Chapter 94 - 76: Sudden Attack
Chapter 94: Chapter 76: Sudden Attack
「The last day of March.」
Lin Yu didn’t go to the Jade Sanctuary for class today, nor did he go to the Wisdom Library.
Instead, he projected his consciousness into the system’s World Chat channel. The last day of the month was always the liveliest and most exciting day for the chat, and most lords, Lin Yu included, paid close attention to it.
After breakfast with Lin Chenxi, he joined her at the crown of the World Tree. Lin Yu settled into a lounge chair, projecting his consciousness into the chat channel.
Lin Chenxi sat quietly beside him, holding an ancient book. As she read, she summoned a pair of jade-green hands that began to massage Lin Yu and help him relax.
[World Chat Channel (788454)]
Zuo Fang: "Can anyone help save me?! As long as you can help me fight off these zombies, you can take anything you want from my territory! Spatial Coordinates: XXX.XXX.XXX"
Xie Pengjie: "I remember, didn’t you just fight off a zombie attack yesterday?"
Xie Pengjie: "And you even said the zombies were nothing special. Screenshot.jpg"
Xie Pengjie: "So why are you crying for help today? Go on, fight ’em off!"
Yu Zhenzhen: "Oho! Thanks to Lord Li’s help, I finally took down a Great Necropolis on the last day! Got a Golden Calamity Treasure Chest. Golden Calamity Treasure Chest.jpg"
Cheng Zhenlin: "@Zuo Fang, my territory isn’t far from yours. Hang in there, I’m on my way to help."
Zhao Zhaonan: "I think we can start celebrating Brother Yun taking the top spot this month!"
Mi Qisheng: "Don’t pop the champagne too early!"
Zhao Zhaonan: "Hasn’t your Boss Qian been left so far in the dust he can’t even see my Brother Yun’s taillights?"
Zhao Zhaonan: "What, do you guys have some kind of secret weapon for this month?"
Ding Dong: "Aren’t you guys worried ’Anonymous’ will suddenly surge in points again?"
Ding Dong: "Lord Anonymous always makes a big push on the last day of the month."
Cheng Zhenlin: "@Zuo Fang, are you still there? Why do I only see zombies?"
Cheng Zhenlin: "HELP! THERE’S A ZOMBIE COMMANDER!!!"
Cheng Zhenlin: "Heeeelp~~~"
Ding Dong: "Sorry, you’re too far away. Can’t be saved. Rest in peace, I’ll take care of your wife for you!"
Cheng Zhenlin: "You *...%#..."
Zhao Zhaonan: "Impossible. This month’s ranking is based on killing zombies, on which lord has killed the most."
Zhao Zhaonan: "There are no shortcuts for something like that!! "
Zhao Zhaonan: "I’ll admit ’Anonymous 1’ is powerful. He reached a score of 1.68 million early on."
Cheng Zhenlin: "*&****##%%#..."
Zhao Zhaonan: "But ’Anonymous 1’s’ score hasn’t budged in almost ten days. The gap between him and Brother Yun is nearly two million points now."
Zhao Zhaonan: "’Anonymous 1’ couldn’t have been hiding two million zombies just to kill them at the very end, right?"
Zhao Zhaonan: "Or maybe the zombies saw he was in third, couldn’t stand it, and decided to line up for him to kill?"
Mi Qisheng: "Hahaha~~~ Old Zhao, you’re hilarious. A worthy rival, as expected."
Ding Dong: "HOLY SHIT, something’s wrong with Lord Anonymous’s points! This rate of increase... it’s just like I remember!!!"
Zhao Zhaonan: "0_O!??"
...
Everyone in the chat group had their own fate; their joys and sorrows were never the same.
Lin Yu felt it was a shame what had happened to the warm-hearted lord in the chat. ’There aren’t many people left who would risk their lives to save someone else,’ he thought.
But the chat group was saying Anonymous 1’s score was rising?
’Isn’t Anonymous 1 me?’
Lin Yu opened the achievement rankings and, sure enough, saw that the score of his alt—"Anonymous 1"—was rising at an incredible speed.
Several "+1" notifications popped up every second.
It was just like the end of the first month, with the surge in his Prosperity score on the rankings.
’What the hell? I don’t remember scheduling an attack on a Great Necropolis today,’ Lin Yu thought. ’I already had Mei Ying pull back our forces. Only the patrols are out. Where are we fighting zombies?’
"My Lord, something’s wrong!!!"
Just then, Mei Ying came running from the distance, shouting as he ran.
"What happened?"
Lin Yu rushed forward to meet him. Lin Chenxi, sensing that something was amiss, stood up as well.
Mei Ying scrambled up the World Tree and said breathlessly, "My Lord, an urgent report from the northern border! A huge horde of zombies is storming the northern defensive line."
’Wait, weren’t we sure there was only the Great Prairie to the north, with no Great Necropolises discovered? How are there zombies?’
"I analyzed it on my way here," Mei Ying said. "Our scouts never found any zombie barracks—Great Necropolises—during their reconnaissance. For a large horde to appear now, there can only be one explanation: the Great Necropolis was completely concealed by the tall grass. Unlike others, it didn’t create a clearing above it."
"That’s possible!"
’Damn it! Cunning zombies!’
Lin Yu cursed under his breath. He then used his Lord’s Heart to notify all his forces, especially the Death Devourers and Withered Messengers, telling them to hurry to the northern border and assist with the defense.
However, aside from a few Death Devourers in patrol teams who could offer immediate support, the rest of the Death Devourers and Withered Messengers were grinding levels in the southern Land of Skulls or the western Goblin Forest. It would take them at least half an hour to return, after which they could use the Heaven-Reaching Vines to travel to the northern border.
