Volume 4, Chapter 65-1 – En Route at Full Speed (Part 1)

Seven players and six NPCs.

In just five short minutes, Anran had completed a massive harvest and earned 26,000 Free EXP.

Before Morningstar’s forces charged over, the wind and rain had interfered so badly with firearms that Anran had struggled just to kill one person.

Now that the distance had closed, however, she had a double-barreled shotgun and a blade in hand. There was no need for her to aim deliberately at all.

She only needed to make full use of her speed.

She danced through the scattered crowd like a spinning top whirling round and round. Every time her footsteps paused, Anran struck.

Sometimes an exploding shell caused widespread casualties. Other times, a slash of her blade delivered an instant, pinpoint kill.

In short, by the time those people saw Anran appear and were still trying to understand what was happening, the mark of death had already been carved into them.

“-135” “-67” “-78” “-208”…

Red damage numbers mingled with the rain as bright blood sprayed through the downpour.

Thankfully, Night of the Stars had a gore-filter setting. Otherwise, a melee this realistic would have been far too bloody for ordinary players.

There had previously been an online game that advertised ninety-nine-percent realism, only to be forcibly taken down for failing to conform to core values.

“Wuwu…”

A charging Morningstar soldier suddenly threw himself flat on the ground, narrowly avoiding an explosive shell flying toward him.

Anran froze for a moment. She had been about to finish him off with her blade and turn him into EXP, but she stopped just before the weapon fell onto the Morningstar soldier’s back.

Shhk!

The man still had no idea what was going on. He struggled to stand, only for the blade’s tip to pierce him at once.

“Aah!”

The pain made him immediately fling himself back down. He pressed himself tightly against the ground and curled into a ball like a turtle whose shell had been pinned beneath a foot.

“Don’t, don’t, don’t…”

The blood on the tip of the blade was quickly washed clean by the heavy rain, every drop landing on him.

Aila silently walked over to back Anran up.

There were not many people left nearby, and no one was going to pop out and take a potshot at Anran now. They were all being chased everywhere by the players and NPCs on the government army’s side.

As for stealing Anran’s kills, that was even less likely.

Some people feared her, while others worshiped her as a powerful NPC.

“The last hope of the trash-tier early-game profession, [Mechanic].”

So they said…

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Anran grabbed the fallen man and dragged him toward the defensive line like a sack. The torrential rain could finally no longer soak his hair, though it still slapped against his thighs in wave after wave.

Thud!

His back struck the wall, sending a burning pain through him. He hurriedly cried, “Don’t throw me, don’t throw me! I’ll answer anything you ask. I’ll tell you everything I know and hold nothing back.”

“I…”

Holy freaking shit.

Anran stared blankly at the way he had prostrated himself. This was the first time she had ever met someone so cooperative. Everyone else would at least put up some token resistance, but this guy had even thrown out “I’ll tell you everything I know and hold nothing back.” He was practically the very model of shamelessness.

Fine. She would indulge him.

“All right, then tell me this. How many of you came in total?”

“…”

The man suddenly pinched his chin, furrowed his brow, and sank into thought.

Anran watched him in silence.

“That question…” He pondered for a moment, then said in one breath, “I honestly don’t know.”

Holy shit.

“Are you screwing with me?” Anran roared, raising the Crimson Blade. “I’ll split you open with one slash right now!”

“Don’t, don’t, don’t! Spare me!”

He immediately stretched out his hands and waved them in terror. “I’m just a low-level grunt who follows orders. How could I know something like that?”

“I don’t care how many excuses you have.”

“Wait!” He shrank backward. The wound on his back tore open, making him suck in a breath. “Hiss… I don’t know the exact number, but I’d estimate there are nearly a thousand. And that doesn’t include the outsiders who joined later.”

Anran was stunned.

Her eyes widened at once.

What kind of insane maneuver was this? Had they brought so many people here at once because they wanted to fight Nine Songs head-on with real blades and guns?

If that was not brain damage, what was?

There had to be another scheme behind it.

“Who directly ordered you to come here?” Anran hurriedly pressed.

She seized the man’s collar and asked “fiercely.”

The fellow looked as if he could not breathe, trembling all over.

“Talk! If you don’t, I’ll shoot you dead!” Aila said, waving her gun.

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“Wuwuwu…”

His voice was almost indistinguishable from the wind.

Anran loosened her grip slightly. He immediately coughed, then shouted, “Don’t, don’t! I’ll do it myself. I’ll do it myself.”

“Our leader personally announced this operation. We weren’t informed until the night before last. Someone in the organization also gave us a detailed explanation of Trade Station No. 1. Our group is only responsible for drawing fire and forcing the defensive line to redeploy.”

“Oh.”

He glanced at Anran’s expression and hurriedly continued, “There’s also a group of elite outsiders responsible for attacking the defensive line from another direction. We originally heard that the people from Huilong would come too, but something apparently happened at the last minute, so they were transferred elsewhere.”

I’ve already killed almost all the people from Huilong, Anran thought.

“Finally…” Seeing that Anran seemed about to say something, the man immediately raised his voice. “Finally, the big shots in the organization have a special way to infiltrate the trade station.”

