Players' Malice, Anomalies at Sea

No wonder so many players are flocking to it.

As players spend more and more time in the Skyfall World, they gradually realize that the bizarre are the most terrifying enemies.

Not to mention, in the offline world today, the bizarre has already quietly appeared everywhere and is showing a spreading trend.

Therefore, various methods for combating the supernatural immediately became highly sought after.

Gao Linzhi directly equipped the "Chosen One" title modifier.

The next moment, his ID "Can Xue Waves Across the Map) above his head lit up.

He became a cuckold, and he also became stronger!

After equipping it, the "Chosen One" title modifier will directly change your ID to green.

Adding decorations around the ID is a standard feature in pay-to-win games.

The more money you spend, the more flashy and extravagant the costumes become, aiming to attract everyone's attention from the moment they appear.

But how do I upgrade this "Chosen One" label?

As Gao Linzhi focused his gaze on the title decoration box, the Game System thoughtfully provided an explanation.

"Players will trigger related quests from time to time to obtain upgrades for the title decoration frame."

"Complete the task to level up."

Gao Linzhi smiled inwardly.

Clearly, this is a carrot-and-stick approach, used to manipulate players and make them act according to the operator's wishes.

However, as long as the strangeness and dynasties of the Skyfall World still exist, the players and the operators remain one.

If the main contradiction remains, there will be no major conflict between players and operators.

At the same time.

Capital Island.

Inside the Imperial City, at the Fourth Prince.

The three players who had sided with the Fourth Prince were discussing their options; they now had a plan of action.

The goal of the plan, of course, was to make the Fourth Prince perform better than the other princes and pay more attention to the affairs of the court.

Of course, these three people, being players, would never obediently serve the Prince's Palace.

They also had significant personal motives involved.

They actually set their sights on Gao Linzhi.

Player One said with ill intent, "No matter what, there's still a year and a half before we have to collect the offerings."

"Wherever we go, it doesn't matter. In that case, let's make Wolf Snake Island our target."

"Yes, we'll make sure this route is clear." Player 2 immediately understood.

"When the imperial court needs to collect tribute, we'll choose to go here, and we can also take the opportunity to punish that so-called 'player boss'."

"That's right. It's said he has Pay-to-Win Talent, so we can take this opportunity to use the power of the imperial court to squeeze him dry."

"Damn it, I want to spend money on in-game purchases too, but I can't find the option to do so!"

"That's right, sanctions are necessary!"

"Well said. If we can't deal with him, can't the imperial court handle it?"

"Let him wait."

"Hahaha, for this big shot, it's truly a case of 'sitting at home and trouble coming out of nowhere'!"

"Hmph, who told him to be so high-profile? Number one on the list, what makes him so special?"

"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down; the nail that sticks out gets shot. He should have been prepared for that."

The three players immediately began to gloat.

They do this only partly out of self-interest, mostly out of emotion and jealousy.

You're stronger than me, so you deserve to die!

You can spend money on in-game purchases, but I can't; you deserve to die even more!

"That big shot probably doesn't realize that we still have the power of the imperial court on our side. No matter how powerful he is, how can he possibly stand against the imperial court?"

These people were unaware that Gao Linzhi had already defected to the rebels before them.

This only shows that even if they utilize the indigenous people, they can only catch up with Gao Linzhi.

To deal with Gao Linzhi, they first need to determine the location of Wolf Snake Island.

They weren't really sure of the exact location before.

"It should be in this direction."

They found a nautical chart and, by looking at it, discovered that Wolf Snake Island was very far away.

It is probably tens of thousands of miles long, which seems very long, but it is actually not short at all.

Although this world possesses extraordinary powers that can greatly accelerate ship speeds.

For example, with wind-based spells, while it's difficult to create wind when there is none, it's much easier to change the wind direction if there is wind.

The problem is that there are strange occurrences at sea that often delay ships, so its average speed is still about the same as that of feudal dynasties in the offline world.

