Chapter 88: Player's Mass Advantage! Dragon Lizard Chi Lin
"Discovered natives?"
Hang Yu had been closely monitoring the players.
His lord perspective could move following any of his territory’s citizens.
This feeling was somewhat similar to a real-time strategy game, but the biggest difference was that, when playing an RTS, one generally needed to command troops manually using a mouse.
Although Hang Yu could also use the Heavenly Dao Cube’s ability to invade a player’s body with his will or forcibly kick them offline, unless it was a special situation, it was unnecessary; letting them move on their own was more efficient.
He only needed to guide them with tasks or prompts.
At this moment.
A player scouting squad.
In a corner of the Woniu Mountain map.
Seemed to have discovered a village or town with native activity?
Naturally, Hang Yu developed great interest; if this place was anything like Hexi Village, then it would have extremely high capture value, not only bringing more subordinate population to the territory but even allowing the construction of a Fourth Calamity army’s forward base on the new map.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge used Shadow Step.
He successfully approached and completed the reconnaissance.
After seeing the situation clearly, Hang Yu frowned slightly.
It was indeed a human native settlement, but the style was quite different from the late Han Three Kingdoms era; at least seven to eight hundred people lived there, almost all young and strong adults, with very few elderly and women, and almost no children.
Several hundred young laborers were thin and sallow, like busy worker ants desperately working in the mines, their living conditions and work environment extremely harsh.
As for the elderly and women, they helped with miscellaneous chores and farming.
Rather than calling it a village.
It was better to say it was a servitude camp.
Hang Yu noticed several fully armed dragon lizard soldiers acting as overseers.
In the center stood a ten-meter-tall tower emitting a red glow.
【Tower of Enslavement】, Tier-One building... Introduction: This is a common Stars building that can help a Stars Lord forcibly control and drive the natives!
"As expected!"
"These natives are working for the Dragon Lizard Lord!"
The ores they mined, the spirit plants and herbs they cultivated, would all eventually be converted into materials used for the territory’s development and construction.
Of course.
They were not doing it willingly.
These people probably had resisted at some point.
But a Tier-Two Dragon Lizard Lord.
Was simply not something these natives could contend with.
The Lord’s control over this area was even higher than expected.
Hang Yu muttered to himself, "If even such a small village on the map’s edge has fallen into his hands, then it’s highly likely that the native forces of this map have already been completely conquered."
Up to now.
The situation of the new map’s corruption zones remained unclear.
However, judging by the current circumstances, the Dragon Lizard Lord posed the greater threat.
After all, Abyssal Corruption usually only acted on the Day of Ultimate Darkness, but this Dragon Lizard Lord could threaten them at any time; at this point, instead of investigating the pollution zone, it was better to find a way to deal with the Lord first.
After a brief thought.
He edited a task.
A prompt sounded in the minds of the few members of Rui Ge’s squad.
【Ding!】
【You have triggered a random mission!】
【Mission Name: Liberate the Slave Camp!】
【Mission Content: The demon lord from the Stars is using despicable means to ruthlessly enslave your human compatriots on this land; as a human, you cannot stand by idly and have a duty to act.】
【Mission Objectives: 1. Destroy the Tower of Enslavement. 2. Persuade and help these natives to defect to the Lord!】
【Mission Rewards: Based on mission completion, the team will earn 3000-10000 Essence Points, 5000-15000 Contribution Points, and a certain chance of treasure chest rewards.】
"What’s happening?"
"Why did a mission suddenly trigger?"
When Salted Fish Thrust, Chimera Wraith, Midnight Pig Slayer, and Street Slayer received the prompt, each of them showed a surprised expression.
Midnight Pig Slayer said, "This mission reward isn't low!"
Salted Fish Thrust nodded, "The higher the reward, the harder the mission!"
Street Slayer hurriedly said, "Let's go ask what's going on."
Black-Eyed Rui Ge canceled Shadow Step and returned to normal visibility, but his face did not look good, as if stimulated, not only appearing very displeased, but his eyes were also filled with anger.
Chimera Wraith asked, "What’s wrong? What happened!"
Black-Eyed Rui Ge replied, "This is not a village, it’s a human slave camp!"
