Positional Warfare

Coordinates: Storm Abyss - Frontline Fortress "Dawn."

This gray-white fortress, built over three hours by thousands of players using monster corpses and chitin scraps, now stood atop a windswept highland. Though it looked like a shoddily built illegal structure, with sticky Bio-Gel still hanging from its walls, to those eleven thousand players, it was their home in this hell.

And after three days of struggling and grinding, the second-test players had already undergone a complete transformation.

They were no longer clueless newbies running around in their underwear. Everyone wore at least a few pieces of chitin armor, and instead of stones, they now carried standard bone spears or Bone Blades fashioned from monster bones. Their average level had reached LV.3-LV.4.

This was the result of three days of hard grinding by the hardcore players.

However, before they could celebrate their move, the trembling ground silenced everyone.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

That was not Titan's heartbeat. It was the dull rumble of countless feet trampling the spongy alveolar tissue!

"They're here."

Vanguard Across the Realm stood atop the fortress's tallest watchtower, his gaze passing through the white light curtain of the safe zone and settling on the dark green fog in the distance.

By now, he had reached LV.6 (12%), still leading the entire server. The members of his elite squad behind him were generally around LV.5.

Suddenly, the [Biological Beacon] at the center of the fortress erupted with blinding red light.

A massive Holographic Projection unfolded in midair. On it, the NPC [Watcher Zero], whom they had previously seen in the Sighing Corridor, appeared once more. His spear pointed toward the depths of the mist as he spoke in a hoarse, urgent voice:

"Warriors."

"The filth of the Abyss has sensed the kindling of the sacred flame."

"They are gathering, attempting to extinguish this last Dawn."

"To protect this final hope... survive."

Over the past few days, Gu Yuan had used the NPC Zero to tell the players a story about repelling the Abyss and reclaiming their positions. All players were regarded as one massive pioneering team, advancing toward a shared goal.

As the NPC's words fell, a bright red system mission panel appeared before everyone:

[Server-Wide Emergency Campaign: Dawn Defense Battle]

[Objective: Defend the fortress for 2 hours and repel the Flame Demon's minions.]

[Special BUFF activated: Life Beacon Overload.]

[Effect: Death within the fortress area has no resurrection cooldown, and consumption is halved.]

[Failure Penalty: Defensive positions destroyed, battle line pushed back, shop permissions reduced, levels lowered.]

The moment they saw the words "no resurrection cooldown," the players who had been hesitant for fear of losing levels instantly lit up.

"Three days! I've been holding it in while running maps for three whole days!"

Walking Grass, a Divine Guard player, raised the huge leg bone in his hand. "Today, we finally don't have to make corpse runs! Brothers, vent all that frustration from the past three days!"

"Damn it! Let's fight them!"

"For experience! Kill!"

The fog was torn apart.

Countless black creatures surged forth like a tide.

Leading the charge were the [Infected Virus Body: Crawlers].

They were transformed from necrotic alveolar cells and resembled skinned hunting hounds. Their limbs bent backward at grotesque angles, and their mouths were filled with sharp teeth. They packed the horizon in numbers too great to count, blotting out the sky. Most were below LV.4.

The black tide slammed violently into the gray-white Bone Wall.

The immense impact made the entire fortress tremble.

The battle reached its most intense point the instant the two sides met.

"Divine Guards! Hold the gaps! Don't let them climb up!"

Vanguard Across the Realm shouted commands.

Below the walls, thousands of Divine Guard players formed the first line of defense. After three days of training, they had learned how to cooperate. The front-line Divine Guards drove their Bone Shields into the ground, while those in the rear braced spears over the shields, instantly forming a spiked iron wall.

"Cold weapon trench tactics, brat!"

"Get down there!"

An LV.4 Divine Guard roared and smashed two Crawlers flying with a shield bash.

The speed-focused Crawlers had no way to break through!

And it was not merely close combat—

"Spirit Pivot Envoys! Discharge!"

From the wall towers, three thousand Spirit Pivot Envoys raised their bone staffs in unison.

After three days of grinding levels by scratching away at monsters, their Spirit attributes had generally risen above 15, and the staffs in their hands were no longer mere fire pokers.

"Three, two, one, discharge!"

Thunder King, a high-level player, shouted.

Crackle—!

Three thousand blue arcs intertwined in the air. Lightning Chain stacked into a massive electric net and crashed down upon the monster horde below the walls.

Crackle, crackle!

Hundreds upon thousands of Crawlers were instantly charred black and froze stiffly in place.

"Hunters! Harvest them!"

Countless black figures leaped down from the walls.

They were the Hunter legion. Using their high agility, they darted through the monster horde, specializing in finishing off the low-health monsters paralyzed by electricity.

"This is awesome! Experience is flooding my screen!"

"I leveled up! I'm LV.4 now!"

The intense battle brought immense rewards. Experience bars that had once crawled forward began soaring under such monster density. The thrill of mowing down enemies in positional warfare was far more satisfying than painstakingly running maps and farming monsters alone.

However, the monsters' offensive did not weaken.

Thud! Thud!

The earth shook.

From deep within the fog, hundreds of [Heavy Pustule Giants] (LV.8) entered the battlefield.

