Chapter 279 – Joint Expedition

“Thank you, brother, for lending a hand.”

At the outskirts of the Border Zone, the two surviving Lords wiped cold sweat from their foreheads, their hearts still trembling with fear.

Taking advantage of the blazing flames that reddened the sky, they had desperately shaken off the pursuit of the Frenzied Serpent Tide and finally escaped with their lives.

“I only did what little I could. In truth, the Frenzied Serpent Tide wouldn’t have had much strength left to chase you much longer,” said Mu Yuan.

It was he who had dispatched General Dolai to rescue the fleeing Lords from beneath the serpent wave.

He wasn’t one to sacrifice himself for others, but with the power at his disposal, he couldn’t stand by and watch people die. As he had said, using large-scale attacks with explosive force to slightly curb the advancing momentum of the serpent wave wasn’t difficult or dangerous.

Of course, exceptions existed to everything. If a legendary being had been lurking within the serpent wave, General Dolai might not have returned.

For this reason, Lord Mu had General Dolai split off a portion of its body to remain with the team.

“It’s a pity about the other Lord,” he said.

All three fleeing individuals were Lord players. When faced with the great crisis, they had stored their surviving elites and commanders in their Mark Space, then mounted their fastest-flying subordinates and fled with all their might.

One of them was City Lord Li Yao, whom Mu Yuan had met before. He was being carried in a princess carry by a Peak Warlord Tier spirit, still trembling with residual fear.

Another was Lord Ji Zhibiao of Thundering Roar, who rode a Thunder Soaring Dragon and was the fastest flying Lord. Yet even so, he remained badly shaken.

“What exactly did you encounter?” Mu Yuan asked.

City Lord Li Yao replied, “After entering the Border Zone, I didn’t encounter any powerful Snakemen until I reached a certain depth. There, I discovered Snakemen constructing totem pillars. It was then that I met the other two Lords. The three of us discussed it and decided to take action decisively…”

If it had been just one person with one army, they might have hesitated repeatedly. But with three Lords, all of them above-average veteran Lords, how could they fear a mere group of Snakemen?

“At first, it went as we predicted. These Snakemen had strong combat power, but they still weren’t our match. We advanced steadily and methodically, gradually eliminating them as we pushed forward, until suddenly…

“The ground collapsed. Beneath the collapsed earth were terrifying serpent pits, one after another. Within these pits were countless, horrifying snakes that made one’s scalp crawl. They seemed to be constantly breeding.

“At that time, troops from all three of us fell into the serpent pits. The elites who fell in had no power to resist whatsoever – they were instantly swarmed by countless Snakemen and Devoured completely. Even Third-Order Warlord Tier experts couldn’t last more than a few seconds inside those pits. Naturally, we beat a retreat, but before we could get far, the snakes in the massive pits began to boil over, forming the terrifying Frenzied Serpent Tide.

“I just can’t understand how such a terrifying serpent tide could form!”

Recalling the recent events, Lord Li Yao felt both heart palpitations and heartache.

He had lost at least thirty elite troops! Not cannon fodder, but elites from his painstakingly cultivated ace corps that he had nurtured through hard work!

Now that he had survived, his heart was bleeding.He felt like returning, but this trip hadn’t yielded any significant gains yet. Wouldn’t heading back now mean a complete loss? He found himself torn.

“Let’s just withdraw from the interdimensional zone first and then decide.”

Mu Yuan spoke, having already observed through the Black Crow’s vision that multiple areas were being swept by violent serpentine waves.

This Serpentfolk Tribe was far beyond what one could measure against common monster tribes.

Moreover, their growth rate and reproduction speed seemed incredibly fast.

As Mu Yuan withdrew from the interdimensional zone, the other two Lords expressed their intention to explore the surroundings and assess the situation.

By this time, more and more exploring players had discovered the prowess of the Snakemen. Forget about exterminating the Snakemen and acquiring treasures—they could barely survive in the interdimensional zone.

One by one, they fled in fear, their hearts still trembling.

“Has the trail of that Everstar Lord disappeared?”

He asked, and Sophia nodded.

It was a pity, but not unexpected. A powerful Lord with multiple abilities wouldn’t be so easily tracked down.

Here, anyone could switch between being the hunter and the prey at any moment.

Snakemen! Foreign Lords! And who knows, there might even be legendary powerhouses watching this place!

Mu Yuan grew increasingly cautious in his exploration.

At this time, in the Interdimensional Zone discussion section of the forum, an official Lord employed by Taixuan Liangyi posted a suggestion to gather forces.

