New Expansion

Lung Leaf Core Zone.

The battle had entered its most frenzied meat-grinder stage.

[Warning: Fewer than 500 Silver Wing Sentinels remained!][Warning: The BOSS is casting "Core Burst"; a full-screen AOE is imminent!]

"Hold the line! Everyone, hold the line!" The Lava Gauntlets in Brute Force Yields Miracles' hands were already covered in cracks, and his health bar surged up and down like a roller coaster. Behind him, the Divine Guard Corps had already gone through three waves of replacements.

"Damn it, the 80% EXP I'd just saved up is all gone!" A Divine Guard player who had just respawned and run back cursed as he picked up his shield. "Three days of hard grinding, wiped out in one fight! Thank god this game doesn't have level loss, or I'd smash my sim pod!"

Yes, that was Titan's death penalty system: players lost 50% of their current level's EXP and the Bio-Energy currency in their inventory. The punishment was brutal, but still within what players could mentally accept. After all, as long as their levels and equipment remained, they could keep fighting!

"Stop grieving over your EXP! The compensation will be better once the BOSS goes down!" Vanguard Across the Realm flickered through the firelight. He had just taken a BOSS splash attack head-on to cover the Silver Wing commander, leaving him with only a sliver of health.

"Thunder King! That NPC commander is charging in! Clear a path for him!"

"Got it!" Thunder King floated in midair, his [Thunder Magnetic Floating Cannon] already glowing red from overload. Not only had he exhausted all his mana, he had even chugged three expensive [High-Energy Mana-Recovery Potions].

"Maximum output—Thunder Prison Field!"

Boom—! A ten-meter-wide pillar of lightning descended from the sky, instantly paralyzing and blasting away more than a dozen [Elite Flame Demon Guards] blocking the Silver Wing commander's path.

"For... the Titan!" The Silver Wing commander (LV.18 NPC), whose armor had been shattered and who had only one arm left, let out one final mechanical roar. The jet engines on its back spewed blinding red light, and its entire body became a silver comet, shooting through the path carved open by lightning and slamming straight toward the exposed black heart in the Flame Demon's chest.

The Flame Demon swung its hand in terror, trying to block it, but Data Maniac had already joined forces with over a hundred Spirit Pivot Envoys to interfere with its mind.

"Stop... right there!!" Blood flowed from Data Maniac's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth—the price of overextending his mental power.

The Flame Demon froze for 0.1 seconds. Those 0.1 seconds decided life and death.

Squelch—!

The [Suppression Spear] in the Silver Wing commander's hand precisely pierced that pulsating black heart and drove deep into the Flame Demon's chest cavity.

[Suppressive enzymes injected.]

Immediately afterward, the NPC detonated its own power core.

BOOM!!!

A violent explosion erupted in the Flame Demon's chest, and golden suppressive energy instantly coursed through its entire body. Its flowing magma blood rapidly cooled and solidified, turning into gray-black stone.

[BOSS core destroyed!][BOSS has entered "Petrified Weakness" status! Defense reduced to zero!]

The once-arrogant hundred-meter giant seemed to have had its spine ripped out. It let out one final wail and crashed to its knees, kicking up dust that filled the sky.

"Its health bar's gray!!" "Its defense is broken!!"

"Everyone! Ignore the mobs! Focus fire on the BOSS!" Vanguard Across the Realm roared in the Server Announcement channel. "Full damage! Blast it into scraps!!"

At that moment, the thousands of players still standing on the battlefield unleashed unprecedented damage. Countless attacks converged into a dazzling torrent of color, swallowing the kneeling demonic figure.

3%... 1%... 0%

There was no earth-shaking explosion. Under the endless barrage of attacks, the Heaven-Burning Flame Demon's massive body finally turned into countless motes of light and slowly dispersed into the air. That sinful black heart also shattered completely, becoming a stream of pure golden energy that merged into the ground beneath them—the Titan's Lung Leaf.

The entire battlefield fell silent for one second before deafening cheers erupted. Every surviving player wildly waved their weapons, celebrating this brutally hard-won victory.

Then, a massive golden ranking board slowly unfurled above the fortress.

[Campaign Settlement: Contribution Ranking]

NO.1 Vanguard Across the Realm

Rewards: [Growth-Type Weapon Selection Box] x1, [Legendary Title: Demon Hunter Vanguard], Bio-Energy +100000.

NO.2 Brute Force Yields Miracles

Rewards: [Toughness Life Potion] x1 (permanent bonus), Bio-Energy +80000.

NO.3 Dragon Fighting in the Wild

Rewards: [Skill Book: Earth Stomp], Bio-Energy +60000.

Looking at the rewards displayed at the top of the rankings, Vanguard Across the Realm had no time to get excited, because there was something even more important to do—

He swiftly opened the [Gene Shop].

With the campaign victory and the complete opening of the map, the number that countless people had dreamed of finally updated.

[Campaign: Storm Abyss—Settled]

[One bronchiole has been cleared.]

When everyone encountered advertisements like "Are you a real person?", they could simply ignore and close them. Do not scan codes or send text messages!

[Campaign settlement reward: New items added to the Gene Shop.]["Titan Blood (Diluted Version)" stock updated!]

BOSS settlement reward: +1000 in stock.

Remaining campaign stock (one-time release of previously locked stock): +991. [Current total purchasable: 1991]

(Note: Previously, only the five members of Vanguard Across the Realm's team and four others from other guilds, nine people in total, had successfully purchased it.)

