Chapter 72: The Black Tide Strikes, Wushuang Cuts the Grass

Chapter 72: The Black Tide Strikes, Wushuang Cuts the Grass

Chapter 72: The Black Tide Strikes, Wushuang Cuts the Grass (Fourth Update)
Players from both sides were engaged in a war of words in the Terran Rise forum, and Qi Sheng paid full attention to the process by providing guidance and feedback.

Since the Dark Land disconnected the live broadcast function connecting to the Star Network and changed the forum to a built-in forum, players who did not purchase the game had no idea what kind of game it was, and even screenshots of the game could not be leaked.

This caused players on both sides to believe that the other side was a troll and that the statements made by the other player were completely inconsistent with the facts.

Qi Sheng could understand why the Eclipse Clan cut off the game's connection with the outside world.

The game Dark Land is essentially a training ground created by the Eclipse Clan to prepare for future crises. Earning foreign exchange through virtual games is not at all within their core considerations. Everything is based on the stable operation of virtual games as the core development concept.

However, the resources required to run this game are extremely huge, and there are a series of problems that need to be optimized.

The first is the server carrying capacity, which is far from as easy as the outside world thinks. The high-frequency data information generated by a large number of players entering the game may even cause congestion in the star network, hindering data transmission, and causing server errors or connection bugs.

To solve this problem, the Eclipse Clan adopted a plan to issue qualifications in batches, which is essentially a gradual server load stress test.

Only after ensuring that there are sufficient players to experience the game normally will the Eclipse Clan issue the next batch of game qualifications.

Then, a new round of stress testing was launched to continuously raise the server's load limit to prevent a sudden influx of a large number of players from causing the server to crash.

Disconnecting functions such as live broadcast is also intended to reduce the pressure on game operation.

However, in the eyes of ordinary players, this series of settings has become a means of hunger marketing, and some even think that the behavior of the Eclipse Clan is too arrogant.

In this forum war, players from both sides did not have screenshots of the game scenes to post, which is also the main reason why both sides believed that the other side's players were water armies.

The isolation mode that is not connected to the outside world prevents the game content from being transmitted.

If there is a game screenshot that can provide direct proof, both parties involved in the argument will inevitably be confused, realizing that the other player is not playing the same game as them.

After the posts about the battle between the two players were banned, Qi Sheng stopped paying attention to the subsequent development of the matter and switched his attention back to the monster world.

According to the guidance feedback, strong energy fluctuations appeared in the nodes of the earth vein cliff area in the Emperor's Tomb Mountains.

Following the guided perspective to the cliff of the earth veins, Qi Sheng discovered that the evil tide was already stirring and was about to erupt.

The black fog that originally surrounded the tower slowly spread to the Emperor's Tomb Mountains area. Countless evil lives sometimes turned into mist and merged into the black tide, and sometimes condensed into evil bodies and roared.

The sight jumps to the Evil Eye Tower. The evil spirit standing on the platform of the high tower has changed its appearance under the infusion of energy from the node field.

The armor condensed with black mist on his body became more ferocious and sharp, and his eyes deep in the eye sockets were like two burning charcoal fires, with an aura of violence and destruction.

The evil spirit raised his hands at this time, and the evil eye hanging above his head moved down, and the tentacles pierced into his back to complete the connection with him.

Suddenly, the perception perspective spread rapidly outward, and the control over the black tide was greatly enhanced after the connection.

"Evil Eye, target!"

Hearing the evil spirit's orders, the evil eye blinked, and suddenly a vague scene of the Emperor's Tomb Mountains area emerged in its mind.

You can see multiple flashing spots of light in the scene, each of which represents a domain node area.

At this time, the evil eye looked down at the evil spirit on the ground and chanted:
"Except for the domain node that mysteriously disappeared, other areas can be targets of conquest, but I suggest that we occupy this node last. There are a large number of original creatures in it, and it is not easy to take it down with our current strength."

As soon as he finished speaking, the flashing light of a node on the blurry map in the mind of the evil spirit turned red and was marked as a dangerous area.

And this area is exactly the Qiling Valley to the west of Dizhong Village.

"Okay." The evil spirit nodded solemnly, then gave an order in his mind, which was then conveyed to the Black Tide through the evil eye.

Suddenly, the surging black fog under the tower rolled up waves and spread in the direction pointed by the evil spirit's consciousness.

At this time, Qi Sheng's consciousness also followed the guidance and returned to Dizhong Village.

Every time the Earth Evil Spirit occupies a domain node, its strength will be significantly enhanced. He will not allow the black tide controlled by the Earth Evil Spirit to invade the domain nodes at will.

