Current online players: 186,422.
With the construction of the H-124 Hub Joint Camp, Titan Armory progress had surpassed 50%, and the game had entered an explosive growth phase.
The previously available map could no longer satisfy the players' appetites. In the eyes of the Fourth Calamity, this colossal Titan Divine Body was an inexhaustible treasure trove, every blood vessel and every nerve inscribed with exploration and conquest.
Coordinates: Right Lower Lobe - B-19 Bronchiole
This was currently the furthest frontline of the lung campaign. Gale-force winds howled, and visibility was extremely low.
A five-man squad was engaged in the kind of high-intensity battle that would leave ordinary players gasping.
A [Lava Colossus (LV.25 Elite)] blocking the airway stood before the server's number one team. Scalding pus flowed across its body, and every swing kicked up blistering waves of heat.
"Interrupt its spray!"
Vanguard Across the Realm's voice rang through the Party Channel, calm and concise.
"Roger."
Far away on the rock wall, Thunder King knelt on one knee, the [Thunder Magnetic Floating Cannon] on his shoulder already fully charged.
Data Maniac stared fixedly at the monster's enormous body, a strange glint flashing through his eyes.
Crackle—!
A thick blue pillar of lightning struck the colossus precisely in the throat, sending sparks flying. Then an eerie fluctuation spread out. Massive kinetic force, paralysis, and neural interference took effect together, making the colossus's gaping mouth suddenly freeze. The superheated mucus it was about to spray was forced back inside and exploded within its own body.
"Now!"
Brute Force Yields Miracles had long since taken the front line, his Tower Shield glowing red.
He withstood the colossus's dying counterattack head-on, then swung his shield into the monster's knee. Another stun.
At the same time, Chen Feng moved.
He had reached LV.22 and was close to LV.23, saving a potential point to directly unlock the second-tier Neural Sequence talent.
[Synaptic Acceleration!]
He streaked through the gale like a black afterimage, stepped off Brute Force Yields Miracles's shoulder, and launched himself into the air. The [Origin Fang] in his hand pierced precisely into the weakness exposed by the lightning strike.
"Get down!"
Boom!
This elite monster, capable of wiping out a hundred-player ordinary raid, had lasted less than ten minutes before collapsing under the Dawn Core Team's coordination.
"Perfect coordination." Data Maniac adjusted his glasses, examined the monster's body structure, and recorded its weak-point data. "Let's keep moving."
"Wait, wait, I'm level 23." Vanguard Across the Realm looked at his panel, delight spreading across his face.
Everyone immediately gathered around to witness the birth of the server's first second-tier talent.
"Intermediate Synaptic Acceleration and Hunting Instinct are both upgrades to first-tier talents. I think we should try one of the other two first."
Vanguard Across the Realm rubbed his chin and gestured for everyone to help him analyze [Bullet Time] and [Micron-level Manipulation].
"Do we even need to think about it? This is a classic movie setting!" Cloud Pomelo pouted unhappily.
The moment the name [Bullet Time] appeared, everyone already knew which one to choose.
Vanguard Across the Realm smiled and tapped [Bullet Time] without hesitation.
A heart-palpitating aura spread from Chen Feng—
"I'm logging off, guys. Gonna go play around a bit~ Keep it up!"
Coordinates: Liver - H-106 Perimeter
Compared to Dawn Guild's elite-soldier approach, [Great Wall Watch] displayed the suppressive force of a full army group.
The instant the last of these thousand-plus elites, all LV.10+ and class-advanced, completed his class advancement, they left the relatively comfortable A7 District and plunged headfirst into the monster-dense Liver.
"Divine Guard First Regiment, advance with shield walls!"
"Spirit Pivot Envoy regiment, blanket them with lightning nets!"
The commander with the ID "Great Wall No. 1" stood on high ground, overlooking the densely packed [Bile Duct Crawlers (LV.15)] below.
A white wall formed from Bone Shields rolled forward. Behind it, hundreds of [Thunder Lords] raised their staffs simultaneously.
