Chapter 399 - -

Chapter 399: Chapter 396 - "Is it Su Ming’an Commanding?The wind and snow swirled, with the white snowflakes falling on people’s heads.

At this moment, their breathing had become heavier than it had ever been before.

The white breath they exhaled lingered in front of their faces, and as they stared at such a terrifying scene, cold sweat slid down their foreheads, even their hands gripping the hoes and harpoons trembled uncontrollably.

This was an irrepressible instinct, the fear felt in the presence of a Predator—even though they had previously screamed fiercely and their anger towards the invaders soared, they could not help but begin to tremble and feel afraid.

Even the ordinary residents who had never experienced combat were beginning to feel their legs shake, feeling the urge to turn and run away under the murderous intent of the Predator.

...These ruthless killers were indeed appearing right before their eyes.

No longer would there be a barrier for protection, they were about to be deeply engulfed among these Predators.

Everyone became acutely aware of this fact.

For a moment, the team that had been incredibly spirited suddenly fell into a brief lull.

—Until a loud bang erupted.

"Boom—!"

A sound like thunder boomed in their ears.

And the sea monsters that were blocking the barrier entrance, trying to rush in, were instantly torn apart by this force, scattering like torn cloth in the wind, utterly powerless to fight back.

Just this one blow, like clearing the field, swept out a great many of the sea monsters blocked at the door.

The sea monsters that had been menacing and clawing ferociously were completely torn apart by the shock like rag dolls, fragile as soft cloth.

This powerful and spirited strike instantly awakened the bloodlust deep in people’s bones, like sounding the charge for this operation destined to be fraught with heavy casualties and injuries.

The people watched, shocked, as these monsters died, turning their gaze toward the person at the very center of the team who had delivered the attack.

Shadow retracted his hand, lifting the white-glowing Amber Knife with one hand.

"Kill—!"

He shouted, his blade pointing directly to the ground scattered with fragments of sea monsters.

"Charge—!"

Su Ming’an immediately shouted.

His voice, amplified, echoed throughout the entire Pulaya.

Below the city walls, people resting in the shadows stood upright, their eyes following the advancing team. By the river, people stretched their necks and tiptoed, watching the team bathed in the glow of the barrier.

High hill slopes, atop high buildings, bell towers, and even towering trees were already filled with people, watching this group with great anticipation.

Including the players, they all temporarily set aside their actions of collecting clues and began to focus on this battle.

...The success or failure of this team, seen as the hope, would determine the future of Pulaya and their own life or death.

Residents with family members among them held their loved ones and friends tightly, incessantly praying.

A woman standing by the river, clutching a cold flatbread in her hand, murmured to herself.

"Yongzhi..."

"It’s Su Ming’an commanding." In the North City District, on a small river not yet frozen, Eli, a top-ranked player, sat in a boat holding a telescope he had obtained from White City.

Beside him, Bonnie was idly melting the snow in her hand and playing with the fire that trickled from her fingertips.

She didn’t understand why the residents of Pulaya chose to go to battle to defend their homeland, as it seemed to her that staying by the river was safe enough.

"Then this operation should be very secure," his teammate behind him said.

"Luna joined the team, too; I saw her crappy yellow rose armor. She doesn’t do things without certainty, it seems she really trusts Su Ming’an’s decision."

"Maybe we should give it a try as well."

"I’m not an opportunist, I won’t risk it for a bit of experience," Eli put down his binoculars, "Those kinds of actions where life and death are not in one’s own hands... are too dangerous. On the vast battlefield, even if a human individual is strong, they are just a drop in the ocean... I don’t like this feeling of powerlessness when entrusting my life to the group."

"Alright," his teammate crunched on a lollipop with a "crack", "but maybe we can pay attention to the outcome of this battle?"

"Yes, I think no one will ignore it; it’s related to whether we should leave this damned island to avoid meeting God together!"

"Roar——"

The shriek of the sea monsters made the entire city wall shake violently.

Leading the charge like unsheathed swords, the Soul Hunter Ministers dashed to the forefront.

Like a sword tearing through the defense, their movement faced no obstacles; their swords danced airtight, like whirlwinds of blades, completely shredding the approaching sea monsters!

