Chapter 93: Annihilating the Enemy and Slaying the General! A Bountiful Harvest!
This man called himself Zhou Mou, and with such imposing presence, could he be Zhou Cang?!
Zhou Cang appearing just because they mentioned him? That would be far too much of a coincidence!
Before they could discuss or think further.
A burly man leapt out from the forest, landing before everyone like an iron tower, making the ground tremble slightly with a loud bang.
The players saw a towering man, about 1.9 meters tall, wearing rough leather armor, his head wrapped in a black turban, his face covered in a thick beard, his left sleeve empty without an arm, and his right hand holding a warblade.
Villager Chen Shi exclaimed with joy, "It’s Uncle Zhou Ji!"
The players at this moment also saw the man’s information.
【Zhou Ji】, Level 12 Elite Unit… Introduction: ???
Although this man also bore the surname Zhou.
Although his level was very high.
He was not the fierce general Zhou Cang that everyone imagined.
After all, according to the villagers who had seen Zhou Cang, Zhou Cang had been corrupted after the Abyss descended, and had mutated into an unrecognizable demon more than a decade ago, and had since vanished without a trace.
Chimera Wraith asked, "Was there such a character as Zhou Ji during the Three Kingdoms period?"
Chenxi thought for a moment and then shook her head, "Whether in the official history or the novels, I have never heard of such a person."
"Then he must be an original NPC?"
"Zhou Cang’s surname is Zhou, and he also has the surname Zhou."
"Is it possible there is some connection between the two?"
The players’ discussions were all picked up by Zhou Ji.
He could not help but ask, "Have you righteous warriors also heard of my foster father?"
The players were all shocked upon hearing this.
Zhou Ji was adopted by Zhou Cang as a foster son?
Looking at his weathered, slightly aged face, he seemed to be not yet forty years old; he must have been adopted by Zhou Cang after the Abyss had invaded this space-time.
There was a storyline here!
Chimera Wraith and the others became excited.
Such original plotlines and character stories were worth digging into.
Only, given the current crisis, it was obviously not a good time for chatting.
"So it’s you!" Blackfang recognized Zhou Ji and said, "Back then you failed to assassinate Lord Leader and fled with serious injuries. We thought you had died in some corner, but you actually survived."
Zhou Ji patted his empty left sleeve and laughed loudly, "Though I paid a hefty price, Zhou Mou’s mission was not yet fulfilled, thus I should not die!"
"Since you’ve barely clung to life, you should cherish it instead of coming out here to seek death again."
"Hahaha, whether one lives or dies, that’s hard to say. Let’s see who is stronger in battle!"
Zhou Ji laughed heartily, then suddenly slashed out, the blade light flickering like flames, with a roar of a tiger as it split the air; the momentum alone was ten times that of the players’ Qi-Gathering Slash.
"Courting death!"
A black spear light collided with the red blade light.
Zhou Ji was forced back two or three steps; although his level was one higher than Blackfang’s, perhaps due to inferior equipment or reduced stats after losing an arm.
After this exchange.
Blackfang clearly had the upper hand.
Of course, even though Zhou Ji did not gain an advantage, the strength difference between the two was not overwhelming; it would probably take thirty to fifty rounds to determine a winner.
"I’ll hold him back!"
"You cover the villagers and get them out quickly!"
Zhou Ji obviously realized that in his current state, he would have a hard time defeating Blackfang, and the only thing he could do was to stall this Dragon Lizard general, buying time for others to retreat.
"Trying to leave? It won’t be that easy!"
Blackfang swung his large spear repeatedly, attacking Zhou Ji in front of him, while simultaneously issuing orders to his soldiers.
"Kill!"
"Leave none alive!"
Two to three dozen Dragon Lizard soldiers moved decisively; one Dragon Lizard mage quickly conjured a Fire Explosion and threw it directly into the crowd, stunning all the players present.
"This is bad!"
The Fire Explosion had a massive damage range; if it exploded in the middle of the crowd, it would undoubtedly cause wide-scale casualties, killing at least twenty to thirty villagers.
At this critical moment, a nearby player sprang into action.
"Avenge me!" the ranger Ning Caichen II shouted, activating Wind Step and leaping forward, using his body to block the path of the fireball.
Boom!
A deafening explosion!
Ning Caichen II was naturally blown to pieces without leaving a corpse!
The villagers were all shocked and moved to tears.
They simply could not believe that these righteous warriors would sacrifice themselves for a group of ordinary villagers who had no relations with them!
Not just Ning Caichen II.
Several more players rushed to the frontlines.
They used their bodies to block spells and arrows.
Even Zhou Ji was deeply moved by the scene and sighed, "True heroes!"
Blackfang, however, was full of confusion.
Were these soldiers insane?
Or was the human lord out of his mind?
These soldiers, though not high-leveled, were around level 7, and cultivating human units to this level was not easy; yet they were foolish enough to die protecting some lowly natives.
"Kill!"
"Take them down!"
