MMORPG: War God, You are Invincible Again
Chapter 391 - 146: Mercenary Dilemma

Chapter 391: Chapter 146: Mercenary Dilemma

Watching three items once without a clue suddenly seeming resolvable, Caesar couldn’t be happier. To not taste anything for N years is an experience of wanting to die, a life without color. Solely for the Heart of Naga, Caesar vowed to kill the Naga Queen, to kill her without fail!

In the latter part, Lu Hong inquired about the status of Lando and the rest. Silver Wind and Doggie had joined the Imperial army and were now doing quite well on the frontline, still alive. Moreover, Silver Wind had even been promoted to a low-ranking officer, commanding nearly ten thousand troops. Doggie, by his side, used his keen sense of smell to easily detect the hidden trails of the Sea Tribe, saving numerous lives, earning the title of a generation’s Dog King!

Since the Archimonde incident, the Infernal Cult had splintered. Lando, leading his followers, was still helping the Empire resist the Sea Tribe, while Ze Xiu took the other half of his forces to hide back at their lair, providing no help but also causing no trouble.

As for Lois, long ago, upon the call of the Wartrace Mercenary Group, she had returned to the Mercenary Continent, safe and sound.

With Caesar’s assistance, traveling to the Normandy plane was very easy; it was Lu Hong’s second time coming to the Mercenary Continent.

Unlike his previous visit, the coordinates set by Caesar were rather remote, requiring at least seven days to reach the nearest city.

Once he set foot on the ground, the presence of the Demon Beasts hidden in the dense jungle assaulted his senses.

Before Lu Hong had a chance to steady himself, a jungle leopard taller than a man pounced on him.

Lu Hong turned and kicked it away.

In the next moment, a venomous snake perched on a branch also bared its fangs at Lu Hong.

With a bronze greatsword in hand, Lu Hong cut it down.

Odd, why were the Demon Beasts of the Normandy plane so aggressive?

After killing the two level-six Demon Beasts, the scent of their blood attracted more, and they furiously launched an assault on Lu Hong.

These Demon Beasts were not high-level, but their sheer numbers were overwhelming. Despite Lu Hong slaughtering his way through, it vexed him.

Thus, for seven days, Lu Hong dodged and hid, still chased by a group of Demon Beasts.

He had thought approaching the city would be far better, but upon exiting the forest, he saw tens of thousands of Demon Beasts besieging a city!

How could this happen? Lu Hong was taken aback. It was not common for Demon Beasts to siege cities. In the Nansha Great Forest, due to the special nature of the Ancestor Dragon of the Great Snow Mountain, every once in a while, a large number of Demon Beasts could not withstand the pressure and chose to collectively flee towards human cities. But this siege by the Demon Beasts seemed premeditated, and among them were two with strength close to that of a Third Transition Middle Stage, leading a well-ordered million-strong throng of Demon Beasts without any chaos.

It was unknown how many days the siege had lasted, but the resistance of this mercenary city was getting weaker. Exhausted mercenaries guarding the city were eventually bested by flying Demon Beasts that exploited an opening, breaking through a gap, as large numbers of creatures climbed the city walls and quickly took over the battlements.

Lu Hong summoned the Blood Holy Sword, and with the use of Heavenly God Descends, both the people and beasts on the battlefield were captivated, staring fixedly at Lu Hong.

"Roar!" A tiger-leopard beast in the Third Transition Middle Stage roared angrily, as a million Demon Beasts simultaneously turned and charged at Lu Hong.

"Kill!"

Lu Hong didn’t shrink back. With holy sword in hand, he became a whirlwind of blood, slaughtering all living beings in front of him.

With absolute combat power, the Demon Beasts had almost no ability to resist. Beyond physical attacks, all they had left were magic attacks, but with Heavenly God Descends’ enhancement, even the multitude of magic attacks could not threaten Lu Hong in the slightest.

In the contest of strength, though Lu Hong did not hold too much advantage, the holy sword was exceedingly sharp, cutting through Demon Beasts as easily as slicing through vegetables.

Killing these lesser Demon Beasts served little purpose; Lu Hong’s target was squarely on the two central tiger-leopard beasts, which had also sensed Lu Hong’s challenge. Pushing aside the surrounding beasts, they charged at him.

Facing the oncoming claws of the two tiger-leopard beasts, Lu Hong took a deep breath.

Blood Qi Shockwave!

The ferocious blood Qi leveled the surroundings, even forcing the charging tiger-leopard beasts to halt in their tracks.

"Slash!" Lu Hong shouted. The Blood Holy Sword burst forth with myriad bloody lights, and in a single swing, one of the tiger-leopard beasts was cleaved in two!

The other tiger-leopard beast, clearly frightened, turned tail and ran.

Lu Hong did not rush to pursue while the lesser Demon Beasts around him were clearly retreating, scattering one after another, disappearing into the dense jungle behind.

Once all the Demon Beasts had retreated, the mercenaries from within the city finally came out. The leader expressed his gratitude to Lu Hong, "Thank you for your assistance; otherwise, our Xiaolin City might have been overrun."

Lu Hong nodded, accepting their thanks and followed the group into the city.

"What happened? Why did so many Demon Beasts attack the city, and with head beasts merely at Third Transition Middle Stage strength, shouldn’t they be easy to deal with?" A city, especially a mercenary’s city, must be established by a considerable number of mercenaries, and it was impossible for the city to lack Third Transition capabilities.

