A team of players moved cautiously through the jungle.
"Be careful, this will be tricky," led by the hunter player named Beast Speaker.
The leading warrior, Holding Up The World, was holding up his shield. As he eyed the corpses in the distance, he murmured, "Li Yao is a real troublemaker. At the start of the game, when we should be accumulating strength, he goes around causing trouble everywhere."
A female priest player also whispered, "The problem is that he has provoked the Ember team. A small squad was wiped out by one player twice, we might not fare any better if we run into them."
"Enough with the complaining. After all, the boss has been good to us. Now that the boss's brother is bullied, it would not be right if we didn't step in." Beast Speaker frowned, "Besides, you better not let Li Yao overhear those things you said."
"Don't worry, Beast Speaker. We're not that stupid," the priest girl chuckled.
Just then, Priest girl detected a white shadow in the bushes, "There's something in the bushes."
Before she had finished speaking, Beast Speaker shot an arrow into the bushes without hesitation, and a mage also released an ice arrow.
Bang....
The violent explosion took everyone by surprise.
"What the hell is that?" The warrior looked nervously at the fiery explosion in the distance. Even though they were far away, they could still feel the intense heat.
Just as they fixed their eyes on the bushes ignited by the exploding sheep, they heard a buzzing sound.
"Watch out for the crossbow arrows." Beast Speaker had already received a message from Li Yao, and everyone cautiously surveyed their surroundings.
Thud...
Looking at the steel arrow embedded in the tree, Beast Speaker felt his scalp tingling.
Suddenly, Beast Speaker noticed something wrong- the steel arrow was stained with blood. He also noticed a hissing sound nearby and felt a sudden heat on his body as if he had been splashed with hot water.
Beast Speaker looked back in horror, his face pale as he saw the priest sister and the mage back-to-back, both clutching their throats.
With a look of confusion and pain in their eyes, they slowly fell to the ground.
"This was shot from a heavy crossbow over a hundred yards away," Beast Speaker pushed his stupefied subordinates to the ground as he himself collapsed.
"A hundred yards away, how is that even possible?" Holding up the World asked with a gloomy face, "Are you sure, boss?"
"I'm absolutely sure. If he were closer, wouldn't we see him?" Beast Speaker said painfully.
The ambush party dared not show their heads again. After a minute, another group arrived. Beast Speaker explained to them in the team voice chat, and they all carefully concealed themselves behind trees.
Fighting Unparalleled, the captain of the second squad, swallowed hard and said, "This is too much, instantly killing with one arrow, and even killing two at once. Beast Speaker, you're also a hunter, what do you make of this?"
"He used a steel arrow as thick as his thumb and launched it with a heavy crossbow, just like a sniper rifle. The human throat is a lethal point, and with enough damage and rupture, anyone shot there would be instantly killed," Beast Speaker explained, "moreover, Flame's archery skills are impressive, I suspect he's an athlete in the real world, and not just an ordinary one."
"I don't care whether he's an athlete or not, just kill him. Where are the other squads? Surround him from other directions. I don't believe he has three heads and six arms. This game is not for lone wolves." Li Yao roared in the team voice chat.
Beast Speaker frowned slightly and said, "Everyone, find good cover, and advance under the cover of big trees. This is a jungle, it's difficult for us to find him, but it's also hard for him to find a suitable shooting angle through so many trees. We will be fine if we are just cautious."
With Beast Speaker's words, everyone spread out. Fighting Unparalleled also said, "Everyone, there's no need to be afraid. The one who should be scared is Flame. If we can surround him he is doomed. We can then upload the video of us killing him to the internet. Our Prosperous Era will surely gain popularity and we'll all become famous."
With coordinated command, the players of Prosperous Era regained their confidence.
Li Yao frowned slightly, looked for a few positions, but found no suitable targets. He put the heavy crossbow back into his bag and started placing Explosive Sheep again.
The Explosive Sheep he had placed earlier were tediously herded into the bushes by him. He finished placing all the Explosive Sheep in his bag quickly.
Then Li Yao climbed up a tree and sat on a branch.
In a few minutes, figures began to appear in his field of vision, and the tree that Li Yao have chosen was already surrounded by players.
"Quite a fancy team to deal with me, they've actually dispatched an entire group," Li Yao said calmly.
Li Yao of Prosperous Era looked at Li Yao with cold eyes, sneering, "Run, weren't you good at running? Why are you not running now?"
Li Yao glanced at him and asked in surprise, "I don't understand what you're talking about. When did I run away? I've been in this place for almost half an hour now. When did I escape?"
"You stubborn..."
"Wait a minute, Prodigy." Beast Speaker stopped Prodigy, whispering, "The boss has just sent in orders, you wait a moment."
Li Yao Smirked and turned his head.
Beast Speaker coughed gently and said to Li Yao, "Brother Flame, our boss admires your skills and abilities very much. Do you know that because of your impulsivity, you missed out on a chance for wealth?"
Li Yao revealed a mocking smile and said slowly, "Did Li of Prosperous Era ask you to say that? Did he say that as long as I publicly apologize on the forum, he would give me a sky-high contract, and we would be one family in the future?"
"How did you know that?" The Prodigy stared at Li Yao wide-eyed.
"Li of Prosperous Era is still as arrogant as ever, never changing. You tell him, I am his father."
Everyone was left with their mouths open. They knew how powerful their boss was. From Li Yao's words, it was obvious he did too. Yet, knowing the power behind their boss and still daring to talk so big, this was really courting death.
