BXBX NOVEL Chapter 78 - “Final Battle 1”
Last time on Apocalypse Lord: Hey you, do you want the game to end early? Just kill all 10,000 mutant ant bosses. Yeah, the ones that move so fast they leave afterimages, have high attack, high defense, and high HP. Yeah, I know they don’t drop anything when you kill them, what do you think this is, some sort of charity game?
This chapter has been brought to you by me and Smash10101.
Chapter 78 – Final Battle 1
“Should the winter not be hoarding food in order to survive? How come it became the mutant ants laying siege to the city??”
“Damn, I had prepared so much wood, wanting to not freeze to death in the last winter. This is the army coming, wanting to decide life and death…”
“In the past, I felt something was wrong. If it was an ice age, why would “100 or more players survive” be one of the conditions to pass? Would it not have been so easy? So they were waiting for us here.”
“Stop talking! Come to help! These mutant ants are so quick, I cannot hit them!!”
There was a ruckus inside the territory.
At the same time, mutant ants appeared on the east, southwest, and northwest sides. The players had to support them separately.
“Damn! The territory is too large, I cannot set up the magic traps!” one player complained.
The archer was going to cry. “They can basically dodge the attacks. They are too nimble.”
The mage, “…..what are you all in a hurry for? Wait for me to control the ants and then attack? If you miss all your attacks, aren’t you just wasting your energy?”
Before he finished, one arrow hit the ant.
In the next moment, the enemy was frozen into ice.
The players were overjoyed. “Great!”
“Quick, attack!!”
Arrows, lightning, water balls, wood thorns, wind blades, and fireballs shot out. The mutant ants died immediately.
In the distance, another mutant ant flew over, getting close to the territory.
Lu Chuan took out an ice arrow as he said, “Do not be in a hurry to attack, pay attention to working together.”
Yes, Rising Cloud City had experts. They could win.
Thinking this, the resident calmed down, and did not rashly attack.
**
The players who had survived until now mostly had rich combat experience.
First, they had been caught off guard, and had been slightly panicked. After a while, they reacted.
“Who has control skills? Come over here, make a team, go out in shifts!”
“Twenty people to a team, if you are not fighting, come back, pay attention to rest.”
“Where are the life skill players? Make rice porridge! The front line MP urgently needs to be replenished.”
With the hard work of all residents, the situation was temporarily under control, and the number of killed mutant ants rose quickly.
**
Realizing that the battle was about to start, Yun Ling quickly walked to the system shop.
The Tailor Shop.
Yun Ling said, “Focus on making purple quivers, simple bandages, high quality bandages. Stop making other things.”
Restaurant.
Yun Ling said, “All workers, make food to restore MP, the more the better.”
In the Blacksmith Shop.
Yun Ling said, “Steel knives, machetes, bronze swords, broadswords, seven star swords, chain mail, bronze helmet, bronze shield, metal shield, iron shield. After the battle starts, the equipment will be used up, and new equipment is needed to fight the enemy!”
After the order was sent, the NPC workers quickly started to move.
Yun Ling had a gloom over her expression. Most of what was stored in the warehouse was raw materials. Time was needed to create equipment. Could they delay so long?
The reason that she had not prepared so much in the past was out of habit.
She hoarded raw materials because they could make what they wanted.
If she had judged beforehand, and hoarded a lot of items. If she guessed wrong, the items and materials would have been useless.
Due to this, after preparing some strategic materials, she had stopped.
Who would have thought that the third winter would be a war, and the resources were short!
“It would have been good if Xin Tong Town and Rising Cloud City were in the same city.” Yun Ling sighed. “With Xin Tong Town here, the difficulty will be much lower.”
Pity, they were in different servers, and the number of mutant ants killed were counted separately.
Suddenly, she received two messages.
[F City — Xin Tong Town — Zhao Xin Tong: There are too many damn mutant ants, I announce I have given up.]
[F City — Xin Tong Town — Zhao Xin Tong: I have ordered all my life profession NPCs to urgently produce strategic resources, and will supply Rising Cloud City was much as possible.]
Yun Ling stilled. “You……”
[F City — Xin Tong Town — Zhao Xin Tong: I am not helping you, I am helping myself.]
