1564

"Who’s guarding Sky Ridge Fortress right now?" I asked.

Li Chengfeng did a quick check before replying, "Hegemon Palace, Mad Dragon, and dozens of big and small guilds. In total, they number 9 million troops or so. The real defenders are the two NPC legions Karinshan has posted at Sky Ridge, however. They number over 1 million in total, and Sky Ridge is several hundred meters high. It should take a while for our enemy to overcome them…"

I nodded. "That’s good to hear. We can’t afford to be distracted right now. Let’s take out all the enemies in front of us first!"

"Yes!"

……

Over an hour later, not a single Cyan Earth City player on the northern side of Swallow Ear Canton was still alive. Cute Little Naughty had also ambushed the tens of thousands of players who had attempted to escape through Shattered Rock Forest and killed them all. At best, a million enemies managed to teleport back to the city before we could get to them. The rest of the 10-million-strong army had been killed on our battlefield.

The ground beneath the city was covered in equipment and bodies. After a simple sweep of the battlefield, I gazed into the distance and watched Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and more still firing their White Marsh payloads at Swallow Ear Canton and giving the walls a beehive makeup. Unfortunately, the tier 2 city still refused to fall thanks to its 12 Dragon Cannons.

After the men were rallied into formation, we began a slow march toward the city ourselves.

I looked around and noted that Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily, The Monarch Descends and more had suffered tremendous losses. I asked Chaos Moon, "How many people do we have left, sister?"

After Chaos Moon had tallied everything, she replied, "We’ve lost almost 20k Dragonlight Cavalrymen, 10k Dragonlight Archers, 10k Holy Mages, and around 50% of the Zephyr Cavalry. The other unit types aren’t faring much better either. Including Soul Battle Robes, we only have about 900k troops left."

Song of Cloud and Water rode up to me and asked, "Are we attacking the city, big brother Lu Chen?"

I hesitated. "The Dragon Cannons are too powerful. If we launch a frontal assault, we may win, but we will lose almost all of our Dragonlight Cavalrymen. What’s the point of all this if we lack the strength to attack enemies’ cities afterward?"

"What should we do then?" Li Chengfeng asked.

I looked at He Yi and said, "Eve, it’s your time to shine. The Chiyou Plume has a slightly higher range than the Dragon Cannon, so we’re going to use it to snipe the Dragon Cannons one by one. Without them, Swallow Ear Canton is a piece of tofu we can destroy with a single finger!"

He Yi nodded smilingly. "Got it. I’ll get it done right away. The siege weapons should arrive in an hour or so."

"Awesome. Do send a couple thousand Dragonlight Cavalrymen to escort them!"

"Will do!"

……

It was at this moment Lian Xin moved closer to me and whispered, "Big bro, I logged out of the game just now and found Xinran waiting for you at the living hall. She said that she hasn’t seen you the whole day…"

I looked at the time and realized that it had been 14 hours since I had come online. It was past 10 pm in the evening, and I hadn’t even drunk a sip of water throughout this time. Of course, it was the same for everyone else.

Li Chengfeng sat down on the ground and shot me a glance. "I say we catch a couple of hours of rest while we can. We’re not men of steel who can fight forever, and I’ve already noticed our Dragonlight Cavalrymen’s timing for Trapping Nets and Charges has been slipping. Their reaction time is dropping because they are exhausted. We’re still more than capable of handling a second-rate guild of course, but if we have to go up against a guild like Hero Alliance…"

I nodded. "That makes sense. Alright! Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Protective Umbrella, Soul Battle Robes, it’s time to log out and catch some rest! Is 5 hours of rest enough? I would give you more, but I doubt Sky Ridge Fortress can hold out for too long. In fact, we’ll head for Sky Ridge Fortress immediately after we’ve logged back into the game. There can’t be more than 500k Japanese players still standing on the walls, and once the Chiyou Plume arrives to destroy the Dragon Cannons it’s going to topple like a sand castle. Natural Flow should be running out of troops as well. I’m sure Candle Dragon and the other guilds will be able to handle that much."

Li Chengfeng smiled. "Yes, I think so too. Long story short, log out and keep Xinran company, Lu Chen. If I had a younger sister like her, I wouldn’t even log back into the game…"

"Mn!"

……

Everyone logged out in the nearby forest after the order was given in the guild channel. Only a small number of people remained online to keep watch.

I turned on the communicator and contacted Lin Yixin: "Yiyi, we’re logging out to catch a 5-hour break. What about you? I’m sure you would like to eat some food and take a pee, right?"

