Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"Clang!"

The familiar sound of metal clashing echoed in his ears once more, and Gu Lan couldn't help but instinctively look towards that agile figure moving across the battlefield.

In a crowd of players scrambling and fleeing in desperation, only the area around him stood firm, like a mountain.

It was not just that he could fend off the attacks launched by the ordinary orcs, he even had the spare capacity to help block the attacks directed at other nearby players.

Although he was just one person, he played a role on the battlefield that could match the combined efforts of four or five others.

"Puchi!" The longsword, bolstered by Spiritual Energy, pierced through the chest of an orc in front of him. Gu Lan lifted his right leg and kicked the orc's body away to withdraw his blade, then spun around to evade another orc's hammer, all the while not forgetting to survey the situation elsewhere—

Amongst the players, only he and Dai Lian could consistently inflict damage on the orcs.

But Dai Lian, for one thing, had limited killing efficiency, and, for another, could only make sure to protect herself.

Not like him, capable of defending a vast area all at once.

His amazing control over the flow of battle and his timely assistance to his teammates made his area of the battlefield impregnable.

Without a direct attack from an orc leader, it seemed like a fanciful thought for any ordinary orc to bypass him and harm his comrades.

Was it simply individual quality?

Or perhaps some skill learned in the game?

At this thought, Gu Lan felt somewhat intrigued.

She likely couldn't leave today, and although she could escape at any time by herself, under these circumstances, how could she flee alone?

So... before dying, why not ask that guy about his origins and where he learned all his skills?
Explore new worlds at empire

If it was personal talent, perhaps after three days everyone could start over together.

If it was learned in the game... they who had already developed a channel once might have derived their own experiences.

This game indeed doesn't allow for infinite respawns, but what players could carry out of the game were their memories, which became their biggest advantage in each new run.

No sooner thought than done.

When she was alone, she could move freely amidst the ordinary orcs' attempts to encircle and block her path.

"Puchi!"

"Puff!"

One sword decapitated, one axe crushed a skull.

[You have trained your combat abilities amidst intense battle, Physique +0.1, Reflexes +0.1.]

Kuang Xin looked towards the hand extended to help him, and followed the longsword to its owner.

"How come you're here?"

Everyone had tacitly separated before the battle, to stabilize the players' front lines as much as possible.

The battle between dozens of players on both sides wasn't that big, yet it wasn't small either; chaos could easily ensue if allies got in each other's way, and they'd lose without even fighting.

Spreading out the battle line and then creating small pockets where they could outnumber the enemy was the players' subconscious cooperation.

Now...

Gu Lan smiled indifferently; the players were almost twice the number of orcs, which was why they could hold on temporarily, but defeat was almost certain.

She didn't care much anymore and just lifted her damp and disheveled hair due to the sweat from the fight to one side, and gave Kuang Xin a cool smile. "I have a question for you, and of course, it's your freedom to answer or not; there's no pressure."

After a brief acquaintance, she understood Kuang Xin's straightforwardness. With someone like him, there was no need to beat around the bush or try to coax information out; she could be direct, "Where did you learn all your skills?"

It wasn't just saving teammates at any moment; it included his abnormal strength and reflexes, which clearly exceeded the limit of 15 points for the three-dimensional attributes of all players.

Because her own three-dimensional attribute performance, with Spiritual Energy enhancement, fluctuated around 15 points.

His performance was even above hers, which meant his attributes were definitely not limited to 15 points.

Either... he obtained the legendary Gene Optimization Solution and underwent a qualitative transformation.

Or... he learned various powerful skills.

She was more inclined towards the latter since even if Gene Optimization Solution improved the attribute limit, it would still take time to train.

And even if a player focused on enhancing their basic attributes as soon as they entered the game, it was impossible to reach the 15-point limit in such a short time after the game's launch, let alone exceed it.

The game's basic attributes were extremely difficult to improve, and as far as she knew, there were no shortcuts.

Faced with Dai Lian's inquiring gaze, Kuang Xin nonchalantly waved his hand, "Our boss taught us."

'Our?'

Gu Lan was taken aback, realizing this was a small group of three, and she couldn't help but look towards the girl at the rear of the players.

"That girl's healing ability?"

"Also taught by our boss," bragged Kuang Xin proudly; after all, he had been the first to discover a great supporter, "Yanzi has many more skills, it's just that you haven't noticed them yet."

"Gulp!"

Gu Lan clearly heard the sound of her own swallowing.

Your boss, does he still want a little brother? A little sister is good too...

This somewhat astonished thought leapt forth immediately, and Gu Lan hesitated, wanting to inquire about the origins of this mysterious "boss."

But it seemed too abrupt to ask such a question, so she struggled to articulate it.

Instead, Kuang Xin was glancing at her... and then behind her.

"That brother over there is about to go down, aren't you going to help?"

Gu Lan smiled helplessly, "We are all going to go down... it doesn't matter anymore."

"Who said we're all going down?" Kuang Xin's eyes were filled with confusion.

"Huh?"

"We still have a trump card!"

In his vision, a figure was waving from the speeding car in the wind.