Even if it cannot be stopped at this stage, we must try our best to slow down the spread and intensification of the black tide.

"It's time for training."

Qi Sheng closed his eyes at this moment, and his head suddenly turned into a blazing imperial fire that spread throughout his body.

At the same time, the challenger prompt sounded in the minds of all players:

[Challenger Tips (All Regions): The Tezuka Mountains area is about to face the Black Tide disaster, triggering a special mission: Black Tide Hunter]:
Dark Tide Hunter (Special Mission):

Mission description: Hunt down the evil Kuroshio and stop the Kuroshio from invading the nodes in the Tezuka Mountains (the map function will mark the direction and area of ​​the Kuroshio's spread).

Mission Rewards: During the mission, every time a player kills a Black Tide Evil, the Evolution Points and Sacrifice Power rewards will increase by 14%, and the mission contribution will be calculated (the mission contribution will be rewarded according to the ranking after the mission is completed)

Mission duration: Unknown

……

For this special mission, Qi Sheng increased the players' benefits from hunting evil spirits.

Originally, hunting deducted 30% of the profits, and players obtained 70% of the profits. After the task was released, the players' profits increased by 14% on the original basis, becoming 79.8% of the actual profits, with an additional return of 10%.

This is done to encourage players to actively challenge the evil Black Tide and act as a roadblock to the spread of the Black Tide.

After the game prompts were released, online players responded positively.

The increase in hunting rewards, coupled with additional contribution rewards, is extremely tempting for players.

They are both hunting, but obviously hunting the Black Tide evil spirits brings higher profits.

Upon hearing the news, the player community began to post information on recruiting teammates on the regional channels and decided to go to the areas where the black tide was spreading to start hunting.

Many players who were originally mining in the Dark Cave also joined this collective action.

A huge army of players set out from Tezuka Village and faced the sweeping black tide in different directions.

The first group of players who came into contact with the Black Tide were those who advanced northward and crossed the ancient battlefield area. They were shocked by the scene before them.

The pitch-black waves obscured the horizon, sweeping over in a mighty force. Countless hideous and evil creatures could be seen emerging from the black tide, as majestic as a swarm of locusts. The earth was trembling slightly under the surge of the black tide.

The scene was like a black curtain rising from the end of the horizon, seeming to cover the entire world in darkness.

"Fuck, this scene is too scary. If it weren't for the game, I would have been scared to death!"

"It's only been a short while since the server was launched, and they've already given us such a high level of strength. The Dog Moon Eclipse Clan really thinks highly of us."

“Hiss~ I smell the rich fragrance of the sacrifice power. This doomsday-like scene makes me a little excited. It feels great (a player opened his arms and looked at the black tide with emotion).”

"Brothers of the Hero Guild, it's time to earn contributions. Kill one and you'll earn more. Kill two and you'll earn more. Kill three and you'll earn more. Charge!"

……

Accompanied by the calls from each team and guild voice channels, the player community faced the sweeping black tide without hesitation.

When the group of players collided with the black tide, the players who had prepared themselves for sudden death suddenly discovered that the situation was not as bad as they thought.

The seemingly terrifying Black Tide Evil is far less powerful than the Blood Corpse, and is even less powerful than the Cursed Soldiers.

Many screenshots of the analysis circulated in regional voice channels.

[Black Tide: Evil Maggots]:
Hunting Level: 1
Target Analysis Introduction: A low-level evil spirit born from the Black Tide. It has no self-awareness and will only act according to the will of the Black Tide controller.

[Black Tide·Dark Dog]:
Hunting Level: 1
Target Analysis Introduction: A low-level evil spirit born from the Black Tide. It has no self-awareness and will only act according to the will of the Black Tide controller.

[Black Tide·Devil Flea]:
Hunting Level: 2
Target analysis introduction: A low-level evil spirit born from the Black Tide. It has no self-awareness and can strengthen the Black Tide by devouring flesh and blood.

……

Players were surprised to find that the strength of the Black Tide monsters was far lower than they had imagined.

The hunting level is generally 1-2, and very few are level 3.

In the eyes of veteran players, the weak Black Tide evil spirits are nothing more than toys that can be slaughtered at will.

Just like the black-armored soldiers in the dark cave easily slaughtered players at that time, the group of players who found that the strength of the evil spirits was very low started the unparalleled mowing mode, rushed into the evil spirit tide and started a crazy slaughter.

A player who took the monster growth path transformed into a giant black-armored snake over ten meters long during the battle and pounced on the black tide, charging through the group of evil spirits like a dragon.

