Chapter 187 – Leadership Is Hard (Part 1)

The Perfect Storm slowly docked under the overwhelming dice roll of Deputy Commander Birdy. The shore was serene, without even a single vendor, filled only with shrubs of varying heights and a few weeping willows, their slender branches swaying gently in the breeze—a picture of tranquility.

However, the elegance of the scenery below did not infect the mood on board in the slightest—

Lantern Granny: “Zombie, come here, let’s have a chat about life.”

Mocha: “What’s there to chat about? Just kill him as soon as we disembark. Maybe he’ll drop something.”

Blue Skeleton: “Why wait until we’re off the ship? We can attack right now.”

Liaodong Iron Cavalry: “Sorry to interrupt, but since when did getting killed in-game drop materials aside from gear?”

Mocha & Blue Skeleton: “…”

Grave Sweeping Scroll: “You two must’ve power-leveled your way up, huh? Hahaha.”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Can’t say for sure. Maybe the future trend is for players to become boss-like.”

Everyone else: “…”

The pinnacle of bullshitting is making it sound both professional and sophisticated.

“But fighting and killing each other is bad for unity,” Don’t Stop the Meds suddenly shifted tone, becoming warm and amiable. “Zombie, I think you should just sell that material. Otherwise, whether it’s turned into gear or accessories, someone will always covet it. Materials can’t be dropped, but unbound gear can be picked up the moment it drops.”

Silence fell over the group, as they realized that even a trainload of Huaxia Coins crashing down wouldn’t have the impact of Don’t Stop the Meds’ razor-sharp analysis. What made it terrifying was that there was no exaggeration—it was just the plain truth, yet it made everyone shudder when they thought about it.

Dragon Wonton was already regretting revealing his glorious friend’s name. TAT

But Birdy just laughed. “Go ahead. If you can drop it, that’s your skill.”

It wasn’t the arrogance of someone who believed themselves invincible, nor was it resignation to fate. It was confidence within normal bounds, mixed with a carefree attitude beyond the norm. Don’t Stop the Meds smirked. While it was a shame not to recruit someone like this, imagining the thrill of crushing them was also quite exciting.

Birdy had no idea he was being fantasized about because he received a whisper from March to Liangzhou—just two words: “Thank you.” Birdy shrugged and replied with another two: “No problem.”

[Thank you. Thanks to you rolling away the purple material in one go, all the attention was drawn to it, and no one cared about my purple set anymore.]

[No problem. Everyone knows no one would be willing to sell a purple set anyway, so mentioning it would’ve been pointless.]

As the most marginalized class in Huaxia Online in recent years, zombies had developed their own linguistic shorthand—compressed packets.

[Flagship] Congratulations to Perfect Storm No. 1 for arriving at Legion Island!

The docking announcement on World Chat brought the scramble for the purple material to a temporary halt. Everyone’s attention was drawn to the sudden animation on their screens—a sequence of crew members disembarking. About ten seconds later, as the animation ended, the game screen refreshed, showing all fifty players now standing on the long-awaited land.

The Perfect Storm quietly sailed away behind them, disappearing into the mist. It wasn’t until the players tried to speak that they belatedly realized the chatroom had vanished along with the ship.

[Team] Milk is Mom: “Thinking about disbanding now, it really…”

[Team] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: “Don’t overthink it. All good things must come to an end.”

[Team] Milk is Mom: “It’s really a kind of happiness at finally being free!~\(≧▽≦)/~”

[Team] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: “…”

[Team] Big H: [pats shoulder] “Never thought you were so sentimental, Whitey. Truly…”

[Team] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: [moved] “At least there are still normal people on our server.”

[Team] Big H: “This is so unlike your usual style!”

Weren’t they supposed to disband? Why wasn’t it happening yet? If they didn’t disband soon, he’d just leave the team himself. This was exhausting. =_=

[Team] ice Iceborn: “Even though we were once on the same ship, once fought a boss together, we each have our own legions, our own responsibilities. If we cross paths in the future, whether it’s fair or not…”

[Team] Silent Hill: “Dammit, my lunch break is over! I’m officially skipping work now! Can you stop with the emotional speech already?! Just sum it all up in one sentence!!”

[Team] King of the Gods: “From now on, we don’t know each other.”

Crisp words—the most perfect breakup declaration from the Perfect Storm.

Forming a large team from over a dozen small squads could take an hour, two hours, or even longer. But breaking a large team back into over a dozen small squads? That took just a single mouse click—less than half a second.

At 13:34 Beijing time, Perfect Storm No. 1 officially disbanded!

[Party] Big H: “The team’s gone. Should we disband our little squad too?”

