Chapter 311: The Invaders Descend

The White Dragon Lord sent a message to the reinforcing Gurgalu, instructing the Ogre chieftain to take over his task.

Afterward, the White Dragon Lord lay on the ground and closed his eyes to recover his magic. Past experience told him that even with the Council's support, the upcoming battles would be anything but easy.

Not long after he closed his eyes, violent magical fluctuations rippled through the sky.

The sky resembled a calm lake disturbed by a thrown stone. Ripples spread outward as a black dot gradually expanded into a massive, profound black hole. The black hole brimmed with chaotic spatial energy, flashing with silver light like lightning leaping through clouds.

A surge of powerful magical energy poured out from the black hole. The chaotic spatial energy quickly smoothed out, transforming into a profound Portal parallel to the ground. Protected by a three-dimensional magical array, the base of a Floating Tower emerged from the void.

Before long, the entire Floating Tower appeared in the air. Accompanied by howling gales, it landed steadily on the ground, kicking up a ring of dust.

The Portal did not vanish. Two more Floating Towers appeared in the Luoduoluo Plane one after another. They landed on the ground, forming a perfect equilateral triangle with the first tower.

The Council's reinforcements had arrived!

Upon discovering the coordinates of the Luoduoluo Plane on the Star Realm's black market, the Holy Sanctuary had applied to the Council for support. These three Floating Towers were the Council's response.

"They're finally here!"

The White Dragon Lord stood up and walked toward the three Magic Towers. With the reinforcements here, it was time to discuss their battle plan.

Conditions in the Luoduoluo Plane were crude. With no building large enough to host so many High-Tier Legends and legendary powerhouses, everyone simply sat in a circle on the open ground.

Six High-Tier Legends had come to aid them: the Ancient Gold Dragon of the White Castle, Priest Sinod of the Holy Sanctuary, the previously agreed-upon Cat-Woman, and the controllers of the three Floating Towers—the Silver Dragon Scholar, Hegel of the Raven Council, and Sadom Deadeye of the Black Robe Wizard's Association.

Including the White Dragon Lord and Knight Magellan, a total of eight High-Tier Legend powerhouses sat in the circle, while over two hundred legendary powerhouses listened from the periphery.

Knight Magellan understood the situation in the Luoduoluo Plane best, so he took the lead in briefing the group.

"Everyone, sixty percent of the Luoduoluo Plane has currently been explored, leaving forty percent uncharted. Based on the current ratio of high-value veins to land area, we estimate there are about a dozen high-value mineral deposits yet to be discovered. Our goal is to salvage as many of these high-value deposits as possible to minimize our losses..."

Since losses were already inevitable, the White Castle and the Holy Sanctuary could only try their best to mitigate them. Knight Magellan continued.

"The coordinates of the Luoduoluo Plane have been broadcast on a massive scale. The sharks have smelled blood in the water and could arrive at any moment. Moving forward, we must prepare our combat arrangements to deal with any unexpected situations."

The Silver Dragon Scholar—who had lived a long time, traveled far, and possessed vast experience—picked up the conversation.

"We have three Floating Towers. I suggest we divide into three teams, with each team commanding one tower. That way, even if we are unlucky enough to run into an Abomination Rank powerhouse, we will still have the strength to protect ourselves."

"Agreed."

"Agreed!"

"..."

No one objected, and the group began discussing how to divide their forces. There were three Floating Towers but only eight High-Tier Legends, which meant one tower would be overseen by only two of them.

After some discussion, the White Dragon Lord, the Ancient Gold Dragon, and the Cat-Woman formed the first team, with the Mage-class White Dragon Lord acting as their tower's controller. Priest Sinod, Knight Magellan, and Hegel formed the second team, with Hegel acting as controller.

The remaining Sadom Deadeye and the Silver Dragon Scholar formed the third team. As compensation for lacking a third High-Tier Legend, the third team received the largest share of legendary powerhouses.

Once the teams were sorted, they drafted their battle plan.

Calling it a battle plan was an overstatement; there was no concrete strategy. The situation in the Luoduoluo Plane was complicated, the locations of the high-value veins were unknown, and their incoming enemies were equally unknown. They could only take things one step at a time.

Generally speaking, those who came to plunder resources were opportunists from the Star Realm. The stronger groups would be other factions looking to secure a windfall, led by High-Tier Legends. The weaker ones would be banded legendary powerhouses, lone High-Tier Legends, or even solitary legendary powerhouses bold enough to risk their lives.

These groups and individuals were the opponents the Nordhill forces were about to face. Confronted with this mad scramble for food, the people of Nordhill couldn't completely defend against it even if they tried.

