Chapter 183: 15 Assassins
Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Addis
Watermelon hesitated a little and asked, “Are you sure about 15?”
“15, but we need others to cooperate,” Su Mo smiled. “What do you think? Want to follow my plan?”
“What do you mean? 15 assassins entering the courtyard? Are you joking? Seriously?”
“Watermelon, you didn’t actually believe that, did you?”
“No way, bro. With 15 assassins, you’d be turned into a pincushion before even getting inside.”
“Look at their marksmen’s positions. There are at least 20 marksmen on the other side, all blocking the entrance!”
“Don’t even think about sneaking in. Even if you tried to fly over with your lightfoot skill, you’d be shot down.”
Voices of doubt rose in the team, and as the leader, Watermelon suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. If anyone else had said this, he might have thought it was a joke. But he knew this little yellow fish wasn’t the real little yellow fish—behind the account was Momo!
“This is the situation now, and a breakthrough might be a good option,” Watermelon said. “Just 15 assassins? Any other requirements?”
The rest of the team was shocked, and the other team linked to the assassin group in the channel was also stunned.
“What do you mean? The assassin team leader actually plans to send out 15 assassins!? What if, after losing 15 people, we can’t hold off the other side?”
“The assassins who made it into this capture battle should all be pretty skilled,” Su Mo hinted. “Just pick 15 of them.”
The rest of the team was like, “?”
Watermelon was speechless.
Got it—they needed 15 skilled assassins.
The standoff outside the Qiudian courtyard continued. Two teams from the Abyss faction couldn’t break through, and Eclipse’s defense was tight and impenetrable. The other side’s goal, just as “Little Yellow Fish” had said, was to drag this out. The longer they stalled, the more advantageous it would be for the Eclipse faction.
Watermelon quickly allocated three squads from the team, a total of 15 people. “The last three squads will follow Little Yellow Fish’s commands.”
Su Mo glanced at the teams that had been assigned and asked, “Watermelon, are you coming?”
“…I’m the team leader, I can’t leave,” Watermelon replied. “I’ll send the vice-leader with you. If there are any issues, just talk to him.”
Su Mo said, “Oh, alright then.”
Watermelon was speechless.
“Why do you sound like you’re disappointed?”
Banana asked, “Do you need us to assign healers?”
“No need, just 15 assassins. The rest of you keep pushing forward,” Su Mo said as he recognized the assassins from the three squads. “You all, start retreating from the group. Remember, be discreet when you pull back, don’t let the enemy notice. Everyone come over to my location.”
There was some disagreement among the assassins, but in a critical moment like a capture battle, following commands was the top priority. When “Little Yellow Fish” called for the retreat, everyone immediately followed his instructions and pulled back with impressive discipline, remaining in stealth mode to avoid drawing too much attention.
However, as soon as they left the crowd and opened the map to locate Little Yellow Fish’s position marker, they realized he was standing on a mountain slope ahead of them, a bit removed from the frontlines!
Su Mo casually said, “Climb the mountain when you come over, don’t use lightfoot skill.”
The 15 assassins were speechless.
As they watched their teammates retreat, to prevent cross-channel command interference, the 15 who left connected to Little Yellow Fish’s team voice chat. The entire channel fell silent instantly.
“Vice leader, how could you just hand over our people like that? Isn’t Little Yellow Fish from the Ren Xiaoyao guild?” someone in the team couldn’t help but ask.
Watermelon replied, “He’s a commander Ren Xiaoyao brought in. We’re fighting our own battle, no need to worry about them.”
“That guy sounded pretty confident. Honestly, I’m curious how he plans to get 15 people into the courtyard.”
“Now that you mention it… I kind of wish the leader had sent me over to see.”
Watermelon said, “I advise you not to be too curious.”
The others were like, “?”
What does that mean?
Watermelon added, “It doesn’t mean anything. Just take care of your health.”
Old Banana, who knew who Little Yellow Fish really was, chimed in, “Yeah, listen to your leader.”
