New Dungeon

This day.

The emergence of countless locals in Jade Capital left many frontline soldiers both amused and exasperated.

certainly.

There's no way a fight will break out; at most, it'll just be a war of words.

The soldiers on the front lines wouldn't allow them to fight.

Moreover, this brief commotion ceased abruptly as the alarm sounded.

Monster Tide is coming.

Those self-proclaimed "gods" of Jade Capital) forgot all about cursing and immediately joined the fight for monsters.

Although the materials used to make that bow have not yet been disclosed.

But the players didn't care about all that; they just wanted to fight first and collect the Crawler's materials! They wanted to pluck off all the Crawler's tongues, scales, and bones—something they could definitely use!

soon.

The Monster Tide surged in.

Meanwhile, on the defensive line, players also charged forward in droves.

The scene was exceptionally spectacular.

And charging at the very front were the Crawler had been terrified by Lu Xiu and fled with their tails between their legs.

but.

The sheer number of cases didn't deter them much.

According to the Jade Capital Command Center's estimate, this wave of Crawler is only about 20% larger than the usual Monster Tide.

That's good news, I suppose.

certainly.

The players didn't care where they were; all they could see now were the Crawler.

Those Lord Jade Capital who had just been arguing heatedly over a position now drew their weapons.

These players had no formations, no tactics, and didn't even care how many monsters there were.

They had just gotten close.

Multicolored skill lights shone from their bodies as they charged forward, letting out excited howls even sharper than the monsters', and began to hack and slash.

It has to be said.

They are indeed very fierce.

Overall, the vast majority of those who arrived at the Jade Capital front line immediately were High Sequence players.

These people already had good attributes, and Lu Xiu had been Constructed Instance to enhance them, which gave them more time and energy to try other dungeons than most soldiers stationed on the front lines.

The combat experience and attribute foundation they honed in the dungeons were finally put to use in reality.

When it comes to killing Crawler, their efficiency is astonishing.

Amidst the flashing blades and swirling ice and fire, the Crawler didn't even have time to breathe before being instantly targeted and killed.

Exactly—these guys certainly have high combat skills, but their discipline is appallingly poor.

The players, who had just slain the first wave of Crawler and were like gods of war a second ago, seamlessly switched to looting mode the next.

"I've got the Crawler in my arms, pry, pry, pry its mouth open! Its mouth is so hard! Its tongue must be something else!"

"Legs! I'll take their legs first! Don't try to take them from me. By the way, why are these legs so short? Can they even be used as raw materials?"

"Holy shit, where are you going to stab me? That's my hand!! I treated you like a brother-in-arms, and you want me as fodder?"

"This bone is so hard! Quick, someone with strength skills, help me break it!"

"Great! I've pulled out the Crawler's heart—wow, it's chewy, definitely good stuff!"

"..

The High Sequence players, who should have pressed their advantage and remained vigilant, turned the front line into a slaughterhouse as the first wave of Crawler died.

Some players even squatted down and started hacking at the scales with their weapons, completely ignoring the ever-charging waves of monsters that were still rushing towards them.

It was a chaotic mess.

Fortunately, Jade Capital had anticipated this.

Zhou Zhenyue knew these High Sequence players all too well. They were indeed stronger than most ordinary soldiers in individual combat, but when it came to discipline and teamwork in positional warfare, they were absolutely terrible.

"First rank, second rank! Fill the gaps in the defense!"

"Observer, keep an eye on the defensive line. Report any Variant Monster immediately! Provide cover for the High Sequence players ahead!"

Watching the players who had just killed monsters squatting in dangerous areas to gather materials, the frontline soldiers behind cover felt both amused and helpless.

They instinctively picked up their Titanfall weapons and filled the gaps in the defenses left by the players looting corpses.

A dense barrage of firepower formed a death barrier, passing over the heads of players who were focused on looting corpses, tearing the monsters that tried to pounce on them to shreds.

