"Master Jack."
"Captain."
At this time, circus members including Flo Yin and Noah came over and saluted Chen Lun.
Behind them were Gold Cup councillors such as Akbin and Frey.
Chen Lun nodded slightly at them, then turned his gaze to the side and looked further away.
Snow was still falling from the sky, and the temperature had dropped below zero, covering the ground in the area with a layer of silver.
Countless figures gathered together, forming a black mass, like an irregular pool of ink on a white cloth—they were all players.
During this period, the recruitment that Chen Lun commissioned the Silver Dragon Chamber of Commerce to conduct had not ended, and a steady stream of players had been transported here.
To this end, Chen Lun spent nearly 20,000 gold pounds in commission fees.
This matter requires a lot of manpower and material resources. The Silver Dragon Chamber of Commerce, from top to bottom, will serve him "at full capacity", not only because of Chen Lun's friendship with President Rosa, but also because of his current special status.
Lord Jackspeter, the high-ranking official of the Orthodox Church and the governor of the Kangkai Council, is working hard for the stability of the empire... Whether in terms of interests, friendship or the general situation, the Silver Dragon Chamber of Commerce has no reason to refuse.
The players' enthusiasm even exceeded Chen Lun's imagination.
Except for the Lost Name Guild, which did not participate in his recruitment because it joined the "Red Apple Church" and the "History and Ritual Association", the three major guilds, the Pavilion of Heroes and Divine Love, as well as many small and medium-sized guilds such as Chuxi and Little Silver Fox, all sent members from Yanbang to join Chen Lun's team.
Including individual players, their number has reached nearly 100,000!
All gathered here, waiting for Chen Lun's order.
'This is a force that cannot be underestimated...'
Chen Lun thought.
In his previous life, he was just one of many players, but now he has become the "leader" of the players and one of the commanders of the Bloody Campaign.
The players' formations were not neat, and could even be described as extremely chaotic, but Chen Lun had no requirements for this. He did not need the players to follow orders like an army, as that would be too difficult for the players and not very realistic.
"Have your respective teams assembled?"
Chen Lun asked calmly.
Flo Yin and Noah each spoke up to express their affirmation, and then the Golden Cup Councillors accompanying their two teams spoke up at the right time:
"Master Jack, the previous operation did not cause too many casualties. A total of only 29 ordinary councillors and seven silver cup councillors were injured. They have recovered from their injuries under the treatment of Miss Maggie's potion..."
The Gold Cup councillor who reported the situation was named Herber, a middle-aged man with a big beard. His expression at the moment was extremely respectful, and so were several other Gold Cup councillors beside him.
They admired Lord Governor Jack more and more in their hearts.
Because the matter of "recruiting undead strangers" was not favored by others, there were many voices of opposition and ridicule within the Kangkai Council... But now it seems that Lord Jack's move was extremely wise, but those people were short-sighted.
It was because of the help of the undead strangers that none of the congressmen were killed in battle. While ensuring their own safety, their overall efficiency was frighteningly high... So far, Lord Jack is the first consul to advance to the second main city in the war zone!
He was almost a week late in setting off!
Such an honor makes the members of parliament under Chen Lun feel honored and proud.
In these few days, public opinion within the Kangkai Parliament suddenly changed. The original clamoring and mocking voices all disappeared, replaced by praise and recognition.
Frey, Herb and others were extremely disdainful of this.
Even the other nine archons, the official shelter, the Church of the Sun, and the Church of the Moon, all began to follow Jack's example and recruited undead strangers as "troops". But it was clear that none of them had learned the essence of Jack, and they simply used the undead strangers as cannon fodder.
Their efficiency and morale are far inferior to ours.
Lord Jack paid out of his own pocket to sell excellent equipment and props to the Undead Strangers at extremely low prices. He also kept an eye on every battle and provided timely rescue... This was something that outsiders could not do.
He would naturally gain the support of the group of undead strangers.
"very good."
Chen Lun nodded.
He then turned to his men and said:
"This time we are concentrating our forces in order to first capture Rongshan City and destroy the 'Fortress of Hate'... Only in this way can we advance smoothly in other cities. Has the intelligence I asked you to pass on been implemented in every group?"
"It has been conveyed, Master Jack."
Everyone expressed their affirmation.
The intelligence Chen Lun mentioned was naturally the method of dealing with the "Fortress of Abomination"... His strategy was roughly the same as before, dispersing each team in the city, letting the players carry out the hunting, and the team leader was responsible for surveillance and coordination.
At the same time, he ordered his high-end combat forces to decapitate the Red Apple Church.
But the only difference is that he ordered his men and players to stay away from the huge red fortress as much as possible, and to siege and charge once they saw it rising from the ground and ready to move.
This is the plan Chen Lun developed based on his understanding of the "Fortress of Hate".
When it is in the "fixed state", it can exert its strongest power, and its range of action is about one kilometer. We should avoid its edge and pretend to be ignorant but very cautious, and hunt as usual outside its range... When the Red Apple Church can't sit still and puts it in the "mobile state", it's time for Chen Lun to take action.
He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice:
"Count your men and lead your respective teams forward!"
"Yes! Master Jack!"
Everyone answered promptly and concisely.
*
*
*
In the empty land far away.
The players were bragging and chatting while looking forward to the next event.
"I really didn't expect that the gains from these few days of missions have exceeded my efforts for more than a month... Tsk tsk, I directly leveled up two levels, can you believe it?!"
A bald player was checking his ammo bag and said to his friend.