After analyzing the current situation, the White Dragon Lord stood and spoke.

"Everyone, based on our current standing, there are three most likely scenarios. The first is that we hold an absolute advantage in strength. This is naturally the best outcome, and if so, I suggest we swiftly and cleanly eliminate all competitors..."

"The second scenario is that we have an advantage, but not an absolute one. In this case, I suggest promising some benefits to recruit strong invaders whose appetites aren't too large, using them to clear out the rest..."

"The third scenario is the worst-case: an organized, premeditated group of invaders appears, and their overall strength surpasses ours. Faced with this, we will request aid from the Council while simultaneously recruiting any targets willing to cooperate..."

"Does anyone have anything to add?"

The White Dragon Lord waited, but no one spoke.

"Then it is decided."

The White Dragon Lord exchanged a glance with Priest Sinod and nodded. Priest Sinod stood up.

"Everyone, after discussions between the Holy Sanctuary and the White Castle, we have decided that for this operation, in addition to the Council's quest points, we will offer thirty percent of the value you salvage as a bonus reward."

The legendary powerhouses rejoiced upon hearing this, and even the reinforcing Silver Dragon Scholar, Hegel, and the others looked slightly taken aback.

Aside from the people of the White Castle and the Holy Sanctuary, the other supporting legendary powerhouses had all accepted the quest issued by the Council, aiming to earn points based on their contributions.

Now, according to the promise of the White Castle and the Holy Sanctuary, they were receiving extra compensation on top of the points. It was equivalent to completing two quests at once. How could the crowd not be delighted?

Seeing the legendary powerhouses looking thrilled and whispering among themselves, the White Dragon Lord nodded inwardly. Heavy rewards invariably produced brave men; the legendary powerhouses would surely put in far more effort now.

With the arrival of the invaders, Master Tier powerhouses had lost the qualification to explore for resources on their own. They had to be led by legendary powerhouses to execute all sorts of tasks, such as investigating what types of veins others were exploiting, scouting new areas, engaging in combat missions, and so on.

Next came dividing the legendary powerhouses. The second team, centered around the Holy Sanctuary, was assigned sixty-two legendary powerhouses, while the third team received seventy-five.

Like the Holy Sanctuary, the first team led by the White Dragon Lord received sixty-two legendary powerhouses, including Willy, Elena, Gurgalu, and the other legends of the White Castle.

It was worth mentioning that Felicia had been left behind to guard their home in the Overseas Archipelago. This was primarily due to her impulsive and hot-tempered personality, compounded by the fact that she had been asleep when the White Castle held its meeting.

"Members of the first team! Follow me!"

The White Dragon Lord led his many team members to a nearby clearing. The situation in the Luoduoluo Plane was complicated, so they needed to delegate tasks within their team.

"Everyone, I'm sure you all know me, so I'll skip the self-introduction. Since you have joined my team, I will do my utmost to ensure your safety. To make a long story short, let's start dividing into groups."

"Elena! Gurgalu! You! You! You! Step forward!"

Elena, Gurgalu, and the three singled-out legendary powerhouses moved to the front of the formation. Aside from Elena and Gurgalu, the other three were Mages at the Peak Legendary Rank.

Reality was not a game that required balance. Magic wielded immense destructive power, and Legendary Mages possessed a vast array of methods and abundant knowledge. All of this made Legendary Mages far stronger than other classes, save for a few special classes.

But time was limited right now, and the White Dragon Lord didn't want to waste it finding out if anyone in the crowd possessed a special class.

"You five will each lead nine others to form a squadron. From there, form squads of three. A three-person squad will be the most basic unit for executing missions."

"Yes!" the five replied in unison.

Afterward, the legendary powerhouses began grouping up voluntarily—balancing their classes, teaming up with acquaintances, and volunteering their services. The five squad leaders quickly gathered their members.

"The remaining fourteen will act as an emergency support team and stay with me in the Floating City."

With a single sentence, the White Dragon Lord decided the task for the remaining fourteen people.

"Now, everyone, enter the Floating Tower."

The White Dragon Lord took the lead and walked into the Floating Tower. Once everyone was inside, he activated the teleportation, sending the Floating Tower to his designated sector.

Under the pale leaden clouds unique to the Necromantic Plane, the Floating Tower landed on the pitch-black ground, kicking up a ring of dark dust.

"Commence operations according to the plan!"

Inside the Floating Tower, the White Dragon Lord's voice echoed in everyone's ears. The five squad leaders led their respective members and flew off in all directions.

