Apocalypse Lord

Last time, on Apocalypse Lord: The fact that there’s a number in the chapter title is somewhat telling.

This chapter has been brought to you by me and Smash10101.

Chapter 58 – Siege 2

In the wilderness.

A patch of rice straw had refreshed on the empty ground.

Pang Yu saw this, and grinned. These were good. If cut and placed on the bed, they could be used to keep warm, and when placed into the braziers, they could act as fuel.

He walked towards the straw, wanting to cut and place them in his backpack.

When he was busy, he saw two female players out of the corner of his eye walking hand in hand out of the territory at a sedate place to more far away places.

Seeing this, Pang Yu felt reassured.

Look, he was not the only one out. Other people were also coming out.

He worked even harder, wanting to cut down all the straw and then explore the distance.

But when he was halfway through, the two people were running urgently back to Rising Cloud Town.

“What is it?” Pang Yu was shocked.

Still running, the female player saw Pang Yu standing there dumbly and could not help but warn in a loud voice, “Return quickly! The monsters are coming again!”

Pan Yu, “……”

Just a moment, and the monster swarm had come close, appearing in the range of his sight.

The one at the very front had a name above its head.

“It is a boss!” Pang Yu’s scalp prickled, and he did not have time to think, grabbing his backpack, turning and running.

The monsters chased him closely, very stubborn.

“Not good! The boss is attacking!” Pang Yu shouted as he ran.

The boss was a large spider, and ran quickly, using many legs.

The distance between the two of them shortened. The boss suddenly spat out a mouthful of venom which hit Pang Yu’s shoulder.

“Hiss —” the venom made a soft sound. It clearly had corrosive traits.

In the next moment, the system notified, [Your body has been weakened by the venom, -2 agility, -2 strength. Lasts 10 minutes.]

Pang Yu inhaled sharply.

This was the key time to run away. Other attributes being weakened would have been fine, but why agility?

Agility determined reaction speed and movement speed. If he ran slowly, maybe he would encounter misfortune while he may have originally been able to hide into the territory.

His wife was still waiting for him at home. He could not die here!! Pang Yu gritted his teeth and desperately ran back.

One step, one step, one step…

The distance between him and the territory grew shorter.

But at the same time, the boss was getting closer to him.

Pang Yu’s expression was twisted as he sprinted. He did not dare to look back, fearing that if he saw the enormous spider behind him, he would lose the bravery to run.

“Hiss —” Another ball of venom hit Pang Yu’s back.

In the next second, the system notified, [Your body has been weakened by the venom. -2 agility, -2 strength. Lasts 10 minutes.]

[Note: The effects of the venom can be added together, 5 times maximum. Right now, -4 is agility, -4 strength.]

With -2 agility, he may not have been able to run away, much less with -4 agility?

Pang Yu felt a cold wave rise and he felt he was about to die.

At this time, a shocked and joyful voice sounded, “There’s a boss?! Quick, do not let it run away!”

The joy came from inside. The voice sounded familiar.

Pang Yu’s heart shook, and he shouted for help in a loud voice, “Boss, help me!!!”

Before he finished, he saw Yun Ling fearlessly charge to the front and block the boss.

Then the mage team all used their skills on the boss’s subordinates in the rear.

The white balls of light landed, and Pang Yu’s HP clearly went back up. At the same time, the “-4 agility, -4 strength” was dissipated.

Then the warriors charged forward to tangle with the monsters.

Pang Yu was stunned.

He thought, this was likely the difference between him and high level combat players. Other people chased the boss, while he was chased by the boss…

**

[Name: Gnome Ring]

Quality: Rare

Durability: 70/70

Equip Effect: Each time you kill a monster, you will receive 6-10 extra copper coins.

Note: Each player can only hold one income type equipment.

When Shi Qing put on the ring, her heart felt hot.

The attacks of the monsters were a challenge, and also an opportunity.

She had just casually attacked, and picked such a good thing. What if she added more equipment and increased her output?

If she killed more monsters, and there were more copper coins in the drops, she could buy stronger equipment to arm herself. After the restlessness of the monsters in spring passed, wouldn’t she become a super expert?

