Compared to everything in the past, what did a gamble like this—one where they didn't even have to bet their lives—count for?
It was nothing more than a small dessert before the main course.
Thinking of this, Xu Xiaoyou continued to issue orders.
"Everyone, stop advancing."
As her command was relayed through the channel to all members of the operation, the players who were pushing forward stopped one after another.
"What's wrong, President?" someone asked in a low voice.
Under the girl's command, these solo players were surprised to find that they had never fought such an easy battle.
Everything flowed like water; the originally troublesome enemies were helpless against their offensive.
The enemy lines were shattered before they could even form, making it impossible for them to organize any effective defense.
They were like an incredibly sharp spear, breaking through everything in their path under the girl's direction.
Many even felt that the enemies were scattered and picked off one by one before they could even exert their full strength.
While this caused the originally arrogant players to gradually recognize the girl, they couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness, as if they had power but nowhere to use it.
"Too slow," Xu Xiaoyou said, looking up.
Since the start of the operation, although they hadn't suffered any casualties, the number of enemies eliminated was less than a tenth of the total.
Occupation rights would only open when the number of enemies in the outpost fell below one-third of the original count.
At this rate, they probably wouldn't be able to take Mist Village Harbor even by dawn.
In less than an hour, the alliance formed by those small guilds would arrive.
Once the situation fell into chaos, it would be troublesome to regain control.
She did not like things operating outside of her will.
As the board player, Xu Xiaoyou intended to make a risky move.
Benefit comes with risk, and it does not arise out of thin air.
From a long-term perspective, for the collective to gain benefits, the individuals enjoying those rights had to bear obligations, make sacrifices, and surrender their own portion of interest.
"Angelina, do you see those monsters on the gathering square ahead? Break away from the team, wait in place for thirty seconds, and then launch a surprise attack on them from the side path."
"Are you joking with me? There are over sixty gnawers, three clickers, and two vomit monsters there. You want me to raid them alone?" Angelina immediately questioned.
"I am telling you to do it," Xu Xiaoyou replied unhurriedly. "So do it."
In the communication channel, Angelina fell silent. Finally, she let out a huff and raised no further objections.
"The rest of the vanguard team, stop fighting immediately. Keep the monsters' aggro, don't let them reset, and gather quickly at the well in the center of the village."
"Understood!"
"Oh, right. Tear down that king statue along the way; it's an eyesore."
After issuing the series of orders, Xu Xiaoyou closed her eyes to rest, her fingertips tapping on her shoulder as she sat back to watch the situation develop.
The two teams began to execute their orders.
Seeing the vanguard team falling into a hard fight at an alley entrance, the scout team led by Akabane Tsubaki arrived just in time.
The twin daggers in the girl's hands slashed continuously as she leaped into the air.
Her waist twisted, and her figure moved with incredible agility under the moonlight.
Like a phantom, she maneuvered gracefully between the twisted monsters.
Red flashes of electricity darted through the alley, bringing with them a flurry of blood.
In the blink of an eye, Akabane Tsubaki tore open a path.
The other members supported each other, breaking through and rushing toward the position Xu Xiaoyou had designated.
Meanwhile, beneath the eaves of a dilapidated house, Angelina maintained high-speed movement.
Her feet kicked off the ground, and in an instant, she raided the village square where countless twisted monster silhouettes wandered in the darkness.
"I've arrived. Now what?"
"Surprise attack," Xu Xiaoyou said. "Charge into the middle of them until I tell you to retreat. Good luck."
"What?" Before Angelina could respond, the other party switched the communication channel.
A nameless irritation rose in Angelina's heart.
She let out a loud shout and thrust her spear upward, piercing the chest of a swollen troll.
Exploding with unimaginable strength, she actually pushed the four-meter-tall swollen troll—which was as bloated as a small mountain—backward, crushing the rat-men beneath it into meat paste.
"Roar!" The swollen troll let out an angry bellow.
As the foul wind hit her face, Angelina heard the vile roar, and the fire of her irritation burned even brighter.
A sharp killing intent flashed in her eyes as she violently pulled out the spear, bringing chunks of putrid flesh with it.
