Battle Formations: Players Who Were Killed Right Out of the Gate

Gao Linzhi has read many novels.

After all, there are so many online novels from another world, with all sorts of imaginative ideas.

The so-called world invasion in online novels mostly targets the World Source.

This is like a powerful nation invading a poor tribe; it certainly isn't to steal your wheat.

Anyone who tries to steal wheat is crazy.

If he's going to rob something, it'll definitely be something he doesn't have in his own territory, such as rare Minerals, unique geographical advantages, or something to intimidate others and expand his influence.

Only someone with their brain filled with water from a hundred-meter-deep pit would dare to steal wheat from a poor and powerful family.

The game developers clearly wouldn't risk stealing the Skyfall World for a paltry sum of gold.

Only the world's Source Energy is truly worth seizing.

But Gao Linzhi didn't know what the Source Energy was.

No one can explain it clearly.

But now it seems that it must be related to the Demonic Creatures and monsters of this Skyfall World.

Just as I was thinking this, about two hours later, the airship safely crossed the sea and soon arrived at an island.

Looking down from the cockpit, one could see many bustling villages and some towns below.

The population is obviously very large, at least several hundred thousand.

As a Prefectural Island, it's passable.

There are far more villagers than on Wolf Snake Island.

Before long, the airship slowly descended, and a rope ladder was lowered over a beach.

The players began exiting the cabin and climbing down the ladder.

"Damn it, why didn't this spaceship just land?"

"Yes, landing directly saves us the trouble of climbing up and down."

The entire airship contained thousands of people, who poured out in an instant.

Many people even jumped directly from the air, performing acrobatic feats.

It's fair to say that everyone, human or ghost, is showing off, while the locals are the ones getting beaten up.

As soon as the group of rabid players were unleashed, someone immediately said, "Let's go, let's gather intelligence first."

At this moment, several high-level players called out:

"Everyone, don't act rashly, lest you alert the enemy!"

"Now that we're on this island, our first priority is to gather intelligence."

"Please elect Spokesperson to take charge."

The players looked around, but didn't run around recklessly.

After all, everyone only has one chance to revive, and this is a realistic game.

In addition, many people also face real-world pressures, and the ease of simply playing games is not as relaxing as it seems.

Therefore, everyone is still very cautious when making decisions.

They are even more cautious than in reality.

After searching for a while, someone spoke up, "Where's the Canxue boss? Could you come out and give some command?"

"Yes, we'll listen to you, sir."

"The General Manager of the Four Village Trading Company would also be acceptable."

"That's right, if we players just wander around randomly, we'll definitely fall apart."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Even if a few Company Executive Players have ulterior motives, they don't want all the players to be eliminated at the beginning, as that would make it difficult for them to take advantage of the chaos, which is not a good thing.

The best approach is to exploit the players to severely weaken the imperial court, allowing them to reap the benefits in the end.

This is the best course of action.

At this moment, bored, he looked at Gao Linzhi, eager to try.

"If you want to take command, then go ahead."

"Remember, the primary focus should be on intelligence gathering," Gao Linzhi instructed.

"Understood, boss."

Bored, he soon walked over and stood on a slightly higher sand dune.

"Everyone, be quiet and listen to me. We are all players..."

"We should unite; this world is not friendly to us."

"The Longevity Water is merely a mission objective; whether it succeeds or not is secondary. The most important thing is that we use this activity to see the world more clearly!"

Even if the mission fails, everyone will still gain a lot!

Everyone agreed.

They quickly reached an agreement.

After counting the number of players on site, it was found that a total of 1208 players had come.

Many people have successfully formed teams, while many others have not yet done so.

"Many people formed teams haphazardly before, which wasn't good."

"This event is essentially a war!"

"It's a war between players and the imperial court. The Game System provides us with basic logistics and transportation, but how we fight is up to us!"

What are the different types of war?

"Logistics, operations, intelligence, foreign affairs, etc., constitute a very complex process."

"We only have a little over 1,000 people right now, which can be redeployed."

"Some people do logistics, some do combat, and some do intelligence and foreign affairs."

