Chapter 182 – The Long Waterway (Part 5)

The instigators of the “group trash-talking incident” were the Outer Flame Legion. Of course, they hadn’t intentionally set out to disrupt the harmonious atmosphere aboard the Perfect Storm—if such a thing even existed. It was just that after narrowly escaping disaster and facing a ship full of “temporary teammates” who were clearly there to watch the show, complaining a little was only human—

Angel of the Gods: “You guys really watched the whole thing from start to finish, huh?”

Flame of the Gods: “Fine. Don’t come crying when you get wrecked next time.”

Fang Zheng, who had unwittingly become part of Dragon Wonton’s “family,” initially felt angry when he heard these words. But later, he got too caught up in bonding with Dragon Wonton and forgot about it. However, the onlookers had nothing better to do. Having finally found an opportunity to engage, they weren’t about to let it slip.

The first lucky spectator to jump into the fray was Silence: “Oh, you guys weren’t just watching during the world boss fight on Skull Island. Your DPS was downright wild.”

Outer Flame wasn’t happy: “When fighting over a boss, it’s all about DPS. That’s the ironclad rule in any game.”

Silence was even less happy: “That’s for DPSing the boss, not us!”

“…” The Outer Flame Legion fell into deep existential contemplation.

The second lucky spectator, Midnight Scream, impatiently cut in: “What’s the big deal about DPSing you guys? It’s not like you wiped. The two of us were lying at their feet for half an hour—not only did they refuse to resurrect us, but they kept stepping on our faces!”

Outer Flame temporarily abandoned their existential crisis: “Who the hell checks the ground during a boss fight?!”

Big H chimed in pitifully: “Forget the boss fight—when I was lying there, barely alive and completely harmless, right in the middle of the path, you guys just walked right over me! The surroundings were lush with pine trees and birds singing—even the most heartless person would’ve softened for a moment…”

“Don’t act like you were just some innocent bystander struck by a meteor,” White Dragon Horse couldn’t take it anymore. “If you hadn’t tried to ambush me while I was looting, would you have ended up lying in the middle of the path?”

Big H: “What ambush? I was just playing with you~~”

White Dragon Horse: “Fuck off.”

“You fuck off,” interjected Snow Drifter, the usually silent Legion Leader of the Return of the King server’s brotherhood. “But before you go, give Quicksilver’s Speed Bracelet back.”

“I threw out an AoE and the mob didn’t die, but he did—how is that my fault?” White Dragon Horse sneered. “And I don’t give a damn about his stupid bracelet. I’m not a speed build anyway. Besides, that was a dungeon drop—once it’s looted, the system reclaims it. I’d love to give it back, so why don’t you pass this noble intention along to the GMs for me?”

Quicksilver: “Fuck you! I didn’t bother with you back on Summit server, but I was still in Resurrection Sickness then. How about we duel right here, right now, and see who’s tougher?!”

Soldiers in Snowfield: “Forget toughness—my accessory got looted too. Can we report this to the GMs together? T_T”

Snow Drifter: “Was it this asshole from Summit too?”

Soldiers in Snowfield: “I don’t know… I didn’t see who did it… T_T”

White Dragon Horse was slow on the uptake: “Who the hell are you calling ‘this asshole’? I have a name, you know!”

And so, the bickering continued for what felt like an eternity, until—

“Sigh—”

A single sigh cut through the chaos like a soft drizzle over a field of firecrackers.

Don’t Stop the Meds: “If we’re all just being scumbags, why bother arguing over who’s worse?”

Every player aboard the Perfect Storm who had come from Skull Island’s Hard Mode felt their knees buckle.

The commotion seemed about to die down, as if this profound statement had struck a chord deep in every player’s heart…

“But there is a difference between groping someone’s ass and forcibly yanking their pants down.”

The drizzle was desert-grade—minimal rainfall. The firecrackers were black-market-grade—explosive overload.

This remark came from ice Iceborn. This Legion, the last to arrive, had remained silent since boarding the Perfect Storm. Now, their Commander had finally made their presence known.

