The Blacklist and the Front Lines
Early in the morning.
Lu Xiu and her group then left the forest and officially embarked on their journey to Jade Capital.
Meanwhile, countless players in major regions such as Nine Provinces, Franca, and Red Tide, those who woke up early, have already gone to Monster Hunter dungeons to hone their skills.
However, in the Old Sea of Nine Provinces, a small group of players are at a loss, staring at the dungeon window, because they still can't enter the Monster Hunter fan-made dungeon.
Old Sea.
suburbs.
Inside an abandoned villa atop a hill overlooking half the city.
"Boss----"
A petite and lively girl wearing cat ears looked dejectedly at the mature woman before her and said helplessly, "I've tried, but it still doesn't work. Most of our High Sequence players can't enter the [Monster Hunter] dungeon. The system directly tells us we've been blacklisted."
On the sofa, a woman with long silver hair exactly like Jian Li was sitting with her legs crossed. Upon hearing this, she casually closed the dungeon database page and replied, "That's normal. Back in the arena battle, when Lu Xiu declared us traitors in front of everyone, I was already prepared."
"And since we've all betrayed our country, as the Architect of Nine Provinces, she certainly won't open the instance to us."
The cat-eared girl was somewhat unwilling upon hearing this. "But that Monster Hunter dungeon offline rating is legendary! It's such a pity. Boss, do you think we could apologize to Lu Xiu and say it was all a misunderstanding? And get her to let us in?"
Jian Ning raised her head and calmly looked at the cat-eared girl. "What do you think?"
The cat-eared girl trembled as she recalled Lu Xiu's appearance, and lowered her head.
That definitely won't work.
She might even kill me.
Even now, the memory of being brutally killed by Lu Xiu still haunts her.
"Alright, she won't let us in, so let's not go."
Jian Ning glanced out the window and then asked, "Has any news come through?"
Upon hearing this, the cat-eared girl put away her dejected expression and became slightly more serious. "News came back from Nineteen. This morning, the Coordination Bureau picked up Lu Xiu and the others and left the Instance Placement Site, but their destination is unknown. Nineteen doesn't dare to get too close. She said Lu Xiu is too terrifying. Even after leaving the Instance Placement Site, she doesn't dare to approach because she has a premonition that getting too close will definitely lead to discovery and then being killed—"
Upon hearing this, Jian Ning's face remained expressionless. "Nineteen's perception talent skill has never malfunctioned."
"What about Nineteen?" the cat-eared girl asked tentatively.
"Keep following along."
Jian Ning replied, "Have Nineteen keep the distance to her safe limit, hanging far away, just enough to know the general direction the vehicle is traveling and figure out their final destination."
"Understood." The cat-eared girl nodded immediately.
"Also, since we can't enter Lu Xiu's instance, let the others continue to participate in the system's multiplayer instance."
Jian Ning stood up and summoned the System Panel: "Also, inform the other members of the Play Society."
"As long as you're matched with the number one player on the Nine Provinces Merit Ranking in the system's multiplayer dungeon, as long as you're matched with Lu Xiu!"
"Then fight! Fight to the death!"
"Use every trump card you have, don't worry about who your teammates are. Use every method to test them. I need them to be familiar with every skill of Lu Xiu's and all her fighting habits, understand?"
"Understood!" The cat-eared girl nodded emphatically.
soon.
The system then emitted a successful match notification sound.
Jian Ning's tall figure transformed into Bai Guang.
But before fully entering the instance.
Her last words were heard.
"This will come in handy someday."
"Also, if you know exactly where Lu Xiu and the others went, tell me immediately."
Swish.
A flash of light.
Jian Ning's figure disappeared completely.
On the other side.
After nearly ten hours of long and bumpy travel.
It was dusk.
The SUV finally slowed down gradually.
Lu Xiu and her group finally arrived in the territory of Jade Capital.
Lu Xiu slowly lowered the car window, and the salty sea breeze instantly rushed into the car.
She looked out the window. Due to the extremely high altitude, almost half of Jade Capital could be seen from the top of this winding mountain road.
Lu Xiu's first impression of the city was one of division.
The city is divided in two by a line that is visible to the naked eye.
Half of it belongs to humankind.
A dense network of steel defenses, towering watchtowers, and countless barricades made of scrapped vehicles and building debris.
The other half, the half closer to the coastline, belongs to the monster, because it has been completely mutated.
Those skyscrapers that originally belonged to modern civilization were all covered with a layer of dark gray, viscous film, on which one could vaguely see intertwined and bulging lines, like thick blood vessels parasitizing the surface of the buildings.
Such things are everywhere in another area.
"---- Environmental Assimilation Mechanism?"
Lu Xiu looked at the completely transformed area and murmured something.
"Right."
Li Shengkai replied, "That's the Environmental Assimilation Mechanism. It's relatively stable now, but it was terrifying when it first appeared. I personally witnessed these ghostly things occupying half the city, spreading along the streets and bridges, from one building to another, swallowing up half the urban area inch by inch."
Subsequently, this giant coastal city became completely uninhabitable.
On the other side.
Shen Nian was also curiously observing this super city before it was gamified.
Although I had seen pictures of Jade Capital, seeing it in person was a completely different experience.
That's spectacular!
She couldn't help but ask Li Shengkai, "This city must be under a lot of defensive pressure, right?"
