Yun Li's plan was as clear as day to Xu Yuan.
Hearing Yun Li's bold statement, Xu Yuan couldn't help but laugh.
Yun Li's brash confidence and willingness to take risks were traits Xu Yuan admired. If more players in this game were like Yun Li, he wouldn't have to worry so much about collecting kill points.
Right now, Xu Yuan didn't have any ability to locate other players. So when it came to racking up kill points, he was always in a reactive position. He also wasn't sure if he'd ever get abilities similar to HIM's, like invading data.
Looking around, there didn't seem to be any monsters with data invasion powers, except for the Entity 303 or the Zero NULL. But for now, Xu Yuan had no idea if they would appear, how they'd show up, or where they might be. Even if they did show up, dealing with them in his current state would be a tough challenge.
So, Xu Yuan had no choice but to be strategic, seizing every chance for kill points.
"Fine. I'll take a bit of time to play with you, then."
Xu Yuan had already claimed all the first kills of the lower-realm monsters. Everything he needed to do was basically taken care of, except for the Ender Dragon. But that wasn't urgent. At the players' current progress, they couldn't possibly take down the Ender Dragon.
And even if they somehow did, he could always resurrect it with Ender Crystals.
Right now, securing any kill points he could was far more important.
When the senior members heard Yun Li's plan, they felt a bit unsure at first, but one look at the powerful Wither before them reignited their confidence.
"Still got 27 skulls left! Three heads per Wither… that's another 9 Withers! Including this one, that's 10 Withers total. We've got a real shot here!"
"More than just a shot! Ten Withers! If HIM dares to show up, we'll just unleash them all at once and blow him to pieces!"
"Feels like if we set up the perfect trap, it'd be a sure thing. He doesn't know we've summoned these Withers."
The high-ranking players were busy hyping each other up, but Yun Li didn't let it go to his head. He believed in their strength, but facing HIM was no small matter; a little caution wouldn't hurt.
After some thought, he addressed the group.
"It'd be best to set up the battlefield away from our base. Better safe than sorry."
"Pick out nine members from the elite squad. Each one will summon a Wither."
With that, Yun Li swept his gaze across the players present.
"The guild's discovery of the Nether Portal and the Wither summoning is known only to you all."
"You're all veterans here, so you should know what to do, right?"
Every major guild had an unspoken rule. During classified operations, it was expected that members would keep everything confidential and make sure no information leaked out.
The senior members were well aware of this. Major guilds were constantly infiltrating each other's games, trading intel and strategies. While the guilds maintained a polite front, there was constant competition in the background.
Each guild likely had spies from other guilds. These spies scouted for information, relayed intel, and dug up strategies.
For example, Eternal Glory, the top-ranking guild, had reached Level 3 long before Steve's live-stream leak about the Footwork tactic. As the number one guild, they were undeniably powerful, but leveling up required a ton of player kill points. Even with players hunting day and night, advancing so quickly wasn't easy. They had certainly planted spies in other guilds, like Triumph, to gain the edge.
Ever since Yun Li discovered the Nether Portal, he had only allowed core members to handle it. The rest of the guild was kept in the dark.
Unlike Xiao Po, a large guild wouldn't just spread a strategy widely to recruit new members. That would mean handing over their hard-earned secrets.
The Cloud Soar guild leaders understood this well.
"No problem, I've already set my online status to offline, Vice President."
"Got it. We've all signed NDAs, so this is second nature."
"We're all veterans here. We get it. We'll camp out here for a few days, and Vice President, we'll leave all communications with the main base to you."
In the game, the friend system automatically adjusted status. Once set to offline, players could still receive messages but not respond.
The Cloud Soar guild leaders knew the drill. Following these steps would prevent anyone from leaking information.
Seeing everyone so cooperative, Yun Li nodded in satisfaction. These players were old hands in Cloud Soar, and he trusted them.
But better safe than sorry—no harm in a little reminder. This Nether Portal and Wither summoning guide was on a different level compared to the Footwork strategy. The benefits to the guild were immense, so there was no room for leaks.
"Alright then, everyone, let's get to work."
"Gather everyone around soon. Let's start laying out the ambush plan."
"Once we pull this off, we'll have a real victory!"
Hearing Yun Li's words, Xu Yuan finally cracked a smile.
Meanwhile, at the Eternal Guild's headquarters…
The guild leaders sat in a circle, all wearing sour expressions.
President Tian Heng looked at their faces, unable to contain his frustration any longer.
"I asked you to build a Footwork outpost. Two days, and it's still not done. You've burned through 300 iron sets? Seriously?!"
"Hell, you can't even handle those low-level monsters? Don't you dare say you're from Eternal Guild! We can't afford this embarrassment!"
The leaders exchanged awkward glances.
"President… it's not their fault. These monsters are… tricky."
"Yeah! These monsters aren't normal!"
"Feels like they're being controlled. Could HIM be behind this?"
To speed up their progress, the Eternal Guild had been frantically building Footwork booths everywhere. With the top guild Eternal Glory reaching Level 3, they had to pick up the pace.
Both Eternal and Glory were branches of Eternal Glory. On the surface, they got along, but behind the scenes, they were locked in fierce competition.
Tian Heng had hoped that building more Footwork booths would give them a shot at Level 3 ahead of Glory. But strange things kept happening. Every time players headed to the forest near their base, they'd get ambushed by monsters. Overnight, these monsters seemed to grow more cunning.
They'd burrow, launch ambushes—their guerrilla tactics were downright expert. Footwork booth outposts couldn't handle them. Every time they managed to build one, a Creeper would blow it to bits.
It was as if the monsters had their own organized army. There was no way these were normal mobs.
Players were repeatedly ambushed, losing around 300 iron sets. And the monsters picked up every dropped item, making them stronger each time. Taking them down grew harder and harder.
These bizarre events led the guild to suspect HIM's involvement. The monsters acted like they were under his control, a strategy right out of HIM's playbook.
Seeing everyone's troubled expressions, Tian Heng shook his head in disappointment.
"Blaming HIM, are you? That's a bit of a stretch."
"HIM has been seen around Cloud Soar's territory. We're miles away from them. You think he'd come all the way here? Unless he's got some sort of teleportation!"
"Besides, if HIM really were here, he'd have torn through us already, not just hidden in the shadows."
He had already received reports of HIM's sightings near Cloud Soar's base. If HIM had truly targeted them, the damage would be far worse than just losing 300 iron sets.
But still… there was something about the recent events that felt like HIM.
Tian Heng frowned, turning to the guild leaders.
"When you first scouted that forest, was there anything unusual?"
The leaders shook their heads.
"We sent scouts there before. No signs of anything unusual."
"Right. Some mobs did try to ambush them, but they handled it easily enough."
Tian Heng's frown deepened. He wasn't ready to give up on finding the answer. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet
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