Chapter 183 – The Legion Spirit Burns

Every player aboard the Perfect Storm could feel the deep-seated malice from the game designers.

If Deputy Commander Birdy’s all-around, no-blind-spot surveillance system were activated at this moment, it would reveal that all the teammates’ turbulent thought processes were roughly the same—

Step one, question: Hitting players earns points?

Step two, consider: Bloody Sandstorm and Crimson Lotus Holy Fire have fundamentally different lethality, so why do Dragon Wonton and Ice on Fire both only earn 1 point?

Step three, analyze: Does it not matter how much damage is dealt, as long as you hit players outside your own team? What if you kill a player?

Step four, conclusion: Anyway, attacking non-teammates earns points. That’s the gist of it.

Step five, struggle: No, how could I do this? It’s so unethical, so immoral, so shameless, so unmanly! >_<

Step six, rage: Which bastard designed this game?! Come out here, I promise I won’t kill you!!

But the fifty hearts galloping with wild alpacas had absolutely no effect on the scene unfolding on the screen. Those who were DPSing kept DPSing, those supporting kept supporting, those slacking off kept slacking off, and even when teammates from other legions fell right in front of them, they still chose to ignore them and not resurrect them. ╮(╯_╰)╭

This was a war where only teams with high DPS could enjoy the fruits of victory.

“Don’t all stay silent,” Fang Zheng said, feeling extremely uncomfortable in the deathly quiet chat room. “We resisted the corrupting influence of dark forces and upheld the integrity of our legion leadership, didn’t we? Seriously, thinking 1 point could shake our righteous and heroic resolve? Too naive! Though it is a bit of a shame—no chaotic free-for-all for us, hahaha~~~”

No one responded. Only the static hum of microphones filled the air, making the chat room feel even more oppressive.

Fang Zheng coughed and said earnestly, “You guys are making me feel awkward here.”

“Hey, healer,” someone finally took pity and responded, “instead of spouting nonsense, how about healing me?”

“You are… who again?” With so many new teammates, Fang Zheng hadn’t memorized everyone’s voices yet.

“Damn, Grave Sweeping Scroll.”

“Sorry, no can do. You’re not in our team.”

“…” Grave Sweeping Scroll had only spoken up out of boredom, not really expecting anything from this guy—after all, they had the best Wandering Physician in Frostbite Canyon, Ice on Fire. But being instantly rejected still stung. “What about your leadership integrity?! Your righteous heroism?!”

“Well, different situations call for different approaches…” Fang Zheng adopted the tone of a wise elder lecturing a naive youngster. “Faced with the temptation of earning points by attacking teammates, we resisted the demons in our hearts and chose the path of the righteous angel. That’s something most people can’t do—that’s the caliber of a legion leader! But when it comes to fighting the boss, we’re competitors. Look, every healer only heals their own team. If I heal you, how could I face my own teammates? A legion leader who can’t take responsibility for their own team—how could they lead their legion to glory?”

“Let me remind you…” Grave Sweeping Scroll took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. “You only brought one damn zombie with you!! Can you even heal him properly?!!”

Fang Zheng: “NONONO~~~ Whether I can heal him is a technical issue. Whether I choose to heal him is an attitude issue. Water can carry a boat but also sink it. What’s most important for a legion leader? The hearts of the people! And don’t think my only teammate is Polly. The title of ‘god-tier server’ for Huaxia Summit isn’t just for show. We’re united, we’re hardworking, we cooperate, we strive!”

ice Iceborn: “So you formed a coalition team?”

“Of course! That’s why I, the number one healer of the god-tier server, am so busy!” Fang Zheng finished speaking before realizing the voice in his headset had changed. “Uh, who just spoke?”

“That’s not important. What’s important is who agreed you’re the number one healer of the god-tier server…” White Dragon Horse started but suddenly stopped, feeling something was off. After organizing his thoughts for a couple of seconds, it clicked—screw the number one healer. =_= “What’s important is that our coalition team is a secret! A secret, you understand?!”

Whether Fang Zheng understood or not, the others certainly did. =_=

But before Big H and White Dragon Horse could strangle Fang Zheng, a new exclamation erupted in their headsets: “Ugh!! What the hell are you doing, Silent Fortress?!”

At the same time, the combat log refreshed again—

[Combat] Trick or Die used Bloody Sandstorm and hit Angel of the Gods.

[Combat] Angel of the Gods has died.

[System] Congratulations to Trick or Die for earning 5 points on the Perfect Storm!

Trick or Die: “Sorry, crit happened. TAT”

King of the Gods: “So if it hadn’t crit, it would’ve aligned perfectly with your original tactical plan, huh?”

Trick or Die: “Don’t put it like that~~ Your princess was positioning herself so aggressively, blocking the boss from all angles. It was inevitable she’d get caught in the crossfire.”

