Chapter 45: The Final Opportunity
【Player "Black-Eyed Rui Ge" has died, Essence +1250!】
【Player "Ye Li Meng" has died, Essence +900!】
【Player "Lone Boat" has died, Essence +900!】
【Player "Mad Blade Old Wang" has died, Essence +900!】
【……】
The Fourth Calamity Army had once again been completely wiped out!
Twisted Three Kingdoms truly lived up to its name as a game of suffering!
Of course, while the Players suffered, the Lord benefited.
In this round, fifty Players were annihilated, generating a total of 26,050 points of Essence. If added to the 22,750 points of Essence harvested earlier—
As of this moment,
A total of 48,800 points of Essence had been collected.
The reserve Essence under Hang Yu’s control had already exceeded fifty thousand!
Ordinary Lords, even if they toiled arduously, treading on thin ice, and lived in constant fear while managing a territory in the Abyss World for half a year or longer, would not be able to accumulate so much Essence. Yet Hang Yu had accomplished it in less than five days—more precisely, within a single battle.
"Lord!"
"The Fourth Calamity Army warriors did their best!"
"We request to participate in this battle!"
Li Niu and the other villagers once again requested to join the fight.
Although they did not understand why the Lord’s subordinates could revive after death, seeing the Lord's citizen-soldiers die in battle left these simple villagers deeply moved and guilt-ridden.
Therefore, they wished to contribute.
This time, Hang Yu did not refuse completely.
Xu Feng was about to reach the village.
He ordered Li Niu to lead the able-bodied villagers to hold strategic points and defend, utilizing the village’s protective walls and defensive fortifications to temporarily obstruct Xu Feng’s advance with bows and arrows for a few minutes.
If the village was breached, they were to retreat immediately, and under no circumstances were they allowed to engage in direct confrontation.
Hexi Village was Hang Yu’s territory.
The villagers of Hexi Village were Hang Yu’s people.
Villagers were a non-renewable resource.
The able-bodied were especially vital labor needed urgently by the territory.
There was, of course, another very important reason: the Players had already begun regrouping at this moment and were expected to rush back into battle within five minutes.
Judging by the Players’ current state, their fighting spirit remained undiminished, and they still had the strength for another fight.
Hang Yu understood the Players too well.
The more setbacks they suffered, the stronger their desire to win would grow.
Enduring hardship and suffering was itself an integral part of enhancing the gaming experience.
Because only after enduring immense hardship
Would the fruits of victory taste especially sweet.
Although with Hang Yu’s current strength, it would not be difficult to defeat Xu Feng if he personally intervened, doing so would actually spoil the Players’ gaming experience, leaving them with a sense of bitter defeat, as if they had fallen just short of success.
Since the Players enjoyed suffering so much,
Why not indulge them?
Wasn’t it even better to earn more Essence in the process?
Sending out Li Niu and the villagers now to stall for time was to give the Players one final opportunity.
If they gave it their all yet still failed to defeat Xu Feng, they would be forced to recognize the disparity in strength and lose with a willing heart—meanwhile, Hang Yu could reap another wave of Essence.
At that point, stepping in to turn the tide would not be too late!
Conversely,
If the Players managed to defeat Xu Feng,
That would also be an excellent outcome.
Hang Yu would then use it as an excuse to allocate a large sum of Essence to the Players, allowing the Fourth Calamity Legion members to undergo a wave of strengthening.
As the saying went: "Take from the people and use it for the people." As the Players' levels and strength increased, the harvest from "cutting the leeks" would grow even greater.
Battling fiercely to defeat a boss was already an extremely satisfying gaming experience; if they then received some unexpected rewards, the sense of exhilaration would multiply, establishing a cycle of positive reinforcement.
In the future, they would fight even harder when encountering similar missions.
Hang Yu was the Lord.
And also the game planner.
Twisted Three Kingdoms had to be fun enough to attract more people into obsession, thereby creating more value.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge had briefly risen to Level 6, but because he died immediately after leveling up, he lost 250 points of Essence in one go and fell back down to Level 5.
No matter what—
A Level 6 Player had already appeared.
It was necessary to raise his own level as well.
