LWGP - Chapter 121
Chapter 121: Barrier
When Jiang Ming landed and his feet squelched into the soft flesh of a rat, he realized what had happened and what was about to happen. At that moment, he had two thoughts.
1. This was fucking worse than stepping in dog shit.
2. That Wang Jiu was a beast! She was the one who brought the rats, not once but twice. Was this some kind of barrier-free, cross-dimensional express delivery?
With Jiang Ming's gaming mindset, his thoughts hadn't kept up while he was distracted during the earlier battle. But if he still couldn't figure out what Wang Jiu had used to attract these rats, then he had wasted all his years of gaming.
Damn it, how ruthless could she be, screwing over even her own people when she went crazy.
No, she had even screwed herself over!
As everyone was seamlessly surrounded and overwhelmed by the frenzied rat tide, all sorts of attacks flew wildly. They couldn't even bother attacking each other anymore; they were simply struggling in despair. But one by one, they were devoured. In that brief period of slaughter and death, the people from Frost Territory unleashed a torrent of curses at Wang Jiu. Even the aloof Leng Rong couldn't help but mutter that Wang Jiu wasn't human.
And what about the Gobi side?
Qi Shuanghan and the others were shouting all sorts of profanities! It was probably the first time in their lives they had seen a victor harm their captives so quickly.
It hadn't even been half an hour since they'd fucking surrendered!
However, since even Wang Shu and his group had been screwed over, it somehow didn't feel quite so bad anymore.
Jiang Kaikai: "My god!! Did she do this?"
Hu Yun: "Who?"
Li Li: "Who else could it be but our Lord Lao Wang! I have to say, Short Winter Melon, I'm suddenly thinking you're not so bad as a captain after all."
Mei Qinghe: "Cut the crap. You got the guts to call her inhuman to her face?"
Li Li: "I didn't mean that. That's slander, you know?"
Jiang Kaikai: "So what is she trying to do? Is Lao Wang antisocial?!"
Liao Luo: "To the person above, it's not the first time. Such a big fuss, so unworldly."
Jiang Kaikai: "Now that you mention it, I forgot. Last time against that Bloodthirsty Tribal Chief, she pulled the same stunt."
Mei Qinghe: "To the person above, your words have enlightened this dreaming man!"
Look at you all, acting like you've never seen the world. You've already witnessed the most embarrassing thing possible, yet you act as if it's your first time.
So provincial!
But this raised a question. Last time, against the Tribal Chief, Lao Wang had wiped everyone out, but she was the killer, the sole victor standing at the end. What about this time?
Was she sacrificing herself to the rats?
When Jiang Ming, Leng Rong, Xie Lu, and all the others with average attributes soaring past 1000 had been completely wiped out, their bodies were devoured by the dense swarm of rats. The rats then frantically surged toward the last person alive, the one standing on the sacrificial altar who had been on a killing spree and hadn't let a single rat get near her. But that situation was about to end, because the rats had become so dense that they completely sealed off her surroundings from every direction, and then…
She was bound to die.
Qi Shuanghan and the others had somewhat complicated feelings. As their new master and new boss, it was sudden to see such a powerful figure about to die a violent death just like them.
Qi Shuanghan: "Pardon my bluntness, but my feelings are a bit complicated."
Liao Luo: "Just say you're a little thrilled, why beat around the bush."
Qi Shuanghan sent a smiling emoji.
A stream of people below followed his lead.
Even Wang Shu secretly typed a '1'.
But he quickly sent another '!'
The others followed suit with a '!'
Why? Because they had witnessed an unbelievable scene.
At the same time, Jiang Ming and his group revived en masse at their territory's respawn point.
"They can lie there dead, probably waiting for the rats to chew through the territory's HP and leave, then they'll get up and reap the benefits. All our respawn points are inside the territory. If the territory falls, the rats will chew through the respawn points too! Then we'll be stuck in an infinite respawn loop unless we can fight our way out and escape!"
"The novice village respawn points outside are already gone. This is the only one we have left!"
"Anyone with a teleportation talisman, go now! The rest… follow me!" Jiang Ming was more humane than Bian Moshu; he had no intention of dragging everyone down into this death trap, even though deep down he felt immense despair, and… fear.
Because Wang Jiu's move was just too ruthless.
In comparison, Frost Territory was doomed to be destroyed anyway. Even if she died outside, she would just die and return to Gobi Territory.
