Chapter 84: Challenging the Starsea Demons!
After Black-Eyed Rui Ge logged into the game, he first strolled around the barracks, only to feel that not only had the dormitory environment and facilities been upgraded, but the stamina and energy recovery functions also seemed to have been enhanced.
"Rui Ge, what a coincidence!"
A big fat man and a scar-faced man walked over.
It was the old companions, Midnight Pig Slayer and Street Slayer.
Both of them were level 7 players, their initial skills trained to the maximum level, among which Street Slayer’s Qi Gathering Slash had already been practiced to level 9, and Midnight Pig Slayer had also cultivated the Taiping Rejuvenation Spell he learned from a skill card to level 8!
The two were fully equipped with fine gear and, as some of the earliest players, were very experienced in all aspects, undoubtedly among the most representative main forces of the current Fourth Calamity Army.
"Old Pig, Brother Slash, you guys just got online too?"
Street Slayer nodded and said, "Hahaha, the game has changed so much, our new dorms are so much more comfortable to live in!"
"This game is really conscientious!"
Midnight Pig Slayer praised, "This kind of optimization update was completed quietly; if it were some black-hearted game companies, they would definitely have found ways to make money from it, like letting rich players live in big houses, while poor players could only live in tents."
"There’s definitely such a possibility."
The other two agreed deeply.
"By the way, I heard that the game has newly launched a friend system. Let’s quickly add each other as friends. That way, even if we're not offline, we can still contact each other via the chat window from afar."
The three fiddled around for a while.
But they found they couldn't add each other as friends.
Because adding friends required consuming an item called 'Oath of Brotherhood.'
This item could be purchased at the Lord’s Hall, each costing two hundred Contribution Points... everything in this game was great except Contribution Points were always not enough!
Forming a party required a party item, adding friends required a friend item, and the newly added map functions also required a special map item to be purchased. Though the single costs weren’t high, accumulated together they were no small number.
Of course.
Looking at it another way.
From the perspective of game experience.
These items could effectively enhance the sense of ceremony.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge then went on to understand the latest game currency function.
Players could now exchange Contribution Points for physical currency for buying and selling.
This meant that Contribution Points truly functioned as currency, currently available in gold, silver, and copper denominations, with the highest denomination being ten thousand!
Whether converting Contribution Points into currency or currency back into Contribution Points, at least a 5% fee had to be paid; although the handling fee wasn’t low, it was still within an acceptable range.
From now on, buying, selling, and distributing loot would be much easier.
Besides the functional optimizations and upgrades, the biggest change in the Twisted Three Kingdoms game was the sudden influx of a large number of new players, which made the Luoshui Base Camp much livelier than before.
As the most famous player in the Twisted Three Kingdoms.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge was recognized the moment he stepped outside.
"Rui Ge!"
"Are you Rui Ge?"
"I’m your die-hard fan!"
"I booked the game after reading Rui Ge’s posts!"
"Big brother, can you carry us to level up? We can't even beat the nearby mobs!"
"Hahaha, Rui Ge, how did you pinch your character's face? We made ourselves look like goblins!"
"......"
Black-Eyed Rui Ge had a good temperament and didn’t get impatient. Before long, he blended quickly with the new players. Although carrying them to level up was impossible, giving some guidance on monster farming and leveling was no big deal.
But at that moment.
Rumble rumble, the ground suddenly shook, without any warning, lasting more than ten seconds!
"What’s going on?"
"Is it an earthquake?"
"I don’t think so, even the sky is trembling!"
"Whoa! Look! There’s a change in the fog barrier to the north!"
"......"
The Luoshui Base Camp was situated at a high elevation with a wide view, allowing one to overlook most of the area, including the surrounding borders. These borders were actually walls of fog encircling the region.
Under normal circumstances, this fog wall appeared red, like a massive blood-red curtain, enclosing and sealing off the area from all sides, impossible to penetrate by any means.
It was somewhat similar to an 'air wall' in computer games.
At this moment, players could clearly see a stream of energy being injected into the northern fog wall, causing the red mist to churn and change, eventually evolving into a white fog wall distinctly different from other areas.
The white fog wall appeared to stretch for dozens of miles.
It was as if a huge gate had opened in the middle of the red walls.
The players were all puzzled.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge’s eyes lit up.
He said excitedly, "According to the information leaked by the official website, today is the day for the new map update. The time matches too. I guess this is the sign of the expansion pack loading and the new area officially opening!"
Hearing this.
Several veteran players became excited.
Although there were still several areas in the Luoshui Base Camp left unexplored, even the big boss Ma Yuanyi had already been taken down.
