The Legendary Mechanic, page 839
Sisyphus hurriedly contacted his Vice President, who had led the team to attack the Hex Armed Forces, through the guild channel.
“Quickly come back to reinforce us. This old man here can’t hold them back for long!”
“Boss, we can’t withdraw at all. The Hex Armed Forces are chasing us too closely. Unless we all die, there’s no way for us to return. The average number of deaths in our main force has reached 5.14. If we go up by one more point, we’ll be even more passive. Right now, even if we manage to go back, our ships and weapons will also be captured by the enemy!”
“We’re already at this stage. If we lose a bit, it can’t be helped. It’s more important to protect our base!”
“We can’t! The enemy has already made preparations in advance. If we all try to return via dying, then they’ll definitely push the momentum to attack our home base, joining hands with the Reverse Crusade!”
Hearing this, Sisyphus frantically scratched his head.
As they had been caught off guard, the situation now was two against one, and the Apocalypse Foundation alone could not handle it. He could only ask for help from the other guild alliances that were on the Limitless Financial Group’s front.
“I hope that our reinforcements can arrive in time. This time, I really suffered a huge loss…”
With a heavy heart, he refocused his eyes back to the real-time battlefield projection, but he froze on the spot.
“W-what is this situation?”
Turning to look at his members and commanders, he found that everyone had the same expression of shock, as though they had come across a ghost.
In the monitoring screen showing the frontal battlefield outside the Mount Gold stronghold, one of the squads of the Reverse Crusade had broken through the defense line and slammed into their troops.
“Instagib[1] them!”
The death squad prepared all their abilities, ready to collectively blast the whole lot of them.
At this moment, all their movement stopped, as the light on their bodies disappeared due to being interrupted.
Not only did it apply to the death squad, but all the Reverse Crusade players had the same reaction, as though the freeze button was pressed simultaneously for them. All their actions were halted, causing the troops to be instantly disconnected and the lineup torn.
On the interface of these players, the same notification appeared.
Sorokin (Manifestation) has used [Mind Shock] on you!
Judgment is in progress… Judgement successful. You cannot control your body for the time being
Your skills are forcibly interrupted, and you have been afflicted with the (Stiffness] status.
In that instant, the situation went through a plot twist. The Reverse Crusade, which was originally beginning to see the light of victory, suddenly plummeted into the abyss, their psychological states suffering a great shock.
At this moment, there were only curses echoing in their heads.
You even called out a Beyond Grade A?
This is cheating!
Are the guilds of the Limitless Financial Group such sore losers?
The short (Stiffness) status condition turned the tides in an instant. The Apocalypse Foundation players did not stop, setting off a burst of explosions to take out a large portion of the players from the Reverse Crusade, reclaiming their battlefront.
The Apocalypse Foundation players were also in shock, not because of the sudden stop of the Reverse Crusade players, but rather because of a notification that they received on their interfaces.
Sorokin (Manifestation) has used (Spiritual Inspiration) on you!
You have entered the [Inspired) state. +10% all Attributes.
Sorokin (Manifestation) has used (Combat Excitement) on you! +18% to Damage, +12% to Defense
“What’s happening?”
“Where did the bonuses come from? Did someone use a Character Summon Card?” “That’s not right. Even if the Character Summon Card is used, the name of the user won’t be changed!”
The troops at the frontline could not understand it, but this was not the time to think. They hurriedly struck to kill the enemy instead.
Before long, most of the troops from Reverse Crusade had died. Everyone thought that this was a desperate situation but did not expect to solve the threat in such a manner.
Sisyphus had yet to recover his wits. At this time, a call came from his Vice President, his tone one of surprise. “President! We beat the Hex Armed Forces! I don’t know why, but their movements suddenly halted!” “It can’t be, right?” Sisyphus hurriedly asked the various commanders, only then figuring out what had happened. He was bewildered. What situation is this? Did Sorokin arrive? But we didn’t call him! Why did he come to join in the fun?
Could it be that he saw us in danger and took the initiative to help?
Sisyphus’ eyes widened. There was nothing on his face that represented the joy of making a successful counterattack.
In normal times, they might have been touched, but right now…
What business is it of yours? Your excessive worrying will be the death of us all!
The next day…
“Look at the iron hooves,
“Trampling across the myriad mountains and rivers,
“I’m standing on the edge of the wind,
“Holding tightly the rotation of the sun and moon.”
Han Xiao hummed[2] while walking out the bathroom.
With only a towel wrapped around his waist, his toned, sturdy upper body was exposed, with the magic circuit on his chest akin to a glowing dark blue tattoo, flickering with each breath.
A pinnacle Beyond Grade A could basically forego rest, but Han Xiao had always attached importance to a combination of work and rest. In the past few days, he had created seven to eight sets of King mechanical suits, so he decided that he would not be doing any assembly today. Without adjusting his body temperature to evaporate the water, he simply wiped his body dry before kicking back to swipe the forums. The moment he entered the forum section, his expression turned weird. “Apocalypse Foundation violated the rules, inviting Beyond Grade A helpers? Aren’t they part of the Limitless Financial Group’s guild alliances?”