Angel of the Gods: “Don’t act all innocent after taking advantage, Silent Fortress! You did that on purpose!”

Insidious: “How come when your Dragon Wonton accidentally hit One Night Resurrection earlier, it was a mistake, but when Trick or Die does it, it’s intentional? Such double standards.”

King of the Gods: “Dragon Wonton isn’t in our legion, thanks.”

Insidious: “Tsk, you guys are ruthless. He’s sacrificed so much for you, and you can still say that?”

King of the Gods: “By that logic, if I cried and begged to marry you, would you say yes?”

Insidious: “…”

Dragon Wonton: “…”

War of the Gods: “Dammit, who was it this time?!”

[Combat] Divine Strategist used Bloody Sandstorm and hit War of the Gods.

[System] Congratulations to Divine Strategist for earning 1 point on the Perfect Storm!

Divine Strategist: “Oops, my hand slipped. Sorry.”

War of the Gods: “Can you at least come up with a more creative excuse?”

Divine Strategist: “It’s an AoE attack, and you were the only one hit. Doesn’t that prove it was an accident?”

[Combat] War of the Gods used Bloody Sandstorm and hit Divine Strategist.

[System] Congratulations to War of the Gods for earning 1 point on the Perfect Storm!

War of the Gods: “Now I believe you.”

Divine Strategist: “Dammit, forgot you’re a Berserker too.”

For the next ten minutes, the boss was still being fought, but the battlefield had quietly transformed. Bloody Sandstorm became the most popular skill on the Perfect Storm, and Berserkers became the most carefree class in this battle. Wielding their dazzling AoE skills to damage the boss, they could also “accidentally” earn points with a slip of the hand.

Fang Zheng got hit quite a few times himself, feeling deeply aggrieved—not because of the darkness of human nature, but… damn it, the combat log was refreshing too fast for him to see who did it!! TAT

“Enough!” Finally, players of other classes slammed the table and stood up. “Just because we don’t have AoE attacks, you think you can bully us?!”

Once the window paper was pierced, whether the “hand slip” was scientifically plausible no longer mattered. If AoE attacks could slip, so could single-target attacks! In the blink of an eye, no one cared about the boss anymore, grabbing the nearest non-teammate to “slip” on!

“Weren’t we supposed to be each other’s angels—” Fang Zheng lamented sorrowfully, then casually gave Soldiers in Snowfield a Willow Leaf Blade as they passed by.

His 100 points had dwindled to 82. He couldn’t afford this! TAT

Ever Bright: “Can’t we just peacefully and amicably farm points off each other? Why does it have to be like this?”

Little Willow: “Hitting others earns points, getting hit loses points. How do you farm? You farm me or I farm you?”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Why does our ship always veer off course? Is this back-and-forth fighting even fun?”

Little Willow: “Commander?”

Fang Zheng: “Yao Yao, well said!”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Earning 1 point at a time? That’ll take forever. Just kill them—5 points in one go!”

Don’t stop him—he was going to murder this guy!!

No one stopped the Ghost Server Legion Leader, and no one stopped Don’t Stop the Meds either—the former because no one cared to, the latter because no one could.

[Combat] War-Snow Wolf has died.

[Combat] Lantern Granny has died.

[Combat] Rock N Roll Will Never Die has died.

[System] Congratulations to Don’t Stop the Meds for earning 5 points on the Perfect Storm!

[System] Congratulations to Don’t Stop the Meds for earning 5 points on the Perfect Storm!

[System] Congratulations to Don’t Stop the Meds for earning 5 points on the Perfect Storm!

The endless spam sent chills down everyone’s spines.

The various mechanics of the Perfect Storm were merely slightly dark, but Don’t Stop the Meds was the true Pandora’s box. And now, the box had opened…

If they’d paid closer attention, they would’ve noticed that the first wave of casualties were all Demon Refiners and Spirit Masters—they were closest to Don’t Stop the Meds, also a Demon Refiner. But there’s only so much wool you can shear from one area, so before long, the death toll included healers, Blesscallers, and even a few Assassins and Berserkers who had retreated from melee range to catch their breath.

But these were observations the players on the Perfect Storm had to make for themselves. No kind soul remained in the chat room to explain to the slower-witted—from the start of the brawl until now, 90% of the players had either muted their mics or outright left the chat. The reason was simple: fighting the boss required communication among everyone, but a free-for-all required communication only among allies. You couldn’t very well announce your ambush tactics for the enemy to hear, could you?

At first, Fang Zheng had earnestly, diligently, and desperately healed Big H, White Dragon Horse, Carved in Bone, and the others. But once the chaos began, he muted his mic and still focused on healing, only occasionally taking potshots at non-teammates who wandered into his attack range. So while his score had been steadily dropping, whether fighting the boss or other players, he’d never been in real danger—his HP had consistently stayed between two-thirds and three-quarters. Thus, when an adorable little fish approached him, he didn’t refuse.