The familiars and citizens summoned by a Stars Lord could not exceed the Lord in level… in other words, if Hang Yu did not level up, the Players would never be able to surpass Level 6.
He opened his personal panel.
From Level 6 to Level 7, 2,000 points of Essence were required.
From Level 6 to Level 10, the Essence needed for each level-up increased steadily by 1,000 points per level. Although this seemed like a considerable number overall, now with more than 53,000 points of reserve Essence in hand, this amount of expenditure was nothing at all!
【Reserve Essence -2000!】
【Ding, you have reached Level 7. Health +50, Mana +50, Strength +5, Agility +5, Spirit +5, Will +5!】
【Reserve Essence -3000!】
【Ding, you have reached Level 8...】
【Reserve Essence -4000!】
【Ding, you have reached Level 9...】
【Reserve Essence -5000!】
【Ding, you have reached Level 10. Health +50, Mana +50, Strength +5, Agility +5, Spirit +5, Will +5!】
In total, 14,000 points of Essence were spent.
Hang Yu leveled up directly to Level 10 in one go.
The Essence needed to advance from Level 10 to Level 11 had quadrupled, reaching a staggering 20,000 points, even greater than the cost from Level 11 to 12. At first glance, it seemed unreasonable, but in fact, it was completely normal.
Advancing from Level 11 to 12 was just a regular level-up.
But advancing from Level 10 to 11, although it appeared to be merely one level, was actually a breakthrough from a Tier 1 Lord to a Second-Tier Lord. Thus, this one-level improvement would be a qualitative leap, and naturally, the difficulty of breaking through would be much greater.
If it were only about the required Essence, that would be fine.
Hang Yu’s remaining Essence reserves were more than sufficient.
However, as a Lord, to break through to the next tier, all current-tier talents needed to be fully activated. Without activating all the Tier 1 talents, even if Hang Yu had enough Essence, he would not be able to complete the breakthrough.
No rush, no rush!
The beginner's map capped at Level 10.
They had not even passed the protection period yet.
What was there to be dissatisfied about?
At the moment, Hang Yu’s overall strength could be said without exaggeration—nothing in the beginner's map could pose an individual threat to him. However, as a Lord, he should avoid taking risks whenever possible, even if the probability of hidden danger was extremely low.
From a benefits perspective,
The Players had Heavenly Dao’s Blessing, granting them tenfold drops.
It was much more suitable for the Fourth Calamity Army to be responsible for expanding territory.
……
Players began to revive one after another.
They immediately teleported back to Hexi Village.
"What’s going on? Looks like the villagers have already made a move!"
"Damn, our boss better not be snatched by NPCs!"
When the Players saw Li Niu leading the villagers into battle, they immediately worried that the elite boss unit, Xu Feng, might be killed by the NPCs.
This would not only mean losing out on a large amount of loot but might also affect their task evaluation.
"Don’t panic!"
"It’s not a big problem!"
"I checked carefully!"
"Our Brother Yu hasn’t made a move yet."
"Good, as long as the Lord hasn’t intervened, there’s still time!"
"Yeah, anyway, with the Lord backing us up, let’s just fight that damn eunuch head-on!"
"......"
The Fourth Calamity Army, consisting of fifty Players, completed their regrouping once again.
Xu Feng was already at the village gates.
What came next was their final opportunity, and every Player brimmed with fighting spirit!
"Don’t rush!"
"Let’s plan our tactics first."
"This is our last chance!"
"Yeah, only one free resurrection chance left. Even if we can revive again later, we won’t make it back in time."
"If the enemy breaches the village and threatens the village core, the Lord will definitely intervene, and then we’ll lose our opportunity!"
The Players were very clear-headed about it.
It was extremely difficult to achieve a perfect evaluation for this task!
But as long as there was still a chance,
They could not give up!
They must fight with all their might to the very end!
Black-Eyed Rui Ge said, "Xu Feng’s strength is overwhelming, and he also has four butchers with thick health and terrifying attack power. If we rush in recklessly without preparation and planning, we’ll surely suffer a heavy loss!"
Ye Li Meng slapped his shiny bald head and said, "Right, we still have a lot of loot dropped by the Headless Fiend Soldiers. Among it, there are definitely good items and equipment. Maybe we can use them immediately. Let’s hurry and take a look!"