It's impossible for Jiang Hao not to want to complain.

Asking a level 13 player to clear out level 20 gold-tier, or even dark gold-tier, beasts? Are you kidding me? The city lord knows he can't use his skills right now.

"Um, Lord City Lord, do you have some suspicion about my talent?"

The city lord and guardian of Jinling City both smiled.

"Haha, I do have some guesses. Is it possible that your talent can pull monsters from afar over without attracting the attention of other monsters?"

"Huh? How did you know?"

Jiang Hao was completely bewildered. Could it be that the city lord sent someone to follow him, or that an NPC tipped him off?

Jiang Hao turned his head toward Mingdu, the guardian standing to the side.

Mingdu spread his hands and said with a smile.

"Don't look at me, I didn't say anything."

"Haha, I guessed right!"

The city lord of Jinling City burst into laughter, his face full of smugness.

"I deduced this from the gold ore you took out. You know, the platform in the Black Dragon Palace can only reach the Dark Gold-level Gold-Eating Wraiths at most. If you go any further, you'll inevitably be besieged by Diamond-level Gold-Eating Wraiths. But you were able to take out so many Diamond-level and Epic-level gold ores all at once. So your only way is to pull monsters from a distance. Therefore, I guess it must be your talent that gives you this ability."

"Was my analysis correct?"

Jiang Hao gave a thumbs up in admiration.

"Awesome!"

"But right now I can only pull monsters; I can't kill gold-level monsters at all. And even if I could, I would have reasons why I can't kill them?"

"Huh? Why is that? You can kill an epic-level Gold-Eating Wanderer, so why can't you kill a gold-level one?"

The city lord of Jinling asked in confusion.

Jiang Hao was pondering how to answer without revealing his second talent when he heard Mingdu, who was standing to the side, speak up.

"Lord of the city, have you forgotten? The Gold-Eating Wanderers are special; they are all level 1 monsters, and their strength is determined by their movement speed."

"Oh right, I can kill monsters below level 20, but I can't kill monsters above level 20."

Jiang Hao quickly began to explain.

The city lord of Jinling was even more puzzled.

"Why is that? Could it be that monsters above level 20 have developed intelligence, and you, young friend, are so kind-hearted that you cannot bear to kill them?"

God is so kind and compassionate that He can't bear to kill!

Jiang Hao felt like he had been forced into a dead end.

"Um, monsters level 20 and above... um, if I kill too many... I... I'll pull the monsters... yes, the distance I need to pull them will be shorter!"

The city lord of Jinling City then suddenly realized what was going on.

"Hahaha, I see, I see. There are countless talents in the world, but I never imagined that your talent is so unique!"

"I do have a way to prevent my little friend from getting shorter."

Jiang Hao's forehead creased with three black lines. What the hell is preventing me from getting shorter?

Jiang Hao felt that the city lord was deliberately trying to disgust him.

But he had no evidence.

You have to cover up the lies you made up yourself, what else can you do?

Jiang Hao wore a bitter expression, trying his best to make his smile more genuine.

"City...City Lord, please speak."

"I can send dozens of my personal guards to form a team with you. You just need to be responsible for pulling the monsters; they can handle the killing!"

Jiang Hao thought of the guards in the square. Although they were decisive and ruthless, clearly seasoned veterans, their strength was only at the silver level. To be honest, Jiang Hao didn't think much of their abilities when it came to dealing with gold-level monsters.

"City Lord, City Lord, it doesn't have to be the personal guard, does it? How about... how about you give me a few of the city's top combatants, and I guarantee I can clear out the monsters in the Energy Crystal Mine for you?"

Upon hearing this, the city lord's face twitched slightly, and even the guardian Mingdu gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"It's not that I'm unwilling to give it, it's just that..."

Seeing the city lord hesitate, Mingdu spoke up to persuade him.

"At this point, Lord City, there's no need for you to hold back anymore. Whether Jinling City has a tomorrow or not now depends entirely on this adventurer."

What the hell is going on? I just arrived in the main city and someone's already saying it's going to be gone?

Jiang Hao's eyes widened, waiting for the city lord to give him an explanation.

The city lord of Jinling spread his hands and said with a wry smile.

"Since Mingdu has already pointed it out, I will speak frankly as well."

"Jinling City is now in grave danger. It could even be said that the entire Eastern Kingdom is facing immense peril."

"The northern ice plains have now been occupied by the Skeleton Legion. If it weren't for the fact that the guards of Jinling City were defending the Qiongfeng Pass, the entire city of Jinling would probably have been occupied by the Skeleton Legion by now."

"What?"

Tens of thousands of sows panicked and couldn't help but squeal.

"Lord, you said the northern ice plains have... have already been occupied by the skeleton army?"

"So that means...that means Jubei City is already..."

Upon hearing the mention of Jubei City by tens of thousands of sows, the city lord of Jinling City was somewhat surprised, but still responded.

“That’s right, I received the last letter from the Lord of Jubei City. When he wrote the letter, he said that Jubei City had fallen, so he should be dead by now.”

Upon hearing this news, the eyes of tens of thousands of sows widened, making his handsome face appear somewhat dazed. He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Jiang Hao was somewhat surprised, and poked at the tens of thousands of sows as he spoke.

"What's wrong? You're acting strange."

Tens of thousands of sows finally realized what was happening and turned to look at Jiang Hao.

"With the fall of Jubei City, players in the 600 starting villages connected to it will have nowhere to go. Once the protective barrier around the starting villages disappears, what awaits them is..."

"What will it be?"

Jiang Hao was getting anxious.

"It will be a massacre!"

The city lord of Jinling answered Jiang Hao's question on behalf of tens of thousands of sows.

"The Skeleton Legion will conquer the 600 starting villages connected to Jubei City, where a total of 6 million players will face an overwhelming number of skeleton monsters that they simply cannot defeat. They will be forced to the starting village resurrection points, where they will die upon resurrection!"

This time, it was Jiang Hao's turn to be shocked.

Holy crap, this game has this feature?

Is it really that difficult?

Jiang Hao originally thought that if the main city disappeared, players would at most be unable to revive there, accept quests, or learn skills. At worst, they could just run around the map to other main cities.

What kind of ridiculous plot is it to be forced into a corner of the newbie village and repeatedly attacked by monsters?

"The Skeleton Legion is incredibly powerful. They flattened the entire northern ice plain in just half a month. Now, all the high-end combat forces in Jinling City have been mobilized to support Qiongfeng Pass. However, due to a shortage of energy crystals, they are only holding out. If the energy crystal problem cannot be solved, it is only a matter of time before Qiongfeng Pass is breached."

"So that's how you found me?"