"This person is a psycho! Utterly inhuman!" The people of Frost Territory felt their scalps tingle, but they followed Jiang Ming toward the city gate.
"I have another way to save the territory." Jiang Ming's eyes gleamed. Leng Rong was startled, but then she understood.
"You mean—"
"Once Wang Jiu dies, the special item she's using to attract the rat tide should drop. I'll respawn a few times to grab it, then trade it to someone else to lead them away."
Truth be told, Jiang Ming was indeed a talent, able to quickly find the best solution even in such a crisis.
Everyone heard this and agreed it was feasible. But when they reached the gate of Frost Territory… they were dumbfounded.
Jiang Ming was shocked, his face turning ashen.
Wang Jiu wasn't dead.
Countless rats were frantically swarming around her, climbing and biting, but she just wouldn't die. She didn't even need to attack. She just stood in front of the territory, holding the Mutated Dark Crystal in her left hand while her right hand activated a Spirit Recovery Array.
The Spirit Recovery Array was a spinning disk on the ground, but there was also a spherical barrier two meters in diameter around her body.
What the hell was that?!!
Jiang Ming and the others were baffled. A special defensive item? Did it have a time limit?
"It's probably not an item. Her spirit power is being output. Look at the spirit power flowing around her body—part of it is for the Spirit Recovery Array, and part for that shield."
"A skill?"
"What kind of fucking skill can withstand the siege of so many rats? There must be 150,000 of them, right?"
"It's probably not a skill. The skills we can get our hands on now, even those from Nightmare Dungeons, can't withstand being devoured by a 150,000-strong rat tide."
"Then could it be a high-level skill scroll she got and used early? After all, she cleared a Nightmare Dungeon, and probably got a high rating. It wouldn't be strange for her to get good stuff."
Everyone speculated wildly, completely consumed by the terrible mindset of an enemy. But on their own side, the Gobi group was just as baffled.
Lao Wang had this trick up her sleeve?
Perhaps the only one with an inkling was Wang Shu.
Because he had copied Wang Jiu's four-mastery route, the system had replied to his inquiry on this topic.
"The four masteries haven't even reached level three as a group. What are you asking for! Scram!"
Wang Shu: "…"
Well, at least it let him know that this was an ability from the four masteries. All at level five? It seemed the four active skills had a combined skill when they were all at level five.
Feeling as if he had achieved enlightenment, Wang Shu was thrilled. Could he be this awesome in the future?
The fatty was a bit of a sly fox. He kept his mouth shut, afraid that if he revealed it, many people would learn this route and the price of masteries would be driven up. Then he'd be screwed!
Not only did he not say anything, Wang Shu deliberately added: "Master must have gotten a high-level skill scroll from the Lucky Wheel. As expected of my master, awesome plus. My admiration for her is like a surging river, endless. It's like, till mountains crumble and heaven and earth merge, will I dare part from my master. This regret is everlasting, this disciple will never abandon…"
An uncultured person could still spew rainbow farts without repeating words, using any phrase they could think of.
And it was quite brainwashing when used.
The crowd was successfully misled and told him to shut up.
However, their attention was still on Wang Jiu; the scene was just too shocking.
The white light was like a mirror, seven-tenths transparent. She stood within it. Others couldn't see her, and she couldn't see outside, because it was all rats. However… she sensed Jiang Ming and the others hiding behind the territory gate's barrier. She calmly put the Mutated Dark Crystal in her pocket, freeing her left hand. A Dismemberment skill slaughtered the rats in front, clearing a bloody line of sight to meet the gazes of Jiang Ming and the others.
"Only 40% HP left. Another 10% drop and you'll enter a critical state. Let me calculate… that's about five minutes."
"Five minutes. Either surrender and submit to me, or…" She smiled. "Such a cruel outcome, I can't even bear to mention it."
Jiang Ming of course understood her intention. She was forcing him to make a choice: death or submission!
"If you can't bear it, why use such an inhuman method?"
He retorted with a cold smile.
Wang Jiu smiled calmly. "I hear you're a gamer. People who play too many games tend to forget reality. You should know that the simplest game in this world is the choice between life and death. Either live, or die."
She said it so casually, as if life and death were like egg-fried rice on a dinner table that you could choose to eat or not.
