173: Chapter 173 City Lord's Token
Jiang He had just logged on.
He noticed the respawn point was constantly flashing with white light.
Every player's face was filled with rage.
"Damn it, I'll fight them to the death!"
A warrior player, having just respawned, shouldered his weapon and charged out of the city gates again without hesitation.
Jiang He moved as fast as the wind, reaching the outskirts of the city in a few steps.
His jaw nearly hit the floor in shock.
They had previously speculated that the seventh wave of the beast tide would likely consist of level 80 or 90 BOSSes.
But in reality, the lowest level in the entire BOSS legion was level 90?
Behind them were countless level 100 BOSSes.
And at the very back stood three massive figures.
Through the mist, three pairs of crimson eyes could be seen blinking incessantly.
Bang—
A heavy thud rang out.
Shi Gandang was sent flying, landing right in front of Jiang He.
"Holy crap, Brother Jiang, you're finally online."
"What's going on? Isn't there still over an hour left?"
"Who knows? We were in the city discussing the battle plan when these monsters suddenly attacked."
Jiang He stared ahead; he had been offline for less than two hours.
The beast tide had started less than ten minutes ago.
The overall level of the players had been dragged down quite a bit.
At that moment, Xie Yunzhou and the others spotted him and hurriedly ran over.
"Big brother, what should we do?"
"What else can we do? Fight!" Jiang He raised his daggers and lunged into the swarm of monsters.
He had planned earlier not to use the cheat system to stack buffs unless absolutely necessary.
The cheat system had recently become increasingly proficient with its top-up function.
It had changed from an initial daily spending limit to only three uses per day.
Twenty minutes per use.
And the BOSSes before him were clearly not something he could handle alone within an hour.
"Hunting Squad, charge with me!" Xie Yunzhou commanded.
Five thousand players quickly assembled from the crowd.
All of them were Warriors or Paladins.
This was the team they had formed temporarily.
Elites handpicked from Storm City.
Their average level was above 65.
They charged toward Jiang He's position like gods of slaughter.
Struggling to resist the BOSSes' attacks.
"Everyone has ten chances! Go all out!" Jiang He shouted.
He had discussed it with the cheat system before.
Whether he could use top-ups to resurrect other players.
The answer was affirmative.
But there were limits on both price and frequency.
For Jiang He to resurrect himself once now required a top-up of 500 yuan.
But resurrecting someone else once actually cost 5,000 yuan.
And that was just the starting price.
Ten chances per person.
The cost of each resurrection was double the previous one.
The maximum the cheat system could handle currently was providing this protection to five thousand people simultaneously.
This meant Jiang He would have to spend over five million on each person.
In total, that was over twenty billion.
Though it pained him, this was the best plan he could devise using the cheat system.
The battle lasted from day until night.
More than half of the five-thousand-strong Hunting Squad had been lost.
The remaining people didn't have many resurrection chances left either.
Not to mention the other ordinary players.
30% of the people in Storm City had already returned to the Novice Village.
Fortunately, the level 90 BOSSes had been mostly cleared out.
But at a time like this, Jiang He's brow furrowed even tighter.
At this rate, although they could withstand this beast tide using human wave tactics...
...the price was simply too high.
By the time the beast tide ended, there probably wouldn't be many players left in Storm City.
"This won't do. The losses are too great at this rate," Jiang He shouted.
Everyone was still resisting stubbornly; no one spoke, all waiting for his next command.
Jiang He looked toward the three behemoths at the enemy's rear.
He knew the principle of "to catch the bandits, first catch their leader."
But because the distance was too great, he couldn't lead a charge through.
Although he could sneak over using his stealth skill...
...the moment he left the Hunting Squad's range, the cheat system would no longer be able to protect them.
Watching the players around him fall, rise, and fall again...
He gritted his teeth. "Brothers, the original plan is canceled! Hold the line with everything you've got!"
"Yes!" thousands of people responded in unison.
Jiang He turned and grabbed Old Xie. "Old Xie, do you dare charge over there with me?" He pointed to the enemy's rear.
"Damn, Big Brother, you underestimate me. Why wouldn't I dare? Let's just do it!"
"Good." Jiang He quickly looked at Bai Yi and the others.
"You guys hold the line here. Old Xie and I will sneak over."
In the next second, both of them vanished from the spot.
They moved cautiously all the way, for fear of alerting the other BOSSes.
But when they entered the mist, they were both stunned.
[Shadow Yaksha · Rank 1 BOSS · perfect grade]
Human torso, snake tail, dozens of meters tall, and deep blue all over.
Judging by its appearance, it seemed to be a female monster with long blue hair draped over its shoulders.
It held a black steel trident in its hand.
[Nightmare Ghost Princess · Rank 2 BOSS · Epic Grade]
Though not as massive as the Yaksha, she was at least five meters tall.
Her appearance was almost indistinguishable from a human.
Yellow skin, long red hair, wearing a white robe, with crimson light flashing in her eyes.
[Rotten Bone Ghoul · Rank 3 BOSS · Legendary Grade]
Its height was even greater than the Yaksha's.
Its body was pitch black, covered in rotting flesh, and emitted a foul stench.
Beneath the rotting flesh, ghastly white bones were faintly visible.
"B-Big Brother, are you sure this is something the two of us can actually fight?" Xie Yunzhou's legs turned to jelly.
The two had been holding hands on the way here, fearing they might get separated.
At this moment, he could also feel Jiang He's body trembling slightly.
Jiang He swallowed hard.
He cried out in his heart: "C-cheat system, can we win this?"
[Kid, that Rank 1 BOSS is nothing to fear, but the other two are a bit troublesome.]
"Ah? Even stacking buffs won't work?"
[Yeah. At this stage, the most I can do is boost you to the peak of Rank 2.]
At that moment, Jiang He's mind was in a turmoil.
Was Storm City really finished?
He was unwilling to accept it, but the gap in strength was right there; even with the cheat system, he couldn't defeat these three monsters.
Just as he was falling into despair...
...he suddenly saw a familiar figure.
"What the hell? Why did you come here too?" Xie Yunzhou was the first to shout.
Thomas was covered in blood, his portly body frozen in place as he looked around.
He clearly couldn't see where Xie Yunzhou and Jiang He were.
Xie Yunzhou stepped forward and grabbed him.
"Shit, get down!"
The next second, the three of them were crouching on the ground, communicating in hushed voices.
"Who told you to come here? Get back now!" Xie Yunzhou scolded.
But Thomas shook his head, his face full of determination.
"Brother Xie, since I was the one who caused this trouble, I should be the one to end this battle."
"End my ass! Are you blind? Do you have no idea what level those three monsters are?"
Thomas lowered his head and sighed, then looked at Xie Yunzhou with a resolute gaze.
"Brother Xie, take this."
He handed over a token that emitted a faint light.
Xie Yunzhou was instantly shocked.
"What the fuck? The City Lord Token? Why are you giving this to me?"
Thomas smiled bitterly. "Although I'm still a bit uneasy about handing Storm City over to you... I believe you can lead everyone to survival."
As soon as he finished speaking, Thomas spun around and raised his sword toward the sky.
"Those who touch my Storm City, die—!"