“First, unite our strength to exterminate the Serpentfolk Tribe and other monster groups, then explore separately.”

After all, the glow of the Interdimensional Treasure was not obvious. Explorers needed to search inch by inch, scanning with their eyes to have any chance of finding it.

However, merely entering the interdimensional zone was extremely dangerous at the moment, let alone conducting a meticulous, inch-by-inch search.

To explore, they had to clear out the monsters first.

This suggestion struck a chord with many explorers.

Mu Yuan was no exception. Compared to other Lords and exploring players, his Tianyuan Territory was only a few hundred kilometers away from this place. He was even more eager to eradicate this Snakemen monster group.

He could forgo the treasure, but the Snakemen must die!

Many Advanced players and veteran Lords immediately responded to the post, expressing their agreement. Of course, this was also related to the poster’s identity.

The poster had a golden verification mark, displaying:

He had many titles.

This was normal, of course. Many high-Rank players affiliated with official organizations held multiple positions.

It was precisely because this Amber City Lord was a high-ranking official of Taixuan Liangyi and a renowned powerhouse in the Boulder City region that he could command respect. Thus, his call to assemble garnered countless responses. If an ordinary player had issued such a call, the outcome would have been hard to predict.

“There are still some tall figures near the Land Between Worlds after all.”

Mu Yuan felt somewhat relieved.

He was just a small Lord who had recently shed his novice status. He couldn’t handle this bizarre Snakemen horde or the foreign powerhouses lurking nearby.

He headed toward the assembly point with Dolai, Sophia, and the others.

As for Deadbone? The Undead General was still within the interdimensional zone. It seemed to have assassinated some Snakemen and discovered some peculiar traces, which it was now tracking.

Well, it had been here for most of the day without engaging in any real combat, spending all its time in stealth.

That was to be expected.

If combat and killing were necessary, it meant one’s situation was no longer safe—at least, that was how Deadbone saw it.While other Lords who entered the Land Between Worlds were forced back by the serpent hordes, Deadbone advanced as if traversing a land without snakes, heading in a specific direction.

Mu Yuan was also moving toward a particular destination.

The rendezvous point was located southwest in the Land Between Worlds, still quite far from his current position. Mu Yuan deliberately avoided the Interdimensional Zone and numerous Snakemen patrols, so his progress was relatively slow.

Along the way, he noticed conspicuous markings carved on some trees.

These were signals—directions pointing toward the assembly point.

Most players had taken the publicly available course on Taixuan marking systems, and Mu Yuan naturally recognized them. These signals were likely intended to guide players who hadn’t received the forum messages.

The signals weren’t highly classified, but at least intelligent monsters couldn’t decipher them.

He moved through the dim, shadowy giant forest, stealthily assassinating any monsters that blocked his path and storing their remains in Dolai’s dimensional pocket, leaving no trace behind.

It was a perfect stealth operation.

No Snakemen patrols came looking for him.

After detouring for over an hour, Mu Yuan gradually approached the target location. At this point, he grew even more vigilant, repeatedly employing detection methods like Black Crow and Starry Sky Eye.

He trusted the poster, but one must always prepare for the unexpected. The consequences of an accident would be unbearable, so he had no choice but to be cautious.

This was for his own sake, as well as for the responsibility he bore toward his subordinates like Dolai, Sophia, and Rakshasa.

Earlier, Lords like Li Yao and Ji Zhibiao had lost elite soldiers who had accompanied them for years—partly due to insufficient strength, but also closely related to their lack of prudence. Witnessing this only made Mu Yuan more careful.

No accidents occurred. Through the Black Crow’s vision, he soon spotted a Taixuan-style camp beneath a giant tree in the distance.

Outside the camp stood several Lords, including the Rank 7 Amber City Lord.

…

The temporary territory had gathered quite a number of veteran players and experienced Lords.

“Another battalion has arrived. It seems there really are many players near this Land Between Worlds.”

“Probably because the Inverted Shadow is very conspicuous. This is a good thing—with so much power gathered here, we won’t have trouble capturing this Land Between Worlds. Besides, this area borders the southwestern part of our Xuan Nation. Eliminating this Serpentfolk Tribe will contribute to the stability of our nation.”

Lord Ji Zhibiao, known as the Thunder Lord, remarked.

As a Rank 6 Lord, he enjoyed considerable fame, and many players approached him to chat.

Of course, what made the players feel most at ease was the convener of this joint operation: the Rank 7 Lord Amber.