Lin Yixin blushed at my uncouth wording and glared at me. "Shameless! But not yet. I’ll log out after we have conquered Swallow Ear Canton. Ancient Sword and Blazing Hot Lips have been roleplaying as our meatshields for a whole day and night already, and we still haven’t managed to conquer a tiny place like Swallow Ear Canton. Forget me, even Candlelight Shadow seemed embarrassed by this outcome. I’ll log out once I’ve redeemed myself, okay?"

I nodded. "Well, okay… Don’t force yourself to stay up if you really can’t though."

"I get it. Now go catch your rest already!"

"Okay!"

……

I found a place in the forest, set up a tent, and logged out of the game.

I took off my helmet and sucked in a deep breath of fresh—wait a second, why does it smell like gunpowder? I looked outside the window and saw that someone was shooting fireworks. It was probably someone celebrating a marriage or something.[1]

I stepped out of the door after taking a moment to clean myself.

At the living hall, I saw Xinran sitting on the sofa and staring blankly at her cell phone. The moment she saw me, she immediately erupted into a cheer and jumped to her feet. She spread her arms wide open and said, "Hug me, big brother…"

This time, I pulled her into my arms and sat down on the sofa with her on my knees. Then, I asked her, "Did you have a good time today, Xinran?"

She nodded. "Mn. I’m still guarding Purple Grape City for Sophie, but it doesn’t look like anyone dares to attack us. A lot of players are killing each other within our borders though. I also saw a lot of Chinese players."

"Yeah, that’s to be expected. The Nation War is going on right now. Well, you don’t have to pay them any heed unless they attack you. I’m going to wake the cooks and tell them to cook something for us now!"

"Okay! I’m hungry!"

Subsequently, I called the cooks to begin their work. While waiting, He Yi, Murong Mingyue, Lian Xin and Beiming Xue all walked out of their rooms and sat down by the sofas as well.

"I think we did pretty well today. The only problem is that we lost a bit too many Dragonlight Cavalrymen," He Yi said. "We’ve lost at least 60k Dragonlight Cavalrymen in the past 24 hours. It’s a huge loss, seriously…"

Lian Xin pouted. "It’s all because of Warsky. We wouldn’t have lost even High Fighting Spirits otherwise."

I said, "It’s in the past now, and look at the bright side—at least we managed to save 30% of Warsky Alliance and Soul Battle Robes’ forces, didn’t we? Also, we can’t really pin all the blame on one person. It was a very cunning plan the Northern Alliance and Cyan Earth City had come up with. Anyway, the next 36 hours of this Nation War will be a true war of attrition. Every player lost is one less player capable of fighting this Nation War. Whoever stands tall at the end will be the final champion!"

It was at this moment Murong Mingyue looked up from her phone and said, "According to the news, at least 70% of the usually online players have already been killed in action."

I laughed. "Looks like this Nation War is going to break a new record. I wouldn’t be surprised if no one survived by the designated end time of the Nation War[2]."

Beiming Xue asked while holding a glass of water, "What should we do assuming Swallow Ear Canton falls, big bro?"

He Yi echoed in agreement, "Yes, I would like to know as well."

"Hmm…"

I frowned for a moment before saying, "Let’s defend Sky Ridge Fortress first and see what happens. Cyan Earth City, Hero Alliance, Throne of the Wild and God Breaker are all godlike opponents. If they are allowed to enter Sky City, there is a high chance Karinshan will fall to their blades. I have no desire to see her dead, and Sky City conquered by our enemies… Assuming we manage to hold them back, I plan to attack Burning City next!"

The Koreans’ main city?" He Yi looked surprised. "But why?"

"Burning City is closer to Hot Sand City, so it’ll be easier for our troops to regroup. Also, Burning City isn’t as tough as Cyan Earth City or Hero City. It’ll be much easier to conquer it by force considering our less-than-ideal numbers."

Lian Xin smirked. "Will Candlelight Shadow call us out for killing his pretty little junior sister, I wonder?"

"Who cares. That’s something to think about another day. I doubt he can spare the concentration until Swallow Ear Canton is conquered anyway. They’ve taken too long to conquer that tier 2 city."

"Yes, it was an exhausting battle…" He Yi chuckled.

Xinran giggled in my arms despite having no idea what we were talking about. It was as if being with us was all she needed to become the happiest girl in the world.

……

A while later, the dishes were finally served. I was so hungry that I ate three bowls of rice.

The conversation continued while we were eating, but we dared not take too much time because we only had 5 hours to rest. After the dinner was over, and the tableware was put away, I gave High Fighting Spirits a call just in case he developed a trauma or something. Thankfully, he didn’t seem troubled by his death. He only said, "I don’t mind being beheaded as long as you promise me that you will behead him before this Nation War is over!"

