The walls built of black stone were extremely imposing, lying low across the plains like a crouching giant beast.
The entire town of Fengdu was built strictly with a side length of two kilometers, covering an area of four million square meters.
So far, only one city wall was visible, but arrow towers and cannons had already appeared on it. Countless archers stood atop the wall, staring seriously at the outside.
There were also multiple watchtowers outside the city, constantly monitoring dangers around Fengdu Town.
As Chu Fu and the others approached, the archers’ gazes instantly locked onto them. Some even began to draw their bows to shoot arrows.
But the next moment, sharp-eyed archers showed expressions of surprise, then actually bowed slightly toward them.
"We welcome the guardians and saviors."
They didn’t recognize these players.
They knew they were Awakened.
But the badges on them couldn’t be faked.
【Guardian’s Badge (Silver Grade)
After equipping, all stats +5.
(Obtained by achieving the achievement of perfectly defending a beginner village.)】
【Savior’s Badge (Bronze Grade)
After equipping, all stats +2.
(Obtained by achieving the achievement of saving a village. Saving more villages can continue to upgrade.)】
The badges weren’t just an extra piece of equipment; they represented military merits and honor.
"Esteemed ones who hold the Guardian’s and Savior’s badges, this is your first time entering the city. Please dismount and go through entry procedures first," said a very tall NPC, quickly greeting them.
A golden exclamation mark appeared above his head.
Clearly, there was a task.
Specifically, a beginner guide task.
Chu Fu landed beside him.
"This is your first visit, sir. I’ll assign a guard to show you around Fengdu Town."
【System Prompt: Fengdu Town guide quest started.】
Ah, they had to go through the boring sightseeing task again.
...
In reality.
【The Original Competition Academy of Sciences】
"Yes, yes."
"You flatter me, sir."
"Yes, I will definitely complete the task!"
Li Weizheng laughed like a blooming chrysanthemum, his face full of wrinkles piling up.
This time, their Linjiang City had stolen the spotlight.
Especially after learning that "Who wants to be a vegetable" had agreed to join the 【Original Competition Academy of Sciences】, he was praised for his sharp eyes and decisive action.
No, he had to strengthen security for Chu Fu and the others.
Wangxi Manor—he’d better send a full special forces company to protect them.
Before they acquired in-game powers, these gems absolutely could not die.
...
The Zhōngjiā official Analysis Bureau.
With the defense battles of Wangxi Village and Tianhe Village over, they naturally had more data.
"This Thorny Thorns guild definitely has an expert guiding them."
"Based on known intelligence, the distributor of the Mask of Disguise, Werewolf Tuge, is a minion of the Evil God, opposed to the Original System. The Evil God is like a virus code, invading beginner villages, inciting internal strife, and slaughtering players. In the end, it even strengthens evil-aligned players into elite black wolves. Players aren’t NPCs without brains—they cause greater destruction.
But Thorny Thorns turned this flaw against itself. Not only did they get over fifty free Masks of Disguise, they also spawned a big boss, killing it to gain 10 free attribute points.
The perfect defense of Wangxi and the counterattack at Tianhe Village truly opened our eyes.
In terms of attribute point acquisition, this team has reached the limit.
It also gave us a new way of thinking.
Can we replicate this plan?"
The subordinates exchanged glances, then began a heated discussion.
"Fifty masks alone are an impossible task. Killing five thousand people requires a resurrection spell in a beginner village!"
"How do you take down a wolf king with 5.6 million HP?"
"Counterattack also requires high movement speed. How did two villages support each other after one was wiped out? Might need a mechanic."
"Shouldn’t the question be how to achieve village defense within four hours?"
"Well, if two villages fight their defense battles simultaneously, village with a later sequence number would need to reach level 10 with a thousand players at least a day earlier. That alone would eliminate 90% of beginner villages."
Only then did the analysts realize what amazing cards the people from Thorny Thorns had played to pull off this grand slam.
Final conclusion: replicating Wangxi Village’s success was extremely difficult!
The head of the Analysis Bureau could only sigh: What a pity.
...
Wantuzhiye Tower.
Conference hall.
Wan Huanyu sat stiff-faced, expression unreadable, slouched crookedly in his executive chair, staring at the dense crowd of studio representatives and outstanding employees inside the meeting room.
Among them, Feng Huimin stood on the podium next to a projector playing a PowerPoint.
"The videos currently trending online are too widespread to remove, and the public opinion against our Huan Yu Studio is extremely unfavorable.
What has happened cannot be changed, so we must change our strategy—or solve this problem.
First point: I hope from now on, all studio team leaders will restrain their members, forbidding insults, personal attacks, and such behavior.
However, PK and monster stealing are not banned in-game.
If we get the resources, that’s our skill."
Feng Huimin pushed up her glasses, hiding her contempt.
She had originally despised such behavior.
But after all, their studio boss had served time in prison.
He was essentially a rotten, wealthy second-generation troublemaker.
As a high-level employee, sticking to morals meant losing money, while making money meant abandoning ethics.
So she turned a blind eye.
But now that Linjiang City’s officials had stepped in to support, insults in-game were bound to be restricted.
The previous thuggish tactics were no longer viable.
They had to restrain themselves to reduce the studio’s losses.
She emphasized the importance of this matter and instructed everyone to strictly follow it.
"Second, how to deal with Thorny Thorns."
"Currently, one of our studio’s teams, from server 0278888, is bound to merge servers with Thorny Thorns. Next, we need a direction: should we face them head-on, or develop in the shadows, trying to avoid their edge?"
Feng Huimin pushed up her glasses again, glancing at Wan Huanyu, and saw he was playing on his phone.
Because his back was to her, Feng Huimin could see he was browsing a black website.
It was full of all sorts of strange ads.
Feng Huimin frowned, thinking to herself that at such a critical moment, Wan Huanyu could still be browsing color websites?
Little did she know, it wasn’t a porn site at all.
It was the dark web.
Wan Huanyu was placing an order.
An assassination order for Chu Fu.
Price: 100,000,000!
He didn’t just want a killer—he wanted someone who had mastered in-game powers to personally assassinate Chu Fu.
Because Chu Fu possessed that kind of power.
"Master Wan, do you have any plans regarding Thorny Thorns Studio?"
Feng Huimin had to prompt Wan Huanyu; it was his turn to speak.
Wan Huanyu looked up, then turned off his phone, saying, "What?"
Feng Huimin suppressed the emotion in her eyes.
"Master Wan, should we attack Thorny Thorns?"
