Chapter 395

Whether I'm genuinely helping or not, they profit from killing even one more player.

"A bunch of old foxes, but it doesn't matter. It's all about mutual exploitation anyway. I also need to rely on the Night Watchers's characteristics to track down the players."

Yuki had already planned what to do next, and nodded to the girl, "Go change your clothes, and remember to bring a couple more uniforms."

"Uh, why?"

Yuki, too lazy to waste words, took the tricorn hat off her head, put it on his own head, and pulled out his hunting rifle.

"Because I want to be Night Watchers too."

A Level 3 Night Watchers already possesses high-level privileges, and with the addition of the Inspector's orders, Funina can mobilize any resource within the branch.

As the small airship left Night Capital, the red-haired girl was still somewhat dazed, occasionally glancing at Yuki by the bedside with a strange look.

A tricorn hat, a black uniform, a saber, and Soul Blunderbuss —on the surface, he's a Night Watchers. Unless you get too close, you can't tell his identity from the Soul Lamp.

So Funina refused to follow her comrades. She wasn't stupid; she had already sensed something was wrong. But as someone willing to sacrifice herself, she was willing to brave any danger for the greater good.

At worst, she would die. Even if she bore the name of a traitor, as long as she could do something meaningful in this catastrophe, she could die in peace.

Sigh, but they are, after all, the Night's Minions, and who is whose accomplice?

Funina couldn't understand it at all, while Yuki didn't even consider that this was a 'betrayal' tacitly approved by the Night Watchers higher-ups, who were only using his identity.

Level 3 clearance, the inspector's order, stemming from the authority of headquarters, meant Yuki didn't need to waste any brain cells. The airship was immediately deployed, and classified information was readily available. The administrators originally intended to send Night Watchers to protect him, but Funina retorted with "Top Secret, Do Not Inquire."

Unless a player happens to control another Watchman, there's nothing wrong with doing so; the Seven-Person Council to acknowledge the Night Watchers, even if they are puppets.

"Then I was placed under surveillance, and every move I made was being watched."

The Night Watchers didn't know Yuki had discovered the surveillance, but that didn't matter. Seeing is believing, and hearing can be deceiving, but the players' heads were definitely not suspicious.

"Breaking intelligence: Night's Minions have been spotted on the southern border of the Fran Kingdom, about three hours away from us."

With Funina, dressed in a black uniform, standing to the side, Yuki was reminded of the lieutenant in 'Global Insect Calamity'. He wondered how Lieutenant Chris was doing now.

He quickly regained his composure and nodded slightly to the helmsman. "Maximum speed, get there."

"Yes, change course, maximum speed!"

The small airship immediately turned around, its steam engine whirring loudly. As a military vessel, this thing was much faster than the luxury airships it had ridden in before, reaching speeds of five or six hundred kilometers per hour.

It was pitch black outside the window, with only a dense array of wriggling lights on the ground. Yuki glanced at the time, then looked at the map.

"The target is at the edge of the tide; we should be able to reach it around midnight."

The enormous circle had shrunk considerably; a hundred kilometers away was the poison circle, belonging to another order. This made Mona tense up, gripping Yuki's hand even tighter.

They weren't true Night Watchers after all; the Soul Lamp within them would likely extinguish within minutes in the Dark Night Tide, making it difficult to return.

"Uh, shall we go straight there? Aren't you afraid it's another trap?" Funina had a different perspective. Just 36 hours ago, the Night Watchers had suffered a great loss.

"What are you afraid of? It will benefit the Night Watchers no matter who dies. Or are you afraid of death and dare not come with me?"

"Just kidding, ever since I met you, I've been risking my life." The red-haired girl immediately straightened her back and returned to the middle of the airship.

There was a strange device there, like a black, square pillar, and when Funina placed her hands on it, strange ripples spread outwards.

The Night Torch, which doesn't actually have a flame, is equipped in every branch and above, requiring a level 3 or higher access level, and its function is quite simple.

