Thump, thump, thump.
Even with the enemy at the gates, the daily life of Braavos citizens continued largely undisturbed. Most people had full confidence in their impregnable city defenses.
Even the Sealord believed the enemy would retreat within a month, perhaps even sooner.
Once the Stag King across the Narrow Sea received his loan from the Iron Bank and led his fleet across to strike Pentos directly, the offensive and defensive roles would swap.
The patrolling soldiers were quite lax.
With countless islands crisscrossing in front of them as natural barriers, they were only vigilant against petty thieves, completely unprepared for the impending assault.
"Two patrol squads pass here. There's a three-minute vacuum between them. During this gap, no dilly-dallying. Everyone rush in together. Before we secure the target, 'Poseidon,' try not to make a sound.
If anything goes wrong, kill every living soul that blocks our path. Leave no one behind!"
Wheel-King loaded a bolt into his crossbow and turned to address his team.
Seeing everyone nod in understanding, Wheel-King turned back to watch the Sealord's Palace, where the two patrol squads were just crossing paths.
"Go!"
The moment arrived quickly. Wheel-King waved his hand sharply, and the fifteen players of the squad burst from the street corner like cheetahs, pouncing toward the Palace.
The interior of the palace was spacious. The player squad entered smoothly, and luckily, no guards spotted them.
The laxity of the Sealord's personal guard was evident.
Following the informant's intelligence, the squad moved with clear purpose straight toward the Sealord's chambers, encountering not a single guard along the way.
It wasn't until they reached the door of the Sealord's room that the player squad ran headfirst into a patrol of guards turning the corner.
"Who goes there!"
"Assassins!"
The guard captain drew his longsword, immediately leading his men in an attempt to capture or kill the black-clad intruders.
"Do it! Leave no one breathing!"
Wheel-King didn't hesitate. He raised his crossbow—at this range, missing was impossible—and shot the guard captain point-blank in the face. The man collapsed with a muffled grunt, dead before he hit the floor.
Fifteen players fired simultaneously. At least seven or eight crossbows loosed their bolts. The patrol squad barely had time to shout a warning before they were wiped out, not even getting close to the players.
Inside the Sealord's room, there was a commotion. Someone was moving furniture to barricade the door.
"Move fast! Break in! Use the explosives!"
Wheel-King shouted his orders.
A player darted forward, shoved the door, and finding it blocked, didn't waste time. He pulled a satchel charge made by the Grenadier Corps from his bag, lit the fuse, and dove out of the way.
"Kill!"
Nearby patrols were closing in. Wheel-King calmly directed his brothers to suppress them with crossbow fire. One player even threw down his crossbow and pulled out a repeating crossbow—a heavy-duty toy resembling a Zhuge Nu—spraying bolts and dropping several guards.
BOOM!
The door was blasted open by the charge.
Sealord Ferrego stared in bewilderment at the severed head of his First Sword, Qarro, which had landed at his feet.
What is happening?
A group of men in black rushed into his room, roughly pinning him to the floor and binding his hands with rope. Every second was a humiliation.
His face turned red, then drained of all color.
Pfft!
A mouthful of blood sprayed out, startling the players.
One player reached out to check his breathing, then turned back to the captain with a surprised look.
"What is it?!"
Wheel-King, who was blocking the doorway, asked urgently.
"Captain, he... he seems to be a little bit dead!" The player replied.
"Fuck! At a time like this, he dares to play dead? Take him anyway!" Wheel-King cursed under his breath. Seeing the chaos outside, he shouted at the players kneeling on the Sealord.
The players understood. Even though Ferrego had been dead for a while, they acted as if nothing had happened, tying him up and dragging him like a dead dog.
"Clear the way!"
At Wheel-King's shout, seven or eight black objects, sparking with fuses, flew out of the room toward the encroaching guards.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several explosions rang out, and a group of guards outside were instantly blasted off their feet.
"Damn, these 'Sky-Shaking Thunders' work great!"
The players marveled. As expected of the Grenadier Corps' factory—the power was basically like a hand grenade.
"Charge!"
Seeing the guards outside stunned by the explosions, Wheel-King waved his hand and led the charge out.
At the same time, Team Two began creating chaos in the city. They split into two groups and threw "Sky-Shaking Thunders" and satchel charges into the barracks of the Company of the Cat and the Long Lances.
By now, these two ragtag mercenary groups were already fighting each other in confusion.
Team Two's mission to create chaos was absurdly effective.
On the way to the Fishmarket, Team One was constantly pursued, but the enemy clearly hesitated to fire arrows for fear of hitting the "hostage" Sealord.
But being chased like this wasn't sustainable. Seeing that Team Two hadn't arrived to rendezvous yet, Wheel-King signaled two players to stay behind and delay the enemy.
The two players, strapped with satchel charges, Wildfire, and the last few Sky-Shaking Thunders, turned and charged back at the pursuers.
"Eat this!" Just as the two players lit the fuses of their bombs, they were turned into pincushions by a volley of arrows from the pursuers.
Veteran players were used to this. They expected to just spend some Kingdom Coins to respawn on the spot and show the enemy their "immortal" trick. But to their horror, they found the respawn interface only offered "Pentos" and "Frontline Barracks" as options.
Fuck! The devs screwed me!
Realizing that after the update, players could no longer corpse rush, the two "ghosts" floating in mid-air could only watch helplessly as their characters' corpses detonated where they lay.
BOOM! BOOM!
The earth-shaking explosions made even Wheel-King and the others who had run far ahead turn back to look.
Although the two players didn't take any enemies with them directly, the wall of fire created by the exploding Wildfire successfully blocked the pursuers.
Not long after, the group met up with Team Two. Leaving Team Two at the perimeter of the Fishmarket as a decoy to ensure safety, Wheel-King's group successfully made contact with a merchant ship flying the flag of Lys.
On the ship, Groleo, Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy, nervously ordered his men to bring Wheel-King's group aboard.
He had actively sought this mission. They say wealth is found in danger. Years ago, he had single-handedly killed men in foreign lands to steal dragon eggs. Today, he dared to risk his life again to prove his loyalty to the King.
If I dare to risk my life today, tomorrow I will dare to lead twenty warships to ram the Usurper's fleet across the Narrow Sea!