At the mountainside.
In a lush forest.
"The leader's dead. Perfect. We'll continue tomorrow."
Ning Zheng watched the dusk settle over the night sky and silently made his way down the mountain, his emotions tangled.
A special period.
Opening the no-logging-off mode tonight would have been fine too.
But they were so self-disciplined, resting on time and going to bed early and rising early, that Ning Zheng decided not to play the villain.
Young people's sleep quality mattered most.
Because the events of the day had been rather outrageous, Ning Zheng descended the mountain with a complicated feeling he could not put into words.
It was somewhat like watching the brain-damaged, foolish son he had worried over and cared for as an old father suddenly make something of himself, recover his intelligence, become reliable, and hold up the household independently!
In short, it was hard to describe.
After returning home and finishing dinner with Ning Jiaojiao, Ning Zheng felt somewhat delighted.
"Given the situation, with the bandit chief eliminated, the crow swarm should settle down and hunt. They won't be able to break through the defenses easily, so the Meat Field should be ours soon."
There were tens of thousands of crows.
They had only killed two or three thousand today. Tomorrow would probably be another two or three thousand, after which the other side should lose its nerve and withdraw as one.
That was reality. After losing thirty percent of their population and their leader, they could not risk extermination to fight you to the death. They were afraid of dying too.
They were very much bullies who preyed on the weak and feared the strong.
Had the crows dared to cause trouble before the Demon People of the Mountain Villa?
If the crows could not win tomorrow, it was only to be expected that the beasts would admit defeat. A temporary ceasefire should begin.
That was the law of the ecosystem in the mountains. Animal populations could become mortal enemies, but they would not fight to the bitter end, down to the last soldier.
More likely, they would admit defeat and retreat, waiting until a new Crow King was born. Under the leadership and wisdom of a new commander, they would launch a second wave of revenge attacks.
As for how the Mountain Villa would respond when they no longer fell for the same trick a second time, that could be dealt with then!
And so the question arose.
"That means I have to get that headless body tomorrow. Otherwise, if they retreat and run away tomorrow, I won't be able to get it." Ning Zheng was still thinking about his Meat Field.
Dusk fell.
Amid a blood-red wasteland, an ember inherited part of a fragmented memory and crawled out of a corpse with blurred eyes. A ghost was born.
"Where am I?" This "Dazzled" looked at Eye Bag, the blind Eye, Yan Zhong, and an unidentifiable corpse of mangled flesh and blood, somewhat panicked.
Had he passed out?
The crows outside let out spine-chilling cries. Some even crawled through the underground tunnels with faint rustling sounds, their calls seemingly filled with boundless fury.
"Why haven't I logged off yet?" Dazzled felt tense. He had the feeling he was done for.
The next second, a crow really did come through the tunnel. Dazzled shuddered and fell to the ground, pretending to be dead.
But that crow seemed to have noticed the disturbance here long ago. It looked at Dazzled, then silently backed away, instinctively going around him. It seemed to hold Dazzled in deep disdain, radiating a faint disgust.
After quite some time.
Dazzled crawled up from the ground and followed the tunnel, going around crow after crow. By sheer luck, he reached the underground waterway and swam across it.
A massive piece of Magic Copper completely blocked the exit.
Calling out would not reach the other side, but they had considered this possibility and devised a signal. He pounded hard with his fist.
Thump.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
Thump.
After the series of signals, the massive piece of Magic Copper revealed a narrow gap.
"Dazzled? Why is it you? Didn't the four-member Eye Legend team all die?" Someone peered through the gap at the strange "Dazzled," inexplicably overcome by a sense of horror.
"Open the door, quick." Dazzled looked pitiful. "I didn't actually die. I only passed out."
"There aren't any crows outside, right?"
"None!"
To prevent Dazzled from being a crow spy, they specially called over several players with bows and arrows to stand ready before opening the passage. Safety first.
After all, if this place fell, they would be finished.
Once the passage opened, Dazzled swam in, dripping wet. Nothing unexpected happened along the way.
A player came over to question him. Seeing that there was no problem, they ignored him.
Unfortunately, it was already almost seven when Dazzled returned, and everyone was preparing to log off and sleep.
They had also already researched the magical abilities of the artifacts produced after forging the crows.
The crows' racial talents were:
1: Swift (Active): Increases speed once.
2: Nimble (Passive): Slightly increases neural reflexes.
Most creatures possessed a first trait and a second hidden trait.
The hidden traits were also called dream traits by the blacksmiths.
For example, Nimble existed only among a small number of crows within the species, marking them as exceptionally gifted.
That made it a matter of luck. Forging a crow with a hidden trait might yield something valuable.
"Hahaha! I did it! Look at my +2!" someone shouted, holding a freshly quenched bow that still radiated tremendous heat.
Everyone looked over and immediately grew envious.
Unnamed Trait: Swift Magic Copper charges: 2/2
Although it was a low-level trait, it was already enough to make them happy!
The advanced magical artifacts of the future, with all kinds of enchanted traits, were truly exciting to anticipate.
For example, if we captured the Villa Master, who was rarer than phoenix feathers across the entire earth, and threw him into the furnace to be forged, wouldn't that artifact be a divine weapon?
Every ten attacks would produce a clone.
The Phantom Divine Blade—how insanely cool would that be! With a divine weapon in hand, it felt like he would instantly become invincible among those of the same rank!
Dazzled watched from the side, his eyes burning with envy. He wanted to forge artifacts and earn some money to revive the brothers from his team.
After all, even the first resurrection required ten Magic Coins. That was a huge expense.
Soon.
All the blacksmiths also received a message:
One minute remaining. The Server will shut down.
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Everyone climbed onto the iron-mesh beds and lay down to sleep.
The next moment, everyone logged off together. Dazzled obediently closed his eyes too. After a dozen seconds, he blinked. "Huh? Why haven't I logged off?"
He opened the iron-mesh clamp and sat up heavily, staring blankly at the Money Boys lying all around him, already completely unable to move.
An intense, overwhelming delight suddenly filled his heart.
Did I glitch the game?
I can still play the game!?
Fuck, fuck, fuck! How am I able to stay online at night without logging off?
He was thrilled beyond words. He hurriedly got up and went to the Blacksmith Shop on the second floor.
"Then I'll work hard through the night! If I earn some Magic Coins, I can revive Eye Bag, the blind Eye, and Yan Zhong. We of Eye Legend will never abandon one another."
The Blacksmith Shop was quiet and empty.
The equipment had all been arranged neatly, and artifact blanks were piled on the shelves, sorted into categories.
It did look rather eerie, though, with a heavy aura of gloom. Dazzled was timid by nature and did not even dare watch horror films, so he suppressed his fear and felt around in the darkness.
Whoosh.
He finally lit a faint flame.
He silently raised the oil lamp and carefully illuminated the surrounding shelves and blind corners.
Only after confirming that there was nothing horrifying did he breathe a sigh of relief and sit at the table, learning to draw the engraved patterns.
"I have to work hard and earn money."
Under the swaying, faint lamplight woven from brightness and darkness, he held an artifact blank in the Blacksmith Shop and carved it stroke by stroke. Before he knew it, a sinister smile had appeared on his face—one even he himself failed to notice.
One extra chapter today. Please recommend, beg for all kinds of support.
Before you continue