He raised his hand. “That’s everything I know, big sis… Ah, no, pretty girl… Pah! I mean, Fairy Anran. Look, I’ve cooperated this much already. Why don’t you hand me over to the person in charge from Nine Songs? If that won’t work, at least give me the painless package.”

“…”

“Anran, Anran, what does ‘the painless package’ mean?” Aila asked curiously.

Anran explained, “He means that when I kill him, I should do it cleanly so that he dies before he can feel any pain.”

“Oh.” Aila nodded. She had learned something new again: painless.

“…”

Anran glanced over the man’s status panel. “I see you’ve suffered some injuries, and you only have a sliver of HP left. Under the right conditions, I could treat you to a few poisoned cakes. But…”

Gulp…

He swallowed. He had spoken heroically, but of course he was still afraid.

If he was handed over to Nine Songs, there was still a good chance he would survive. But if he fell into the hands of Anran, who never left anyone alive…

Mamma mia.

“My blade is pretty sharp too. One slash, and I guarantee you won’t feel a thing.” Anran raised the Crimson Blade.

Swish!

“Aaaaaah…”

“Hey! Hey, Liang Minyao, get over here! Hurry!”

Tap, tap, tap…

Liang Minyao hurried over with quick steps through the wind and rain. “What’s wrong?”

“I caught one alive. Do you want to deal with him?” Anran asked.

“Oh?” Liang Minyao looked at the man. “All right. I think the higher-ups will be somewhat interested.”

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Whew…

Whew, whew, whew…

The man immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief. His life was safe for the moment. He had nearly wet himself from fear just now. Had his entire body not already been soaked through, with the wind and rain hiding everything, the others would have noticed.

“Take him away first.”

“Mm.” Liang Minyao nodded.

She grabbed the man and was about to leave when Anran suddenly turned and asked, “Before you set out, did you see Heloise and Dawn?”

“Huh…” The man froze, thinking Anran had changed her mind.

He hurriedly shook his head. “No, I didn’t see them. Only our captain led us out.”

“…”

Anran looked at Liang Minyao again. “Could the enemy sneak in through an underground tunnel?”

“An underground tunnel?” Liang Minyao laughed. “How could that be possible? The area inside the defensive line isn’t very large, and it’s already been inspected many times. Besides, the central hovering zone and rest area were cast by the Ninth expeditionary army. Ordinary excavation equipment can’t even make a dent in them.”

“Is that what the higher-ups think too?” Anran continued asking.

“Uh. P-probably.” Sweat appeared on Liang Minyao’s forehead.

Somehow, she had a feeling…

Anran pondered for a moment. “Go take care of your work first.”

In this wretched weather, flying in from above was impossible. If Heloise and the others truly had a special way to infiltrate the station, as the man had said, then they could only come from underground.

But just as Liang Minyao had said, the area inside the defensive line was not large, and the core zone had certainly not been cast from ordinary materials. Digging? What could they possibly use to dig through it?

Equipment from Night Owl?

If they really had something like that…

No. Rather, they definitely possessed something capable of destroying those metal frameworks. Otherwise, how could they possibly carry out this operation?

Was this supposed to be some laid-back operation where sincerity alone would guarantee success?

“Anran, Anran, what are we going to do now?”

“Grind a title.” A smile suddenly appeared on Anran’s face.

If she could not figure it out, she would set it aside for now. It would be far too wasteful not to devour so many walking bundles of EXP.

“Grind a title?”

“Kill every last invader. Aila, help me with something in a moment.” Anran pressed her palms together.

…

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The help Anran wanted was for Aila to hold back her strength and adjust her accuracy whenever she attacked. She only needed to leave people half-dead, and Anran would deal the remaining damage.

Aila did not level up by killing monsters anyway. She only needed to eat.

Anran even wondered whether Aila would quickly become an untouchable super BOSS if she ate the entire trade station.

As for Anran herself, if she killed everyone currently in the trade station, could she reach Level 30?

Bang!

A player was shot and fell to the ground. Just as he thought he was about to die, the little girl who had fired the gun actually walked away.

“Huh?” He had slipped through the cracks.

Supporting himself with one hand, he was just about to climb up when…

Bang!

It seemed to hit a rather unfortunate spot.

He dropped to his knees.

Then he died face-down on the ground.

“You have killed Player XXX and received 2,200 Free EXP.”

Whoosh…

The wind gradually weakened, but Anran knew this was only temporary. The eye of a storm was relatively calm. Afterward, everything would return to how it had been before.

Several times, elite player squads tore open a gap in the defensive line, only to be driven back by the other players who arrived soon afterward.

After fighting for so long, even if they had died several times, the luckier players had still earned a fair amount of EXP.

As for the unlucky players, what game did not have its share of “African” players?

“European” and “African” luck were relative.

For every player bursting with European luck, someone else was naturally plagued by African luck.

If everyone ended up equally rich, the game would lose its vitality.

However, top players sometimes did not care about European luck or African misfortune. Spending money could make you stronger, and cheating could make you stronger too.

Anran, the cheater, felt that she was the greatest beneficiary of all.

She stood in an open area somewhere inside the storm’s eye. Other than Aila, there was not a single living creature around her. There were only two dull-witted porter robots.

Thirty-six players and forty-nine NPCs.

After the battle, Anran raised herself by one level and still had 140,000 EXP remaining.