The others: …
What’s going on? Now they were even more curious!
On the other side, the vice leader, along with 15 people, made their way across mountains and rivers to Little Yellow Fish’s location, but was completely confused. Although the Qiushen map wasn’t large, it had still taken them five minutes to run over. Before they could even ask any questions, Little Yellow Fish spoke up in the independent voice channel for the three squads, “Mark my current coordinates as the starting point. Everyone, face the 4 o’clock direction on the map.”
The vice leader asked, “Brother Yellow Fish, we’ve come such a long way. Don’t tell me you’re planning for us to use lightfoot skill to fly over there!?”
Su Mo replied bluntly, “Yes, that’s right.”
“Are you kidding? We ran this far just to get a running start?”
“Celestial Horizon’s lightfoot doesn’t need a running start…”
“Are you sending us to our deaths with lightfoot?”
The vice leader added, “We only have 15 people. If we fly over, we’ll easily get shot down by the marksmen. If we could have used lightfoot to fly over, we would have done it back at the Qiudian entrance.”
Marksmen could not only block ground-based assassins but also intercept airborne fighters. In Celestial Horizon‘s outdoor combat system, the marksmen’s positioning was extremely important. This time, the assassin team, with its high mobility and burst damage, was unable to break through because the Eclipse faction had stationed a tank-heavy defense at the Qiushen point.
The front line consisted of warriors in melee, with marksmen and ranged professions in the middle, and healers in the back. Their defense was well-structured, and they had the advantage in numbers. No matter how strong the assassin team’s burst damage was, they couldn’t flank and reach the backline. Even if they used lightfoot to dive into the crowd, they would get shot down by the marksmen, even while under crowd-control immunity, and wouldn’t last long. They had tried airborne assaults at the start, but Qiushen Point was a courtyard, and due to the building layout, their landing led to issues like delayed regrouping and obstacles getting in the way.
They had thought about using lightfoot for an aerial assault before and had even tried it, but they couldn’t solve the problem!
Suddenly, Su Mo asked, “What’s the marksmen’s maximum range?”
The vice leader was stunned for a moment but quickly replied, “Their ultimate skill has a range of 25 meters, the others average around 15-20 meters.”
Su Mo then said, “Did you pay attention to the distance when climbing the mountain? I mean the height.”
The vice leader opened the map, and after looking at it, he stopped in his tracks. The map was a horizontal one, showing the emblems of various locations and terrains, but it didn’t specifically mark the heights of buildings or mountains. If asked how tall this mountain was, they wouldn’t be able to give an answer right away. He simply said, “At a rough guess, it’s about 70 to 80 meters high.”
The mountains on the Qiushen map weren’t very tall and were mostly around the perimeter, generally serving as obstacles for their lightfoot skills. Additionally, the boss at the Qiushen outpost was still some distance away from there. Since they were less familiar with the Qiushen point compared to the Xiashen point, they hadn’t paid much attention to mountains that were located farther from the center.
“Then that height is enough—high enough to be beyond a marksman’s attack range,” Su Mo said as he pulled up the drawing board. “Do you see the position? From where you are now to the outpost boss’s location, is it within the range of a single lightfoot leap?”
The other assassins, hearing this, opened their maps to check. They had to admit that from looking at the map, they wouldn’t have thought about the distance between here and the base. But standing at the exact spot Little Yellow Fish had marked and looking towards the outpost, it was actually within visible range. If they were to use lightfoot, they could definitely make it… but the height was the issue.
“This height is enough, but we won’t have time to activate our buffs,” the vice leader said. “Once we get down there, we’ll die.”
He wasn’t exaggerating. You couldn’t activate buffs during a lightfoot leap, and even if the marksmen couldn’t ambush them in advance, an assassin without buffs, even if they made it into the courtyard, would be instantly killed when they entered the enemy ranks. They only had 15 people, and no healers.
“This is just suicide…”
“And a suicide flanking attempt… They have so many people, our 15 wouldn’t even be enough to split among them.”
