Disaster

Monster Tide?

Listening to the piercing air raid siren.

Lu Xiu thought for a moment and then said, "I'll go to the front lines with you. We're already here; staying cooped up in the rear isn't going to work."

Upon hearing this...

Chu Huai, who was preparing to arrange for someone to escort her away, paused, a hint of hesitation flashing across his face. "Miss Lu, the front lines are no joke. Once the Monster Tide breaks out, the scene will be extremely chaotic. As the Architect— "

"Rest assured."

Lu Xiu waved her hand, interrupting him. "I'm not just good at Constructed Instance."

Chu Huai was stunned for a moment, then he remembered the live broadcast of the arena battle back then.

Lu Xiu continued, "If you're really worried, then just assign me to the Patrollers. That way, I'll have someone to look after me. I also happen to want to go see the monsters on the front lines."

Chu Huai took a deep breath, looked intently at the seemingly delicate girl in front of him, and nodded.

Although Zhou Zhenyue will definitely criticize me afterward.

But the situation is urgent now, and there's no room for sentimentality.

"Then get in the car!"

Chu Huai waved his hand and led Lu Xiu quickly toward the military off-road vehicle parked behind the cordon.

Lu Xiu came to the front of the carriage.

But just as she was about to get on the bus, she suddenly remembered something and paused slightly.

Next.

She suddenly turned around, her gaze sweeping over the group of players outside the cordon who were filled with suspicion and uncertainty due to the air raid siren.

Aren't you planning to help?

Lu Xiu's clear voice rang out distinctly in the noisy square, immediately silencing the restless players around her, who all turned to look at her.

Meeting everyone's gaze, Lu Xiu raised her face, which was mostly covered by a baseball cap but still beautiful and charming, and chuckled, "If the defense line is breached, we won't be able to enter this offline instance, and besides—your homes are all behind the defense line, right?"

That's all.

Before the player could react, she turned her head, her long hair fluttering slightly, opened the car door, and sat in the back seat of the SUV.

In the square.

Countless players stared blankly at the military off-road vehicle that roared toward the defensive line.

Lu Xiu didn't try to persuade her, but simply said something light and casual, almost like a joke.

But it was precisely this casualness that made all the players present feel inexplicably embarrassed.

Yes, many of them are not planning to take any risks.

In a dungeon, if you get killed by a monster, you'll at most lose some Survival Points; if all else fails, you can just quit and start over.

But in a real Monster Tide, death is truly death.

The instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm is human nature, which is why only regular troops and top players usually bear the pressure on the front lines.

Previously, the system announced that monsters on the front lines would drop Profession Certificate, so many players went to the front lines to farm monsters.

But it was only done in remote areas.

But now----

"Dry!"

In the crowd.

Suddenly, a player couldn't help but shout.

"It feels so embarrassing to be talked about like that by a pretty girl! Lu Xiu is the chief Architect of Nine Provinces, her life is more important than ours. She dares to rush to the front lines, what are we doing hiding here?! It feels so stupid not to go!"

"Exactly! I can even take on Anjanath- one, so why can't I handle the real monsters on the front lines?!"

"Damn it, fine, go ahead, but don't make it sound like it's real. Are real-life monsters even more torturous than the monsters in the Lu Xiu instance?"

"Damn, is Lu Xiu even human to say that?"

"Charge! Charge! Protect our dungeon entrance!"

"Rush!!!"

In an instant, a deafening roar erupted in the square.

Countless players who originally intended to remain still drew all sorts of weapons, gathered in a human stream, and followed the military reinforcements, rushing headlong towards the defense zone.

On the other side.

The military off-road vehicle sped through the devastated streets. Chu Huai gripped the steering wheel with both hands and glanced behind him through the rearview mirror.

When he saw the massive army of players surging spontaneously towards the front lines like a tidal wave, his gaze couldn't help but shift downwards, landing on Lu Xiu sitting in the back seat of the car.

At this moment, Lu Xiu was looking down, holding a blue ribbon that she had taken out from somewhere and was studying with great interest.