After a player switches to the bone fire form, he releases the power of ink flame to generate five fireballs surrounding himself, rushes into the group of evil spirits and starts the horizontal push mode. The evil spirits will be burned to ashes the moment they touch the fireballs.

A player held a powerful axe and swung it wildly among the group of evil spirits. With one blow, he could kill several evil spirits, just like a god of war descending to the earth.

During this time, the regional voice channel was filled with laughter: "It turns out that the monster flow is so cool. Look at that brother's black armored snake. It's almost as tall as a three-story building. The hunting level must be at least 20+. It's simply a bulldozer on the battlefield. Too violent."

“Hahaha, I’ve been playing this game for more than ten days. I’ve often been abused outside, but now I can finally have some fun.”

"The player with the Bone Fire Soul took off, releasing fireballs to surround himself. He is completely invincible. The only thing that can limit our progress is mana (spiritual power)."

"Damn, I'm also using the monster style, but my eagle-headed demon form is so weak, it's not fun at all, it kills too slowly."

"It's so cool, just like mowing the grass. Although most evil spirits can only produce 0.5 sacrifice power, the feeling of constantly ringing the kill feedback notification in my mind is really cool."

"It hurts to see you guys having so much fun killing people. The forums all say that Taunt is the most powerful soul at this stage, so I chose the combination of Gargoyle and Taunt. But the problem is that Taunt is only effective against intelligent life, so it's useless at this time. What should I do? Who can tell me what to do?"

"Don't let your taunting brother down yet, your taunting and gargoyle form at least still have some combat power. I chose the Eagle-headed Demon plus the Star Vein combination of the Breath Eater. At that time, I thought that the Eagle-headed Demon's perception time would be extended by the Breath Eater, and its endurance would be enhanced. But now it's useless. Seeing how happy my guild brothers are in killing, I want to exchange my soul (The God of Wealth, Hong Wen, clenched his fist.jpg)"

……

Qi Sheng, who was observing the battle situation from the player's perspective, smiled happily after seeing the player's performance.

He had studied the Kuroshio when he was developing the Challenger program.

The most terrifying thing about the Kuroshio is not just its number, but its ability to devour and grow.

All living creatures swallowed by the black tide will be transformed into part of the black tide's power. In the black tide sweeping mode, the intensity of the black tide will become higher and higher, and the intensity of the generated evil life will also increase accordingly.

The Challenger system he created perfectly restrained this.

After the player dies, the flesh and blood materials and energy that make up the body will be extracted by the super-dimensional being that masters the rules of extraction of all things, and then sent back to Dizhong Village by Yan Ming's spatial power for reshaping.

No matter how many players the evil spirit kills, it cannot absorb even a single bit of growth energy.

But the evil spirits killed by the players will become nutrients for the players' growth.

The first collision between the player's Scourge and the Black Tide Scourge, the player proved through practice that the setting he had originally conceived was completely feasible.

When the player starts the unparalleled mowing mode, the benefits of sacrifice power in Qi Sheng's eyes are also growing rapidly.

By giving players 10% more feedback, their income not only did not decrease, but their time-sharing income increased several times.

The players had a great time killing and he made a lot of money.

The Black Tide Army led by the Earth Evil Spirit may be able to show off its power for a while in other low-intensity areas. After all, the creatures in low-intensity areas will eventually be exhausted when facing the rampant evil. As long as they fall down, they will become nutrients for the Black Tide to grow stronger.

As long as the evil spirits bred by the black tide die, the energy that constitutes their life form will be reintegrated into the black tide with very low loss, and they can quickly condense again to generate new evil life, making them inexhaustible.

But the two terrifying characteristics of the Black Tide pose no threat to the player army.

When the player dies, Qi Sheng's gain will be reduced to 0. When the player kills an evil spirit, the evil spirit's energy will be extracted and converted into evolution points and sacrificial power to be integrated into the player's body.

During the fight, players become stronger and stronger, while the strength of the Black Tide is constantly weakened.

The black tide disaster that is extremely terrifying in the eyes of other forces is, in Qi Sheng's eyes, the nutrients for the growth of players.

The black tide was still raging. In less than an hour, the number of online players dropped by half, and the remaining players were all in a state of fatigue, with their energy and blood exhausted or their mental strength drained.

But Qi Sheng didn't care.

Even if the black tide swept across the entire Teizuka Mountains, it would not be able to reach Teizuka Village, which is independent of the world's barriers.

In the battle against the Black Tide, the player army will eventually win the final victory as one side gains strength while the other loses strength.

