Storm Front

[Server maintenance ended.]

[Connecting to Soul Network...]

[Welcome back to Titan: Genesis.]

[Current online players: 11,000/11,000.]

Blue Star time 8:00 AM.

As the maintenance countdown hit zero, ten thousand second-phase closed-beta new players poured into the game instantly like floodwaters breaking a dam.

Coordinates: Sighing Corridor (the outpost at the cardiopulmonary junction).

This huge platform made of white calcified material was instantly submerged by a dense sea of white light. The originally empty and desolate stronghold was now bustling with heads, and the commotion nearly flipped the three towering Valve Giant Gates overhead.

Holy shit! Is this really a game? The smell of this air, the feeling of the wind blowing on my face!

Don't push! Who stepped on my foot? The pain system is real!

Is this the legendary Heart Core Sanctuary? Oh wait, the map shows this is the outpost.

Ten thousand newbies wearing basic white gear (Chitin Underwear) touched and examined everything around them like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden for the first time.

In the center of the crowd, the one thousand first-phase beta veterans who kept their equipment and levels became the flashiest kids in the entire place.

Especially Brute Force Yields Miracles.

That guy was standing on a tall rock at the moment, holding that huge bone hammer in his hand and wearing a full set (albeit mismatched) of Chitin Plate Armor, looking majestic.

"Selling [High-Energy Amber Essence] in the front row! This is good stuff, essential for making torches and upgrading weapons! Only 50 bio-energy a piece! Fair prices guaranteed to young and old alike!"

Brute Force Yields Miracles shouted at the top of his lungs.

The surrounding area was instantly swamped by envious newbies.

"Big bro! How do you level up in this game?"

"Big bro, how come I can't accept any quests?"

Brute Force Yields Miracles chuckled, pointing at those dim corners around the corridor. "Don't just think about rushing into the big gates, those are high-level areas, and you die the moment you go in. See the dust around here? [Void Dust Mite] and [Sludge Monster] are hidden in there, those are what the system spawns for you to practice on!"

Just as he said, the Titan's body was too massive. Even in this relatively clean Sighing Corridor, numerous tiny scavenger organisms and metabolic wastes bred in the corners and gaps. For LV.1 newbies, these were the safest experience packages.

[Server-wide Announcement: Class Advancement System is now open.]

Just as the plaza fell into chaos, the system's golden light screen unfolded before everyone. It was what players cared about the most—the advancement tree.

[Notice: After reaching LV.10 in all basic classes, players can head to instructors to undergo the Class Advancement Trial.]

A massive holographic chart slowly unfolded, detailing the regular futures of the four major classes (hidden classes not displayed):

1. [Divine Guard] (Tank branch)

Advancement I: [Steel Bastion]

Focus: Ultimate physical defense and taunt control, the team's main tank.

Core skills: [Indomitable Will], [Shield Wall Charge].

Advancement II: [Berserk Behemoth]

Focus: Abandoning shields for two-handed weapons, relying on high health and blood sucking for melee DPS.

Core skills: [Blood Thirst], [Seismic Wave].

Advancement III: [???] (Hidden branch, requires specific conditions to explore)

2. [Hunter] (Assassin branch)

Advancement I: [Ghost Blade]

Focus: Stealth, backstabbing, burst damage, god-tier skills for picking off the backline.

Core skills: [Shadow Step], [Execution].

Advancement II: [Venom Ranger]

Focus: Sustained poison damage, trap placement, ranged kiting.

Core skills: [Toxin Tempering], [Corrosion Trap].

Advancement III: [???]

3. [Life Weaver] (Support branch)

Advancement I: [Life Sage]

Focus: Powerful single-target/AoE healing, purifying debuffs, pure healer.

Core skills: [Rain of Life], [Light of Recovery].

Advancement II: [Flesh Artisan]

Focus: Battlefield architect, using biological materials to build bone walls and turrets, altering terrain.

Core skills: [Barrier Growth], [Bone Spike Forest].

Advancement III: [???]

4.[Spirit Pivot Envoy] (Mage Class)

Advanced Class 1: [Thunder Lord]

Focus: Berserk lightning damage output, area-of-effect paralysis control.

Core Skills: [Thundercloud Storm], [Lightning Chain: Overload].

Advanced Class 2: [Mind Hacker]

Focus: Mind control, illusionary arts, making monsters kill each other.

Core Skills: [Mind Lash], [Chaos Command].

Advanced Class 3: [???]

Looking at this detailed advancement chart, a sharp glint flashed in Vanguard Across the Realm's eyes.

LV.10...

He glanced at his current level: LV.2 (15%).

Although he was one level ahead of the new players, he still had a long way to go before advancing. In the grand world of Titan, every level-up required a massive amount of bio-energy.

"Brother Feng! Party me, party me!"

Brute Force Yields Miracles squeezed out from the crowd, followed closely by Cloud Pomelo.

"I want to go grind levels too..." Cloud Pomelo said softly, "I just checked, and the [Life Sage]'s skills seem able to cleanse the environmental toxins here. I want to advance early."

Vanguard Across the Realm nodded, then shouted out in the regional channel:

"Elite progression team, marching into the Storm Abyss! Looking for two Spirit Pivot Envoys, must follow commands, no absolute newbies! Only veteran players at LV.2!"

Since this was a massive server of eleven thousand people, he no longer needed to fight alone. In this hardcore game, a properly composed fixed team mattered more than anything else.

