"Who are the defenders of Sky Ridge Stronghold?" I asked.
Li Chengfeng did a quick search before replying, "Hegemon Palace, Mad Dragon, and dozens of other guilds. There are about 9 million players in total, but Karinshan has sent two imperial armies to guard the stronghold. There are more than a million NPCs there, and Sky Ridge is several hundred meters tall. It won't be easy to break into the stronghold from there …"
I nodded. "That's good. We can't afford to be distracted any longer. Let's clear out the enemies first!"
"Yes!"
… …
More than an hour later, not a single Cyan Earth City player was left alive in the north of Swallow Ear County. Moreover, Cute Little Naughty had ambushed tens of thousands of players in Gravel Forest. Of the 10,000,000 + players who had returned to Cyan Earth City, at most 1,000,000 had returned to the city. The rest had been killed.
The ground below the city was littered with equipment and player corpses. I did a quick sweep of the battlefield and saw that Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily, and the other guilds were still attacking the city. The White Marsh Chariots' Torch Stones were dancing wildly in the air, and the walls of the Swallow Ear County City looked like a hornet's nest. However, the 12 Dragon Cannons were still holding the fort.
We regrouped and approached the city.
I looked up and saw that Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily, and The Monarch Descends had suffered great losses. I turned around and asked, "How many people do we have left, Chaos Moon?"
After Chaos Moon was done, she reported, "We lost almost 20k Dragonlight Cavalrymen, 10k Dragonlight Archers, and 10k Holy Mages. The Hissing Wind Cavalry lost around 50% of our forces, and there might be more left. Right now, we only have 900k soldiers or so, including Soul Battle Robes." Chaos Moon reported.
Song of Cloud and Water spurred her mount over and asked, "Should we attack the city together, big brother Lu Chen?"
I hesitated for a moment before replying, "The Dragon Cannons are too powerful. If we attack them head-on, most of the Dragonlight Cavalrymen will die. We can't let that happen, or we won't have enough men to fight back against the enemy."
"What should we do then?" Li Chengfeng asked.
I looked at He Yi and said, "Eve, I'll leave this to you. Send a batch of Chiyou Needles over. They have a slightly longer range than the Dragon Cannons, so once we destroy all the Dragon Cannons, Swallow Ear County will be like a piece of tofu that we can pierce with our fingers!"
He Yi nodded with a smile. "Mn, I'll get it done right away. It'll be here in about an hour."
"Mn. Send a few thousand Dragonlight Cavalrymen to escort them!"
"Alright!"
…
It was at this moment Lian Xin whispered into my ear, "Big bro, I logged off just now and Xinran was waiting for you in the living room. She said that she hasn't seen you for an entire day …"
I looked at the time. Indeed, I had been online for 14 hours. It was past 10 pm, and I hadn't eaten or drunk anything yet. It wasn't just me, everyone was the same.
Li Chengfeng sat down on the ground and looked up at me. "Why don't we rest for a couple of hours? The Dragonlight Cavalry's Charge and Trapping Net have a delay. We might be able to beat second-rate guilds, but I'm afraid we'll be at a disadvantage against guilds like Throne of Heroes …" I nodded. "Alright.
I nodded slightly. "Alright, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Umbrella and Soul Battle Robes, let's log out and rest for 5 hours. Sky Ridge Stronghold won't be able to hold for much longer, so we'll head straight to the stronghold as soon as we log back into the game. As for Swallow's Ear Prefecture, Candle Dragon and the other guilds should be able to take it down without a problem. There are definitely less than 500k Japanese players left standing in the city, and Cloud's forces aren't that great either. Once our Chiyou Plume arrives and the Dragon Cannon disappears, this city will be nothing but ruins!"
Li Chengfeng smiled. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Lu Chen, spend some time with Xinran when you're offline. If I had a sister as good as her, I wouldn't have logged on at all …"
"Mn!"
… …
After I passed down the order in the guild channel, everyone logged out of the game and rested in a nearby forest. Only a small number of players were online.
I took out the communicator and contacted Lin Yixin. "Yiyi, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls is logging off to rest for 5 hours. What about you?
Do you want to eat something or pee … "
Lin Yixin's cheeks turned red as she glared at me. "Pooh! Shameless bastard!
I won't log off for now. Let's wait a little longer and try to take down Swallow Ear Prefecture before logging off. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Blazing Hot Lips have been taking bullets for us for a whole day and night, but we still haven't taken down a tiny place like Swallow Ear Prefecture. I'm a little embarrassed to say this, and Candlelight Shadow seems to be thinking the same thing … "
I nodded. "Mn, alright then … if you really can't take it anymore, just log off and rest for a bit. Don't force yourself."
"Got it. Off you go!"
"Got it!"
… …
I found a place in the forest, set up a tent and logged off!
I took off my helmet and inhaled deeply. This fresh air … no, it smelled like gunpowder. Someone was setting off fireworks outside, and I wondered who was getting married again.
I washed up and left the house.
Xinran was staring blankly at her phone in the living room. The moment she saw me, she jumped to her feet and opened her arms. "Hug me, big bro …"
This time, I didn't brush her off. I wrapped my arms around Xinran's soft and voluptuous body and sat down on the sofa. "Did you have a good day today, Xinran?"