The White Dragon Lord stood in the control room at the top of the Floating Tower, gripping the tower's Control Core. The Cat-Woman and the Ancient Gold Dragon stood beside him, watching the crowd fly away in all directions.

Their forces were executing resource exploration missions, aiming to harvest as many high-value resources as possible before the plunderers arrived.

The Cat-Woman watched Elena's receding figure.

"Are you really that confident in her?"

The White Dragon Lord glanced in the direction Elena was flying. She had already flown far away, leaving him to see only a blurry white silhouette.

"She is no longer a child."

The Cat-Woman remained silent. Like the Ancient Gold Dragon, she closed her eyes to rest and build up her energy. The plunderers could arrive at any moment, and they needed to be ready to provide support on a moment's notice.

Half an hour later, the White Dragon Lord received a message from a subordinate.

"High-energy reaction detected at coordinates (69871, 78521, 9962475)."

"Willy, prepare Excavation Assistant No. 1!"

Down in the hall, the White Dragon Lord's voice echoed in Willy's ears.

"Yes!"

While sending the message to Willy, the White Dragon Lord activated the teleportation once more, moving the Floating Tower to the given coordinates. By the time he arrived, the reporting squad had already left; he could only see three retreating figures far off in the sky.

Willy had exited the Floating Tower a step ahead, flying downward and directly unleashing a massive swarm of puppets to begin digging.

"Brother! It's a Misisi Magic Gemstone Vein!"

"Excellent! Keep digging!"

Mixixi Magic Gems were a high-value resource, so the White Dragon Lord recorded a merit for the squad that discovered it.

The Floating Tower hovered beside the excavation pit as raw magic gemstones were gathered up piece by piece and transferred inside.

Time slowly ticked by. Inside the Floating Tower, the White Dragon Lord successively sensed several teleportation ripples. These were the fluctuations of plunderers teleporting into the Luoduoluo Plane.

In the control room, the expressions of the three High-Tier Legends gradually grew solemn. They hadn't received any distress signals from their team members yet, but that was simply because the plunderers' targets were also the various mineral veins.

Before encountering resources worth fighting over, the forces of Nordhill and the invaders could still maintain peace. But the moment an enticing enough resource appeared, the Luoduoluo Plane would transform into a chaotic battlefield. When that time came, they would have their hands full.

"Hm?"

The White Dragon Lord turned to look behind him. A thousand meters away from the Floating Tower, a teleportation energy ripple appeared in the sky. A moment later, a dozen legendary powerhouses of various shapes and sizes materialized in midair.

This legendary group contained humans and Orcs, as well as two strange, frog-like creatures the White Dragon Lord had never seen before.

A ragtag band!

This was the White Dragon Lord's first thought upon seeing the group, and it was indeed the truth. This squad didn't have a single High-Tier Legend among them.

Seeing the panicked invaders trying to flee, the White Dragon Lord issued an order to the emergency squad inside the Floating Tower.

"Kill them!"

The team, having long since been itching for a fight, swarmed out all at once. Meanwhile, the White Dragon Lord rapidly chanted an incantation.

Enfeeble!

Slow!

Anti-Air Domain!

Amplified by the Floating Tower, the power of the White Dragon Lord's magic was multiplied several times over. The legendary invading squad plummeted from the sky like dumplings dropped into a boiling pot.

This much height wasn't enough to kill legendary powerhouses on impact. However, the numerous enemies rushing right at them, coupled with the Magic Tower a thousand meters away, plunged the debuffed invaders into absolute despair.

A moment later, the first agonizing scream reached the White Dragon Lord's ears.

After that, the screams rang out endlessly, yet the White Dragon Lord's heart remained completely undisturbed.

He had absolutely no intention of letting these invaders, who were trying to snatch a piece of his cake, off the hook.

Besides, while a squad of a dozen legendary powerhouses would naturally be crushed by a main force, they posed a massive threat to any small team out executing missions.

Since the enemy had conveniently teleported into the vicinity of the Floating Tower, the White Dragon Lord didn't mind claiming their little lives at all.

Before long, the screams faded away. The Nordhill combatants who had hunted down the enemies returned to the Floating Tower one by one. A small number were expressionless, but most had the corners of their mouths turned up in slight smiles. Willy, too, wore a look of joy.

According to the battlefield rule of "whoever gets the kill gets the loot and the credit," it seemed Willy had secured quite a good haul.

This was also a perk the White Dragon Lord had intentionally left for the emergency squad.

In the hall of the Floating Tower, a Mage pulled out a Greatsword and announced loudly.

"A legendary Greatsword! Who wants to trade?"