The remaining places held little attraction for the elites of the Fourth Calamity Army and might as well be left to newcomers to develop!
If there was a new map.
Then of course, they must go and adventure there!
Of course, such a big matter still needed to be reported to the Lord!
The players quickly rushed to the Lord’s Hall.
Even players like Ye Li Meng, Lone Boat, Mad Blade Old Wang, and Salted Fish Thrust, who were out on expeditions, made a special trip back to learn about the situation.
Before long, the mighty and imposing Lord appeared before everyone.
"I believe everyone has already noticed the latest change in our territory!"
Hang Yu swept his gaze across the players present and said, "The Abyss Nightmare Barrier to the north of our territory has disappeared, which means we can pass through this passage into another dream."
It was indeed a new map!
Everyone’s faces showed joy.
Hang Yu continued, "In this new area, there is at least one Core Nightmare Pollution Source and several Lesser Nightmare Pollution Sources. Our mission is to purify the nightmares and resist the domination of the Will of the Abyss over this land!"
"Yes!"
"This is what we should do!"
"We are willing to serve as the vanguard and explore the unknown domain!"
"Please rest assured, Lord! No matter how strong the Abyss creatures we encounter this time are, our Fourth Calamity Army will do our utmost and never retreat!"
"......"
The players eagerly volunteered.
Even some level 1 newbies who had only joined the game two hours ago.
However, Hang Yu said, "The situation in the new area is far more complicated than imagined. It is not only polluted by the Abyss Nightmares but also shows signs of invasion by the Starsea Demon Lords!"
What?
Starsea Demons?
Most players were utterly confused.
Because this was very unfamiliar to them.
Meanwhile, players like Chenxi and Chimera Wraith, who loved the lore and storyline, immediately perked up.
In fact, from the very beginning when players entered the game, they had heard a few mentions of the Starsea Demons from the Lord, but information was extremely scarce, so most players hadn’t paid much attention.
This world of the Three Kingdoms was threatened not only by the pollution of the Abyss Nightmares but also by the invasion of the Starsea Demons!
Although they were all Lords of the Stars camp.
As the saying went: "Those not of our race must have different intentions!"
Only Lord Hang Yu, who was also human, was the legitimate one.
Those strange and bizarre alien Starsea Lords were all Demon Lords coveting the resources of this world!
As followers of Lord Hang Yu, the Fourth Calamity Army not only had to shoulder the mission of purifying the Abyss but also had to face plundering and competition from other Starsea Lords!
"Damn!"
"So you're saying!"
"We not only have to fight the Abyss but also the Stars?"
"Could it be that the other Starsea Lords are as powerful as Lord Yu?"
"Impossible, if that were the case, how could we even fight against them?"
"Heh, you’re too naive. I accidentally learned from an Alchemist NPC that there are thousands upon thousands of races in the Starsea faction, and many of them are innately strong, whereas human Lords seem to be very weak."
"What? Are you saying the enemy Lords are even stronger than our Brother Yu?"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"Hopefully we don’t encounter any races that are too strong, otherwise, with the current strength of the Fourth Calamity Amry, we might really not be able to handle it!"
"......"
The players discussed fervently.
Many showed worry on their faces.
But deep inside, they were already itching to move.
This game was extremely rich in elements, with countless things worth anticipating and exploring. The more they played, the more addicted they felt!
Hang Yu did not waste any time.
He had Xiao Ba issue several new tasks to the players.
————
【Task 1: Investigate the Demon Lord!】
【Task Content: Woniu Mountain has been invaded by Starsea Demons, it is necessary to quickly gather intelligence on the enemy.】
【Task Objective: Please enter the Woniu Mountain area within 24 hours and investigate the race information of the Starsea Demons!】
【Task Reward: 3000 Essence Points, 5000 Contribution Points, to be equally divided among participating team members!】
【……】
【Task 2: Search for Local Towns】
【Task Content: The Woniu Mountain area is much larger than the Luoshui Execution Ground, and there must be many indigenous survivors. Establishing contact with the locals will help in quickly understanding the local Abyssal pollution situation.】
【Task Objective: Please find and enter a native settlement within 48 hours.】
【Task Reward: 3000 Essence Points, 5000 Contribution Points, to be equally divided among participating team members!】
【……】
【Task 3: Establish a Forward Outpost!】
【Task Content: Our territory urgently needs to occupy a stronghold in the Woniu Mountain area.】
【Task Objective: Please activate a Blessed Teleportation Point in the Woniu Mountain area within 72 hours.】
【Task Reward: 4000 Essence Points, 8000 Contribution Points, to be equally divided among participating team members!】
【……】
Hang Yu issued several related tasks in one breath.
