Apocalypse Pulled Something Big

Through information gathered from guild members and other channels, Qin Chuan discovered that divine phantoms had appeared outside all twelve main cities.

While wary, Qin Chuan was also puzzled.

Such a large-scale operation did not seem like something Hand of the Dead could pull off.

What they excelled at was causing trouble in the shadows.

Moreover, given Hand of the Dead's strength, summoning one divine phantom would be understandable. Two would already be a strain, and three would require them to bring out their hidden trump cards.

Twelve?

It was not that Qin Chuan looked down on Hand of the Dead. Those people simply were not capable of it.

There was another suspicious point.

Hand of the Dead's faith was varied, but they generally worshipped the death pantheon. Plague, destruction, and pain were what they pursued.

Beast gods were not among them.

They were more inclined toward strength.

Their defining trait was sheer brute force.

In Apocalypse, sacrifices were actually a technical matter. Communicating with gods required more than offerings and faith; other factors were needed as well, such as bloodline.

Bear monsters could communicate with gods of the Beast God Lineage because, in a sense, those gods were themselves incredibly powerful beasts.

The beast-headed, humanoid divine phantom summoned by the bear monsters this time had a bear's head. It was inextricably linked to the bear monsters, perhaps even an ancestor of their race. Hearing the calls of its descendants and taking the time to show its face was perfectly normal.

Hand of the Dead, on the other hand, generally called upon Death Bringers.

But the problem was that there were only seven Death Bringers. At least, Qin Chuan had only ever seen seven.

Even if they called them all out, they could not appear in twelve main cities simultaneously.

Besides, the Death Bringers most likely had no time to answer any summons right now.

"Could they all be from the Beast God Lineage this time?"

Qin Chuan frowned deeply and hurriedly asked the other guild members to send their on-site pictures to the guild chat.

He opened the pictures as they came in.

In the photo sent back by Xue Zhong Yi Jian Xia, who was in Clear Wind City, the two enormous antlers atop the phantom's head were particularly striking. They were elk antlers.

The one in Skarn City, where Ji Xing was, had a snake's head.

The one Yingluo Yezakura photographed outside Linggang City had a leopard's head.

Then there was Feiyun City, where a phantom with a bird's head had appeared.

The phantoms appearing in the other main cities likewise represented different beasts.

All twelve phantoms truly belonged to the Beast God Lineage!

This was absolutely no coincidence!

A name circled in Qin Chuan's mind.

The Beast God Sect!

An organization that worshipped the Beast God Lineage and sought to return the world to barbaric chaos.

"Hand of the Dead really pulled something big."

Qin Chuan let out a long breath.

Before coming here, he had thought Hand of the Dead was once again preparing to follow its usual routine—causing trouble and delivering themselves up to die. Only after arriving did he realize that those bastards had actually dragged the Beast God Sect into this.

Still, considering the Beast God Sect's slogan was, "Overthrow humanity's tyranny; the world belongs to the beast gods," their operating principles did share similarities with Hand of the Dead's. It was hardly strange for these two notorious organizations to get tangled up together.

What surprised Qin Chuan most was the timing.

According to the timeline of his previous life, the Beast God Sect had appeared in the third version. They had absorbed the remnants of Hand of the Dead, which had been crushed in the first version, and then begun their activities.

Yet this was only the first version, and the server had only been open for a few days, but the Beast God Sect had already emerged.

There was no need to ask. Apocalypse had definitely been stirring things up.

Steadying himself, Qin Chuan continued observing the scene in the distance while reminding the guild members to gather together and operate in groups.

With the situation still unclear, it was better to be cautious.

While he was thinking, the slaughter on the distant stone platform had already neared its end. Of the several hundred bear monsters, only one remained standing.

But that single one made Qin Chuan's expression turn grave.

Savage Bear, Thunder Roar God Chosen · Stinger

The bear monster named Stinger stood nearly ten meters tall, with a massive build and thick limbs. Its mere presence exuded endless oppression.

Among its brown fur, portions had transformed into gold, forming intricate and profound totems.

Golden motes drifted and flickered around the totems.

Every time Stinger breathed, thunder seemed to explode within its chest, while arcs of lightning flickered around its body.

The bear monsters around the stone platform erupted into cheers, their expressions utterly fanatical.

Their god had answered their call and bestowed power upon them, sending them a God Chosen!

A God Chosen was an existence even higher than an apostle.

Apostles walked among mortals in place of gods, spreading the gods' majesty.

God Chosen, however, were individuals personally selected and empowered by gods. Their strength far exceeded imagination.

As for Savage Bear Thunder Roar, Qin Chuan knew of it as well.

A Lower God of the Beast God Lineage, savage and tyrannical, famed for brute strength and thunder.

During the Divine Advent Stage, it descended upon the North American wilderness. In half a day, it caused more than three million human deaths, including one of North America's top ten experts.

"Damn, this isn't Hand of the Dead pulling something big. Apocalypse pulled something big!"

Qin Chuan grumbled inwardly.

Releasing a God Chosen at this stage was simply not giving players any way to survive.

Just as he thought that, a grand mechanical voice echoed across the sky.

Divine event triggered! The Beast God's God Chosen has descended with slaughter and will destroy everything within its sight! Players, immediately return to defend your main cities!

Please note: players who die during this event will have their characters forcibly deleted!

Players will be unable to log out during the event. Players whose characters are deleted may create new characters after the event concludes!

In an instant, all of Apocalypse erupted.

Countless players flooded the forums with complaints.

What kind of garbage game is this? It can forcibly delete characters?

I finally got to level fifteen. If I die, don't I have to start all over again?

Where's our strongest player, Night Wanderer? Save us!

I bet Night Wanderer has already hidden. If his character gets deleted, he'll probably cry himself to death.

Heh heh, I actually hope Night Wanderer gets killed. As long as Night Wanderer lives, the rest of us will never get our chance to rise!

Now that you put it that way, it does make sense.

By that logic, ordinary players like us actually don't lose much in this event. Even if we die, we just have to make another character. Maybe we can even reroll a better talent. But it's different for the top players. If they die, their losses will be huge.

Let's do this! Get the event going!

The players on the forums quickly split into several factions.

One faction feared the world would not be chaotic enough and even thought the more chaotic it became, the better. After all, they did not have much to lose.

Another faction complained that Apocalypse was utterly absurd for even introducing forced character deletion.

There was also a group represented by top players, who expressed concern.

They had finally achieved something. If they died just like that, would that not be a massive loss?

Quite a few players even stated bluntly that they would rather wait in the wilderness for the main cities to explode than return to defend them.

Qin Chuan also received a large number of private messages.

Guild leaders such as Dragon Soar Under Heaven all asked how they should respond.

Qin Chuan's answer was simple: preserve themselves and wait for an opportunity.

Such a massive event could not possibly be resolved by players alone.

Either NPCs would step in to rescue them, or the event would end automatically.

But in his heart, Qin Chuan knew that Apocalypse was most likely targeting him.

In his previous life, there had never been an event involving forced character deletion during the game stage.