But then the little fish suddenly grew rounder, larger, rounder, larger, and then—exploded.

Yes! Some unlucky bastard’s pufferfish—Fang Zheng now knew what this thing was—pet had exploded!! And Fang Zheng watched as his HP bar plummeted to a quarter!!

Having just finished casting Crimson Lotus Holy Fire, his MP was nearly depleted, making it impossible to use an instant full heal. He wanted to chug an MP potion, but a figure had already flashed in front of him like lightning! The attacker was so fast Fang Zheng had no time to hesitate—they struck immediately! His only option was to use the small instant heal, Silent Nourishment!

Offense and defense collided. The little bit of HP Fang Zheng had just recovered was instantly reduced to a tiny sliver again! Only then did Fang Zheng see that the attacker was none other than Don’t Stop the Meds! The earlier explosion had been his pet, and now, without summoning a second one, he’d taken advantage of the Demon Refiner’s Sprint skill for high mobility and gone straight for a physical attack! And the most shameless part? It was a crit!! What kind of Demon Refiner goes this hard?! TAT

As it turned out, Boss Yao could go even harder. For example, with lightning speed matching his physical attack, before Fang Zheng could even finish his internal monologue, Don’t Stop the Meds summoned a second pet—no, a second fish, just as requested.

This time, however, the fish was far from cute—it was downright hideous.

But Fang Zheng had no time to judge its appearance. The moment his HP was reduced to a mere few points, he’d chugged an MP potion. Without hesitation, he cast Ten Thousand Blossoms, barely managing to restore his HP to two-thirds!

Half a second later, the second pet’s attack finally arrived.

This time, Fang Zheng had a bit more confidence. While secretly using a Speed Scroll, he plotted to take the hit, chug an HP potion, and then flee…

[Combat] Electric Eel used High Voltage Shock on Milk is Mom.

[Combat] Milk is Mom is stunned for 15 seconds.

With a face like that, shouldn’t it be a vicious attacker?! Why is it a crowd-control pet?! AAAAAAH!!!

A 15-second stun was more than enough time for Don’t Stop the Meds to silence him permanently—hell, he could even fit in some SM before finishing him off. TAT

[Perfect Storm] Milk is Mom: Yao, let’s talk this out—we have no grudges, past or present. Why go for the kill?

[Perfect Storm] Don’t Stop the Meds: Sweetie, your score’s too high.

Damn it, he had no rebuttal!! TAT

Fang Zheng averted his eyes, unable to bear the tragic sight of his little healer being slaughtered by the Demon Refiner.

But after a long wait, the heroic sound effect of character death never came through his headset.

Confused, Fang Zheng looked back at the screen—only to see the Demon Refiner now locked in combat with a zombie, while the Electric Eel had long left him to aid its master against this new foe. As for the “one zombie,” well, it didn’t take a genius to guess who. ~\(≧▽≦)/~

“Birdy~~~~” Fang Zheng’s call was filled with deep emotion—the joy of surviving a disaster, the excitement of seeing a loved one, the happiness of being rescued by said loved one…

Polly: “Why did you just stand there and let him hit you? Do you like him that much? Willing to die for him?”

How the hell did you arrive at that conclusion?! Did you fail every picture-description test in elementary school?!

Fang Zheng: “Laozi was stunned!!!”

Polly: “He’s really charming.”

Fang Zheng: “Not him—his pet stunned me!! His pet is an electric…”

[Combat] Electric Eel used High Voltage Shock on Polly.

[Combat] Polly is stunned for 15 seconds.

Fang Zheng: “… eel.”

[Combat] Polly has died.

Polly: “Mm, got it.”

Would Birdy divorce him now? TAT

Fang Zheng knew Don’t Stop the Meds was skilled, but knowing and seeing were two different things. He hadn’t even seen whether the guy used a pet skill or a physical attack after Polly was stunned—his deputy commander was already dead. Fang Zheng stole a glance at Meng Chudong. His expression was as calm as ever, but his eyes betrayed him—flames were slowly igniting within.

Selecting the fallen Little Zombie, Milk is Mom began casting Resurrection.

Don’t Stop the Meds had already left to wreak havoc elsewhere, so Polly was successfully revived. Fang Zheng couldn’t heal him, so he had to wait for him to drink a potion himself.

But the zombie stood motionless.

Fang Zheng: “What are you doing? Heal yourself!”

Birdy: “Look at the boss.”

Fang Zheng: “Who cares about that now? =_=”

Despite his words, Fang Zheng adjusted his camera angle and zoomed in.