Although players were not afraid of death, they could not act as meat shields indefinitely; with Dragon Lizard general Blackfang being stalled by Zhou Ji, forty-plus players barely managed to fight against the twenty or thirty Dragon Lizard soldiers.
Of course.
That was under fair circumstances.
The major problem now was that there were too many villagers present; they could not evacuate quickly enough, and players had no way to focus fully on fighting the Dragon Lizards, so the battle situation was still unfavorable for the Fourth Calamity Legion.
At this moment, a Dragon Lizard warrior broke through the players’ defenses and charged towards the fleeing villagers, stabbing two of them to death at once.
"Damn it!"
The players, seeing that many villagers were about to die, could do nothing but roar with frustration.
However.
Just then.
A figure suddenly appeared out of thin air.
He blocked the Dragon Lizard warrior’s path.
The Dragon Lizard warrior raised his spear to stab at him.
Unexpectedly, the man moved even faster; a white blade light whistled through the air and directly sliced the Dragon Lizard in half.
"Isn’t that Third Brother?"
"It’s Third Brother!"
"Woah! How did Third Brother get here!"
The one who had suddenly appeared and killed the Dragon Lizard warrior was none other than Zhang San, the lord’s personal guard who often stayed by Hang Yu’s side maintaining order within the territory.
At this moment, Zhang San was clad in a full set of Skeletal Wild Bull equipment, every piece of armor radiating a soft glow, indicating extremely high enhancement levels, and wielding the Bloodshadow Blade in his hand.
That’s right.
This whole set.
Was the equipment Hang Yu had handed down.
After obtaining the more powerful Yellow Heaven Commander’s Set from an Abyss Treasure Chest, Hang Yu had given his level 7 Great Wild Bull set and the Bloodshadow Blade, enhanced to level 9, to Zhang San.
Zhang San had already fully mastered Iron Armor Technique and Qi Gathering Slash, and had also learned Rogue skills like Shadow Step; with his equipment and Tier-Two attributes, his strength was comparable to the top elites of the same level.
Under such circumstances, it was not surprising that he could one-shot a Dragon Lizard Soldier.
Almost at the same time Zhang San appeared, the personal guard sorcerer Wang Wu walked out from another direction, raising his Level 8 enhanced white staff and casting a lightning chain that enveloped six Dragon Lizard Men.
These six Dragon Lizards were either sorcerers or priests, and were suddenly attacked by the powerful electric current, which not only dealt considerable damage but also paralyzed them.
Their spellcasting was interrupted!
This greatly reduced the pressure on the players.
Only then did Zhang San speak lightly, "Lord Lord knew you were in trouble, so he sent us over to help!"
The players were all deeply moved upon hearing this.
Lord Lord treated his citizens too well.
He truly had the means to monitor the situation of the Fourth Calamity Legion, hence he could send reinforcements at such a critical time.
The arrival of Zhang San and the others was crucial, and it was not an exaggeration to call it timely rain, laying the foundation for the mission's victory.
"Kill!"
"The Fourth Calamity Legion will surely win!"
"With Third Brother and the other big shots covering us."
"If we still can't win, we might as well go back home to shovel manure!"
"......"
Several personal guards helped hold off the Dragon Lizard attacks, and the players launched a fearless counterattack, ultimately wiping out over twenty Dragon Lizards at the cost of heavy casualties.
【You killed a Dragon Lizard Citizen, earning 700 Contribution Points!】
【You killed a Dragon Lizard Citizen, earning 700 Contribution Points!】
【You killed a Dragon Lizard Citizen, earning 800 Contribution Points!】
【......】
Each time a player killed a Dragon Lizard Soldier, they received extra Contribution Points; the total accumulated to at least 15,000 Contribution Points, a very generous bonus by itself.
【You picked up loot: Abyssal Magic Crystal +30, Abyssal Essence +5000, Cold Iron Spear (Dragon Lizard) +1, Refined Breastplate (Dragon Lizard) +1, Bearbone Helmet (Dragon Lizard)……】
【You picked up loot: Abyssal Magic Crystal +30, Abyssal Essence +5000, Flaming Stone Staff (Dragon Lizard) +1, Radiant Deer Robe (Dragon Lizard) +1, Mithril Ring (Dragon Lizard)……】
【……】
The loot dropped by the Dragon Lizard Soldiers was comparable to elite loot of the same level, or even better than most same-level experience gains.
With the assistance of the two Lord’s personal guards.
A total of twenty-four Dragon Lizard Citizens were effectively killed.
The income from Abyssal Magic Crystals alone reached 720, equivalent to 720,000 Abyssal Magic Stone Fragments, an astronomical figure unimaginable before.
Although Abyssal Magic Crystals were the core hard currency of the Abyss and the Starsea, under Hang Yu’s management and long-term guidance, players already recognized the value and status of Contribution Points as currency.
Abyssal Magic Crystals and Magic Stones.
These things couldn’t buy anything in the territory!
Not only that, but upon death, they would drop completely.