"There is, but five days ago, the Mercenary King convened a grand mercenary conference," the man said, his tone quite agitated, "and ordered that all mercenary groups with members above the Third Transition must participate. So our team leader and deputy leader took our best hands and went there. This provided an opportunity for the demon beasts to strike. If not for your assistance, by the time the team leader returned, I’d truly have no face to see him." The man spoke with impassioned gratitude towards Lu Hong.

The other party was also an enthusiastic person, insisting on hosting a banquet to entertain Lu Hong properly. Since Lu Hong had some questions he wanted to ask, he took a seat and started conversing with the man.

After the feast, Lu Hong gained a general understanding of the current situation in the Normandy plane.

Ever since the Mercenary King ascended, the rules of the Normandy plane had changed somewhat, and the conditions for establishing cities had been loosened. As a result, a large number of mercenary groups no longer relied on the main cities and had established towns of their own.

But, the good times didn’t last long. These newly formed mercenary cities often suffered the sieges of demon beasts. Before Lu Hong’s arrival, even Xiaolin City had experienced more than ten such sieges by demon beasts, each time more monumental than the last. Previously, with the group’s experts around, they could handle the situation, but the Mercenary King’s sudden summoning disrupted the balance.

"This is just one city," the man said with a tone of regret. "It’s our honor that you appeared outside Xiaolin City, but as far as I know, at this very moment, at least sixty more cities are under attack by demon beasts—it’s uncertain if they’ll survive."

"Don’t you find this situation very strange?" Having conversed with old foxes like Duke Nuoshan and Caesar, it wasn’t hard to pick up a thing or two.

The man blinked, "The team leader seemed to have mentioned something, but he wasn’t too sure either."

Lu Hong nodded but didn’t say anything.

From the Mercenary King’s allowance for the large-scale construction of cities to the sudden withdrawal of the mercenary forces, it was very likely a scheme designed to reduce the number of mercenaries, with a wicked intention!

Not lingering in Xiaolin City, Lu Hong used the city’s teleportation array to travel to the Black Gu Mercenary Group in Lansa.

Xiaolin City didn’t have a direct teleportation channel to other cities. After all, the mercenary groups were autonomous forces and, no matter the relationship, they couldn’t just allow others to come and go as they pleased in their territory.

With the help of the teleportation gate, Lu Hong was one step closer to the Black Gu’s base, Black Chrysalis, and it would take another two days to reach there.

The closer he got to the center of the Normandy plane, the fewer the number of demon beasts, and there wasn’t much danger along the way.

From afar, Lu Hong saw towering city walls, with a thousand mercenaries on guard, unsure what they were defending against.

"Stop right there!" The temporary person in charge of Black Gu shouted from the city tower, facing Lu Hong’s visit.

"I’m a friend of Lock Fan’s, please let me in."

"You?" The temporary person in charge sneered, "Everyone knows the team leader’s son is missing." Obviously, he wasn’t convinced.

"I am Baron Yitian." Alright, since the identity of a friend of Lock Fan didn’t work, Lu Hong used the title of the Baron.

"Baron Yitian?" The other party was clearly stunned, then scoffed, "Don’t make me laugh, how could a baron come to the Normandy plane, have the obligations of the empire been fulfilled?"

So much nonsense. Lu Hong didn’t bother explaining and, as divine light suddenly appeared, he wielded the Blood Holy Sword in his hand, promptly opening the tightly closed gates of Black Chrysalis.

The temporary person in charge rushed out, his face all smiles, "My, my! Baron, please quell your anger, forgive my ignorance, please! Come in quickly."

"Heh!" Lu Hong deactivated his skill and walked into the city.

The temporary person in charge followed by his side, "May I ask the reason for Baron’s visit? Are you looking for our team leader? That’s really unfortunate—the team leader has been summoned by the Mercenary King to Mercenary Cliff."

"Everyone looks so tense, what happened?" Lu Hong inquired about the scene on the city tower. Logically speaking, Black Gu should be strong enough to fend off any threat even with Lando and other strong members away; after all, the protection array of this ancient city was extremely fearsome, and Third Transition demon beasts shouldn’t be able to break through.

The temporary person in charge sighed with a wry smile, "Baron, you might not be aware, but just after the team leader and the powerful members of our group left, a group of unknown assailants launched a surprise assault on Black Chrysalis, nearly resulting in the loss of the city."

The temporary person in charge pointed at the ruins and broken walls within the city, "These are the remnants from a great battle that happened recently. We haven’t had time to repair them."

"How many of them were there?" Could it be that Howl Mercenary Group’s members were masquerading?

"Thousands, each one at the Second-Transition Peak."

"Any confirmation on their identities?" Lu Hong continued to inquire.

The temporary person in charge shook his head, "They couldn’t be traced. Their skills were very peculiar, and they couldn’t be touched by sword or magic. Besides evading, there was no other way."

"Have you informed Lord Lando?"

The temporary person in charge sighed, "Mercenary Cliff has been sealed off by the Howl Mercenary Group; any message simply can’t get through."

Goodness gracious, they used demon beasts against the weaker mercenary groups, and for large mercenary groups like Black Gu, they directly harnessed the power of the netherworld. It was clear that the intention was to use the opportunity of summoning the strong to eliminate mercenary groups.