No fancy footwork was needed. The blue lightning net simply blanketed the area with firepower!
Crackle, crackle!
Hundreds of Crawlers convulsed in the current, stiffened, and were then harvested by the Hunter formations following behind.
"Don't stop! Hold formation! Advance steadily! Have the Hunter scout teams returned?"
This army was like a tireless bulldozer, turning the red zones on the map green one piece at a time.
Coordinates: Liver - Gallbladder Entrance
Dragon War Guild was rather adventurous. With only Titan Armory remaining on the main quest, they decided to explore and fight as they went.
"Hahahaha! Now this is monster hunting!"
Dragon Fighting in the Wild stood bare-chested, his greatsword replaced by a [Heavy War Hammer] exchanged from the shop.
He was single-handedly tanking a massive [Hardened Gallstone Beast (LV.22 Elite)].
The monster was covered head to toe in heavy armor, making ordinary attacks unable to break its defense. But Zhao Kuo did not care in the least. He activated [Keratinized Skin], endured the monster's charge head-on, and hammered its forehead again and again.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Like hammering iron.
Behind him, more than a dozen elite [Thunder Lords] from Dragon War Guild were unleashing attacks like mad.
"Guildmaster! Is its aggro stable?"
"Stable as hell! Just keep zapping it! If it dies, that's on me!"
"Other Divine Guards, don't come over and make trouble!"
Zhao Kuo laughed wildly, kicked the monster in the face, and sent it tumbling over.
"I can lift an SUV in real life. You think I can't handle a stone turtle in a game?"
This was how the big spenders of the first echelon played—Brute Force Yields Miracles, charging head-on.
Coordinates: Bronchiole A-76.
The gale howled. Wind speeds here had reached an astonishing force 14. Ordinary players would be blown away instantly if they did not cling tightly to the cilia on the ground.
An all-star squad of six LV.20 players was advancing steadily. It was none other than Imperial Dynasty Guild!
Ahead of them was a gigantic dark-red tumor blocking half the airway. The system identified it as the BOSS unit [Inflammatory Sarcoma (LV.27)]. Like a living volcano, it spewed massive quantities of [High-Heat Pus] and [Flame Demon Larvae] every few seconds.
"This thing's attacks inflict burning!"
The Divine Guard at the front had his shield scorched red. "He Yiwei, why is this one so much harder when it's also a bronchiole? And if a bronchiole Lesion is already this bad, how are we supposed to fight once we reach the Lung Leaf?"
Just as they were preparing a tactical retreat.
A silver streak descended from the sky.
A three-meter-tall [Silver Wing Sentinel] landed heavily before the players. The light spear in its hand swept out a crescent-shaped energy wave, instantly clearing away the surging Flame Demon Larvae.
"Soldiers, stay close to me."
The Sentinel's voice was cold and mechanical. "Level III infection source detected. Commencing eradication protocol."
"Holy shit! A high-level NPC is here!"
"Stop watching! Focus fire on that tumor while the NPC holds its aggro!" Spirit Pivot Envoy Elemental Fury was overjoyed. "As long as we take down this Lesion, the first clear of A76 District will be ours!"
The squad immediately coordinated with the NPC and unleashed a barrage of attacks.
This strategy of "clinging to an NPC's thigh while pioneering" was also the mainstream tactic currently used by vast numbers of players to conquer the lung's high-difficulty regions.
Coordinates: Diaphragm Plain - Unexplored Area
Not every player was passionate about fighting and killing.
A casual player with the ID "Love Eating Watermelon" was lying prone in a clump of enormous fuzzy grass, watching ahead curiously.
Before him, a group of translucent blue jelly-like creatures wriggled around, devouring the black toxic residue nearby.
[Neutral Unit: Blue Slime] [Status: Hungry/Friendly]
"Slimes?"
Love Eating Watermelon tentatively took a [Low-Level Energy Crystal] from his backpack—really just sugar dropped by monsters—and tossed it over.
Plop.