With a movement of her fingers, a large number of rats died. She also spoke her next words with perfect composure: "Denying someone the choice to live is what's called extermination. I've given you the power to choose. If you think I'm cruel, it means you lean towards the choice of submission as the worst outcome. In that case, it proves that your personal desire to build your own legacy is higher than the moral standard of group survival. As such, what right do you have to condemn me?"
Lao Wang was a master of twisting logic and calling a deer a horse. The moment she gave Jiang Ming a choice, he had no choice left.
But she also wouldn't give Jiang Ming the moral authority to accuse her.
A defeated opponent probably didn't deserve it.
So she went for the jugular.
If Jiang Ming dared to refuse, he would be the one with a subverted moral code.
"You!!" Jiang Ming's expression was extremely ugly, yet he was speechless. Moreover, he noticed that after frantically gnawing at Wang Jiu to no avail, the rat tide had split off, with many now frantically gnawing at the Frost Territory.
The HP bar was plummeting, already approaching the 30% mark.
In the team channel, there was dead silence.
No one wanted to die, especially to die for good.
And inside the territory were their families and children, all their hopes in this life.
How to choose?
There was simply no choice.
"Fine, I surrender. But you must promise to lead these rats away," Jiang Ming demanded sternly.
Wang Jiu responded just as solemnly, "Of course. I never joke about my own interests."
To so simply classify the lives of over twenty thousand people and an entire territory as her "interests" spoke volumes about her character.
But she did indeed keep her promise. After Jiang Ming was forced to choose surrender, this war came to an end.
Everyone received the notification, but Wang Jiu didn't immediately confirm the settlement. Instead, she picked up all the dropped items on the ground. After clearing the area, she chose to return to the city from within her barrier.
Returning to the city was an ability that could not be disturbed or interrupted, nor could one be in a restrained state, otherwise escape would be impossible. This was why Wang Shu and the others were doomed to die, as they couldn't avoid the ubiquitous rat tide.
But inside the barrier, it was a different story.
Yes, it was a barrier.
The barrier from having all four masteries at level 7. Don't ask when she managed that—previously, Gobi's territory gold coins had reached 900. Later, not even counting the resources from annexing Gobi Territory, just the gold coins Mei Qingshu obtained after killing Bian Moshu amounted to a full 1800 gold.
People with backing had serious funds. Bian Moshu had probably intended to use it to develop his territory, but Wang Jiu intercepted it and went on a crazy shopping spree, buying out all the masteries on the market.
Never mind passing level seven; right now, she still had over three hundred mastery skill books in her inventory.
Adding the teleportation scrolls and talismans she bought, she had spent nearly 3000 gold on these two battles.
If she had another 3000 gold, she could push all four masteries to level 8!
The light of returning to the city enveloped her, but before she left, she left two final sentences.
"By the way, a little reminder. After confirming your surrender, your territory and all its buildings will be dismantled into reputation and resources. All of you will also enter a slave state with no respawn points. And it will take some time for the rats to leave."
"This time, you truly have no choice."
She didn't spell it out, but she had said everything.
The Frost Territory's territory channel fell into a dead silence.
In terms of their situation, they were worse off than Nevernight Territory. Nevernight only had Bian Moshu killed, but for Frost Territory, if they didn't choose, tens of thousands of people in the territory would have to die!
The people from Gobi Territory lying on the ground fell silent.
The souls of Qi Shuanghan and the others trembled.
In the end, it was Jiang Ming, a man born from gaming who had won countless times and lost many more, who looked at the territory's HP bar, which had already crossed the 30% mark and was rapidly decreasing. He uttered a single phrase, "Submit the application."
Defeated, dejected.
But he also added faintly, "It's only for one day."
The enterprise he had built with his own hands, destroyed in a single day.
This was war. It was bloodlust, it was profit, it was supreme glory!
But it was also death, failure, and irreparable loss.
However, he would not give up, nor would he forget today's humiliation!
Wang Jiu!
Jiang Ming's gaze suddenly sharpened!
As Gobi Territory's population exploded, Wang Jiu had already returned to the city. She saw Qiao Xuejing guarding the city alone. She walked to the territory gate and dropped a line in the quiet team channel.
"Isn't the ground cold?"
With that one sentence, everyone returned to the city in a flash, just in time to run into Jiang Ming and his group, who had fled the rat tide and returned to Gobi Territory from Frost Territory.
The two sides that had just been frantically trying to kill each other.
Oh no, it was three sides.
The original three hundred, the thirty thousand implicit slaves from Nevernight Territory, and the twenty-five thousand from Frost Territory who had been forced into a dead end by the rats.
