Earth’s Best Gamer

Chapter 123: Preferential Treatment for Beta Testers

“Master!”

When Ji Ye arrived at the southern frontline at the Metal Men’s side…

Wu Song and Yang Zhi were instructing the training of some of the soldiers.

Because the Metal Men they were facing had withdrawn into passive defense. Unless the Human race advanced into their territory, they wouldn’t take one step out of their door.

Even since the last Metal Man was blown away by the Frigid Iron Cannon, they had even stopped showing their faces.

Under such circumstances, even with Yang Zhi, who held the Black Mountain Saber that could be particularly effective on them, and the new commander that was an excellent archer, they still didn’t know what to do with the opponent.

“Chief Wu, thank you for all your hard work recently. We’ve taken care of the Forest Monsters. From now on, we’ll work on the Metal Men!”

Of course, Ji Ye was here just to make trouble. If the Metal Men wouldn’t leave their territory, the men would launch an offensive!

“Good. After all these days here, I still didn’t get to fight these Metal Men. I wonder if I can obtain a formidable saber from them today!”

Raising his Tiger Soul Saber, Wu Song said expectantly.

He had thought about getting another saber from the alien race. Unfortunately, after all the alien races he had killed, he had never seen one saber or similar weapon that he found satisfactory!

“Please make me a vanguard!”

Holding the Black Mountain Saber, Yang Zhi volunteered.

Even though because of the high level of the Soul of Civilization that had summoned Yang Zhi here, he was able to reach Extraordinary Rank-5 directly, but he still needed enough Honor and EXP to continuously improve his capability!

…

Not many people entered the Metal Men’s territory. There were less than 30 in total.

But they were the most elite members of the Twin Dragon Mount.

Ten settlement soldiers wore double-layered armor, holding thick red wooden shields that were almost as tall as they were. Their capability was equivalent to the Rank-8 elite soldiers of the Bronze Bulldozer.

The natives included Wu Song, Yang Zhi, Ling Zhen, Gongsun Sheng, Ninth Uncle, and Nie Xiaoqian… Apart from Lu Zhishen, who was stationed at the back, in case the Eagle Men made any move, everyone else had come here to the frontier against the last alien race in the neighborhood!

Of the players, apart from Ji Ye, Qin Yueyu, Li Qing, Mister Bug, and Chu Yin had also entered the Extraordinary level.

Wu Qiao was the only one who hadn’t reached that level!

However, this beta tester who had passed the trial should also have some hidden ability.

Because when he went offline this time, Ji Ye learned something from Director Zhou.

When one died in the Land of Inheritance, although their level, Honor, and EXP would be reset, one thing would remain, which was the Rare Honor!

Moreover, when some of the beta testers who had passed the trial logged into their accounts again after they died, and after their capabilities had been increased to a certain level, they would realize that their talents had been reactivated. However, just like with the natives, the level of their talents had been reduced!

Maybe that was a preferential treatment for the beta testers who had passed the trial.

Compared to other alien races, the Metal Men had a rather plain territory, because the ground was covered by various metals, and there were no plants growing anywhere!

Because of that, the Human race couldn’t get any cover for their movements.

But as a matter of fact, they didn’t plan to cover it either. The settlements of the Human race had all reached Rank 2. Theoretically, after fusing the Forest Monsters’ settlement that had been put into the Hall of Providence, they would even reach Rank 4.

Under such circumstances, if they didn’t have the confidence to charge into a Rank 1 settlement, unhindered, it would be a shame for the human civilization that had taken millions of years to develop!

Boom, boom, boom!

Apparently, unlike Sludge Monsters, who hadn’t been alarmed until the enemy was at the door of their settlement, as soon as the Human race stepped into the Metal Men’s territory, the latter reacted.

Out of some cave-like structure in the land that was completely made of metal came a few shadows that were glowing slightly in blue.

After that, they immediately moved around the invading humans from afar in a semicircular orbit, at a speed that was far faster than that of the humans.

“The Metal Men are here. Watch out for their concealed weapons. They’re quite deadly!”

Wu Song reminded the others.

The blue figures moved very fast.

Because they weren’t moving with their feet. Instead, their entire bodies hung a few centimeters above the ground, and they were “flying” like magnetically levitated trains.

However, Ji Ye had enough dynamic vision to identify the physical appearance of these Metal Men.