He did not waste words.
He immediately explained what he had seen.
Humans were being treated like livestock in this camp.
Not only was their living condition terrible, but they were also stripped of all dignity.
The other four’s expressions also became unpleasant; after all, in Twisted Three Kingdoms, every NPC was unique, each had their own thoughts and personality, no different from real people to players.
Upon learning of their tragic situation.
Especially after seeing the photos Rui Ge had taken.
Any player with a proper moral compass would feel anger.
"The Lord was right!" Chimera Wraith said indignantly, "These Stars demons are no good; even though they don’t cause pollution like the Abyssal Corruption, they only bring suffering and exploitation to this land!"
As a plotline enthusiast.
Every NPC was a treasure trove.
Chimera Wraith did not want any NPC to come to harm.
Salted Fish Thrust agreed, "From Lord Yu’s attitude toward the Hexi Village natives, we can see the difference! Although we are from the Stars faction too, our Lord truly came to save this land!"
"Obviously!"
Midnight Pig Slayer rolled his eyes.
"Otherwise, how could Lord Yu have become the Supreme Commander of the Fourth Calamity Army?"
"But this mission won't be easy!"
Chimera Wraith said, "The dragon lizard soldiers are high-level, and it seems they have been entrenched here for a while; we, as outsiders, are at a big disadvantage."
Street Slayer pondered; this normally reckless man who would pull out his two broadswords at the slightest provocation now appeared exceptionally calm, making the others very puzzled.
Salted Fish Thrust asked, "Brother Slayer, what are you thinking?"
Street Slayer said, "This mission made me realize that we have a huge advantage."
"What is it?"
"A natural foundation of public support!"
The others did not immediately understand.
But Chimera Wraith’s eyes lit up, and she nodded in agreement, "Indeed, based on my research into the hidden worldview, there are countless Stars races, but humanity has always been weak."
"Yet in this Abyssal Three Kingdoms, we have a natural advantage because the Three Kingdoms world is originally a human plane, and all natives here are human."
"When conflict arises between our territory and the territories of other demon lords, even if we are at a disadvantage, we can adopt the mass line, unite the natives, and win public support to fight against external enemies!"
Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Salted Fish Thrust, and Midnight Pig Slayer suddenly understood.
"Well said!" Salted Fish Thrust laughed heartily, "Although right now the lizard lord’s troops are overall stronger than the Fourth Calamity Army, we can rally the local natives for assistance."
Midnight Pig Slayer said, "We came to Abyssal Three Kingdoms not only to purify the abyssal corruption but also to liberate the enslaved people; doesn’t that instantly elevate our mission?"
Chimera Wraith said, "This matter is meaningful; I’ll go post on the forum to raise other players’ awareness."
"Then let’s start by liberating this camp!"
All five of them felt a strong sense of mission.
They wanted to take down the camp ahead.
Not only because of the generous mission rewards, but more importantly, to rescue hundreds of people.
The reason Hang Yu issued this mission was purely to weaken the Dragon Lizard Lord’s territory, and ideally snatch a portion of the population to solve the labor shortage in his domain.
He never expected it.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Chimera Wraith, and the others.
Would find a new mission and meaning in the game because of this.
However, Hang Yu very much agreed with their perspective, because while the Twisted Three Kingdoms world was just a game in the players’ eyes, in reality, every one of those enslaved civilians was a living person.
Just as Chimera Wraith had said, his human identity gave him a natural advantage in this human plane; he could blend in with historical figures and also with the natives.
Whereas other Stars Lords.
Were of completely different species.
They were purely alien invaders from beyond the skies!
How could the natives of the Three Kingdoms world possibly accept or sincerely pledge allegiance to these beings?
So the fastest, most hassle-free, and most efficient method for other Stars Lords was to resort to forced enslavement!
This approach would not only stir the resentment of the local natives, but also enrage game players, further strengthening their motivation and conviction to resist the other Stars Lords.
The operation began.
But Hang Yu shook his head.
That Rui Ge’s squad of five dared to challenge the slave camp was courageous indeed.