Distinguish between friend and foe, and seek the Soul Lamp; the more obvious the sin, the higher the accuracy.

"So this is what they use to find players. Bringing it onto an airship is a good idea."

Yuki looked around curiously. Its search range wasn't large, roughly covering a medium-sized city, so it was easy for players to hide, as long as they didn't enter the city.

Because of the hostile relationship, players rarely show mercy. They can't just stand by and take the hit when 'ants' are shooting at them. Only people like him and Mona, who have only killed one bandit-turned- Night Watchers in a week in the dungeon and whose sins are negligible, dare to drink coffee all over Night Capital.

"It's a pity there aren't many of these. If there were hundreds patrolling the skies, the players would have been exposed long ago," Mona said softly, suppressing his urge to go up and operate them.

"If they can't hide, it'll be all-out war. All players will unite to drive the Night Watchers out of the game. Given the difficulty of this instance, they can only hide within the range of the Dark Night Tide."

Yuki thought even deeper and summarized the characteristics of the 'hunting missions': in terms of combat strength alone, the players have the advantage, at least against the Night Watchers.

"That makes sense. Judging from the return conditions, the King of the Night doesn't play a big role. Just eliminate the Night Watchers, and the players can settle the score in the safe zone."

"Yes, the players who find the airdrop will have a huge advantage. They can be the ones to fish out the fish and then come out to clean up the mess."

"Then why don't you go pick up the airdrop?" Mona was influenced and also treated 'Nighttime Murder' like a battle royale game.

Yuki didn't speak, but watched as several ordinary people drew the latest poison circle on the intelligence map, and then saw that there were still 87 players left.

Tonight, the safe zone will shrink to 9 million square kilometers, and the rate at which players are eliminated will also slow down. Battle royale games are inherently governed by the Dark Forest law, where the weak are eliminated first.

Outside the window, all was still pitch black, and the lights on the ground were even more crowded. In this grand drama, ordinary people suffered the most; the players, the Night Watchers, and the nobles would not care about them.

Looking into the distance, it's as if there's a dividing line; the lights become sparse, and the world is deathly silent, as if an eraser is at work, shrinking the dividing line back towards itself and erasing a large number of lights.

Hell on earth.

Thousands of meters above the ground, overlooking the fertile southern plains and distant mountains, a galaxy of lights seemed to flow at an accelerated pace, with lights occasionally going out as people trampled each other in a panic.

Then, behind this galaxy, the eraser slowly followed, wiping away large swaths of the 'traces'. The remaining few lights seemed frozen in place, as if under a spell. Yuki closed his eyes, as if he could feel the ecstasy of escaping death and the pain of losing loved ones.

Mona fell silent. A wave of chaos, wailing, ecstasy, and numbness washed over her. She suddenly realized the cruelty of the Dark Night Tide, which made the dead, the dying, and the lucky survivors suffer equally.

Is this the Dark Night Tide?

While rationally calculating the shrinking circle speed and the intensity of extinguishing the lights, Yuki also felt a sense of irony on an emotional level. He had been in the dungeon for so long and had drunk quite a bit of coffee, yet this was the first time he had witnessed the Dark Night Tide, the most important element in this dungeon.

The Night Watchers' deployment was spot on. These players were too sinful to infiltrate the safe zone, so they laid out layers of defenses to keep them at bay on the edge of the tide.

The players' actions were impeccable; they struck first, eliminating nearly a thousand Night Watchers, and then pressed forward relentlessly.

Even if the Night Watchers can pinpoint their location, anyone who dares to challenge them will face certain death.

According to Funina's intelligence, in just two days, the Seven-Person Council has been reduced to a five-member council, which is the warning given by the players.

So much so that a voice emerged within the Night Watchers: to break their oath, for all members to retreat into the Dark Night Tide, leaving the stage to the players, waiting for them to settle their differences, and then the catastrophe would naturally end; or, to say, to wait until the players were exhausted before emerging from the darkness.