Just when Qi Sheng was delighted with the surge in profits, the evil spirit on the Evil Eye Tower had already noticed something was wrong.

"Evil Eye, why can't these mysterious creatures be decomposed and absorbed by the Black Tide after they die? Also, why can't the evil creatures bred by the Black Tide reintegrate into the Black Tide after being killed by these mysterious creatures?"

In response to the question, the evil eye floating above his head remained silent for a long time before speaking:

"I can't find any information about this race in the database shared with me by other nodes. I can't determine the specific reason. Maybe you can try to catch one and I will find the reason through memory reading."

"Okay." The evil spirit nodded immediately, and then began to control the black tide to take action.

……

Near Fengbotan.

"I can't kill anymore. My legs are shaking from exhaustion. How are you guys?" Zou Feng said, turning to look at his teammates beside him.

However, he found that his teammates were nowhere to be found, and his vision was completely obscured by the rampant evil spirit.

Calling up the team voice channel, he resolved the doubts in his mind.

The team voice channel showed that his teammates had all entered death cooldown. No wonder he never heard his teammates talking and no matter how he called out, there was no response.

After taking a look at the balance of his sacrificial power, he discovered that he had earned more than 200 points of sacrificial power without realizing it.

"Cool!"

Facing the evil spirits attacking from all directions, Zou Feng clenched the Broken Knife in his hand, and decided to kill as many evil spirits as possible before the death cooldown.

During the battle, Zou Feng couldn't help but sigh at the realism of the game.

The muscle soreness and even thirst caused by continuous fighting, these extremely real physical feedbacks are all components that affect his combat effectiveness, not just the changes in the blood bar numbers.

Soon, Zou Feng was exhausted from fighting, and collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath, allowing his body to be drowned by the evil life:

"I have no strength left. I'm going offline."

But what surprised Zou Feng was that the evil creatures did not eat his body. Instead, the nearby evil creatures lifted him up and moved quickly towards the depths of the black tide. The evil creatures they met along the way would actively avoid him and make way for him to move forward.

"Where are we going?" Zou Feng was stunned.

He was so exhausted that he didn't bother to struggle, nor did he want to know the reason. He immediately called up the function panel and tried to log off.

However, due to the violent turbulence, the teleportation array could not be generated in Zou Feng's player body. Every time the array was drawn, it would be disintegrated. A game prompt also sounded in his mind:

[Challenger Tip: In a state of severe turbulence, offline transmission cannot be enabled. ]

"Forget it." Realizing that he couldn't log off directly, Zou Feng simply lay on the evil spirit and started browsing the forum information.

"Fuck, a black-armored snake over ten meters long, the monster flow is so powerful!"

Seeing a video on a popular post, Zou Feng couldn't help but exclaim. In the video, a huge black-armored snake was rampaging through the group of evil spirits in a crushing manner. Every roll or tail flick could kill large numbers of evil spirits.

Time passed. Zou Feng exited the forum and looked at his own situation. He found that he was still in a bumpy journey.

Although his strength had recovered a little, he did not rush to take action and chose to continue lying on the evil spirit.

The reason for not resisting was that he felt that he might have triggered a hidden mission, and there was no guarantee that this unknown journey would yield rich rewards.

Many players have proven that there are opportunities everywhere in the monster world.

For example, a player who accidentally picked up a machine made 38000 points of sacrifice power overnight. When he saw the post, his eyes turned red and he hated that he couldn't be the player with such bad luck.

This unexpected encounter may be an opportunity.

Feeling bored, he chose to continue browsing the forum to kill time, and from time to time he would exclaim in amazement at a certain player's wonderful performance in fighting against evil spirits.

I don’t know how long it took, but the bumpy feeling suddenly disappeared.

A force of lift emerged from below, carrying him rapidly upwards.

Zou Feng, who had just exited the forum function, was thrown by the evil spirit toward the high tower platform. He fell on his buttocks on the hard black stone slab and let out a muffled groan.

Looking up, he was frightened by the hideous-looking evil spirit in front of him.

After analyzing the information, he was surprised to find that this was actually the evil spirit warrior who had beaten up the God of Wealth.

He also participated in this battle. If they had not fought desperately to stop him, the God of Wealth would have already celebrated his seventh day.

Just as he was wondering about his situation, several black tentacles shot out from the huge eyes on the top of the Earth Evil Spirit's head and connected with his head. Two of the tentacles pierced into his temples, causing him severe pain.

What followed was a strong feeling of dizziness, the world was spinning, and my vision became blurred.

(End of this chapter)