LWGP - Chapter 120
Chapter 120: Fly!
The result of being thrashed by Wang Jiu was obedience. Especially after she had casually let Mei Qingshu beat Bian Moshu to a pulp—a scene that still left people like Qi Shuanghan with lingering fear. They didn't dare to utter a peep and obediently followed Wang Shu and the others back to Gobi Territory.
Speaking of which, the difference between a medium territory and a small one was truly vast. And so many of the houses here were already brick-and-tile buildings?
No, wait, why were they still building houses? Several thousand people were working in full swing, with both the old and young busy at work.
Having already joined the territory, everyone subconsciously checked the territory's data and was immediately astonished.
Putting aside the occupancy rate—which was nine times out of ten due to the "annexation" of Nevernight's defeated members—it was the territory's own data that was shocking.
My god, a million bricks!
How much money would that cost!
It was important to know that the bricks used for territory construction were different from those in reality. In the real world, a 100-square-meter house would require tens of thousands of bricks. But in the game, the bricks were for single-surface use; one brick was considered to have construction utility by default. After being stacked with cement, the system would naturally smooth it over, and after a period, a well-formed structure would be generated. Of course, later beautification required growing vegetables, making furniture, and other construction resources.
With so many people enthusiastic about infrastructure, Qi Shuanghan immediately noticed the task page in the territory construction progress. He found dozens of construction tasks underway, with countless territory players—numbering in the thousands—having accepted them.
Qi Shuanghan was also cunning and sharp. He subconsciously sensed that Wang Jiu leading over three hundred people out to attack Nevernight Territory today was clearly prepared and premeditated. Yet, she had also set up so many territory tasks with very attractive wages, directly luring all the territory's residents back to the city to participate in construction. What was the purpose of this?
Was it to reduce the losses from these people being killed while out in the field?
Or, could it be that she had also anticipated Frost Territory's attack?
The perceptive Qi Shuanghan's mind raced with possibilities, but he also saw the attackers outside the territory.
There were over 2,500 people, similar in number to Nevernight, all elite fighters. Their overall strength was likely not much different. The leader was Jiang Ming, the lord of Frost Territory, and the aloof woman beside him was Leng Rong, who had recently become famous in the Luoyang circle.
Speaking of which, Jiang Ming ranked higher than Bian Moshu in the public perception of top experts. However, Bian Moshu was deeply scheming, incredibly cunning, and had backers. He had managed to develop the larger-scale Nevernight in a shorter amount of time, thus earning a greater reputation.
But Jiang Ming had fought his way up on his own. He was actually quite famous himself, being a retired professional gamer who had even appeared on a CCTV program before.
He had seized the opportunity to develop his forces in just three days. In that sense, he was actually more formidable than Bian Moshu.
Now, although the 2,500 people were strong, the defense of a medium territory was several times that of a small one. They couldn't deal 10% damage just by focusing their fire—Jiang Ming and his people also had AoE skills!
A rain of frost appeared. The Sword Frost fell like a downpour, striking the territory gate, chipping away at its health bar with high-frequency attacks. Of course, this was the result of players and AoE skills combined.
This was all just a side note. In any case, Jiang Ming had still seized the opportunity to attack Gobi Territory.
"Captain, we just received news. Bian Moshu's Nightless Territory has been defeated, slaughtered by Wang Jiu."
They also had spies planted in Nevernight, constantly gathering information on the battle between the two sides.
From the very beginning, Jiang Ming and his group had no intention of honoring their agreement with Bian Moshu to assist him in attacking Gobi.
Would Bian Moshu be willing to split the spoils equally with them?
Impossible! That fellow's heart was as black as coal.
Even a straightforward person like Mei Qingshu was guarded against by him. Jiang Ming had even mentioned to Leng Rong and other core members that they could try to win over the Mei siblings in the future.
With other plans in mind, Jiang Ming decisively led his people to Gobi ahead of schedule and declared war directly.
He hadn't expected that just after they had dealt 10% of the damage, the other battle would end, and with such an unexpected result!
What the hell, was Bian Moshu drunk? How did he fight this battle?