Don’t Stop the Meds didn’t seem embarrassed. Instead, he chuckled and asked, “So, did I grope your ass or yank your pants down?”

“It’s just a metaphor. Pick whichever you prefer.” Iceborn’s voice matched his ID—cold, but not in a sinister way. More like the calm of absolute composure.

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Then I’ll take groping.”

ice Iceborn: “Fine. Then prepare to get groped back.”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Tch. Should’ve gone with pants-yanking…”

The entire audience, now thoroughly distracted, had already forgotten the petty squabbles. All they cared about now were the juicy details of the feud between these two powerhouses…

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Oh, come on, it was just your buddy’s Purple Set I looted. It wasn’t intentional—he shouldn’t have pissed me off. Tell you what, I’ll repay evil with kindness. Once Lover’s Constellation is over, I’ll make a few alts on your server and help him farm another set. How’s that?”

Don’t Stop the Meds, do you wholesale Purple Sets?! And looting someone’s Purple Set isn’t just groping—that’s full-on anal devastation!

“Hey, where is that guy, anyway?” Don’t Stop the Meds scanned the 50-player list in the chat room but couldn’t find the ID he remembered. The answer dawned on him instantly. “I remember your Legion had eight people on Skull Island. Oh~ I see~ Only six spots left, so you had to ditch the guy with the worst gear, huh? Ah, well. Survival of the fittest—don’t take it too hard.”

“It’s fine.” Iceborn’s monotone betrayed absolutely no distress.

Fang Zheng had started listening around the one-third mark, diligently jotting down inter-Legion relationships and grudges in a notebook, intending to use them as strategic material later—like who could be allied with whom, who could be pitted against whom, and so on. By now, his notes filled an entire page. At first, the labels were clear:

– Silence vs. Outer Flame: Outer Flame attacked Silence during a boss fight → Conflict.

– Midnight Scream & Big H vs. Outer Flame: Outer Flame refused to resurrect them → Conflict.

– Big H vs. White Dragon Horse: White Dragon Horse killed Big H → Conflict.

– Return of the King Brotherhood (Quicksilver & Snow Drifter) vs. White Dragon Horse: White Dragon Horse looted their stuff → Conflict.

– The Mercenaries’ Soldiers in Snowfield vs. ???: Someone looted his accessory → ???

But as the crossfire of grievances grew increasingly tangled, with new details of betrayal and backstabbing emerging by the second, who the hell could keep track of who stole whose mob or wiped whose team?! If Easy Mode was Monopoly, Hard Mode was Battle Royale!

The Ghost Server Legion Leader decided to close his notebook.

Did he even need notes for this mess? Three words summed it up:

Everyone hates everyone.

In other zones, it was Lover’s Constellation. Here, it was an ocean of enemies.

[Whisper] Polly: Feeling kinda bummed?

Since everyone had their mics on, they could only communicate via whispers. But the frustration on Fang Zheng’s face was plain as day to Meng Chudong.

Fang Zheng didn’t know how to respond. His own philosophy was also “screw others, benefit yourself,” but whether he was the one screwing or getting screwed, he could still find joy in the game. Right now, though, he couldn’t muster any excitement, no matter how hard he tried to adopt the mindset of an amused spectator.

[Whisper] Polly: Big Legions are like this. Once they reach a certain size, the game stops being just a game—it becomes a power struggle. Legion interests, member interests, balancing relationships… kinda like politics.

Birdy always knew what he was thinking.

Turning to look at Meng Chudong’s profile, Fang Zheng sensed he was lost in some memory. Suddenly, it clicked—

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Back when you were with Xuanyuan, was Huaxia Dominion like this too?

[Whisper] Polly: Pretty much.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: I knew you two had a thing!!!

[Whisper] Polly: I love how you always manage to twist the topic.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Don’t think sweet talk will distract me—I’ll keep twisting everything from now on~\(≧▽≦)/~

[Whisper] Polly: The boss is here.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Huh?