Xinran nodded. "Yeah, I helped Sophie defend the city, but no one dared to attack it. It's a mess outside the city though. A lot of players are fighting each other, and I saw a lot of China players."
"Yeah, the Nation Wars are still going strong, so you don't have to worry about that. I'm going to call the chef to make us some food!"
"Okay, I'm hungry!"
I called the chef and woke him up. He Yi, Murong Mingyue, Lian Xin and Beiming Xue also walked out of the room and sat down around the sofa.
"We did pretty well in today's Nation War, but we lost a bit too many Dragonlight Cavalrymen …" He Yi pursed her lips. "We lost at least 60k Dragonlight Cavalrymen in the last 24 hours. It's a terrible loss."
Lian Xin pouted. "It's all to help Warsky Alliance break out of the encirclement. High Fighting Spirits wouldn't have died otherwise."
I replied, "Let's not talk about that for now. This isn't just one person's fault. The Northern Alliance and Cyan Earth City are just too cunning. Warsky Alliance and Soul Battle Robes are lucky that 30% of their forces survived. The next 36 hours will be a true war of attrition, and whoever survives until the end will be the king!" I nodded.
Murong Mingyue was playing with her phone when she raised her head and said, "Based on the statistics, the number of players who have died online after the Nation War has been going on for more than 36 hours. This means that only 30% of the players are still online."
I smiled. "It looks like this Nation War is about to usher in a new era. For the first time ever, a Nation War where everyone dies isn't impossible."
Beiming Xue raised her cup and asked, "Big bro, what should we do after we flatten Swallow Ear County?"
He Yi also asked, "Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing. What should we do next?"
"Well …"
I frowned deeply. "Let's talk about that after we defend Sky Ridge Stronghold. Cyan Earth City, Hero Alliance, Throne of the Wild and God Breaker are all godlike opponents, and it's going to be very difficult to stop them. Karinshan will be in a dangerous situation if we let them into Sky City's territory, and I don't want to see Karinshan killed or Sky City conquered … If we can stop them, I'm planning to attack Burning City next!"
"The main city of Korea?" He Yi looked surprised. "Why Burning City?"
"Burning City is closer to our Hot Sand City, so it'll be easy to teleport. Also, Burning City's walls aren't as sturdy as Cyan Earth City or Hero City, so we might be able to take it by force if we don't have enough people."
Lian Xin smiled. "If we destroy Tear Stain, will Candlelight Shadow challenge us because he lost his beautiful junior?"
"Who cares? That's a problem for the future. Right now, Candlelight Shadow should be thinking about how to conquer Swallow Ear County. They've been fighting this Tier 2 city for far too long."
"They're beating us so hard …" He Yi giggled.
Xinran didn't understand what we were talking about, but she simply giggled like an idiot. It was as if she was the happiest person in the world as long as she was with us.
… …
It didn't take long for the dishes to arrive. I ate three bowls of rice alone, and I was seriously starving.
The girls chatted as they ate. Since we only had 5 hours to rest, we didn't dare to eat for too long. It didn't take long for the dishes to be cleaned up and ready to sleep. I gave High Fighting Spirits a call and asked him if he was still traumatized by the battle. He said without hesitation, "Being beheaded isn't a big deal. Lu Chen, if you can cut off Vienna's Sorrow's head for me in the end, you'll be able to repay your brother!"
I agreed without hesitation. Admittedly, I had allowed Vienna's Sorrow to run rampant for far too long.
… …
After everything was settled, Xinran grabbed my hand and stared at me with her big, watery eyes. "Big bro, can you sleep with me?"
My heart softened and I agreed. I wouldn't be able to sleep for long anyway.
It didn't take long for Xinran to fall asleep on the soft bed. She buried her beautiful face in my neck and let out a warm breath. Her body would curl up like a beautiful kitten every now and then, and she would even murmur softly, "Big bro, big bro …"
My heart suddenly ached as I stared at Xinran. I hugged her and almost cried. In the end, I said in a voice as soft as a mosquito, "Don't blame me if big bro can't stay with you anymore, okay?
Sister He Yi and Beiming will continue to take care of you in big bro's stead. Don't blame me, big bro will always love you … "
Xinran shuddered slightly, and tears rolled down her long eyelashes.
… …
I fell into a deep sleep. I didn't know how long it had been when my phone suddenly rang. I grabbed it and saw that it was Li Chengfeng's number. There was still half an hour until the appointed time. How could it be so early? Something must have happened!
"What's wrong, Chengfeng?" I asked.
Li Chengfeng said seriously, "Brother, wake up and get online. Sky Ridge Fortress is under attack, and it's about to collapse. The two NPC legions have been slaughtered, and Elephant City and Cyan Earth City have sent over ten million players to the Swallow Ear County. Even Breeze and Rain and God of War have returned. Snowy Cathaya, Warsky Alliance, Candle Dragon and Purple Lily are having a hard time, and Farewell Song, Purple Marquis, Come See The Snow Tonight and Ling Xueshang are all dead … Fuck, Xing Yun single-handedly wiped out our Hall of Fame!"
"What!?
Farewell Song and Purple Marquis are dead!? "I sat up in shock.