The battlefield was in complete chaos. After the flying-type monsters took the lead and swooped down, catching the players off guard, the rest of the monsters surged down one after another from the sky region.
The milk tea car charged wildly like a sharp blade plunging into the enemy formation, rampaging through the horde. Padra held his electric guitar, roaring at the top of his lungs on his shaky “stage.” The intense rhythm and suddenly amplified volume carried the music in all directions, granting a buff to everyone who could hear it.
He Wuning glanced over from afar, vaguely feeling that Yi Luo was driving more recklessly than usual today—though he wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination.
Padra, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the bumps, completely immersed in his performance.
He switched to another song. He Wuning couldn’t make out the lyrics at all—every word was dragged out endlessly, and what he sang was less about words and more about sheer momentum.
Even without understanding it, the song still made people feel fired up. Whether it was because music transcends language, or because the song came with a built-in “+40% attack” buff, who knew.
Numerically, Padra’s buff was much stronger than He Wuning’s, but it only affected players who could hear him. Once the song stopped, the buff would vanish too. How long it lasted depended entirely on how long he could keep singing, and different buffs couldn’t stack.
After briefly comparing their abilities, He Wuning drew his blade and charged at a monster.
“Fight!” Padra nearly fell backward from the jolting, but with both hands occupied holding the guitar, he couldn’t steady himself. He kicked the car door for leverage, stumbling forward a step while never missing a beat, then boldly stomped one foot onto the Gatling gun.
The mix of guitar and gunfire somehow formed a strange rhythm.
Padra’s teammates couldn’t help but glance over, shaking their heads helplessly. “Seriously? No wonder he likes sticking with Zone A’s administrator candidate—so he can hitch a ride and perform!”
“And those Zone A guys are actually going along with his nonsense!”
The only woman among them kicked a bird-man flying, grabbed a charging minotaur by the horns like a gladiator, slammed it to the ground, and finished it with an axe. She held its neck down and rolled her shoulders.
Clicking her tongue, she glanced at Padra—standing on one foot on the Gatling, completely lost in his own world—and snorted. “He’s this crazy… a normal cage probably couldn’t hold him anymore.”
“If we want to take him back later, we might need a leash.”
“Well, nothing we can do.” Another teammate laughed, dodging attacks while raising his bow. “There’s not even a bar in this game. If the army weren’t keeping an eye on him, he’d have stripped and started performing in the streets already. It’s the final battle—let him go wild.”
He lowered his voice. “But that guy from Zone A—”
“Hey! Watch out behind you!” the woman suddenly shouted.
A mud creature burst from the ground, its malleable body stretching open like a gaping abyss, ready to swallow him whole.
He didn’t even have time to react!
A silver blade flashed—splitting the mud creature clean in two. He Wuning’s cold expression flickered past behind it. Without stopping, his blade cut through the air like lightning, turning midair toward the next enemy.
The young man who had just escaped death: “…”
He stared blankly after He Wuning, then gave a bitter smile. “What’s more awkward than being saved right when you’re about to gossip about someone?”
His teammate laughed mercilessly. “Of course there is—look on the bright side. He didn’t even notice you.”
Indeed, He Wuning hadn’t noticed him at all. He hadn’t heard what they were saying—his focus was entirely on the monsters’ movements.
In such chaotic combat, it was impossible to protect every ally. But he could at least choose the toughest enemies to fight.
Just like players, monsters also varied in strength—even among the same type.
Scanning the battlefield, He Wuning locked onto an angel whose combat power clearly exceeded the others and moved in.
After a brief exchange, the angel stopped targeting others and focused entirely on him, circling in the air.
Like a figure straight out of a myth illustration, the golden-haired, handsome youth crossed his arms, wearing an arrogant expression. As he searched for an angle to strike, he revealed a malicious grin. “Ah, I’ve been looking for you.”
He Wuning tilted his head slightly. “Looking for me?”
“Looking to die?”
“Hmph!” The angel suddenly swooped down. The soft-looking edges of its wings hardened instantly into sharp blades—one strike at that speed would slice someone clean in half.
He Wuning leaned back to dodge. As the angel passed overhead, its lower body suddenly extended birdlike talons downward in attack.
Judging by their sharpness, being caught would mean being skewered on the spot.
His blade scar the claws with a metallic clash, sparks flying. Sliding along the talons, he cut a narrow but deep wound into the softer part, drawing a thin line of blood.
At first, the angel didn’t seem to feel it. Only when blood began to drip did it realize the depth of the cut.
“Ah—!”
With a furious cry, the angel pulled back its injured claw and dove again.
“Looks like an angel, but sounds more like a crow,” He Wuning commented indifferently, flicking blood from his blade as it gleamed coldly.
