that you would let us have it this time around. Right?" Her voice was extremely pleasant to hear. However, Zhang Yang sighed heavily.
"I’m so sorry, guild master Snow. Even if I would love to help you guys out. I’m afraid that we are occupied during the war tomorrow."
"What’s going on?" she asked, concerned.
"I have no idea where did One Sword Stroke get his hands on a Monster Attack Order, but he had it and had used it on the Thunderstorm Castle. He had purposely set the Monster Attack event to happen tomorrow, during the Territory Order war! I have to get all members of Lone Desert Smoke to prepare for the Defensive war tomorrow. If we lose, Thunderstorm Castle will be erased from the map."
Snow Seeker sucked in a sharp breath. "What a greedy person! If I’m correct, he wants to be the only player in China to own a Territory and monopolize the market!"
As expected from Snow Seeker, not only was she thinking from the game’s perspective, she had a business-oriented mind as well!
"I’m sorry I cannot help you out this time!"
"It’s completely fine!" Snow Seeker laughed it off. "How about Crimson Rage sending over a few of our elite players over to help you out?"
This woman was indeed a true ally, as gracious and generous as she was!
"It’s fine. There’s no need to do that! This Monster Attacking event can only be participated by players of Lone Desert Smoke. Other non-affiliated players would not be able stay within the battle field. Guild master Snow, I think you’re better off making some trouble for Imperial Sky. However, I really do appreciate the thought! Thanks!"
"Don’t mention it. I hope the both of us will have favorable outcomes tomorrow!"
After the conversation with Snow Seeker, Sky High and Crimson Fire had also contacted Zhang Yang. Both of them were also seeking help from him to fight during the war. However, unlike Snow Seeker, after knowing the situation that Zhang Yang had gotten himself into, they did not offer any help.
That being said, Zhang Yang understood their position and what they did was reasonable. However, Zhang Yang could now differentiate their standings. Crimson Rage was a guild, willing to fight together as close friends. On the other hand, Lost Paradise and Sky High were simply allies in war.
They say, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Zhang Yang was no saint. But at least he knew when to reciprocate a good will, and when to have revenge when it comes to it.
…
At Zhang Yang’s current level, grinding at a Level 60+ map would not do him any good. The monsters there were too low leveled for him. He then decided to give up on this place and proceed to Oz, hoping to grind there.
With his strong equipment and many AoE skills in hand, along with the Dark Enigmatic Sword in his hands that could replicate {Horizontal Sweep} and {Blast Wave}, his killing speed was several times faster than any other players around! Coupled with his ridiculous damage, he managed to raise his experience bar from 7% to 17% in just one night!
Starting from Level 70, gaining another level would take approximately 30 days of in-game time. Based on Zhang Yang’s current grinding speed, it would take him half of the estimated time, which was only 15 days!
…
On the second night 6.30pm, a large number of Lone Desert Smoke members had gathered together and were ready to intercept the monsters.
While Zhang Yang was overseeing the operation, he received a voice call from Liu Wei himself.
His in-game-name was Heaven's Pride. Ostentatious and arrogant, as always. It takes a ridiculous amount of hot air and pride to call yourself Heaven’s Pride.
"Well…well…Mr. Zhang Yang. Do you feel the regret dragging your guts down into the depths? Those who defy me will only face failure in his life! Now, I shall take away your Thunderstorm Castle. Who knows, perhaps tomorrow, it could be your Little Merchandize Shop! I will make sure that you will own nothing! You may rise from the dirt again, but I will simply force you back down again!"
Zhang Yang responded with a light smile. "Master Liu must have been treated well in prison for the past two days! That’s why you’re surprisingly chirpy today!"
"You---" His face went blue.
Liu Wei was the only son of the Liu family. He had been treated like prince ever since he was born. Being born with a silver spoon in his mouth, that man could never endure the hardship in prison for even a minute! However, there was nothing he could do in Shanghai! The only thing he could do was to suppress the news of him being arrested in Shanghai to prevent him from becoming a laughing stock. That being said, Liu Wei wanted to have his revenge. However, Shanghai nor Zhao Su City was in the Liu family’s territory! He could not figure out what kind of background did Zhang Yang have, backing him! Without being able to address that uncertainty, Liu Wei was careful not to make things a little too complicated.