Once the High Sequence players finished touching the target and stood up, the soldiers put away their guns, allowing them to engage in close combat again.

This strange, somewhat comical, yet somehow sophisticated new tactical coordination...

And so it naturally took shape on the Jade Capital Defense Line.

On the other side.

Some distance from the front lines, Lu Xiu was using Jump Kit to move quickly atop a high-rise building.

Now that so High Sequence players have flooded into the front lines, Lu Xiu naturally shouldn't get too close.

After all, if the surrounding Crawler were scared away by her and ran away with their tails between their legs, then these players who were hoping to farm materials and make equipment would definitely get angry on the spot.

Moreover, even after being scared away, only 20% of the low-level monsters will return.

But that's not a small number; if we can kill them all on the spot, we should.

Anyway, there are plenty of people on the front lines in Jade Capital right now.

Therefore, Lu Xiu deliberately avoided the front line of defense, only using the Jump Kit to glide and patrol from the high ground on the periphery, searching for those more valuable Variant Monster.

Soon, in C33 Defense Zone, Lu Xiu finally found a huge Variant Monster lurking behind the Crawler.

The moment I saw the Variant Monster.

Lu Xiu's beautiful eyes lit up. In mid-air, she skillfully adjusted the thrust angle of the Jump Kit. The dark blue tail flame drew an elegant arc, and after gliding for a moment, she landed gracefully.

at the same time.

Not far away, a small team of five High Sequence players also had their eyes on this Variant Monster.

The burly leader's eyes lit up when he saw the Variant Monster, and he excitedly raised his weapon. "Holy crap, it's Variant Monster! The materials must be even more special! Brothers, get a few of you to help us kill it! Charge!"

But before they could even form a battle formation and charge forward...

A tall, slender figure gracefully landed, blocking their path between them and the Variant Monster.

At the same time, the densely packed Crawler surrounding the Variant Monster suddenly scattered and fled in all directions as if they had encountered some natural enemy.

Seeing that his prey had been snatched away, the burly leader's temper flared instantly. "Damn it! Where did this stinking outsider come from! Come to our Jade Capital— "

He hadn't even finished his rant.

A sharp-eyed teammate quickly covered his mouth, whispering, "Shut up! Look at the ID! Look at the ID above her head!!"

!

The burly man struggled to focus his gaze and saw a stunningly beautiful profile of a figure in front of him. Above her, the ID, which had no guild prefix and only the two characters "Lu Xiu," was more glaring than any prestigious signboard.

The burly man shuddered, and cold sweat poured down his back.

You really can't criticize her—because she's not some stinky outsider at all. Compared to her, everyone else present is the real beggar.

Lu Xiu naturally noticed the actions of the players behind her and shook her head helplessly.

As expected, there are many players.

The level of absurdity increases exponentially.

As she thought about it, she raised her right hand to the side, and as the air seemed to gather, a katana appeared in her hand.

The outcome of the battle was entirely predictable.

The mutant monster, which required frontline soldiers to fight tooth and nail to whittle down their health and was even difficult for patrollers to deal with, was completely reduced to a one-sided punching bag under Lu Xiu's fluid and skillful Iaijutsu and Ryuga.

With the final blow landed.

The Variant Monster fell to the ground.

The whole process took less than ten minutes at most.

Lu Xiu stared at the corpse, skillfully using the [Deconstruction] skill to peel off and collect the core materials from the Variant Monster.

Then, the Jump Kit spewed out its tail flames again, taking off into the air without hesitation, leaving behind only the Variant Monster's mangled corpse and a five-person team watching in stunned silence not far away.

After a long while, a cold wind blew by, and the five-person team came back to their senses as if waking from a dream.

One of the team members, still savoring Lu Xiu's smooth combat performance, couldn't help but mutter, "---- The Variant Monster doesn't seem that hard to kill? Such wide openings, such slow movements, it was easily defeated."

