Chapter 232: The Chase
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
{Rearm}!
{Warrior’s Will}!
{Berserker’s Heal}!
Zhang Yang removed all the debuffs that he had been bombarded with and recovered his full health.
With unrelenting force and will, Zhang Yang shoved his way towards Humbly Gentleman and slashed at him with extreme prejudice!
‘Absorb!’
‘-6,320!’ {Destructive Smash}, Critical.
Humbly Gentleman had a maximum HP of 8,200. The first strike had been completely absorbed by a {Holy Shield} and was torn through like hot butter after deducting a mere 1,300 damage from {Destructive Smash}.
Not so invincible now huh?
‘-1,623!’
‘-1,892!’
Zhang Yang’s axe and Whitey’s claw struck him from both sides. Humbly Gentleman dropped dead. To add further insult, Whitey walked over Humbly Gentleman dead body. Talk about wild tea-bagging1. He bent over and reached out his hand to pick up magic staff that was on the ground. He laughed triumphantly and kept it in his inventory.
Just as he was about to relax, he was hammered with attacks from all sides.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Many status effect skills blasted from all direction. Zhang Yang’s HP was really dropping now!
Swiftly, Zhang Yang got off his mount and entered {Shadow of the Void}, disappearing from sight and fleeing as fast as he could. He found a huge boulder and hid himself behind it. After healing himself with a [Bandage], he summoned Whitey and furthered his distance from the danger zone.
His disappearance had left members of The Dominators truly flummoxed.
"Where did he go?"
"How could he disappear!? Bloody hell, he ain’t no Thief. Was that a bloody Stealth technique?"
"What the father-f*cking-f*ck! This was exactly the same thing that happened during the Expedition war! Someone came and stole all of our loots, vanishing just like a thief!"
"Now that you mentioned it, yeah! D*amn!"
"Report his *ss! He must be using some kind of hacking software!"
"Shut up!" said Humbly Gentleman, his voice dripping with acid. He sounded like he was speaking in some foreign language, his voice thick with fury. "Get you lazy bums moving and revive me now! How can the whole lot of you let a single man escape, and still have the face to talk c*ck!"
He was clearly angry. How could he not be? With more than 30 members surrounding one man, not only did Zhang Yang manage to escape, he had even killed eight of them! If word got out, the guild will face massive humiliation!
"No one is allowed to speak of this! Or else, I’ll kick you out of the guild!" Humbly Gentleman threatened the guild.
Everyone present nodded their head obediently. Their own reputations were at stake as well.
"Hey hypocrite, I took the liberty to record the fight just now. When this is over, I’ll post the recording on the forum and watch the fireworks! You’re done for! Hahahaha!" Zhang Yang posted on the local channel.
Knowing that, Humbly Gentleman could do nothing.
Even after teasing the hypocrite, Zhang Yang was still as tense as ever. The tension he felt lingered on like an itch he could not reach. After all, there were many more smart players in the game. Even Humbly Gentleman, who he did not consider particularly intelligent, had managed to slow Zhang Yang, even if it ended as a critical failure. If that’s the case, perhaps there could be more people will be blocking his path ahead! He had to make preparations if he wanted to get to his destination.
Humbly Gentleman failure was linked directly to a single flaw, he had underestimated Zhang Yang capabilities. He believed that he could kill Zhang Yang with only 30 players, but instead, he was killed instead. So far, Zhang Yang had only faced one guild. It was very likely that other guilds lay in wait ahead.
30 members would very likely be enough to kill Zhang Yang. Because The Dominators had been lacking in Spellcasters, and if they weren’t, Zhang Yang would have been forced to use {Shadow of the Void} immediately!
He would not be so lucky the next time!
Zhang Yang did not dared to use the trails along the mountain since they were widely known and highly limited. He decided to make his way through the forest where others would need to bring a whole army to secure the parameter. Even that might not be enough to cover all the exits.
