Chapter 571: Chapter 571: Decision
The Ancient Gods had a lot of fascinating settings, adding a bit of a challenge, but with great rewards to match.
For instance, during the monster raids, if, after building the Guild Hall, an application was made, depending on the level gap between the monster and the player, killing the besieging monster would provide varying levels of experience bonuses.
But if one is fully prepared, having put up city walls and only then applying, then the bonus is at its lowest.
The first scenario, while known to everyone, was not taken lightly for the sake of some experience points—it was no joke to risk the guild’s base.
Naturally, the first situation almost never happened; the second was more common. When choosing a base, one would try as much as possible to avoid areas with many monsters or high-level monsters.
The way Starfire Guild played the game was truly unique and seemed like a farce to many players.
It was this abnormal strategy that no one would usually choose that led to Starfire’s successful plot.
Whether they were enemies or allies, killing the besieging monsters wouldn’t count towards their personal tally. Instead, the monsters killed would accumulate and experience would be distributed after the siege ended.
The System would calculate individual scores to give corresponding experience; essentially, it was a ‘more work, more rewards’ algorithm.
However, the difference wouldn’t be too much, it would typically follow the principle of equal distribution.
In addition, the drop rate of siege monsters was a bit higher. Although it wasn’t a multiple increase, the dropped items were no small amount.
Experience, like spoils of war, would accumulate throughout the guild’s battles, and only after it all ended could the spoils be properly distributed.
The problem now was, even though the United Army were fighting monsters, and would get some spoils, their losses dwarfed what they stood to gain.
On Starfire’s side, they watched the total accumulated experience number soar and were breaking out into grins.
On the flip side, several guilds were fuming in frustration. They had never before encountered something so maddening or annoying.
Starfire was surrounded by swamps, the United Army only had one path they could take and under the protection of the ballistas, they were utterly unable to advance.
First, they would have to brace a round of attacks from the ballistas, then Starfire would deal them blow after blow.
Because they had observed the power of the ballistas, they didn’t dare to amass their forces too much in clusters. But not being able to form tight formations also meant their attacks were largely ineffective, making it easy for Starfire to defend.
But the United Army did not have such a leisurely time under the onslaught of the monsters; these monsters were generally high level, with even the lowest ones at a dozen or so levels. But there were even more monsters that were over twenty levels high.
Of course, even without the pressure from the levels of the monsters, the endless masses alone was enough to cause them significant strain. As the monsters attacked, players kept getting killed, resulting in continual loss of personnel.
“No good, if this goes on, we’ll just become Starfire’s pawns. We have to think of something else,” Think Tank grumbled loudly.
The monsters they were dealing with on their side were mainly Naga warriors and Murlocs. Regardless of their levels, these monsters were incredibly intelligent and had both ranged and melee fighters.
Unlike the south, although the levels of the monsters were high, they were all beasts. No matter how big their hoard, only the monsters at the frontlines could attack them.
For them, it was different—the Murloc Shamans’ Lightning Chains, female Naga warriors’ Ice Spells, in combination with the male Naga warriors’ rush attack, made them suffer greatly.
Originally, they had been dealt the worst hand when they first arrived, and to make things worse, they were being attacked the hardest by the monsters. If the battle line were to collapse, it would certainly start from the north.
“No good, send out the Mage Army again, open up more passages, and intensify attacks on them,” Crazy Outburst realized they couldn’t continue like this.
If this situation was maintained, not only would they fail to destroy Starfire, they would also be aiding Starfire through this crises. If this were to happen, it would be better to not resist at all, let the monsters kill them directly, and let Starfire face the wrath of the monsters themselves.
However, he was unsure now, what if they died and Starfire managed to overcome the crisis? Then their deaths would have been in vain and since the plan wasn’t successful, their commission would be significantly reduced. This was not a situation he wanted to see.
His ideal situation would of course be to breach Starfire’s base, then kill their way out fully intact. If worst comes to worst, they should at least see with their own eyes the destruction of Starfire’s base. That way, even if they were to die, it would have been worth it.
Unbeknownst to him, Li Yao had also thought of this. He too was gambling, if they simply chose to commit suicide, then the pressure on Starfire would be immense. Li Yao didn’t have full confidence either, after all there were too many monsters and they were high in level, while Starfire’s military force was only 3000 strong, which was really too few.
“It’s too dangerous for the Mage Army to show up now,” Crazy Think Tank said, “Their stone throwers haven’t taken action yet.”
“We can’t care about that anymore. Unless, do you have a better strategy?” Crazy Outburst said irritably on the command channel.
The other chiefs all remained silent, unable to think of a better strategy. After considering for a moment, Crazy Think Tank sighed helplessly.
“So, let’s give it a try; I bet they aren’t familiar with the operation of the stone throwers.”
The Mage Legion once again made their move, hoping to open new passages and increase the pressure on Starfire.
“Hahaha, we’ve been waiting for you bunch of turtles to show up.” Seeing the Earth Mages and Ice Mages show up, Guardian Angel said excitedly, “Prepare the stone throwers; let them taste the gift we’ve prepared.”
“It all comes down to this. Whether the stone throwers are accurate or not could decide the outcome of the battle,” The tanuki was, at this point, deep within the Starfire base. And in a short span of time, not a few broadcasters had been killed by the monsters.
Amidst everyone’s anticipation and curses, Starfire’s stone throwers fired in unison.
“Damn, it’s not fire, it’s gas?”
Seeing the ammunition giving off a consistent green light, everyone was extremely puzzled.
But very soon, they stopped wondering and Crazy Outburst’s eyes lit up with delight, because he could perceive that the ammunition wasn’t very concentrated.
Boom, boom, boom…
The explosions weren’t all large, and there wasn’t any earth-shattering sound or display of force.
“Hahaha, so this is your trump card—the stone thrower, it’s laughable,” they laughed.
They could of course laugh because the launched ammunition had only hit a few unlucky people. There wasn’t any real harm done. Consequently, the United Army burst into derisive laughter.
“They truly know not what they do.” Guardian Angel was very satisfied with the way the ammunition landed.
Just as the United Army wanted to ignore this and continue creating accessible pathways, many people started screaming in pain and collapsed on the spot.
Then, the screams started becoming more and more frequent, and before everyone’s startled eyes, more and more people began screaming and collapsing.
“What’s going on?”
Crazy Outburst was going mad, even if it was toxic, toxins couldn’t possibly be this potent, it was insane…