Chapter 388
"Mona, map."
"Oh, oh." Mona pulled out a map from her suitcase, casually complaining that the man was too cautious, having made seven or eight versions of just one map.
There were tourist maps everywhere, and military maps seized from the Night Watchers and the army. They were spread out on the table and quickly marked according to the information in the newspaper.
Given the time lag in newspaper information, the reported tides were certainly not the whole story, but Yuki saw them, his face instantly darkened.
All the known tidal locations, whether in the east, west, south, or north, are located on the outskirts of the Dark Night Continent. Considering the possibility of expansion, he couldn't help but swear.
"Damn, this is basically a battle royale game."
"What is 'eating chicken'?" Mona blinked, looking confused.
Yuki didn't explain either. Isn't the Dark Night Tide just a poison circle? Although he hadn't personally experienced the Dark Night Tide, he knew from the name that it was very powerful, spreading from all directions towards the center. There was also the powerful Soul Lamp that Hint Four.
The safe zone plus airdrop supplies—isn't this just like PUBG?
"So what is a 'chicken dinner' game?" Mona persisted, finding the analogy quite amusing.
"Simply put, the game forces players to gather in one place. Do you see these circles? The hint is that they expand every Night Capital." Yuki drew circle after circle. Most of the population of the Dark Night Continent is concentrated in the central part, while the southeast, northwest and southwest are all forests, ice fields or deserts.
"We've already done experiments, and even epic-level players can't stay in the 'poison circle' indefinitely. No matter what the players think, they have to gather around."
This is a battlefield that is forcibly created. Yuki doesn't have any perception-type abilities, but if players are fighting within a hundred kilometers, even a slightly loud commotion won't escape his eyes, so the safe zone can be very large.
Hmm, I see.
Mona tilted his head, roughly understanding what "battle royale" meant. Other players couldn't ignore the information gleaned from the newspapers, and presumably, at this very moment, those players who had been dropped off at the border were already beginning to converge on the interior of the mainland.
"But this last point, 'nearly half the population has disappeared from several towns,' is quite interesting." Mona pointed to the end; according to the report, nearly half of the people had survived.
"Good observation skills. Yes, these natives' Soul Lamp Taiyi from the players'. They look the same, but their essence is completely different." Yuki licked his lips. His old trick radar was working again. If the light was bright enough, could he hide in the tide and wait for the other players to have a good fight?
He put down the newspaper, picked up the strangely fragrant coffee, glanced at the elegantly decorated coffee shop where gentlemen were talking loudly and ladies were chuckling softly, and then through the window he saw the misty street and workers in wrinkled shirts with blank expressions.
This is a battlefield for players to kill, and also a world-ending crisis.
' The Dark Night Tide can wipe out half the population. The Night Watchers don't have many options; they can't fathom the secrets of the night, but killing all the players can stop the catastrophe.'
'To do this, they first need to find the players. The chances of revealing their identities face-to-face are too low, and the backstory says the Night Watchers wants to unravel the secrets of the night—they should have some research results, right?'
Through the hazy white mist, Yuki could see the massive building in the central square, with its towering spires and imposing presence. It was a typical Gothic building, and its clock tower, which was dozens of meters high, overlooked the entire city.
The sound of fine hoofbeats caused a commotion inside the café, with everyone looking out. A group of knights in black uniforms, with muskets at their waists and tricorn hats on their heads, poured out of the building, causing pedestrians to scatter.
"The Night Watchers has begun its operation."
"Yes, this instance is a three-way game between the night, the players, and the Night Watchers. They should be involved." Yuki leisurely sipped his coffee, recalling the players he had scanned in Oak Town earlier. Such high-profile behavior would definitely attract the Night Watchers.
Mona didn't care about them, humming a song and swinging her slender legs. "By the way, our Soul Lamp will go out in one more night."
"You don't look like you're in a hurry." Yuki glanced at her. The player's Soul Lamp was too weak; in the initial state, it would be almost at its Limit if it didn't plunder its own kind for two nights.
Bite.
He put down his coffee cup, tossed aside his silver coins, put on his suit, and donned his top hat.
"Don't rush, follow these Night Watchers; they might find other players."
"Restore the lights before tonight."
Rosen City.
As if cleansed by a meteor shower, the bare mountain peaks were riddled with craters, and the bodies of horses and men in black uniforms were scattered everywhere.
Some of them were frozen into ice sculptures, some were cut in half at the waist, and some even committed suicide by shooting themselves. There were as many as a hundred people piled up in layers, and among this pile of dark corpses, there were also a few bodies with completely different clothes and appearances.
The man with his face covered by bandages used a giant knife to turn a corpse over, revealing a huge hole in its chest. After a moment of silence, he said, "Saburo is dead."