After settling on a plan, Zhang Yang stuck to his route and was met with a few obstacles. Along the way, he encountered a few small groups. In small numbers, Zhang Yang could easily hack his way through without much problem. He had to take detours and alternate routes when he saw larger groups ahead. It took him five hours to reach Tukula Fortress!
To enter any map beyond Level 50, all must past through the fortress. It is the only way!
However, Zhang Yang did not blatantly walk to the fortress. Instead, he hid in the nearby forest and slowly considered all possibilities. If he was the pursuer instead of the pursuant, he would intercept his quarry’s path! In this case, the best waiting spot would be Tukula Fortress! Since there was only one way in and out, it was only inevitable that both parties would meet!
Now, the real question is, how does he infiltrate the place?
Zhang Yang frowned intensely. He had to make his decision in the next three minutes because the system will be announcing his position! According to his informant, there were already hundreds of thousands of hunting parties on his tail!
"Hey dummy, you must be at a loss now that you can’t think of a way to get through the fortress now!" Han Ying Xue’s voice suddenly rang in the party channel. Along the way, Zhang Yang had explained his situation to everyone that he could not teleport directly to the fortress nor take the "plane".
Zhang Yang scoffed. "What’s your genius plan then, B*tchy Snow?
"Hmph! To cause mass confusion!" Han Ying Xue smirked. "I’ve already informed everyone in the guild to head over to the fortress! I’ll get everyone to rush into the fortress! You will take advantage of the situation and join the fray! With ten thousand players rushing into the tiny gate, I don’t believe any pair of eyes could zero in on you out of the crowd!"
Zhang Yang scratched his chin and nodded. "Ok! In three minutes, I want you to gather anyone at the entrance of the fortress! Order everyone to ride on their [Storm and Gale Direwolves]!"
"Understood!"
Zhang Yang unsummoned the Gold-Eared Bear King and summoned the [Storm and Gale Direwolf]! It was a highly common mount that anyone in a level Two guild would be able to access. It would serve a good decoy. After two minutes, Zhang Yang rushed out of the forest to join the raging crowd. In just one minute, Zhang Yang had arrived at the entrance.
UAAAAAAAHHH!
A sea of players quickly swarmed up to surround him. Carrying the tag, "Lone Desert Smoke" above their heads, the players rode on their Direwolves to join Zhang Yang!
‘Server Announcement: The princess of White Jade Caste was assassinated! The perpetrator is Player Zhan Yu! Under the command of the King, the player that kill Zhan Yu must present the killer’s head to obtained the reward: Gained 3 Level, one Yellow-Gold Weapon, and the position of the Great General of the National Army! Position: XXXXXX, YYYYYY. An announcement will be made every 10 minutes!’
"Zhan Yu has arrived!"
"We’re right at the coordinates!"
"F*ck! There’re so many players down there! Which one is Zhan Yu!?"
"Sh*t! Hey! Spread out, stupid!"
Countless players had already gathered up at the fortress, but when the entire sea of Lone Desert Smoke members came swarming in, everyone was thrown into confusion.
Zhang Yang switched to the guild channel and announced, "Fellow members! Let’s roll! We are heading outside the fortress!"
More than 13,000 players simultaneously changed their direction and headed towards the outskirts of the fortress.
"Kill them all! Kill them all!"
Other players roared and started launching their attacks from above. Since they could not determine which one was Zhan Yu, they started peppering the mass of players with various AoE skills! Tukula Fortress was not a main city; therefore, PK was perfectly legal!
"Do no return fire! Maintain the formation and charge forward! Those who participate today will be awarded with 50 guild contribution points and 50 gold coins as compensation!" said Zhang Yang in the guild channel.
"Protect the guild master!"
"Move your *ss! Protect the guild master! Cover him! Keep him in the middle!"
"F*ck this sh*t! Even if I die 100 times, I’ll make sure I deliver the guild master to the fortress!"
"What a bunch of f*ckers!"
