Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"We need to go first," Gong Yan said as she grabbed Xu Ruoguang, ready to leave with him.

The shapes of the beastmen rampaged in every direction, and this area might have been designated as a hunting ground by the beastmen leader, deterring other beastmen from approaching for the moment.

However, the danger would surely increase over time.

She trusted Kuang Xin would fight to the death to protect her, but human strength has its limits, and there are many things one wishes to do but cannot.

"You're going to retreat?" Xu Ruoguang asked, shaking off Gong Yan's hand with some difficulty accepting it.

"What are you doing?" Gong Yan asked with an urgent tone but without panic.

"Them!" Xu Ruoguang pointed at the natives who were still suffering casualties at any moment under the chase of the beastmen, "They're all good people!"

Good people shouldn't have to suffer like this!

Xu Ruoguang, who had grown up in this settlement, had interactions with almost every person here.

Everyone was good!

Maybe some were outspoken, maybe some had quick tempers, but regardless, everyone was the only support for each other... in this desperate world.

Moreover, he never saw himself as a player, nor did he dwell on the differences between natives and players; the distinction never seemed to exist to him since he entered the game.

They are all humans!

All purebred humans!

They don't deserve to die.

"You guys go," Xu Ruoguang said as he pushed Gong Yan away, not expecting anyone else to help with what he had decided to do, "Just, can I borrow your sword for a bit?"

"Sword?"

Gong Yan was taken aback, looking down at her waist.

Gong Yan, who had learned some swordsmanship from the lady of the Arbitration Place, had some ability to defend herself, which was why she dared to step onto the chaotic frontline.

"No problem," Gong Yan agreed immediately, removing the sheathed longsword from her waist, "Feel free to use it, and it doesn't matter if it breaks."

A person skilled in martial arts naturally needed a suitable weapon to match; the longsword was made of ordinary iron and was not a divine weapon.

Xu Ruoguang held the sword's scabbard tightly, "If the sword breaks, I'll compensate you for it."

Having said that, he turned and left.

He had impulsive desires, he had the desire to fight.

Seeing and hearing fellow humans suffer under the attack of an alien race, a boundless rage burned coldly in his heart, and it was under the roaring will that some fighting "instincts" kept surging uncontrollably from the depths of his memory.

The longsword in his hand seemed to naturally begin to conform to the structure of his palm.

As his gaze swept over the beastmen, he saw their vulnerabilities clearly revealed...

At this moment, it was time for the longsword to leave its scabbard!

Xu Ruoguang's figure moved swiftly through the battlefield, vanishing behind the corners of the huts in the blink of an eye.

"Let's go!" Gu Lan and Kuang Xin, who also heard Ren Fengxing's voice, began to retreat while fighting.

The strategy the two had planned was ready to execute, but they first had to see if the beastmen leader would agree.

With a size nearly double that of a human, Gu Lan found it difficult to reach the wound even when jumping, clearly unable to inflict serious damage immediately.

And they all knew Ren Fengxing's trump card; the feigned retreat now was surely intended to lure the beastmen into the minefield.

When a more effortless way existed, no one was foolish enough to ignore it.

The scene was chaotic.

The players' retreat naturally tempted some stubborn-headed beastmen to pursue the victory, while many others were busy capturing the scrambling natives of the settlement.

Against two human beings working together, the beastmen leader didn't have much of an advantage.

As he watched their retreating figures, the beastmen leader reached to the side, and two relatively small hand axes were passed to his hands.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

After two thrown axes, more followed.

A slightly advantageous side view gave a glimpse of a row of other beastmen preparing to throw, now hidden behind the bulk of the beastmen leader's body.

A wave of spinning axes, issuing death calls, struck at the backs of the fleeing players.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

A series of sounds of axes sinking into flesh arose amongst the disorderly fleeing crowd, with players falling and cursing loudly as they hit the ground.

The beastmen quickly followed up, striking down those who tried to crawl away after falling.

"Slash! Slash! Slash!"

Flesh was torn and blood splattered.

There were only a few screams, though.

"Stubborn humans!"

The beastmen leader pursed his lips and gestured towards the fleeing players, "Chase them!"

They didn't particularly enjoy one-sided battles, but the pursuit of prey also brought them genuine excitement.

The beastmen had few aspirations in this world; finding pleasures that could excite them was their only mission.

The only thing that troubled him was that those hairless monkeys nearly all looked the same to him, sometimes distinguishable by the distinctly colored clothes they wore—like a stroke of pure white in a sea of black, a stroke of bright red against green...

But if everyone wore the same style and color of clothes, he had no way to tell who was who.

Or, like now, the garish colors everywhere gave his brain a proper freeze.

He had just locked onto two figures, but after a few crisscrossing sprints, he had no idea where they went...

"Tui!" The beastman leader, disgusted, spat out a thick loogie.

...

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Ren Fengxing, who had reached the chosen minefield early, stood on a tall rock and frantically waved his hands at everyone.

He also saw the last players caught and hacked to death.