Shi Qing stopped breathing, and felt waves of dizziness.

She took several breaths, trying to calm her excited feelings, but she failed. She could not stop herself from running to the Tailor Shop, and pressed to buy ” Hunting Quiver.”

[Name: Hunting Quiver]

Quality: Premium

Durability: 40/40

Equip Effect: Each minute, it automatically refills an arrow. At most, holds 20 arrows.

Special Effect: After the arrow forms, 5% chance of special effect “Sharpness”. Once successful, +5 attack power.

Price: 200 copper coins.

Shi Qing gripped and decided — her glorious game life was about to start.

The monsters attacked without any rhythm.

Sometimes, it would continue for an hour, the monster coming one after another, charging fearlessly. Sometimes, there was rest for nearly two hours, and they could not even catch the shadow of a monster.

Sometimes, the south and the east would be attacked at the same time, while the north and the west were very idle. Sometimes, all four directions were surrounded by enemies, and were attacked at the same time.

After a long time, the defensive shield finally sent a warning.

[Warning! Warning! The HP of the defensive shield has dropped by 25%! Players, please act, and kill the enemies as soon as possible.]

The warning was in red font and flashed three times.

Some people were asleep, planning to rest and recover energy to fight at night. But the warning of the defensive shield woke them up.

“What is it? Have the monsters entered the town? The safety area is about to be breached?” The fat man had been deep asleep, and when he woke up, he saw the red line of characters floating in front of him. He was so frightened he jumped up, and his mind cleared.

When he understood what had happened, he was speechless. He could only rejoice. “Lucky that this does not frequently occur.”

Otherwise, his nerves would be worn down…

Also, from another point of view, the system warning promptly was better than the players being asleep while their home was taken over.

“Never mind, I’m getting up.” The fat man got out of bed, his hair a bird’s nest. He yawned. “It is about time.”

**

Night came.

There was fighting all around, and the players could only take turns eating.

Lu Chuan had been guarding the north for an entire day. Seeing that there were many players around, he stopped fighting, and went back to his room to eat.

“The Standing Post Demon King is finally gone?” The residents looked at each other in shock.

When they confirmed that he was really gone, they all cheered. “He is finally gone!”

“When he stands there, how can other people fight monsters? He greatly affects the game experience!”

“Now, there finally is not someone speaking nonsense. Brothers, charge!”

Some warriors felt their blood heat up when they heard this, and charged.

Some archers drew their bows and shot, wanting to kill more monsters when the calamity was not here.

The air was very harmonious, but after five minutes, people started to swear. “Damn! Who? Shooting arrows at players of your camp, are you wanting to fight monsters or kill people to get equipment?”

“Damn! I just managed to wear the monster down, who was so shameless to steal my kill? Come out, see if I will not kill you!”

“No one is paying attention to full HP monsters, and everyone is fighting to kill the low HP monsters. They are wasting skills and attacks. I am speechless. Can you not work together?”

As they argued, one warrior was seriously wounded, and had just a sliver of HP left. His face turned green — he had just come to Rising Cloud Town and was not yet an official resident. He did not enjoy the buffs. If he kept on staying out of the territory, he would lose his life, much less fight monsters!

Thinking of this, he did not hesitate and fled back into the territory.

After a while, the long range players found the warriors had run back. No one was stopping the monsters, and they ran to the side of the defensive shield, attacking as much as they wanted.

The HP of the defensive shield dropped quickly, faster than jumping.

At this time, someone weakly said, “When the Standing Post Demon King was here, people were not allowed to steal kills or attack players from the same camp. If someone did that, they would be isolated to the point they can do nothing……”

Everyone was silent.

When a certain person was here, many people felt he was troublesome. Because he was so strong, he ordered about the other players.

When a certain person was not here, they found they could not be without him. Each person had their own self-interests. It was hard to say whether some people’s hands had accidentally shook and they shot the wrong target, or they were deliberately hunting players.

Once the seeds of suspicion were planted, it was hard to sincerely work together, and unite against the enemy.

The players did not even have the time to guard against each other. How could they have the attention to focus on killing the enemies? In the end, the speed of clearing monsters was very low, and the HP of the defense shield was dropping rapidly.