That, I promised him without hesitation. Vienna’s Sorrow had been allowed to do as he pleased for too long already. It was time he paid for his transgressions.

……

After everything was done, Xinran held my hand and watched me with watery eyes. "Can you sleep with me tonight, big brother? Please?"

I gave into her demands. It wouldn’t be too long anyway.

Lying atop a soft bed and being held between my arms, Xinran fell asleep in no time. Her face was buried in my neck, and I could feel her warm breath tickling my skin from time to time. The way she curled up against my chest reminded me of a pretty kitten, and she even murmured from time to time, "Big brother… big brother…"

My heart suddenly ached like never before as I watched her in silence. It was to the point where I nearly burst into tears. I whispered, "If there comes a day I can’t stay with you anymore, please don’t blame me for it, okay? Sister He Yi, Sister Beiming and everyone else will take care of you in my place. I will always love you, here or in the af—just remember to always be a good girl, okay?"

Xinran shivered a little. Despite sleeping, tears still rolled down her long eyelashes.

……

I fell asleep for god knows how long when suddenly, a phone call woke me up. I grabbed it and saw that it was a call from Li Chengfeng. There was still half an hour to the appointed time, so I knew immediately that something bad must’ve happened!

"What’s wrong, Chengfeng?" I asked after accepting the call.

He replied in a solemn tone, "It’s time to log back into the game, brother. Sky Ridge Fortress’s two NPC legions have been annihilated, and the fortress may crumble at any moment. Elephant City and Cyan Earth City have mustered over ten million troops to surround our forces at Swallow Ear Canton once more, and even Breeze and Rain and God of War have returned to aid in the effort. Snowy Cathaya, Warsky Alliance, Candle Dragon and Purple Lily are all in danger. Worst of all, Flowing Cloud has killed CGL Hall of Famers—Farewell Song, Purple Marquis, Come See The Snow Tonight and Ling Xueshang—single-handedly!"

"WHAT! Farewell Song and Purple Marquis are dead!!?" I was so shocked that I sat up immediately.

1. T/N: the author does remember that they’ve moved to a resort with a fucking forest as a garden, right? ☜

2. E/N: They last 3 days, no more, no less. If all major guilds die within 2 days, they will still have to wait for some randoms scouring the battlefield and random 5v5 fights to end. ☜

"Who’s guarding Sky Ridge Fortress right now?" I asked.

Li Chengfeng did a quick check before replying, "Hegemon Palace, Mad Dragon, and dozens of big and small guilds. In total, they number 9 million troops or so. The real defenders are the two NPC legions Karinshan has posted at Sky Ridge, however. They number over 1 million in total, and Sky Ridge is several hundred meters high. It should take a while for our enemy to overcome them…"

I nodded. "That’s good to hear. We can’t afford to be distracted right now. Let’s take out all the enemies in front of us first!"

"Yes!"

……

Over an hour later, not a single Cyan Earth City player on the northern side of Swallow Ear Canton was still alive. Cute Little Naughty had also ambushed the tens of thousands of players who had attempted to escape through Shattered Rock Forest and killed them all. At best, a million enemies managed to teleport back to the city before we could get to them. The rest of the 10-million-strong army had been killed on our battlefield.

The ground beneath the city was covered in equipment and bodies. After a simple sweep of the battlefield, I gazed into the distance and watched Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and more still firing their White Marsh payloads at Swallow Ear Canton and giving the walls a beehive makeup. Unfortunately, the tier 2 city still refused to fall thanks to its 12 Dragon Cannons.

After the men were rallied into formation, we began a slow march toward the city ourselves.

I looked around and noted that Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily, The Monarch Descends and more had suffered tremendous losses. I asked Chaos Moon, "How many people do we have left, sister?"

After Chaos Moon had tallied everything, she replied, "We’ve lost almost 20k Dragonlight Cavalrymen, 10k Dragonlight Archers, 10k Holy Mages, and around 50% of the Zephyr Cavalry. The other unit types aren’t faring much better either. Including Soul Battle Robes, we only have about 900k troops left."

Song of Cloud and Water rode up to me and asked, "Are we attacking the city, big brother Lu Chen?"

I hesitated. "The Dragon Cannons are too powerful. If we launch a frontal assault, we may win, but we will lose almost all of our Dragonlight Cavalrymen. What’s the point of all this if we lack the strength to attack enemies’ cities afterward?"

"What should we do then?" Li Chengfeng asked.

I looked at He Yi and said, "Eve, it’s your time to shine. The Chiyou Plume has a slightly higher range than the Dragon Cannon, so we’re going to use it to snipe the Dragon Cannons one by one. Without them, Swallow Ear Canton is a piece of tofu we can destroy with a single finger!"

