Seeing more than a dozen zombies die, viewers around the world were left with question marks filling their minds.
Those were zombies, with the same health as players—and there were more than a dozen of them!
And they'd just died like that?
After the kills, Gu Yu furrowed his brow.
"The efficiency is still too low."
About eight or nine zombies and one skeleton.
The only drops were rotten flesh and experience. He hadn't even seen a single bone.
At this rate, when would he ever finish building his sky island?
Meanwhile,
on the other side, Gangcun Kuzi wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"The monsters keep coming. Surviving alone is really tough."
According to the rules, contestants from the same nation could survive together or choose their own separate blocks.
Considering that the island might not have enough resources to go around, he hadn't chosen the same block as Yamamoto Rokuko.
Instead, he'd chosen to start alone at the Blacksmith Shop.
It was a place full of lava, but rich in ores and stone.
Food was scarce, but the blacksmith's house had provided him with a set of leather armor and a wooden sword from the start.
Relying on that equipment, Gangcun Kuzi had chosen to go out and kill monsters as soon as night fell.
"Another zombie!"
His training in Bushido and keen sixth sense alerted him to the murderous intent behind him.
He rolled out of the way of the zombie's attack and swung his wooden sword in a counterattack.
"Ugh!"
The zombie groaned and staggered back after being hit. Gangcun Kuzi pressed his advantage and struck twice more.
[Player Rank] [First Place: Samurai Nation, Zombies Killed *15] [Second Place: Free Nation, Zombies Killed *14] [Third Place: India Nation, Zombies Killed *10] [...]
Thanks to having two blocks, and with both contestants attacking at once, their rank briefly surpassed that of the strongest nation, Free Nation!
"Looks like we'll be competing with Free Nation this time!"
Gangcun Kuzi took out some food and paused to catch his breath.
Food in Block Civilization was amazing. It was tied to health and stamina, so as long as you had food,
you could solve most stamina problems.
Looking at the four potatoes left in his inventory, Gangcun Kuzi knew there was no way he could compete in terms of food with resource-rich Free Nation.
He had to get more done with his limited stamina!
"In that case, here goes..."
He took a deep breath, and Gangcun Kuzi's eyes gradually turned green.
"In the name of the Tachi Artisan, Iaijutsu!"
The wooden sword in his hand began to change, forming a scabbard and a long blade.
Having obtained it from the Sword Civilization, Gangcun Kuzi had passed the Tachi Artisan's trial and could temporarily transform his weapon into an Iai Sword.
The one in his hand was the most basic Iai Sword—the only one he could transform and use.
[Nameless Blade: Puppet]
It had a faster attack speed than an ordinary sword, and each time Gangcun Kuzi hit an enemy, he saw a rating bar.
From the lowest rank, B, to A, then S.
With each increase in rank, his attack power grew, all the way up to SSS-rank.
He could already kill a zombie in two strikes!
Even when skeletons appeared on the island, the kind of creatures everyone else would run from,
Gangcun Kuzi faced them without fear.
Whack! Whack!
Two strikes, and the skeleton fell to the ground and vanished, leaving behind a pile of green experience orbs.
After the clean, decisive zombie kills, everyone in Samurai Nation cheered.
"Wow, Gangcun-kun is so cool!"
"I want to have your babies, Gangcun-kun!"
"Yamamoto-kun is impressive too! He killed five zombies without any armor!"
"Samurai Nation is proud of you!"
The Iai Sword didn't last long. After three minutes, it shattered along with its wooden sword material.
But in that short time, Samurai Nation's kill count had soared.
[First Place: Samurai Nation, Zombies Killed *34, Skeletons Killed *3]
A whole thirty-seven monsters!
The other viewers couldn't help but marvel too.
"They really are strong. Iai Swords are ridiculously overpowered!"
"The attack speed is so fast! Ordinary swords can't compare!"
"It's a shame Big No-No didn't draw any good resources. We can't get out there and fight!"
"Ugh, actually, our Sam-chang-smitda isn't weak. We just don't have weapons."
"Mark, Jeter, do your best!"
On Pumpkin Island, Mark and Jeter worked together, and their kill count quickly passed twenty.
They opened the rankings and saw Samurai Nation's position.
"Iai Swords, huh? That really is a powerful way to attack."
Knowing what Gangcun Kuzi had used, Mark smiled.
Although Iai Swords were powerful, he knew Gangcun Kuzi's could only last three minutes.
The sudden surge was nothing more than the result of clearing out all the monsters on the island for the moment.
After that, without enough food and weapons, they definitely wouldn't be able to keep up!
"Jeter, look at that!"
Mark tossed aside his worn-out axe and took up a new weapon.
There were six ready-made weapons on the island. To get ahead, they'd decided to use them all that night.
"A skeleton? A zombie? Wait..."
"They're a skeleton wearing armor and a zombie holding a golden sword!"
Following Mark's gaze, Jeter spotted the two unusual monsters.
The skeleton wore chainmail, and the zombie held a golden sword.
They realized at once that these monsters would be very tough to deal with!
Skeletons could attack from a distance with their bows. Their weakness was their low health, but the armor made up for that.
The golden sword dealt extremely high damage, making it even harder to handle!
After a moment's hesitation, Mark began thinking about how to deal with them.
The challenge was greater, so perhaps they'd get better rewards for killing them!
"Let's kill the zombie first. I'll lure it over!"
Mark rushed forward to draw the golden-sword zombie's aggro. Once it began pursuing him,
he backed away until he was out of the skeleton's line of sight.
[-9!]
Jeter hid behind a block and ambushed the zombie, cutting its health by nearly half.
With the zombie's aggro on him, Mark stopped running, turned around, and leaped in for a downward strike.
[-13!]
A critical hit triggered, killing the golden-sword zombie instantly!
It fell to the ground and vanished into experience, leaving a glittering golden sword behind.
"It dropped equipment!"
Jeter was overjoyed.
There was still a lot he didn't understand about Block World, but he knew that golden weapons definitely counted as high-tier gear!
"What a haul!"
He hurried to pick up the golden sword, then turned to the skeleton.
Its chainmail gave it better defense, so it was indeed harder to kill than an ordinary skeleton. But for Mark and Jeter, that only meant a few extra hits.
They used the same tactic: one drew its aggro while the other attacked. They soon killed it.
It didn't drop any equipment, which left them a little disappointed.
Still, looking at the zombies they'd cleared from the area, they ate pumpkin pie and opened the player rankings.
[First Place: Free Nation, Zombies Killed *34, Skeletons Killed *3, Special Monsters Killed *2]
[Second Place: Samurai Nation, Zombies Killed *37, Skeletons Killed *4]
As Mark had predicted, after their burst of activity, Samurai Nation's kill rate visibly slowed.
Special monsters counted for more in the trial, so they were firmly in first place!
"There's half my food left. I can keep killing for another half-night!"
After finishing his pumpkin pie, Jeter's stamina recovered, and he was full of energy.
He was going to show the whole world what Free Nation was capable of!
"Wait, Jeter. I think our rank's been overtaken again."
"Samurai Nation? It's fine. They're out of food!"
"It's not Samurai Nation. It's Kyushu!"
Jeter clicked into the rankings and saw exactly that.
[First Place: Kyushu Nation, Zombies Killed *103, Skeletons Killed *14, Special Monsters Killed *5]
"What?!!!"
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