“I have a special piece of equipment. If someone is going to cause trouble right now, you will be exiled from the territory, and never allowed back in.” At the crucial time, Yun Ling came out.

“Who has such an equipment? I have never heard of it.” A player thought inside.

But she did not dare to be certain.

Yun Ling wore purple and orange equipment. At a glance, she looked like a high level player. What if it was that she was not strong enough, and not knowledgeable enough?

Rising Cloud Town was so good. It would be such a loss to be exiled out of the town for such a stupid matter.

As they were thinking, one person reacted. “I knew that there had been someone causing trouble before in the safety area, and then was teleported out of the territory. So a high level player used equipment?”

“The equipment is rare, and can only be obtained through special missions. If not necessary, I do not want to waste it,” Yun Ling spoke nonsense solemnly without even blinking. “This concerns the safety of Rising Cloud Town. If anyone is a drag, do not blame me!”

When the vicious words were said, the players grew obedient.

Long range players started to lure monsters to kill them, and no longer stole from others.

Close combat players saw that the situation was under control, and their own safety was assured, so they slowly dared to go with Yun Ling out of the territory.

In the shadow, one person looked on scornfully, and silently said, “Fool.”

Before, that archer had been an eyesore, but he had been standing in the territory all the time so he could not do a thing. This newcomer walked out of the territory herself. She deserved to be killed by players who did not like her.

What special equipment to exile a player out of the territory forever. He was an official resident! Try to exile him?

With a player’s sneak attack and the surrounding attacks of the monsters, she would die instantly, without even the chance to take out the equipment.

The archer sneered, and thought, not everyone could show off. If you did, you would be struck by lightning.

He found a chance, used all his skills, aimed at Yun Ling and then shot an arrow.

The arrow hit. Yun Ling seemed to sense it, frowning and turning around.

Not dead? The archer was stunned. How much was her defense? How much was her HP? How could she withstand this?

He wanted to shrink back into the crowd and be silent. But Guard Archer A grabbed his wrist instantly and pulled him out.

The archer pressed his lips together, and said unwillingly, “This is a misunderstanding, I just slipped.”

This sounded very insincere.

……why were there always idiots who did not settle down until they experienced a setback? Would it not be better to live kindly?

Yun Ling opened the window, and moved. Then she told him, “This is a misunderstanding, I slipped, and used the equipment against you.”

There really was such an equipment? The archer’s smile disappeared, and his eyes widened.

In the next second, the system notified, [You have been put into the Rising Cloud Town “blacklist.”]

[You have lost the official resident status of Rising Cloud Town.]

[You are forever forbidden from entering this territory.]

She had not been joking!

The archer’s face drained of blood. He wanted to say something, but in a blink of an eye, he was already outside the territory.

Before he could speak, the monsters charged at him.

When monsters got close to an archer, would the archer end up well? That person looked ashen, and turned, running.

But the monsters blocked the way and attacked together.

A few breaths later, that person powerlessly fell down, dropping 3 pieces of equipment, 2 purple and 1 blue, and also 1 S-rank skill card, and 1 B-rank skill card.

Yun Ling used her shield to batter away the monsters and said coldly, “If I was not the one hit, and it was someone else, his mistake is enough to cause players on our side to die!”

“The warriors stand at the very front, and stop the enemies from advancing, but they do not do so to be stabbed through their backs.”

“You do not know if you cannot aim well? Either leave, or team up. Do not make more work here.”

In the Apocalypse Calamity game, there was an upper limit for a team. A team could only have 50 people at maximum. Others had to form other teams.

There were too many lone players in the north. Because they were limited, they had not formed teams. They all fought on their own, and used their skills to avoid getting wounded.

Yun Ling had not wanted to interfere, but seeing that the players in the north were going to wear down the HP of the defensive shield on their own, she had to manage.

Normally, the defensive shield could recover through its own recovery. When the fighting was intense, she had to spend copper coins to speed up recovery.

Was it not good to keep her money to upgrade buildings? She had to be thrifty in order to upgrade the territory to “city!”

The archers, “……”

Instantly, the long range players in the north were in danger.

