Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 340 A Cunning Strategy!

There is no wall in this world which hasn’t cracked. Despite Upwards Ho!’s best efforts to mask its intention, there were still some who managed to piece the clues together.

It was an eventuality that could not be avoided, but when it finally happened, the people who were deeply invested in the prospect would find it hard to accept. Scouts began lurking near the construction side when the officers of Upwards Ho! busied themselves with the fortress. Ye Ci was displeased.

She knew that complete secrecy was next to impossible. But how do they find out so soon? It’s only been 24 hours since the construction began! Just how much attention are you all paying to this place?

More and more scouts appeared at the Mithril ore vein, and eventually entire groups of players started showing up. Ye Ci, who was hiding in a nearby hill, was irritated.

“Don’t worry, we’ll continue to observe the situation.” Bai Mo who was standing beside her was visibly calmer.

Ye Ci knew that Bai Mo was right, but she could not bring herself to calm down. This was an event that could decide the ultimate fate of the game, and she did not wish for her secrets to be found.

“I’ve never informed our life players about this. Everything is done by the NPCs. Don’t worry about it, the NPCs will never leak the identity of the owner of this fort.” Bai Mo rubbed Ye Ci’s head when he noticed her worried expression, “Stop worrying about it! What if something actually happens? It’ll ruin your judgement of the situation.”

“I know.” Ye Ci took in a deep breath and grimaced, “I thought I have always been an easygoing person, but it seems that I’m not. That’s because the things that happened thus far would not truly affect me at all.”

Bai Mo smiled at Ye Ci, but did not offer an immediate response. “Little Ci,” he said after a long moment, “Are you planning to be a professional gamer for the rest of your life?”

“Yes” she did not even have the need to put much thought into her answer. She was reminded of her past life. She was also a professional gamer, but it did not end well for her in game and in real life as well. Am I just trying to prove something to myself by making the choices I did in this life?

It was something that she had never pondered before, and she was at a loss when the question came from Bai Mo.

“Since you’ve made the decision to be a professional player for the rest of your life, then it’s normal for you to care about something like this. Even someone who is not a pro player could never remain calm in the face of an event that could potentially bring a huge change to Fate. You’re not a God, Little Ci. You’re just a normal human being who is good at the game. It’s normal for you to lose your calm in the face of something like this. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.” Bai Mo pulled a wine bottle from his inventory and gulped down a mouthful of its content, “We’re here with you. You’re not alone. The entire guild will share your burden, and you.. You’ll have to learn to share that burden with us. Don’t put it all upon yourself. You’ll collapse one day.”

Bai Mo stood up and tossed the bottle of Ye Ci before walking downhill, “I’ll go see how things are going. You stay here and keep watch.”

Ye Ci snatched the bottle from the air and looked at Bai Mo as he left.

“I am the leader of Upwards Ho!. I will not allow anybody else to lay their hands upon who is rightfully ours. I swear this on my name.” Bai Mo waved his hand at Ye Ci as he walked away, and he quickly disappeared from sight.

A smile appeared on Ye Ci’s face, “Thank you, Bai Mo” as she said with a voice that only she could hear.

The calm before the storm is the most silent, and the darkness before dawn was always the darkest.

Ye Ci had never gone offline for 72 hours thanks to the nutrients attached to her gaming cabin. She hid herself on the hills near the Mithril ore vein and was observing the construction.

She was not alone. The officers who were Rogues from Upwards Ho! Were also hidden around the vicinity of the Mithril ore vein. Timely Rain and his men were also keeping Ye Ci updated on the situation.

“Are things going well?” Bai Mo who had returned to the guild encampment was also kept updated by Ye Ci.

“Everything’s going well so far. There’s a lot of people here, but many of them are just trying to figure out what’s going on.” Ye Ci was fatigued due to the lack of rest, but her mind was still sharp, “It seems that not sending our players to help with the construction is the correct thing to do.”

“I don’t know how long it will last, but let’s hope that nothing bad will happen before the construction is finished.” Bai Mo sighed. He had been staying online for days just like Ye Ci to monitor the construction.

“But…” Ye Ci sighed. A feeling of unease was gnawing at her heart.

“But what?”

“Has Golden Era made their move?”

“Not yet.” Bai Mo thought for a short while before continuing, “But I don’t think anything will happen. Most of their members are still lvl20 yet. There’s no way they can get here that easily.”