Or was this Wang Jiu just that terrifying!
After receiving the reports, Jiang Ming fell silent for a moment before saying, "My spy told me that Wang Jiu went to chase Jason. Even if she can return to the city, she, like the others, has just been through an intense battle. A lot of spirit power has been consumed, and recovering it won't be that easy. This is our chance."
Moreover, they had already used an extremely precious large-scale AoE skill, a loss that couldn't be measured even by several hundred gold coins.
It would be too much of a waste to retreat now. His calculations were precise. He was certain that even if Wang Jiu and her people returned, they wouldn't have much spirit power left to counterattack. And look, they had indeed returned, but they were still forced to turtle inside.
"Speed up the attack! Don't let them recover and come out to fight!"
"Dodge the sentry arrow towers! She actually had the money to install four of them!"
Jiang Ming and the others had already learned that Qi Shuanghan's group had defected to Gobi Territory. This meant the two territories had joined forces. If both were at full strength in a head-on clash, their Frost Territory would surely be defeated.
But now, their biggest advantage was that the enemy had just gone through a war, was excessively depleted, and couldn't recover for the time being. If they could seize this window to inflict 70% damage, they could then wear down the last of the territory's health bar in the ensuing slugfest. That would mean victory, and they could swallow Nevernight's resources as a bonus.
A double win!
Any war over resources was a gamble.
The people of Frost Territory all wanted to get rich, so no one wanted to retreat. Instead, they excitedly sped up their attacks, continuously expending resources. They didn't even flinch at throwing out direct combat aids like Puppet Cards.
It was just like how Liao Luo and the others knew they would likely die, but once they joined the battle and saw a glimmer of hope, they refused to give up. This was the main reason they were stronger than ordinary people from the start.
A song could perfectly capture their spirit—you have to fight to win!
While they were fired up, the people inside Gobi Territory, including the rescued Mei Qinghe and his group, were growing anxious.
"Dammit, they timed this perfectly, knowing we're out of spirit power!"
"What do we do?"
"A few of us still have some spirit power, but it's not even enough to tickle them. What the fuck, Fatty! You still have the mind to grill fish!"
Mei Qinghe had been locked in a cage for a long time and was only freed after Bian Moshu was killed. He was feeling stifled and frustrated, and when he suddenly smelled Wang Shu cooking, he flew into a rage.
Wang Shu rolled his eyes and said with an air of profound wisdom, "Master said we should eat first. How can we fight on an empty stomach? As for how to fight, that's something we can talk about after we've eaten our fill."
He actually had a point. The others couldn't refuse the food either, because they were genuinely hungry.
This damn game's logic, ah…
With their territory under attack by a powerful enemy, everyone had no choice but to sit down and eat. The scene was comical, but as they quickly ate the hot food to replenish their stamina, a system notification arrived.
Wang Jiu had finally settled the battle accounts.
The territory's resources and reputation were distributed evenly. The three hundred people all received a huge fortune, and they all got a title—"Victory in the First Territory War by Overcoming the Strong with the Weak."
It was a top-tier intermediate title that increased spirit energy by 500, which replenished a lot of everyone's spirit power.
Dao Dao: Hahaha, a free win!
Wang Shu: Territory wars are so generous.
Jiang Kaikai: Real estate is super profitable.
Chu Xiangsui: Thank you, Lord.
Getting screwed over and beaten up is fine. As long as you hug the right thigh, you can make back what you lost.
The people who had been tormented thought this silently.
A sustainable development strategy is the way to go!
A stream of people offered enthusiastic praise, and a stream of comments about getting a free win followed.
It was filled with the insincerity of those bound by self-interest.
Cultured and reserved people like Qiao Xuejing were speechless, while Mei Qingshu didn't hide her bad temper and rolled her eyes dramatically.
While they were overjoyed, Qi Shuanghan and his group's morale imploded—because they were the defeated party, the "strong" who had been overcome by the "weak."
Generally speaking, winning the first territory war granted a title, but it was usually around the 200 spirit energy level. However, in this battle, the disparity in numbers and power between the two sides was too great. After the upset victory, the system calculated that they had overcome the strong with the weak and performed excellently, thus awarding them a top-tier intermediate title.
