Chapter 239 – Cleaning and Gazing

After leaving the boundaries of Baijiang City, Mu Yuan switched his power template to the faster-flying ‘Wind King’s Wings’ template, manipulating the power of the winds to carry Sophia as they sped forward.

Continuously adjusting their direction using the positioning software, Mu Yuan soon flew into the city of Jiangbei.

The city was still brightly lit but somewhat chaotic, with ordinary people in pajamas hurriedly heading toward shelters under the guidance of official personnel.

Further ahead, warning lines were set up, with countless glaring red lights flashing.

Some players arrived riding griffins, pausing briefly here before flying inward, disappearing into the vast darkness.

At the edge of the darkness, thanks to Sophia’s template’s adaptability to the night, Mu Yuan could faintly make out towering mountain peaks.

Bursts of flame erupted in the far distance, and the sound of gunfire seemed to echo intermittently.

Mu Yuan did not cross the warning line but descended instead, straightened his clothes, and walked toward the area with flashing red lights—the destination indicated by the navigation.

“Dangerous area ahead. No entry.”

“Players who have accepted the mission, please report here for coordination. Do not enter randomly to avoid entering artillery bombardment zones.”

By the time Mu Yuan arrived, many players who had received the notice were already gathered ahead.

From the players’ conversations, he quickly learned the situation.

The Border Zone had been contained, and no large numbers of monsters were pouring out. The internal situation of the Border Zone remained unclear, and it was likely that further exploration would wait until real strong reinforcements arrived.

However,

Before the blockade line was established in the Border Zone, many monsters had already spread to the surrounding areas, some entering Jiangbei City. Influenced by the emergence of the Two Realms Zone, several rifts had appeared within Jiangbei City, from which monsters had emerged.

“Your mission is to eliminate as many monsters in the city as possible and rescue civilians who haven’t yet reached shelters,” said an official player from the Jiangbei Association, wiping sweat from his brow. “Be extremely cautious. The monsters emerging from the Border Zone are not like those from rifts; they may include quite powerful and cunning Advanced monsters.”No problem, they’re just minor monsters.” With this Lord here, these monsters won’t make it back alive,” an old Lord declared.

He appeared to be using an Imperial Guard template, his gilded armor gleaming under the lights.

As he spoke, he summoned his own troops.

Lancers, archers, Halberdiers, and griffins emerged one after another from an open spatial gate.

The old Lord drank a potion to restore his energy and Mental Energy, then continued summoning. Soon, he had gathered an elite force of over a hundred troops behind him.

“No matter what kind of monster they are, my troops will tear them apart.””He was indeed a strong support.”

It was worth noting that in a prefecture-level city, there might only be a few dozen to a hundred Lords, and most of them stayed in the Eternal World, making it difficult to contact them quickly.

The arriving players felt inspired at the sight.

The official personnel did too, but looking at this Lord, he couldn’t help but add, “Don’t underestimate them. We have no idea about the situation of the escaped monsters. Be very wary of sneak attacks by Advanced monsters.”Additionally, players with relatively ordinary strength are advised to form teams.””

“May you all return safely.”Mu Yuan also stepped forward to register and present his identification.

After all, border areas were often a mixed bag, and those who came here weren’t always just players on missions—sometimes there were wanted criminals as well.

“This bracelet can record combat data to calculate merits after battles. The red button here is the distress signal—press it if you encounter powerful enemies to send an alert immediately. Similarly, if you see a distress signal, do your best to provide assistance.”

The official personnel repeated these instructions over and over to the arriving players.

When he saw Mu Yuan’s identification,

“Newly appointed Lord,”

he swallowed hard but ultimately said nothing more, only offering a brief “Be careful” before turning to instruct other players.

Mu Yuan, accompanied by Sophia, crossed the warning line and entered. On both sides were players hurrying inward just like him.

The deeper they went, the more desolate and silent it became. The city resembled a cold, grim steel jungle, with dark alleys where monsters seemed poised to leap out at any moment.