Beast Speaker was also taken aback, and then frowned, "Do you know what kind of being you're provoking by saying that? As an individual who has solo killed bosses and even won the Platinum Medal, you're quite the expert. I just want to ask, how did our Prosperous Era offend you?"
Li Yao, looking down on the Prosperous Era's players, said slowly, "It's nothing much, it's just that I find your Prosperous Era Guild irritating. Whenever I see the scum of Prosperous Era, I just can't help wanting to take action."
Everyone was left speechless...
The surprise turn of events had left many Prosperous Era players reeling.
"It seems we have nothing more to say." A hint of regret flickered on Beast Speaker's face, quickly replaced by indifference as he continued, "In that case, do not blame us for killing you back to Level Zero."
"You really don't appreciate my kindness, turn him into ashes!" A significantly agitated player from Prosperous Era hollered.
Immediately around them, the sound of spell incantations resonated, with all the ranged characters busy casting spells, while the melee fighters kept a close eye on Li Yao, preventing him from escaping.
"You all are quite daft. If I didn't have a plan, do you think I'd be waiting here alone just to die?" Li Yao confidently called out from his perch high up a tree branch about 20 yards up, "Time for the fireworks. Everyone, cover your ears."
Having said that, Li Yao was the first to cover his ears.
Beast Speaker and the others dumbfoundedly looked at Li Yao, thinking, "Fireworks? Are you insane? You're about to be blown into smithereens."
However, before any of their spells had the chance to take effect, a series of explosions erupted, one after another, creating a cacophony of sound.
Nearly a hundred "Exploding Sheep," hiding in the bushes, detonated near them.
Underneath the tree where Li Yao was, it appeared to have turned into a blazing inferno with the fierce explosions charring the earth.
Most of the dozens of surrounding players were obliterated by the cacophonous explosions before they even knew what happened.
The mixture of firelight, black smoke, and the white light that came with players' death came together in a gruesome scene.
Li Yao couldn't pay attention to the ringing in his ears at the moment and hurriedly tossed three Arrow Towers downwards.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...
The Arrow Towers instantly began firing, tragically cutting down the few surviving low-health players. Half a minute later, the area below was in shambles.
Li Yao then jumped down and drew his bow, an arrow glowing brightly yellow as he began to seek out any remaining living targets.
Behind a large tree, Beast Speaker, who had sought refuge after being heavily wounded, saw Li Yao's silhouette and bitterly said, "Do you know what the consequences of your actions will be?"
Beast Speaker was severely injured, his health constantly ticking down with bleed effects, it was pitiful sight to behold.
"What consequence, being hunted by people from Prosperous Era? Thanks for the heads up."
Li Yao loosed his arrow, and it pierced straight into the Beast Speaker's eye socket, immediately draining the last of his health.
"Li Yao, you're as good as dead. I swear I'll chase you to the ends of the earth in game, if I find out who you really are...you'll wish you were dead." A hatred-filled glance came from the Prosperous-Era player, who had survived, pinned beneath a few corpses.
"Oh, I am so scared." Li Yao's bow and arrow were brimming with a yellow light. "By the way, I already recorded everything, so I'll expect you to be under investigation. Get ready to spend your time in jail."
"Despicable!"
The player from Prosperous Era was stunned, knowing that regardless of his identity, having the recording that's been taken earlier, he'd be detained for at least a few days.
"Thank you for your compliment, and I hope you have a good time in there." Li Yao shot an arrow that took out his opponent's life in an explosive headshot.
The flames had extinguished, and the bushes had turned to ashes.
Li Yao quickly gathered all the equipment, tossing the standard items aside and pocketing the Green Equip. Seven squads made up of thirty-five players had been taken out—most by the Exploding Sheep, while the rest had been harvested by the Arrow Tower.
Li Yao had picked up thirteen pieces of Green Equip, three of which were leather armors that he decided to equip himself.
"Hello, I need some guidance on how to deal with this situation." Li Yao sent the recording material to the company immediately after he finished gathering the items. Although it wouldn't truly incriminate the player, it could get him detained for several days.
Ten minutes later, tens of people revived, but they all were deadly silent.
Buzz...
They again heard the whistle of a Crossbow Arrow ripping the air apart.
Following the direction from where the arrow was fired, people saw Li Yao standing on a tree a hundred yards away, even waving at them.
The players looked at each other, their hearts filled with an unsettling chill.
Looking at everyone's levels on the team panel, the squad leaders had bitter expressions on their faces.
A total of thirty-five players had died once altogether, some of whom had been close to advancing to Level 4, but lost a lot of experiences and fell back to Level 2, while the Level 4 players fell back to Level 3.
The player from Prosperous Era had suffered the worst, thrice dead. He went from being Level 4, to Level 1. Some of the unlucky souls even died twice, going from over Level 3 to falling back to Level 1.
They were the elites of Prosperous Era. This one mission alone had wrecked an entire squad. Those whose levels had fallen to 1 or 2, now couldn't even enter the dungeons.
"Are we chasing, or...?" The player called Fighting Unparalleled mumbled.
Beast Speaker glanced at him and responded, "How do we chase? We've just been wiped out and lost numerous levels..."
"Is this a game world or World War II? How does he have so much explosives? This is practically cheating." Fighting Unparalleled grumbled.
Although they didn't want to admit it, they were indeed terrified. If they continued the chase, there was a possibility they'd be killed back to Level Zero.
"Boss's order, retreat."
After Beast Speaker finished saying this, he hid behind a tree and began the process to teletransport back to town.
The rest of the players all breathed a sigh of relief. They each took cover behind the trees to transport back to town. They could not afford to fall behind the main force's progression. Otherwise, others would replace their spot...