"At the same time, since it is war, there must be military law. Without rules, nothing can be done well. Even in games, the top guilds that play well have strict rules. Those who do not follow orders, randomly pull monsters, or play by themselves will be kicked out."

"Now, I'm going to ask everyone: anyone who doesn't follow the rules can leave right now!"

"Once the rules are established, they must be followed."

At this point, someone started to speak sarcastically, "That depends on what the rules are. What if you come up with a rule that makes us cannon fodder while you reap the benefits? Are we still supposed to abide by it?"

"Yes, it depends on the rules."

"I've anticipated this boredom," he said with a slight smile.

"The rules are very simple."

"Those on the march must obey military orders, which include Five Prohibitions and Twenty-Four Punishments."

"Of course, we're all players, so let's change 'kill' to 'expel'."

"Disobeying Orders, Slowing Down the Army, Slackening the Army, Corrupting the Army, and Stealing from the Army are the five prohibitions, and among these five prohibitions are twenty-four serious crimes that must be punished."

Upon hearing this, all the players immediately shook their heads.

"That's too much trouble, we're not going to be cannon fodder."

"That's right, we'll do it ourselves."

At least 30% of the players chose to leave and go their own way.

Boredom is not a hindrance.

Of course, some people chose to stay.

Most of those people were Company Executive Players, as well as some shrewd Rogue Players.

The departing players continued to laugh as they walked away.

"That's hilarious. Playing a game and you have to organize it like a team?"

Do you really think we're cannon fodder?

"If we really follow those rules, how will we get any benefits?"

"That's true. It's better for us to rely on the game hints, explore little by little on our own, find guides and information. Any benefits we get will be ours."

These people walked off the beach.

In front of the beach is a lush, green forest.

They cautiously entered the woods, only to find that there was no threat inside.

This put the players at ease, and they were soon out of the forest, where a lush green plain stretched out before them.

They emerged from the woods, feeling much more relaxed, and stepped onto the plain.

They haven't gone very far yet.

Suddenly, they were met with a hail of arrows!

"Kill these outsiders!"

"They're here to steal the Longevity Water!"

"Don't let a single one escape!"

"The prefect has ordered that these outsiders be killed without exception!"

A group of soldiers clad in Leather Armor rose from a trench in the distance of the plain and began to hurl Heavy Arrow, which resembled small shovels, at them.

"Ah!"

One player was caught off guard, mainly because this arrow was different from arrows from ordinary feudal dynasties; it shot too far, exceeding 500 meters!

That's right, this range, comparable to that of modern firearms, is the power of archery in this world.

Players with lower physical strength and poor equipment were the first to be affected.

Without reconnaissance, warning, or front, middle, and rear guard units, it was almost certain that they would be ambushed.

A few players with keen senses didn't tell others, but quietly shielded the others in front of them.

Their plan was clearly to send others to their deaths, thus reducing their competition...

This is the result of disorganization.

And so, with a volley of arrows, nearly half of the players who had voluntarily quit and were preparing to do things their own way were gone.

"Ah, run!"

"Go find a powerful figure for protection!"

The other surviving players, carrying loads of arrows, fled in panic.

Many new players don't wear armor, after all, armor has weight.

Actually, this weight isn't much, it's just that these players haven't developed a safety awareness and subconsciously didn't wear them.

Only those Rogue Players had experienced the brutal elimination process by the Company Executive Players, and who were more vigilant and always on guard, managed to escape the rain of arrows in time, and some even managed to kill a few archers in the process.

Using their superior physical abilities, they hurled several spears, killing a few archers, before retreating.

The retreating players ran back to the beach.

"Please let us join us, we've been ambushed."

"Our arrival has been leaked; the prefect here discovered us beforehand!"

"Yes, let's come back."

The players, having suffered a crushing defeat, realized that without their organization and the protection of others, they were no match for the opposing teams when fighting alone.

They appear agile and mobile, but the enemy also has strong skirmishers who can take turns attacking; they cannot withstand the enemy's onslaught.

A bored, faint smile:

"You've already chosen to leave, and now you want to come back?"

"Yes, we want to come back."

"We've figured it out, we want to come back."

The remaining players mocked, "What a disgrace! Where has your backbone gone?"