"Yugi has also fallen. These natives are quite capable." The handsome young man with black hair casually kicked a Night Watchers's head like a ball, then looked at the bandaged man. "Zabuza Momochi, it seems the Night Watchers can track us players."
The 'Nindo Group' was quite lucky; as a seven-person team, they managed to gather five members by the third day. While it's true that the Reincarnation Game prohibits communication by Transcendental Grade beings, each faction displayed its unique abilities. For example, most of the 'Nindo Group' players were tracking experts.
"It's obvious. The game says they're researching the night, they should have some results by now." Zabuza Momochi his head and shook his head sullenly. "Yashamaru, we shouldn't have done that stupid experiment."
"Oh? You mean we're being targeted because we escaped the night and returned?" Yaksha continued kicking his head, his smile playful. "I think it's because you killed too many Night Watchers and became tainted by karma."
"Both are possible. To stay hidden, we killed all the natives we encountered on the road, and we had no choice but to." Zabuza Momochi a deep breath, like a serial killer.
This is unavoidable; players must engage with dungeons to obtain information. Not every player is skilled in mind control, nor is every player as cautious as Yuki.
To ensure secrecy, they naturally had to kill to cover their tracks, including many Night Watchers. As the killings continued, they realized something was amiss.
"Killing the Night Watchers will attract attention, and the karmic consequences will accumulate. Each of us has killed a few, more or less, and together we become a large target." Zabuza Momochi calmly analyzed, spreading his hands. "But if I try to get information from them, my identity will be exposed immediately. I can't just stand there and get beaten up."
He didn't take it seriously. These Night Watchers were mediocre in strength and had limited methods; few of them could truly pose a threat to him, a Monster III player.
"But we killed quite a few more this time, so our location tracking should be more accurate now."
"The Night Watchers of the Rosen Branch have been almost wiped out, they can't cause any trouble. Once we find Lord Kisame, the Night Watchers of the Fran Kingdom branch will also be free of threat." Zabuza Momochi dismissively, gazing at the city shrouded in thick fog in the distance, his eyes slowly narrowing.
"I'm only worried about one thing. Don't you think Shinjiro took a little too long to finish off the remaining enemies?"
Yashamaru was taken aback. The Night Watchers were not fearless warriors. After the main force was slaughtered, the remaining ones escaped under the leadership of a level 4 Night Watchers. Koga ninjas were best at hunting down the remaining enemies, so they should have been dealt with by now.
He knew what Zabuza Momochi fear. The Dark Night Continent was vast, and players could easily blend in with the natives with a little disguise. The Night Watchers were more like Hound; what he feared were the hunters following behind.
"Would any player cooperate with the Night Watchers? That's highly unlikely."
"Cooperation isn't always necessary. We can use the Hound to track them back." Zabuza Momochi slowly raised his sword. As an ANBU assassin, he sensed the presence of his comrades and gave Yashamaru a wink, his chakra subtly spreading outwards.
The battle-hardened player wasn't afraid; in fact, he was quite eager to try, because players were randomly dropped to various parts of the continent, and the strength of their opponents varied greatly. He didn't believe he was so unlucky as to encounter an epic-level powerhouse.
"Two, confirmed players."
Two figures, one tall and one short, emerged from the mist, causing Zabuza Momochi and Yashamaru to exchange a glance. They were quite lucky to have encountered their companions so quickly, and they relaxed slightly.
The more players in a faction, the greater the probability of being thrown into the same area; conversely, the lower the average strength of each player.
Huh, Zabuza Momochi.
Yuki immediately recognized the tall man opposite him; his appearance was too distinctive. The handsome black-haired man also looked somewhat familiar; he seemed to be a ninja who used silk threads from the novel "The Kouga Ninja Scrolls".
The Nindo Group are really frank and outspoken.
Yuki also thought of Deidara from before. According to the setting, each Judge is selected from various factions. After accepting the game's invitation, they will receive a special mission, and the person in their faction with the closest relationship to the player will become their teammate.
The mission is to kill these teammates, or to be eliminated.
In other words, they were a group of rogue ninjas, but their ties remained, their birth factions were definitely connected, and there was a possibility of intelligence sharing.
The moment Yuki saw Zabuza Momochi, he had already sentenced him to death. Just like when they killed people to silence them, Yuki also believed that "the dead cannot speak."
Upon meeting, the players didn't need to exchange pleasantries. Yuki immediately took out the Gravity Staff, while Mona stood smiling beside him.
"One is a mage, the other's identity is unknown." Zabuza Momochi, an expert in the field of killing, made a judgment in an instant, and then—
Thump!
As the Gravity Aura unfolded, the mage vanished; only a fleeting afterimage could be seen in his contracted pupils.
Concept Enhancement. Extreme Speed.
Gravity Aura. Repulsion.
Blood-Burning Heart. Half-burnt.
Insect Demon Armor.