All sort of spells covered the sky, from red fire balls to blue frost arrows, to actual physical arrows were raining down from above! Many players from Lone Desert Smoke had already been defeated. In fact, many of them had dropped their own equipment! However, the attacks did not dampen their fighting spirit! None of them stopped nor withdrew! The entire army had a single goal in mind -- to get their guild master into the fortress at all costs!
"Block their path!" screamed the attackers from inside the fortress. Some of them even summon their mounts to Lone Desert Smoke from entering the fortress!
Wham! Bam! Clang! Bang!
Mounts collided with mounts and players were being dismounted to the left and right! In ‘God’ Miracle’ if a collision occurred while mounted, the system will realistically throw a player off their mount of they were not properly holding on to it, canceling the mount.
Even though there were around 13,000 players from Lone Desert Smoke, the number of players in the fortress had exceeded a staggering number of 3,000,000! With that ridiculous number forming an impregnable defensive line, their formation was so long that it stretched out from the inside of the fortress to the outside of it! Together, they were an invincible force!
"Kill them all! Zhan Yu must be hiding in the center of the crowd!"
10,000! 7,000!, 3,000!
The number of surviving players were dropping like flies! Equipment dropped everywhere like the littering left after a marathon! But, no one was willing to surrender! None of them! Not even a single member backed down from the rampage! Everyone only tightened up even more to protect their guild master as they rushed towards the fortress together! It was like an epic game of tower defense, with them being the monsters!
Someone even spiritedly said, "Everyday, the guild master was the one holding up his shield to protect us. At least, right now, we can do something in return and protect you instead!"
"For Lone Desert Smoke!"
"For the glory of the guild!"
"We are the best!"
2,000!
1,000!
800!
With only around 300 players left, the party had managed to rush through the exit of the fortress!
"Guild master! Please get going! We will remain here to protect you!"
"Guild master! Go now! We will be your shields!"
One by one, members of the guild screamed as they stopped following Zhan Yu and turned around to face the incoming players.
Zhang Yang nodded solemnly. He kicked his spurs and dashed forwards like a gush of wind.
From a far distance, Zhang Yang glanced back to see the remaining 300 players forming a neat formation, like a human blockade, blocking the players that were coming out of the fortress!
The army collided with the blockade. Clashes of sword and blasts of arcane magic could be heard. Members of Lone Desert Smoke were dropping like domino pieces, defiant till the end! Everyone had steeled their will and blades, determined to protect the formation!
Sun Xin Yu has fallen…Han Ying Xue has fallen…Hundred Shots has fallen…Endless Starlight has fallen…Daffodil Daydream has fallen…even Fatty Han has fallen…
"Uwa…Noob tank! I really want to cry!" said Wei Yan Er. In the beginning of the clash, she had swung her battle axe, ravaging through the mass and killing three players. However, she was quickly killed and even dropped a Gray-Silver Boots!
Zhang Yang sucked in a deep breath and gripped the leash tightly. "We will have our revenge."
With the countless number of pursuing players, no matter how strong Lone Desert Smoke was, numbers simply overwhelmed them! The ones who took the most advantage of the situation were the guilds that opposed Lone Desert Smoke the most, that is, The Dominators, Pride and Axe Gang.
If he himself had fallen by himself, so be it. But now all his other members had been involved, suffering losses as a result of protecting him! The other players had already crossed the line when they had publicly announced that they would kill all players from Lone Desert Smoke and take their dropped equipment! They had publicly marked everyone from Lone Desert Smoke! How could Zhang Yang still remain calm!
F*ck this sh*t! Just wait! When I get back, I’ll kill all of you bastards and chase you out of White Jade Castle! I swear this, on my entire gaming career!
Seething with anger, Zhang Yang could only move forward, towards the Flatlands of the Passing.
He could now walk this path thanks to the sacrifice of his members! This toll was paid with the lives of all 13,242 members of Lone Desert Smoke! He had to complete the quest! He had to finish what he started! He had to, or else, the members would have died in vain!