CHAPTER 263: CHAPTER 263: THE FOUR LEGIONS GATHER, THE POWER IS IN ONE’S HANDS_1

"We can’t resurrect within the city!" Ye Tian’s expression was grave. The news Wang Linchi brought back was truly shocking to him.

Normally, this situation wouldn’t occur during the first ten years. It was only later, when the Abyss grew powerful, forcing the game to fuse with reality and become eroded by Abyssal power, that the resurrection mechanism failed.

It seems I still underestimated the danger of this matter. If we don’t successfully resolve the Abyss Offspring Egg or recapture Wanxuan City, I’m afraid it won’t even take ten years for the Abyss to invade reality.

Ye Tian was anxious internally but managed to keep his composure. He now controlled four legions, with twelve thousand people under his command. Anyone could panic, but as the legion commander, he could not.

"So that’s why the Fifth Legion was annihilated. The power of the Abyss is real, and the Game System can’t even protect us," Wang Linchi said.

"What are we waiting for then? Retreat," a burly man spoke up. His character name was Hand of God, the former commander of the Second Legion. He was now one of Ye Tian’s subordinates, a deputy legion commander. The other deputy commander was the former commander of the Fourth Legion.

"Retreat?" Wang Linchi said with a scoff. "You don’t still think this is just a game, do you?"

"If we couldn’t hold on this time, do you think the next time Abyssal Demons appear, it will be in reality?"

The moment Wang Linchi spoke these words, the room immediately fell silent.

"No, it’s impossible. The game is just a game, right?" the other deputy commander, Green Plum Brews Wine, said, his expression somewhat stiff. He had just come to play a game; how did it suddenly involve a risk to his life?

"I wish you were right. It’s one thing to fool your teammates, but don’t fool yourself," Wang Linchi replied nonchalantly.

"Calligraphy Linchi’s assessment of the high probability is very sound," Ye Tian also spoke up. "Otherwise, how do we explain the ’erasure’ penalty?" His words were indeed disheartening. He quickly changed the subject. "However, we are not without any chance of winning."

"Concentrate all the Players in one place. We don’t need to recapture Wanxuan City; we just need to destroy the Abyss Offspring Egg."

Ye Tian’s judgment was still very sharp. The Abyss forces’ objective might not actually be Wanxuan City; instead, they were using Wanxuan City as some sort of incubation ground. Their real target was this Abyss Offspring.

It was precisely because of the appearance of the Abyss Offspring Egg that the Game System became anxious, imposing a twenty-four-hour time limit for them to complete one of the conditions.

If they could recapture Wanxuan City within the time limit, the Game System’s power would return and be able to erase the Abyss Offspring Egg. Alternatively, destroying the Abyss Offspring Egg was like going straight for the jugular; they could then slowly recapture Wanxuan City afterward.

"This... how confident are you?" Hand of God no longer mentioned retreating. Just moments ago, he had received a warning from the Game System: if he left the battlefield, he would be directly erased.

"A thirty percent chance," Ye Tian estimated.

"I can open a path for you, but it requires coordination," Wang Linchi said.

"Then it’s fifty percent," Ye Tian added.

The main issue was that reaching the Abyss Offspring Egg would be an incredibly difficult process. Twelve thousand people simply didn’t possess the required strength.

"What kind of coordination is needed?" Green Plum Brews Wine asked.

"I need..." Wang Linchi began.

When everyone heard the details, their brows furrowed. Hand of God said, "If this were reality, these things wouldn’t be a big deal. But this is a game. Where will you find the materials you need?"

"We’ll have to make do. If we can’t find the exact items, similar ones might work. We’re all in the same boat now; tricking you would be tricking myself," Wang Linchi said.

"How much time will it take?" Ye Tian asked again.

The materials weren’t the primary problem; time was. They only had twenty-four hours.

"Half an hour should be enough, provided you can gather them," Wang Linchi stated.

"With twelve thousand people, the probability of gathering everything isn’t small," Green Plum Brews Wine commented.

"I’ll notify everyone. We’ll get the materials to you within half an hour," Ye Tian said, taking on the task. He had no other options at the moment.

They had originally come here prepared for a war of attrition. Who could have predicted such a drastic turn of events?

After speaking, Ye Tian rose and left. As the legion commander, he held the highest authority.

Once Ye Tian departed, only Wang Linchi, Hand of God, and Green Plum Brews Wine remained in the room. The atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.