"It refreshed!" Vanguard Across the Realm shouted in the voice channel. "Check the shop! We've got nearly two thousand doses!"

"I'll see if I can buy one!" Brute Force Yields Miracles was quick to act and immediately tapped the purchase button.

[System Notice: You have already used this item. (Limited to one purchase per person.) Purchase failed.]

"Damn it! It's limited!" Brute Force said regretfully. "I was planning to buy one and send it back to my old man."

"The system won't let this kind of strategic resource be concentrated in the hands of a few people." Vanguard Across the Realm had expected this. "These 1,991 doses are tickets prepared for the thousands of elite players across the server who have just reached LV.10."

Sure enough, the World Channel instantly exploded.

"I'm eligible to buy it! Hahahaha! I got one!" "Holy shit, it's gone already? How did the number drop so fast?!" "Two thousand doses sold out in seconds?! Are you people octopus monsters?!"

Although the stock had risen from single digits to four digits, it was still a drop in the bucket before the tens of thousands of players yearning to change their fates. In less than thirty seconds, the shop displayed [Sold Out] once again.

Some of the players who had snagged the potion immediately logged out to verify the miracle, while others danced in wild celebration in their Guild Channels. Those who had failed to get one could only grit their teeth and turn back to farm the remaining nearby mobs, swearing to save up for the next batch.

After handling the potion matter, Vanguard Across the Realm opened another shop page—[Special Items].

A golden token lay quietly there. [Titan Guard Legion Contract (Guild Token)] Unlock condition: Advance the front line by 50 km (achieved). Price: 50,000 Bio-Energy.

Because everyone had been fighting nonstop before, no one had paid attention to buying it. All guilds had been informal ones, with organization mattering more than formality. Besides, fifty thousand Bio-Energy was an astronomical sum for ordinary people. But now, as the top contributor on the rankings, Vanguard Across the Realm's pockets had grown fat.

"Purchase."

[Congratulations! You have obtained the first "Guild Token" on the entire server.]

Vanguard Across the Realm raised the golden token high and made an official guild founding announcement in the Server Announcement channel:

[Server Announcement:][Guild "Dawn" has officially been established.][Guild Leader: Vanguard Across the Realm.][Membership requirements: LV.10 or above, and class advancement completed.]

In an instant, the application list flooded the screen like a waterfall.

High-Dimensional Perspective: Titan Divine Body.

Gu Yuan looked at the rapidly forming player organizational structure and the gradually restored vitality in the lung's core zone, then nodded in satisfaction.

[Current Status: Right Lung Leaf—A7 District lesion eradicated.]

[Bronchiole self-healing ability activated.][Respiratory efficiency increased: 5%.][Feedback Energy obtained: 8,000,000 points (campaign settlement).]

"The crisis in the lungs has been temporarily relieved." Gu Yuan looked down over A7 District.

"There are still hundreds of bronchioles left, and the players can completely repeat this process. The larger bronchi and lung segments farther up are a little beyond the current players. But for now, the risk of me suddenly dying from the lung injury has been greatly reduced. It's time to let the top players handle some urgent problems in other organs." Although the Flame Demon was dead, large numbers of low-level monsters such as [Lava Slimes] and [Flame Poison Larvae] remained here. Moreover, as the Flame Demon's corpse decomposed, the area had become a thermal mining zone rich in minerals.

"This place will be a beginner village from now on." With a thought, Gu Yuan lowered A7 District's danger rating and marked a batch of resource nodes suitable for LV.5–LV.10 players to level up in.

"As for those elites who have already taken shape..." Gu Yuan's divine sense passed through the diaphragm and turned toward a far larger, far deadlier region of shadow.

That was the [liver]. It was also where toxins had accumulated most severely in his body, to the point that cirrhosis—petrified lesions—had begun to appear.

"It's time to open up a second battlefield."

Inside the game, Blackstone Fortress.

Just as the players were still celebrating their victory and scrambling for loot, the [Crimson Channel] at the center of the fortress suddenly changed.

The passage that had originally led only to the lung entrance suddenly extended a new branch. That branch led into endless darkness below, and its entrance flickered with eerie green light.

[Expansion Update: Poisonous Labyrinth.]

[Server-wide quest issued: Expedition to the liver.][Description: Though the fighting in the lungs has subsided, the Titan's body is still decaying. Poison is corroding the detoxification center.][Entry requirement: Level ≥ LV.10.][Notice: Kinfolk who have not reached the required level, please remain in "Storm Abyss" to continue honing your skills. The new world is filled with lethal poisonous gas. The weak cannot survive.]

"A new map is open!" Dragon Fighting in the Wild, who had just grabbed a potion and had not yet had time to log out, shouted. "Brothers! Anyone above LV.10, come with me! Let's pioneer the new map!"

"Don't lose heart if you haven't reached level 10!" Vanguard Across the Realm also called out in the channel. "Dawn Guild has left a group of elites in Blackstone Fortress to carry runs! Anyone who wants to level up fast, sign up!"

The crowd quickly split apart. Some top players boarded the Crimson Boat bound for the Abyss, their eyes filled with longing for the unknown. Most ordinary players remained in this conquered "hot land" and began another leveling frenzy.

In this world that felt all too real, everyone found their own place. And the Titan's road to resurgence had only just taken its first step.