He Yi nodded smilingly. "Got it. I’ll get it done right away. The siege weapons should arrive in an hour or so."

"Awesome. Do send a couple thousand Dragonlight Cavalrymen to escort them!"

"Will do!"

……

It was at this moment Lian Xin moved closer to me and whispered, "Big bro, I logged out of the game just now and found Xinran waiting for you at the living hall. She said that she hasn’t seen you the whole day…"

I looked at the time and realized that it had been 14 hours since I had come online. It was past 10 pm in the evening, and I hadn’t even drunk a sip of water throughout this time. Of course, it was the same for everyone else.

Li Chengfeng sat down on the ground and shot me a glance. "I say we catch a couple of hours of rest while we can. We’re not men of steel who can fight forever, and I’ve already noticed our Dragonlight Cavalrymen’s timing for Trapping Nets and Charges has been slipping. Their reaction time is dropping because they are exhausted. We’re still more than capable of handling a second-rate guild of course, but if we have to go up against a guild like Hero Alliance…"

I nodded. "That makes sense. Alright! Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Protective Umbrella, Soul Battle Robes, it’s time to log out and catch some rest! Is 5 hours of rest enough? I would give you more, but I doubt Sky Ridge Fortress can hold out for too long. In fact, we’ll head for Sky Ridge Fortress immediately after we’ve logged back into the game. There can’t be more than 500k Japanese players still standing on the walls, and once the Chiyou Plume arrives to destroy the Dragon Cannons it’s going to topple like a sand castle. Natural Flow should be running out of troops as well. I’m sure Candle Dragon and the other guilds will be able to handle that much."

Li Chengfeng smiled. "Yes, I think so too. Long story short, log out and keep Xinran company, Lu Chen. If I had a younger sister like her, I wouldn’t even log back into the game…"

"Mn!"

……

Everyone logged out in the nearby forest after the order was given in the guild channel. Only a small number of people remained online to keep watch.

I turned on the communicator and contacted Lin Yixin: "Yiyi, we’re logging out to catch a 5-hour break. What about you? I’m sure you would like to eat some food and take a pee, right?"

Lin Yixin blushed at my uncouth wording and glared at me. "Shameless! But not yet. I’ll log out after we have conquered Swallow Ear Canton. Ancient Sword and Blazing Hot Lips have been roleplaying as our meatshields for a whole day and night already, and we still haven’t managed to conquer a tiny place like Swallow Ear Canton. Forget me, even Candlelight Shadow seemed embarrassed by this outcome. I’ll log out once I’ve redeemed myself, okay?"

I nodded. "Well, okay… Don’t force yourself to stay up if you really can’t though."

"I get it. Now go catch your rest already!"

"Okay!"

……

I found a place in the forest, set up a tent, and logged out of the game.

I took off my helmet and sucked in a deep breath of fresh—wait a second, why does it smell like gunpowder? I looked outside the window and saw that someone was shooting fireworks. It was probably someone celebrating a marriage or something.[1]

I stepped out of the door after taking a moment to clean myself.

At the living hall, I saw Xinran sitting on the sofa and staring blankly at her cell phone. The moment she saw me, she immediately erupted into a cheer and jumped to her feet. She spread her arms wide open and said, "Hug me, big brother…"

This time, I pulled her into my arms and sat down on the sofa with her on my knees. Then, I asked her, "Did you have a good time today, Xinran?"

She nodded. "Mn. I’m still guarding Purple Grape City for Sophie, but it doesn’t look like anyone dares to attack us. A lot of players are killing each other within our borders though. I also saw a lot of Chinese players."

"Yeah, that’s to be expected. The Nation War is going on right now. Well, you don’t have to pay them any heed unless they attack you. I’m going to wake the cooks and tell them to cook something for us now!"

"Okay! I’m hungry!"

Subsequently, I called the cooks to begin their work. While waiting, He Yi, Murong Mingyue, Lian Xin and Beiming Xue all walked out of their rooms and sat down by the sofas as well.

"I think we did pretty well today. The only problem is that we lost a bit too many Dragonlight Cavalrymen," He Yi said. "We’ve lost at least 60k Dragonlight Cavalrymen in the past 24 hours. It’s a huge loss, seriously…"

Lian Xin pouted. "It’s all because of Warsky. We wouldn’t have lost even High Fighting Spirits otherwise."