They indeed highly resembled humans, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been called by that name.

However, unlike the humans who stood on their feet, these Metal Men were all facing downward, and blue lights covered their bodies.

While they were still moving at high speed, some sharp-edged metal pieces were flying at the humans!

Whoosh…

A metal piece flew at Ji Ye. The movement was in accordance with fluid dynamics, and its speed was close to that of the Bronze Bulldozer Crossbow.

With a wave of his hand, Ji Ye blocked the metal piece with a red wood shield that was half the height of a man.

Thud…

The burgundy metal piece stabbed into the Extraordinary Rank-3 red wood shield like a man falling into a swamp. It was stopped after it was only a centimeter into it!

The metal pieces moved fast, but their ability was significantly suppressed by the Extraordinary features of the red wood shield, which could absorb the kinetic energy.

After all, their attack wasn’t as effective as Ji Ye’s earlier, which had broken the defense of the Extraordinary shield.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Apart from Ji Ye, the ten settlement soldiers who had reached Ordinary Rank-8 also blocked the metal pieces with the red wood shield.

These ordinary shields were made in a rush by using the red wood they cut down yesterday, and they didn’t have the Extraordinary property like Ji Ye’s, which could absorb the kinetic energy.

However, they were still thick enough to stop the Metal Men’s attacks from penetrating through, and they were big enough to provide cover for the people behind the soldiers.

Even so, most of the participants didn’t hide behind the shields.

They all wanted to try the strength of the Metal Men.

Ding! Ding!

Wu Song’s saber skill was stunning.

Tiger Soul Saber moved so fast that they left images in the air, and he struck down two metal pieces while they were still in the air!

Sizzle!

Cladded in the Black Mountain Armor, Yang Zhi didn’t even have to move his 2-meter-long Black Mountain Saber. He only activated the special extraordinary power of the saber when the metal pieces approached.

With a flash of blueish-purple light, the metal pieces halted and dropped to the ground next to his feet.

He wasn’t alone. A metal piece shooting at Wu Qiao suddenly glowed in grey when the beta tester fixed her gaze upon it.

After that, it changed direction in mid-air and missed her neck.

“Thunder!”

Gongsun Sheng, on the other hand, pointed with the Mirage Dragon Sword.

There was a flash of lightning, and the metal piece flying at him was melted by the lightning strike!

“Wow! That was close!”

As for Mister Bug, who had become Ninth Uncle’s pupil, he was sweating a little. A green half-transparent barrier appeared around his body, stopping a metal piece that was heading at a spot between his legs.

Ji Ye had obtained from the Soul race a Soul Jade, which could transform the soul power into a green barrier.

Ninth Uncle had studied it repeatedly these days before he finally mastered a method to use the talisman technique to charge it.

Although it took quite a while to charge these Soul Jade pieces…

Moreover, once they were shattered, they couldn’t be activated for a very long time.

However, they could save lives at critical moments, and they had significant value to the Twin Dragon Mount!

Once the Metal Men’s attack was fended off, naturally, it was time for the humans to strike back.

Boom!

The Frigid Iron Cannon that Ling Zhen, the Heaven Shaking Thunder, held made a thundering noise, and a cannonball the size of a fist shot out. It flew at a much higher speed than the metal pieces, and as anticipated, it smashed into a Metal Man that was quickly flying in circles.

The great impact made a big dent in the Metal Man’s chest, knocking it away for several meters. It fell to the ground and rolled around.

The Metal Men were much heavier than men, so the cannon was obviously more powerful than before.

Because Elder Jiao hadn’t been studying the Metal Men’s structure only these days; his chief project was on the minerals produced by the Sludge Monsters.

After he improved and refined the red mineral powder, he obtained a product called “red gunpowder”.

It was an Extraordinary level resource subject that was higher in both quality and stability than the black gunpowder. Theoretically, it could even be used in small guns as ammunition.

That was to say, theoretically, the Twin Dragon Mount already had the ability to make guns.

Of course, to do that, they probably had to wait until the second batch of players’ full-month log-off before they could memorize the blueprints of guns and manufacturing equipment.

After all, although Elder Jiao was an academician, he still wouldn’t know the knowledge that wasn’t his expertise.

Moreover, they had to take down the Metal Men’s settlement. Otherwise, the small amount of frigid iron they held would never be enough for the mass production of firearms!