"Grateful."

Chu Huai looked ahead again and said sincerely.

He knew very well that these players were used to being lax and undisciplined. The frontline military could mobilize them, but how much effort they would put in was up to fate.

But Lu Xiu's casual words were far more effective than any forced manipulation, given her already high personal reputation, coupled with the Deceptive Modeling—

The results were, as you can imagine, excellent.

If it weren't for her, the Jade Capital Defense Line would never have suddenly gained such a dynamic and energetic force.

"Need not."

Lu Xiu gently shook her head, her fingers tracing the blue ribbon. "I'm just doing this on the side. These people have come all this way to challenge the offline dungeon, so they must be quite strong. They should have no problem fighting ordinary monsters. We don't know what's going on at Astera right now, and they can't get into the dungeon either. Going to help defend it isn't a bad thing—"

Chu Huai did not reply.

Some things are best kept to yourself.

Lu Xiu had no idea about the complicated thoughts in Chu Huai's mind.

At this moment, her attention was entirely focused on the faintly glowing blue ribbon in her hand, and she was seriously considering where to tie it.

This is a special accessory; in principle, it's directly attached to the weapon.

However, considering the unpredictable nature of real combat environments, and the possibility that she might retract her weapon at any time, simply binding it to the hilt would obviously not be flexible enough.

Lu Xiu was somewhat reluctant to do this.

If not tied to a weapon, this thing, judging from its material and flexibility, seems suitable as a ribbon for tying hair.

The problem is, the Witch Instance already gives out enough hairbands.

Lu Xiu still carries the hairbands given to her by Ellen Viola, so adding another one would indeed be a bit cumbersome.

"----Forget it, it's safest to tie it to myself for the first time."

After weighing the options in her mind, Lu Xiu simply put both Ellen's and Viola's hairbands on her wrists.

Then, he raised his hand and took off the baseball cap that he had been pulling down low.

The salty sea breeze blowing in through the car window instantly tousled her black hair.

Lu Xiu skillfully gathered her cascading long hair back and then neatly tied it into a high ponytail with the shimmering blue ribbon.

Because the blue ribbon was a bit long, even after her ponytail was tied up, a large, light end still hung down along her smooth black hair.

As the sea breeze blew into the car, the ribbon drew a graceful arc in mid-air. The faint blue light flickered in the dimly lit car, adding to its ethereal and mysterious beauty.

Chu Huai was focused on driving when he caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of his eye through the rearview mirror. He looked at the unusual-looking blue ribbon behind the girl's head, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "What's this—?"

Lu Xiu casually tucked a stray strand of hair, ruffled by the wind, behind her ear and replied, "New equipment, we'll need to test it out later."

Chu Huai nodded.

And while they were talking.

The two of them had already arrived.

The SUV braked suddenly, and the vehicle jolted violently.

Accompanied by the ear-piercing screech of tires and the sudden, monstrous roar that filled our ears through the car window.

We've arrived at the front lines.

I just opened the car door.

The salty sea breeze, carrying the smells of gunpowder, pungent blood, and a nauseating stench, clung directly to Lu Xiu's face.

Lu Xiu:

Chu Huai led Lu Xiu directly across the defense line and arrived at a watchtower, below which lay the blood-soaked, meat-grinding streets.

Lu Xiu leaned against the cold railing, looking down at the front lines for the first time.

far away.

That half of the city, assimilated by its environment, is constantly churning out monsters.

The once towering shopping malls and business centers now have countless huge bulges on their exterior walls covered by a dark gray film, which are violently writhing and rolling as if they were alive.

As the bulge grows larger, its surface becomes almost transparent.

With a bang.

Dark, sticky fluid splattered everywhere.

Three or four monsters crashed down from the tall building.

These monsters, with bodies over a meter long, lay close to the ground, their limbs outstretched, their posture low and flat, their overall outline resembling a giant lizard magnified several times.

Countless bumps, like insect eggs, continuously hatched monsters.