A Blue Slime bounced over, wrapped around the crystal, and digested it instantly.
Immediately afterward, a giant heart icon appeared above its head. Then it scurried over to rub against Love Eating Watermelon's feet and even spat out a bubble, giving him a [Minor Healing] buff.
"Holy shit? They can be fed?"
Love Eating Watermelon was stunned. He tossed out several more pieces of sugar, and the Slime actually began splitting, producing two smaller Slimes that circled around him.
"I struck gold! These are mercenaries!"
Excitedly, Love Eating Watermelon posted a picture in the World Channel:
"Coordinates: [Diaphragm Plain]. Found wild Blue Slimes! You can lure them away with sugar! They can heal you and clear toxins too! Casual players, get here fast! Here's the location!"
[Player Love Eating Watermelon marked a location.]
That day, dozens of scenery-loving players poured into the area.
"Good boy, eat this and come with me!"
"This big one is mine!"
The players had developed a brand-new playstyle—biological mercenaries. As long as they had food on hand, the native species within the Titan were the best fighters and pets.
Coordinates: H-124 Surroundings
Good news from the Liver region!!!
The persistent players had finally unlocked the racial talent of the Chinese people—farming!
"Set it down gently! These are newly exchanged high-yield spores!"
A player from the [Life Profession Alliance] carefully implanted a green spore into the corpse of a [Corrupt Mother].
Monster corpses did not despawn. Instead, the players dragged them back and used them as... fertilizer.
A few minutes later, the corpse rapidly shriveled, while the spore grew at a visible rate into a half-human-height [Antidote Giant Mushroom].
[Harvest: Giant Detox Mushroom x 3] [Effect: Removes moderate toxins after consumption and restores a small amount of health.]
"It worked!"
The life players cheered jubilantly.
"This makes way more money than fighting monsters! Drag all those corpses over here! We're building a hundred-acre farm!"
As far as the eye could see, the abandoned areas around H-124 had been cultivated into neat plots of farmland. Fungi of every color flourished atop monster corpses, continuously sending supplies to the front line.
And making money on the side, hehehe.
High-Dimensional Perspective - Titan Gu Yuan
Within the Cosmic Abyss.
Gu Yuan sensed the changes within his body, and a flicker passed through his eyes.
The elite players were precisely eliminating high-risk Lesions.
The logistics players were establishing a virtuous cycle.
Even some remnants of the once-fragile native microbial communities had been preserved through the casual players' unintentional actions.
This was a world coming back to life.
[Titan Armory Progress: 50.5%... 50.6%...]
Although the increase was slow, this kind of accumulation, like countless tiny streams converging, was the firmest foundation.
"My breathing is a little smoother..."
As a cosmic-level lifeform, Titan, his heart was a gigantic super nuclear reactor. Fusion and fission reactions were occurring every moment.
The cosmic matter he took in with every movement came in countless varieties, covering the entire Periodic Table of Elements. Yet that did not stop him from using his powerful heart to forge those materials into the key substances his body truly needed, such as—oxygen.
Though he could survive without oxygen, it could accelerate his self-healing.
Gu Yuan could feel that as the key bronchiole nodes were cleared, a trace of long-lost oxygen was being carried through his blood to every part of his body. The temperature of his surface began to rise.
"Thriving, truly thriving."
"Then let's give them some new guidance."
A golden quest beacon lit up on every player's map, pointing toward the crimson region of the lung connected to more than a hundred bronchioles.
—Tourist Players had actually visited this place before, but unsurprisingly, they had been wiped out.
[Server-Wide Epic Quest Chain Updated: Titan's Breath] [Warning: Extremely high heat-source reaction detected in the lungs!] [Objective: Travel to the Duan Bronchus (segments A1-A105) and locate the source of the high heat—Flame Demon Parasite!] [Hint: In the lung segments, you can gather Mecha core fuel: "High-Energy Fire Core"!]
At that moment, every player, whether hauling bricks in the liver or pioneering the lungs, raised their heads.
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