Nightmare Forest
Since the sudden death of his parents, Shi Xizheng has never been so peaceful.
Not seeing, not hearing, not thinking, not imagining, just like an old monk in meditation.
The moment his body was parasitized, he immediately realized that the one who took over his body was not an ordinary ghoul.
When the light screen turned on and he saw his fingers sending out messages one after another, Shi Xi was certain that it was that existence - the invisible hand hidden beneath the surface of the game, releasing divine inspiration.
The other party even read his memory and knew about his previous conversations and transactions with Chu Mo. In order to avoid arousing other people's suspicion, he even deliberately revealed his concern for his brother between the lines.
Of course, there is a huge contradiction in the other party's approach.
Before Shi Xizheng came online, he had already updated the guilds on their latest strategy: accepting Yong'an Farm as the fifth major dungeon. Meanwhile, the enemy mobilized all of Longyan's members to launch a final siege on Yong'an.
Shi Xizheng still had a glimmer of hope that no one offline would question his decision. That was until he saw the content of one of the messages.
[Law: It has been confirmed that the Yongan ghoul is at the end of its strength and has been forced to hide in the Nightmare Forest. Now is the best time to eliminate the Yongan mission.]
This message was sent to the command channel.
The guild leaders, who had not yet fully accepted the decision to peacefully coexist with Yong'an, all expressed their agreement, and senior players from the five major guilds came out in full force.
There are cars in Lengbing City and thermal boats in Ghost Island. Both non-prop-based transportation methods are suitable for long-distance travel, and they soon arrived at the Nightmare Forest.
They surrounded the forest, which was equivalent to surrounding Yong'an Farm. If the Yong'an Ghoul really ran out of energy, only death would await it.
Shi Xizheng was not panicked at all.
People who make many decisions often develop extraordinarily sharp intuition. He believed in his intuition: An Rou was the one who would end the game.
Forcing the "God" hidden behind the game and An Rou into a desperate situation of life and death is exactly the situation that Shi Xi wants to see.
After making up his mind, Shi Xizheng heard his own voice, which was filled with slight sarcasm and teasing.
"Do you really think An Rou can kill me and end the game?"
——Ghost King?!
Shi Xizheng had heard the phrase "Rise to Legend, enter the Ghost Ruins, kill the Ghost King, and end the game" countless times. The mysterious outer shell peeled off again, and he immediately thought of his true identity.
The Ghost King, the most mysterious existence in the game, was the last existence seen by more than 20 legendary players before their sudden deaths.
"Heh, Shi Xizheng, you're quite smart, but you just don't have the best luck. From the first time I saw you, I knew that with your abilities, no matter how long you try, you wouldn't be able to open the Ghost Ruins..."
Shi Xizheng saw himself taking off his gloves, stretching and shaking his five fingers, and finally clenching them into fists.
"But, with me here, your luck has changed. Now you're a super god in the top ten of the Destiny Ranking. Are you excited?"
Shi Xizheng simply stopped thinking.
He even gave up on his brother's life after struggling to no avail. His own life was no longer a consideration.
This is the awareness that one should have after discovering the existence of divine revelation.
The churning consciousness in my mind suddenly stopped, like a thick, settling fog, lifeless.
Outside the forest, Shi Xi squinted his eyes.
Interestingly, he had underestimated Guild Leader Long Yan in the past. Aren't all the senior managers at the top of the pyramid of human society smart-aleck fools?
The night had already enveloped the wasteland, and the twilight was dispelled by the fire.
One kilometer ahead, the fire had already enveloped the vast Nightmare Forest, gradually spreading from the edge inward.
He hadn't intended to set the fire. After all, Chu Mo had suddenly gone offline, so there was a chance he would suddenly come back online. If Chu Mo were to set An Rou on fire, who knew what kind of temper he would have.
However, the hallucinogenic gas in the Nightmare Forest is too strong. It is unknown when one can succeed in cutting down trees to create a path through the dense forest.
It would be better to cut the Gordian knot.
Shi Xizheng withdrew his gaze, turned around, and looked at the towering earthen ridge behind him.
After defeating the ghoul wave, the army traveled hundreds of kilometers before reaching the Nightmare Forest. Given such a long distance, how could the movement speed in the Nightmare Forest not have increased significantly?
What was strange was that after the Legion found the Nightmare Forest, they discovered that the forest's movement speed was much faster, but it was far from reaching a speed of hundreds of kilometers per hour.
Just like the nightmare tree suddenly growing to a height of a hundred meters, this strange speed... is really worrying.
We can't delay any longer.
Otherwise, more and more things in the soul world will be out of his control.
Shi Xi was standing on the roof of his car, following the car behind him as it followed the forest, maintaining a distance of a kilometer from the edge. All around him, the members of the Longyan group were busy, wearing the special Onigashima helmets, and continuously delivering fuel and kerosene into the forest.