Amber Lord appeared very youthful, looking only about twenty years old.

In reality, he was naturally not that young, but his “Lord age” was extremely short—shorter than almost all the Lords present.

He was a prodigy from the same era as Cold Moon City Lord.

Though Amber City Lord seemed somewhat overshadowed by Cold Moon City Lord’s brilliance, Amber had one aspect where he completely surpassed Cold Moon City Lord:

—Amber came from a commoner background.

He originated from humble beginnings, growing up in an orphanage. Naturally, Amber performed unremarkably during his initial Lord trials but gradually climbed to great heights.

His journey was legendary.

Some said that if Amber Lord had started from a higher position, his achievements today might not have lagged far behind Cold Moon City Lord’s.”The Cold Moon City Lord is like the bright moon in the sky—Amber certainly can’t compare. Any achievements I have now are entirely thanks to the Alliance’s cultivation… Enough said, another legion has arrived.”

Though young and accomplished, he remained humble without a trace of arrogance, yet in everyone’s eyes, he seemed excessively modest.

He personally greeted each arriving legion, conducting brief registrations for the players and tactfully turning away those clearly lacking in strength.

After all, a joint expedition was no trivial matter. Allowing clearly underpowered player teams to join would only harm both themselves and others.

For the players themselves, the risks were too great—they might not return alive.

For others, no one wanted obvious weak links or teammates who’d hold them back in the group.

“Another legion has arrived. Let me see… Oh, it’s the Silver Mercenary Corps!”

“What? The Silver Corps? And both their leader ‘Silver Eye’ and deputy leader ‘Silver Left Hand’ are here.”

Though all members of the Silver Mercenary Corps were ranger players rather than lords, as a top-tier mercenary group active in the Boulder City region, their comprehensive strength was quite formidable.

Comparing by mercenary corps standards, the Silver Corps’ power surpassed that of most lord-led legions present.

Undoubtedly, the arrival of the Silver Mercenary Corps was uplifting news for players determined to eradicate the powerful Snakemen threat, meaning the joint force had grown stronger.

“Next to arrive is Lord Tuna.”

“Lord Tuna? Seems to be from the White Shark Group, that rookie lord who made the Trial Golden Rankings.”

Some voiced admiration, but it was merely passing praise without causing much stir.

Lord Tuna might be outstanding among his peers with a promising future, but here he was just an ordinary third-tier lord.

‘Ordinary’ was even a diplomatic way to put it.

Lord Tuna barely met the minimum entry requirements for the joint expedition.

Of course, veteran players had to admit that the several four-armed mermen accompanying Lord Tuna looked quite formidable. Rookie lords always managed to produce some astonishing commanders.

At this moment, Mu Yuan arrived leading a legion of over a hundred troops.

A player maintaining order came forward to inquire.

“We need to register information to prevent lords from nations like Eternal Star or Divine Wood from mixing in.”

“Understandable.”

Mu Yuan said.

Primarily, it was to prove they were players from the Xuan Nation.

The best verification method was through forum communication, though well-known lords recognized by many could skip this process.

“Oh, I know this brother. I can vouch for him. He’s…”

At this point, the approaching Lord Li Yao suddenly hesitated.

Which lord was this brother again? He realized he hadn’t asked earlier.

Not wanting to trouble the player maintaining order, Mu Yuan agreed on a verification method and soon confirmed his identity as the Taixuan Lord through forum communication.

“So you’re the renowned Lord Mu Yuan who discovered the foreign power’s traces! My apologies for not recognizing you earlier—I’ve long heard of your great name.”

The player showed respect.

A lord capable of detecting foreign power traces and posting warnings on the forum naturally deserved admiration, though “long heard of your great name” was more of a polite formality.Accessing the advanced section requires real-name verification, but who is this ‘Mu Yuan’? Never heard of him before?

A certain player fell into deep thought.

An hour after Mu Yuan arrived at the temporary camp, the team leader, the Amber City Lord, announced the official commencement of the joint expedition.

“For this joint operation, we will advance steadily in the following formation, eliminating the Snakemen strongholds one by one. Amber City will not overstep its authority in command—our various legions need only support each other.”

“Once the expedition concludes, the spoils obtained during the campaign will be distributed according to the cooperation treaty, with priority given to those with the highest contributions.”

“Now, let us set off. May we… achieve immediate victory!”

A massive army, comprising twenty to thirty legions and player teams, assembled and crushed the Snakemen monsters blocking their path one after another.

(End of Chapter)