[F City — Xin Tong Town — Zhao Xin Tong: The defensive shield can last a while. Before Xin Tong Town is breached, I will send all the resources, items, and equipment in the territory to you.]
[F City — Xin Tong Town — Zhao Xin Tong: If Rising Cloud City has any items and equipment you urgently need and that I can produce, tell me. I am willing to make them for you.]
[F City — Xin Tong Town — Zhao Xin Tong: Do not thank me. Boss, you have to win!!!]
Yun Ling had a determined gaze. “I will, I promise.”
**
Osmanthus Town.
After the cleansing of many seasons, there were only two hundred elite players left in the town.
Once, these people thought they were invincible. No matter what challenge they would encounter, they could get through safely.
But today, their belief was broken.
Before this, they never thought that they would not be able to even survive the first day of the winter!
“What are the mages doing? Release control skills!” a warrior shouted.
“The skill is on cool down!” a mage shouted.
“No more MP!” one person sobbed.
At this time, the archer aimed and shot.
The arrows were quick, and when close to the mutant ants, it suddenly turned into tree branches, and restrained the target.
The warrior had no time to be happy when he heard the archer say in sorrow, “I do not have any more MP.”
The warrior, “……”
No matter how elite they were, there were only two hundred of them. Some of them were even high level life skills players that the team had trained up, and they had no ability to fight at all.
The mutant ants were very fast. In order to kill them, they had to first lock down the ants.
At the start, it was not hard to do.
But, after killing twenty, forty, sixty ants, it was harder and harder to control and kill.
“If we cannot hold on and allow the mutant ants to attack the territory’s defensive shield……” Thinking of this, the warrior felt cold.
The first time, he was upset that they had used an elite strategy.
If there were two thousand players in the safety area right now, even if one thousand and eight hundred of them were not good at fighting, they could still stand there and throw skills!
“You think that I do not know the importance of control skills,” the mage said quietly. “I have no MP.”
The warrior, “……”
He had heard it, thank you.
No need to repeat it.
His chest would hurt.
“There are one hundred and eighty system NPCs in the territory, over two hundred players, and a level 2 defensive shield. How long do you think we can hold on?” the mage asked.
The warrior had a dark expression and said roughly, “I cannot guess, I will not guess!”
**
The mutant ants came after another, more appearing after the first ones were killed.
All of Rising Cloud City was in a nervous atmosphere.
“Time to eat.” A chef shouted, and delivered the rice porridge, rice soup, mixed grain steamed buns, and stewed beef.
One small team was resting. Hearing this, they went forward, pulling the steamed buns apart, and then filling it with the beef. They took big bites. “So good!”
The chef turned and saw the warriors outside the territory fighting with the mutant ants. He could not help but say, “Lucky that Rising Cloud City has many people.”
“Yes.” The warrior player was still full of fear. “Lucky that we have the advantage of numbers, we can take turns, and rest. Otherwise, who can endure this?”
People were not machines, they would get tired, and their attention lost. After fighting for a long time, the number of mistakes would increase.
Also,….even if the players gritted their teeth to hold on, would the system spare them? If the negative states appeared, they would be drastically weakened.
He opened the window and looked at the stats. He just saw the notification [Guard the safety area, kill all the mutant ants in the city, the game will finish early. (Current Kills 357/10000)]
The chef encouraged, “Work hard! Kill the ants and everything will end.”
The warrior player had a grimace. “This is easy to say, not that easy to do……”
**
When she had full HP, she would go out of the territory, and use her damage reflection to kill the mutant ants.
When her HP was low, she would enter the back kitchen of the restaurant, and make recovery items.
Yun Ling was very busy, and occasionally, she had to make time to exchange news with the players of the other territories.
[F City — Xin Tong Town — Zhao Xin Tong: Based on my observations, the red dots representing the mutant ants keep on moving to the safety area. Some are close, and come quickly. Others are far away, and come slowly.]
[F City — Xin Tong Town — Zhao Xin Tong: Like this, the territory does not have to face 10000 mutant ants at the same time.]
[F City — Xin Tong Town — Zhao Xin Tong: If the rhythm is controlled, it is possible to pass!]
Yun Ling said, “Understood.”
Just after talking with Zhao Xin Tong, a new message jumped out.