At that moment, Little Yellow Fish spoke up, “Who said we have to go down?”
“We can have more than just 15 people.”
Without overwhelming the enemy, two teams pressing the other side wasn’t about firepower but about catching them off guard.
The vice leader was confused, “What do you mean?”
Little Yellow Fish didn’t respond to him but instead opened the assassin team’s voice chat.
With 15 people pulled away, handling the enemy’s firepower became more difficult. Without the assassins, they had to rely on warriors to hold the front line, spending all their remaining time adjusting their positioning in hopes of prolonging the fight against the four enemy teams. But even so, the pressure on them doubled, and the front-line players were falling rapidly.
“Wait! What are you guys doing? Assassins, stay steady and stick with the main group, don’t engage head-on,” Watermelon couldn’t help but get frustrated. “Can you check my position? Wait for the warriors to push before you press forward. Right now, you’re just getting yourselves killed one by one, even the healers can’t save you! Do you think you’re built like warriors? Am I leading an assassin team or a physical swordsman group? Do you even know how to pick off targets?”
“Why are you fighting head-on? Can’t you see the enemy has tons of crowd control? Wait for the warriors to push; the healers don’t have their ultimates ready.”
“Stop charging in, flank left and pick off targets!”
“Don’t rush! Are you in a hurry to die?”
“Fall back, fall back, fall back!”
Watermelon was sweating nervously, and then said, “Regroup and then…”
“Watermelon.”
Watermelon froze—it was Momo.
A voice came through the team chat, and Little Yellow Fish’s voice indicator lit up. “We’re ready. Can you pull aggro for one round?”
Watermelon, “…?”
Little Yellow Fish asked again, “Can you do it, Watermelon?”
Watermelon hesitated, then responded, “…Yes.”
With that, the team fell into a brief silence.
After the other side finished speaking, they turned off their mic. The other assassins were left confused. In the end, they could only look to their leader for clarification. They heard Watermelon, after a few seconds of silence and a deep breath, say heavily:
“Get ready, get ready. We’re going to… we’re going to pull some firepower.”
The assassins were like, “Huh?”
Banana was speechless.
Did you mean to say we’re going to sacrifice ourselves, right!?
***
The players from the Eclipse faction defending the Qiushen point noticed a significant reduction in enemy firepower. The team leader in charge of the defense was Zenith Expanse, who managed the physical swordsmen team.
“The enemy’s firepower doesn’t seem as intense as it was at the start.”
“They’re probably reconsidering their strategy. Be careful; the enemy might be adjusting their team.”
“That initial assault was really fierce. Luckily, CloudTraveller suggested bringing more marksmen, and sure enough, BrokenOracle sent in the assassin team.”
“If we didn’t have so many marksmen, we might not have been able to hold off the assassin team. Their assassins are truly formidable.”
The defenders stationed there were not the main force; with fewer than four teams, their professions were scattered. They could only hold the line without strong offensive pressure. Fortunately, they had enough resources, so they had exchanged many defensive buffs for the Qiushen point, which helped them withstand the assassin team’s fierce attacks.
“Should we send out the team for a counter-attack?” the deputy commander asked.
Sleep replied, “No, we shouldn’t press forward. Without the buffs outside the city, the area where their assassins can attack would increase, which would be very disadvantageous for us.”
The Qiushen point was easier to defend than to attack, especially with their numerous ranged marksmen. If the enemy tried to press forward, they would have to come from the front. Any use of lightfoot would lead to early sniping from the marksmen and ranged units, making the front line well-guarded.
But once they left the Qiushen courtyard, things changed. Outside was a dense forest, and no matter how many marksmen they had, they couldn’t track all the assassins. Going outside meant entering the enemy’s attack zone, making it easy to be ambushed and lose their advantage.
It was indeed frustrating to only defend without pursuing, but to hold the Qiushen point, they had no choice but to stay and not chase after the enemy.
“Just hold on for a while, wait until…”
Before Sleep could finish, a marksman in the team suddenly called out.
“Assassins! Assassins are in the air!”
