The plains to the north of the Ironhead Wasteland were as fertile as ever. A ton of wild mobs lived here, ranging from Level 150 Wild Dogs to Level 260 Elite Tigers. We swept through the mobs along the way, so there was no need for us to avoid them. This time, our goal was to sweep through the Lamentation Canyon and deal a heavy blow to Cyan Beast.
… …
I activated Dark Pupils as I flew through the air. Every living target within several thousand meters of me appeared as a dot in front of me. I changed the color of the mobs to blue, and the enemy players to red. This way, I would stand out even more. With the speed of the Divine Dragon, I was able to move one kilometer ahead of the party and take on the role of scout.
Swhoosh!
A small red dot appeared in the depths of the forest. I pressed the button on the dragon's head and lowered my altitude. I could clearly see that it was an archer from Cyan Earth City. The Cyan Beast guild had already retreated to Cyan Earth City, but this person had still appeared in this area. He was either a solo player or a long-term scout. Either way, I couldn't let him go.
"Roar!"
The little dragon glided past me at a low altitude. I swung my sword and activated the summoning skill, Dragon Slaying Slash!
"Ah?!"
The archer abruptly looked up, but I had locked onto him. He didn't have time to dodge, and the Dragon Slaying Slash hit him squarely in the shoulder. A huge damage number popped up above his head, and he collapsed to the ground with his bow. 180903!
At the current stage of the game, archers only had 50k to 100k HP. Archers like Beiming Xue, who had almost 200k HP, were definitely the cream of the crop. Therefore, it was obvious that the archer couldn't withstand a single attack from me. He dropped a bunch of potions and teleported back to the city. This map was called the "Cursed Wasteland", and it was a cursed realm that didn't belong to any player. If a player died, they would be teleported back to the city.
On the ground, Beiming Xue galloped toward me on her Dragonlight Armored Horse. She looked up at me with a smile and said, "Big bro, leave the next one to me. It's been a long time since I PvP …"
"Mn."
I glanced around and smiled. "He's here. There's a Level 192 assassin 300 meters to the east. I'll leave him to you, Beiming!"
"Alright!"
Beiming Xue pricked up her pointy ears and stared ahead with her blood-red eyes. She spurred her horse forward and used her Perception as an archer to determine the assassin's location based on the footprints and the frequency of the rustling grass. She raised her bow and fired a super long-range Skypiercer before the assassin even got close!
"Pa Pa Pa …"
Arrows rained down from the sky, and the assassin let out a scream of pain. More than half of his HP had been taken out, and he turned around and fled into the forest. A few seconds later, he chugged down a health potion, raised his twin daggers, and charged toward Beiming Xue. He activated Dance of Death and charged at Beiming Xue with explosive speed. He shouted angrily, "Die, you damned Chinese archer!"
Without another word, Beiming Xue put away her bow and arrow, pulled out the blood-red dagger at her waist, and spurred her horse forward. Before she could even get close, the dagger glowed with a translucent light. It was the Archer class' melee skill, Beast Hunt!
Chiang!
Beiming Xue parried the assassin's stab with her bow and used Beast Hunt to cut the assassin's neck. The assassin's last bit of HP was gone, and he fell to the ground with a painful groan.
The assassin fell to the ground with a groan and dropped a leather helmet. Beiming Xue put it away with a smile.
On the other side, Lin Yixin flew past us on her Moonchaser Tiger and smiled at me and Beiming Xue. "The three great scouts have begun their attack …"
Beiming Xue and I smiled knowingly. Three China players were galloping through the Cursed Wasteland, and we were the ones clearing out the enemy scouts. This way, Elephant City and Cyan Earth City wouldn't suspect us of being the God Slayer of the Ironhead Wastelands. Ever since the battle of Purple Grape City, China players had entered a state of vendetta against each other. There were plenty of Chinese experts who snuck into the India server and Outlands to kill Indian players.
Rumor had it that Little Piglet had disappeared from Sky City for three days. During that time, Little Piglet's legend had spread all over Giant Elephant Valley. He was a Divine General, so he didn't engage the enemy's DPS players. Instead, he used his mount advantage to hunt the enemy's DPS players until they were scared out of their wits. At the same time, Little Piglet was given the title of "Stalker" by the Indian players. It was an honor that made Hegemon Palace proud, and Pillar of the Nation couldn't be happier.
… …
I looked behind me and saw a large army marching toward me under the command of Kiss Scar and Battle Scar. God Slayer had 80,000 players to begin with, and now Bloodthirsty had 270,000 players. In total, they had a total of 350k players, and these 350k players had been bullied by Cyan Earth City. Under my command, they had won several battles in a row, and every one of them had fought to their heart's content. This time, they were going to leave the Iron Head Wastelands and attack Elephant City's Lamentation Valley. Many of them had stayed in the Iron Head Wastelands for several months, waiting for this moment to take their revenge.
Three hours or so later, we were approaching the outskirts of the Lamentation Valley when there was still an hour or so left before the new territory spawned.