If you encounter something strange, you should either take a detour or stop.

The time lost in this process was considerable.

"According to data from previous years, it takes more than half a year to get there from Capital Island."

"It will take another six months or so to get back."

"That adds up to a year and a half."

"And the entire period of calm following the strange occurrences usually lasts within 2 to 3 years."

"Sometimes, the calm period only lasts for a little over a year to two years."

"Sometimes there isn't enough time for a round trip, so some ships get stranded in the area and have to wait until the next calm period to return."

The three players were discussing it, and they couldn't help but feel that this world was truly different.

It's truly a miracle that a feudal dynasty under this model has been able to survive to this day.

"Clearly, this is because there is greater individual combat power on the Capital Island, so other places dare not rebel rashly unless someone can take the Capital Island."

The three then began to identify several key transportation nodes.

"There are three essential points on the route from Capital Island to Wolf Snake Island; other routes can be detours."

"In other words, we need to focus our defense on these three nodes."

"We cannot allow the rebels to set a trap."

"Only then can we guarantee that the imperial court can arrive smoothly and collect tribute."

Upon hearing this, the player couldn't help but raise a question:

"It's easy for us to get to Wolf Snake Island."

"It's difficult for the imperial court. Will the imperial court expend so much effort to do it?"

"If it takes very little effort, wouldn't that be just throwing our lives away?"

"What the boss says is true, so we need to find a way to exaggerate how wealthy that place is. Right, let's just say that Revival Stone are produced there!" Player Two was very shrewd and immediately came up with a reason that the imperial court couldn't refuse.

Player Three shook his head and said, "If that's the case, the Imperial Observatory will send a flying boat over. They'll easily find out that there aren't any particularly valuable local specialties, and we who lied will be in big trouble."

"Yes, this kind of lie won't do. We can't afford the wrath of the Imperial Observatory." Player One was tempted, but still refused.

After all, this isn't the offline world.

There is a lot of lying in the offline world, and the punishment is slow and requires going through procedures.

But this is a mysterious world. Once the other party realizes they've been deceived, a psychic spell or a curse can quickly bring the liar to their doom.

"Let's focus on securing the sea route so the imperial court can arrive smoothly. I think the rest will naturally fall into conflict," Player Three suggested.

The three quickly began to determine the situation of these three nodes.

The first node is a typical strait.

Similar to Malacca.

It is flanked by two large islands, as well as many scattered Archipelago.

If you want to go around it, you'll have to take a huge detour.

It would mean traveling thousands of miles more, and the detour would be extremely dangerous.

Because those were all unfamiliar flight routes.

What exactly is strange about this unfamiliar route is unclear.

Of course, another way is to travel directly through the islands on either side.

That is, they would take the land route, and once they reached the other side, they would transfer to a new ship.

Anyway, these ships are all disposable.

It's actually safer to travel through the island.

It just requires dealing with a few prominent families on the island.

In that case, it's easy to go; you can go empty-handed and have nothing.

When they returned, a portion of the tribute materials confiscated by the imperial court had to be given to the other party.

You can't afford to offend the local bullies.

This time, it will have to be shrunk by at least half.

Therefore, for the sake of the goods, it is best to travel by sea.

The most dangerous place in that strait is a reef area.

A giant is hidden in that reef area.

The giants only subside for one year out of every ten years.

This is the key point.

In other words, in this place, giants are actually the most dangerous beings.

It's hard to appease a giant monster, but it's all too easy to enrage it.

As long as someone takes advantage of the period of calm, before the imperial court's ships are ready to cross the sea, they can provoke the giant.

Then this sea route will be impassable.

Seeing this, the three players were immediately at a loss.

"Damn, so one of our goals is to keep this giant from being provoked during the period of calm."

They felt the task was extremely difficult just from hearing about it.

It's always been easier to cause destruction than to build.

The other side has too many ways to provoke the giant.