The shadow beside him suddenly covered the sunlight falling on both of them, as the orc leader's massive axe came down with a heavy whistle.

He didn't know which furless monkey was which, but targeting the tough guy on the battlefield meant he couldn't be wrong.

As long as he killed the strongest among humans, he would be recognized as the strongest among orcs!

"Boom!"

Axe and sword rang out together, trembling unabated.

At the same time, a voice traveled through time and space to them, making Kuang Xin hear the words made unclear by the wind due to their mutual understanding—

"Big Ape! Fall back!"

'They still dare call me Big Ape!'

Kuang Xin grabbed Gu Lan's left hand and, together with her, who had just withstood an axe blow from the orc leader, retreated hurriedly as he shouted, "Fallback!"

Retreat!

Retreat!

The great man had taught Dai this arrow with such vivid style that even if he could only unleash half of that man's power from back then, he would surely be able to easily overpower the enemy.

"What?" Gu Lan didn't quite understand.

But she obediently retreated, pulled by Kuang Xin.

As they retreated, Gu Lan looked in the direction Kuang Xin was gazing, her eyes augmented by Spiritual Energy, allowing her to see the distant scenery with absolute clarity.

She saw the car that had turned back from ahead... and the slender figure leaning against the "mission target" on it.

He stood tall, bow bent, arrow nocked.

Like the most professional archer, his eyes sharply fixed on this direction, pulling the bowstring back beside his body.

He was the last one remaining of the trio, deeply remembered by Gu Lan.

She hadn't interacted much with this remaining individual and wasn't familiar with his personality or abilities.

But at this moment, her heart suddenly started pounding furiously.

Kuang Xin had just said... they still had a trump card.

Yes, this trio, coming from the same place, capable of being companions on the road, each should have their own strengths.

And what kind of formidable strength must a skill be considered a trump card by this trio?

An arrow?

Firearms were hardly effective against these orc-like beings, let alone a bow and arrow?

Yet at this moment, she inexplicably felt a chilling threat from that sharp arrow yet to be released, as if it could pierce her skin.

The bow drawn full, the arrow like a shooting star!

Shoot!

This arrow was both fast and slow.

The arrow whistled through the orc-like beings, almost drawing a straight line with its slight curve, with the force it carried tearing apart everything in its path in an instant.

Including blades, spears, hammers, axes, including flesh and blood.

The last of the orcs in the arrow's path happened to be facing directly towards the incoming shaft.

In his belated realization, all he "saw" was everything shattering and dodging before his eyes, a fist-sized hole opening up in direct pursuit of the rapidly enlarging metallic arrowhead on an unstoppable straight line.

"Whoosh!"

An arrow passed through, bringing decay and destruction.

Weapon shards and greenish flesh fell slowly in the wind, and everyone who witnessed this arrow was caught in a kind of slow motion of stunted thought...

So they could fully savor the finesse embodied by this arrow.

"Tsk!"

Dai Lian, having shot an arrow, clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

The lethality was far from the great man's.

Lacking the special attribute of anchoring wind, the powerful strike didn't exhibit its strongest form.

The biggest differences were its killing power and range of impact.

Far less exaggerated than what the great man had shown.

So he drew another iron arrow, preparing to aim once more.

Before setting off and along the way, he had deliberately gorged himself, accumulating enough reserves of energy to support him shooting two arrows in succession.

If these two arrows couldn't secure a victory for the players, that would be troublesome...

"Waaaaagh!"

Seeing his arm fall off due to the piercing wound, the slightly stunned orc turned and ran.

The orc holding a nail hammer looked at his own minor scrape and, puzzled, watched his fellow suddenly legging it.

The youngsters of the Fu Yue Clan are just cowards.

Is that it? That's it?

They're running away?

He mocked them in his mind with a derisive sneer.

Then he saw more of the Fu Yue Clan's youngsters turning their heads and bolting...

Newcomer orcs were still dazed, while the experienced ones had already run over ten meters away.

'It's that human again!'

'It's that furless monkey dressed in black!'

Only today, he wasn't wearing that black outfit!

The orc leader, seeing the huge hole in his chest, felt the memories of being dominated flood back.

They didn't know fear.

But the feeling of powerlessness instinctively repulsed them.

He hadn't mastered his flying axe technique yet, lacking the confidence to counter-kill the enemy across such a distance.

Time to slip away, no more fighting!

Watching the enemy nock another arrow, the orc leader turned and ran, "Waaaaagh!"

"..."

"..."

The voice echoed back from afar, "I'll be back!"

With the boss running away, the youngsters also instantly abandoned what seemed like easy prey right in front of them.

"Waaaaagh!" A host of orc youngsters followed their leader, shouting messily together, "I'll be back!"

"..."

"..."

"They ran... ran away?"

"They're scared! Hahahaha! They're scared of me!"

"Scared my ass, take a look at that expert over there."

The car continued to race swiftly, and Dai Lian stood alone atop it, a silhouette of a master.

"Handsome, handsome! We're going to hit a rock! I can't drive this thing!" shouted someone from inside the car frantically.

'Why are they running away? I didn't even kill that many...' Dai Lian snapped out of his daze, promptly responding, "Oh, oh, here we go!"