[Basswood Town — He Rui: Important discovery!]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: When there are different safety area in the same city, the mutant ants will go to the nearest one.]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: I have observed the movement of the red dots, and analyzed for a long time to learn this.]
Yun Ling said, “I know.”
[Basswood Town — He Rui: ……you knew and you did not tell?]
Yun Ling said, “No time, busy.”
[Basswood Town — He Rui: You just play with me as you want because you are in Rising Cloud City!]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: Seriously, Rising Cloud City and Basswood Town are in different directions. If we hold on, the mutant ants will first go to Basswood Town. When the safety area is breached, they will then move to Rising Cloud City.]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: In that case, Rising Cloud City will get more preparation time, and will not be surrounded immediately.]
Yun Ling said, “I am not joking, I am busy. I am preparing for Rising Cloud City fighting 10000 mutant ants.”
[Basswood Town — He Rui: ……
[Basswood Town — He Rui: Lunatic.]
Yun Ling smiled, unconcerned. She closed the window and kept on working.
**
The battle continued for an entire day.
When the characters on the top right corner became “winter, calamity day, 18: 00: 00” all the red dots on the map disappeared instantly.
The mutant ants who had reached Rising Cloud City were still there. They kept on walking, their forelimbs turning to sharp blades, their eyes flashing with cold light. They looked very fierce.
“No more MP!” a mage shouted anxiously.
“How about using a mob tactic? Just use our numbers?” someone suggested.
“The ants are so fast, can the slowing warriors stop them?” an archer raised doubts.
Before they could discuss a result, Lu Chuan took out a penetrating arrow from his quiver and casually shot it.
The arrow flew out quickly.
The mutant ants wanted to dodge, but the arrow changed direction as well. After being unable to dodge twice, before it would turn a third time, the arrow hit the target.
The ant’s HP immediately dropped.
Lu Chuan was not in a hurry, and took out a penetrating arrow again.
The mutant ant could not dodge it, was hit by the special effect arrow, and powerlessly fell to the ground.
“Done.” Lu Chuan announced.
The other players, “……”
As expected of the Standing Post Demon King.
Being in the same camp as him, they really felt safe.
**
Night was a time for relaxing and entertainment.
The pork belly was being grilled on the stone, and hissed.
The sesame cakes were sprinkled on the outside with sesame, fragrant and crisp, soft and delicious.
The meatloaf was chewy on the outside, and the filling was full of meat. With a bite, one would feel very satisfied.
There were also the scallion pancakes, the two sides fried yellow and crisp.
Mo Qi had a meatloaf in one hard, a scallion cake in the other, and was very lively.
Leng Bai picked up a piece of pork belly, and put it in his bowl, not in the mood to eat. “The red dots have suddenly disappeared, I wonder what is going on.”
Mo Qi closed her eyes in pain.
She had been pretty happy before, why talk about all this? It affected her appetite, and also others.
The members looked at Leng Bai at a loss, not knowing if they should take their sesame cakes.
As the deputy, Mo Qi had to come out. “I asked around, the first mutant ant attacked the territory at 08:05:23. In the morning.”
“Yes, the ants should only be active during the day.”
“When it is night, they will disappear, and give the players time to rest. This makes sense.”
Leng Bai was still worried. “Putting aside the red dots, there are still many problems waiting to be solved.”
“The defensive shield dropped 15000 HP. There is 100000 HP in total, how long will it last?”
“Food, if we are hungry, we need to eat. If we use up our MP, we need to eat. If we lose HP, we need to eat. How long can our food last?”
“After killing the mutant ants, nothing dropped. In other words, we have to pass the winter season relying on what we have stored up.”
At this, Leng Bai had a serious expression. “Once something goes wrong with one part, all of Rising Cloud City will immediately fall. The saying of a military defeat is like a mountain falling is like this.”
Mo Qi: When eating, could he not speak!! After hearing his analysis, how could the other people eat?
The members looked at their half eaten food, and were crying inside. “The situation is serious, so everyone should be worried and not eat?”
Leng Bai looked around and was speechless.
He was suddenly disappointed. “Never mind, you guys eat, I do not have an appetite.”
Then he stood up, and quickly walked away.
Mo Qi had food in both hands and her mouth covered in oil. “Ignore him! Let’s continue.”
