Chapter 376: Chapter 376: Puppet Power
However, given the risky situation they had just witnessed, who dared to attack the gate now? That would be practically suicidal.
So, it wasn’t just the players who were hesitant. Even that female Goblin didn’t seem in a hurry to advance. Instead, she turned her head away as if she hadn’t seen a thing.
At that moment, the Goblin’s cold-hearted nature and prioritization of self-interest were already pushed to the extreme. Moreover, she didn’t ask anything about the wealth of the male Goblin.
Being a Goblin, one would surely have buried their wealth at different locations. But she didn’t ask; she knew that this male Goblin would rather die than part with even a single Gold Coin.
This was typical of Goblins, a race that would readily sell its own mothers if the price was right.
That being said, this batch of Goblins who had joined the Dark Camp did so unwillingly.
In the Ancient God World, Goblins were divided into five major factions. These factions were distinguished not by race, but by wealth.
The rulers of these five factions were known as Trade Princes, each of them running different ventures, all of which were monopolistic and incredibly lucrative.
Li Yao had once acquired a blueprint from one of these factions, a risky venture capital firm.
The Goblins who joined the Dark Camp were known as the “Rustwater” faction. They used to live on a prosperous island in the Endless Sea. The island was rich in resources, and they thrived on their studies in engineering and maritime trade. But one day, a massive tsunami struck the island due to a fierce battle between an ancient Sea God and the Water Elemental Lord.
The Trade Prince, along with a certain portion of his tribe, managed to escape to a barren coastline, having lost everything.
The Trade Prince, too, was penniless. Even their ships which had survived the tsunami were now in a state of disrepair and unfit to set sail.
The Trade Prince was in despair. If the other princes found out about his plight, they would surely ridicul him. After all, the Rustwater faction had no base of operations on the continent and no place to call home anymore.
Just when he was at his lowest, he unintentionally got wind of a piece of news. The Dark Camp had suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Light Faction’s Mechanical Legion, and were in dire straits.
Decisively, the Trade Prince contacted the Grand Chieftain of the Dark Camp. After several days of negotiations and bargaining…
The deal that was struck demanded the Dark Camp pay him a large sum of money every now and then. In exchange, he sold out the entire Rustwater faction of Goblins to the tribe.
These Goblins were now in the service of the Dark Camp. Besides paying large sums to the Trade Prince, they also paid considerable amounts to the upper-ranking Goblins. As for the lower-ranking Goblins, they weren’t as lucky. The skilled workers still got wages, while the common laborers were treated no better than Orc laborers.
It was easy to imagine how the various races of the Dark Camp treated them. They merely tolerated the Goblins’ presence in their cities in order to exploit their skill in crafting War Machines.
If they were treating members of other races within the Dark Camp in this way, Li Yao obviously wasn’t going to be soft-hearted. Especially since the party in question were Goblins.
For them, human feelings were worth less than a single copper coin. Promises meant nothing. As for their lives, if someone paid a gold coin for it, they would gladly sell it. Just like the merchant Li Yao killed earlier, who was even willing to pay gold in exchange for his life.
Naturally, since Gnomes and Goblins were sworn enemies, if Li Yao did anything to assist the Goblins, he could kiss his own status goodbye.
“Gold coins…I just need to complete this mission, and I’ll have enough to upgrade to Viscount. And you think I’m going to die here?”
A sense of confusion flashed through the eyes of the male Goblin, and as time went on his body gradually faded, as if he never existed in this world.
As he disappeared, another gate materialized in the form of a stone door. A silver light darted into Li Yao’s forehead, briefly rendering him immobile.
“Now’s my chance. Kill him,” the female Goblin had been waiting for this moment, and the instant Li Yao was immobilized, her mount quickly threw two round bombs towards him.
The players behind her also snapped back to their senses and rushed forward.
“I saw that coming.” Li Yao sprang his eyes wide open.
The twin barrels of the Silent Reaper 4000 blew flame, each hitting one incoming bomb. The two bombs detonated directly above the group of Dark Camp players who were charging forward.
Boom…
Two balls of fire burst in the air, setting several players alight. Two cloth-armoured characters were instantly killed, while healers worked frantically to sustain the life of the melee fighters who had been set on fire.
Indeed, bombs didn’t discriminate between friend and foe. Moreover, they weren’t part of the NPC’s team.
This was one of the obstacles that Mechanical Hunters and engineering students faced – unless it was a skill, the shrapnel from the friendly fire could cause damage to their allies too.
Jump Shock!
Li Yao’s body shot up high into the air and then landed heavily. A shock wave sent several nearby players flying into the air, instantly killing them.
The Mechanical Puppet controlled by Li Yao launched a charge straight into the crowd of enemies in the back row.
Blade Storm!
The huge Mechanical Puppet spun like a tornado. Except for the mage who was able to blink out of the way, other brittle characters couldn’t avoid Li Yao’s attack and were instantly killed.
But the blinking mages could not escape either. They were shot down by the Silent Reaper 4000, which was constantly firing from behind. No one noticed that Li Yao had multitasked, taking control of the Silent Reaper while controlling the warrior puppet at the same time. That’s why the Silent Reaper was able to successfully hit every target.
In just a flash, before Li Yao’s protection squad could rush over, the team of more than a dozen from the enemy side had been eradicated by Prairie Fire.
“You think you can kill me just like that? Let’s have a match,” Li Yao looked at the remaining three or four players and said, “I’ll leave the remaining few nobodies to you, the new recruits. Don’t let them disturb me.”
“Rest assured, Master. This is but a trifle to us,” War Horizon and the others had experienced a great deal of emotional ups and downs. Not a single one of them had expected Li Yao to be so formidable.
It wasn’t just about his overwhelming power; the female Goblin was a middle-level boss too, but she couldn’t bring her fighting prowess into full play in front of Li Yao.
Li Yao, on the other hand, managed to effortlessly obliterate their forces. That was what they called tactics, the gap, the difference. It was this moment that gave them the real confidence of completing this extremely difficult mission.
“You really think you can bully me, huh? Momenla, kill him.”
Roar…
Like a gorilla, the monstrous beast roared skyward, transforming into a blurry figure and charging towards Li Yao.
Thousand Catty Slash!
The two huge blades combined into a gigantic alloy sword that fiercely collided with the incoming beast.
Boom…
As its name suggested, the Thousand Catty Slash had the power of a thousand catties. The collision caused a deafening boom.
The beast Momenla’s claws were a bloody mess and his body was launched away like a cannonball, while Li Yao controlled the Mechanical Puppet to perform a backward somersault to dispel the force of the impact.
Neither Momenla nor the female Goblin had such advanced techniques, though. They ended up crashing directly into the stone wall of the hall. The beast was embedded halfway into the wall…