[Party] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: “As much as I don’t want to look at any of you for another second, we still don’t know the lay of the land here. Let’s stay grouped for now, just in case.”

[Party] War-Snow Wolf: “Speaking of which, don’t you think it’s a little too quiet right now?”

[Party] Summit of Mount Tai: “You mean around us, or in World Chat?”

[Party] War-Snow Wolf: “Both. Our landing was announced in World, but no one’s said a word. Weird. And no one’s come to gawk at us. Even weirder.”

[Party] Carved in Bone: “The other legions haven’t moved much either. Probably afraid of stepping on a landmine.”

Thanks to Carved in Bone’s reminder, Fang Zheng noticed that while the fifty players had split into over a dozen small squads—some heading east, some west—none had ventured far. He didn’t even need to adjust his camera angle; they were all still within his screen’s view.

Since they’d arrived at a new map, there had to be some hints about the rules or the island’s situation, right? Fang Zheng thought as he scrutinized his interface, searching for differences from the ship’s interface—maybe some instructions. But just as he finished checking the top-left corner and moved to the bottom-left, he suddenly heard Birdy shout: “Ambush!”

Without the ship’s chatroom, only Fang Zheng could hear Birdy’s warning. He instinctively zoomed out his camera and sure enough—from the top-right corner of the screen (the northeast direction), a massive wave of players surged out of the dense forest! At least sixty or seventy of them, clearly lying in wait for the docking players to walk right into their trap!

Fang Zheng didn’t hesitate—he immediately used a Defense Scroll. Looking around, he saw Dutch Chamber of Commerce, Iceborn, and Silence’s groups, who hadn’t gone far, were already in combat mode!

[Local] ice Iceborn: “Estimate 60-70 players.”

[Local] Insidious: “Which server are they from?”

[Local] X: “Probably a mix from all servers, just a temporary gathering. Pfft, rabble.”

[Local] War-Black Gold: “So what now? Guild War?”

[Local] Don’t Stop the Meds: “I hope they try~~~ [spinning]”

Fang Zheng understood Don’t Stop the Meds’ meaning. In terms of shamelessness, they couldn’t compete with the RNG God, which was why they’d been tormented by the slow-water boss. But in terms of strength? They were all well-known legions from their respective servers—who would let themselves get bullied by random players? But… they’d already exchanged several rounds of chat, and those guys still hadn’t charged over. They were running out of conversation topics—this was awkward!! >_<

Just as the Ghost Server Legion Leader was growing impatient, dazzling skill effects erupted from the northeast—they’d started fighting!

[Local] Ice on Fire: “What’s going on? Infighting?”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “They ambushed us just to fight among themselves? How boring are their lives? =_=”

[Local] March to Liangzhou: “A squad must’ve walked over earlier and entered their trap. They’re ganging up on the stragglers.”

[Local] Rain Ceases: “Pretty smart. They know they can’t take us all on, so they’re picking off the loners.”

[Local] Divine Strategist: “So who exactly got ambushed?”

[Local] Jigsaw: “The IDs are all crammed together like an ocean. Who the hell can tell?”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “Duh, use process of elimination then~~”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “Don’t Stop’s here~”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “Iceborn’s here~”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “Silence is here~”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “March is here~”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “Fly and Silver are here~”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “My Summit Server is here~~”

[Local] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: “Who approved this categorization of yours? =_=”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “Don’t interrupt. Which other legions haven’t been mentioned yet~~”

[Local] Quicksilver: “Holy Light Sanctuary, Frostbite Canyon, Silent Fortress, Fairy Dreamland, Return of the King, your Huaxia Summit… that’s about it.”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “No, I feel like someone’s missing…”

[Local] Flame of the Gods: “Fuck, are you all gossiping housewives?! We’re about to get wiped!!”

[Local] Milk is Mom: “Ah, right. The Gods’ Flame.”

[Local] Quicksilver: “Oh yeah!”

[Local] ice Iceborn: “Their presence is too weak…”

[Local] Ghost of the Gods: “Is now really the time for this?! We’re about to die!! Help us, damn it!!!”

[Local] Don’t Stop the Meds: “We’d love to help, but those sixty or seventy guys are disciplined—only attacking you, leaving the rest of us unharmed. We have no reason to intervene.”

[Local] Mocha: “Vaguely recall someone saying, ‘From now on, we don’t know each other.'”

[Local] Bells in the Rain: “You should reflect on why both the water ghosts and the ambushers target you.”

While kicking someone when they’re down and watching from a safe distance aren’t exactly praiseworthy behaviors, the Outer Flame Legion’s reputation was just… Even a merciful healer like Fang Zheng couldn’t be bothered to help. Besides… wait a minute!