Liu Wei tried to control his breath before speaking, "You best look after your own skin now! I would really love to see the sight of Thunderstorm Castle being torn down! That would be a spectacular scene to witness!"
"Haha! I’m sorry to disappoint you, but that would never happen! Perhaps, you should keep an eye on One Sword Stroke. There is no guarantee that Imperial Sky would take the second Territory Order!"
The conversation between the two opposing players was dropped without any proper farewell.
While Zhang Yang was busy getting under Liu Wei’s skin, Hundred Shots had taken the helm and had arranged everyone’s positions. He had positioned ranged attackers to occupy the castle walls and melee attackers were positioned at the castle gates. Once the gates were breached, all melee attackers there will form a line to hold off monsters from proceeding further into the castle.
Right then, the castle gates were only at level one, with a HP value of 1,000,000, Defense and Magic Defense at 1,000. It was a shame that it could not be healed or else, Hundred Shots would have simply positioned all the healers at the gates. There was a total of three magical cannons on the castle wall, which was the maximum limit a Territory could own. All three cannons were commandeered by three cannoneers with two Power Source Crystals in each of the players’ inventory. One Power Source Crystal could be used to fire 10 shots. Six Power Source Crystals had costed Zhang Yang a whopping 6,000,000 gold coins!
As painful as it sounds, it was an expense that could not be avoided. If he had tried to save up some gold coins, he might be dooming the castle instead. That would be a regret that would drive him mad for an eternity. Still, Zhang Yang had the intention to purchase a few more Power Source Crystal but the system had limited the number of shots to only 20 shots per cannon! It would be a complete waste if Zhang Yang had purchased more.
Having spent so much time and money just to defend against a deliberate attack from Liu Wei and One Sword Stroke, Zhang Yang gritted his teeth so hard with intense fury that he was sure to break them off if it was in real life. He swore to himself that this is a revenge that he will return tenfold!
Lo and behold, the clock struck 7pm. The long-awaited war had arrived.
‘System Announcement: The second Territory will spawn at coordinates XXXXXX, YYYYYY. Territory name: Margulos Town! The War for the Territory will last for 3 hours! The player who holds the Order shall become the owner of Margulos Town! From now on, Meadow Flatlands has been set to a special battle field. All players cannot go in or out of this battle field. Upon death, players will be teleported to their own major cities to be revived.’
‘System Announcement: Current player that holds the Territory Order: One Sword Stroke! Players that hold the Territory Order will be marked and cannot leave the battle field!’
‘System Announcement: War of the Territory Order starts! Count down commence!’
At the same time, all players from Lone Desert Smoke heard a different announcement.
‘Ding! Monster Attack Order has commenced! There will be a total of 6 waves! Each wave of monster will have one boss. Each wave will last for 30 minutes. Monsters will constantly spawn, while the boss will spawn after 20 minutes. Once the boss of each wave appears, the monster will stop spawning. After 30 minutes of each wave ends, monsters shall start spawning again whether or not the previous boss monster is defeated!’
‘Ding! Be advise, a debuff {Fallen} will be inflicted on players who die. The debuff will stacked up to three times, and will reduce all attributes by 10% on each stack. Upon the third stack, the fourth death will cause the player to be sent back to the city to be revived.’
‘Ding! Within 3 hours, if monsters successfully infiltrated the Territory Main Hall, the war will be over and Thunderstorm Castle will be erased from the map.’
Standing in the main hall of the castle, Zhang Yang stretched his shoulders, before drawing his sword. A flag with the emblem of Lone Desert Smoke appeared in the hall with a long HP gauge of 1,000,000 appearing on top of the flag. This flag represented the state of the entire war. If the flag survives the entire ordeal, it would be Lone Desert Smoke’s victory. If not…
Zhang Yang summoned his white bear and walked out of the hall with a commanding aura flowing out of him. He raised his sword up high and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Brothers and sisters of Lone Desert Smoke! Let’s give ‘em hell!"
"OOOOOHH!!!"