With this, most people's spirit power was replenished. Only the highest-level players still had a deficit, as their total spirit power exceeded 500.
But it was enough!
"Don't celebrate too early. If we lose this one, everyone…" Qi Shuanghan poured cold water on them with a sour tone.
He was very successful. Wang Shu and the others were indeed chilled by his words.
Wang Shu's eyes flickered. He immediately took the 300 gold he had just received to the auction house to buy skills, only to find, fuck! Why were the skills so few and so expensive!
He couldn't bring himself to buy them… but he had to. I must follow in Master's footsteps!
As Wang Shu bought skills with a bleeding heart, he and the others, who had just received their resources and were still chewing on meat, suddenly froze. All three thousand three hundred members of the team received two notifications.
First: Your lord has initiated a unilateral conquest application against Frost Territory.
Second: Your lord has used a Team Follow Scroll. Are you willing to follow?
There were many types of group teleportation items. One of the most high-level and domineering types was one where the leader used it, and everyone in the team or party was teleported simultaneously, with no option to refuse.
Another type was the Team Follow Scroll. When the leader used it, the members below could choose whether or not to follow; they could refuse.
For a leader, the first type was obviously more prestigious, but the second type was cheaper. Wang Shu was someone who frequented social circles and the auction house. He had seen this kind of Team Follow Scroll before. Some people had obtained such resources but were reluctant to use them. In fact, few people would ever use it—it was extravagant even for a hundred-person team, so who would keep it for personal use? As for the leader of a major power, while they might find it useful, they would prefer the first type of teleportation scroll. As for this one—200 gold? Cheap? Cheap my ass! Dammit, that's robbery!
So, the few scrolls listed in the auction house had not sold.
But looking now, it seemed two were missing.
"What's going on?"
"Lord Lao Wang?"
"Um, should we fly over?"
"Let's go! If we can't defend Gobi, we'll just take Frost Territory."
"Actually, this strategy makes sense. Frost Territory is a small territory, its defenses aren't as high as ours. In a race to see who can destroy the other faster, they're definitely the ones who can't take the punishment!"
"Haha, Lao Wang is still the best. She must have already reached Frost Territory!"
"Let's go!"
"Everyone, let's go!"
Although he was muttering to himself, Wang Shu quickly suppressed his doubts and teleported along with everyone else. However, one person delayed their confirmation and did not fly over immediately.
Are we just going to ignore the safety of our own territory?
Yes, they were. It was a race to see who could attack faster!
Jiang Ming and the others thought the same when they received the notification. They were shocked. Dammit, this Wang Jiu thinks fast and acts ruthlessly!
"Didn't she go after Jason? How did she get to our territory so quickly?"
"Our territory is at 388, that's not close!"
"Don't panic, their spirit power can't keep up!"
Just as Jiang Ming said this, Wang Shu and the others arrived by Wang Jiu's side.
Wang Jiu was indeed at Frost Territory. Five minutes ago, she had just thrashed Jason at 416 Novice Village and obtained all his resources, including his 280 reputation points.
A total of seven or eight hundred items went into her bag. For this, she had even spent twenty gold to open up a bunch of bag slots. She didn't even look at them closely, because there was no time.
Was a Fixed Point Teleportation Talisman from the auction house for 50 gold coins expensive? It was a useless talisman with range limitations.
It was limited to a fifty-li radius in the eastern part of Luoyang, and it even had a damn requirement of over 2000 Agility to fly!
What a disgusting talisman. It had been cursed out quite a bit at the special items stall in the auction house.
But this piece of junk cost 50 gold, and it actually sold.
Of course, the System's nagging was indispensable.
System: "On one hand, you curse the item for being useless, and on the other, you happily spend 250 to buy it. May I ask, are you a pervert?"
System: "This feeling of flying, isn't it filled with the smell of money?"
Wang Jiu ignored it. After flying to the front of Frost Territory, she used the Team Follow Scroll and pulled everyone over in one wave.
