Four in the afternoon.
Black clouds pressed down on Purgatory City.
Day was like night.
A huge mass of black mist, swallowing heaven and earth as it came, swept toward Purgatory City from the south,
and every passerby player it swallowed along the way turned into a pillar of white light shooting into the sky.
The millions of players online in the city were thrown into endless anxiety and worry!
At Purgatory City's south gate,
countless players had gathered, all gazing at the black mist in the distance, closing fast on the city.
They were all talking among themselves.
Player A: "What the hell is that thing? Why does it keep heading for the main city? What's going on?"
Player B: "Damn it! Don't tell me it's here to attack the city?"
Player C: "Holy crap? Can a player safe zone even get attacked? No way!"
Player D: "It can. Like the starter village I was in before. This jerk friend of mine stole a baby from a Tier 3 Boar King BOSS out in the wilds and roasted it, and the Boar King got so mad it attacked the starter village!"
Player E: "Holy crap! A Tier 3 BOSS at a starter village? That's like an elephant stomping an anthill!"
Player D: "Yeah, all hundred thousand players in the village couldn't stop the Boar King, and in the end it wiped out my starter village! Because of that jerk friend, all hundred thousand players in the village got punished by the system!"
Player F: "Suuure, 'a friend.' That jerk is you, isn't it?"
Player G: "So there's always a reason, don't worry, guys! We haven't done anything, and the system won't just send a monster to attack a city for no reason just to mess with players' heads! I'll bet a bag of chips that black mist isn't here to attack the city!"
The moment he finished speaking,
a loud system alert rang out over all of Purgatory City.
[City-wide Announcement]: "Ding~ Warning! Attention, all players in Purgatory City: the system has detected a dark power about to invade Purgatory City. All players, return immediately and defend Purgatory City!"
[City-wide Announcement]: "Ding~ Warning! Attention, all players in Purgatory City: the system has detected a dark power about to invade Purgatory City. All players, return immediately and defend Purgatory City!"
[City-wide Announcement]: "Ding~ Warning! Attention, all players in Purgatory City: the system has detected a dark power about to invade Purgatory City. All players, return immediately and defend Purgatory City!"
...
At once, a sense of crisis, as if the end of the world had come, swept the whole city!
Countless players, in the city and outside it, boiled over!
"Holy crap! It's for real?"
"I've never heard a system announcement three times in a row!"
"Looks like this one's serious!"
"I checked the game rules the devs published. If a safe zone is breached, every player belonging to that safe zone gets a severe penalty!"
"Damn it! Everybody get back to the city and defend Purgatory City!"
...
Southern Purgatory City.
They knew an enemy was coming to attack the city.
But no one could have guessed that inside this black mist, swallowing heaven and earth, were ten thousand Level 100 Ghost Race Ghost Soldiers in black armor with blood-red eyes: Ghost Swordsmen!
And at the head of this vast Ghost Royal Guard army,
Super God Athena said, hesitating, "Godfather, are we really doing this?"
She finally understood Lonely Island's intent: to cripple Mo Shouchenggu: Rulebound and Liuli at the same time by breaking Purgatory City.
Because under Divine Oracle's game rules, a main city protects players, but it's also a home that players have to guard together.
The developers ran events from time to time where monsters or BOSSes attacked the city, and players had to fend them off together and defend the main city, to get players engaged and make the game more fun.
And the developers had an explicit rule: once a player main city is destroyed, every player in the city receives a severe penalty!
"If Purgatory City is destroyed, it won't just be Mo Shouchenggu: Rulebound and Liuli who get crippled."
Super God Athena said in a low voice, "Every single player in Purgatory City will receive a severe penalty!"
Lonely Island looked at Super God Athena. "Afraid?"
Super God Athena shook her head, her gaze firm. "Lina isn't afraid, of course."
"Without Godfather, there'd be no Lina today."
"Never mind that this is only a game. Even in the real world, if Godfather needs it, Lina is ready to go through fire and water for Godfather, and die ten thousand times without regret!"
She paused, then worried aloud, "It's just that I'm afraid that once we do this, Godfather, you'll be dragged into it too,"
Beneath the fully enclosed black heavy metal helmet, a sharp edge stirred in Lonely Island's eyes. "As long as I can cripple Mo Shouchenggu: Rulebound and take his power of Destiny,"
"a small sacrifice is nothing."
Super God Athena answered, "Godfather, I understand!"
With that, Super God Athena drew her blade with a shing and rose, her eyes burning. "Siege!"
"Grr, grr, grr, grr..."
In the black mist, ten thousand Ghost Swordsmen drew greatswords from their backs and entered combat mode.
Led by Ghost King Soul-Commanding Envoy · Sade, they launched an all-out assault on Purgatory City...
Outside Purgatory City's south gate, the players looked closely and were horrified.
"There really are monsters in that black mist!"
"Damn it! Here they come! They're coming!"
"What are those monsters? They're terrifying! Run!"
"Run, my ass! If Purgatory City gets breached, none of us gets away!"
"Fight! Brothers and sisters, get ready to fight! Protect Purgatory City!"
"They dare attack Purgatory City? Smash them!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
White light kept surging up in the city.
Players out in the wilds returned to the city one after another.
Countless players converged on Purgatory City's south gate.
Facing the Ghost Royal Guard sweeping in from the distance,
the players were at the ready, tense and bristling.
"Charge!"
"Kill!!"
Amid a deafening battle cry,
countless players rushed out of the city and attacked the Ghost Royal Guard in the black mist ahead...
Meanwhile, elsewhere,
in the Land of Abandoned Ghosts,
as a player of Purgatory City, Lin Mo naturally received the system announcement about the coming invasion too.
In this moment, Lin Mo fully understood Lonely Island's real goal!
"Was awakening the Ghost Royal Guard all about a siege?"
"Once Purgatory City is breached, everyone gets a severe system penalty!"
"That way, he doesn't need to come at me head-on to get me crippled all the same!"
"He'll do anything to get what he wants!"
A sharp light flashed in Lin Mo's eyes.
He knew that with the levels and strength of Purgatory City's players at this stage, there was no way they could hold off the Level 100 Ghost Royal Guard, let alone a Level 100 Ghost King as well!
Right now, the only one who could deal with Ghost King Soul-Commanding Envoy · Sade was Lin Mo, with his Tier 8 War God Set!
"I have to finish the secret realm quest and get out of the Land of Abandoned Ghosts as fast as I can!"
With that, Lin Mo gripped his Tier 8 Golden Peerless · War God Crossbow and stepped out of Ghost Domain City.
[🎉 Shoutout to BaTheboss for joining p@treon. Consider joining if you appreciate the work. Thank you very much. Have a great day~🤗]