The monsters, soaking wet, kept falling from the ruptured membrane, quickly gathering upon landing, and then moving towards the defensive line at an incredible speed.

They were as dense as a tide, and the rustling sound of their scales rubbing together was like a mudslide.

"Ready! It's a swarm of Crawler! Same old tactics, hold your positions, suppress them with firepower first!"

Meanwhile, directly below the watchtower, in the street, the frontline squad was already engaged in battle with the monsters.

The captain roared.

The soldiers at the street corner quickly took their positions.

Previously, when facing these Crawler whose scales were as hard as steel after several system upgrades, ordinary soldiers could only rely on a few old-fashioned pistols of pitiful caliber to draw aggro by single-shotting them, and then use melee weapons to find their weaknesses.

But now, times have changed.

Buzz!

With a low charging sound, a dark blue arc of light suddenly appeared behind the cover.

"Fire!"

Next.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Gunfire instantly echoed throughout the entire defensive line.

The energy rifles from the Titanfall Instance began to weave together into a web of deathly fire.

The Crawler at the forefront, whose thick keratinous scales were originally capable of deflecting bullets from old-fashioned rifles, exploded the moment they came into contact with the energy bullets!

Foul-smelling black blood and shattered scales splattered everywhere.

Before they could even open their enormous, flip-top-like mouths to breathe, they were flipped to the ground by the immense kinetic energy, their health points instantly reduced to zero.

"Reload!"

With the firearms from the Titanfall, the soldiers no longer had to resort to the humiliating task of using melee weapons to pry open the monsters' scales.

The powerful futuristic firearms tore through the Crawler's defenses.

At least not initially.

While firearms improved the armor-piercing capabilities of ordinary soldiers, the sheer number of monsters remained a despairingly overwhelming mass.

Furthermore, the guns awarded as rewards in Titanfall would overheat in real-world conditions.

At this point, melee combat is still necessary.

Fortunately, the courage and Survival Instinct of Ordinary Person's Courage gave the soldiers enough attributes to face monsters, while the item rewards from dungeons like Sekiro gave them the ability to engage in melee combat.

Endless Crawler surged forward like a tide, stepping over the corpses of their own kind and advancing through a hail of eerie blue bullets.

Even as the front ranks were torn apart, the rear ranks still fearlessly charged towards the cover, and behind the Crawler, one could vaguely see even more bizarrely behaving Mutation monsters.

Soon, close combat began.

Looking out, the entire defensive line resembles a giant meat grinder.

On the watchtower.

Chu Huai glanced at the fierce fighting below, then turned to Lu Xiu and explained, "This is the Monster Tide. Fortunately, your dungeons can continuously strengthen the soldiers, but even so, the defensive line is still like walking a tightrope."

"These Crawler are just the prelude; the truly troublesome ones are the Variant Monster that have evolved countermeasures."

Lu Xiu nodded.

Just as Chu Huai was about to say something more, a communication window suddenly popped up.

He glanced at it and immediately abandoned the idea of continuing to explain the situation at the front to Lu Xiu. Instead, he pulled out Jump Kit from his spatial backpack, equipped it, and then looked at Lu Xiu: "Excuse me, Miss Lu, there's a problem with the A18 Defense Zone. I'll go help!"

Having said that, he didn't even wait for Lu Xiu's response.

Chu Huai took a deep breath.

Crack!

A blinding, eerie blue arc of electricity suddenly appeared around him, and he transformed into a dazzling bolt of lightning, instantly disappearing from the watchtower and heading straight for the distant A18 Defense Zone at an astonishing speed.

Not long after, a deafening roar came from the direction of the A18 Defense Zone in the distance.

Above a cluster of ruined buildings, thick, dark blue lightning bolts writhed and exploded like mad snakes, their blinding flashes exceptionally dazzling.

Amidst the lightning, Chu Huai's figure moved so fast it almost left Afterimage.

