The forces Lin Mo had built through his clone had finally come in handy.
His efforts in training the clone over this period had not been in vain.
[Meanwhile, in Oracle]
[Inferno City]
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless beams of white light descended one after another.
After players bearing the Golden Age and Ironblood guild tags logged in, under the personal leadership of their guild leaders, Gao Han and Ironblood Ruthless, the two guilds marched out through the south gate of Inferno City and gathered toward the Dark Underground City.
The massive procession attracted the attention of countless independent players both inside and outside the city.
"What's going on? Did something happen?"
"Who knows? When the big guilds are doing something, small fry like us should stay as far away as possible!"
———
[At the Same Time, Offline]
Lin Mo, Ning Xi, and Zhao Lingyun had already gotten into the car heading back to the hotel.
Although Golden Age and Ironblood together had over six thousand players, and after this period of development every one of them had become elite players at the forefront of Inferno City, and although Lin Mo's clone and the Shadow Sword God Lu Ye were there to lead them, the last time they entered the Divine Tomb instance, Nether had already shown how thoroughly he prepared in advance.
There was no guarantee that Nether and Frost Dance hadn't made similar preparations this time.
Besides, Nether's strength wasn't something ordinary players could handle.
So Lin Mo also had to get there as quickly as possible.
———
[Inside Oracle]
[North of Inferno City]
In the darkness stood a vast underground city.
It was the level 75 Dark Underground City (Gold I).
Black mist shrouded the area around the city.
Large groups of players with the Genesis guild tag were scattered throughout the mist in teams of three or five, fighting the level 70 monsters spread throughout it: Black Demons.
At present, the average level of players in Inferno City had reached 58 to 59.
The stronger players among the second-tier and first-tier ranks had gradually broken past level 60.
Genesis was also considered a first-tier guild in Inferno City.
So every Genesis player present was around level 60, and neither their levels nor their strength could be considered weak.
Even so, facing level 70 Black Demons that were a full ten levels above them, they were under unprecedented pressure.
Moreover, they had spent the entire day in the second floor of the Divine Might Tower killing level 56 to 60 monsters.
Now they had suddenly jumped to level 70 high-risk monsters, making it hard to adapt.
Amid one scream after another, white lights symbolizing player deaths kept flashing throughout the area.
As they fought the Black Demons with everything they had, the Genesis players couldn't help complaining.
"Damn it! We're only level 60, and they're making us fight level 70 monsters! They're treating us like cannon fodder!"
"These monsters are way too high level! Every team needs a healer, a tank, and crowd control. Mages and archers also need armor break and penetration skills. Even fully buffed, we can barely break their defense! Fighting a normal monster feels like teaming up to kill a boss!"
"Even if it's just a game, the penalty of losing a level every time you die is unbearable! At our current stage, it'll take at least half a day to get that level back!"
"This is basically trading our lives for these monsters! If we keep this up, the losses will be huge! Besides, what's the point of killing them anyway?"
"I know what the point is! It serves as a transition and expresses the author's homesickness!"
"Brother Kai, how about we pull out?"
Liu Kai, the level 60 Marksman, loosed an arrow with a whoosh, finishing off a Black Demon that his guildmates had already weakened.
Hearing all the complaints around him, he could only sigh helplessly, "Pull out my ass!"
"Retreat isn't an option!"
"Even if we can't hold on, we still have to!"
"My old man gave a direct order!"
"If we don't finish killing these Black Demons, all of your bonuses this month are canceled!"
Liu Kai simply couldn't understand it.
His father, Liu Tianzhi, had never interfered in games before. He didn't even care much about the family, solving everything with money while focusing only on his real-world company.
So why had he suddenly gone crazy tonight and ordered him to clear every monster outside the Dark Underground City before midnight, threatening to freeze all his bank cards if he failed?
He couldn't even figure out what the point of killing these monsters was.
In fact, he suspected his father didn't know either.
Someone had simply told him to do it.
At that moment, one of his subordinates asked suspiciously, "Brother Kai, do you think Chairman Liu is just doing something absurd?"
"Absurd my ass!", Liu Kai said, looking like he was about to cry, "Out of my ten bank cards, six have already been frozen."
"Come on, brothers! Give it everything you've got! Otherwise, our Genesis guild won't even compare to one toe of Chaotic World, and from now on we'll be beaten down by Wang Junjie forever!"
———
[Outside the Mist]
In a secluded area, Nether, Ji Ningshuang, and Zhang Long, who stood beside Nether, quietly observed the entire situation.
White lights continued flashing inside the mist.
But as the Black Demons were gradually killed off, the mist surrounding the Dark Underground City slowly began to disperse.
Nether remained silent.
Only a trace of surprise flickered in his glacier-like eyes.
To casually command a five-thousand-member guild from Inferno City and have them willingly become cannon fodder, this "boss" truly wielded considerable authority.
At that moment, Ji Ningshuang checked the time and said casually, "Getting into the underground city before midnight shouldn't be a problem."
"Everything outside the city is just insignificant cannon fodder. The real challenge is inside. Besides, only the two of us can enter the city later."
She looked at Nether and reminded him, "Make your preparations."
While the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole waited behind.
As Nether and Ji Ningshuang watched the situation around the Dark Underground City, not far away, several Chaotic World guild Assassins were also hiding in the shadows, closely monitoring the city.
As the mist ahead gradually dispersed and a magnificent city hidden within slowly came into view, the Assassin Chaotic World Like the Wind quickly reported the situation to Wang Junjie in real time.
"Brother Jie, Genesis is almost done clearing the monsters in the mist."
"There's a city hidden inside that mist."
———
Meanwhile, on the second floor of the Divine Might Tower, still grinding monsters, Wang Junjie's eyes lit up the moment he received the message from his subordinate.
He burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! So it really is a hidden map?"
"Damn it! That bastard Liu Kai actually tried to secretly claim a hidden map behind my back."
"How could I let you have something that good all to yourself?"
As he spoke, Wang Junjie shouted to the Chaotic World guild members scattered across the hills, "Brothers! Come with me! Let's slaughter those Genesis dogs and steal their opportunity!"
"Brother Jie, what about the Divine Might Tower?"
"We'll wipe out the Genesis dogs first, take that hidden map, then come back to grind the Divine Might Tower! Once we get the resources from the hidden map, everyone gets a share! If there's meat, we'll all eat together!"
The moment those words came out, every Chaotic World player became fired up.
"Doesn't it feel like Brother Jie has become a different person ever since we came to the level-two main city?"
"Yeah! Before, aside from giving us money, no matter what good resources he got, he'd never think about us. He'd keep everything for himself! Now he's not only giving us money, but equipment and resources too!"
"Having a boss like this is amazing! I swear, even if one day the game devours reality and the sky falls, I'll follow Brother Jie to the death and never betray him!"
"Me too!"