The burly man leading the group nodded in agreement. After watching Lu Xiu's demonstration, his confidence inexplicably swelled. "Yeah, yeah, it does look pretty fragile. The monster's mechanics have been figured out by the pros! Let's go! Brothers, let's search some more. If we encounter Variant Monster, we'll attack immediately and see if we can collect even more valuable materials! Then we'll go to the Astera workshop to exchange for divine gear!"

The others exclaimed "Oh!" excitedly.

Full of confidence.

Half an hour later.

This five-person team finally encountered another Variant Monster of the same level at the edge of the defensive zone, just as they had hoped.

"Brothers, following Lu Xiu's strategy, I'll go first, you guys interrupt its pounce!"

The burly leader roared, raised his weapon, and charged forward.

However, the moment they clashed...

The Variant Monster's steel-like scales and its incredibly fast, Afterimage bites made the burly man break out in a cold sweat.

"Holy crap!!! I won't honor this!!!"

Lu Xiu was unaware that she had just fought Variant Monster and nearly caused the death of a five-person squad. If a Patrollers team hadn't happened to be passing by, those overconfident High Sequence players would probably have been among the first casualties on the defensive line that day.

At this moment, Lu Xiu was constantly inspecting the front line of Jade Capital.

This time, she failed to deter the Crawler. The battle on the front lines lasted for more than three hours before the Monster Tide finally subsided under the combined assault of players and soldiers.

During those three hours, Lu Xiu also made a considerable haul.

She was like a ghost wandering the edge of the battlefield, constantly moving and reaping the Variant Monster lurking behind the Crawler with the high mobility of her Jump Kit.

Twenty-one were killed in total.

This led her to collect a huge amount of random materials.

"Done."

Lu Xiu glanced at the mountain of Variant Monster materials piled up in her system inventory and nodded in satisfaction.

She piloted the Jump Kit, its dark blue exhaust plume propelling her straight toward the Astera.

soon.

Lu Xiu landed at the edge of the Astera.

There are quite a few players inside right now.

Lu Xiu did not enter directly through the main gate.

Yesterday, after chatting with the old man, besides brainstorming a plan for the new instance, she didn't idle around the rest of the time; instead, she studied the placement area's functions.

And after repeated testing.

She discovered a new way to play with Instance Placement Site.

Lu Xiu slowly closed her eyes.

The next second.

She disappeared.

Because so many players have been asking about it, the interior of the Astera construction site has also been locked down.

Lu Xiu's figure suddenly appeared.

That's right.

This is the new way she discovered to play.

As long as you are within the Instance Placement Site.

She can appear anywhere at will.

"Commander Lu Xiu."

Upon seeing Lu Xiu, the Smithy put down his hammer, wiped the sweat from his brow, greeted her, and complained, "The Hunter here are truly terrifying."

Lu Xiu smiled.

A maximum of four people can form a team in a dungeon.

But in reality, there are no such restrictions.

However, this is something that cannot be changed.

So she pretended not to hear and instead opened her system inventory, taking out all the materials she had acquired that day.

Splash!

A large pile of biological materials, radiating various lights and in all shapes and sizes, was dumped onto the large wooden counter like garbage.

The foreman of the Smithy was about to complain a bit, but when he saw the mountain of materials, he fell silent instantly.

He glanced at the materials, then at Lu Xiu, then back at the materials, then back at Lu Xiu—

----All of them are high-grade materials.

Is this really the amount of material a human could produce?

Is this a shopping trip or a hunting trip?

But even with a thousand words to say, the Smithy leader couldn't find the words—especially after considering the deeds of the man before him.

final.

The foreman of the Smithy could only sigh and say, "As expected of you."

Lu Xiu ignored him and rummaged through the materials she had obtained from the dungeon in her backpack. "Take a look at all these materials and see if you have any other ideas. I want to forge another weapon, but I have a requirement for this one: it must use materials from the New World."