The mobility provided by the Jump Kit, combined with his domineering innate skills, transformed him into a sharp blade. His battle sword was crackling with high-voltage arcs, and with each swing, he could cleave countless monsters into charred remains.

Watching the lightning dance, it was as if a celestial master had personally descended to subdue demons and monsters.

Lu Xiu felt a pang of emotion.

----Why are you making yourself look so handsome!

Are they attribute-based talent skills?

No wonder he's an ace.

but.

She quickly looked away.

After all, she wasn't there to watch the show.

Lu Xiu stretched her body, then equipped herself with the Jump Kit, pressed herself against the railing, vaulted over the watchtower that was more than ten meters high, and plummeted straight down.

The sound of wind rushed past my ears, and a feeling of weightlessness enveloped my entire body.

Ten meters.

Five meters.

Three meters!

Just as it was about to hit the ground, the Jump Kit at Lu Xiu's waist emitted a buzzing sound.

Laugh!

Two eerie blue plumes of flame shot out, and the powerful recoil instantly counteracted the kinetic energy of the fall.

Lu Xiu bent her knees slightly and landed on the street littered with wreckage.

Then, accompanied by the deep roar of the engine of the Jump Kit, his body suddenly lowered, his waist exerted force, and he took off into the air with the thrust of the jet, turning into a light and agile Afterimage, leaping and shuttling between the ruined walls and vehicle wreckage on both sides.

Soon, Lu Xiu arrived at the nearest defensive line.

The soldiers at the front were already on edge, and any sudden noise would alert them.

Almost the instant Lu Xiu landed, several soldiers who were reloading instinctively turned their guns, but upon seeing who it was, they all froze.

The soldiers recognized most of the Patrollers on the defensive line; they were either elite soldiers within the military or top players who had long been famous in various guilds.

But the person who suddenly appeared out of the sky was clearly not the Patrollers they knew.

Although the morning sunlight was somewhat dimmed by the thick smoke from the front lines, the girl's excessively beautiful face still stood out strikingly in the light.

She wore a simple sweatshirt, with Jump Kit around her waist, and a long ribbon emitting a faint blue light fluttered freely in the morning sea breeze behind her head.

Her stunningly beautiful face, simple casual clothes, and the blue ribbon—the striking contrast stunned the surrounding soldiers.

However, someone quickly recognized Lu Xiu.

After all, during arena battles, monsters basically didn't spawn on the front lines.

"Lu Xiu?! What are you doing here?!"

Lu Xiu ignored the exclamation.

She drew her Nameless Blade, then turned and adjusted her posture before suddenly pushing off with her feet. The thrusters of her Jump Kit emitted a soft roar, propelling her directly over the foremost cover.

soon.

Lu Xiu arrived at the very front, and amidst gasps of surprise, met the surging tide of Crawler ahead.

But just as she was preparing to unleash her first strike and face a bloody close-quarters battle...

A sudden change occurred.

As she sprinted forward, the blue ribbon behind her head fluttered in the air, and an invisible pressure instantly spread out.

The next second.

The group of Crawler, who had been fearless and charging forward despite the hail of bullets, suddenly froze.

Their vertical pupils, which were originally filled with violence and bloodlust, suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints the moment they saw Lu Xiu.

"Hiss!!!"

The next moment.

With a shrill roar, the Crawler running wildly in the front row not only did not attack Lu Xiu, but instead seemed to have seen something more terrifying than hell, its limbs frantically sliding on the ground, and it came to an abrupt stop!

Then.

To the astonishment of all the soldiers on the front lines.

This group of Crawler, known as meat grinders, immediately turned tail and ran!

They ran away!!!

They even ran in a very disheveled manner, trampling and biting each other in their struggle for escape routes, completely losing the imposing momentum they had displayed earlier, like a mudslide pressing down on the defensive line.

This fear spread rapidly like a plague, and even the later Crawler followed suit!

Lu Xiu paused in her sword-wielding motion.

----Is it really that effective?

As for the other soldiers, they were all speechless and dumbfounded when they saw this scene.