They attracted the fiercest firepower, and as they madly surged forward, they provided a breather for the people rushing out behind them.

Meanwhile, a blue figure quietly broke away from the chaotic crowd and slipped into a jar near the city wall, unnoticed.

"Kill—!"

The straightforward and generous Aiske was the most ferocious in killing.

Perhaps because he was forced to abandon the very "fashionable" iron ring on his body, he was now full of rage, his eyes red with fury, and like avenging his father’s death, he cleared his area of sea monsters, leading those behind him swiftly forward.

At his side, the well-trained Soul Hunters activated a glowing light in their hands.

A milky-white bridge began to extend outward from atop the city wall, structuring and lengthening their path forward.

Since the team started on the city wall, there was a gap from the ground, they chose to construct a bridge in mid-air on the spot for the team to pass through.

Wherever the frontmost team surged, a bridge appeared under their feet, quickly solidifying to support those following.

In this way, passage through the bridge in the sky avoided dispersal, as long as they kept to the white bridge below their feet, they wouldn’t end up moving in different directions like on the ground.

Of course, when the team became chaotic, those on the outer edges ran the risk of being pushed off the bridge. Falling to the vast, unfathomable ground below was basically death. But there was no other way; this was the only method to facilitate the whole team’s advance.

"Ding-dong!"

At this moment, all players in the teams that charged out of the barrier heard this crisp system notification.

The generous experience reward and a whopping 5% combat power increase instantly made the players’ eyes turn red.

As their timidity subsided, they immediately directed their gaze towards the sea monsters, as if they had turned into enticing packets of experience.

Su Ming’an, however, heard a system notification different from the other players.

"Ding Dong!"

Numbers surged continuously, flickering on the system panel, and Su Ming’an’s experience bar began to rise at a visible rate.

Initially, these sea monsters, much weaker than him, couldn’t provide him enough experience, but with the triple experience and the bonus from all the Soul Hunters’ killings, his experience bar, which had been stagnant for a long time, now rocketed up like a rocket.

This was an anticipated situation, and didn’t excite him too much.

What concerned him more was the result of the operation and the actions of the King of Sea Monsters; these were the critical points for clearing the event. The experience bonuses, which made others ecstatic, were for him merely a minor advantage.

Ahead, bridges were continuously being constructed.

And this thousand-person squadron had finally left the safety of the island’s barrier and the city walls behind, fully stepping onto the white bridge.

A flash of white light in Su Ming’an’s hand, and the barrier’s gate behind him immediately closed.

With that, the squadron was thoroughly immersed among the sea monsters, with no room to turn back.

Besides choosing to charge forward continually, making their way to the outermost broken barrier, they could not turn back.

Shouts, roars, and screams added to the chaos within the ranks. The Soul Hunters were better off; even if scared, they bravely fought without screaming out loud. The most chaotic were those residents who carried only shovels and harpoons, their bodies trembling as they ran.

Fortunately, those who dared to join the ranks had some courage. Even surrounded by impenetrable sea monsters, they still pressed forward.

The squad marched forward, finally drawing blood.

After the initial burst of fervor faded, what awaited them was a despair where they could hardly see the sky.

Everywhere, above, below, on the left, on the right, there were nothing but people and sea monsters.

They pounced from all directions, ceaselessly infiltrating; there was always someone unable to watch their sides, their flesh torn, spurting blood.

"Ah—!"

A Soul Hunter who didn’t manage to draw his sword in time fell down, causing immediate chaos as his neighboring soul hunters continued to battle, but the residents beside him screamed in terror.

Gorey, with a neck bitten off, the corpse lay in front of them, and while some garnered the courage to continue running past the body, others were petrified to the ground.

"—Don’t stop! No hesitations! What did I tell you before we left! Run! Start running—!"

Aiske noticed the commotion here and immediately shouted out loud.

His voice was very loud, amplified by a megaphone, audible enough for those still watching to hear.

Some players looked odd, reminded by his shout of the time they ran a thousand meters as their physical education teachers yelled at them.

But many people couldn’t feel the humor; they gritted their teeth and kept running because they knew there was no other way if they didn’t run. The barrier behind them had already closed; they couldn’t turn back.