The Ancient Divine Dragon let out a low roar as I stood in the air in front of the army. I said, "Alright, we'll camp here for now and wait. Kiss Scar, send out scouts to clean up the map, and don't expose our movements. I'm going to familiarize myself with the map first."
Kiss Scar nodded. "Mn. Be careful, Lu Chen."
"Got it!"
Beside me, Beiming Xue raised her bow and said, "Big bro, I can turn invisible. I'll go over on the ground and coordinate with you. What do you think?"
"Okay. Yiyi and Kiss Scar will stay here."
Lin Yixin nodded. "Mn. Be careful, Beiming and don't die … Also, that Rank 9 territory seems to be very attractive. The main guilds of Cyan Earth City and Elephant City have come to fight for it. Should I join in the fun and have Purple Marquis and Nangong Lexi lead Snowy Cathaya's Kui Dragon Cavalry across Thunder Mountain Range and intercept them from behind?"
I thought for a moment before shaking my head. "No, I don't want China to participate in the war as much as possible. I don't want to draw the aggro onto China again. The Northern Alliance and the Japanese server haven't made any moves yet, and I have a feeling that they're planning something. This isn't good news for us, so I'd like to ask everyone else to just watch."
Lin Yixin giggled. "You're overthinking things. Go!"
"Mn."
Beiming Xue and I flew all the way to the sky above the Dirge Canyon. It was a very big map, and it had been dark for a long time. It had only respawned 24 hours ago, so it was pretty similar to Froststained Canyon. Everyone was unfamiliar with the terrain here, but it was a good thing for players like us who had come from the Iron Head Wasteland.
… …
The valley was covered in mist, and the terrain was layered. The most eye-catching of all was a moon-shaped lake called Moon Lake. It was ring-shaped, and there was only one entrance. At the center of the lake was a huge, open area that was easy to defend and hard to attack. The other area was the Frost Maple Forest. This forest took up more than 70% of the map, and there weren't many open areas in the area, so it wasn't a good place for cavalry to fight.
To the south of Moon Lake was a towering mountain called Dragon Whisker Peak. I couldn't see its peak, but it looked like a king looking down on the land.
The Rank 9 territory hadn't spawned yet, so I didn't know where it was. I sat on the dragon's back and made plans in my head. Moon Lake wasn't a good place for cavalry to fight, so it was hard to come up with any surprise tactics. The terrain of Frost Maple Forest wasn't a good place for cavalry to charge either. Dammit, this trip to the Wailing Valley wasn't going to be an ideal one.
Scattered dots appeared on the map. In Frost Maple Forest and other places, there were already Indian players who had come here to scout. After the Ancient Dragon God Soars, I even saw a team of around 10,000 players at Moonlight Bay. They were players from the Cyan Beast guild, and their leader was the Witch Yeye. Cyan Beast's attitude was simply too domineering. Moreover, they were also the most well-prepared.
… …
I checked the time and noted that there were 58 minutes left until the territory spawned. I flew about a kilometer above the ground and surveyed my surroundings. At the same time, I noticed that there were at least a few hundred Owl Knights patrolling the sky above Frost Maple Forest. They were all Cloud's men, and a couple of them flinched when they saw me, but they didn't attack me. Both sides had come to a tacit understanding that Cloud must've given the order not to make an enemy out of me. Everyone else, just watch.
On the world map, a horde of players was marching into the Lamentation Valley from the north. They were none other than Cyan Beast's main force. Nearly 200,000 Orc King Cavalrymen stood out on the plains. God of War had switched to an Immortal-grade weapon, and his eyes were brimming with confidence. Beside him, Breeze and Rain remained silent, his eyes gleaming with an unfathomable light.
"Has Cloud shown up yet?" God of War asked with a sharp look in his eyes.
Breeze and Rain replied indifferently, "Not yet, but the letter of challenge has been sent. A battle between Cyan Earth City and Elephant City is inevitable, and Cloud is clearly determined to take over the new territory. Right now, at least for today, he's our number one enemy!"
God of War nodded. "Yeah. Take control of every area in the Wailing Valley, and don't let go of even the slightest clue. This territory stretches across Elephant City, the Cursed Wasteland, and Purple Grape City, and it's a choke point for us. If Cloud or Cloud takes it, we'll lose control of the southern region."
Breeze and Rain smiled. "I know. You don't need to stress the point. I'll be taking 100k Beast Kings with me to do something, so I'll leave this place to you."
God of War smiled back. "Mn. Go!"
… …
A cool breeze blew past me, and I couldn't hear their conversation clearly. Forget it, I wasn't destined to be a scout anyway. I hovered in the air and waited for the situation to change. Be it Cyan Beast, Flowing Clouds, Dark Cloud, or Nation Suppression, all of them had invested more than a million players into this war. More than 50% of the 350k players I had under my command would be nothing more than a motley crew. They wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth. If they couldn't be the main force, then they could be the ambush!
(Part 2.)