Right now, Frost Territory was empty of its top experts. The territory was vulnerable!
"Attack!"
Three thousand three hundred people unleashed their attacks, bombarding the gates of Frost Territory!
On the other side, Jiang Ming and his group received a notification that the enemy had already taken down 10% of their territory's defense.
Damn, that was fast!
"Did their spirit power recover?"
"That shouldn't be possible. Even if they returned to their homesteads, it couldn't be this fast. At most, they'd recover a few dozen points."
"It might be their remaining spirit power."
As they discussed, Jiang Ming suddenly thought of a possibility. "They must have gotten the title, which replenished some of their spirit power."
The exact amount of spirit power was hard to determine, but!
"But only the original three hundred people should have received this spirit power. The rest from Nevernight shouldn't have recovered much."
Jiang Ming's thoughts raced, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Or maybe someone among them has a spirit power recovery skill!"
His guess was accurate. The feedback from their people at Frost Territory was also this—that lord Wang Jiu had activated an array disk, and twenty people were entering it to recover their spirit power, taking turns in shifts!
Dammit!
Hearing this, the 2,500 people on their side grew agitated. She even has a skill like that?
"Boss, what do we do? If they can sustain their spirit power, they might destroy our territory's health bar faster than us!"
Amidst the agitation of his people, Jiang Ming calmly considered the situation, but he suddenly felt something was wrong.
The ground seemed to be vibrating.
This feeling of vibration, and the foul stench in the air…
Fuck!
"Quick…"
Before Jiang Ming could finish shouting, his voice was drowned out by a dense wave of screeches. Terrifying black shadows shot out from underground like a swarm of locusts. If not for their individual sizes being far larger than locusts, the effect would have been quite similar.
A nightmare for anyone with trypophobia!
It was also the nightmare of 443 Novice Village and many other novice villages.
"Ah! A Rat tide!"
"Fuck, it's the Rat tide again!!"
"Wife, son, hide! Dammit, it's the rats again!"
"Ah, how many rats are there!"
"Heavens, the resurrection point outside has been devoured!"
"We're doomed!"
"There must be at least a hundred thousand rats in this swarm, right?"
Everyone in Gobi was freaking out, and so were the people from Frost Territory.
The bosses leading the terrifying Rat tide had learned from the mistakes of their last attack. They were unwilling to expose themselves on the surface beforehand for human experts to detect. So they went to the trouble of digging tunnels. Through the thick soil, even experts like Jiang Ming and Leng Rong failed to notice them. It was only when they began to surge upwards that Jiang Ming and Leng Rong sensed them.
But it was too late. There were too many of them, covering the entire area around the territory, practically surrounding the perimeter.
Of course, that included Jiang Ming and his people.
Previously, even Wang Jiu with her extremely high attributes hadn't dared to enter the Rat tide. Jiang Ming and Leng Rong, whose attributes were over a thousand, couldn't withstand it either. They were completely swallowed up in less than a single round.
All 2,500 people lay on the ground, their bones picked clean.
The people of Frost Territory, left with deep psychological scars from the mass death, were dumbfounded.
Weren't the Rat tides supposed to attack at night? It's broad daylight! What's going on!
The people of Gobi Territory were also confused. A bunch of them were asking the system, but the system didn't respond, only stating that daytime activity weakened the rats' damage. However, with sufficient temptation, they would come at any cost.
What cost?
If these rats hadn't also surrounded Gobi Territory, Jiang Ming and his people would have thought the rats were raised by Gobi Territory.
"Our territory's health is down by 30%, with 70% remaining. Under such an attack from the Rat tide, Gobi should also be destroyed. Since we have a conquest application, the rewards might be counted for us. But the premise is that our territory cannot be breached, otherwise everything will belong to the rat players in the end."
"Let's go back!"
Jiang Ming had a deep understanding of the rules. He decisively gave the order, and everyone resurrected back at Frost Territory.
As for resurrecting on the spot, that was out of the question. They would be instantly killed the moment they stood up.
They didn't even dare to retrieve the massive amount of resources they had dropped, gritting their teeth and abandoning it all.
