Chapter 330: The Sky Darkens

Chapter 330: Chapter 95: The Sky Darkens

Event countdown: two days.

Most of the Kingdom had already been overrun. Tens of millions of players, having finished grinding their Attributes, charged onto the battlefield. Alongside Adventurers from all across the north, they began their conquest of the entire Kingdom.

Although their original intention was only to find a solution for the source of the pollution, their actions became the start of a revolution.

Based on the players’ detailed analysis and the intelligence gathered by various squads in the field, they discovered that issues like the food shortage had nothing to do with the Demon King.

The Demon King’s power was confined solely to the Dungeon. The notion that “the Demon King’s power is the culprit behind everything” was pure nonsense.

The region’s climate had always been unstable. Based on data provided by several astrologers, the players had already concluded that a major climate shift occurred every hundred years. It was a natural cycle and had nothing to do with the Demon King.

Furthermore, the region itself was not large, and arable land was scarce to begin with. This made it easier for local nobles to annex land whenever a climate disaster struck.

Displaced farmers had no choice but to become Adventurers, which created the so-called “Hero’s Summoning.”

In short, far from bringing any disaster to this world, the Demon King had actually provided a Dungeon. It allowed anyone to enter, absorbed the surplus population, and in turn, produced various resources.

One player, an expert in demography and economics, even pointed out that the Dungeon’s existence established a floor for the “value of a person,” creating a definitive metric for every human life. Though the court nobles never realized this, all their decrees revolved around this standard, preventing the world’s inhabitants from being exploited too excessively.

After all, if they were exploited too much, people would just run off to become Adventurers. The land would be left unfarmed, and the local nobles knew to restrain themselves somewhat.

Upon learning the truth, both the Witch and the Swordsman found it hard to accept, but in their hearts, they had already quietly come to terms with the fact.

Cradling Jinghong, the Witch rubbed her temples in resignation and sighed, “So, everything we did before was meaningless? The Demon King we were supposed to defeat was actually a deity helping us? Ha, I’d love to see the look on the Church Court’s faces when they get this news.”

“To be more precise, your lives have been meaningless, but your efforts to get yourselves killed were quite significant,” Jinghong explained.

The Shadow God, meanwhile, listened blankly to Jinghong’s explanation, thinking, ‘The adult world is so dirty.’

While the Witch was still processing this news, the Kingdom’s territories were already being torn to shreds.

To speed things up, the advance forces were responsible for crippling the local nobles. Adventurers would then persuade the local residents to come forward and testify. A public trial would follow, where Mages used Summoning on these nobles, after which the army would immediately charge toward the next location.

These tens of millions of self-sufficient powerhouses completely overwhelmed the local nobles.

According to player estimates, someone with an average Attribute score of 30 was considered a regional master, while most non-Adventurers had average Attributes of only around 17.

The players participating in the war, however, had an average Attribute score of 40.

Endless cycles of rebirth had raised their average Attributes from 1 to 40. This massive boost in Attributes had transformed their capabilities, allowing them to quickly conquer castles and hang the Lords.

Urgent dispatches flooded the Kingdom’s palace, all of them carrying news of betrayal.

The secret agents had defected.

They were loyal to the King, but upon discovering something was wrong with him, they immediately defected to the Slimes’ side.

Most of the Adventurers had defected.

After all, Adventurers were in it for the money, and the Slimes were paying handsomely.

The Church Court also wanted to defect, but the other side refused.

Religion itself is a cancer; the slightest misstep can lead to a disaster beyond recovery. The players wanted nothing to do with a bunch of fanatics.

Looking at these urgent dispatches, the Clockmaker, who was inhabiting Nemo’s body, showed no reaction.

He was well aware of the Slimes’ origins and knew who the real enemy was.

At this point, there were only two in-game days left in the event.

Using Nemo’s phone, the Clockmaker opened the forums. He tilted his head as he scrolled through the messages, occasionally liking an interesting post, replying under a thread, or even getting into a flame war with a group of players.

No one could have imagined that the event’s final boss could go online and post just like a player, even getting into arguments.

Through the forums, he could see the players’ current movements with perfect clarity. Even Duan Fei’s “Life is Pollution” thesis came as a pleasant surprise.

He had assumed the players might not figure out this hidden mechanic by the event’s end, but he never expected them to discover it so quickly.

‘But what of it?’

‘In this world, the seed of pollution lies within almost every living being. To purge these seeds would mean a horrific, large-scale slaughter.’

‘Every living thing must be eliminated. Every person must cease to exist. Only by turning the entire world to silent death can the last of the pollution be thoroughly cleansed.’

‘You players… can you really pull that off?’

‘Even if the players really could do it, he had another move to make.’

On the forums, the Clockmaker contacted another organization: the Madhouse.

A section of the forums had become the Madhouse’s territory. The moderators’ influence couldn’t penetrate this deeply, so they could only hide the entrance.

However, quite a few clandestine organizations could still find ways to get in. They used it to exchange information invisible to the moderators, making it a convenient place to conduct their nefarious activities.

Here, the Clockmaker contacted the Madhouse’s special players, the Magicians.

“Magicians, how are the preparations?”

“They’re perfect,” a Magician replied. “We’re ready. The moment the players dare to start their slaughter, we will begin the sacrifice. A massive number of fresh, tasty souls will surely please many a Demon God. It will be another grand feast for them.”

“As long as you’re happy. Just don’t forget our agreement, Magicians.”

“We won’t forget. I remember. I will find information on the Creator for you, and in return, you’ll help us with our business.”

“Mm.”

After ending the brief call, the Clockmaker sat on the throne, idly teasing the King in his arms, who had now been turned into a baby.

‘Humans are so weak.’

‘Unlike animals, which are up and about right after birth, human infants have virtually no survival skills. They have to rely on their parents to live.’

‘For such a fragile species to have gradually become dominant in the Abyss is an incorrect trend, an illogical outcome.’

‘The god of the Pseudo-men, the Creator, must have thought so too, which is why he created the far more powerful Pseudo-men to replace humanity.’

‘Therefore, as long as I can find the Creator and have him return to this world, the dawn of the Pseudo-men will arrive.’

‘And when that happens, keeping humans as pets might be quite nice.’

Poking the infant’s face, the Clockmaker began to daydream about that wonderful future, when he suddenly noticed something was wrong.

Outside, the sky had grown dark.