But it didn't matter, it was just a three-day gift package.

Furthermore, players reborn in the game would not change their approximate spawn point and might even experience subtle changes in their identity and surroundings with each respawn; dying and then refreshing their identity was a method his guild used to explore the content of the game.

As for people not from his own guild... what did their deaths have to do with him?

Watching as the pursuing orcs step by step entered the minefield he had laid out, Ren Fengxing uncommonly gripped the black remote in his hand, his thumb gently brushing over the trigger button again and again, his heart filled with anxious unrest.

This kind of "real" game's landmines were unfamiliar to him, and he had no idea what the blast would look like.

Nor did he know whose kill experience would count...

And could it be a bit faster!

Dilly-dallying had scattered the pursuing orcs!

"The NPCs are running out too!"

"Boss, look over there!"

Standing behind a rugged and uneven boulder at a slightly lower vantage point, two of Ren Fengxing's mine-laying subordinates suddenly pointed in a direction and yelled.

The chaotic native troop fled clumsily, gathering into a somewhat substantial force of resistance behind a young swordsman leading them.

In addition to the orcs chasing players, most of the other orcs followed the NPC troop.

And those orcs who had been chasing players also noticed the human escape squad running out from the side, turning their heads to intercept.

Blocked in front and chased from behind.

Those NPCs probably couldn't escape.

"They've been diverted, boss!"

"They're not running toward the minefield anymore, boss!"

"I fucking see it, boss!" Ren Fengxing's hand abruptly left the remote.

A landmine can only explode once, naturally, he had to lure as many orcs as possible into the minefield to catch them all at once!

He faced two choices—

Either he could watch all those natives get slaughtered by the orcs and wait for them to turn their attention back to chase him and his people.

Or... save them.

Save the NPCs and at the same time guide them to evacuate to the minefield, enticing all the orcs to give chase.

Neither choice had a distinction of right or wrong, good or bad, but simply a matter of efficiency.

After all, regardless of the choice, he first had to entangle with those ten or so bloodthirsty orcs still tangled up with the players.

Save or watch them die?

The decision swung rapidly in Ren Fengxing's mind.

And this sudden turn of events was clearly noticed by many players who had escaped to the rear or still had spare strength.

Concern for those NPCs rose instantly in the hearts of many players.

...

"Uncle Zeta, you take people to watch the left, Ms. Zeli, you all cover the right flank; tell those behind to speed up and take care of yourselves—no one can look out for anyone else at this time. Everyone, prepare for the final sprint!"

"Alright! Guang! We're all listening to you!" The natives following Xu Ruoguang affirmed with conviction.

Despite the fact that the intercepting orcs had ghastly green faces and looked ferocious, why shouldn't they believe Guang, the young fellow who had only joined the settlement for a few days but was willing to take the lead in the charge?

Watching those orcs wielding various heavy weapons coming to intercept, Xu Ruoguang's world slowed down... slower and slower.

Slow enough to see clearly each rise and fall of the orcs' chests as they breathed, and the blood-stained human skin on the raised spike hammers...

Bullet time!

When needed, it appeared.

When believed in, it appeared.

Everything in this world was connected with will, highly concentrated in the moment of combat, will as solid as a rock; everything was possible to create miracles.

Believe... the power of belief!

"With me as the spearhead!"

Xu Ruoguang raised his longsword high, broke away alone from the group, and accelerated towards the dozen or so orcs surging forward.

His vibrant voice echoed above the battlefield, "Charge with all your might!"

"Kill!"

A phantom dashed through the crisscrossing formation of orcs in the blink of an eye.

The sharp edge of the sword effortlessly slashed open the orcs' weapon-holding wrists.

"Swish!"

Nearly in an instant, those heavy weapons, losing the support of wrists, moved forward an inch due to inertia and then plummeted to the ground.

Completely trusting Xu Ruoguang, the native troop surged forward, pushing through the slightly stupefied intercepting orcs affected by the unexpected blow.

"Huff! Huff!"

The exhausted Xu Ruoguang appeared behind the intercepting orcs, kneeling on one knee with his longsword planted on the ground, gasping for breath.

Strength drained, reserve of movement energy depleted.

For him at this stage, bursting out such an intense move was still somewhat forced... Find more chapters on empire

"Bang!"

The longsword supporting his body also instantly shattered under this heavy load, fragmented metal pieces scattering in the air, falling chaotically and reflecting the sunlight in occasionally blinding flashes.

The sword... had broken.

The players who witnessed this moment collectively froze.

"Pha-phanto... phantom sword dance!"

A player pointed in that direction, his lips trembling.

"Bullshit! It's clearly an Alpha Assault!"

"It was a phantom sword dance, definitely a phantom sword dance!"

"So cool!"

"Damn it! Hurry up and save him!"

Whether he was an NPC or a player, saving him was the first priority if there was any chance of learning this cool, explosive skill.

Compared to surviving, showing off was the foremost affair in playing games.

"Charge!"

"Let's go!"