Ye Ci’s unease was still growing despite Bai Mo’s words. She shook her head, and could only hope that it was only her imagination.

There were times when a person could not trust his or her guts too much.

Ye Ci was completely exhausted when the construction was six hours away from completion. She could almost smell victory when she looked at the fortifications that were almost completed.

She took in a deep breath, and leaned against a large boulder. She intended to take a rest, but ended up falling completely asleep.

And after an untold amount of time, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Ye Ci reflexively attacked towards the direction of the person, and heard a voice, “Aiya!” it was a voice that she knew. It was Fruit Jelly.

Fruit Jelly was a Cleric. She was an officer of the guild, but was not assigned to monitoring the construction of the fortifications. She was supposed to be in the guild encampment overseeing the forging of new weapons by Blossom.

“Can you not be that fast? I’d have died if I was a little slower!” Fruit Jelly’s face was a sheet of white.

“Sorry, it’s a reflex of mine.” As a character class that are experts in combat in the wild, it was only natural for Ye Ci to have quick reflexes, “Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be back at the guild?”

“Do you think I’ll be here if you reply to your private messages?”

“What happened?” Ye Ci could tell that something bad had happened from the panic in Fruit Jelly’s voice.

“See for yourself…” Fruit Jelly bit on her lips and pointed to the direction behind Ye Ci.

Ye Ci was shocked by what she saw. The entire Lesser Demon Sanctuary was packed full of players. There was an especially large group of players in the vicinity of the guild’s fortifications. The entire Upwards Ho! players have mobilized, and were formed up in a defensive formation in front of the fortress. They were engaged in combat with an endless swarm of players.

Skills from different character classes formed a grandiose display of fireworks in front of the fort. Ye Ci was positioned far away from the ore vein, which was why she was not woken up by the sound of combat.

But none of the players were high level. They were all lvl20 accounts. Despite their level, there was still a large number of them, numbering at least a hundred thousand.

“Where did they all come from!” Ye Ci could not even begin to describe how she felt. The sheer numbers of the attacking players were an awe inspiring sight even if they were smurf accounts, “Golden Era?” she gritted her teeth.

“Yup.” Fruit Jelly sighed.

Anger surged in Ye Ci’s heart. Her eyes were also filled with the fires of rage. This was something that only Golden Era could think of. They were all low level account, and many of them would be lost during their journey to the Lesser Demon Sanctum, but there was simply too many of them.

The lvl20 accounts do not have high attack values, but their sheer numbers meant that every bit of damage was contributed to a larger whole. There was barely 50,000 players in Upwards Ho!, and their combatants numbered at a mere 30,000. There was no way the guild could hold against such a large number of players even with superior levels and equipment.

Their Stamina and Mana were limited. There was simply no telling how long they could hold before the swarm of players rushing their position.

Oh Golden Era, you are indeed a formidable opponent.

Even if they did not know the fort belonged to Upwards Ho!, even if they knew nothing about the Mithril ore vein protected by the fort, the idea that they would swarm an enemy with such a number of low level accounts alone was disgusting.

Everyone thought that lvl20 accounts were not much of a threat, but Breeze had proved them wrong.

“How long has this been going on?” Ye Ci’s anger was so great that she could feel herself calming down. She knew that losing her rationality at a time like this would be fatal. The only thing she could do was to calm down and search for a possible solution.

“More than ten minutes now.” Fruit Jelly sighed, “Thank God Remote Depths had the foresight of instructing the guild’s main force to bind their city stones to this location temporarily, or we wouldn’t have made it in time.”

“Go support them.” Ye Ci took in a deep breath.

Fruit Jelly wanted to say something, but decided against it when she noticed Ye Ci’s demeanor.

“Alright. What about you?” the girl in front of her was just like that when they first met, and she was able to overcome every single hardship that stood in her way.

“I’ll continue observing the situation from here.” Ye Ci did not turn around. Her hands were balled into tight fists.

Fruit Jelly knew that action at this moment, would definitely speak louder than words. She turned around and began making her way to join the battle, adding her strength to the defense of the fort.

What do I do? What do I do?

Do I use the bombs?

No, there’s too many of them. It won’t be enough. What else can I do?

Ye Ci cast a glance at the fortification. The builder NPCs were finishing up their work. The battle that was raging on in the map did not affect their progress by one bit. She looked at the timer. There was only an hour left before the construction was completed. An hour! I need to buy an hour for the NPCs!