[Whisper] Polly: The Perfect Storm’s boss is here.

Fang Zheng still didn’t get what Meng Chudong meant, but the latter’s voice suddenly cut through the cacophony in his headphones—

“March, move!”

Fang Zheng quickly refocused on the Perfect Storm, intending to locate March and zoom in to see what was happening. But the boss was considerate—he didn’t need to zoom in. A colossal draconic creature had already emerged halfway from the sea, its body alone taking up a third of the screen.

The trash-talking stopped instantly. March, having sensed danger the moment Polly spoke, had already retreated to a safe—or at least seemingly safe—spot.

The dragon fully appeared from the water, its wings slowly flapping as it hovered in midair above the sea.

Strangely, it hadn’t made a single aggressive move. Even now, it just hovered there, silently observing the deck, its wings gradually stilling. It looked elegant, serene. Its appearance was downright adorable—its body ice-blue, its claws chubby rather than sharp, its eyes large and round, pupils darting around with childlike curiosity. Though its overall shape was that of a Western dragon, it had been deliberately stylized to look cartoonish, lacking the usual ferocity and full of pet-like charm.

Insidious: “Is this a boss or an NPC?”

Grave Sweeping Scroll: “Double-click it and find out.”

Insidious: “You go first!”

Grave Sweeping Scroll: “I’m just offering suggestions.”

Insidious: “Ugh.”

Bells in the Rain: “If you’re so brave, you do it.”

Trick or Die: “Nah, we’ll just talk shit.”

“Fuck it, I’ll do it!”

With the dragon’s appearance, all players had retreated to the far side of the deck, leaving a wide empty space between them and the creature. But now, an Assassin suddenly materialized in that supposedly vacant area—and “materialized” was no exaggeration. He didn’t walk out from the crowd, advance, and then reach the danger zone. No, he just popped out of thin air the moment he declared, “I’ll do it!”—as if he’d logged in at a respawn point. But he hadn’t just logged in, meaning only one explanation remained: he’d used the Assassin’s Stealth skill, crept to what he deemed the optimal attack position, then dropped stealth to engage.

“Am I the only one left on this damn ship with any guts?!”

With that battle cry, the Assassin used a Scroll and charged at the dragon!

[Combat] Ever Bright uses Physical Attack.

…Okay, this simple soul had genuinely just double-clicked the dragon.

But since the double-click registered as an attack, the dragon clearly wasn’t an NPC. Yet if this thing was a boss, it showed no signs of enraging after being hit. Instead, it lazily opened its maw, as if about to let out a long yawn—

[Combat] Ever Bright has died.

No, not a yawn. It swallowed the Assassin whole.

Swallowed him.

Whole.

…

In the blink of an eye, the moment Ever Bright was “consumed,” the cartoonish blue scales covering the dragon’s body cracked apart, revealing dark black scales beneath. Its pupils narrowed like those of a nocturnal predator, its claws elongating into hooked talons. Its maw opened again—not to regurgitate Ever Bright, but to unleash a torrent of flames that instantly incinerated the ship’s sails!

X: “This is…”

Ice on Fire: “A boss?”

IT JUST WENT FROM E-FOR-EVERYONE TO M-FOR-MATURE—WHY THE QUESTION MARK?!

The fire dragon was on one side of Ever Bright’s corpse. Fang Zheng circled to the other side, maintaining a safe distance as he chanted Resurrection. But Ever Bright had died too close to the dragon—the moment he revived, another fireball swallowed him whole!

Fang Zheng panicked: “Blesscallers! Remote Resurrection, now!”

No one moved.

The Huaxia Summit squad had no Blesscallers. And the Blesscallers from other servers? Not a twitch.

[Am I the only one left on this damn ship with any guts?!]

The words still echoed. Now, the answer was clear—yes, probably just you.

The fire dragon, now in full boss mode, hovered menacingly but didn’t attack further. The only player who’d drawn aggro, Ever Bright, was already dead. Ever Bright hadn’t been in a party, and Fang Zheng’s resurrection had occurred post-aggro reset. The rest of the players? Safely outside the boss’s auto-attack range.