Han Xiao entered the post and saw that the replies had gone into the tens of millions.
The content of the post was basically the Hex Armed Forces and the Reverse Crusade condemning the Apocalypse Foundation. After a day of fermenting, this incident had resulted in a storm within the player community. Countless players were filled with indignation and accused the Apocalypse Foundation of violating their rules.
“It’s too much. We were actually going to win. I didn’t expect that the Apocalypse Foundation would be such sore losers, hiring a faction leader and using this method to make a comeback. This is simply cheating!”
“There’s a whole stack of videos and screenshots as evidence. Let’s see how you explain this!”
“That’s right! Yesterday, someone even tried to clean up the mess, saying that this was the effect of a Character Summon Card. My @ss! Since when was the Character Summon Card able to change the name of the person utilizing it?”
“Such acts that undermine fairness must be severely punished. I propose we cancel the qualification of the Apocalypse Foundation in participating in the war. Since you can’t afford to lose, don’t play!”
The forum was basically full of posts of annoyance. Han Xiao swept through it, seeing the announcement made by the Apocalypse Foundation as well.
“I’m the President of the Apocalypse Foundation Guild Alliance. Things are not what they seem. We did not ask Sorokin for help; he did it himself. This has nothing to do with us. Think about it, guys. We’re clearly aware of the consequences of breaking the rules, so why would we purposely go against them!”
Sisyphus’ post, in the face of the enraged group of players, was like a drop of water in a bucket. Not only was it not convincing, he was even ridiculed in return.
“Hehe, continue crafting this story.” “So, as it turns out, you can invite the Beyond Grade A to help first, then apologize later and absolve yourself of all blame. I’ve learned something today.”
“What, do you think only your side has a Beyond Grade A? Who are you looking down on!”
“You wanna play this game? Men, someone go invite Ancestor Black Star over!”
Many of the players did not accept this statement, but the players on the side of the Limitless Financial Group sort of believed this to some extent. Suddenly, there was a mix of responses.
“It can’t be, right? Sorokin, that old dog, was actually so nosy?”
“This is akin to a time bomb! When it comes to us, then wouldn’t our qualifications to participate be cancelled too?”
“I’ll meekly ask now. Is it still possible to change factions…”
“Level 180 Psychic, my core class skills are all lv.7 and above. Begging for a guild to accept me!”
Sorokin’s actions completely scared off all the players from the Limitless Financial Group. In order to continue participating in the war, the players even wished to switch camps. They did not dare stay any longer in this organization that could backfire on them at any time.
After reading the post, Han Xiao finally figured out what was going on.
“The guilds shouldn’t be lying, so this was likely done of Sorokin’s own initiative. As for his goal… well, he has always been keen on recruiting players, so he probably summarized some rules from watching me and thought of how to increase the attractiveness of his faction.”
After realizing the whole picture, Han Xiao guessed Sorokin’s logic before bursting into laughter. “So, it’s like this… The idiot actually thought that his actions were completely concealed, just using some auxiliary mental abilities to make others think that this was an explosive ability of the Limitless Financial Group players or that they utilized some special spiritual weapon. Normally, they would not be able to link it to him… but the combat information has already betrayed you, you little cheater.”
Han Xiao laughed. Little Soro, ah, Little Soro, you shot yourself in the foot. When you use the wrong method, instead of lifting the prestige of your faction, you will cause a countereffect, giving you a bad reputation among the players.
The worst part about this was, the poor bloke could not even access the forums, so he was still in the dark, unaware that he had been scolded thoroughly by the players.
This is the advantage of information…
Sorokin’s manipulation would no doubt result in some of the players of the Limitless Financial Group leaving. At that time, when the players were cold and lonely, he would use his warm chest to hug them, welcoming them into his faction.
Little So, it’s not me who’s snatching your leeks this time. You handed them to me yourself…
Han Xiao chuckled.
This feeling of earning something while sitting at home was pretty comfortable.
Since his intervention yesterday, Sorokin had been paying attention to the subsequent development, but he could not help but feel puzzled when he did not see the situation he expected.
Based on his reasoning, the Apocalypse Foundation had launched a successful counterattack with his help. The other Immortals would now be amazed by the strength of the Limitless Financial Group, so why did they not show any response?
It was not until the next day that he saw the Apocalypse Foundation reacting. It was not the pursuit of their victory as he expected but them abandoning their base and leaving the planet on a battleship.
“Strange, what’s this reaction?”
In his office, Sorokin gazed at the live broadcast of the news media covering the front lines, and he frowned.
Just as he was feeling puzzled, Sorokin received a pop-up from his own artificial intelligence. One glance caused his heart to skip a beat.
He saw that the pop-up report was full of resignation notices from the Immortals, and this number was rapidly increasing.
“What’s happening? Why are they resigning from the Limitless Financial group?”.
