“Captain, today’s exploration area has already been planned.”
“Alright, let’s set off.”
In Zone 2225, a young boy spoke as he followed a lean, middle-aged man with dark skin and exceptionally bright eyes.
The title “Captain” didn’t mean he was truly the commander of a regiment—it was simply what people called the leader of the team he founded, Hope’s Flower.
“It feels so quiet.”
“There’s no one else on the streets either,” the boy said.
The captain explained, “That’s because it’s still early. Besides, everyone has morning training.”
“I need to work harder too! Everyone’s striving to get stronger—I can’t fall behind!” The boy clenched his fists, looking full of youthful determination.
The captain looked at him with satisfaction and said, “Yes. All the hard work we’ve put in won’t be in vain! One day, Zone 2225 will become the strongest safe zone!
“And going forward, as long as we don’t stop, the road ahead will keep extending…”
“Whoosh!” A fireball suddenly flew toward them.
The captain reacted instantly, pulling the boy into his arms and taking the hit on his back!
“Captain, what are you doing?! Captain…”
He drew his weapon.
His spear began to glow as several streaks of spear light shot out, killing the Dragonfang Soldiers and magic skeletons that had ambushed them!
“Not bad… my aim is still pretty good…” the man said through gritted teeth.
Wearing only light armor, his defensive ability wasn’t strong—taking two magic attacks clearly didn’t feel good.
“Tap… tap… tap…” Crisp footsteps echoed, accompanied by a chilling aura that sent shivers down the spine…
The captain suddenly turned around.
A pitch-black skeleton was walking toward them from a hundred meters away.
Even at that distance, he could clearly hear its footsteps—and feel its terrifying presence!
His gaze sharpened as he activated his detection ability.
???
What?! The captain’s pupils shrank violently.
He couldn’t see anything—level, name, attributes—nothing at all!
He quickly shouted to the boy, “Run back to the safe zone! Now! Hurry!”
The boy was pushed forward, stunned.
He wanted to ask something, but was instead met with a rare outburst from the usually gentle captain.
“Go! Don’t stop!”
After shouting, the captain turned back, preparing to activate his Noble Phantasm to stall the monster—but suddenly felt a chill in his abdomen.
Looking down, he saw a pitch-black blade had pierced through his stomach at some unknown moment.
Dark blood slowly flowed out…
He looked up—and realized it was that same black skeleton.
Before he could react, the skeleton casually swung its weapon, slicing him clean in half!
“Live on…” Before he could finish speaking, his body dissolved into a streak of white light.
Four cards and a spear dropped to the ground…
Aside from that, no other trace remained.
….
Bai Qiu frowned.
That thing… was heading toward Safe Zone 2225…
“A’Yuan, come back first,” Bai Qiu said in a low voice.
Seeing his serious expression, A’Yuan obediently returned to the Contract Space Card.
“What’s wrong?” Zhang Shiyao asked.
She could also sense the sudden shift in Bai Qiu’s mood, but after looking around, she didn’t notice anything unusual.
“Something serious has appeared… I’m going ahead to take a look! Take this card!” Bai Qiu said.
Without even packing up the picnic items, he dashed straight toward that overwhelming dark aura!
Zhang Shiyao looked at the Contract Space Card in her hand, then glanced in the direction Bai Qiu had left.
Without much hesitation, she followed after him.
…
Players outside Area 2225 were being killed one by one.
When people inside the safe zone saw several friends’ avatars dim in the system, the zone chat immediately exploded.
“The captain of Hope’s Flower is dead!?”
“How is that possible?! He was already level 19!”
“Did he run into a Lord-tier monster?”
“It’s not just him—no one who went out this morning has come back. I just checked, and all their friends said their avatars have dimmed!”
“They’re all dead?!”
The people of Zone 2225 were thrown into chaos.
Each safe zone paid close attention to its top fighters, and the sudden deaths of so many players sparked intense discussion.
The news even spread to the cross-zone chat.
“Roar!”
Soon, they understood what was happening.
Outside the safe zone, a Wyvern Lord slammed violently into the barrier—and following it were…
“Cavalry Lords, Giant Lords, Magic Lords… My god! Why are there so many Lord-tier monsters?!”
The people of Zone 2225 were horrified to discover that the entire perimeter of the safe zone was surrounded by dozens of Lord-tier monsters!
And each of those Lords led a swarm of lesser and elite monsters.
Altogether, there were thousands of them!
“What’s going on? Isn’t the wave countdown still two days away? Why are there so many monsters?!”
They couldn’t believe it.
The barrier of the safe zone shook violently under the assault, as if it might shatter at any moment!