Pea Yellow ran closer, used his movement skill, and sped after the car.
"President, the front line has advanced 200 meters. Should we shrink the blockade?"
Shi Xizheng nodded.
For every inch of forest burned, the hallucinogenic gas would shrink, and the Legion's encirclement of Yong'an would be closer.
"President, Chixin..."
"He's fine. If you don't believe me, you can log off and see for yourself after you finish the mission."
"...That's not what I meant." Wandouhuang hurriedly explained.
Originally, Chi Xin was under the joint supervision of him and Leng Xiaoxie, but unexpectedly, a wave of ghouls broke out suddenly and the three of them were separated.
When Wandouhuang fought his way out and found Chixin, he just saw him having his chest pierced by a ghoul's claw, and with a look of fear in his eyes, he shattered into a point of light.
From the player's perspective, he couldn't notice that the invisible luck flowing from the light spot condensed into silk threads and extended to Shi Xizheng's palm.
Seeing that Shi Xizheng had no intention of listening to his explanation, Wandouhuang stopped talking and was about to leave when his eyes swept over the forest.
He was stunned.
The tall, densely packed nightmare trees resembled a majestic castle, surrounded by flames. Above the castle, the roof suddenly flew up.
The leaping flames illuminated the tangled veins of the roof.
It was an extremely huge tree canopy.
Beneath the tree canopy, a tiny figure soared into the air. Countless slender ribbons extended from the figure, most of which penetrated the tree canopy, forming a straight line.
Thousand-handed Flying Blades, Princess Half Moon.
Pea Yellow suddenly shouted, "Retreat, everyone retreat!"
The trees were too tall, and players near the forest were blocked by their shadows, unable to see the strange phenomenon above. Only players like Wandouhuang, who were at a distance, could witness it firsthand and instantly become alert.
"Retreat! Princess Half Moon has come out!"
"Everyone be careful!"
The situation happened suddenly, and Wandouhuang's attention was completely attracted by the rising tree canopy. He didn't realize that Shixi was glaring at him fiercely at the moment he shouted.
However, Wandouhuang was not the only one who reminded his companions to retreat.
Shi Xizheng couldn't act too indifferent to human life, so he could only suppress his displeasure and observe gloomily.
Flames enveloped the immense trees, the crackling sounds of the intense burning being deafening. The players, wearing helmets and approaching the forest, were unable to hear the cries of their companions behind them.
Until someone sent them a summons.
The players immediately abandoned their supplies and fuel, scattering like ants. However, no one expected that their very escape would lead them to their own death.
The massive treetops above the forest suddenly exploded, heavy branches shooting out in all directions at the speed of arrows.
Players who were several hundred meters away from the forest lost the cover of the trees on the edge and were at the same time subjected to the baptism of "feather arrows".
Even the top branches of the hundred-meter-tall nightmare trees were thick as a man's leg. Caught off guard, no one could fully dodge the sweeping blows of these branches. In the blink of an eye, the outer reaches of the forest were littered with broken limbs, the dead and wounded.
Shi Xizheng curled up a very faint sneer.
The Ghost King's parasitism strengthened his various attributes. From the moment Princess Half Moon appeared, he saw clearly that the treetops were woven together with silk.
The brief moment of floating in the air was when Princess Half Moon was waiting for the opportunity to attack. The players scattered and fled, exposing themselves to the attack range.
Of course, Shi Xizheng also understood that Princess Banyue's primary purpose in this operation wasn't to injure anyone, but to extinguish the fire. Most of the branches, imbued with immense power, fell into the inner circle of the forest fire, creating a deep circular pit.
This is how she puts out the fire.
Too naive.
Shi Xi was giving orders to the dazed pea-yellow: "Notify everyone and continue to light the fire!"
Pea Yellow looked at him blankly: "But..."
The combat power of Princess Banyue, ranked second on the list, was truly formidable. The high-ranking players on the Destiny List seemed to be crowded together, all ranked in the top 100 of the server, but in reality, each move up in rank resulted in a significant increase in strength.
Princess Ban Yue is second only to Chu Mo, and like Chu Mo, she has stayed at the top of the list for a long time and is almost regarded as a legend by the wild guests.
But since she is a player, a person living in the real world, shouldn't the guild's priority strategy be to conquer offline?
Shi Xizheng's cold gaze fell on his face.
"But what? Even if she can pull off the same trick again, will she still have a tree canopy above her head? A skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Do you need me to teach you such a simple truth?"
Wandouhuang subconsciously felt unhappy.
As the Minister of the Spiritual Realm, he was used to being lazy and had some slick tactics. However, Shi Xizheng's dominance and pressure made all of this useless.