Sleep immediately glanced at the mini-map, but there were no red dots on it, and nothing was visible in the sky either. He quickly realized that the enemy’s assassins were using stealth. He urgently instructed, “Marksmen from Team 2, watch the sky and force the assassins to reveal themselves!”
The marksmen all focused on the sky, only to discover a terrifying problem.
Their skills couldn’t reach the airborne assassins. Since the assassins were beyond their attack range, they couldn’t shoot them down or force them to reveal themselves.
“They can’t be attacked; they’re staying in the air and won’t come down!”
What’s going on!? Using lightfoot to get above them but they’re not coming down…
Sleep couldn’t understand this maneuver, but he immediately said, “Lightfoot has a charging bar. They can’t stay in the air for too long. As soon as they come down, we’ll force them to reveal themselves.”
Someone else said, “Sleep, the Abyss faction on the front is starting to attack. They’re going all out and pushing forward.”
Air raids from above and a fierce assault from the front.
It was a diversion to scatter their attention!
“We haven’t received any support messages; they’re still the same people.” Sleep quickly realized what was happening and calmly gave orders, “Except for Team 2’s marksmen, everyone else focus on the front. Don’t let the warriors and assassins break through the encirclement. Their lightfoot time should be running out soon…”
“Wait! There are a lot of them in the sky!”
“A lot… the sky is densely packed.”
Sleep was stunned, “What do you mean!?”
He couldn’t see the stealthy assassins, and there were no red dots on the map.
“They’re coming down!!”
From the marksmen’s perspective, there had originally been about ten assassins in the air. Due to the trees and mountains obstructing their view, they could see these assassins flying in from a distance, likely using the height difference to try to stay out of the skill range.
They followed Sleep’s orders and waited for the airborne assassins to exhaust their lightfoot charging time and come down. But when the assassins finally descended, they were shocked to find that there were a vast number of them in the sky, with more coming from the distance. Countless assassins were falling from the sky, making it impossible to determine exactly how many there were.
The marksmen reporting the numbers were bewildered, and Sleep, upon receiving the report, was also confused.
Some assassins were revealed, but others remained in the air. It was as if there were a constant stream of airborne reinforcements, pressing one after another into their base.
“They can’t be attacked; some of them are still invisible!”
“This is bad—healers, be careful!”
Where did all these people come from!?
Sleep immediately reported the situation to the overall commander, CloudTraveller. After finishing the report, he suddenly noticed something strange: some of the revealed assassins had the same ID.
“This isn’t right… This is a shadow clone.”
One of the assassin’s ultimate skills: Shadow Clone.
In a short period, they could create multiple identical units, up to a maximum of five, and these units would inherit all of the player’s attributes, including appearance and health. They would appear as red dots on the map and become targets for players, but they had no attacking capabilities.
This was a skill used by assassins to confuse players during frontal assaults, creating a brief moment of disorientation. The clones would only disappear when the real assassin launched an attack.
Invisible shadow clones…
Unless an assassin was revealed by a marksman, they couldn’t be distinguished.
Sleep hurriedly said, “There aren’t that many of them! Be careful of assassin ambushes.”
A marksman replied, “Commander, we can’t determine… there are too many shadows; we can’t figure out how many there are.”
The Eclipse faction’s marksmen were completely bewildered. The shadow clones would only disappear when the assassin attacked, but in their current state, these countless falling shadows served as a natural shield. Mixed among them, it was impossible for them to tell which were the real assassins and which were the clones.
The number of assassins in the air was overwhelming. Once they landed, they immediately went into stealth. Their objective was very clear: as soon as they entered, they charged straight for the fragile backline. In an instant, only a few of the marksmen could be targeted. The assassins seized the opportunity to wreak havoc on their fragile backline, targeting healers and mages.
The attacking assassins and the shadow clones were separate. Some were stealthily killing, while others used the shadows to confuse them. They could only use skills to attack, but the enemy exploited their moment of hesitation to charge directly at the healers and fragile mages.