“Crack… crack…”
The Sanctuary barrier began to shrink inward, gradually shifting into its strongest defensive fortress form.
The people of Safe Zone 2225 quickly took action.
They formed teams and began actively attacking the monsters—lower-level players focused on clearing minor mobs, while higher-level players engaged the elite enemies.
Players with little combat ability—those with life professions—stepped in as support, ensuring supplies and assistance for the front-line fighters.
Some players even activated the livestream function, sending out distress signals to people in other safe zones or to the military…
“The situation is critical. Right now, you are the strongest in the Sanctuary. Choose one attribute—I’ll use the Sanctuary Blessing skill to raise it to B− rank!”
Atop the Black Tower’s city wall, the [Sage] spoke to a player.
Wu Tao frowned deeply, gripping a C− rank bow tightly in his hand.
He hesitated—should he wait for someone stronger to arrive and give the Sanctuary Blessing to them instead?
After all, although he was the highest-level player in Zone 2225, he was only level 21.
Facing the current situation, he didn’t have much confidence…
He glanced at his friend list.
Bai Qiu was on it.
If Bai Qiu could come to support…
“BOOM!!!”
The Sanctuary shook violently.
On the outer layer of the barrier—now in fortress mode—the turtle-shell-like protective layer suddenly developed a crack.
And the one responsible… was a pitch-black skeleton.
“Ahhh!! We’re doomed!!” Some mentally fragile players—especially women—began to break down.
The previously organized offensive weakened as morale dropped, showing signs of collapse!
There was no more time!
If they didn’t stabilize the situation now, the number of lesser monsters would only keep increasing, and the Sanctuary barrier would break faster and faster!
Even if Bai Qiu managed to arrive later, what would it matter if the barrier was already destroyed and countless players had died?
Wu Tao made his decision and said in a low voice, “Apply the blessing to my magic power. I may not gain overwhelming attack strength, but it’ll be enough to clear large numbers of elite monsters—and even some Lord-tier ones!”
“Alright!”
Upon hearing this, the [Sage] immediately took out a Sacred Stone and used the Sanctuary Blessing skill, raising Wu Tao’s magic attribute to B− rank.
A beam of light descended from the Sanctuary’s dome, enveloping Wu Tao entirely.
A surge of magic power erupted from his body—his magic attribute jumped from barely C− rank up an entire tier!
With a determined gaze, he began forming arrows of various magical elements, firing continuously from atop the Black Tower’s walls.
Instantly, the crowd that had been on the verge of collapse seemed to find a pillar of support!
“It’s Wu Tao! Great—we’re saved!” someone shouted excitedly.
The arrows exploded upon impact, dealing enough damage to instantly kill several ordinary Dragonfang monsters.
Even elite monsters were mostly killed in one hit—but against Lord-tier enemies, the effect was somewhat lacking…
At that moment, Wu Tao’s friend list lit up briefly—but he was too focused on shooting to notice.
Bai Qiu: “Hold on. I’ll arrive in two minutes.”
….
Cracks continued to spread across the turtle-shell barrier of the Sanctuary, and Wu Tao’s expression grew increasingly grim—the monsters were simply too many…
The normal ones couldn’t be cleared fast enough, the Lord-tier monsters were too tough to damage, and then there was that black skeleton…
Players watching the situation in Zone 2225 through livestreams all gasped in shock.
It hadn’t been long at all, yet the safe zone was already on the verge of collapse!?
“Please hold on! Troops from Zone 2227 are on the way! Estimated arrival time: three hours!”
“By the time you get here, everyone will already be dead! Can’t you send high-level fighters through the teleportation device instead?!”
The cross-zone channel was in an uproar.
Zhang Shiyao read the messages, then glanced at Bai Qiu—who had sped up once again—and a growing sense of unease filled her heart.
…
“Boom! Boom!”
The Sanctuary’s turtle-shell layer shattered, leaving only a single barrier barely holding on.
At that moment, the pitch-black skeleton raised its long blade and slashed down viciously!
“Crack… crack…”
The blade immediately embedded itself into the barrier.
It wouldn’t be long before the Sanctuary’s defenses completely broke.
When that happened, the players inside would be nothing more than lambs to the slaughter, left to be ravaged at will!
“Clang!!”
A long spear engulfed in dark red flames descended from the sky, piercing straight through the head of a Dragonfang soldier, causing the fireball it was about to spit out to dissipate instantly!
Immediately after, the spear began spinning rapidly in circles—any lesser or elite monster that touched it died instantly!
The dark red spear spun at high speed around the entire shrunken Sanctuary barrier, completing a full circuit—every monster along its path was instantly annihilated!
— The end of the Chapter–
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