【Player “Street Slayer” has died. Abyssal Essence +1600!】
【Player “Black-Eyed Rui Ge” has died. Abyssal Essence +2000!】
【Player “Chimera Wraith” has died. Abyssal Essence +2000!】
【……】
Although the slave camp had no blessing teleportation point, precisely because of that, the Dragon Lizard Lord would surely have prepared contingency measures; just as the five were about to act, they triggered a trap and were mercilessly slain by stationed dragon lizard soldiers.
Another 8800 Essence Points were earned.
His Essence stock officially broke through 160,000.
Although so far, several player squads had taken action with little concrete gain, Hang Yu was still satisfied with the results.
Never mind whether there were any spoils.
The Essence Points alone were already a jackpot.
To get 8000 or even 10,000 Essence Points in one go — for an ordinary lord, it would take quite some time to accumulate that, while Hang Yu just lay back and got it effortlessly.
As for actual results.
No losses had yet been inflicted on the enemy.
But at least they had identified the enemy lord’s race.
Chimera Wraith was preparing to write up the details of the slave camp in her post, hoping to rally more players into taking action; as for the effect, it would depend on future developments.
……
The Dragon Lizard base camp lay deep in a shadowy swamp, shrouded in mist year-round, and had developed into a fairly large outpost, with hundreds of soldiers stationed daily and a full array of defensive structures.
Even if an Day of Ultimate Darkness broke out.
With the swamp terrain’s natural obstruction, plus all the defensive measures, they could currently survive the Ultimate Darkness relatively easily.
In the very center of the Dragon Lizard territory stood a sizable lord’s castle, and at this moment, a nearly four-meter-tall dragon lizard covered in dark red scales sat on a high lord’s throne, looking down imperiously at eight or nine subordinates before him.
The Dragon Lizard Lord was named: Chi Lin.
This was Chi Lin’s fourth year in the Abyss World.
He had always acted with caution, not even daring to explore the third map, and just as he was steadily managing this land, a new lord suddenly invaded Woniu Mountain, bringing the threat of a lord war.
Chi Lin was terrified at first.
After all, any lord who could survive in this depth was no ordinary figure.
But when Chi Lin saw the opposing territory only had two tiles, he relaxed significantly; no matter what the opponent's race was, their current strength was far below his, and as long as it wasn’t a top-tier race, they could be handled.
Very soon!
The enemy’s race was confirmed.
Chi Lin nearly laughed himself to death when he saw it.
A normal human? A regular human?! He never imagined he’d encounter a human lord in the Eternal Night Layer of the Abyss World — it was like winning the lottery!
“Hahaha!”
“Hahahahaha!”
“I’m way too lucky!”
“It’s actually a human who’s just opened the second map.”
Chi Lin had thought his arrival in this plane was already miserable and difficult, but compared to a human lord starting here, his own struggle seemed trivial — he could at least take two to three maps, while the human was clearly just cannon fodder.
How could a human possibly survive here?
Not long after, another group of humans attacked a camp and were wiped out by the local defenses.
Chi Lin found that he hadn’t even seen the face of the opposing lord, yet had already annihilated ten of the enemy’s elite units; just producing one such advanced soldier must take at least half a year to a full year of effort!
Who would’ve thought.
This human lord was not only weak.
But seemingly not very smart either.
Otherwise, why would such elite units be used for scouting?
Normally, one would use cannon fodder or vassals for pathfinding.
Chi Lin had absolute confidence in himself; once the blessings of the Stars vanished, it would be the death knell for the human lord — the gap in strength between them was simply too vast, this battle held no suspense.
Of course.
Chi Lin was also puzzled.
After his troops killed members of the Fourth Calamity Army, they didn’t seem to gain any Essence Point rewards; based on experience, loot dropped by Stars-aligned beings — especially Essence Magic Crystals — should be several times or even ten times greater than monsters of the same level and tier.
Perhaps that lord was using some kind of special method.
It didn’t matter!
Chi Lin didn’t expect a mere group of humans to yield much in return; humans were best used as cheap labor, and even as lords, they likely offered no real benefit — but just then, a prompt suddenly rang out:
【Your “Abyss Priest” has died!】
【Your “Abyss Mage” has died!】
【……】