The Empty Fort Stratagem

[That's just cruel.]

[I'm dying. This is the first time I've seen a ghost get toyed with like this.]

[When I got dragged into the survival game, a lot of my companions died at the hands of ghosts. Nothing the streamer does to it is going too far!]

[I hereby declare that from now on, I'm streamer 869's die-hard fan!]

Xiao Hao glanced past the game panel floating in the air and quietly watched the ghost leave.

He knew perfectly well that its departure was only temporary.

Once it finished feeding or recovered from its injuries, it would come back.

With help from the chat, Xiao Hao went out hunting monsters, still focusing on lone lesser monsters.

The Spirit Pearls dropped by lone monsters were pitifully few. After several hours, he had collected only seventy.

Xiao Hao wanted to farm a few more Spirit Pearls, but the chat warned him that the ghost was back.

With no other choice, Xiao Hao returned to the Coral Shell Room.

He checked his phone. It was exactly seven.

This wild monster was like a worker on the night shift, clocking in right on time.

Except other workers clocked in for money. This one clocked in for lives.

After it had scratched at the window for a while, Xiao Hao began to feel that something was wrong.

He checked the mana gauge. Each scratch drained over thirty liters of mana.

Xiao Hao's eyes widened in disbelief.

Damn it! If each scratch cost twenty-something liters, I could stall it one more time. But thirty-something? Now I'm not so sure!

He hurriedly tapped to use a Slowdown Card. Before he could even ask, the chat supplied the answer.

[Ah, the streamer probably doesn't know that ghost-type wild monsters get boosts to all their abilities at night.]

[But the seabed is pitch-black both day and night. Why would the ghost's condition change?]

[Because you're a noob.]

[???]

[Top players already deal with energy control. Of course a noob wouldn't know.]

[Even on the seabed, daytime still suppresses dark energy. So dark-type creatures are weakened during the day, while at night, the opposite happens: dark energy boosts them.]

Xiao Hao had wanted to keep reading, but the remarkable thing about the chat was how seamlessly it could shift from boosting energy to boosting combat power, then to boosting sexual performance, and then...

His eyes twitched from time to time as he read.

The chat's "exotic tastes" gave him a headache.

With no other choice, Xiao Hao released the Shadow Seahorses to whittle down its health.

Even guardians could not keep using skills indefinitely.

So Xiao Hao arranged the seahorses' shifts with meticulous precision.

Even a capitalist would have called him a pro.

Xiao Hao had intended to get under the ghost's skin with trash talk, but this time, it would rather injure its own ears than listen to him.

Watching the ghost stab its sickle fingers into its own inner ears, then pull them out trailing sticky blood and flesh, left Xiao Hao utterly stunned by the horrifying yet absurd sight.

The chat was practically dying of laughter, while Xiao Hao began questioning his life.

[Pfft, hahahahaha...]

[I'm dying. Just how powerful is this streamer's trash talk to drive a ghost to this?]

[Streamer, streamer, write an encyclopedia of trash talk! I'll definitely buy it!]

He hadn't even said anything!

Although the ghost's self-mutilation was pretty nice, for some reason, Xiao Hao felt rather hurt...

This ghost wasn't giving him a single opening!

Fine. You do your scratching, and I'll do my reading.

"Boss, boss, is that video real?"

"God, intelligent wild monsters are terrifying! They can even act!"

"I'm screwed. My guardian is just a level-one fish. If a wild monster attacks my Coral Shell Room, I'm definitely dead."

"Boss, got room for another hanger-on?"

"Boss, are you taking disciples?"

"You people have no backbone. Can't you stand tall like me? Dad, do you need another son?"

"You sure stood tall."

"That 'Dad' really showed some backbone."

"ID 869: Take note. If you have Spirit Pearls, don't rush to upgrade. Wait until your Coral Shell Room is almost out of mana. That way, you can save mana."

"Roger!"

"Take good advice, and you'll do all right."

"Thanks, boss!"

"Boss, this humble Wu offers his thanks!"

Since he had nothing else to do anyway, Xiao Hao shared a few survival tips on the forum.

They were all human. As long as it didn't cost him anything, he didn't mind helping a little.

Besides, the more people survived, the more suckers he could milk...

Ahem. Getting off track.

Two hours later, Xiao Hao reluctantly upgraded the Coral Shell Room to level seven.

He was in no hurry to use his Maintenance Card or Shield Card.

Every upgrade not only fully restored the Coral Shell Room's mana but also increased its defense.

That meant the higher his base's level, the more value he would get from those cards.

Another three hours passed, and its seven-thousand-point mana capacity had been drained to only around a hundred.

Xiao Hao still had no intention of using his cards.

He planned to sell off the many supplies in his Space Slots at bargain prices in exchange for Spirit Pearls.

Three days had already passed. Any players still alive would have at least some Spirit Pearls; otherwise, their level-zero Coral Shell Rooms would have run out of mana long ago.

Just as Xiao Hao steeled himself against the heartache and prepared to list his supplies on the exchange, the ghost stopped attacking.

Watching Xiao Hao's finger tap at thin air, the ghost bared its teeth in fury.

How long have I been scratching now?

How does this guy still have Spirit Pearls to upgrade?