"No, this is a large-scale mission derived from the main storyline. Following the large army to hunt in the red disaster area, it is difficult to slow down the upgrade... Moreover, Jack's men will not be greedy for the mysterious substances and equipment dropped. After the daily settlement, the currency is distributed according to the contribution. One of my buddies has made a lot of money. Yesterday he showed off his new personal terminal to me, all thanks to the reward of this mission."
The player’s friend is also a young man. He sculpted an “ancient god face” and was amazed.
He held the Connie No. 2 flintlock rifle, pulled the bolt, shook the gun, and received the bullet, all in one go.
Playing with the black crystal bullet the size of an index finger in his hand is like appreciating a work of art.
"Jack is a rare 'good guy' among NPCs. I've never seen any organization that offers such benefits... These equipments are all standard equipment for circus organizations. Normally, we can only see those big guys posting screenshots to show off on the game forums. Now I finally get to play with them. It's so fucking exciting! The weapons I used before were all garbage!"
"Hehe, indeed! Remember the girl I met when I took you to a party last time? She and her friends joined the Little Silver Fox Guild, but it's just a branch, far away in Flower Country. They can only choose to follow the main force of the shelter to participate in this 'bloody battle'... There are no benefits, and the players are pure cannon fodder. Do you think every region is like Jack's team?"
The bald player's tone was cheerful and relieved.
At this time.
The two noticed that the leader of their team, an ordinary councillor under Jack, returned from the high-level team in front and came to them.
"Team No. 78, assemble and prepare to depart!"
The team leader shouted loudly.
"yes!"
“Here it comes!”
The players belonging to this team responded and ran over.
The leaders' orders to assemble were heard one after another from all around, and players started to move in droves, gathering in groups of nearly a hundred people.
Afterwards, under the command of their respective team leaders, they headed towards the entrance of Rongshan City.
Snowflakes were falling all over the sky, and nearly 100,000 players were walking in an orderly manner. They were holding flintlock rifles, breathing out white air, and were in a state of excitement.
They are eager to fight and hunt!
After a moment.
When the respective groups dispersed into the city and encountered fallen believers in the dilapidated streets and quiet alleys, the team leaders shouted in deep voices and commanded the players to launch an attack.
Suddenly, gunshots rang out!
Boom boom boom…!
"kill!"
The bald player raised his gun and fired, and together with dozens of his companions around him, they focused their fire on a group of fallen believers rushing towards them.
The storm of bullets instantly tore those crazed believers into pieces!
puff!
The bodies of the few fallen believers who survived exploded and turned into moving tentacles and chunks of flesh, but the red arcs of electricity emitted by the black crystal bullets withered these chunks of flesh in an instant.
The players were all smiling as they received a series of kill reward notifications.
While loading ammunition, he shouted excitedly.
"Zhao! This is so fucking great! I won't be working tomorrow!"
"I'm also taking a leave to play games! It's such a stress-relieving big task, and I still have to work a stupid class!"
"Online classes tomorrow, I won't say anything about it, brothers, I'm just going to get sick."
"Good! Same problem, same disease!"
In Rongshan City, the sound of gunfire was continuous and dense, and the clanging sound of metal clashing continued, accompanied by shouting and yelling, lingering in the snow.
A group of players was sniped by the extraordinary priests, but due to the timely response of the team leader, there were not many casualties. Some "lucky" players even saw the circus cadres take action with their own eyes.
The red-robed priests who had transformed into little giants more than two meters tall were smashed to pieces by a "huge wave" that rose from the ground and was woven together by black vines.
The nun in black dress walked on the "waves", holding a large sickle as tall as a person upside down, and chopped out arcs of black light like cutting melons and vegetables, cutting the rest of the fallen believers who swarmed in in half.
"Flo Yin!"
“Jack’s Sister!
”
Amid the frenzied shouts and gazes of the players, the beautiful blind nun disappeared into the street without looking back.
There was also a group of players who suddenly received four or five BUFF bonus notifications, as if they were possessed by the gods, causing terrifying damage to the fallen believers... Everyone present saw that on a high-rise building on one side of the street, a cute boy wearing a beret was painting in the snow with a focused expression.
He even glanced at the players on the street below and smiled shyly.
On battlefields everywhere, circus cadres occasionally appear...
A muscular cow, four or five meters tall, walked upright, wielding a pale jade-like bone sword. A crazy girl rode a giant monster cow, throwing horrible medicine bottles along the way, filling the entire street with green poisonous smoke.
There were also three men in black who flashed past the windows of the building from time to time. When gunshots rang out, the red-robed priest, who was an "elite monster", fell to the ground and died.
Players hunt crazily under the protection of such a powerful NPC.
Until there was a loud bang!
Deep in the distant building complex, the huge red building slowly rises.
The players stopped what they were doing and looked over.
I saw countless "long legs" growing from the bottom of the red wall and the fortress full of blood, flesh and bone spurs! Those long legs, which were like pieces of meat stitched together and several meters in diameter, were tens or hundreds of meters high, swaying densely, supporting the fortress above and starting to move.
"It's moving! The fortress is moving!"
"According to the team leader's instructions, we are going to charge it next!"
"As long as we take down that fortress, this mission will be halfway accomplished!"
The players looked delighted and shouted excitedly.
Upon seeing this, the team leaders shouted in a deep voice:
"'Fortress of Abomination' begins to move, everyone charge!
”
“Go!
”
"Fuck it!"
The players held flintlock rifles, stepped on the cold snow, and resolutely rushed towards the bloody and hideous mobile fortress.
On top of the fortress, the red apples on the top of the wall and in every window made everyone look frighteningly gloomy and solemn.
"These damned undead strangers! How come there are so many of them?!"
"Damn heretic! Damn Jack!"