The power of the stealthy assassins was self-evident. BrokenOracle had considered using the assassin team to delay them, and Eclipse had chosen to leave so many behind specifically to counter their strong firepower. However, despite their extensive defenses, they were ultimately defeated by the assassin’s aerial assault.
With the healers falling behind, the defense on the front line was disrupted.
This wave of ambush threw them into chaos, giving the Abyss faction a chance to strike.
Watermelon was preparing to sacrifice himself. To cover the so-called 15-person ambush, he had foolishly chosen to send the main force to draw fire and provoke hate. He wondered what he had done in his past life to end up in the same team as Momo. One team was already bad enough, but why did Momo’s call mean he had to take action?
And not just take action, but also lead a group of teammates into it.
In the moment of rushing out, he hoped that by the end of the battle, the friendship within their assassin team would still remain strong.
But as he truly charged forward, things seemed a bit different.
“I’ll go command—look up at the sky!!”
“Fuck, are they having such a great time!?”
“My God, where are they flying in from!?”
Watermelon looked up and saw teammates flying in from the air. Not only that, but they used their lightfoot to stay directly above the enemy faction. The towering trees and mountains of the Autumn God Point made it so that as soon as he looked up, he saw green dots of his team darting around in the sky. They weren’t coming in all at once but rather one after another. Due to the branches and buildings obstructing the view and the height difference, it gave the illusion that there was a continuous stream of people arriving from above.
If he hadn’t known that only 15 people were coming, he would have almost thought there were nearly 30 in the air…
Before he could finish marveling, there was more movement in the sky. The people flying over did not immediately land on the enemy faction but instead stayed in the air for a while…
“Wait, why are there so many of them!?”
They seemed to be arriving one after another from the sky, like a sudden, unexpected reinforcement, becoming their airborne saviors.
“Haha, Watermelon, we’ve come to help!!”
“Charge! Push forward quickly!”
“Stealth, stealth! Focus on killing the healers first!!!”
“That fragile mage!”
The voices of the 15 people who had initially been silent filled the channel. Watermelon was completely stunned. He didn’t have time to think much and immediately pushed forward with his team. By the time they had pushed into the estate, he still felt a bit dazed.
Watermelon asked, “What on earth is going on?! We brought so many people!”
The deputy leader excitedly said, “Huh? We only have 15 people! Look closely, those are shadows!”
Watermelon replied, “How is that possible…? The lightfoot state can’t use skills.”
At that moment, the planner, Little Yellow Fish, spoke up, “We’re not in lightfoot state. Don’t forget, shadow clones are instantaneous skills.”
Assassins were natural masters of concealment, and many of their skills were designed to hide their presence.
Stealth and lightfoot were among the most common techniques used by assassin players. Stealth could only become visible when an attack was launched, while lightfoot was not considered an attacking stance.
Lightfoot flying did not remove any skills or statuses from the player, but it did prevent the use of any skills during the flight. Su Mo could fly from the high mountain to the estate in one lightfoot distance, although it required several trips. However, staying in the air for a few seconds above the estate was feasible.
Everyone thought they would use lightfoot to fly into the estate, but that approach wouldn’t work because each flight would result in one person being lost. Instead, by using the height to stay airborne, and with the intervals between the 15 people flying forward, combined with terrain obstructions and height differences, they could create the illusion of a continuous stream of airborne troops when the lightfoot time ran out and they fell while activating shadow clones. Even with just 15 people, this tactic could generate a sense of constant pressure from aerial reinforcements.
While in lightfoot state, skills couldn’t be used, but once the lightfoot time was exhausted and they began to descend, they would no longer be in lightfoot state.
During the descent, they couldn’t activate full states, but casting an instantaneous shadow clone was more than enough. The key was that it could attract the attention of the marksmen immediately, and only the marksmen.
If everyone on the enemy side could see the assassins, the ruse wouldn’t last long.
