"Hmm, it tastes bitter at first, but then has a slightly sweet aftertaste. What kind of drink is this?"
Gray put down the wooden cup in his hand, looked at the few Soul Returner in front of him, and said with some astonishment:
"Is this also a specialty of the Second Holy See? It's a pity I left in such a hurry that I couldn't bring any with me."
Before him, [ Western Sharpshooter ] and [ Gill's Cuisine ] exchanged a glance, both somewhat puzzled.
[ Gill's Cuisine ] Looking at the wooden bucket tucked under [ Western Sharpshooter's ] arm, the meaning is simple--
Isn't that bucket of wine?
[ The Western Sharpshooter ] looked completely innocent, as if to say:
This recipe failed; it not only lacked the aroma of alcohol, but it was almost indistinguishable from fermented tea.
Gray, unsure of what the two were surprised about, paused before saying:
"Is there anything else? If not, I'm busy going to... what's it called again?"
"You mean pedaling a bicycle?"
[ Western Sharpshooter ] glanced at the object that resembled a household indoor bicycle, which was fixed to the ground not far away.
"That's right, I can never remember this word."
Gray downed his nameless drink in one gulp and said to the two of them:
"The five-minute break is over, so I'll get back to work now. You two can make yourselves at home."
The two looked at each other and had no choice but to stop slacking off and sit back down at their assigned indoor cycling equipment stations.
The story of how things turned out this way begins three days ago.
More than three days have passed since the group departed from Valhalla, the capital of the Second Holy See.
With everyone traveling day and night, the border of the Wilderness of Chaos is almost within reach, and it is estimated that they will be able to officially cross the border of the Great Labyrinth City in another four or five hours.
However, this seemingly simple task is not so easy to do in practice.
First, there was the Corpse Tide in the Wilderness of Chaos. In the past few days, the group had encountered four waves of Corpse Tide of varying sizes. Although the size of each wave was less than 10,000, and their direction of movement did not seem to be aimed at them, it still took a lot of effort to fight them.
Secondly, there are Calamity. There are always some terrain features in the Wilderness of Chaos that are difficult to pass directly. Places like the Reverse Waterfall are considered relatively mild, but the man-eating quicksand is the real evil. Players really can't get through many of the more dangerous terrains and can only take the Antasia along for a detour.
Finally, there's the issue of attrition—in order to traverse the Wilderness of Chaos as quickly as possible, after a show of hands and unanimous approval, the players jointly passed a "wartime ordinance," which was very simple, consisting of only two sentences:
Humans are treated like livestock, and livestock are treated like Blood Corpse.
As for why the Blood Corpse Blood Corpse ranked last, it's because it was the fastest of the three to die during the two-day high-intensity sprint.
The first death of Blood Corpse occurred eight hours after departure; the extremely high intensity of the exercise quickly led to the deaths of the Blood Corpse aboard the Antasia.
Unlike the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess, whose lower compartments were completely full, the Antasia, as a standard small mobile fortress in the Graycast Corridor, only had fifty Blood Corpse on board; every one that died was one less.
At that time, players had not yet encountered the first wave of Corpse Tide, making it extremely difficult to obtain Blood Corpse supplies.
Moreover, the Blood Corpse is indeed less durable than the Hoofed Beast created by the Soul Returner and Ed.
After a brief discussion, [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ] and others quickly came up with a good idea --
Why not upgrade the engines of the Antasia?
After receiving permission from Gray, Nora, and the Antasia itself, the group began to work extensively on the fortress, which was a whole floor taller than the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess.
The simplest and most obvious method is to use Hoofed Beast to enhance power.
The once mighty cavalry of the Soul Returner who had set out from Valhalla had vanished without a trace, replaced by hundreds of Hoofed Beast scattered and running wildly in front of the fortress.
Each of them was fitted with tack made of woven vines, and the reins of varying lengths ensured that they would not rub against or collide with each other.
The reins were extended to the left, right, and front of the Antasia, to directly transmit the power of the Hoofed Beast to the mobile fortress.
This operation transformed the entire fortress into a colossal war chariot from the Spring and Autumn Period, so much so that even the Aloof Gold Block would have to acknowledge its conformity with Zhou Dynasty rituals.
The eyes of the hundreds of warhorses were bloodshot, and they were about to burst into tears.
As for their master, the five hundred elite cavalrymen sent by Ed, they were...
The foam has already been poured out.
Similar to the Hoofed Beast, the players are also suffering inhuman torment at this time, and it can even be said that the players are living a worse life than the Blood Corpse and Hoofed Beast.
The Blood Corpse is indeed the most Fragility of the three, but from another perspective, it is also the first to be freed.
Once the Blood Corpse dies, the pedal position in the power compartment will naturally become empty. As for the power components to be replenished, compared to the easily worn-out Blood Corpse, the [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ] has another, better option...
"No! Boss, what are you doing? Let me go!!!"
A player was dragged towards the power compartment, crying out in pain; this scene stunned Gray and Nora.
Is it really okay to do this?
The two asked, somewhat alarmed, about the [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ].
"It's alright. If he really cares, those two Soul Returner can't stop him."
[ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ] said with a smile, just watching as a Soul Returner was stuffed into the power compartment and stepped onto the pedal.
Since the vast majority of players who accepted this mission were above level 15 and could generally face ten Blood Corpse at the same time, the Antasia's power improved almost visibly after one player joined the mission.
This scene greatly encouraged [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ] and others, making them feel even more certain that their plan was flawless.
At first, they simply discarded the dead Blood Corpse and replaced them with players, but soon the decision-makers, including [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ], realized that this approach was too inefficient.
Are the Blood Corpse dying too slowly?
Does this mean that players who are not killed by the Blood Corpse cannot step on the pedals?
Absolutely not! Everyone must have a pedal to use!
So after breaking through the second wave of Corpse Tide, the group decided to go all the way and discarded all the Blood Corpse, dead or alive, replacing the power sources on all fifty pedals with players.
The Antasia thus temporarily lost its ability to speak.
Although Gray knew that the Machine Spirit had given his permission, he still felt guilty, not only towards the Machine Spirit, but also towards these Soul Returner who had risked their lives for him.
However, there was no time for Gray to feel guilty...