They all sent requests to team up, hoping to get together with warriors. Now, even if they made a mistake, their teammates were immune against damage from their teammates, and so they would not appear to have evil intentions.

Soon, there were many teams formed from the north players. The divisions were clear and they fought monsters in harmony.

“Would it not have been better to do this before?” Seeing the situation under control, Yun Ling left.

The players in the north had tears in their eyes. “Does this count as oppression by force?”

“It is good for high level players to come out and take command.” One person argued back, “Have you not seen that after they talk, there is much more order in fighting monsters?”

Previously, it had been chaotic as everyone competed with each other. The rate of killing monsters was very slow, and the HP of the defensive shield had dropped quickly.

If the defensive shield shattered, all the players in the territory would be worse off. Also, if the safety area was breached, where would they go to find a second Rising Cloud Town?

So making an example was good and clever.

Any action that could affect the safety of the territory should be made an example of.

The others found this made sense and their resistance faded.

“Lord, are you okay?” Priest A hurriedly came to ask in a low voice.

“I am fine.” Yun Ling did not care. “Him alone is far from enough to kill me.”

Hearing this, Priest A was slightly reassured. But, Priest A still used a healing skill to increase HP.

“Save up on your MP, later, you have to heal others,” Yun Ling urged.

Priest A could only stop.

Archer A walked over with an angry expression. “That person had malicious intent, and not a good heart.”

“The archers are all in the territory, and will not receive attacks from the enemy. He was the only one harmed by the reflect. If he was not the one who attacked, who else?”

“He wounded Lord, and did not apologize, and tried to hide in the crowd, trying to get by!”

Archer A seemed to want the ambusher to be revived and then killed again.

Yun Ling felt warm being protected by the NPCs. “There are more residents, and all kinds of people. If they break the rules, I will just drive them out, no need to care too much.”

After rounds of selection, all the people left in the end would be good people. This was enough.

Archer A thought of this, and changed expression. “The north is like this, the other directions……”

Yun Ling thought, who knew? You knew a person’s face but not their hearts. It was only possible to see a person at the times of danger.

She thought for a moment, and said in a low voice, “Spread the guards, and send people to watch over all four directions. If someone tries to attack the residents, report to me quickly.”

“Yes.” Archer A and Priest A solemnly responded.

Seeing that it was late, Yun Ling waved her hand and had the NPCs return to their work. She strode towards the night market.

**

[Name: Grilled Chicken Wings]

Quality: Normal

Required Materials: 1 x Chicken Wings

Use Effect: Restore 10 HP in 5 seconds, +1 strength (lasts for 1 hour.)

[Name: Grilled Mutton]

Quality: Normal

Required Materials: 1 x mutton

Use Effect: +1 strength, +1 stamina (lasts 1 hour).

When not wounded, it was a waste to eat chicken wings. But Jiang He could not care so much to kill more monsters and ate the chicken wings.

When he finished the grilled meat, his strength was temporarily +2, and his stamina temporarily +1.

He was an archer who usually used normal attacks. The increase in strength could increase his efficiency.

And stamina….

The players stood in the territory and appeared to have no danger. But stamina determined HP and the ability to run or fight for long times.

The higher the stamina, the longer they could fight, and the more they would naturally gain.

Jiang He was prepared, and went back to the battlefield, full of spirit.

Deep in the night.

Most players had gone back to rest, and only some people were left on shift. The monsters were attacking at a low rate, and occasionally, only a dozen would come.

In the north.

The tall and thin youth looked at his fellow, his gaze full of doubt. “Will this work?”

The fat man puffed out his chest, and said proudly, “When have I ever harmed you?”

The tall and thin youth answered mentally, never, but each time what you do never looks reliable…

“What are you planning to do?” he asked.

The fat man said confidently, “I have set up magic traps around the territory! If monsters step in them, they will be trapped where they are, and cannot move.”

The tall and thin youth stilled, and then quickly reacted. “The A-rank skill you picked up in the start of the game? Didn’t you say that it was useless except for having a high rank?”

The fat man blushed at this. He coughed, and explained, “When hunting outside, it is useless. The wilderness is so big, who knows where to set up the trap?”

“The territory is different. The monsters will come out of the wilderness to come close to the territory.”