But only the marksmen on the enemy side could dispel cloaks, and not only did they have to monitor the front where Watermelon’s assassin team was, but they also had to keep an eye on the assassins in the air. It was manageable for a few marksmen to watch the front, but spotting and dealing with the decoy and the falling assassins in a short time was another challenge entirely.
The assassins activated shadow clones when lightfoot ended and went into stealth as they neared the ground. They wouldn’t be shot down by the marksmen in the air. Under the cover of the shadow clones, most of them landed safely inside the estate.
During this time, some of the assassins attacked to dispel the shadow clones, while others maintained the confusion caused by the clones. Their primary focus was on attacking the healer in the rear, and the success of the operation depended on the effectiveness of this 15-man ambush. The main force of the Eclipse team was at the front, and their rear was very weak. Under the cover of the shadow clones, it wasn’t difficult for the assassins to take out a few people in the few seconds they had.
The time they needed to create chaos didn’t have to be long. Even if they were discovered, it didn’t matter as long as they could disrupt the enemy’s rear, making it possible for the front lines to breach the estate.
When the front lines rushed into the estate, they disrupted the defensive formation of the Eclipse team, while the players in the rear caused a massacre. This front-and-back assault created a clear breach.
When Watermelon stepped into the estate, it felt surreal. Hearing the shouts of his teammates and without the harassment from marksmen and rear mages, they moved through the estate with ease and successfully pushed their way in.
“Wow!!”
“Do we really only have 15 people!?”
“I also used shadow clones. The marksmen aren’t targeting the front with arrow rain, so it’s not easy to spot the shadows.”
Watermelon had also used shadow clones before, but when they used this method for a frontal assault in the past, it was too easy for marksmen to spot them. The arrow rain from the front would reveal them, and engaging in combat would quickly dispel the state, making it easy to distinguish between shadows and the real person if observed closely…
But he hadn’t considered using the gap created by aerial lightfoot to activate the clones and then enter stealth as they descended. Stealth wouldn’t cause them to die from falling due to lightfoot and wouldn’t dispel the shadow clones either. Most importantly, this aerial ambush caught the enemy off guard, making it hard for them to distinguish between real and fake.
Small Yellow Fish said, “The key is to catch them off guard. Once they react, it’ll be harder to fight. This tactic can only be used once, so you need to quickly establish an advantage.”
Banana, excited, added, “I’m familiar with this. The hardest part of Autumn Point is the entrance to the estate. Once we breach it, it becomes much easier. It’s hard to attack, but with so many assassins, we’re not to be underestimated.”
The surprise tactic of 15 people created a stunning effect, causing the Eclipse team’s marksmen to become overwhelmed and pushing the assassins’ stealth abilities to the limit. They didn’t hold out for long, but the rear ambush took down several fragile professions. By the time the Eclipse team cleared the rear ambushers, their front-line defense had already been breached.
“Feels great, feels great!”
“Wow, I also want to set up an ambush. The frontal assault was so frustrating.”
“Everyone, get inside the estate and quickly steal the boss!”
“Those who died, use your resources and respawn nearby. Gather quickly!”
“LittleYellowFish newbie!!!”
“I’m dead, but this wave was really satisfying.”
Watermelon was speechless. Why did the assassins who went with momo get such a great result while he had to painstakingly lead the frontal team?
“Warriors, lead your people to block their respawn points,” Small Yellow Fish said. “Just stop their healers and marksmen; don’t worry about the other professions.”
Banana asked, “Alright, Watermelon, have you respawned yet?”
Watermelon replied, “…Yes, I’ve respawned.”
Small Yellow Fish added, “If the estate gets blocked again, you assassins can use the same method to parachute in from that side. Their backline is completely chaotic; it’s our chance.”
As Watermelon reached the crossroads and was about to head towards the mountain point marked by momo earlier, he suddenly heard a voice in the team saying, “Definitely don’t go alone; their marksmen aren’t dead yet. Going alone with shadow clones would be suicide.”
Watermelon stopped in his tracks and turned back towards the original direction.
He regretted it; he didn’t want to be the team leader anymore. He also wanted to enjoy himself.