And nearly pissed himself.

When did the boss turn into a three-headed dragon?!

Was his monitor flickering so badly it was causing ghosting?! TAT

Multiple heads were bad enough—they’d just need extra hats—but why were its wings also growing larger, flapping faster and faster and faster…

“Holy shit!! The boss has gone Berserk!!”

Someone who hadn’t muted their mic roared. The next instant, a massive fireball shot from the boss’s mouth straight toward the center of the deck!

Fang Zheng’s heart eased slightly—after the chaotic brawl, there weren’t many people left in the middle, so…

The fireball exploded.

Yes, damn it, the fireball exploded, and its blast radius covered the entire Perfect Storm!!

[System] Perfect Storm No. 1 has sunk.

This time, the system saved effort by not listing individual deaths—it simply declared the entire ship… sunk.

Fang Zheng’s screen turned black and white. He was certain the other 49 players’ screens had also taken on this nostalgic hue.

The boss remained domineeringly cool in monochrome.

Static gradually returned to the headsets as players unmuted their mics.

“How does it feel to wipe?” March to Liangzhou cut straight to the point.

“Exhilarating…” Grave Sweeping Scroll replied with self-deprecation.

Some mocked themselves—others mocked each other.

Ghost of the Gods: “Don’t Stop the Meds, weren’t you having a blast killing earlier? Why so quiet now?”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Pfft. Smell that?”

Ghost of the Gods: “…”

Some were thin-skinned and afraid of mockery—others were thick-skinned and shameless. =_=

Fang Zheng sighed deeply: “I told you to focus on the boss first, but no, you had to fight each other. Heartbreaking~~”

Someone raised a hand: “Can I timidly ask when you said that?”

Fang Zheng: “Don’t sweat the details! We must learn from this painful lesson! Why did we wipe? Because we didn’t concentrate our forces to resolve the primary conflict! What’s our primary conflict now? The boss! So what if attacking teammates earns points? Without teammates, do you really think your legion alone can handle that thing? I know we’re all competitors—backstabbing is normal. I’ve screwed over so many people on the god-tier server I’ve lost count…”

Big H & White Dragon Horse & War-Snow Wolf & War-Black Gold: “We remember!”

Since when did voice chat have bullet comments? =_=

“But even though we fight and mess around normally, when it’s time to unite, we don’t hesitate—because we know when to split and when to come together.”

Having said this much, Fang Zheng didn’t want to continue. Any more would be excessive. At worst, they’d just relive the Skull Island scenario—no cooperation, an unbeatable boss, three days wasted, and entering Lover’s Constellation with low or even negative scores.

Silence.

Long, drawn-out silence.

He regretted it—he should’ve been more excessive. TAT

Still, no one spoke.

Fang Zheng’s heart sank to the abyss, the tiny spark of hope within him slowly extinguishing.

But who could he blame? The mechanics were designed with malice, the players were already at odds, and after the earlier free-for-all, the Perfect Storm was basically a deadlock. Maybe some agreed with him—March, Big H, White Dragon Horse—but they were waiting, observing, seeing if the silent players were worth their full trust.

Trust between people could be the sturdiest shield, impervious to blades and axes, or the most fragile sandcastle, shattered by a single wave.

Amid the oppressive silence, the black-and-white screen gradually regained color. The wiped team temporarily forgot their existential crisis about whether to become a family, unanimously focusing on their screens—

[Flagship] Perfect Storm No. 1 has sunk! Each crew member loses 50 points!

[Flagship] Perfect Storm No. 1 has been repaired and returned to the Twenty-Third Crossing!

In regular dungeons, a wipe meant respawning at the starting point. Clearly, the Perfect Storm’s respawn point was the Twenty-Third Crossing—and unlike dungeons, there was no cooldown. They could retry immediately.

But…

Did the system have to broadcast their wipe to the entire server?!

[Flagship] Fourth Uncle’s Sword: What did I just see?? Perfect Storm No. 1—isn’t that the most badass ship?? Aren’t the top players from several servers on it?? They wiped???

[Flagship] Teddy: Not just wiped—they lost 50 points too, LOLOLOL

[Flagship] Thunder Sprint: Whoever designed the negative points system, I love you.

[Flagship] Miss Zhao: Tsk, no one dares to speak up now. Pride comes before a fall.

[Perfect Storm Chat Room]

Don’t Stop the Meds: “That boss went Berserk around the 27-minute mark.”

ice Iceborn: “If we focus DPS and push the burn phase, we can kill it before it enrages.”

March to Liangzhou: “Rare to encounter such a premium boss. Pretty exciting.”

Silent Hill: “Slapping the nosy bystanders with my shoe would be even more exciting.”

Fang Zheng: “National… unity?”

The entire Perfect Storm: “Let’s go!!”

…