“So what now? We’re not fighting the boss?” Fang Zheng had never been this frustrated in all his time playing Huaxia Online. He’d thought the gathering of Legion Leaders would be an epic showdown at the Forbidden City Summit. Instead? Whack-a-mole was more entertaining—at least the hammering was satisfying!

“Don’t rush,” Don’t Stop the Meds at least had the decency to respond. “We are fighting. But we need time to plan.”

Fang Zheng: “What’s there to plan? We’re all on the same ship—we fight together!”

King of the Gods: “And who gets the loot?”

Fang Zheng: “We all roll for it!”

Angel of the Gods: “That’s unfair to Legions with higher DPS! Why should we carry freeloaders? No way.”

ice Iceborn: “Who has higher DPS remains to be seen.”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “I agree with Iceblock here~”

Fang Zheng: “Can we focus on the real issue?!”

Silent Hill: “Like what? Holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya’?”

Polly: “No. The ship has stopped. If you have more than two brain cells, you’d realize we’re not reaching Lover’s Constellation unless we kill this boss.”

Soldiers in Snowfield: “After three days, we auto-enter.”

Polly: “Yeah. With zero points.”

In under a minute, all 50 players aboard the Perfect Storm had assumed their battle positions—Ever Bright was revived, and the other disconnected player had long since returned.

Though the major Legions insisted on not forming a united team (meaning only the highest-DPS team would get loot rights), as Polly had pointed out, points were the heart of Lover’s Constellation. Who could say this boss wasn’t a golden piggy bank? Maybe defeating it would shower coins of points everywhere, shared by all.

King of the Gods: “Everyone ready?”

Rain Ceases: “Looks like it. But your ‘supreme commander’ tone is really grating.”

Polly: “Save the grudges for later!”

With a strike of Netherworld Ghostly Claws from Birdy, the tank formation at the dragon’s front initiated combat! Once the boss’s aggro was firmly secured, the ranged DPS on both flanks unleashed their attacks! All Wandering Physicians and some Blesscallers were positioned at the outermost edges, providing support, while others stood even farther back, ready to cast Remote Resurrection to pull weakened players out of danger.

At first, everything went smoothly.

Though the boss hit hard, 50 top-tier players could level mountains.

Until—

One Night Resurrection: “The fuck?! Who hit me?!”

Trick or Die: “Could you not embarrass yourself? Who else would attack you besides the boss?!”

Dragon Wonton: “Uh, my bad. AoE splash damage. Sorry!”

One Night Resurrection: “AoE my ass! Check your surroundings before firing!”

War-Black Gold: “Shut up. You’re not dead yet—just chug a potion. It’s not like you’ll go bankrupt.”

Big H: “Black Gold, you got hit too? PFFT—first time seeing friendly fire in a boss fight! HAHA—OW! Which quack just slapped me with Crimson Lotus Holy Fire?! AIM BETTER!!”

Dragon Wonton: “Y’know, if we’d listened to Milk is Mom and formed one big team, we wouldn’t have friendly fire…”

Rain Ceases: “Wait, I thought we couldn’t attack other players after boarding? How’s this happening?”

Big H: “…”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “…”

ice Iceborn: “…”

Polly: “…”

Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: “…”

March to Liangzhou: “…”

No one answered Rain Ceases. Instead, more and more players fell into a chilling silence.

Finally, Rain Ceases found the answer in his chat log—

[Combat] Dragon Wonton uses Bloody Sandstorm on One Night Resurrection.

[Combat] Dragon Wonton uses Bloody Sandstorm on War-Black Gold.

[System] Congratulations to Dragon Wonton for earning 1 point aboard the Perfect Storm!

[System] Congratulations to Dragon Wonton for earning 1 point aboard the Perfect Storm!

[Combat] Ice on Fire uses Crimson Lotus Holy Fire on Big H.

[System] Congratulations to Ice on Fire for earning 1 point aboard the Perfect Storm!