Endemic Plague Village

The truck could not go very far.

After passing through the checkpoint in the city wall, there was still an isolation zone about five kilometers long, and the road there was fairly well maintained.

But once they left the isolation zone, all that remained was an exceptionally bumpy, muddy road.

After driving another two kilometers, there was no longer any road suitable for cars.

There were still over ten kilometers to Endemic Plague Village. The lush vegetation all around filled Li Li, who was controlling his avatar, with the excitement of finally being able to stretch his legs.

This was his first time leaving the city, and he felt that everything was finally getting on track.

After clearing Endemic Plague Village, he would build a road here. By relying on the loot players obtained from killing monsters, he would attract merchants from the city to trade at his outpost.

With merchant caravans, he could use the Thirteen City Alliance's vast resources to complete the outpost's construction, allowing players to resupply without returning to the city. Then, using the same model, he could steadily push forward and establish new outposts.

Once Broken Sword Valley had been fully developed, they could head to the Misty Forest beyond the valley.

Clear outposts, build roads, attract natives, construct cities, summon players...

Throughout this process, he would gather an enormous amount of faith, gradually open more testing slots, bring in more players, and create a positive cycle.

Once he found a way for players to reliably reach Silver Rank, he would dare to release testing slots on a massive scale.

That would be the day Glory Expedition OL entered public beta for everyone.

Li Li took a deep breath and lightly nudged Aer with his elbow.

Just as the players, shaken dizzy by the ride, poked their heads out from the back of the cargo bed and curiously wondered why the truck had stopped, Aer got out of the passenger seat alone.

She walked to the front of the truck, bent slightly at the waist, and suddenly clenched her fist forward. Her previously soft and listless air instantly turned sharp.

The next moment, distorted wind pressure formed directly in front of her fist.

Everything within fifty meters in front of her twisted and compressed within a second. Whether towering ancient trees, huge rocks, irritating shrubs, or thorny vines, all were crushed into fragments by the terrifying pressure.

Red Falcon, who had poked her head out from the truck bed, could not help opening her mouth wide.

As the unlucky girl forced to join the team, she had been suppressed by Aer with one hand yesterday. But she had never expected this Beast-Ear Race big sister to be hiding such terrifying strength.

Gold Rank? Or even stronger? Was the end of the world really coming?

"She has the strength of Legendary Rank."

Li Yuan stood beside Red Falcon, rose on her tiptoes, and gently patted the girl's head. Thoughtfully, she explained to the girl who was a head taller than her.

Aer was like a humanoid bulldozer, opening a path ahead step by step.

Li Li controlled his avatar and drove the truck slowly behind her.

In less than an hour, a passable "dirt road" had appeared between Iron Wall City and Endemic Plague Village.

Without considering wear and tear, this firmly compacted mud road was enough for large freight trucks to pass through.

However, while the Beastmen along the way had also been casually crushed into fragments by Aer,

the Beastmen that died at Aer's hands did not turn into Experience Points. Instead, they dispersed into the surrounding space and would "respawn" a few minutes later.

This was why the Thirteen City Alliance had never expanded outward.

Unless an expert above demigod rank personally took action, corrupted monsters could not be killed. At most, they could only be driven away temporarily.

And for those powerful beings who had reached the "domain of gods," corruption awaited them as well. As long as they dared leave the God Banning Barrier, they would become insane Bosses before long.

Li Li did not know how many gods were barely clinging to Lingering Breath within the Thirteen City Alliance.

But anyone with eyes could see that players who could completely kill monsters were even more precious than those surviving gods.

After all, this was the Creator God's power—the effect known as the Divine Legion.

What would the Alliance do once they discovered the players' traits?

Would they recruit them, buy them off, suppress them, or use some unexpected method?

Li Li had no idea.

He knew he was running a makeshift operation. He had neither the time, the channels, nor the interest to understand the composition, attitudes, and ways of handling matters of every faction.

With power in his hands, all he needed to do was counter soldiers with generals and water with earth.

After parking the truck outside Endemic Plague Village, Li Li glanced back at the dirt road.

If left unattended, it would be covered by newly grown vegetation within a few weeks.

To keep the road there permanently, someone would need to maintain it.

If possible, Li Li also wanted to pour a layer of concrete over it.

But regardless of the plan, he first had to clear the monsters from Endemic Plague Village.

"Your Holiness, how should we cleanse the corruption here?"

Controlling the panda subspecies Beast-Ear Race player, Li Li gave Aer a bow and acted as the players' spokesperson.

Aer stared at Li Li for a long time before silently turning away and shifting her attention to the village built at the mouth of the valley.

She slowly walked to the village entrance, lowered her body into a horse stance, and then threw a fierce punch.

"Hah!!!"

In an instant, a powerful blast of air erupted from her fist and rushed into the village shrouded in dark-green poisonous gas, blowing every living thing within into the air.

"Ha!!!"

The girl withdrew her fist, and the dozens of monsters flying through the air rapidly shot toward it like iron blocks drawn to a magnet.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

The monsters crashed onto the ground, stacked one atop another like neatly sliced tofu. Even the well-traveled players were stunned speechless.

In their livestream chats, comments were also exploding with discussion.

"What class skill was that?"

"Judging by the visual effects, it looks like a Shock Punch that specializes in nonlethal damage."

"Could she be a new Space Magician class coming in the first major version? But that doesn't look magical at all."

"That punch had to be at least level 100. Why hadn't we seen this NPC in the first major version?"

The players frozen in place had completely forgotten what they were supposed to do.

Li Li had no choice but to control his avatar, raise his spear, and charge forward, stabbing down at a badly wounded Rat-ified Ghoul.

Only then did everyone come to their senses. They immediately joined in, scrambling for the low-health monsters being held in place.

You have killed "Rat-ified Ghoul." Reward: 200 Experience Points.

The system interface displayed a kill notification, something that had not existed in the previous version.

Amulet Owl kept thrusting his spear as he introduced the mechanics to his livestream audience.

"Only four-person parties are available right now. Experience is split evenly after killing a monster, and everyone also gets a 15% party experience bonus."

"Seize the opportunity. You might never get another welfare mission that hands out free experience like this."

As he spoke, the dead Rat-ified Ghouls exploded one after another, splitting into countless Ghoul Rats the size of arms.

But before the little rats could move, they were pinned to the ground by the powerful pressure.

After the rats died, they exploded like bombs, releasing clouds of poisonous gas. But the wind pressure hanging over the "pile of monsters" blew the gas into the sky the instant it appeared.

Red Falcon had already transformed into her Magical Girl form, yet her senior had told her not to act.

Her mind was a complete mess.

The assembly-line slaughter of monsters before her had gone beyond her understanding, causing her to overlook something she should never have overlooked.

After these monsters died, their corpses dissipated into countless motes of light. Some flowed into the bodies of those strange people, some scattered throughout the world, and some condensed into something.

Amid this seemingly absurd slaughter, the plague-ridden village was slowly, ever so slowly, being purified.