Dusk

Everyone was suddenly shaken, filled with immense admiration for the worldbuilding.

As details accumulated again and again and the world revealed more of itself, this vast land that felt as though they were truly standing within it was what inspired the greatest longing. The sense of immersion was almost like having a second life.

Just by looking at all the little details around the Mountain Villa, they felt as though they had already glimpsed the entire world.

"Come to think of it, sunset is almost here. If we go to sleep at night and they take the opportunity to attack us, that'll be troublesome."

They began to worry.

Although the boss had been dumbed down, and the Crow King was as good as half dead, greatly reducing the pressure, nighttime was another problem altogether.

Before Su Yu Niang could speak, the command center had already begun broadcasting instructions:

"Dusk is approaching. From this point on, everyone, please leave the Defense Towers and gradually retreat underground."

"We'll all go to the underground artificial pond, swim across to the other side, and return to the dormitory to sleep."

Everyone followed the instructions.

Before long, they gradually concentrated their forces and retreated to an underground junction.

Caw, caw, caw!

The crows continued attacking.

Splash!

One after another, they jumped into the water, swam through an underwater tunnel, and emerged right beside the dormitory.

"Everyone, you can start sleeping."

Su Yu Niang had already been waiting there for quite some time. She gave orders:

"Once everyone is back, we'll press a copper stone into place. Then they won't be able to swim into the underwater tunnel's exit or enter our dormitory."

No one was worried about the dormitory's safety.

First, the dormitory had been reinforced and built to be extremely sturdy.

Second, those crows had no idea that the players had gone around underground and returned to the fully enclosed dormitory building on the surface to sleep. It was a classic case of hiding in plain sight.

With their intelligence, they would only chase after the stretch of water where the players had disappeared, attacking it furiously.

But the end of that waterway was blocked by a copper stone. They could not hold their breath and swim underwater for long, and with the blockage being so sturdy, it was not something they could simply break through.

Some people were still worried:

"Then if they can't get in, what if they take advantage of the night to destroy our Defense Towers?"

"Exactly. Once we return to the Defense Towers during the day, there'll be no one left to defend them."

At that moment, Jiu Cai Rong also swam back to the dormitory along the waterway. Seeing everyone gathered in a circle discussing the matter, he explained:

"Don't worry. If the Crow King were still alive, it would definitely have destroyed the Defense Towers in advance. But with the intelligence of the crow flock now, they won't attack Defense Towers where no one is present."

Animals did not attack soil, mud, or gravel for no reason. They only attacked people.

If every member of some common low-level beast pack were as clever as a human, this world would have been taken over by beasts long ago.

As long as there was no aggro, they would be safe.

Of course, that did not necessarily mean the crows would not attack. They might lash out in frustration, after all.

But there was nothing they could do.

They could not defend the place at night and could only log off, so the Defense Towers were bound to be empty.

Of course, this was precisely why they had to kill the Crow King today!

A commander's role in war was far too significant. If the enemy commander survived, it might truly wait until the players withdrew before leading people to destroy the Defense Towers overnight and reducing the Mountain Villa to complete chaos.

"I'm back."

"Wait, there are three more behind me. Cover them a little longer."

"That should be about everyone."

Before long, everyone had returned, and a large copper stone blocked the entrance.

The crows that had followed them underwater struggled in the water, trying to peck at the large copper stone, but it was completely useless. Instead, because they could not hold their breath, they had no choice but to turn around and quickly swim back to shore.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Had they actually succeeded?

Crushing them through sheer intelligence felt way too good.

As expected, playing games with your brain was what made someone a true expert.

Compared to the brainless monster grinding of the Fourth Calamity, or repeatedly respawning at revival points in an online game and using their lives to defend against a massive siege, this was what gaming was really supposed to be—packed with realism!

"All right, everyone, you're safe now. We're already cooking. We may not have the surface's Bonfire Party, but it's wartime, so everyone will have to make do."

Inside the dormitory, Jiu Cai Rong began giving orders:

"The more than ten blacksmiths who died are Queuing to Log In. Don't rush to revive. The first revival costs a full ten Magic Coins, and most personal savings won't be enough. We'll use your spoils of war to cover the difference later."

"Also, our preliminary estimate is that you'll revive at the Mountain Villa's main gate. The moment you poke your heads out, you'll be attacked."

"Yan Hua Four Brothers, you entered together in the same dormitory, right? You used your lives to lure the Crow King, so the Mountain Villa will record your contribution. I suggest you wait until this expansion ends before reviving. It'll be safer that way."

The four brothers who had been called out had indeed been spectating in Tourists Logging In after their deaths.

They thought it over. Since they would not be logging in tomorrow anyway, the four of them could go out shopping, post on the forum, and upload some personal videos to see if they could ride the wave and earn some traffic.

After soothing the fallen blacksmiths, Jiu Cai Rong continued:

"There's still some time before dinner. If you're bored, you can go take a look at the Blacksmith Shop on the second floor above the dormitory."

"But no forging is allowed. Crafting rough blanks will make noise and alert the crows searching outside."

"Dao Jiujiu has already figured out the formal crafting process for magic items. You only need to reheat the magic-item blanks, add materials, and carve the patterns. It won't make much noise. Everyone can give it a try. After all, we've already made a lot of magic-item blanks—there are plenty to use!"

"I'm sure you collected quite a few crow materials during the day. You can try forging them. What if you get something really valuable? It'll make killing monsters tomorrow even more convenient."

After hearing this, everyone felt that it made perfect sense.

Hadn't they gone to war with the crow flock in the first place to forge weapons?

The main quest of Sword Forging Manor was forging!

Killing monsters was merely farming materials.

If they did not go play a few rounds now and pull some weapons to see whether they were lucky or cursed, how could they possibly fall asleep?

So a group of people hurried excitedly to the second-floor Blacksmith Shop, making it feel almost like a casino.

After Jiu Cai Rong sent them off, he, Dao Jiujiu, Su Yu Niang, and the leaders of several teams began summarizing the day's battle.

Jiu Cai Rong frowned deeply. "At night, our weaknesses are far too obvious. I don't believe this was a mistake on the designer's part."

Dao Jiujiu nodded as well. After displaying his superb skills, he had become the Blacksmith Shop's number-one blacksmith. He said, "Could it be that we need to complete some kind of main quest before we can operate at night?"

They really wanted to complain. What game ran from eight in the morning until seven at night?

You people were far too disciplined.

Su Yu Niang analyzed the situation. "That does seem to be the case. We need to be active at night—forge weapons, patrol, and make the rounds. Only then would this be a normal Nighttime Mountain Villa."

In truth, they simply wanted to play longer.

"So there must be a way for us to operate at night." Everyone felt a surge of urgency.