Adding Gobi Territory's original 5,000-plus from 443, the total was almost sixty thousand.
Qi Shuanghan checked the territory data and noticed that after Nevernight was defeated and its thirty thousand people were absorbed into Gobi, the housing occupancy rate hadn't increased much. After all, they were in a captive state, and many had a wait-and-see attitude. Especially after Frost Territory attacked, few dared to move into houses, because the houses would be divided up along with everything else. They would rather become a mobile, homeless population.
After all, territory wars now seized not just territory resources, but mainly population.
They might still live, at most paying another fee to enter a territory, which wasn't a huge expense.
Just like how Wang Jiu had defeated Nevernight but hadn't massacred them in the end.
Many territory residents understood this clearly, so they chose to wait and see. But now, after Wang Jiu brutally took down Frost Territory…
Although her methods were a bit… you know, not very positive energy, she had won.
The winner needs no further words; it was enough to represent strength.
So many people quickly snapped up homesteads in the medium-sized territory!
Half of the ten thousand homestead plots were sold in an instant. This way, even without a homestead, they could live in brick houses and place their furniture and materials, converting them into their own spirit energy. This felt more like a proper place to live. And if they got a homestead later, adding it in wouldn't be a problem; it would still increase spirit energy. Why not!
After discovering this fact, Qi Shuanghan felt a bit sour. It wasn't because he felt sorry for Bian Moshu—he had no deep friendship with the man—but because he was mourning his own little scheme. He had originally planned to rally Nevernight's old members and start something new after the one-day time limit was up.
But now it seemed that was no longer possible.
The masses weren't fools. Who would choose him over Wang Jiu, unless they were blind.
The large influx of people directly filled up Wang Jiu's medium and small territories. The remaining people had no choice but to spill over into the territories of Wang Shu and others.
The territory's account balance skyrocketed, but Wang Jiu confirmed the territory war settlement.
Fifty percent of all Frost Territory's resources were divided up according to contribution. All 3,300-plus participants received rewards: equipment, resources, reputation, and base materials.
This time, without Wang Shu's surprise move of snatching contribution through a combination of luck and skill, the others mostly earned their contribution through damage output.
Below Wang Jiu were Xie Lu and Mei Qingshu, with contributions of 5% and 3% respectively. From the battle with Frost Territory alone, they received 90 and 54 reputation points from the dismantled territory. Frost Territory had a total of 1 main territory and 17 subsidiary territories. With each territory having a base reputation value of 100, distributed according to contribution, it wasn't actually that much. But, this had to account for the territory's bonus value—after the population moved in, the system would provide a reputation boost based on popularity and construction level. Frost Territory, like Nevernight Territory, was a very popular territory with money and people, so its reputation content was evaluated by the system to be doubled. This was also why small territories could merge and upgrade into medium territories later on through construction, because one could invest manpower and resources later. It was the same principle as urbanization.
And that was with the 18 territories not being fully occupied. If the population was full, the total reputation would be far more than 3600; it probably wouldn't stop at 8000!
After the system explained this, Wang Shu and the others silently opened their own Gobi Territory's main territory reputation value: 900.
In other words, her medium territory's reputation value alone had soared by three times.
Her small territory had also tripled. Others like Wang Shu had also benefited, receiving a not-insignificant boost.
Besides the reputation boost, there were other resources… too many to count. Wang Shu and the others couldn't keep track, especially when combined with Nevernight's resources, it was a bit chaotic.
But Xie Lu took a quick, direct look. The two territory wars against Nevernight and Frost Territory had earned him 50 and 90 reputation points respectively, meaning he had gained a total of 140 reputation points.
With dungeons being hard to come by now, and it being difficult to find low-level dungeons besides Nightmare Dungeons, reputation was the hardest resource to obtain. This wave had made them incredibly rich.
If he had gotten this much, then what about Wang Jiu?
Wang Jiu didn't look. While everyone was happily examining their gains, she asked, "Rested enough?"
Everyone was stunned. What did she mean?
Wang Jiu clicked the territory upgrade button. The combined reputation of her medium and small territories had exceeded 1000, allowing for an upgrade.
Level two territory.
Large, medium, and small territories represented innate area and potential, but the territory level signified its developmental achievements.
As it upgraded to level two, the entire territory entered a dazzling state of light. And to everyone's amazement, its luminosity rose, forming city walls!