They were true Elite Monsters, three meters tall, with swollen bodies covered in thick horny layers. Ignoring the Spirit Pivot Envoys' electricity, they marched forward with heavy steps like siege engines and rammed brutally into the fortress walls.

Boom!

A section of wall made from chitin scraps collapsed instantly.

"Breach! The wall's down!"

"Fuck, the giants are inside!"

More than a dozen Pustule Giants charged into the crowd. With a single swing of their enormous bone clubs, five or six players were sent flying like bowling pins, their health bars instantly emptied.

Although the players had leveled up, they still found it difficult to confront LV.8 Elite Monsters head-on.

"Don't panic! Draw aggro!"

Vanguard Across the Realm leaped down from the tower.

In midair, he activated the Hunter class skill—[Bone Blade Thrust].

He became a streak of black light and plunged precisely into one giant's eyeball.

[-150! (Weak Point Critical Hit)]

The giant roared in agony, clutching its eye as it flailed its arms wildly.

"Brute Force! Take the monster!"

"Coming!"

Brute Force Yields Miracles charged out from the side. He was now LV.5, wielding the [Fine Bone Hammer +3] that he had spent a fortune strengthening with purchased materials.

Yes, the shop now offered enhancement services. The prices were steep, but for Titan, the resources spent on enhancing equipment were far less than those spent resurrecting players.

Brute Force slammed his hammer viciously into the giant's toe, then leaped up and hammered its knee with all his might.

"Look over here, grandson!"

The giant was enraged and raised its foot to stomp on Brute Force.

Brute Force rolled across the ground. Though his posture was miserable, he successfully avoided the attack.

"Focus fire! All Hunters, hit the rear!" Vanguard Across the Realm roared. "Have you forgotten the weak-point attacks we taught you these past few days? Attack their feet! Even if you're only scratching them, scratch them to death!"

Several Hunter players used their high agility to climb over the giant's body like fleas, driving their daggers specifically into its joints, eyes, and neck.

This was the classic tactic of the Fourth Calamity—the ant swarm tactic.

As long as you dared to show a health bar, even if you were a god, we could whittle you to death one blade at a time!

"It dropped! Equipment dropped!"

As the first giant crashed to the ground, an item flashing with blue light fell out.

[Fine-Grade Blueprint: Chitin Heavy Armor (Chest)]

The blueprint system was designed after careful consideration by Gu Yuan. In truth, killing monsters gave players no rewards beyond materials. These blueprints were essentially a means for Gu Yuan to reclaim resources from the players.

Players spent materials and resources to obtain equipment, growing stronger so they could fight more advanced monsters. Gu Yuan recovered energy to sustain his survival while investing in future returns. It was simply a win-win situation. Of course, Gu Yuan won twice.

The instant the blueprint dropped, the surrounding players' eyes turned green with envy.

It had been three days. Everyone was still wearing ragged patchwork gear. Who did not want a cool set of blue-grade equipment?

"Holy shit! A blue equipment blueprint!"

"Kill! Steal monsters! They're walking treasure chests!"

The players, who had been defending passively, actually began charging out of the fortress and surrounding the Pustule Giants in reverse.

Dozens of players surrounded each giant and hacked at it. The scene was brutally savage.

"Healers! Heal the Divine Guards at the front! Don't let them die!"

Cloud Pomelo's voice was already hoarse from shouting.

Leading two thousand Life Weavers, she no longer mindlessly sprayed gel everywhere. Instead, she began using advanced techniques.

"Construction team! Quick! Raise a bone spike there!"

Dozens of Life Weavers joined forces and used [Matter Recombination] to instantly raise rows of sharp bone-spike traps from the ground, directly pinning down a charging giant.

The battle continued for an hour and a half.

Half the fortress walls had already collapsed. The ground was covered in a thick layer of monster corpses, broken swords, and shattered shields dropped by players.

Even the Biological Beacon's glow had dimmed considerably.

But the black tide finally began to recede.

The remaining monsters seemed to receive some sort of order and retreated into the depths of the fog like a receding tide.

[Campaign Ended.]

[Defense Successful!]

[All Members Received: Massive experience, Bio-Energy +100, Fortress Reputation +500.]

"We won..."

Brute Force Yields Miracles slumped onto the ground, looking at his nearly empty health bar and the Fine Bone Hammer whose durability had dropped to zero.

"That was fucking intense. More exhausting than hauling bricks, but way more satisfying too."

He glanced at his level.

LV.6 (45%)

That one battle had raised him an entire level.

And as far as the eye could see, the players still standing across the battlefield had reached an average level of LV.5. The several hundred players in the first echelon had all broken through LV.6.

Though everyone looked battered beyond recognition, their equipment broken and their faces covered in grime, satisfied smiles hung on every face.

Vanguard Across the Realm stood atop the ruined wall, looking toward the fog that had temporarily fallen silent in the distance.

He knew this was only a test.

The so-called regional lord, the Flame Demon, had not yet appeared.

But so what?

He looked back at the madmen behind him, who were cheering, mocking one another, and scavenging loot.

Three days ago, they had been a disorganized rabble.

Three days later, they had become a disciplined army.

"Clean up the battlefield!"

Vanguard Across the Realm issued the command in the public chat.

"Repair the walls and replenish ammunition. Put all materials dropped just now into storage. We're doing a major overhaul."

"Next wave, we push back! Build more main cities on the front line!"