Terminal Illness Surgery

“You bastard, don't push it too far!” The man stood up in anger, while his companion rushed over to try and calm him down.

Ever since this supply transport channel was established, this girl had been intercepting their goods for no reason. Last time, she claimed to be collecting a 'road management fee,' but this time, she wasn't even pretending anymore; it was straight-up robbery.

Angelina looked completely indifferent. If it weren't for Xu Xiaoyou's request, she wouldn't even bother staying in such a boring place.

“As I said, if you're not happy, then don't pass through the prison. Get lost and go wherever else you need to.”

Since the other side had arranged for her to be the transit station administrator, it meant they tacitly approved of her collecting tolls from these guild transport teams. After all, she wasn't the one who would have to take responsibility if trouble broke out, so why not?

The man was so furious he couldn't speak, and the person beside him offered some comfort. Finally, he glared at Angelina with resentment, clearly not intending to swallow this loss in silence again.

“What is Light-Chaser Garden trying to pull?” Members of other guilds understood the principle of getting rid of the hounds once the rabbits were caught, and they all stepped forward. “We are only passing through. Our transport teams even help you clear the monsters along the way. Is this how you treat your allies?”

“Exactly! Once or twice might be fine, but it's like this every single time. Our supplies don't just fall from the sky!”

“A full fifth of our Slaughterers' last batch of standard-issue weapons was withheld by this girl. Because of her, our breakout plan at the botanical garden almost failed! Think about how many brothers had to risk their lives just to plug that hole!”

“The food for our outpost defenders is almost gone. Because of her, the brothers can't even eat their fill!”

“These are all materials for repairing the outpost's structures. If the Great Xia Dynasty outpost falls because of this, when our people come to hold Dark Gold Rose accountable, can a mere little administrator like you shoulder the responsibility?!”

Seeing more and more people standing up to pressure her, looking like they intended to settle all their scores at once, Angelina picked her ear and pulled out her long spear.

The members of Light-Chaser Garden standing nearby were terrified by the girl's reaction and hurried forward to stop her.

“Calm down, sister! Whatever you do, don't start a fight here. We only have five people stationed here. The others are off on the frontlines and can't provide support.”

Angelina didn't care at all and pointed at one person.

“You think I didn't notice your little tricks? Secretly observing our personnel deployment and the terrain. Well? You over there, are you practicing your drawing skills or something?”

“I have every reason to suspect that Hell's Dagger has designs on our outpost.”

One man in the transport team lowered his head guiltily, stopping the hand that was sketching a tactical map.

“And you over there. You think I don't know that you sold your alliance's construction materials to other alliances on the side, then turned around and dumped all the blame on me? I don't recall withholding ten tons of stone and wood from you.”

“You've got quite the appetite for kickbacks, don't you, kid?”

“A Killing Angel exoskeleton armor went missing at our outpost the day before yesterday, and today it turns up on Death Avenue. What's that all about? You over there, why don't you come out and explain?”

Angelina named them one by one. The people she pointed out noticed their companions looking at them as if they wanted to tear them apart, and they hurriedly began to explain.

“You still dare to stand up and question me? Have I been giving you too much face?”

“Allies? In my eyes, you're just a nest of snakes and rats. If you want to fight, come at me all at once. If not, leave the toll and get as far away from me as possible.”

After the girl's high-powered verbal lashing, everyone shut their mouths. No one dared to be the first to speak up anymore, knowing full well that they hadn't gained any fewer benefits from the silver-haired girl than they had lost.

The crowd, which had been aggressively demanding an explanation just a moment ago, now fell into an eerie silence.

Angelina let out a cold laugh and was about to put away her spear.

“Don't get too cocky, Abyssal White Flower! You're just a dog kept by Dark Gold Rose!” someone in the crowd shouted.

The veins on Angelina's forehead bulged, and her gaze suddenly turned ferocious. She squinted her eyes and scanned the crowd, wanting to cut that person into a thousand pieces.

Just then, a guild channel notification arrived; it was a general order issued by Xu Xiaoyou to everyone.

-- "Those on the first floor of the prison, prioritize supporting the King's Clan. Heifeng squad, go to the Venomous Sewer to help Assassin's Creed deal with the Gnawing Gospel. Red Glow squad, remain on the second floor of the prison. Everyone else, gather at the prison's underground hub. Prepare to clear out the prison's underground space."

Angelina snorted, ignored the stunned crowd, and headed upward.

At the same time, the members of the various transport teams also received summons from their respective guild leaders.

A major general offensive was about to begin.

Deep within the prison, members of Light-Chaser Garden stood on a suspended walkway. Below them, monsters pushed forward in layers, their rotting rat-faces squeezed to the front, and a foul stench filled the air.

They were positioned according to the '221' tactic: two people held shields at the front, while one in the back was responsible for killing enemies with long-handled weapons. With their backs against the steep wall, they didn't have to worry about monsters ambushing them from corners.

Below the walkway, Akabane laughed as she sat on a monster's neck, plunging her twin daggers into the rotting troll's eye sockets to control its rampage. Every rat-man that got close was trampled into meat paste, with flashes of blood erupting from under the creature's legs from time to time.

Akabane's waist was incredibly flexible as she bent at an exaggerated angle, hanging down from the troll's shoulder. She calmly watched the monsters chasing wildly behind her, her little canines showing in a grin.

“Ah~ open wide. Have some candy.”

With that, her fingertips flicked up a rat-man's snout, and she stuffed a heart-shaped grenade into its mouth before waving a farewell.

Boom! A violent burst of fire instantly erupted below, and the rising flames sent countless monsters flying into the air.

Waves of scorching heat washed over her, and Akabane enjoyed her masterpiece with great interest as a rat-man, wailing in the fire, reached its claws toward her face.

Akabane stood up with a laugh.

She pulled out a Molotov cocktail while standing on the rotting troll's head and tossed it casually in all directions.

The shattering of glass rang out like a deathly melody, with the roars of the monsters serving as the accompaniment. Their roasting bodies were like piano keys dancing in the fire, and the spreading flames pushed this death waltz to its climax.

More and more monsters were drawn toward the girl's direction, converging on the designated location.

“Guild leader, is she really going to be okay like that?” beside Xu Xiaoyou, the man with glasses asked worriedly.

“If she wants to play a bit wild, let her. As long as she doesn't delay the battle,” Xu Xiaoyou said.

She had already reached the lower levels of the prison, intending to completely resolve the hidden dangers beneath the prison before the main army marched.

She was already aware of the situation on the player alliance side. She had planted her own eyes in almost all the guilds on the rankings, and with her charm, she could guarantee the absolute loyalty of these people.

Smiling Jazz intended to gather all the top-tier combat power of the alliance and launch a general offensive on the King's Castle to execute the King, 'Incurable Crown,' before the throne.

Currently, Light-Chaser Garden was ranked 27th on the leaderboard with 14,000 occupation points. The first-place Silent Sequence had a total of 70,000 points—nearly five times theirs. This massive gap meant that the probability of winning based on outpost points was close to zero.

However, after the unremitting efforts of the progression team over these past few days, they had successfully accepted the instance's World Quest—'Terminal Illness Surgery'—through the void merchant. As long as King Incurable Crown was killed, the instance would be settled immediately. The guild that secured the first kill would also leap to the top spot on the rankings.

This meant that whichever guild could snatch the killing blow on the Incurable Crown would take the crown!