The players dispersed like drops of water merging into a lake, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Only the occasional distant explosions, like ripples in the lake, gave the falling droplets some semblance of presence.

Mu Yuan surveyed his surroundings, where traces of conflict were already visible everywhere:

Claw marks from monsters;

Streetlight poles severed by sharp blades;

Road surfaces cracked with spiderweb-like fissures.

Beside him, Sophia extended her hand, palm up. Her fair hand resembled a magician’s top hat, from which black crows continuously emerged, flapping their wings as they flew off in all directions, blending into the pitch-black night.

“Two giant wolves spotted at four o’clock, approximately 150 meters away.”

“A group of seventeen goblins at eleven o’clock, about 250 meters out—one of them is a goblin shaman.”

“Ten o’clock direction, roughly 200 meters…”

Sophia reported.

Mu Yuan glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, he used a faint glow to slightly obscure the bracelet’s camera. The mark on the back of his hand lit up.

“Lord, Lu Liu answers your summons.”

Mu Yuan summoned Lu Liu along with several Imperial Guards, halberdiers, and archers, instructing them to act independently.

“Without the Lord present, it’s safer to use human troops. Otherwise, they might be mistaken for monsters and attacked by other players.”

As for human troops…

Or more specifically, mainstream types like lancers, sentinels, and archers—these existed only as troops, not as monsters.

Unlike goblins, which could be either troop types or monsters.

While players could perform detection—identifying detectable entities as monsters, and undetectable ones as either troops or players—in the heat of battle within the complex steel jungle environment, players might instinctively attack any goblins they encountered, treating them as monsters.

Human-type troops were much more reliable.

The Eternal World indeed had no monster equivalents of lancers. At most, one might encounter humanoid monsters like ‘barbarians’ or ‘bandits,’ but these were rare.

The main issue was that without their Lord present, letting skeletons operate independently wasn’t appropriate.

Mu Yuan summoned twenty to thirty elite human soldiers, led by Niu Si, deputy commander of the Garrison Legion, and Uta, the dragon-force warrior.

“Leave it to us, Lord!”

Uta clenched his fists, already fired up, and quickly completed thirty push-ups as a warm-up.Mu Yuan: “…”

Indeed, not very reliable.

Fortunately, while Uta might be unreliable, his strength was more than sufficient. Though Niu Si wasn’t particularly strong, having followed Lu Liu for a long time, he was steady in his work.

The two of them paired together were enough to support a team.

Without Uta, relying solely on Niu Si at the Early Stage of Elite and most of the troops still at Professional Tier would be far too weak.

As for the others…

“The incident was sudden, and for the Lord to cross realms and deploy troops, the prerequisite is that his own troops are within the territory’s range.”

At this moment, Undead General and General Dolai were both out in the wild, conducting exploration, reconnaissance, or transportation.

Seventeen was also absent.

A few days ago, he had sent Seventeen to Stone Ridge Town to oversee their newly opened shop. By now, Seventeen was no longer as inexperienced as she had been a few months ago; she handled matters at least above the standard level.

He was relatively at ease with her, but it was a pity she couldn’t be present now.

Isloria had also set out with a merchant caravan yesterday. She was planning to go to Stone Ridge Town to purchase some supplies—certain pharmaceutical instruments and equipment that only she could buy with confidence.

So, he had her escort the caravan along the way.

Mu Yuan pondered, “Rakshasa and Red Robe are still within the territory. Although the Specter series might seem unsettling… as long as they aren’t seen, it should be fine.”

With this in mind, the back of his hand once again radiated a brilliant light, and the area facing his palm seemed to open into a dark, abyssal hole.

From within the hole, shadowy figures shot out, vanishing in the blink of an eye, seamlessly merging into the shadows beneath the streetlights and disappearing without a trace.