Actually, with the players' current excitement, even without tasks driving them, they would rack their brains trying to find ways to cause trouble in Woniu Mountain, including even a large group of newly joined players.
There was no point in level 1 players running all the way there just to die!
Even if you wanted to harvest the leeks, you had to wait for them to mature first!
These level 1 players basically had no value yet. It was better to let them stay nearby, farming monsters and leveling up, while slowly nurturing them and constantly contributing materials to the territory.
For this reason.
Hang Yu set a rule.
The minimum level to enter the Woniu Mountain map was level 5.
In other words, if you wanted to go to Woniu Mountain to die, at least level up to 5 first!
As for why Hang Yu wanted to issue tasks, one reason was to take the opportunity to cultivate players, and the other was to provide guidance, so that players would have clear goals and improve efficiency.
"Wow!"
"So many tasks all at once!"
"The new expansion pack really feels great!"
"Say no more, let's move! I can’t wait!"
"Wuwuwu, we newbies are not worthy of adventuring with the bigshots, say no more, I'm going to level up now!"
"Good luck, bigshots!"
"Kill the Demon Lord!"
"Waiting for your good news!"
"......"
After the meeting.
The players scattered in a rush.
Ye Li Meng, Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Salted Fish Thrust, Chimera Wraith, Artist Faction Leader, and other senior players immediately formed several Woniu Mountain scouting teams and hurried off to begin operations.
As for the four hundred-plus newbies who had just joined the game, or low-level players who hadn’t reached level 5, they also seized the time to go grind monsters and level up all over the place.
Thus.
Facing the new challenge.
The Fourth Calamity Amry had already moved into action!
Hang Yu only needed to wait for good news back at the base camp.
He returned to his resting room and once again opened the Abyss Map.
Over ninety-nine percent of the regions were still locked, with only three tiles lit up distinctively.
The first tile was the Luoshui Base Camp, the current starting region, about half of which had already been explored.
The second tile was the new Woniu Mountain region, the just-activated new area, which had been lit up but still had zero exploration progress.
The third tile had an unknown name and was located one tile to the right of Woniu Mountain. It couldn’t be directly viewed like the Luoshui Execution Ground or Woniu Mountain, nor was it completely dark like the still-locked regions. Instead, it was marked by a striking red color.
No need to guess.
This was the base camp of an enemy Lord.
From the map, it was clear that the enemy Lord’s territory was not large.
Hang Yu was a two-tile Lord, and the opponent also only had two tiles.
Both sides’ second tiles were Woniu Mountain, and because their territories overlapped, they had automatically entered a state of Lord War!
When Lords clashed while expanding territory in the Abyss.
There was almost no possibility of reconciliation.
Only complete conquest and destruction.
In the process of pioneering the Abyss World, Starsea Lords not only had to face all kinds of crazy Abyss creatures, aberrant monsters, and even more forbidden and terrifying Evil Gods, but also had to engage in brutal survival-of-the-fittest struggles among themselves.
Being a Lord was always an extremely high-risk profession.
There were countless defeated Lords like Bai Mu.
He was lucky just to have kept his life; the vast majority of Lords fell in the Abyss, some even meeting fates worse than death.
There was too little intelligence.
Currently, nothing was known about the enemy Lord.
But one thing was certain: the moment Hang Yu expanded his territory into Woniu Mountain, the other side would have received a warning from the Will of the Stars, so by now they must already be on high alert and taking action.
Moreover, that Lord must have arrived in Woniu Mountain much earlier than him, having gained a considerable first-mover advantage, which was why Hang Yu triggered the protection of the Will of the Stars.
For the next seven days.
Hang Yu’s troops and subordinates could enter Woniu Mountain.
But Abyss creatures or Starsea troops from Woniu Mountain could not invade the Luoshui Base Camp.
All other information remained unknown. Hang Yu did not know the enemy Lord’s level, the scale of their territory, or their race, which inevitably made him feel some pressure.
Fortunately.
The Will of the Stars had a matching mechanism.
Unless there were no other Lords left in this world.
Normally, Lords whose strengths were vastly different would not encounter each other.
However, considering this was the Abyss World’s Eternal Night Layer, any Lord surviving here would certainly not be simple.
Compared to most races, humans were naturally weaker and could not afford to be careless!
The immediate priority was to quickly figure out the opponent’s race.
Although unintentionally triggering a Lord War made Hang Yu feel some pressure, he knew this was a challenge every Lord had to face sooner or later. Since it had come, he could only meet it head-on.
With the Fourth Calamity Amry.
There was nothing to worry about.
Now he only hoped the players would quickly bring back good news!
————