Chapter 109: Collective Effort! Light Up the Blessing!
The next day.
Early in the morning.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge logged into the game and returned to the dilapidated farmhouse.
Lone Boat, Ye Li Meng, Mad Blade Old Wang, Chief of the Artist Party, Chenxi, Little Bell, Chimera Wraith, and the others also came online, and a military officer-dressed NPC appeared before the players.
This was Zhou Ji’s good brother in Sanxiang City.
【Feng Yi】, a Level 10 Elite Unit… Description: Defender of Sanxiang City, possessing considerable strength.
“What?”
“Old Zhou got caught!”
After some inquiry, the players learned that Zhou Ji had encountered misfortune. Though his life was not currently in danger, the situation was extremely grim—he was now imprisoned in the dungeon.
Salted Fish Thrust: “Old Zhou was way too impulsive. Even if he wanted to act, he should’ve waited until we were all here!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge said, “It’s meaningless to say all that now. Let’s get into the city and figure things out.”
Using his position, Feng Yi disguised the players as refugees and smuggled them into the city.
The twelve players walked through the town, unable to stop themselves from looking around.
Though it was only a small city, it had over two hundred years of history, and its facilities and buildings were complete and full of character.
Every detail could withstand scrutiny.
Every corner bore traces of life.
Even though it now appeared dilapidated and desolate, there was no doubt this was a truly original, naturally formed ancient town.
No matter how big the investment, how refined the production, or how realistic the sets, no film base or ancient town attraction in the 21st century could recreate this level of authenticity and historical depth.
This trip, even if treated as a vacation, was an amazing experience.
Chenxi and Chimera Wraith took pictures nonstop.
Both were extremely excited, feeling like they had gained a ton of new material.
Sanxiang Ancient City had many vacant houses.
Feng Yi specifically arranged for the twelve to stay in an old residence not far from the City Lord’s Mansion, located in a relatively secluded area, convenient for the players to take action next.
Ye Li Meng asked, “You know our identities and purpose?”
Feng Yi nodded and said, “Brother Zhou has told me everything!”
Ye Li Meng replied, “For Old Zhou to tell you such important information means he trusts you completely, but I still want to ask: are you truly willing to help us?”
Feng Yi’s gaze was firm: “Right now we’re facing internal and external crises. Not just the commoners, even my brothers and I can barely survive.
Brother Zhou is trapped in peril, his life uncertain.
If your arrival can change everything, then I’m willing to join you and stake my life on it!”
The players held a discussion.
In the end, they chose to trust Feng Yi.
If he didn’t want to get involved, there was no need for him to open the back door for the Calamity Army.
At the same time, out of confidence in Zhou Ji—since Zhou Ji trusted this man so much—the players had no reason not to.
Of course, the core reason was still lack of power.
With just these few people, they couldn’t even talk about resisting the City Lord.
Even a few squads of soldiers could wipe them out.
Feng Yi not only had some authority in Sanxiang City, but could also provide a large amount of needed intel.
The more intel the players had, the more precise their plans, and the higher their chances of success.
“Although you don’t know us that well yet, I can promise you—we will definitely rescue Old Zhou safely!”
Ye Li Meng began painting a rosy picture: “Also, once Lord Hang Yu reigns over this city, you’ll be the greatest hero and will surely receive a generous reward.
You might even soar to the top in the future!”
Feng Yi asked, “What do I need to do?”
“Let us discuss first.”
The twelve players quickly began organizing their thoughts.
They logged out several times to discuss with forum users and collect opinions.
For example, Ye Li Meng had his own studio team offline.
Also, a prospective player on the forum with the ID “Toasting the Moon” had recently proposed some insightful strategies.
First of all—they needed people!
Twelve players were far too few!
So they had to find more manpower!
With Feng Yi’s position, it wouldn’t be hard to select a few trustworthy confidants to directly involve.
Or they could use deception to coax some soldiers into cooperating without knowing the full truth.
Additionally, according to what the players had learned, some lower-ranked officers and soldiers had their children taken by the City Lord Wang Zhi.
These people were likely filled with resentment and might be targets for defection.
All of these were potential assets.
Only, the process of utilization needed to be differentiated.
Aside from gaining more manpower from the inside, they also needed more intelligence regarding Sanxiang City, including the city’s structural layout, soldier distribution, roster of officers and soldiers, patrol routes, and city defenses.
In addition to internal intel, external information was also valuable—such as the distribution of the Dragon-Lizard Tribe nearby, and the frequency of their attacks.
Feng Yi, after all, was a high-ranking officer.
It was not difficult for him to provide such information.
The twelve players uploaded all the gathered intelligence to the forum in real time, essentially crowd-sourcing their strategy and allowing tens of thousands of Cloud Players and professionals from various fields to get involved.