Fang Zheng squinted at the sea of IDs in the northeast corner and spotted March to Liangzhou and Dragon Wonton. Those two were absolute die-hard fans of Outer Flame. And the fact that he’d even thought to check on them at a time like this made him facepalm. =_=

[Local] Angel of the Gods: “You bastards better pray you never get ambushed!!!!”

Eight versus sixty—no, being attacked by sixty—was just too brutal. Even Angel was on the verge of breaking down. But the girl was too naive. Who would stick around in this situation? The other forty-two players had already gathered and were preparing to make a run for it! Not because they were afraid of losing, but because they didn’t want to dive into a full-scale brawl without knowing the lay of the land…

[System] Mouse of the Gods has died in Pirate Zone. Every crew member of Perfect Storm No. 1 loses 8 points.

Dammit, I’ll fight you to the death!! =_=

No need to form a team, no need for voice chat, no need to type—the escape squad, united by their innate, unwavering dedication to points, turned on a dime and charged straight for the northeast corner! Instant pivot! That’s how badass they were!!

[System] Fist of the Gods has died in Pirate Zone. Every crew member of Perfect Storm No. 1 loses 8 points.

Fuck, hold on, we’re almost there!!

[System] Angel of the Gods has died in Pirate Zone. Every crew member of Perfect Storm No. 1 loses 8 points.

After all that hard work to earn 280 points, they couldn’t afford to lose 8 points at a time like this!! TAT

Fang Zheng, originally at the rear of the fleeing group, now found himself at the vanguard of the charge. Seeing the brawl zone ahead, he targeted a familiar-looking ID and cast Silent Nourishment—but it was too late.

[System] Dragon Wonton has died in Pirate Zone. Every crew member of Perfect Storm No. 1 loses 8 points.

Fang Zheng spat blood. Before he could even wipe it off, he saw a figure zip past him like an arrow, plunging straight into the heart of the brawl!

It was Don’t Stop the Meds!

Before Fang Zheng could recover from the shock of his speed, another figure overtook him!

Birdy!

Clearly, the relentless point deductions had pushed everyone to their limits. Fang Zheng understood—not only were the losses devastating, but the speed was downright insane! Losing 32 points in the time it took to eat a skewer?!!!

[Local] Big H: “Fuck, they’re trying to run!”

Though not at the front, Big H had the best vantage point, giving him a clearer view than even Don’t Stop the Meds, who was already in the thick of the fight.

[Local] Don’t Stop the Meds: “Wishful thinking.”

[Local] Polly: “Heh.”

[System] Paris Eiffel has died in Pirate Zone. Every crew member of The Prince No. 5 loses 8 points.

[System] Bubble Candy has died in Pirate Zone. Every crew member of The Old Man and the Sea No. 12 loses 8 points.

By then, Fang Zheng had also entered the fray. A single Crimson Lotus Holy Fire blasted an escaping Spirit Master down to their last breath, followed by a Willow Leaf Blade to finish them off.

[Combat] Milk is Mom has hit Shikoku Island in Pirate Zone, earning 0.5 points.

[Combat] Milk is Mom has killed Shikoku Island in Pirate Zone, earning 8 points.

[System] Shikoku Island has died in Pirate Zone. Every crew member of The Old Man and the Sea No. 7 loses 8 points.

Three messages appeared simultaneously—the first two visible only to Fang Zheng, the last visible to nearby players. While the exact scoring rules weren’t clear yet (like whether hitting players from different ships yielded different points), the current pattern showed that killing players from other ships awarded a consistent 8 points, while the slain player’s entire ship crew lost 8 points.

Shared losses, but not shared gains—this mechanic was clearly designed to screw over larger ships! The more people you had, the higher the risk! Even one person slipping into the sea meant a collective 400-point loss! GM, tell me this makes any sense at all!!

[System] King of the Gods has died in Pirate Zone. Every crew member of Perfect Storm No. 1 loses 8 points.

Never mind, GM. Don’t bother explaining. I’m exhausted. =_=

[Local] Left Eye Sees Ghosts: “Enough already! Can’t you guys hold out a little longer?!”

[Megaphone] King of the Gods: “If you’d come sooner, this wouldn’t have happened.”

[Local] Little Willow: “‘From now on, we don’t know each other’—your words.”

[Megaphone] King of the Gods: “I said it. But here you are, rushing over anyway.”

[Megaphone] Big H: “Like we wanted to! Who knew Perfect Storm shared one credit card?!”

[Megaphone] Rock N Roll Will Never Die: “More importantly, these point deductions are coming in like non-stop credit card alerts. Can you spendthrifts consider the feelings of us hardworking men for once…”