"Mei Ying, Chenxi, take your troops and head to the Northern Territory to provide support immediately. I’ve already notified the forces within the territory, all patrol teams, and the units grinding in the south and west."
"The Death Devourers and Withered Messengers might need some time to get there. For now, just stabilize the defensive line. Try to avoid killing zombies on a massive scale before the Death Devourers arrive, otherwise you might spawn a zombie hero that even you can’t handle."
"Yes, Master!"/"Yes, My Lord!"
Mei Ying and Lin Chenxi hurried down the World Tree to command their forces.
Lin Chenxi headed to the Jade Sanctuary to organize the Druids, elves, and fairies.
Mei Ying, meanwhile, went to the main encampment of the Demon Race—the Beast’s Nest. He needed to rally the Demon Race and other Extraordinary Beasts, like the Steel-backed Porcupines.
Squad after squad of the territory’s soldiers and heroes received Lin Yu’s orders and made their way to the nearest Heaven-Reaching Vines station. The vines began to operate at incredible speed, their pods continuously transporting troops to the northern border.
Through his Lord’s Heart, Lin Yu projected his vision to the northern border of his territory.
There, he saw countless zombies pouring into his territory and assaulting the defensive line at the border.
’Damn it, whoever placed this zombie camp here did it on purpose,’ Lin Yu fumed. ’The continental edge isn’t far past this northern border, and there are no other lords here besides me. For so many zombies to suddenly appear... they’re definitely targeting me.’
’Is this really all because I destroyed a Skeleton Fortress back in February? Do they have to retaliate so fiercely?’
Lin Yu was indignant but helpless. He had only himself to blame for neglecting to scout the north. Now, he had to face the consequences of that mistake.
Fortunately, he had been planning his territory’s defenses from the very beginning. Sparing no expense, he had constructed a defensive line that encircled his entire territory along its outermost borders.
Otherwise, this wave of zombies might have broken straight into the heart of his territory, potentially even leading to a siege on the World Tree itself.
In the Northern Territory, the defensive line, which stretched for dozens of kilometers, was swarming with zombies. From his vantage point above the territory, Lin Yu could see that the man-high grass beyond the forest had turned into a veritable zombie-spewing machine. Row after row of them emerged from the grass, their advance relentless.
The zombies formed thick, black tethers, connecting Lin Yu’s defensive line to the grasslands beyond the forest.
The High Nuts on the front line were under immense pressure. These zombies were slightly more intelligent than skeletons. After clawing at the spatial wall for a while, they turned their attention to the conspicuous High Nuts.
Soon, they were looking battered and broken from the relentless clawing.
Fortunately, numerous ranged-attack cacti were positioned in the rear. Under their dense barrage of fire, even though each spike only dealt the minimum mandatory damage of "-1," they still managed to kill the zombies attacking the High Nuts.
When the zombies in the rear found their path blocked, leaving them unable to advance and with no targets to attack, they began to climb over the zombies in front of them.
Gradually, a ramp of zombie bodies formed in front of the High Nuts. Even when the zombies at the front were killed by ranged plants, it didn’t affect their function as a foundation in the slightest.
The only silver lining was that once the zombies directly in front of the High Nuts were dead, the High Nuts themselves were no longer under attack, removing the risk of being breached.
The zombies seemed unconcerned that they couldn’t attack the High Nuts, happily continuing to pile on top of each other.
After the zombies had been playing their stacking game for ten minutes, the ramp of bodies exceeded a height of ten meters. Ten meters was the maximum height of the spatial barrier created by the High Nuts. Once they surpassed it, the zombies could climb over the barrier and continue their advance.
Although the first line of defense formed by the High Nuts hadn’t been broken through directly, it was now effectively useless.
Once they were past the first line of defense, the zombies began to attack the plants behind the High Nuts. The Potato Mines planted there gave them plenty of surprises; with a series of BOOMS, zombies were blown to smithereens.
However, Potato Mines were single-use plants. After blowing up numerous zombies, they were completely spent.
Next came the Big-Mouthed Flowers. These large-mouthed plants had already devoured plenty of zombies by reaching over the spatial barrier, so they were all in their digestive state. It only took a few scratches from the zombies that got close for them to be destroyed.
Then it was the Sad Mushrooms and Charming Mushrooms.
The Sad Mushrooms were already attacking at full power, releasing clouds of purple Spore Mist along the defensive line. However, it wasn’t very effective. It was the same old problem: their attacks couldn’t penetrate the zombies’ defense, only triggering the mandatory damage.
As zombies drew near, the Charming Mushrooms also released clouds of their Charming Spores. Luckily, zombies still have brains, and their bodies are still controlled by them. Upon entering the spore cloud, they became mesmerized.
They turned around and began attacking their own companions. The other zombies offered no resistance to these sudden traitors; their pea-sized brains couldn’t comprehend how to react to such a situation.
Compared to the attacks of the other plants, the Charming Mushrooms were far more effective, as the charmed zombies could attack their former allies with impunity and even absorb the energy from fallen Death Zombies.
Nevertheless, the horde that had passed the High Nuts still made quick work of these plants. Even with the sporadic appearance of brain-damaged zombies attacking their own kind, it did little to hinder the horde’s advance.
Fortunately, this was just one small line in Lin Yu’s much larger defensive array. Behind it were nearly fifty more lines, each a combination of Steel Earth Spikes, High Nuts, Potato Mines, Big-Mouthed Flowers, Charming Mushrooms, Gloom Mushrooms, and cacti.
To breach the entire defensive line, the zombie horde would need to break through dozens more of these combined-arms layers.
If Lin Yu’s territory had only these defensive plants, it would only be a matter of time before the defensive line was breached, as the zombies would grow stronger the longer the battle raged.
Fortunately, after the zombies had been attacking for more than ten minutes, the territory’s reinforcements finally arrived.