**
In the same environment, some were heartless and ate well; others were twisting and turning, not able to eat or sleep well.
Leng Bai was not the only one worried, as there was also He Rui.
At nighttime, he sent many messages to Yun Ling, asking about the situation of Rising Cloud City.
[Basswood Town — He Rui: How is Rising Cloud City?]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: Is there enough food? Is there enough equipment?]
[Basswood Town — He Rui is there enough equipment to use?]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: Even more importantly, how is the situation of the defensive shield?]
Yun Ling said, “There is enough stock, the defensive shield has dropped by 15000, it is pretty good.”
Yun Ling said, “There was a bit of panic at the start, and then it stabilized.”
[Basswood Town — He Rui: Do not be so optimistic, the situation is more troublesome than predicted.]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: Right now, Basswood Town’s defensive shield is level 3, and the upper limit is 100000, the base recovery speed 5 HP per second.]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: After the first day, we had HP reduced by 24000. Based on this, after most we will last for 6 days!]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: Once the territory is breached, the other safety areas will have more pressure, and the HP of the defensive shield will drop even more quickly.]
Yun Ling said, “No matter, I am prepared.”
Yun Ling said, “A team finished a special mission, I can spend copper coins to increase the defensive shield’s HP.”
She had not lied.
[Name: Defensive Shield]
生命值：100000/100000
HP: 100000/100000
Use Effect: Block incoming enemies
Base Recovery Speed: 5 HP/minute.
Note: Recover can be sped up by spending copper coins.
The territory window had written this clearly a long time ago.
[Basswood Town — He Rui: !!!]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: How did you get the mission?]
[Basswood Town — He Rui: If all four safety areas of S City can repair their defensive shields, then what is there to panic about!]
Yun Ling said, “Special mission, other territories cannot do it. Only Rising Cloud City.”
[Basswood Town— He Rui: ……I was happy for nothing.”]
Then the two chatted more about their experiences in fighting the enemy, and tried to summarize a simple and effective method of dealing with the enemy.
Halfway, You Qing Wen sent a message, “Just now, a player from Osmanthus Town told me that the safety area cannot last beyond afternoon tomorrow.”
Yun Ling frowned unconsciously, “What happened?”
You Qing Wen said, “Osmanthus Town only has a level 2 shield and with the players and system guards added together, only for hundred people. So few people, they cannot hold on at all! Even today, they just managed to get through.”
“Supposedly, when the fighting stopped, the defensive shield was -19235, and there were only 765 left, not far from breaking.”
“Once the defensive shield disappears, the safety of the players cannot be guaranteed. They will just flee, and not work together.”
“The player of Osmanthus Town said they are planning to donate most of their property, and will fight as long as possible tomorrow.”
Yun Ling was silent.
The first day of winter, just after killing 813 mutant ants, a safety area could not hold on. This was just……
“Never mind,” she thought inside, “in any case, I did not put my hopes on others.”
After a moment, You Qing Wen sent a message. “Have you thought of a strategy against the enemy?”
You Qing Wen was in the know, and there was no need to keep this a secret.
Yun Ling confessed. “The lord can spend copper coins to repair the defensive shield. 1 copper coin= 1HP.”
“I have tens of thousands right now. I had wanted to unlock new buildings and level them to the maximum.”
“Now, it is perfect to use this to repair the defensive shield.”
You Qing Wen, “!!!”
You Qing Wen said, “As expected of the lord, you have the ability of money!”
You Qing Wen said, “If you do not have enough capital, tell me, I am willing to donate all of my money.”
Yun Ling laughed. “Okay.”
**
F City — Xin Tong Town.
Zhao Xin Tong did not sleep at night, and had made hundreds of pieces of grilled meat.
The sky grew bright. The characters in the top right corner showed, ” Day 342, winter, calamity day, 08:00:00.”
Instantly, the red dots appeared again, and started moving to Xin Tong Town.
“Damn it! There is only Xin Tong Town in F City, all of the ants are moving in this direction, can they be reasonable?” Zhao Xin Tong muttered.
Yesterday, more than a thousand mutant ants had attacked Xin Tong Town.
The level 3 defensive shield with a full 100000HP had dropped more than 90000 HP. More than a hundred NPCs had died, and over two hundred players.