Sorokin had a stunned expression, and as if he had thought of something, he quickly turned back to the live broadcast.
He saw batches of Immortals belonging to the Limitless Financial Group flying out of the stronghold, scattering. Some went to the neutral factions, while others ran to the three mainstream factions, including the Black Star Army. There was no restriction on the operation of players to switch factions on the spot, so one could be beating someone up one day and turn into teammates the next day. This was all allowed in the rules. The Limitless Financial Group, being a galactic consortium, did not pursue faction cohesion in the first place. Those who joined did so because of the high welfare provided, so there was no reluctance for them to switch factions. Now that the first World Server War was destined to be recorded in the Galaxy Chronicles, if they missed this opportunity, there would not be any reward left for them. In order to not be disqualified, the Limitless Financial Group did not hesitate to betray their faction.
“This…”
Seeing this, Sorokin was a little dizzy.
My methods were obviously the same as those of Black Star, so why did I get the opposite effect?
as
That’s not right. That’s not how the script was written!
[1] This is a gaming term referring to one-hit kills.
[2] These are lyrics from “Borrowing 500 Years from Heaven”.
Chapter 1189: Thanks, Little Soro, for the Assist! |
The change in the Limitless Financial Group was just a small episode in the entire national war. After some players changed factions, the heat of this episode quickly subsided, and the various guild alliances redirected their attention to competing against each other.
The battlefield developed day by day, with a large number of players being eliminated. Because the number of resurrections decreased, the surviving guild alliances had become more cautious, not daring to be so aggressive. In addition, because many of the guilds had been eliminated, the battle was not as intense.
Because the Golden Alliance was constantly ranked first on the list, their lead kept on snowballing, and their current advantage was too huge. They were ambushed by the anti-Black Star troops, those from the three Universal Civilizations, and a bunch of loose guild alliances. This was one of their most tragic battles since the beginning of the war.
While the Golden Alliance had an advantage in terms of strength and number of resurrections, they also suffered from a loss in numbers and could not continue to maintain an excellent battle loss ratio. Their average number of deaths jumped from 5.89 to 7.38.
However, the advantages accumulated by the Golden Alliance were too solid, allowing them to maintain their position at the top despite the losses they sustained in this battle. The Golden Alliance’s average deaths did not exceed 6 before this battle, while the averages for the other guild alliances were too high. For example, in second place, the September Council belonging to the three Universal Civilizations saw their average deaths rising from 6.71 to 7.68 after the battle, which was a net win for them, but overall did not allow them to beat the Golden Alliance.
According to the forums, the analysis of average death ratio was at 9 points. Any value higher than that meant that the troops had lost their combat capabilities, and right now, many of the major guild alliances were approaching this number.
Thus, on the sixth day, those who had yet to be eliminated did not wish to rashly start a war. They seemed to tacitly agree to refresh their number of resurrections on the day. Thus, Planet Milton suddenly became quite deserted, with only sporadic battles taking place.
However, when it came to nighttime, the scene suddenly got lively. The various guild alliances began to fight wildly, exploiting the loophole in time.
Because a player that ran out of resurrections within the six days would count as being permanently eliminated, even after the refresh time of six days, they would still be ineligible to continue the battle. Thus, the guilds planned to use troops that still had enough resurrection times to eliminate the ‘seriously wounded’ guilds with an average rate of 9.0 on the sixth night, weakening their opponents’ troops. In this manner, after the resurrection count refreshed in the morning, it would be basically equivalent to having no battle losses.
Thus, the night of the sixth day gave rise to a huge battle royale, where those who wished to live past the night fled in all directions, whereas the ‘healthier’ ones turned into hunters, chasing after the ‘wounded’ with a smile.
Of course, the hunted and the hunter roles were easily swapped, and from time to time, there were hunters who turned into prey and joined the fleeing team. Compared with the tragic and bloody battles the previous few days, the sixth night seemed to be reminiscent of a horror comedy.
But this very night displayed the largest wave of elimination since the start of the war. A full seventy percent of players were sent off that night. On the morning of the seventh day, when the number of resurrections was refreshed, the guild alliances of the three mainstream factions had less than half of their troops left. The other scattered organizations were worse off, leaving only a quarter or even a fifth of their total population.
The plan to solve all battles within six days went through, but the scale of the troops for every guild were also reduced, so the resources that needed to be invested were also reduced. The major guild alliances could only fight with their remaining troops for another six days before they ran out of ammunition and food.
And when it came to the third cycle, that was, the morning of the thirteenth day, there were only six guild alliances left on Planet Milton. The Golden Alliance was one of them, and it was, relatively speaking, the best-preserved power. None of the eliminated players left, instead remaining to watch the battle from above Milton in their spaceships, betting on who would be the final winner.
Because the margin of error had become even lower, everyone started to behave more cautiously. In this situation, it would be difficult to clear out every single one of their opponents, so the six guild alliances unanimously decided to attack each other’s strongholds and remove them to win.