The swollen troll roared in pain.
Angelina gripped the spear handle with one hand and swept it forcefully, drawing an arc in the air.
A bloodstain burst across the swollen troll's throat, and thick, foul-smelling gore erupted.
The rain of blood falling from the sky drenched the silver-haired girl until she looked like a person made of blood.
Sensing the rat-men behind her starting to stir, Angelina turned her head.
Her demonic appearance actually frightened the monsters back.
Unknowingly, she had already been surrounded by the nearby monsters.
As far as the eye could see, heads were bobbing.
The gnawers were like a boundless black ocean, pushing and surging against each other, shedding putrid, rotten flesh.
Angelina did not possess a hyperdimensional projector like Xu Xiaoyou did.
Right now, she was just an ordinary grade 2 spearman.
While most of her skills were locked, she also had to move this fragile body.
She took a deep breath, her left hand tightly forming a claw.
She spun around and launched a "Kidney Strike," tearing an attacking monster into two pieces.
The blood of their dead companion stimulated the monsters' desire to kill.
Their surging desire soon broke through the critical point.
A flash of excited red light passed through their eyes, and even more monsters began to scream and pounce toward the girl.
Angelina swept her spear rapidly, knocking back four or five monsters pouncing in unison.
Focusing on a single point, she thrust her spear with all her might, skewering several rat-men on the tip like a string of candied hawthorns before flinging them away.
A rat-man was pinned to the ground by its companions.
Its body, already hollowed out by the plague, was severed at the waist.
Frantically dragging its lower half, it grabbed the silver-haired girl's ankle, leaving a deep bloody mark.
"HP -132! A gnawer has dealt slash damage to you; you have been afflicted with a bleeding effect."
Looking at her blood bar, which had dropped by a chunk, Angelina furrowed her brows.
She casually knocked back the figures in front of her, raised her spear, and stabbed downward, finishing off the rat-man.
Just as she wanted to refocus her attention on the current crisis, a rat-man in the form of a butcher roared and broke through the encirclement.
It raised a rusted cleaver and slammed it into her back, causing blood to spray out!
"Ugh!"
Angelina groaned, gritting her teeth.
She took a step forward and thrust her spear fiercely into the ground, barely steadying her swaying body and preventing herself from falling.
The cleaver was deeply embedded in her shoulder blade, yet she seemed not to feel the pain.
Driven by sheer ruthlessness, she resumed her slaughter against the surrounding monsters.
More and more rat-men were drawn to the commotion here, rushing in from all directions.
Time passed minute by minute, and every second felt heavy and long.
The wounds on her body continued to increase, and blood seeped from beneath her torn skin.
Eventually, Angelina couldn't even tell if the blood soaking her clothes came from the rat-men or herself.
Her perception of pain gradually became numb.
Compared to the pain, her blood bar—which had dropped nearly to the bottom and was starting to flash red—made her more aware that she was still being injured.
"Damn it, it's endless. Is it done yet?"
Her silver hair fell over her face; the girl's face was covered in dust and bloodstains, looking somewhat wretched.
Dragging the weight on her shoulder, she snapped the throat of a rat-man in her hand and threw it at the wall of monsters, knocking down a row of enemies.
Angelina's breathing was hurried and disorganized.
The previous fighting had already consumed much of her stamina, and after entering the "severely injured" state, she was nearly exhausted.
Looking around, the monsters still frantically pressing in blocked the air above her, leaving no gaps.
Receiving no response, Angelina's expression became distorted.
She actually let out a light laugh, and the fire of her rage almost burst from her eyes!
"Xu Xiaoyou!"
She gave a sudden jerk, shaking off the claws all over her body.
The fingertips gripping the spear turned slightly white from the force.
An invisible gale rose from beneath her feet.
What started as a faint current rapidly surged and condensed, swirling into a frantic storm.
The girl's figure flickered within the storm.
The spear tip moved like a dragon; the afterimages swept up sand and stones from the ground and shredded flesh in mid-air.
The spear danced wildly, pulling everything in the world into this steel storm!
"Thousand Slashes of Crimson!"
Rate on N.U.