I said, "It’s in the past now, and look at the bright side—at least we managed to save 30% of Warsky Alliance and Soul Battle Robes’ forces, didn’t we? Also, we can’t really pin all the blame on one person. It was a very cunning plan the Northern Alliance and Cyan Earth City had come up with. Anyway, the next 36 hours of this Nation War will be a true war of attrition. Every player lost is one less player capable of fighting this Nation War. Whoever stands tall at the end will be the final champion!"

It was at this moment Murong Mingyue looked up from her phone and said, "According to the news, at least 70% of the usually online players have already been killed in action."

I laughed. "Looks like this Nation War is going to break a new record. I wouldn’t be surprised if no one survived by the designated end time of the Nation War[2]."

Beiming Xue asked while holding a glass of water, "What should we do assuming Swallow Ear Canton falls, big bro?"

He Yi echoed in agreement, "Yes, I would like to know as well."

"Hmm…"

I frowned for a moment before saying, "Let’s defend Sky Ridge Fortress first and see what happens. Cyan Earth City, Hero Alliance, Throne of the Wild and God Breaker are all godlike opponents. If they are allowed to enter Sky City, there is a high chance Karinshan will fall to their blades. I have no desire to see her dead, and Sky City conquered by our enemies… Assuming we manage to hold them back, I plan to attack Burning City next!"

The Koreans’ main city?" He Yi looked surprised. "But why?"

"Burning City is closer to Hot Sand City, so it’ll be easier for our troops to regroup. Also, Burning City isn’t as tough as Cyan Earth City or Hero City. It’ll be much easier to conquer it by force considering our less-than-ideal numbers."

Lian Xin smirked. "Will Candlelight Shadow call us out for killing his pretty little junior sister, I wonder?"

"Who cares. That’s something to think about another day. I doubt he can spare the concentration until Swallow Ear Canton is conquered anyway. They’ve taken too long to conquer that tier 2 city."

"Yes, it was an exhausting battle…" He Yi chuckled.

Xinran giggled in my arms despite having no idea what we were talking about. It was as if being with us was all she needed to become the happiest girl in the world.

……

A while later, the dishes were finally served. I was so hungry that I ate three bowls of rice.

The conversation continued while we were eating, but we dared not take too much time because we only had 5 hours to rest. After the dinner was over, and the tableware was put away, I gave High Fighting Spirits a call just in case he developed a trauma or something. Thankfully, he didn’t seem troubled by his death. He only said, "I don’t mind being beheaded as long as you promise me that you will behead him before this Nation War is over!"

That, I promised him without hesitation. Vienna’s Sorrow had been allowed to do as he pleased for too long already. It was time he paid for his transgressions.

……

After everything was done, Xinran held my hand and watched me with watery eyes. "Can you sleep with me tonight, big brother? Please?"

I gave into her demands. It wouldn’t be too long anyway.

Lying atop a soft bed and being held between my arms, Xinran fell asleep in no time. Her face was buried in my neck, and I could feel her warm breath tickling my skin from time to time. The way she curled up against my chest reminded me of a pretty kitten, and she even murmured from time to time, "Big brother… big brother…"

My heart suddenly ached like never before as I watched her in silence. It was to the point where I nearly burst into tears. I whispered, "If there comes a day I can’t stay with you anymore, please don’t blame me for it, okay? Sister He Yi, Sister Beiming and everyone else will take care of you in my place. I will always love you, here or in the af—just remember to always be a good girl, okay?"

Xinran shivered a little. Despite sleeping, tears still rolled down her long eyelashes.

……

I fell asleep for god knows how long when suddenly, a phone call woke me up. I grabbed it and saw that it was a call from Li Chengfeng. There was still half an hour to the appointed time, so I knew immediately that something bad must’ve happened!

"What’s wrong, Chengfeng?" I asked after accepting the call.

He replied in a solemn tone, "It’s time to log back into the game, brother. Sky Ridge Fortress’s two NPC legions have been annihilated, and the fortress may crumble at any moment. Elephant City and Cyan Earth City have mustered over ten million troops to surround our forces at Swallow Ear Canton once more, and even Breeze and Rain and God of War have returned to aid in the effort. Snowy Cathaya, Warsky Alliance, Candle Dragon and Purple Lily are all in danger. Worst of all, Flowing Cloud has killed CGL Hall of Famers—Farewell Song, Purple Marquis, Come See The Snow Tonight and Ling Xueshang—single-handedly!"

"WHAT! Farewell Song and Purple Marquis are dead!!?" I was so shocked that I sat up immediately.

1. T/N: the author does remember that they’ve moved to a resort with a fucking forest as a garden, right? ☜

2. E/N: They last 3 days, no more, no less. If all major guilds die within 2 days, they will still have to wait for some randoms scouring the battlefield and random 5v5 fights to end. ☜