This is hardly a way to change homes; if there were a real solution, they wouldn't have come up with such a terrible, roundabout way to achieve their goal.

Yuki grinned. Dealing with these players would require a full-scale attack. The remaining five level-1 Night Watchers couldn't afford any more problems, because these players were only a small fraction of the group. If they went all in on them, who would deal with the rest? Who could guarantee there weren't even more vicious minions among them?

So.

As the airship descended, Yuki glanced at Funina, whose face was filled with hatred, and put on his tricorn hat.

Only by letting the players deal with the players can we truly manage the game.

Chapter Nine: The Southern Campaign (8K)

The airship landed on an open area that had been cleared beforehand, where hundreds of Night Watchers formed a cordon with their backs to Yuki.

Top secret, not to be seen.

This is Funina's order, and everyone must obey. These are chaotic times; the Inquisition is like a mad dog, hunting down traitors everywhere. Who wants to get into trouble?

All they need to know is that someone from above has arrived, Southern Military District will fully cooperate.

At the forefront of this standoff, no Night Watchers dared to launch a preemptive strike, and players were unwilling to charge into the enemy lines. Regardless of the instance, abandoning the small-scale battles they were best at and going head-to-head with volley gunners and war machines was a foolish move. Even if they could win, some players would perish, and who would fall would be a big question.

Are both sides waiting?

Yuki looked around. The morale of the Night Watchers was low. Most of them didn't know that Bulgamo, who had gone to explore the Northern Tides, had been missing for several days. Otherwise, their morale would have been even lower.

Based on estimates, level 1 Night Watchers are roughly equivalent to Monster III to Monster IV, and a few player squads would be enough to take them down.

Fighting players in guerrilla tactics is suicidal; the only option is to band together, use overwhelming firepower to fight back, and then wait for an opportunity.

They kept retreating, and the closer they went to the central area, the higher the troop density became. If they could get within 1,000 kilometers of Night Capital, they could fight a decisive battle without any worries about their rear.

Of course, the price for this is being relentlessly criticized and torn apart by various countries. How can the Night Watchers keep retreating? They should hold their forces at the edge of the tide, giving them, or rather, the refugees, time to evacuate at their leisure.

"That commander was smart; he wasn't swayed by public opinion, but given his limited capabilities, the success rate of his actions wasn't high."

Yuki could see through the Night Watchers's strategy at a glance, and then come up with several ways to counter it in ten seconds. The player had too many items and abilities, such as controlling hundreds of thousands of refugees to charge into the army's formation. Let's see if the Night Watchers dares to open fire.

"The best thing to do is nothing. After all, there are less than a third of the players here, and someone will soon cause trouble," Yuki muttered to himself. Time was on the players' side, so he turned his head slightly.

"Have you found Emiya?"

"He should be nearby." Mona doesn't have true Future Sight, but she does have sensory-based items, which are not within the limitations of Hint 1.

"That's good. Epic-level players usually don't act so simply and brutally, nor do they need to unite so many players." Yuki began to assess the opponent's strength, then felt a light pat on his stomach.

"Are you alright? You're so close to epic level, why don't you take that final step?"

"The time isn't right yet. I can't back down once I've advanced to Epic level. I still need to lay the groundwork with my current strength, but that's enough anyway."

What's the prelude?

Have you ever heard of the Night Watchers?

What a load of nonsense.

Mona knew, of course, that the Night Watchers was only at level one, but she understood what Yuki wanted to do.

The firearm-like Chaos Item in his hand is very similar to the Night Watchers's Soul Blunderbuss in both its attack method and energy nature. Unless observed at close range with an appraisal tool, it is impossible to distinguish the real from the fake.

But in battle, who would use appraisal items?

Funina returned, having finished her negotiations with the Level 2 Night Watchers responsible for guarding the area, her face etched with deep sorrow.

The minions are still closing in, and the tides' search has slowed down. Tonight, that's it. When day breaks, the Night Watchers will lose their advantage of terrain.