In any case, as long as they defended Frost Territory, they could go back and collect their spoils after the Rat tide retreated.
Even if they couldn't get it back, the final gains would far exceed these losses.
In war, one must first pay a price to get a reward.
But Jiang Ming would never have known that at this very moment in Gobi Territory, Qiao Xuejing, hiding in an invisible trap, was remotely trading the released Mutated Dark Crystal to Wang Jiu, who was far away in Frost Territory.
Before Frost Territory, Wang Jiu accepted the trade. At the same time, they had already knocked down 40% of Frost Territory's health bar.
With the support of spirit power, the three thousand three hundred people's damage output was off the charts, perfectly illustrating the saying, "many hands make light work!"
Of course, they also learned about the situation back at Gobi Territory.
A Rat tide?
What kind of strategy was this?
Xie Lu was probably the only one besides Qiao Xuejing who knew what was going on. He instantly understood why Wang Jiu had used so many high-priced construction tasks to get everyone inside the territory. It wasn't to guard against Frost Territory or Nevernight, but against the Rat tide!
Now, basically everyone from 443 Novice Village was inside the territory.
Even those who were reluctant to spend money could immediately earn it back through infrastructure once inside the territory, and even make a profit. Plus, it was safe. No one could miscalculate this trade-off!
So even if the resurrection point outside was destroyed, it didn't matter. As long as the territory stood, they were absolutely safe!
This was a preparation she had made in advance.
As Xie Lu figured this out, he couldn't help but subconsciously look at Wang Jiu.
Buzz… A heavenly light descended.
In Frost Territory, Jiang Ming and the others, unaware of the situation, had also resurrected and returned to their city, charging towards the main gate as a group.
2,500 Frost Territory elites versus 3,300 Gobi elites!
Fight!
Jiang Ming and Leng Rong, who had quickly replaced their dropped equipment with spares, simultaneously locked onto Wang Jiu. Their attributes were around 1200 and 1300 on average, respectively, making their strength comparable to the previous Mei Qingshu and Bian Moshu.
The main reason Leng Rong was more famous than Jiang Ming was that her skills were superior.
She was a summoner. Her skills were chained together. First, she buffed her summon's attributes, then directly summoned an Iron-skinned Phantom Wolf. She then cast two summon-specific support skills on the phantom wolf, increasing its speed and bite force, directly boosting its damage to the level of 1500 average stats.
In a real fight, neither Bian Moshu nor Mei Qingshu would last ten rounds against her.
However… the two of them soon discovered that Wang Jiu was more ferocious than any wolf!
A Spirit Tentacle to bind, followed by a Flowing Light, Blood Wrath, and Heavy Strike. The wolf was sent flying seven or eight meters. After it coughed up blood, she immediately used X-Ray Dissection, followed by a Dismemberment!
Bang! As the wolf exploded into a bloody mist,
King against king, a team-on-team slaughter!
The effect of so many people fighting was spectacular. Dozens of people fell every second, but they resurrected on the spot!
With the spoils of war at stake, they had to fight to the end!
But the difference in strength between the two sides was not particularly obvious. Why? Although Frost Territory only had 2,500 people, their coordination seemed to be top-notch. They even had five people with Holy Light turtling in the back, acting as a healer squad for the team fight.
In comparison, the forces of Nevernight and Wang Shu's three hundred were uncoordinated, and they only had two people with Holy Light. In terms of healing power, they were far inferior to the other side.
Taking this into account, the two sides were actually evenly matched.
On the other side, however, the fight between Wang Jiu, Jiang Ming, and Leng Rong was very one-sided.
After her phantom wolf was killed, Leng Rong had to wait for the cooldown, so she quickly evaded and went into stealth. Jiang Ming also saw how powerful Wang Jiu was, and a chill ran down his spine. They only knew that Wang Jiu had defeated Bian Moshu and Jason, but they didn't know the specific details. Their spies were low-level and couldn't discern the reality of the situation, nor had they left the territory, so they didn't know the full story.
This led to incomplete intelligence, making it impossible for him to predict Wang Jiu's strength.