"The pressure has always been immense."
Li Shengkai replied, "After all, this is the first line of defense. If the monsters on the front line are strengthened, the monsters in this city are often the first to be strengthened. And for some reason, the types of monsters here are the most diverse, with all sorts of random things."
Each time Monster Tide broke out, Jade Capital's defenses were almost on the verge of collapse.
Therefore, this area has the most Patrollers, because frontline soldiers cannot fully deal with the Variant Monster. We predict that the enhanced mutations of the monsters on the front lines will first occur here in thirty days.
Speaking of which...
Li Shengkai paused, then looked at Lu Xiu: "This is also why we wanted you to put the Lordvessel Bonfire here, because the pressure is just too great—but if we could teleport, it would greatly alleviate the pressure here."
Lu Xiu nodded slightly.
At this moment, Li Shengkai suddenly changed the subject. "Of course, although the casualties here are high, it does not mean that the soldiers here are weak. In fact, the attributes of the soldiers here are not much worse than those of top players. Moreover, because they have to deal with countless Monster Tide, the Patrollers here are very strong. Most of them are not top players from guilds, but elites trained by the army itself."
These people are very grateful for the copies you created; I'll introduce them to you later.
Lu Xiu casually replied, "Okay."
Patrollers.
Simply put, they are a fire brigade.
There are people like this on every front line.
They are top players rotating among various guilds or High Sequence soldiers on the front lines, and are not stationed at fixed nodes.
Instead, they patrolled back and forth along the entire defensive line, rushing to wherever the defenses were crumbling, using their individual abilities to slay countless monsters, relieving the pressure, and then immediately heading to the next critical point.
Lu Xiu did know about this.
On the other side.
Shen Nian listened to Li Shengkai's explanation, she couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
Because Shen Nian had never been to the front lines, and she had only been with the Coordination Bureau for a short time and had not yet participated in the rotations, she had only heard about the front lines in the Old Sea.
Only after seeing it for herself did she realize how much pressure Nine Provinces had to endure to ensure the safe zone was free of monsters.
What if one day—the defense line breaks down?
What will happen?
Thinking of this, Shen Nian couldn't help but grasp Lu Xiu's hand.
A brief silence fell over the carriage.
Lu Xiu turned her gaze away from the window, slightly turned her head, and looked at Jian Li sitting beside her.
Since the off-road vehicle entered Jade Capital territory, Jian Li, who was not usually talkative, became even more silent.
She gazed quietly out the car window.
The city was reflected in those clear eyes, and her slender back was slightly tense as she grasped Lu Xiu's other hand.
Although she didn't know why the two of them were both holding her hand.
But when Lu Xiu saw Jian Li's appearance, she thought for a moment and decided not to pull it out, but to let her hold it.
I simply looked at that city again.
Speaking of which...
I wonder if she'll encounter Monster Tide while she's in Jade Capital.
If we can meet.
You could try the effect of the Disaster Hunter —that is, the blue ribbon given by Monster Hunter.
The off-road vehicle drove down the winding mountain road, heading towards the heavily armed steel fortress on the left.
"Almost there."
Li Shengkai broke the silence in the carriage again. "The third entrance to Jade Capital is just ahead. The people from the Jade Capital branch of the Coordination Bureau, General Zhou, the highest-ranking official on the First Front, and Chu Huai, the Patrollers captain, should all be waiting over there."
Next.
Li Shengkai added with a smile, "General Zhou is the pillar of the Jade Capital Defense Line. He's usually busy with military affairs and rarely comes out to greet people personally. As for that Chu Huai —he's a player who truly fought his way through hordes of monsters, and currently the strongest individual fighter in the Jade Capital Defense Line. Speaking of which, he seems to have been playing your [Monster Hunter] dungeon a lot lately. I heard that whenever he takes a break from his shift, he goes in to check it out."
Hearing this, Lu Xiu raised an eyebrow and then asked, "So you're here to interrogate me?"
"How is that possible?"
Li Shengkai laughed and said, "You'll see when you see it."
As they were talking.
The SUV drove around a long bend, and the view suddenly opened up.
A towering wall, made of an unknown material, stood between the city and the highway.
And atop the high wall, flags fluttered in the wind before that massive steel gate.
There was a huge, dark mass of people standing there at that moment.
The leader was an elderly man in military uniform, who exuded an imposing presence without being angry.
Half a step behind him was a middle-aged man, also wearing a military uniform, who looked to be around forty years old and was rather handsome—compared to Yan Fushou's bald head and Li Shengkai's mediocrity, this man could indeed be called handsome.
Further back were the people from the Jade Capital branch of the Coordination Bureau, as well as top players in strange costumes.
The SUV was parked in the open space in front of the gate.
The car door opened.
Lu Xiu was the first to get off the carriage.
Shen Nian and Jian Li followed closely behind.
When they saw that the person getting out of the car was a young girl with extremely beautiful features, outstanding temperament, and even a somewhat delicate appearance.
Even though most of them had seen Lu Xiu's appearance through the live broadcast of the arena battle, everyone present was still somewhat taken aback.
----Too young.
The elderly man and the middle-aged man at the front were the first to react.
"Miss Lu, I've long admired your name."
Zhou Zhenyue strode forward, the iron-willed general extending his calloused right hand, his voice booming. "Welcome to Jade Capital!"