"Yeah, they just said they wouldn't be cannon fodder and didn't want to follow the rules, but now that they've been beaten, they regret it?"

"Why didn't you do this sooner?"

Bored, he stopped the mockery and said to them:

"If you want to come back, you'll have to start as support staff."

"We are willing."

Soon, Bored began promoting players from his trading company to management positions.

Following the template of five players per class, five classes per platoon (25 players), five platoons per squad (125 players), and five squads per company (575 players), all players are grouped into two companies, each with ten squads.

They were assigned tasks such as logistics, reconnaissance, forward, central command, and rear guard.

This is based on evidence.

The most convenient people for one person to command are 3 to 10 people, and five is exactly the middle number.

The decision not to use the term "group" directly also reduces the influence of the "team" approach.

Gao Linzhi did not concern himself with the matters below.

Let them do whatever they want.

He was simply looking down at the Sea Sky Island below from the air via the flying boat.

There are many villages here.

Its level of prosperity far surpasses that of Wolf Snake Island.

There is a sizable city in the very center of the island.

The city wall is estimated to be at least 50 meters high.

The total population is approximately 200,000.

In feudal times, a city with 200,000 people would have been an extremely large one.

With a population of one million, Chang'an was already very prosperous.

This is definitely because they absorbed some of the players' techniques.

Of course, the limitations of feudal dynasties meant they couldn't fully utilize the technology brought by players.

After all, that would give the indigenous villagers the ability to resist their rule.

That's the largest city we could build.

This should be the Prefectural City of Sea Sky Island.

After observing for a while, the players below have been grouped into teams.

To everyone's surprise, the prefect's ambush team did not come to attack them.

Instead, they surrounded them from a distance, seemingly launching a defensive counterattack.

Not long after, two small teams, totaling 250 people, were sent out to probe.

They landed on a beach, in front of which lay a jungle.

Beyond the jungle lies a plain.

The enemy dug trenches behind the jungle and hid there. Players who didn't want to be cannon fodder were ambushed by archers in the trenches.

This creates a psychological gap—you think there's an ambush in the woods, but you're wrong; the ambush is outside the woods.

They sent out two more teams of players to try and find a weak point in the opponent's defense.

These ten players

At this point, someone asked, "Why don't we use airships to bypass the enemy's lines and infiltrate their rear?"

"Are you stupid? You don't even know the enemy's strength. Rushing to their rear is just asking to be surrounded!"

The two classes, consisting of ten players, positioned one in front of the other, in a scattered formation, and stealthily approached the enemy at the trench.

Just then, they heard the sound of horses' hooves in the distance.

"Holy crap, there are cavalry!"

Upon hearing this, everyone fled.

Good grief, they've completely forgotten about military discipline right from the start.

This is normal, since they haven't undergone proper offline military training.

Those with extensive military training are often just cannon fodder players within the company, and they are not sent out to be commanded by others.

Sure enough, a group of tall horses charged out of the jungle they had just passed through and began to attack the ten players.

These players' scouting attempt was undoubtedly a failure; they failed to detect the ambush at all.

"Depend on!"

Run!

"If you can't outrun others, just outrun your teammates!"

These ten players never even considered retaliating.

They were just trying to escape.

However, the awkward situation was that they could only run towards the jungle on either side.

You can't run straight back, or you'll run into cavalry. You can't run forward either, because there are trenches and ambushes ahead.

Then the only option is to run a longer distance to either side, meandering back into the jungle.

However, they were clearly not as fast as cavalry.

Only a few players had high enough physical abilities to outrun the horse.

However, this horse was specially made; it was at least Demonic Horse.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to catch up with the players.

Thus, the first group of players came up to test the waters, but before they could last two rounds, they were caught up by the cavalry and immediately hacked to death with spears and swords.

If they hadn't been resurrected in the Safe Zone of the ancestral hall in East Wolf Village, their deaths would have been in vain.

The resurrected players were all extremely frustrated.

"I'll take the test!"

"These county magistrate's soldiers are too strong!"

"Yeah, they're at least level 30; these aren't monsters from the newbie zone at all."

"I thought I could get some freebies from the resurrection bonus, but it turns out I didn't get anything except a trip!"