Lu Xiu pointed to the pile of dungeon materials next to her. "As for the type of weapon, you can decide. Bows are fine, or other melee weapons are also acceptable."

"----good."

The foreman of the Smithy looked at the pile of materials. "There are too many materials; I need time to study them."

"Then you do the research, just give me some ideas on how to combine the ingredients in the next couple of days."

"Good."

After receiving a promise from the head of the Smithy.

Lu Xiu did not linger on the second floor. Instead, she flashed again and appeared directly in the restaurant on the third floor of the Astera.

In front of the bar.

Lu Xiu plopped down, ordered her food, and then rested her chin on her hand, watching the burly head Chef juggle the ingredients while casually opening the communication panel.

She first chatted with Chu Huai about the situation at the front lines.

The conclusion she reached was largely the same as what she had observed.

High Sequence players did indeed significantly reduce the pressure on the front lines.

Many soldiers were even idle.

certainly.

The Patrollers actually had nothing to do.

But the main reason is that Lu Xiu killed all the Variant Monster.

If Lu Xiu weren't at the front lines, things might be different.

After assessing the situation at the front.

Lu Xiu thought for a moment, then opened the forum again.

As expected, the screen was still filled with posts about Astera and Jade Capital.

Amidst the clamor of these posts, Lu Xiu searched for the players' progress in clearing the dungeon.

I checked the number of people who had cleared the Monster Hunter dungeon in the backend again.

The result was still zero.

Looking at the empty number of people who had passed the level.

Lu Xiu looked thoughtful.

"It seems that players need to study the habits and methods of different monsters, as well as become familiar with their own weapons and various systems—a considerable burden for players, especially with the Iceborne added to the mix."

Lu Xiu scratched her cheek with her fair finger. "It'll probably be a while before any player clears the game----"

To some extent.

Monster Hunter inflicts even more torment on players than Dark Souls.

Let alone the average player.

Even the battle-hardened Strategy Group from the Coordination Bureau hasn't managed to clear the game yet.

certainly.

This is also related to the fact that Jian Li couldn't concentrate on clearing the level, and had to come out three or four times a day to find her.

However, none of the Strategy Group have been able to complete the game yet.

This means that a strategy guide cannot be created for the time being.

The soldiers on the front lines were therefore unable to go to the Monster Hunter dungeon.

After all, most soldiers simply don't have the ability to clear these kinds of dungeons independently; the learning curve is too steep, making it a losing proposition.

"Now that the front lines are occupied by High Sequence players farming materials, a large number of soldiers are idle—"

As Lu Xiu looked at the sizzling, oily grilled pork ribs, a memory suddenly flashed through her mind: the image of the old man who held power over the Nine Provinces sitting here yesterday, chatting with her and sending signals.

never mind.

Let's return the favor this time.

Consider this a way to fulfill the promise of creating a dungeon suitable for soldiers to clear as soon as possible.

Moreover, Shen Nian and Jian Li spent most of their time in the instance.

All she could do in Jade Capital was kill monsters and watch cat shows.

It's really boring; it's time to find some new fun.

"Monster Hunter- style dungeons are too difficult for ordinary soldiers—let's make a dungeon that doesn't require complex combos and focuses on shooting."

Lu Xiu made up her mind, reached out and summoned the System Panel again, opened the half-finished proposal she had written, and gently shook her head.

The previous idea was too complicated—it can't be done in a short time, let's change it.

Hmm----Let's switch to an even simpler dungeon with only two objectives: escape and survival.

What should I do?

Lu Xiu slightly raised her snow-white chin, and the games she had played in her previous life kept appearing in her mind.

But she rejected most of them herself.

The mechanism can't be too complicated.

Performing is too much trouble.

It's unsuitable for frontline soldiers.

until.

Another game has emerged.

I've got it!

Lu Xiu's beautiful eyes lit up, and she reached out her hand, immediately typing the name of the new dungeon, "Left 4 Dead," on the virtual keyboard!