The fragile standoff could be broken at any moment, because the Night's Minions were too shameless. She had already read the detailed report of the Battle of Seral, and her fists trembled slightly as she clenched them.

There was no fairness or honor to speak of. Tens of thousands of residents of Seral suddenly turned into terrifying Living Corpse and launched an attack on the garrisoned legion. The Night Watchers was caught off guard and had no choice but to open fire and kill them.

Ms. Molly was forced to select an elite commando team to hunt down the Controller, and then they fell into an ambush.

That wasn't just a few players, but dozens. The hunter-prey dynamic instantly reversed, and the rest was simple.

With the death of Molly, one of the Seven-Person Council members, the Night Watchers, now leaderless and exhausted, collapsed, and none survived.

Funina was both angry and afraid, but fear was her biggest fear. She saw the refugees on the road, their faces numb, slowly crawling along, and knew that this tactic was almost impossible to counter.

"As expected, they used the simplest, most brutal, and most unbeatable tactic." Yuki glanced at the report and tossed it aside, then glanced at the girl. "They're relieved, aren't they?"

The Night Watchers aren't particularly afraid of the Dark Night Tide; even if the poison circle covers the entire Dark Night Continent, their survival rate is still very high. Naturally, they don't have the drive to fight to the death with the players.

"Yes, they broke their oath and only agreed to send 100 Night Watchers to cooperate with your plan and deploy the Soul Annihilation Cannon." Funina clutched the hem of her clothes, her face flushed with shame.

Sending henchmen to deal with henchmen sounds nice, but isn't it really just a sign of weakness and powerlessness, essentially handing over the stage?

"That's enough. Idealists are a minority. Survival instinct is everything, for us and for you." Yuki never intended for the Night Watchers to take the lead; it was determined by their strength.

"You'll lead these Night Watchers in a bit, and execute my plan. Also, don't get carried away; your life is important."

Funina paused for a moment, then nodded solemnly. She was the only contact person, and Mr. Raymond in front of her was someone she could endure humiliation for.

Because he is very strong, perhaps even stronger than the commander, the only way to counter this underhanded tactic is to take the initiative.

Yuki turned and left, returning to the airship. As the steam engine started with a 'humming' sound, the earth became small, and in the distance, there was only a deep night. Half of the Southern Mountains was enveloped by the tide.

Tens of thousands of lights are scattered among the mountains. This is the simplest and most direct way to deceive people. You can't tell who the players are just by looking at the lights. By the time you get close, it's too late to run away.

"That psychic player from Rosen City is here." Mona hummed softly, seemingly oblivious to the tension.

"Yes, his ability is indeed very useful. No wonder the Night Watchers could only watch helplessly. If they were to launch a full-scale counterattack, they wouldn't need to fight back. When it comes to escaping, every player is an expert. The Night Watchers's mobility is insufficient, so they can't catch up."

"Can they outrun you?"

Yuki remained silent, watching as the roar of a steam engine rose from the ground. A massive steam Tank rolled out, its design distinctly steampunk, its gray-white armor covered in rivets and fitted with a long cannon over two meters thick. Many Night Watchers stood atop the mountain-like vehicle.

The Soul Annihilation Cannon, the Night Watchers's most prized war weapon, has been worn down over a thousand years, leaving only six units remaining. It is equivalent to a giant hunting rifle, powered by hundreds of Night Watchers, and then fired together.

They still had some skill, otherwise those players would have already used the same trick to defeat them.

Yuki shook his head as he looked at the Night Watchers seemed to be passively taking a beating, and straightened his tricorn hat.

"They can give it a try."

"Huh, these natives have started attacking. Why have they suddenly become so diligent?"

On the mountain, the lazy bishop, who had been curled up in his recliner, suddenly sat up straight, resting his hand on his brow as he gazed into the distance.

The night is like a curtain, but that's precisely why abilities like 'invisibility' and 'stealth' are ineffective; you can simply look for the movement of lights.

A hundred lights were shining against the current; it was too obvious. Who else but the Night Watchers would dare to come over at this hour?