The sudden change had altered the situation at Autumn God Point. Sleep realized that the opponent was using shadow clones and came to understand the situation, but when he saw the news that the estate’s boss was being attacked, he became uncertain…
Why was the enemy’s firepower so strong? Had someone actually breached the estate?
Could there be other teams providing support besides the shadows?
Both teams had lost their formations, resulting in a chaotic melee. Assassins appeared and vanished without a trace, making it impossible to determine the current state of the battlefield. Was the enemy still composed of just two teams, or had they received additional support?
The more chaotic the situation became, the harder it was to make accurate judgments.
Sleep dared not take risks and once again sought assistance from CloudTraveller.
***
The situation at Summer God Point had changed. BrokenOracle and CloudTraveller were in a fierce contest, with BrokenOracle gaining the upper hand. They pushed into the Summer God Point estate with their numerical advantage, leading to a clash in front of the estate’s boss. Most of Abyss faction’s resources were focused here. Initially, the two sides were locked in a stalemate, but soon the aggressive Eclipse faction players suddenly switched from attacking to defending.
“They’re redistributing resources,” BrokenOracle noted. Although he couldn’t see the exact numbers, having fought against CloudTraveller for a long time gave him insight into the key issues.
Bitter Melon asked, “Is it Watermelon’s side?”
Apple shouted, “What? Guo’er’s rising up!!”
“There’s not much rise…” Watermelon’s voice came through the channel. “It was thanks to Big Brother Momo.”
He was speaking when it seemed something happened on his side, so he hurried back to direct his team.
BrokenOracle asked, “What’s going on?”
Su Mo answered, “Reinforcements have arrived on the other side, probably about half a team. We won’t be able to hold them off for long; the pressure we’re applying is limited.”
BrokenOracle replied, “Let us know if you can’t hold out.”
“We will,” Su Mo smiled and said. “But indeed, the resource disadvantage makes it tough. Do your best on your side.”
The resource disadvantage had accumulated, and BrokenOracle was aware of that.
However, the advantage Watermelon gained helped reduce their pressure. Seizing the opportunity, they managed to push through and began a new confrontation at the Summer God boss.
This confrontation lasted nearly three hours, during which various pressures were applied. For instance, Autumn Point nearly collapsed, and discrepancies appeared in the home defense points. Both sides were leveraging time differences and maneuvering teams. BrokenOracle successfully killed the Summer God boss, but it was only a kill.
When the monument at the stronghold changed color, CloudTraveller used their advantage to push back, forcing their main force out.
In the Abyss faction command channel, the pressure on the team increased. They had enough numbers and firepower, but the only shortfall was in resources. The Eclipse faction had secured three buffs the previous week, accumulating more resources than them in resource battles. These resources could be exchanged for additional wartime buffs. Just as recently, even if they had defeated the boss, CloudTraveller’s purchase of attack buffs allowed them to achieve results equivalent to a larger force, despite having fewer people.
No matter how outstanding their abilities were, their resource disadvantage indeed brought considerable pressure.
CloudTraveller was a command leader highly skilled in resource management. He knew how to distribute resources evenly and how to arrange them for offense and defense. Even though the Summer God boss had already been killed, he still had the confidence to allocate resources at this moment to make a comeback.
CloudTraveller was a bold and strategic commander, quite different from the style of Midnight Bell. Despite the strained relations between Veiled Cloud Sanctuary and Zenith Expanse, the two commanders on the opposing side worked together very well during faction battles. CloudTraveller was willing to make arrangements and concessions, while the proud Midnight Bell would still consider the overall interests.
Midnight Bell was a fierce warrior, leading teams to attack Winter strongholds, while CloudTraveller was known for his strategic vision and steadiness, which made him ideal for defending the Summer stronghold.
The sub-factions of Celestial Horizon were compulsory. When BrokenOracle started playing the game, CloudTraveller was already a renowned expert. He was introduced to CloudTraveller’s gaming friends group by chance. At that time, he was a newbie, and it was through repeated encounters with the Apocalypse quest that he got to know CloudTraveller.