He had to admit that Shi Xizheng's analysis made sense. Large-scale AOE attacks required a high energy consumption, especially the Princess's attack method, which also required a large amount of tree canopy.
Just now, a large section of the forest canopy had clearly been cleared. Even if a few more waves arrived, at best, some players would lose a chance to revive, which could even be called "harmless consumption."
Wandou Huang was about to agree when he realized it was too late. Shi Xizheng raised his hand and tapped rapidly in front of him.
A pea-yellow light screen popped up, and it was the command that Shi Xizheng personally issued in the channel.
It’s over, I’ve offended my boss.
Wandouhuang couldn't help but steal a glance at Shi Xizheng, only to see that the other party suddenly jumped up, with a fast and fierce momentum.
With a bang, the car's roof dented a lot, scaring the players inside so much that they slammed on the brakes.
Wandouhuang's eyes involuntarily followed Shi Xizheng's figure, and suddenly, he saw an even more shocking scene.
Above the forest, in the pitch-black night sky, so dark that even the fire couldn't illuminate it, a surging white cloud appeared. Centered on the forest, it spread out in all directions at the blink of an eye.
When he came to his senses, the area within several kilometers was covered by glowing clouds.
"Ghoul...it's a Ghoul!"
On the night when Yongan Farm flew into the empty valley, he had been on the same thermal boat as Chixin, and he had witnessed the exact same scene with his own eyes.
"Everyone, prepare to resist the ghouls!" Wandou Huang roared. At the same time, he glanced at Shi Xizheng's rapidly receding figure and gritted his teeth, "Retreat! Everyone, retreat!"
Shi Xizheng heard Wandouhuang's roar.
He wanted to crush this cowardly human to death, but he didn't have time.
All the players near the forest were resurrected and online, retreating in panic. Only he went upstream, crossed the trench made by the princess, and disappeared into the forest.
In the blink of an eye, the Ghost King's true form appeared on the top of the forest.
At this height, he finally saw Yong'an Farm hidden in the center of the forest and the dim colorful lights on the farm.
The Ghost King immediately understood what An Rou was going to do.
She actually saw through fate!
The soul-calling song echoed in his ears, and the first ghouls began to swarm. They came from all directions, stirring up all the white bubbles and making the cloud look like a huge vortex.
The ghouls gathered into a thick pure white tornado and pounced on the Rainbow of the Valley on the farm.
The Ghost King stared at Tornado, his eyes flashing with a strange light.
It's useless. The Rainbow of the Valley has too much attraction to the ghouls, and he can't control them at all.
He gritted his teeth, and his body turned into a pool of water light, like an ever-expanding net, covering the entire tornado.
The tornado's descent speed slowed down.
But it was only a pause.
He transformed himself among thousands of ghouls, and could clearly feel an invisible force tearing the ghouls apart from below!
At the bottom of the tornado, the water light condensed into a pair of eyes.
Hundreds of meters away, a pair of eyes, the darkest and deepest, stared at him from afar.
An Rou... An, Rou!!!
When it comes to controlling ghouls, An Rou's power is no match for his. But right now, An Rou is only using her power to assist Hollow Rainbow, which is another matter!
A slight mistake caused him to lose control of the ghoul.
The white tornado sank suddenly, scattering the pair of watery ghost eyes, and crashed into the rainbow in the empty valley with a roar.
The power of elements surged, and colorful lights bloomed like flowers in an instant, filling every corner of the farm!
The Rainbow in the Valley finally recovered the energy it had during the day, and the force of life suddenly burst out!
At the top of the forest, the missing treetops were growing rapidly at a rate visible to the naked eye. Beneath the forest, the dense and thick root system seemed to have been injected with the highest grade fuel, twitching rapidly.
Nightmare Forest, started running at high speed again!
At the top of the forest, the Ghost King's form solidified again, and the spot where he stood, in the blink of an eye, became the edge of the treetops. His eyes were filled with resentment, but he didn't forget to dive into the forest. The moment the Nightmare Forest took away Xi Zheng's body, he once again parasitized his body.
Shi Xi was already in a nightmare when he suddenly woke up. The first thing he saw was a map on the screen.
His hand dragged the map downwards, and his gaze remained on the northeast direction in the upper right corner of the map.
A winding coastline appeared on the map. On the opposite side of the coastline, among the densely packed archipelago, two words were marked.
Ghost Island.
From the empty valley in the southwest to the ghost island in the northeast, in just one day, has Yong'an Farm traveled so far?
Shi Xizheng couldn't control his thoughts for a moment.
Then he felt himself squint his eyes and his vision dimmed.
The map slid to a place even further back than Onigashima, a pure black area with no borders or text markings.
"Boundless Sea..."
He heard his own voice and gritted his teeth.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