However, if someone were to stare closely at the shadows, they might see one pair of eyes after another opening in the darkness, too many to count.

“Each of you, lead a team to clear out the monsters hiding in this urban area. Be careful to avoid other players, and before you strike, make sure to identify your targets clearly. Don’t mistake other players’ troops for monsters. If you look carefully, it’s quite easy to distinguish orderly soldiers from monsters driven purely by instinct.”

Not far away, in the shadows, darkness silently spread to both sides, rapidly receding in Mu Yuan’s mental perception.

He turned to Sophia, “We’ll each lead a team as well. I’ll assign you some Halberdier Imperial Guards and archers.”

“Okay, Boss,” Sophia hesitated but then added, “But Boss, are you sure you’re okay?”

She was referring to whether the Boss had overexerted himself by summoning over two hundred Elite troops consecutively.

Earlier, that other Lord had summoned over a hundred Elite troops but had to chug quite a few potions to do so.

The more powerful the individual, the more energy and Mental Energy the Lord would need to expend to summon them across realms.

“The Boss can’t admit to being incapable.”

Mu Yuan waved his hand dismissively, “Do I look even slightly incapable to you? Let’s hurry and set off. Rescue operations are best done sooner rather than later.”

Thinking it over, the Boss was such a cautious… such a steady person, so there really was no need for her to worry.

Sophia then led over a dozen Elite troops and quickly headed toward one of the areas where monsters were roaming.

Mu Yuan assessed the remaining energy within his body.

Three-quarters left.

Summoning two hundred Elite troops was merely a drop in the bucket for him. For one, his energy reserves were abundant, far surpassing that of the previous old Lord. Secondly, his connection with his own troops was much closer, making summoning them incredibly effortless.”With one-fourth of the energy consumed, using Dolai-level recovery capabilities would require approximately 17 minutes for full restoration, and this is excluding usage consumption… Hmm, I really should use it sparingly.”

Mu Yuan also released several Black Crows, sending them to scout the surroundings.

In the darkness of the city, Black Crows were more effective for reconnaissance than War Falcons and weren’t at risk of being mistakenly killed.

He climbed to the top of a tall building, partially loaded the Seventeen template.

And drew a rare-grade Treasure Bow.

With such a barebones setup, he couldn’t even bring out 30% of Seventeen’s capabilities, but…

“It’s enough to deal with some stray monsters.”

Arrows shot out like meteors.

“First one.”

…

“Nineteenth.”

…

“Thirty-seventh, two of them were Elite monsters.”

Sophia murmured to herself as she darted through shadowy alleyways, relentlessly pursuing high-Rank monsters.

With the ever-present Black Crows, she had almost complete control over this section of the city, moving as freely as a fish in the sea.

“Found another big prey.”

In an underground parking garage, the lights began shattering one after another with sharp cracks. The flickering parking lot immediately plunged into profound darkness.

The next moment, the Lord at the center of the team threw out several illumination orbs, barely lighting up the underground space.

And revealing the monsters hiding in the darkness.

These were eight-legged segmented creatures, grotesque in appearance, climbing rapidly across ceilings and walls like spiders. They periodically spat acid or fired sharp spines, sending cars flying through the air.

All of these eight-legged segmented monsters were Elite-class creatures!

And the numbers… he couldn’t count them all.

In his team, many Sentinels and Lancers had already fallen. The old Lord felt his heart bleeding.

“How can mere stray monsters be this powerful?”

He was an experienced Lord who had been building his territory for seven or eight years. Since arriving in the Eternal World, there had never been such formidable monsters around his territory.

He had progressed steadily and gradually, expanding his territory until it had become a fourth-Rank town-level settlement.

However, in these seven or eight years, the number of monster Tribes he had subjugated could be counted on one hand. The last time he fought a Tribe-level enemy was three or four years ago, when he joined forces with two neighbors to eliminate a powerful monster Tribe.

Now, within hundreds of kilometers of his territory, it was difficult to find any trace of monster Tribes.