Before their blades met again, he tilted his head—just as a bullet grazed past his ear and pierced the angel’s other foot.
He frowned slightly and glanced back. “I can handle this myself.”
The milk tea car pulled up beside him. Yi Luo leaned out the window, lowering his sniper rifle with a grin. “Look—symmetrical. Nice, right?”
He Wuning: “…”
Q-chan waved his tiny arms angrily. “Focus on the fight! No flirting at a time like this—you’ll distract him!”
“Oh? Do I distract you?” Yi Luo teased with a smile. “Want to come up and take a break?”
He Wuning raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t one for mid-battle breaks—but Yi Luo’s expression clearly hinted at something.
After a brief hesitation, he sheathed his blade and got into the car.
“Trying to run?!” the angel roared, launching a barrage of steel feathers.
Yi Luo glanced up. “Q, take it out.”
“Roger!” Q-chan saluted. “Let me finish this for you, sweetie!”
Adjusting the anti-aircraft machine gun, Q Jiang fired a volley that riddled the angel. Steel feathers scar back.
Q-chan just laughed. “Sorry—I’m a system. No durability!”
Seated inside, He Wuning looked at Yi Luo. “What is it?”
“Li Liangzi sent word. She says we shouldn’t push too aggressively—we can fall back a bit and kite them around.” Yi Luo gestured with a grin. “Li Liangzi recommends expanding the battlefield and stretching out the front line.”
“Don’t pressure them too hard.”
“She should’ve sent you a message too. The detailed explanation is in there.”
He Wuning opened his communicator. Before reading it, he glanced outside the vehicle. The milk tea car was already driving against the flow of players, heading toward the edge of Ghost Island. Quite a few players who had also received Li Liangzi’s message were calling to their friends and beginning to retreat as well.
Players from the other zones, however, seemed confused and hesitant about whether they should follow.
Li Liangzi had included her reasoning in the message. Based on the fact that monsters could control multiple characters, the unusually fierce offensive on Ghost Island, and the survival-focused tactics they had used in the Dungeon Core Defense battle, she concluded that they were short on manpower.
The more they compressed the battle into a small area and fought head-on, the more it played into the monsters’ hands. But if they expanded the battlefield and forced the monsters to spread out their forces, the pressure on each individual player would drop dramatically.
He Wuning thoughtfully raised an eyebrow. Then he turned around and looked at Padra, who was completely immersed in playing his guitar.
He stood up, walked over, and lifted a foot to kick the electric guitar’s power cable. In an instant, Padra’s passionate rock performance turned into raw shouting with no accompaniment. Padra snapped back to reality and scratched his head helplessly as he looked toward Yi Luo. “Hey, hey…”
“Careful there. Someone could get electrocuted.” He grinned. “Though if you got electrocuted during a rock concert, people might just think it was part of the performance. Hahaha!”
He laughed heartily and bent down to reconnect the cable. He Wuning stepped in front of him and sighed. “You do realize I did that on purpose, right?”
“Huh?” Padra looked genuinely confused.
He Wuning sighed again, grabbed his head, and physically turned him around to face the somewhat bewildered players from the other zones outside the car. “Got any songs suitable for retreating? Tell your little friends to fall back first.”
“Ah…” Padra looked troubled. “That might be difficult.”
“Everyone here likes charging forward. And I’m not exactly that influential. Even if I tell them to retreat, they probably—”
“If your people don’t run,” He Wuning glanced at him, “I’ll leave them behind. And I’ll kick you off the car too.”
Padra fell silent for a moment. Then suddenly he leaned out and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Hey! Listen up!”
“Advance backward!”
He Wuning: “...”
Right before his eyes, the players who were obviously from Zone B exchanged glances. Then, without the slightest hesitation, they began charging toward the edge of Ghost Island while shouting battle cries.
The players from Zone A at least understood the concept of fighting while retreating and putting on the appearance of a strategic withdrawal. The players from Zone B, however, heard the phrase “advance backward” and immediately took off at full speed, without a trace of hesitation.
The momentum was astonishing. Yi Luo couldn’t help laughing. “Your Zone B really is full of talented people. Let’s go.”
The Zone A players, who had originally planned to show off a little acting skill, no longer bothered. They immediately began retreating in organized squad formations.
The monsters, which had been attacking with overwhelming ferocity just moments ago, instantly became hesitant.
The handful of exceptionally powerful monsters exchanged glances with one another.
They, too, sensed a trap. But they had to capture the Ghost Island region. It was an essential step toward victory.
Grinding their teeth, the monsters followed. At times like this, it became very obvious who the leaders were. He Wuning narrowed his eyes and carefully memorized the appearances of several of the monsters at the front.
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