Other than bowing their heads, running, praying, praying the sea monsters wouldn’t target them, praying their swords were sharp enough, praying a powerful Soul Hunter would intervene on their behalf—there were no other ways to save them!

At such times, an individual was too insignificant.

On a battlefield where it was easy to destroy a team, their individual combat power was vastly suppressed, and all they could rely on, unbelievably, was luck.

Even the Soul Hunter Minister with a combat power of two thousand was deep amongst the swarms of sea monsters, merely focusing on clearing those dazed creatures, unable to care for the heavily injured or dead behind him.

People gradually became isolated islands.

A thick scent of blood steadily permeated the entire team.

Even the strong players were all bloodstained; Luna’s hair was disheveled, and she sported a deep wound on her arm that was visible to the bone, looking extremely terrifying.

It was a wound she received while forcibly swinging her sword to protect a teammate, bitten simultaneously by five sea monsters that had surged up nearby.

Rimu Sheng, a player dressed in black and wielding a long sword, had his blade covered with fine, dense scratches made by the bites of sea monsters, numbering in the hundreds.

Just on this short journey, over a hundred sea monsters had left marks on his blade; had even one of those bites reached his neck, he wouldn’t have made it this far.

Fang Yuanyi, a top player from the Remote Control Legion Guild, nearly crushed the controller in his hand, and before his three summoned flying robots could fire a shot, they were obliterated by the swarm of sea monsters, each destroyed by a single swipe.

He gritted his teeth, heartache over his mechanical darlings, but even he couldn’t turn back at such a time.

Other than praying that the NPCs around him were strong enough to provide timely support, he had no other solution.

...And relative to these top players who still had some combat power, those ordinary NPC residents holding shovels and fishing spears were even worse off.

They might have been prepared mentally, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t be scared. Watching comrades they lived with daily get injured, break legs, fall to the ground and wail, all they could do was keep running forward, watching their comrades die... This psychological burden wasn’t something ordinary people could bear.

Fortunately, they were Pulaya residents, residents of Pulaya who lived amongst struggle and blood.

Their peaceful lives were heavily shadowed by nighttime wars against terrifying races, giving them the resolve to face bloodshed.

Sea monsters roared in the air, on the ground, above their heads, surrounding them; the bridge quivered under their screams, their bodies like a relentless blue ocean.

From that distant sea horizon, they rolled in, covering an entire horizon line, gradually obscuring the snow falling from the sky above.

At that moment, a mere glance upward revealed the terrifying wide mouths with sharp teeth of sea monsters; just reaching out a hand meant countless sea monsters pouncing to tear and share them.

Some people were so nervous and panicked they had symptoms like tinnitus and dizziness; the thick scent of blood lingered at their nostrils, and at any moment, someone might scream as they fall beside them, hot blood spraying onto their cheeks—this constant fear on the line of death was enough to crush one’s spirit.

At times like this, an individual, in the face of disaster, seemed far too insignificant... If targeted by a group of sea monsters at once, they basically had no strength to fight back, and even Soul Hunters could only kill two or three before their necks were unexpectedly snapped.

Their deaths bought a mere moment for those running behind, who then got targeted, surrounded, killed... And in turn, they bought time for even more behind them...

The number of sea monsters was far greater than that of humans, almost endless; even if you killed the ones in front, there were two, three, dozens more waiting to pounce. They were like endless waves, waterfalls, tidal waves, giving no respite to breathe.

The entire team had become like a relay race team, and what sustained their running posture was... a body after body falling, each a vibrant life.

"—Ignore anyone who dies! Don’t bother with injuries, broken legs, or those who can’t move! Step over their bodies, move around them, keep running! Charge! Only by doing this can we survive; otherwise, we all die! Don’t stop—!"

Gao Ang’s yelling echoed throughout the blood-soaked team.

Behind them, the white bridge shimmered slightly, above the bridge, a road littered with fallen bodies, nearly a river of blood.

Blood flowed over their bodies, under their feet, gradually dyeing the bridge crimson. The blood flowed down the bridge like a blood-red waterfall poured from the sky.

Su Ming’an ran within the most central group of people, where, for now, his position was still safe.

The NPCs had protected him with their lives.