Without any fancy moves, Yuki simply stomped down, creating a sonic boom. After he disappeared, a muffled thud echoed from the ground, and the ground within a hundred meters sank neatly.
It was incredibly fast, faster than anyone could imagine. The afterimage moved in a straight line and soon crashed into a dense mass of azure threads.
This was a black energy rope that Yashamaru had already set up, quietly enveloping the surroundings like a domain, just waiting for its prey to run into it.
It is incredibly tough and incredibly sharp. A giant steel ship once crashed into it head-on, only to be split into uniform Iron Body. But this time, however, it did not.
"What kind of sorcerer is this?!"
Without any magical glow, Yuki simply crashed into the trap with his bare body. The silk threads rubbed against the insect armor, creating large sparks, stretched taut, and then snapped cleanly.
Boom--
Charge, close the distance, one punch.
A crater a hundred meters in diameter appeared where they stood. Rocks of normal strength turned to dust, and the two of them exploded on the spot, turning into the Roar giant wave. Then, this wave was cut in half by a hand chop.
"The ninjutsu has mutated too." Yuki didn't know what kind of substitution jutsu this was. Judging from its scale, it was almost the same as the S-rank ninjutsu in the original work, and it had many variations.
The giant wave evaporated immediately after being cut off, forming a thick fog that covered several kilometers, reducing visibility to the point where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Fog Concealment Technique?
Even this heavily modified Yuki is unrecognizable. The mist is an energy entity, and switching to the Devil's Vision is greatly interfered with; all that can be seen is a black shadow flying rapidly away.
They can't escape.
With his knees slightly bent, like an ancient beast striking the earth, Yuki gave chase with a muffled thud.
Wow, that's fast! This is Monster IV player.
As a skilled assassin, Zabuza Momochi turned and ran after discovering that his enemy was surprisingly strong, only to find that his Kirigakure was not as fast as the enemy's dash speed.
Without hesitation, he turned around, formed a hand seal, and opened his mouth.
Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique.
Water Release: Infinite Water Prison.
Chaos Item: Absolute Freeze.
The combo was incredibly smooth; a waterfall tens of meters high surged forward, only to be pierced through by Yuki and then reformed into an infinitely regenerating water prison. Before the opponent could break through, the icy blue gem hidden within the waterfall burst forth with dazzling light.
In an instant, everything within a hundred meters froze, and time was even slowed down slightly, giving the enemy no time to react. A huge ice ball appeared out of thin air, lowering the temperature to below zero degrees Celsius.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
Zabuza Momochi frost and continued to flee into the distance. Players of this level wouldn't freeze to death instantly, but after running only a hundred meters, he quickly turned back.
Clang!
A streak of blood was deflected by the broadsword, and in the hazy moonlight, the black-armored figure appeared directly before him. Without a word, he punched him, sending him flying into a spray of water.
Moonlit Ghost Step.
Yuki used spatial teleportation to approach directly, his eyes scanning the surroundings. He saw eight Zabuza Momochi from all around, raising their greatswords to slash down, their blades shrouded in dense mist.
Hidden Mist Clone Assassination.
Each one is a physical entity, each one can teleport in the fog, and each of the Executioner's Blade has a super-fast airflow on its blade, enough to cut through steel and iron.
Dong--Ding--
Even with the ability to teleport, Yuki's punches were too fast to dodge; his five clones were instantly destroyed, while three large swords approached Yuki.
Swish--
The first strike missed its target; the energy enveloping it sliced through the mist and hurtled towards the mountain peak a thousand meters away. A blade mark appeared, and the mountain peak slowly slid down.
The second and third strikes finally broke through the insect's armor, and the Mountain-Splitting Strike only penetrated a few inches into the flesh.
It's so hard.
Before Zabuza Momochi worsen his wound, Yuki had already raised his staff.
"You forgot, I'm a mage."
Thirty times the force of gravity.
The spreading purple aura slowed their retreat, and in close combat with Yuki, even 0.01 seconds can mean the difference between life and death.
What is Yashamaru doing!?
Zabuza Momochi help but think of his comrade. As a crowd control player, he should cooperate with him, but the search results left him completely baffled.
Yashamaru didn't disconnect; he went to attack Mona.
"Don't blame him. That girl simply chose a future where she was attacked, and then used her Transcendental Grade skills to bring it to reality."
Yuki rarely offered an explanation. Within the Gravity Aura, he shattered the clone with an elbow strike, then shattered another with a side kick, while the misty greatsword took the opportunity to reach the side of his neck.
Zabuza Momochi is a ruthless person who is always looking for a chance to turn the tables. His full-power Kirigakure is an energy attack and is not bound by gravity.
"But I know who you are."
The blade flashed past, leaving afterimages, Yuki appeared in the moonlight, grasping the blood-red spear that had just been deflected. He Lightness Zabuza Momochi Zabuza's back, and then a force beyond his Limit surged forth.