“This looks like the end, I am too lazy to even struggle.”
Saying this, Zhao Xin Tong walked into the warehouse, and gave all the equipment, items, copper coins, and materials to Yun Ling for free.
[Warning! Warning! The defensive shield has no more HP and has shattered! Players, please act, and kill the enemies as soon as possible.]
The warning was in red font and flashed three times.
Zhao Xin Tong snorted in discontent. “If able to wipe out the enemy, would the defensive shield have been broken? Just saying nonsense.”
She sat in a corner of the warehouse and waited for death to come.
Rising Cloud City.
Yun Ling just received the supplies and put them away when she saw F City — Xin Tong Town disappear from the market window.
“Now, I am the only person left on the world channel.” She made herself more alert and rose to meet the challenge of a new day.
**
Osmanthus Town.
9:40, the defensive shield shattered.
“Brothers, kill!!” One player shouted in grief. “Kill one to make up the cost! Kill two to profit!”
Before he finished speaking, one mutant ant made an ambush, and the sharp blade sliced the player’s neck.
That person fell to the ground. -1 player.
“Gather your attacks! Each kill counts!” someone else shouted.
Everyone worked hard to fight back.
9:56.
The survivors of S City received a system notification [Osmanthus Town has been breached.]
**
Day 342, the current kill was 1715/10000.
Day 343, the current kill was 2680/10000.
Day 344, the current kill was 3557/10000.
Day 348, the current kill was 7119/10000, Locust Tree Town was breached.
Day 349, the current kill was 8014/10000, Basswood Town was breached.
Seeing victory in sight, Rising Cloud City was full of gloom.
“If we can hold on 2-3 more days, the game will finish.” Leng Bai gritted his teeth, veins popping out at his temples. “But we have eaten all our food, the weapon durability has dropped 78 percent, and are almost scrap!”
Mo Qi was very irritated. “The system shops are still normal and selling goods. But the players do not have enough copper coins to buy……what is this?!”
The members were in despair. “If we were more hard working in the past, ate less, would we have a different outcome?”
Some else asked anxiously. “If we do not meet the conditions, the game will finish and the humans will die. Was this a joke? Maybe even if we do not pass, everyone will be fine……”
He did not even believe what he was saying, so he trailed off.
Mo Qi gritted her teeth. “Let’s find a large team to borrow food.”
Leng Bai frowned.
Mo Qi said shamelessly, “This is a game where people work together! We are not the only ones who will benefit in passing! I think the others will agree.”
“You think,” Leng Bai looked up and said slowly, “that we can win just based on us people?”
Mo Qi was stunned.
“The reason that Rising Cloud City is able to stand today is because there is a level 3 defensive shield outside, and also because there are more than four thousand players working together.” Leng Bai’s voice was difficult.
“No matter how rich the large teams are, they cannot change the fact that the defensive shield is about to shatter.”
“Also, they cannot support four thousand people, even for the last two days.”
“You mean……” Mo Qi suddenly felt a great panic like she could guess what the leader was going to say next.
“We have lost.” Leng Bai was unwilling, his eyes blood red, but he had to face the reality.
Hearing this, everyone present felt they were in ice.
Lost?
Not able to go back?
Everyone would die?
Thinking about this, two members were almost unable to stand up, their legs giving out. They had to lean against the wall.
“There really is no way?” Mo Qi looked at Leng Bai, her gaze earnest and full of anticipation.
“I cannot think of one.” Leng Bai smiled in mockery. “Reverse the situation? Ha, how easy is that! Unless there is a miracle.”
Just as he finished speaking, multiple system notifications appeared.
[Player “Yun Ling” chooses to disclose the identity of lord of Rising Cloud City.]
[Player “Yun Ling” uses 95000 copper coins to increase the defensive shield repair. Right now, the defensive shield has full HP.]
[During wartime, the lord has announced special rules. The official residents of Rising Cloud City can get free bandages from the Tailor Shop, can get three meals for free from the restaurant, and can get free weapons from the Blacksmith Shop.]
[I hope that everyone will work together against the enemy.]
Leng Bai, “???”
What was this?
Mo Qi was stunned for a long time. Then she said with a complicated expression, “A miracle really appeared.”
Translator Ramblings: I shed a bit of a tear at this chapter.