Soon, two Spirit Pivot Envoy players with the IDs Thunder King and Data Maniac joined the party.

"Let's move."

Vanguard Across the Realm didn't waste words, leading this five-person squad through the bustling crowd toward the valve giant gate that had already opened.

Behind the gate lay the new map—the [Storm Abyss].

Coordinates: Storm Abyss - Right Lung Lobe Edge

The moment they crossed that huge white barrier, the environment changed instantly.

Whoosh—!

The shrill howling of the wind sounded like weeping ghosts and howling wolves. This was no longer a calm blood vessel, but a wasteland filled with turbulence and toxic gas.

The sky was a dull gray, with countless huge apertures suspended overhead—the entrances to alveolar sacs a few kilometers in diameter. Every breath of the Titan whipped up violent hurricanes among these apertures.

On the ground, charred spongy tissue was everywhere, and yellowish-brown dust filled the air.

[Environmental Warning: Entering the "Inflammatory Storm" zone.]
[All members take 1 point of burn damage per second.]

"Healer, cast HoT."

Vanguard Across the Realm commanded calmly.

Cloud Pomelo immediately activated [Bio-Gel Spray], wrapping a thin recovery membrane around everyone that barely offset the environmental health drain.

"There are monsters ahead, watch your stealth."

Vanguard Across the Realm lowered his body, pointing toward the patch of charred spongy ground ahead.

A new type of monster they had never seen before wandered there.

They looked like some kind of scorched rock giants, two meters tall, with molten lava flowing through cracks all over their bodies, wielding burning stones in their hands.

[Monster: Flame Poison Golem (LV.5)]
[Description: Elemental creatures condensed from necrotic tissue and high-temperature inflammation. High defense, immune to fire damage.]

"Level 5 monsters! And they're elite templates!"

Brute Force Yields Miracles swallowed hard. "We're only level 2, can we beat them?"

"This doesn't even count as a boss, not even a miniboss."

Vanguard Across the Realm's gaze was deep. "These are just the most common patrols in the Storm Abyss. Look over there..."

Following his finger, the others realized that deep in the mist, Flame Poison Golems like this were packed densely, numbering in the hundreds and thousands. And further away, [Giant Flame Demon]s standing dozens of meters tall could be vaguely seen wandering about.

In this grand world, there was simply no such thing as "the sole final boss."

Because for microscopic players, a severe case of pneumonia here meant hundreds of millions of enemies. Every inch of land was a battlefield.

"We don't need to clear the map, that's something millions of people could do."

Vanguard Across the Realm analyzed calmly. "Our goal is to establish a stronghold. Brute Force, go pull the mob, pull just this one! This monster is slow and easy to kite."

"You got it!"

Brute Force Yields Miracles raised the crude Chitin Shield and charged forward with a loud roar.

"Grandson! Look at Grandpa here!"

The Flame Poison Golem turned slowly, let out a muffled roar, and smashed down with a burning fist.

Brute Force Yields Miracles was driven back two steps by the blow, his health bar dropping by a fifth.

"That packs a punch! But as long as I'm not ganged up on, Grandpa can play with you all day!"

"Do it!"

At the command of Vanguard Across the Realm, Thunder King and Data Maniac in the back row waved their staves simultaneously.

Zzap!

Two blue electric arcs accurately struck the joint of the golem's knee. Although the damage was not high, the golem's movements noticeably stiffened for a split second.

At that exact moment, Vanguard Across the Realm moved.

He moved like a black ghost, instantly cutting behind the golem. Although the bone blade in his hand inflicted limited damage against the rock skin, he was not attacking the skin, but rather the fissure on the golem's back where magma flowed—that was the energy core.

[-45! (Weakness Strike)]

The five-man squad cooperated with tacit understanding. Even with a three-level suppression, they still ground this elite monster to death within two minutes.

Rumble!

The golem collapsed, bursting into a pile of rubble.

[Defeated Flame Poison Golem (LV. 5), the entire team gains Bio-Energy +30.]
[Acquired material: Flame Poison Crystal Core (can be used for weapon enchantment).]

"Awesome! This experience bar grew visibly by a notch!"

Brute Force Yields Miracles excitedly picked up the glowing red crystal core. "If we grind a hundred more, I can reach Level 3!"

"Don't let your guard down, maintain the rhythm."

Vanguard Across the Realm looked at the monsters blanketing the mountains in the distance without showing the slightest relaxation.

"We are dancing on the edge of a blade. Once we aggro more than two monsters, it's a wipe."

High-Dimensional Perspective.

Gu Yuan watched the scattered sparks of battle gradually lighting up in the lung region and nodded slightly.

Although most new players were still fighting tooth and nail in the "Sighing Corridor" to snatch a single LV. 1 dust mite, the elite echelon led by Vanguard Across the Realm had already successfully gained a foothold on the edge of the lungs.

"This is the adaptability of the Fourth Calamity."

Gu Yuan glanced at his energy reserves. With eleven thousand players online simultaneously, the consumption rate of bio-energy surged, but the acquisition rate increased exponentially.

"As long as they can establish a stable outpost over there, I can continuously recycle energy and repair my divine body."

Yet he also knew very well that the situation in the lungs was far more complex than the players saw.

There was not only inflammation (Flame Poison Golem) there, but also the even more fatal [Virus Legion]. Those true invaders were lurking deep within the alveoli at this moment, greedily eyeing this group of fresh, newborn cells.

"Grow up quickly, warriors."

Gu Yuan murmured.

"The real war hasn't even begun yet."