280 Chapter 280 - The Miserable War Without Wounds (2/2)
”F*ck. He's not fallen into the abyss; he's actually still hanging there!” Royal God Call exclaimed. He lay prone by the edge of the crevasse and poked his neck out. War Without Wounds was holding on to the rope for dear life.
”Just let go of the rope!” Royal God Call advised.
”You just wait, Royal; I'm gonna hurl you down this crevasse once I get up there!” War Without Wounds raged.
”How arrogant!” Royal God Call pulled out an arrow and was about to nock it, ”Quickly call me Grandpa Royal!”
”Alright. Settle down, you two!” Gu Fei pulled Royal God Call to the side as he waved to a few players around him, ”Hurry and pull that man up here!”
”Hold on tight, Wounds!” Brother Assist shouted.
Through the combined efforts of a few men, War Without Wounds was hoisted up to solid ground. He lay there looking at the boundless sky above him with a face covered in bruises. His armor got dented from its impact against the crevasse's rockface.
Young Master Han bestowed Heal on him. ”How are you?”
”Fine… I think…” War Without Wounds was breathless, not from exhaustion but from anxiety. His close encounter with death today had taken a toll on him that was not visible to the naked eye.
”Alright. You've definitely worked the hardest during this stretch, so I'm sure you've earned quite a lot of points!” Young Master Han consoled as he gestured at Sword Demon.
”Yup!” Sword Demon affirmed this. Taking out a little booklet, he diligently recorded: mental reimbursement - 20 points.
War Without Wounds was only able to stand up after quite some time; Royal God Call had the foresight to make himself scarce from him. War Without Wounds seemed to have been enlightened by something as he did not bother to pursue his quarrel with Royal God Call and merely asked, ”Will there be any more bridges ahead?”
”It doesn't seem to be the case,” Oathless Sword smilingly replied, adding, ”My brothers ahead have yet to encounter another.”
”Oh!” War Without Wounds answered as he waved his arm, ”Alright, everyone! Let's go!”
There were indeed no more crevasses ahead as the group continued forward. The mercenary groups and Traversing Four Seas did a headcount; quite a lot of players abandoned this expedition due to the bridge crossing. This was especially true for a large number of the female players – a fact that greatly pained many male players.
No more abnormalities cropped up for quite a while; just as they were about to complete their trek through the Oolong Mountain Range, unrest spread from the front of the group. War Without Wounds trembled, ”Did we encounter another eroded path?”
”No. We've encountered enemies,” Young Master Han replied.
”Tsk! What's so scary about that?” War Without Wounds' back straightened when he heard this.
”It's quite troublesome to engage enemies here! This narrow mountain path makes it impossible for men to get into formation! Many players are feeling helpless due to this fact. Look at all these mercenaries stuck behind; there's just no way for us to lend a hand here!” Brother Assist explained.
”How are we going to help when we don't even know what's going on?” Royal God Call jumped up and down, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening ahead of them.
”What's the situation?!” everyone asked Young Master Han.
”The monsters that have spawned are blocking the mountain path, so we can't continue forward,” Young Master Han informed them.
”What's the monster type?”
”Mountain Bandits.”
”What's so scary about them?” everyone scoffed.
”There's a Boss leading them,” Young Master Han answered.
They could feel their hearts tighten at that. According to the game officials, monsters that fought alongside their Boss would have higher combat strength, and they would prioritize the commands of the Boss beyond anything else. Although the Boss's intelligence and resourcefulness were not greater than players, the Boss's commands could ignore the threats on the monsters. Hence, the methods players would employ to pull these monsters depended entirely on the Boss; even if a player killed the monsters, the aggro from the remaining monsters might not even be drawn appropriately if they were obeying the the Boss's commands.
The only flaw to this unquestionable discipline these monsters possessed depended entirely on the quality of the Boss's intelligence.
”So what's the situation right now?” they asked Young Master Han.
”Our men have retreated for now and are currently re-organizing themselves for the next assault,” Young Master Han replied.
”Looks like it's time for us experts to shine!”
”That is precisely why we are currently being called to the frontline!” Young Master Han affirmed.