In a short time, forum traffic surged dramatically.
“Holy crap!”
“So detailed!”
“This game is way too meticulous!”
“Yeah, it’s just a game—why bother with so many detailed aspects?”
“I feel like this city really exists!”
“Are game missions these days all so free and hardcore? The level of openness is insane!”
“Quick, let’s think of a way to capture the ancient city core!”
“What’s so hard? Just sneak in at night and it’s done!”
“Idiot, didn’t even read the setting? The Fate Crystal Stone can’t be stolen!”
“That’s right, activating the Fate Crystal Stone not only takes a long time but also alerts everyone within the city limits.”
“If that’s the case, then this is really tricky. Only twelve players—there’s no way it can be done.”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
“……”
At the Daxia Intelligence and Security Headquarters.
That day, all staff from a certain department received a notification, instructing them to attend an emergency meeting in the conference hall.
When everyone saw the ancient city map on the screen, they were stunned.
“This is a special assignment!”
“What you’re seeing now is Sanxiang Ancient City from Twisted Three Kingdoms!”
“I’ve sent detailed intel and personnel info to each team.”
“From now on, forget all modern techniques and formulate operational plans based on current conditions!”
“I’ll repeat once more—this is not a game, and Twisted Three Kingdoms is definitely not just a simple game.
We must deepen our research into this game, and this operation will be the starting point!”
“……”
Many people were still dumbfounded.
It was just a game—did they really need to take it this far?
But since the higher-ups treated it so seriously, there must be a good reason.
This game might not only contain technology capable of launching the next industrial revolution—it might even be hiding other massive, unknown secrets.
In no time—
Netizens joined forces and brainstormed.
Multiple teams held offline meetings to study and strategize.
Some top-level think tanks even covertly offered their input.
“This mission seems difficult, but in our eyes it’s incredibly simple, because Sanxiang City is riddled with flaws.”
“For example, current intel shows that the City Lord has lost the support of the people.
We have a plan to incite internal chaos and stir rebellion—within seven days, we can use the masses to overthrow the City Lord.
You players just sit back and watch; you won’t even need to lift a finger!”
“Seven days is too long!”
“Our plan is to assassinate the City Lord directly!”
“I’ve got a scheme that’s absolutely foolproof!”
“……”
In total, dozens of different strategy routes were developed.
Not all were feasible, but they offered the players significant references.
The next day, the twelve players returned to the game and decided to begin the operation.
Chimera Wraith said, “Our plan might still have a lot of room for optimization—acting today might be a bit hasty.”
Street Slayer replied, “What’s there to fear? Just try it first. If it doesn’t work, we’ll think of another way.”
Mad Blade Old Wang added, “If we had unlimited time, sure, we could slowly polish the plan and set things up—but the time limit on the quest is just one day.
Acting early gives us time for a second attempt.”
…………
No game had ever gotten this many Cloud Players involved.
Hang Yu finally understood what “strength in numbers” meant.
Netizens proposed all kinds of bizarre and brilliant plans—some were wild and imaginative, while others were remarkably precise and credible.
Even if they weren’t in the game—
They could still participate in this way.
This made many Cloud Players thrilled, to the point where they stayed up all night discussing strategies in group chats.
Hang Yu was thoroughly impressed by the wisdom of the people.
From this perspective, capturing the city wasn’t hard at all.
The real challenge was how to complete the mission within the time limit.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge and the others ultimately chose a relatively simple and efficient plan with the lowest execution difficulty.
This operation could be summarized in just three steps.
Step one: Create chaos.
Step two: Rescue Zhou Ji.
Step three: Capture the Fate Stone.
The players split up and began setting fires in the city.
Hang Yu couldn’t help but complain, “Arson again? These guys really love starting fires!”
Thanks to the combined effort of over a dozen players, it wasn’t long before more than ten fires broke out across the city.
Lone Boat and Black-Eyed Rui Ge even activated Shadow Step and climbed the city towers, using condensed toad oil to ignite several corner towers and arrow posts.
In an instant—
Flames roared.
Thick smoke engulfed the entire city.
It was visible from dozens of miles away.
Hang Yu noticed that all the fire points had been meticulously planned.
Because most of the buildings being burned were vacant houses and defensive structures, the fires wouldn’t get out of control and cause civilian casualties.
Yet the scale was large enough to draw attention and create chaos, forcing many soldiers to scramble and also successfully drawing external interest.
“Not good!”
“Foreign tribe attacking!”
“All troops assemble! Prepare for battle!”
The garrison spotted the incoming Dragon-Lizard forces and hurriedly sounded the alarm.
Wang Zhi activated four Blood Towers of Resentful Spirits, and a pale red barrier—like an inverted bowl—instantly enveloped the city.
This barrier not only blocked the attacks of the Dragon-Lizard people but also released resentful spirits to launch indiscriminate assaults outside the barrier.