Three-meter-high walls of light! Even without laying bricks, they could now get on the walls and attack outwards!
As an ambitious lord, the lord of Frost Territory of course knew his territory could be upgraded. He had envisioned that after annexing Gobi and Nevernight, he would have enough to upgrade.
He never imagined that an upgrade would happen, but he wouldn't be the one doing it!
It was like your girlfriend getting married, but the groom wasn't you.
Amidst everyone's amazement or sorrow, Wang Jiu said, "Get ready. This is the last wave for today."
Before anyone could react, she was already out the territory gate.
Qiao Xuejing, Xie Lu, and Jiang Ming were the first to see what Wang Jiu was holding in her hand.
The Mutated Dark Crystal.
Holy shit!
She couldn't be thinking of???
Jiang Ming frowned, thinking this Wang Jiu was too crazy. So reckless without giving any warning?
Was no one protesting?
There really wasn't.
Because they were used to it—Lao Wang was a psycho who never consulted anyone, and didn't even like to bullshit with people.
The people who tried to bullshit with her all ended up dead. At most, they could have a stream-of-consciousness groundhog scream in the team channel.
"Oh my god! She's going to fight the rat tide?"
"Holy shit! Again?!"
"There are 150,000 of them! How can we fight that?"
"Quick, quick, digest the resources! Shit! Get others to prepare food on the spot! Long-distance trade to replenish stamina!"
"All combat-capable personnel with ranged attacks, get on the city walls!!"
The very people who were just crying about how to fight were now quickly grabbing their weapons, preparing their consumables, and running like mad toward the city walls to secure the best shooting positions.
System: Heh, humans!
As if they could already hear the great army of the rat tide frantically rushing their way, everyone scrambled onto the city walls in a chaotic hurry. Qi Shuanghan and Jiang Ming keenly noticed a phenomenon—their former subordinates were no longer waiting for their commands. They were already consciously or instinctively making the most beneficial choices for themselves in this sudden situation.
Jiang Ming's mood sank a little, but he still called for Leng Rong and the rest of his first elite group to get on the walls together. If the rat disaster was inevitable, they had to defend it. And while defending, they also had to secure the greatest benefits to compensate for their losses today.
Thinking of his partitioned territory, Jiang Ming resolved this.
On the other side, Wang Jiu, already outside the territory, held the Mutated Dark Crystal in one hand and looked at her spirit power, which had recovered to 2100 points. She activated the Spirit Recovery Array, glanced at the territory's three-meter-high light walls, calculated the average strength of those country bumpkins, and chose a position.
Jiang Ming and the others had judged that the barrier had a time limit. In fact, it didn't. The barrier was limitless, but it was a terrifying "spirit power version of a money-eater," consuming one point of spirit power every second, 60 per minute, and 3600 per hour.
If her spirit power were full, it would have been fine, but her spirit power was severely depleted. Without the Spirit Recovery Array, she probably wouldn't have even lasted through the battle with Frost Territory.
Considering the rate of spirit power consumption and her own endurance, she didn't need to use those spirit power skills to deal with these little rats. She didn't have any group attacks herself, so other spirit power consumption was basically zero. She just needed to support the barrier. In the end, she should be able to hold on for two hours. Wang Jiu calculated the time and sent a message to the group.
"When they arrive, they will concentrate on my position. I'll hold a spot. Don't come out. Shoot from the walls. A 30-meter range is optimal. Those with insufficient range, go buy relevant bows and crossbows."
"Everyone with average attributes between 200 and 500, use normal attacks. Just use spirit power for buffs, unless you have a group attack."
"Those with average attributes between 500 and 800, aim for the Ratling Sub-Bosses—the big ones. Use spirit power skills."
"Those with average attributes above 800, report in. All of you join Xie Lu's team. Wait for me to report the locations of 21 rat tide BOSSes and their approximate attributes and skills. You'll be responsible for assassinating them. How you do it specifically will depend on your numbers and composition. We'll discuss in a private channel."
"I can only maintain the barrier for an hour and a half. If we can't take them down in that time, the rat tide will be led away, but we won't get the benefits of a player race war."
"Wang Shu, you contact the territory members to prepare logistical food supplies. Qiao Xuejing, you issue new territory construction quests to patch the city walls and increase territory defense, to prevent the rat tide from getting desperate and attacking the territory later."
"I'm done. Behave."
That last sentence was the masterstroke, something that could only be understood, not explained.
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