Twenty kilometers outside Linjiang City.
A luxurious black castle stood in the middle of the wilderness.
Large numbers of level 25 and 26 undead creatures roamed the surrounding area, seemingly guarding the region.
Yet in front of the ancient castle gates, crowds of players had gathered, turning this castle steeped in eerie deathly aura into something like a tourist attraction.
“Professional raid leader running Difficult Lich King! Follow commands throughout. Level 25 minimum to enter. Bronze gear politely declined.”
“Wandering guild recruiting a fixed team for Nightmare difficulty! Level 28 required, full Gold gear. Loot distributed by team contribution. Whales are our daddies—fair and impartial, no raid fee, open auction.”
“Qianyue Gold Run—bosses only! You don’t need to lift a finger; we’ll carry you to bid on gear.”
“Spare Ribs DKP group recruiting hardworking teammates! Build up enough attendance points and get gear for free.”
“Don’t trust the Spare Ribs DKP group! They steal gear and only give it to their own people. It’s a cliquey trash group—don’t get scammed!”
“Damn it, come out if you’ve got the guts! Stop yelling while invisible—let’s see if I don’t beat the hell out of you!”
The place was buzzing with the lively atmosphere of a game hub.
Just as everyone was shouting and milling about, the roar of an engine rang out. A massive mech arrived before the Lich King’s fortress.
The gates were not even as grand as the mech, and with so many players crowding the entrance, there was nowhere for it to land.
It hovered ten meters above the players’ heads, then vanished in an instant.
They had entered the dungeon.
“Holy crap, was that the Thorn Guild? They’re here?”
“They cleared the Conspiracy dungeon on Normal in fourteen seconds. Is that even something humans can do? How fast are they going to clear this one?”
“You guys aren’t comparing Lu Xing and Plantman anymore? You’ve just accepted that they’re definitely going to speed-clear this dungeon?”
“What are you talking about? How can a lone wolf compare to guild big shots?”
“Plantman? Isn’t the Wheelchair Mech Boss the strongest one now?”
“Exactly. A friend of mine just got to know someone from the Thorn Guild. He said their dungeon improvements all depend on whether the Mechanical Boss can fly—and you can’t fly in this dungeon!”
“You can’t fly here, sure, but there’s still huge room for improvement!”
They looked toward the speed-clear rankings.
【Speed-Clear Rankings, #1: Clear Time: 38 minutes 21 seconds】
The Thorn Guild had run the previous dungeon at least two hundred times. Wouldn’t they run this one even more?
Thinking of the rankings being dominated by the Thorn Guild in the future, everyone felt a little hopeless.
…
【System Prompt: Enter the Lich King’s Wail dungeon? Difficulty: Difficult, Nightmare, Hell, Abyss】
There were four difficulty settings, and the lowest was Difficult—there was no Normal mode.
Chu Fu immediately chose Difficult. The group felt a sudden pull and was transported into the Lich King’s ancient castle.
Because Shen Chi’s mech was so enormous, his mech form was automatically dismissed, and the mech was stored in his inventory.
The group appeared at the entrance to the fortress.
It was Chu Fu’s first time running this dungeon as well. She had looked up guides beforehand, but she already knew the story.
This dungeon contained a hidden encounter: the Lich King’s phylactery.
Destroying them after finding them grants additional experience, along with a Gold-tier treasure chest.
This was also why Gold equipment was relatively abundant in Linjiang City and sold at fairly low prices.
The dungeon’s drop rates were high.
Of course, “low” did not mean it could be bought with silver coins—it still cost gold. Besides, even on Hard difficulty, a single dungeon run took at least an hour, so a minimum price of three gold for Gold equipment was perfectly reasonable.
When Chu Feng had run this dungeon, he had also wanted that treasure chest, so he had gone to all four sections of the old castle. Naturally, that had dragged out the time considerably.
But Chu Fu had nineteen team members.
Chu Fu organized them into four groups and sent each one in a different direction to destroy the Lich King’s mechanisms.
Chu Fu’s own group consisted of Feng Huimin, Holy Healing Angel, Lu An, and Li Weizheng.
That was right—Major Li Weizheng, ID: World Peacekeeper, class: Justice Envoy, level 26.
“Plant Girl, the players from your Thorn Guild have only just arrived, and most of them are around level 20. But we can provide five level-29 players. That way, on your next dungeon run, you can bring along one level-20 player from the Thorn Guild.”
Chu Fu’s team had nine level-26 players. The four players who had not yet reached the dungeon’s level requirement were Feng Huimin, level 16; Holy Healing Angel, level 21; Lu An, level 21; Dream King, level 21; and Little Sister Wu, level 22.
By Li Weizheng’s calculation, they really could bring along one additional level-20 player.
Li Weizheng was not merely thinking of Chu Fu’s interests. He was taking this opportunity to get his own people onto the ride.
Otherwise, once Chu Fu and the others leveled up, and all of them rose above the average level, there would be no place left for his people.
It would be better to propose a partnership while he still had the chance.
Naturally, the fee for getting on board as carried players would not be waived.
Chu Fu nodded.
“Cooperation is certainly possible. But once the members of our team level up, we may continue bringing our own people, and the number of slots available to yours may decrease. Major Li, do you have any objection to that?”
“Of course not, of course not. It’s just that I hope we can maintain a long-term partnership. Could you reserve a few slots for us?”
He wanted to tie himself to Chu Fu. Otherwise, once Chu Fu and her group became stronger, they could simply cut his people out completely.
Li Weizheng wanted to secure one or two slots.
Chu Fu did not want to deal with such calculations. She pointed at Feng Huimin.
“She’s the project manager responsible for coordinating everything. You can discuss it with her.”
Feng Huimin instinctively adjusted her glasses. Once her level had risen, her exclusive item had returned as well.
She did not care whether Li Weizheng was an official. Back when she had worked for Wantoo Real Estate, the people she dealt with most often had been government officials.
“Major Li, I’ll need you to provide me with a list of the people you intend to include in this partnership. Also, some wealthy players are now offering higher prices. I’m not trying to raise ours—I know you’re short on gold as well—but I would like to exchange for some supplies in the real world.”
Real-world money had become little more than waste paper, while prices had soared at the same time.
Many necessities could no longer be bought at all.
A great many large supermarkets and shopping centers had gone out of business.
Feng Huimin had only just taken control of Wantoo Real Estate and converted its office tower into the headquarters of the Thorn Group.
For their group, it was only natural to stockpile extra supplies in preparation for whatever the future might bring.
There was no need to hoard food, but they needed to prepare some of everything else.
As for why they did not need to stockpile food—
Of course, it was because once Chu Fu reached Level 30, with Plantman’s talent, they would never have to worry about food again.
Li Weizheng and Feng Huimin were also deep in discussion.
Just as the two of them were talking animatedly, Laoji Fuli suddenly sent a message in the team chat.
“Once we finish this dungeon, I need to leave for a while. I’ll arrange for someone else to take my place.”
At the same time, Li Weizheng received a phone call.
His expression immediately turned incomparably grim.
“Have they lost their minds? Send an aircraft carrier and blast every last one of them to pieces—feed them to the fish!”