Simply put, just send some people to their deaths without thinking.

They, on the other hand, were completely passive.

During the Anomaly Calm Period that lasted for more than a year, troops should be stationed outside the area affected by the giants to guard it for an extended period.

This task was so daunting that just thinking about it gave the three players a headache.

"Now I understand why the court has been so indifferent to the matter of accepting offerings and tributes."

"Because it's really quite difficult."

"It's too difficult to implement."

"No wonder the other princes don't care about these things."

"Only the Fourth Prince is still thinking about increasing the court's revenue; it's laughable."

"Let's ask the steward of the Prince's mansion."

The three players quickly found the Prince's steward again.

The butler clearly knew a lot.

"If that's the case, then this giant is indeed very dangerous."

"And those people would also be facing enormous danger if they angered the giants."

"Not only will those who anger the giants die, but those who give the orders will also die."

Upon hearing this, the three players immediately understood.

Yes, this is not the offline world.

In the offline world, the bastards who start wars often don't need to go to the battlefield themselves, so of course they're bold.

But this place is different.

The strange thing will target the source directly.

"Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, the people of the Daoist Academy aren't stupid; they wouldn't use their own loyal followers to do this."

"The giant is a monster, capable of holding grudges and casting remote curses."

"Whoever orders its provokement will also be on the list of those cursed."

"Therefore, under normal circumstances, people from these Daoist Academy will not rashly cause trouble here."

"Look at those people in the Daoist Academy, they're just setting up sacrificial formations to attract strange things."

"Attracting the strange will prevent it from incurring their hatred, and the strange will be attracted because the sacrificial array has what they want."

"Think about it, if you're sleeping and someone wakes you up, you'd definitely be angry."

"But if you were lured to another place with fine wine and food while you were sleeping, would you still be angry?"

The three of them suddenly realized.

"Indeed, there are details everywhere."

"That's right, that's exactly it."

"Then it seems we can skip this first step."

"Of course, we should also send a few people there to keep a close watch."

The three realized that this world was completely different from their offline world.

The details are everywhere.

In this world, the weak cannot be bullied at will.

Although the disparity in strength is enormous.

However, the weak, by using supernatural abilities, possess the power to Mutual Destruction with the strong.

This is why the imperial court did not excessively exploit the local areas.

They even intentionally indulged in it.

"That's why the Saint and his high-ranking officials aren't too concerned about offerings to distant islands," the royal steward continued to explain.

"The place you chose is too far away."

"Our court is most concerned about the Capital Island and the surrounding islands."

"As for other areas, the main purpose is to demonstrate a deterrent effect."

"It would be best if we could recover it, but if we can't, it won't affect the overall situation."

The three nodded, and then skipped over that point.

They then looked at the next node.

"This is a canal passage, and also the easiest place to set up a checkpoint."

"There are two islands on either side, and it's located in the middle."

"To go around it, you'd have to travel a long distance."

"This canal was built using a large river that flows through the island."

"There is a strange creature in this river called a piranha."

"Sailing on this river requires staying awake all day."

"The moment you close your eyes, this piranha will pounce on you and eat you."

"They can devour a person down to a skeleton in just one minute."

"But this piranha has one unique characteristic: it is actually very timid."

"As long as you are conscious, it won't dare to attack you," the steward of the Prince's mansion explained.

The three of them were immediately taken aback.

Why do people say that piranhas are also timid?

"That's just how it is, nobody knows why, it's just very timid."

"What we need to be careful about is preventing them from attracting strange things that can put people to sleep."

"These Sleepy Anomaly are usually not high-level, but when combined with piranhas, they become particularly terrifying."

The three nodded again.

That's a key point.

They then looked at the third node.

The nautical chart shows that this is a vast ocean.

Upon seeing this vast ocean, the three players were puzzled again.

"Butler, the map shows this is an important location."

"But this area looks like there are detours available."

"No, that's precisely the danger."

"This ocean is Lightning Zone."