For this reason, players would immediately exchange any obtained Abyssal Magic Crystals and Magic Stones into Contribution Points at the territory, and in this operation alone they harvested about 900 Abyssal Magic Crystals.
Theoretically, they could exchange them for 90,000 Contribution Points, but unfortunately, some of the Abyssal Magic Crystals were dropped when players died later in battle, so the actual amount exchanged was definitely less.
Even so.
The income was still astonishing.
Not to mention the roughly 100,000 Abyssal Essence points earned.
This was no less than a full defense battle during an Extreme Dark Day.
"You stupid big lizards!"
"Now you finally understand!"
"This is the fate of opposing the players!"
"There’s still a BOSS here—killing him would surely bring even better rewards!"
"Charge together!"
"Letting the tiger return to the mountain would bring endless troubles!"
"Right! Today we absolutely cannot let him escape!"
"......"
Although the number of surviving players on the battlefield was small, key figures like Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Salted Fish Thrust, Lone Boat, Niu Shisan, Chimera Wraith, and Mad Blade Old Wang were still present, making it possible to fight.
The Dragon Lizard General, Black Fang, though powerful, had been dominating his fight with Zhou Ji, even completely suppressing him.
In just ten more rounds.
The winner would be decided.
However, with over ten Fourth Calamity elite players charging at him, he was instantly thrown into a highly passive situation.
Cold arrows, flaming arrows, thunder talismans.
All sorts of attacks rained down upon Black Fang.
Despite his excellent equipment and strong power, Black Fang could not withstand such a siege, and with all his soldiers dead, there was no hope for a comeback.
Damn it!
He had underestimated this human Lord!
Even though he had only developed one Abyssal area, he had already nurtured Tier-Two troops—it was ridiculous!
No choice!
He had to preserve his life!
Black Fang exploded with power, knocking Zhou Ji back, then used a bizarre movement technique to dodge all attacks with ease, heading toward the nearby forest and killing a blocking player along the way.
"Not good!"
"He’s trying to escape!"
"Stop him quickly!"
After all, Black Fang was a Tier-Two Dragon Lizard; his attributes were at the peak elite level, and he possessed many skills, making it hard for players to stop him if he truly focused on breaking through.
However, at this critical moment.
Wang Wu cast a Thunder Control Talisman, not only damaging Black Fang but also paralyzing him, causing him to lose balance and fall to the ground.
Zhang San pulled his bow and shot an arrow directly into his knee.
Greatly crippling his mobility.
"Where do you think you're running?!"
"Today it's either you die or we die!"
"Third Brother, you guys stay out of it, let us handle him!"
Lone Boat and Black-Eyed Rui Ge activated Gale Steps and blocked Black Fang’s path, with Street Slayer, Mad Blade Old Wang, and others following closely.
As soon as Black Fang got up, he found himself surrounded, with his health already reduced by half, letting out a hysterical roar.
Clearly.
As a Dragon Lizard of the Starsea race.
He could not believe he had been forced to such a point by humans.
How could these weak humans have any qualifications to oppose the Dragon Lizards?
For a moment, resentment, humiliation, anger, and hatred all flooded his heart.
"A trapped beast still fights?!" Zhou Ji knew very well that even though Black Fang was seriously injured, he was still dangerous, perhaps even more dangerous than before, and was about to step in to help.
However, Zhang San stopped him.
Zhou Ji asked, "Why stop me from joining the battle?"
Zhang San said calmly, "This is a battle belonging to the soldiers of the Fourth Calamity. They don't want outsiders to interfere. Please respect these warriors' will!"
Zhou Ji was a bit puzzled.
If you said these guys followed martial ethics, they clearly ganged up on one opponent.
If you said they didn’t follow martial ethics, they rejected powerful external help, even willing to suffer heavy losses to personally kill the enemy.
Of course.
Although Zhou Ji couldn’t quite understand the players.
The players’ selfless fighting spirit, even their willingness to die, truly earned his heartfelt admiration and self-reflection.
【……】
【Player "Mad Blade Old Wang" has died, Abyssal Essence +1600!】
【Player "Lone Boat" has died, Abyssal Essence +2000!】
【Player "Street Slayer" has died, Abyssal Essence +1600!】
【Player "Chimera Wraith" has died, Abyssal Essence +1600!】
【……】
Hang Yu, like watching a live-streamed real-time strategy game, observed the battlefield without taking any direct actions, yet saw everything clearly.
Black Fang’s final counterattack was indeed ferocious.
Over ten core players fought together, and even then, most of them died before finally bringing down this stubborn foe.
As for the results.
Hang Yu was genuinely surprised.
He had expected the Dragon Lizard Lord to send reinforcements.
But he hadn’t expected the Dragon Lizard Lord to send a general.
The battle between territories and between Lords hadn’t even officially begun, yet the Dragon Lizard Lord had already lost a general—one could only imagine his reaction.
Anyway, for Hang Yu.
This battle had been a huge win.
Of the four Tier-Two personal guards he had deployed, only two had been used, while the other two and additional guards were still hidden, preserving strength.