Xiao Hao's finger paused, and he turned toward the ghost, which had stopped scratching the window.

He noticed that its ten sickle fingers were glowing an orange-red, with scalding bubbles constantly rising from their tips.

It seemed that after five hours of scratching, it was nearing its limit too.

There was not only the Coral Shell Room's reflected damage, but also the seahorses' Darkness Erosion.

He had to admit that this ghost truly deserved to be a major boss. The seahorses had spent five hours taking turns draining its health, yet the Deep-Sea Ghost still looked full of life.

A level-ten mantis shrimp could last only twenty minutes at most. This ghost had lasted five hours. Wasn't that absurd?

Even if rotating shifts meant only four times the health drain, it was still ridiculously excessive!

Since the ghost had stopped scratching, Xiao Hao no longer needed to rush into selling his supplies for next to nothing!

It was time to put his acting skills to the test!

I don't have any Spirit Pearls.

But I can pretend I do!

The ghost's stare seemed to demand an answer from Xiao Hao: How do you still have Spirit Pearls?

Xiao Hao muttered, "You've already gouged your own ears. Even if I told you where the Spirit Pearls came from, you wouldn't hear me..."

Unexpectedly, the ghost seemed to answer him. "Wooo..."

Now Xiao Hao was annoyed with himself.

If I'd known it could still hear, I could've messed with its head!

Claiming outright that he had Spirit Pearls would surely make the ghost suspicious.

His mind raced, but his expression remained calm as he denied it. "No, I don't have any Spirit Pearls."

Sure enough, that denial only deepened the ghost's suspicion.

No Spirit Pearls?

That morning, when the Coral Shell Room had almost been scratched open, he had tapped the empty air, and the room had risen to level six.

That evening, when it had nearly broken through again, he had tapped the air once more, and his base had reached level seven.

Now that it was close to breaking through yet again, he had his finger against the air once more.

Although it couldn't see the panel, it knew players had one floating in the air!

If he had nothing, tapping the air would accomplish nothing.

But every time he tapped it, something bad happened!

Either a card or an upgrade!

And now this crafty bastard was telling it that he had no Spirit Pearls left!

Then move your finger away from the panel!

His gesture clearly meant he was waiting for it to drain a little more of the Coral Shell Room's mana before upgrading again, making all its hard work come to nothing!

Then he could mercilessly ridicule it!

The ghost still seemed torn, so Xiao Hao decided to add fuel to the fire.

"Huh? You're not scratching anymore?"

The ghost shot him a hateful look.

What's with that expectant look in his eyes?

"Only a hundred liters left. Scratch a few more times, and the Coral Shell Room will break."

Why would a player actually ask me to scratch his window?

A few more scratches would normally have been no big deal.

But with Xiao Hao saying that, it felt as though he was deliberately toying with the ghost!

While the ghost hesitated, Xiao Hao put everything into his performance.

As opponents, both sides liked to do the opposite of what the other wanted.

That was exactly what Xiao Hao intended to exploit.

"Don't give up! Persistence is victory. Look, while we've been talking, the room's mana has dropped to ninety-nine liters!"

Xiao Hao's urging made the ghost's expression turn exceptionally ugly.

"Just three or four more scratches, and the room will break. Hurry, hurry. Scratch away."

Barely containing its fury, the ghost gave the window one spiteful scratch.

Sixty-six liters of mana remained.

"Yay! Just two more. Hurry!"

Another swipe.

Thirty-five liters of mana remained.

Xiao Hao's eyes lit up. He placed his finger on the panel floating in the air and said, "Good, so obedient. Hurry it up, okay? I'm compulsive about these things. Just one more. Come on!"

To keep the stunt from going too far, Xiao Hao held his finger just above the Shield Card's use button.

He could also operate the game panel directly with his mind, but he deliberately used his finger to send the ghost a message through his movements.

The ghost's raised arm suddenly dropped.

It didn't want to be played again.

Its opponent clearly had something to fall back on.

It had seen far too many players on the verge of death. Most had been hysterical, and even the few who put on a brave front always betrayed uncertainty in their eyes.

But the human before it was perfectly composed, without the slightest trace of uncertainty in his eyes.

That meant he really did have Spirit Pearls and was merely waiting for one more scratch before upgrading the Coral Shell Room.

It couldn't accept being ordered to attack the Coral Shell Room, only for the room to be upgraded and restored just as it was about to succeed.

That made it feel like a pet being toyed with.

The ghost did not fly into its usual rage, the kind that left it emotionally out of control even as it departed.

This time, it silently turned around and slowly drifted away.

It would no longer underestimate this player just because of its own strength.

It was taking him seriously now.

Watching the ghost leave, Xiao Hao's mouth stretched into a smile that gradually turned twisted.

The empty fort stratagem worked.

It was as though Xiao Hao could see right through its thoughts.

Taking me seriously?

So what if you are?

However seriously you take this, your intelligence is still a fatal weakness. You don't even understand that a lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit.

This is a survival game.

You're in the middle of it, yet you still let your emotions control you. No wonder an intelligent creature like you died on the seabed and became a ghost.

Take the enemy seriously tactically, but scorn it strategically.

Xiao Hao belittled the ghost to ease the anxiety inside him.

The next time he faced it, he would still give it everything he had.