He only knew that it was terrifying for someone to defeat two people in a row. He certainly wasn't a match for her alone, which was why he had teamed up with Leng Rong. He hadn't expected that they still couldn't win!
Retreat!
Jiang Ming didn't dare to fight head-on and decisively fell back. But Wang Jiu was upon him. As she approached, she raised a hand and cast a group level-two Holy Light, healing her allies, then swung her blade at Jiang Ming.
Clang!! Jiang Ming's longsword was knocked back. Suddenly, he felt a chill on his back… a Spirit Tentacle had wrapped around him.
"Release!" Jiang Ming had a special little spell to break restraints. The moment he broke free, he used a level-five Evasion, switched to a bow, and fired a wave of Triple Arrows at Wang Jiu from a distance!
The Triple Arrows flew through the air, but just as he landed, there was a cracking sound under his feet.
Dammit, a pit? Does the system also have shoddy novice village construction projects?
The bottom of the pit was soft and squishy. Was there meat?
Rat meat, with gray-black fur.
Fifteen minutes ago, not long after Qiao Xuejing's trade was completed, the scent of the Mutated Dark Crystal disappeared and reappeared in a distant location.
The bosses were confused, but to them, a territory was not nearly as important as the Mutated Dark Crystal.
That was a racial treasure that concerned the rapid evolution of their entire clan!
So, the highest-ranking boss, the Lizard Rat, made a decision. It commanded the nearest Rat tide to Frost Territory to rush over, while their main army would follow. They had to get it back!
That damned thief, she must die!
The frenzied Rat tide grew agitated and quickly burrowed into the ground…
They left?
After they left, Qiao Xuejing exited the territory, collected all the equipment dropped by the 2,500-plus people from Frost Territory, and continuously traded it to Wang Jiu.
She didn't put it in the team bag, because this was not team income.
It was Wang Jiu's personal income.
Because the quantity was too large, she had to trade it in over a dozen batches, mainly because her own bag couldn't hold it all!
But looking back at the territory's health bar, it had been gnawed down to 70% by the terrifying Rat tide.
They had chewed off that much health in just a short while. If given a few more minutes, even a medium territory would be destroyed. The current construction was incomplete, and the four sentry towers, while effective against players, were of little use against the massive Rat tide.
Fortunately, Jiang Ming and his people didn't know the details. After weighing the pros and cons, they decided to go back and rescue their own territory. Otherwise, if they had held on for a while longer, the final outcome would have been uncertain.
At the very least, Lord Lao Wang would have had to change her strategy.
But as it stood, the Rat tide was terrifying, but Lao Wang was even more terrifying than the Rat tide.
Qiao Xuejing smiled faintly and sent a private message to Wang Jiu, "Lord, do I need to come over now?"
The intelligent and elegant beauty asked with a voice that was three parts smile and seven parts respect, which was very pleasant to the ear. But Wang Jiu's response was very casual.
"Don't come over yet. You'll die if you do."
Qiao Xuejing was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood.
That's right. If the Rat tide was lured over again, then Wang Shu and the others who were also there would 100% die.
Qiao Xuejing could almost hear the piercing screams of Wang Shu and the others as they were confusedly devoured.
Her premonition was correct. At the same time, in Frost Territory, the Rat tide, having already covered a vast area through the wide underground sewer network, had gathered seventy to eighty thousand rats in advance and frantically surrounded Frost Territory.
The elites of both territories, 2,500 plus 3,300, were all surrounded.
Those with attributes above 800 were fine; they could hold out for a short while. But those below 800 were in for a miserable time, getting wiped out in less than a single round.
Wang Shu and the others indeed let out pig-like squeals. Even Xie Lu's face turned pale.
This?
This scene perfectly illustrated the meaning of—you may have many people and great strength, but our Rat tide has even greater strength!
We'll kill all you damn humans!
Of course, this slaughter also included every human in Frost Territory.
Including Wang Jiu!
She must be an undercover agent sent by the Rat tide to the human race! This back-and-forth scheming to send people to their deaths!
Not only did she sacrifice her own team, but when she went crazy, she even sacrificed herself!!
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