Peace and tranquility.

The old Lord himself had little experience dealing with powerful enemies – he was primarily a development-focused Lord.

“But I am still a Lord after all.”

“If I run away, how many other players could handle monsters of this Rank? I’ll fight to the end!”

The old Lord gritted his teeth, contemplating the heavy price he might have to pay.

Suddenly,

Darkness descended, plunging the surroundings into pitch black where one couldn’t see their own hand. Even the illumination orbs nearby couldn’t emit the slightest glimmer of light.

The old Lord grew frightened.

But two or three seconds later, the ink-like darkness receded as suddenly as it had arrived, like tidewaters withdrawing.

The old Lord looked around – his troops were unharmed, while in the distance lay the bodies of the eight-legged segmented monsters. Some had their bodies severed, splattering green and blue blood. Others were burning with intense black flames, turning to ash in the blink of an eye, though the flames didn’t spread outward.

These powerful eight-legged segmented monsters had all been killed in an instant.

And there was no one to be seen anywhere around.The old Lord gazed toward the exit of the underground parking lot. “It must have been a big shot who intervened. Could it be the vice president of the Jiangbei Association? But didn’t the vice presidents head into the Border Zone?”

He stopped overthinking and continued searching for monsters hiding nearby.

This was the top priority.

…

As time passed, Tan Moumou, Liver Emperor, and others arrived at the battlefield one after another.

With the steady arrival of player reinforcements, the situation gradually stabilized. The number of monsters in the urban area rapidly decreased, and residents who hadn’t yet managed to flee were quickly rescued.

Sophia moved through the alleyways, skillfully switching between the perspectives of various Black Crows.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

She hadn’t spotted any monster traces for half an hour, indicating the cleanup was quite effective. Of course, there were likely still a few monsters hiding in the urban area—those remaining would require more time to slowly clear out.

“But aside from monsters, it seems I’ve found something interesting as well.”

After a moment’s thought, Sophia loosened her team’s formation a bit more.

She then retrieved a staff radiating a brilliant glow from her Storage Ring.

It was a rare-grade staff, notable for its eye-catching special effects.

Holding the staff, she put on earrings and slipped rings onto her fingers one by one, glittering with jewels like a Lord born into a wealthy family.

That should do the trick.

She strolled around, continuing her search for monster traces.

Half an hour later,

a black figure crouched on the rooftop of a tall building, scanning the surroundings.

“Once I escape into the Eternal World through the Border Zone, the sky will be the limit, and I won’t have to live in constant fear anymore.”

“But even if I flee to the Eternal World, to a neutral city beyond Taixuan, I’ll be stuck without money.”

“Why are some people born into wealth? While a chosen one like me still has to work for others!”

His snake-like eyes reflected the figure of someone in robes, enveloped in a faint glow.

He waited for a moment, seized the opportunity, and leaped down from the rooftop.

His combat saber unsheathed, gleaming coldly.

His gaze met the eyes of the wealthy female Lord below, who had looked up.

In the next instant, his consciousness went dark, swallowed by a black tide.

Sophia walked into a narrow alley.

Before her, a Black Crow the size of half a person hovered in the air, its claws gripping the unconscious player like iron pincers, presenting his face.

Sophia took out her phone, opened an app, and scanned the player’s face.

“Beep, beep, beep~”

Information appeared.

“Feng Xiuke, Class C wanted criminal. The bounty isn’t in Soul Sand but Xuan Nation Coins, but 2 million is still a decent little windfall.”

She murmured to herself and continued wandering through the urban area.

…

Elsewhere, Mu Yuan took down a deeply hidden Goblin Commander and wiped his Spear.

He looked back at Jiangbei City, its lights still bright. As players continued to arrive, the flames of peace grew ever brighter.

Matters here were nearly settled.

But ahead, black mountains stretched into the distance, leading deep into the unknown.

(End of Chapter)