These two were more like typical Players; fighting and killing were natural for them, but asking them to act as legion commanders was indeed a bit much.

It was akin to asking esports players to lead a ragtag crowd of three thousand people to conquer a city—a clear mismatch of expertise. Consequently, the two legions were in disarray. This prompted Ye Tian to step in; by appealing to their emotions and reason, and aided by his Protagonist’s Aura, he effortlessly convinced them to transfer their command.

"I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s no wonder you could clear the Abyss Difficulty instance dungeon," Hand of God said, breaking the awkward silence. "Can you reveal how you plan to open a path for us?"

"It’ll probably be something like a missile carpet bombing," Wang Linchi briefly summarized.

He planned to exploit a bug.

By choosing a location where the Game System’s signal was weak, he could receive rewards, elevate his strength to its reality-unlocked level, and even have the Game System act as a safety net.

Then, using a device, he would forcefully boost his Mental Interference to its peak. After that, it would be simple.

Just blast a path open.

Since he would only be using 30% of his spiritual power, he wouldn’t need to turn himself into a human bomb like before. He could just carry out a long-range bombardment.

"Then why don’t you just bomb the Abyss Offspring Egg directly? That way, we wouldn’t have to risk our lives," Green Plum Brews Wine pointed out, spotting a loophole.

"That’s called using a ’Plug-in,’ understand? The damage I can inflict manually is limited. It’s fine for dealing with Demonized Creatures and Abyssal Demons, but against the Abyss Offspring Egg, it’s likely insufficient," Wang Linchi replied.

The actual reason was probably that only the power of game characters controlled by Players could damage it; they had a special offensive advantage.

Wang Linchi’s Mental Interference, combined with Player abilities due to the weak Game System signals, was enough to handle Demonized Creatures and Abyssal Demons, especially with the Game System acting as a safety net.

However, the Abyss Offspring Egg was too far away; the signal would disappear completely, leaving only pure spiritual power. Without this special offensive advantage, any damage dealt would be as effective as trying to scratch an iron plate.

Wang Linchi estimated that the Abyss Offspring Egg was currently comparable to the Daylight Level. As it absorbed more power, its strength was rapidly increasing, even without hatching. Perhaps after hatching, it would surpass the Daylight Level.

Without the power of the Game System and game characters, even if he exhausted himself completely, it wouldn’t be enough to even be a nuisance to the enemy.

Therefore, only game characters controlled by Players could harm the Abyss Offspring Egg.

"Uh... It seems the Chen Country’s army failed to create weapons by hand. How did you manage to succeed?" Hand of God asked, impressed by Wang Linchi’s capabilities.

"Under the Game System’s full control, it’s bound to fail. However, on the city wall, the Game System’s power is significantly weakened and no longer poses a restriction. I’ve experimented with this before, so you can rest assured," Wang Linchi reassured them.

"Damn, I didn’t expect you to have such methods! Could your real identity be..." Green Plum Brews Wine exclaimed, initially stunned but then accepting Wang Linchi’s explanation.

"No, I’m just an ordinary person," Wang Linchi replied quickly.

The three of them chatted back and forth, and half an hour passed quickly.

Ye Tian returned with the items, his efficiency remarkable.

"The items are here. See if they’re enough," Ye Tian said, taking out a large quantity of items and placing them on the table.

Wang Linchi carefully checked them and nodded. "Quite a few things are missing, but it’s okay. These can be used."

"There’s one more thing I need to mention beforehand. Due to interference, I might not be able to clear the path all the way to the Abyss Offspring Egg’s location. You’ll have to clear the last hundred meters or so yourselves," Wang Linchi warned preemptively.

"No problem. Just do your best," Ye Tian said, not questioning why. The fact that he was able to help them get within a hundred meters of their target was already incredibly helpful.

"And what about you? Will you stay behind after clearing the path?" Green Plum Brews Wine asked.

"Don’t worry, I won’t run off. I’ll find a way to catch up with you," Wang Linchi said, certainly not wanting to miss out.

If there was a chance to obtain the Protagonist’s Aura from the Abyss Offspring Egg, that would naturally be for the best.

Anyway, he wouldn’t really die. At worst, he’d just have to go back and rest for a while.

"Alright, take care of yourself," Ye Tian instructed. In his view, everyone’s hands were tied. If they failed, Wang Linchi wouldn’t escape the fate of erasure either, even if he remained on the city wall.