“If we set up the magic trap on the paths they must pass, if they step on the traps, and cannot move, won’t they be just for our picking?”

If the magic traps were placed on the ground, would be monsters be so stupid to step on them? The tall and thin youth was very doubtful.

Before the plan was successful, he would not give an opinion.

“It will work! Just wait and see.” The fat man was full of confidence.

Wait and wait, wait and wait, the players on duty had heavy eyelids, wanting to fall down and go into sleep.

But at this time, the fat man shouted, “They are here!”

The dozing players suddenly became alert.

From a distance, they saw over thirty Minotaurs walking towards the territory.

They had horns on their heads, they were large and strong, and they held axes or maces. They looked unusually fierce.

“Will it work?” The tall and thin youth swallowed, and was not very confident.

The fat man said, “We will know soon if the plan will work or not.”

The tall and thin youth, “……”

As they chatted, the mages attacked first.

In the blink of an eye, flames descended down on the Minotaur troops. Many people had attacked, and many skills fell down.

The flames shone, the exposed skin of the Minotaurs grew black and burnt. They were clearly wounded.

“They are not dead like this?” One mage was shocked. “They have high defense.”

“Who cares! Attack together!” The archers started to shoot together.

-3 Minotaurs. The other thirty kept on advancing to the territory.

“Damn! Why are they so hard?” One warrior was worried. “How about we wake up the other people? I don’t think that we can take care of them ourselves.”

The priest did not agree. “If we wake them up at night, what do they do during the day? We have to take turns resting, and take turns fighting monsters.”

“If we do not call them to help, the territory may not last until tomorrow,” the warrior said sincerely.

The priest, “……”

This made sense.

Before the two could make a conclusion, there were some abrupt “pop”, “pop” sounds coming from outside.

They looked towards the sound, and saw the Minotaurs had stopped walking, and were motionless standing not far from the territory.

The fat man was overjoyed. “They stepped into my magic traps!!”

Looking at the packed and strong figures, the tall and thin youth was worried. “So many, which one do we fight? If we act, will other people think we are stealing monsters?”

The fat man was stuck.

As the two stared at each other, the other players were overjoyed. Another wave of arrows and spells came quickly, falling on the Minotaurs, -6 of the enemy.

“Brothers! So great!” One warrior was so happy he patted the fat man’s shoulder. “If you had not controlled them, we likely would have had to waste a lot of effort to win.”

The fat man, “……”

No matter how great, he was not the one to kill the monster.

The magic traps he had put so much effort in to set up!!

The fat man was very sad, but then he heard the warrior continue to speak, “After the battle, you probably can get a lot of spoils. What skill is this? How come it is so useful?”

The warrior had an admiring expression, like he wanted to have this skill for himself.

“I did not kill the monster with my own hands, I can still get a share?”

“Yes, why not?” The warrior said in a matter-of-fact tone, “everyone is working together to fight monsters. You get a share of the spoils based on your contribution, no one will be treated unfairly.”

Then he lowered his tone and said in a whisper, “A high level player got a special scroll through a special means. If someone hides away drops or attacks people on our side, they will be exiled out of the territory, and never allowed to enter. Who dares to risk being exiled out of the territory? Do they want to live!”

The fat man thought, no wonder.

“What does being exiled out of the territory mean? Could you tell me in more detail?”

Since he did not kill a monster by his own hands to get drops, he was not in a hurry to fight, and inquired after information.

The warrior looked at the crowd of Minotaurs and was not very confident. He wanted to wait a while before going out. Seeing the fat man ask, he explained simply, “Before, the players were fighting for themselves, and the north area was in chaos. The HP of the defensive shield dropped very quickly. A high level player could not endure it, and came out to set the rules for everyone……”

The fat man sighed in shock at the appropriate times to show his shock.

The tall and thin youth was standing nearby, full of emotion. After the fat man learned the A-rank skill “Magic Trap,” he had been regretful for a while, saying that this was high ranking, but in reality, it was not useful, and just took up a skill slot.

Who could have thought, more than a hundred days into the game, in a special environment, the “Magic Trap” did a great thing?

One could only say that the world was full of surprises.