Nearly a thousand soldiers of Sanxiang City used the solid city walls as a defense line, continuously firing arrows to intercept the foreign tribes trying to take advantage of the chaos.
Though the Dragon-Lizard warriors had powerful individual combat abilities, breaching the city was still extremely difficult.
“Hahaha!”
“No need for Plan B!”
“These giant lizards really did us a favor!”
“This is the first time I find them cute!”
The players were overjoyed—because the goal of this arson mission had been successfully achieved!
The Dragon-Lizard attack wasn’t a coincidence but had been expected in the plan.
Based on their frequent harassment of the city in recent days, it was predicted that once they saw the city ablaze and in turmoil, they wouldn’t miss the opportunity to exploit the opening.
Some experts on the forum had conducted a dedicated analysis.
The probability of the Dragon-Lizards launching an attack was over 85%.
That was the reason the players planned this arson operation in the first place.
Now, with hundreds of Dragon-Lizard soldiers looking for entry points, the defending garrison had to stay alert.
Nearly a thousand troops were tied down and couldn’t be pulled away.
The players took advantage of the weakened defense and stormed the dungeon to rescue Zhou Ji.
Zhou Ji’s injuries healed quickly under treatment.
Though his attributes had dropped slightly due to weakness, he still remained a crucial combat force.
Under his leadership, the group charged toward the City Lord’s Mansion.
After taking out a few guards trying to block them, they finally arrived at the altar where the Fate Crystal Stone was located.
“Great!”
“That went smoothly!”
“A perfect execution!”
“Don’t celebrate too early!”
“Yeah! The real challenge is just beginning!”
“Bell Girl, you activate the Fate Stone! Everyone else, prepare for defense!”
“Okay!”
Little Bell excitedly stepped onto the altar.
She tried to calm her pounding heart, then placed her hand on the Fate Crystal Stone, officially beginning the activation with her identity as a Star-Favored Descendant.
【Ding, you are activating the Fate Crystal Stone. Current progress: 1%...】
It had begun! Finally, it had started!
Success or failure depended on this moment!
Little Bell’s heart leapt into her throat.
This mission was attracting enormous attention.
If they succeeded in occupying Sanxiang City, they’d not only make a massive contribution but also gain tremendous prestige among the players.
But if they failed—
They’d surely face waves of mockery!
Lord Hang Yu would certainly be disappointed!
This was a gamble for the honor of the Calamity Army!
The entire Sanxiang City quaked.
As the Fate Crystal Stone was affected by the Star Aura, every citizen of Sanxiang City felt the corresponding sensation.
Most of them, however, didn’t know what this feeling actually meant.
Wang Zhi, who was controlling the blood tower spirits to attack the lizard soldiers—
Suddenly turned pale the moment he sensed the Fate Crystal Stone being activated!
“Not good!”
“What scoundrel dares to touch the Fate Stone!”
The Fate Crystal Stone not only protected the city from invasion by abyssal creatures, but also absorbed more spiritual essence from the abyssal environment.
This helped cultivation and enhanced overall strength.
Wang Zhi needed the Fate Crystal Stone as the core for various formations and to perform sacrificial rites to the Crimson Mother.
If it were stolen by outsiders, the consequences would be unthinkable!
This wasn’t just theft of the Fate Stone—
It was the equivalent of severing his lifeline!
Ten times worse than catching his beloved wife in bed with Old Wang next door!
Wang Zhi fell into a rage like never before.
He immediately led his personal guards to rush back, vowing to tear the thieves to pieces.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge: “How far along is the activation?”
Little Bell, drenched in sweat: “So slow! Only 5%!”
“What?”
“That slow?”
“Only 5%?”
“At this rate, it’ll take at least half an hour to finish the activation.”
The soldiers of the Calamity Army all turned grim.
They had just realized a grave mistake—
Different grades of Fate Crystal Stones required different amounts of time to activate.
For places like He Ting or Shangyang Hamlet—
The activation only took up to five minutes.
But the Fate Crystal Stone of Sanxiang City was much stronger.
That meant it naturally required more time to light up.
From the current progress, it would take at least thirty minutes—far longer than they had expected—and this would definitely cause major complications.
“No choice now!”
“Prepare for a desperate defense!”
“At all costs—we must hold this position!”
“We absolutely cannot fail—or we’ll lose face big time!”
“No matter what, we must activate the Blessing Point!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge shouted loudly: “According to the mission description, as long as we light up the Blessing Point, Lord Hang Yu can descend here directly!
Once the Lord acts personally, no matter how powerful the enemy is—they’re doomed!”
“That’s right!”
“Let’s go all out together!”
“Long live the Calamity! Calamity will win!”
All the players and the NPC Zhou Ji braced themselves for a battle to the death!