The friends’ group was known externally as the Apocalypse Exploration Group, said to have gathered many top players. In reality, it was CloudTraveller’s gaming friends group, initially formed by a group of like-minded individuals.
Later, after the Apocalypse was unsealed, the game divided into factions. Some people in the group left the game, and the members were forced into different factions. The exploration group was no longer as lively as during the Apocalypse exploration days, and no new members joined, except for momo’s friends group from earlier.
BrokenOracle had originally been in CloudTraveller’s Veiled Cloud Sanctuary. Later, after the faction split to Abyss, he founded Ren XiaoYao based on CloudTraveller’s suggestion.
Emotions from the game could easily affect relationships, but the people in the exploration group remained unaffected. While they were friends in private, they were adversaries in the game, each fighting to benefit their respective factions. Guild battles and faction wars meant they had to compete for their own faction’s interests.
The more they fought, the more he understood the immense pressure of facing a commander who was familiar with both sides’ styles.
Even though Watermelon had reduced their pressure, trying to snatch the boss from CloudTraveller’s tight defense was incredibly difficult.
Yu Zhen also saw the challenge in the situation and said, “It’s not about our strategy; your strategy is good. We lost due to a lack of resources.”
Being able to kill the boss under CloudTraveller’s command was already an impressive feat.
Haitang added, “Dragging this out isn’t going to work. How about giving up on the Summer stronghold?”
“Their support arrives very quickly. If we withdraw, CloudTraveller will notice immediately,” BrokenOracle said, turning to momo, “momo, if we give you two more teams, can you capture the Autumn stronghold?”
They could only shift their focus to capturing the Autumn stronghold while maintaining stability at the Summer stronghold. The attack buffs at the Summer stronghold were tempting, but the control buffs at the Autumn stronghold were also valuable. If they couldn’t secure the Summer stronghold, they would have to make do with attacking another location with the remaining time.
Soon after, Xiaohuangyu spoke up.
“Hard to say,” Su Mo said. “Our ability to launch surprise attacks is a temporary measure. While our firepower is sufficient, our endurance is lacking. The front-line warriors and healers cannot sustain prolonged combat. Eclipse’s team composition here is specifically designed to counter us. We can use feints to temporarily alleviate the disadvantage in numbers, but it’s not a long-term solution. We also face a resource disadvantage.”
BrokenOracle understood.
In simple terms, they could stage a surprise attack and make breakthroughs, but once Eclipse’s forces adjusted or regrouped, it became much harder to fight. Even with an additional team, it was uncertain whether they could capture the Autumn stronghold within the remaining time.
As BrokenOracle considered other strategies, Xiaohuangyu spoke up again.
“Why does it have to be the Summer and Autumn strongholds?”
“The faction war rewards double next week,” Su Mo suddenly suggested. “You could look further ahead. If it doesn’t work out this week, we can try again next week.”
“We could consider the Spring stronghold,” Su Mo continued.
“Spring stronghold offers healing buffs. We have defense buffs here, so we need an offensive buff,” BrokenOracle said. “But you’re right; taking any stronghold we can get is better than none.”
He asked, “How many teams do you need?”
“Two teams,” Su Mo replied. “The Spring stronghold has fewer defenders, but you’ll need to keep the large force at the Summer stronghold occupied.”
Haitang added, “We have no issues here. We’ll send two elite teams to help you.”
“Alright,” BrokenOracle said. “Any other requests?”
“None,” Su Mo said with a smile. “Watermelon, for your side…”
Watermelon quickly responded, “You need to split the teams, right? I’ll go with you.”
Strawberry asked in surprise, “007?”
Kugua asked, “Is it really Watermelon himself?”
Apple added, “Guar, why are you suddenly so eager?”
“No,” Su Mo said. “I meant for you to stay here and have Banana send 15 people with me.”
Watermelon was speechless.
“Oh, then you can tell him,” Su Mo said.
