Chapter 181 Ambush

Yingzuka Yuetsuzai was just a pervert, not a pushover. To be inexplicably knocked to the ground ignited his rage. He swiftly scrambled to his feet, ready to fight, but his assailant grabbed his collar, "Do you know how many brothers your little stunt cost us?"

I was careless! Yingzuka Yuetsuzai thought. A moment of hot-blooded impulsiveness, forgetting his profession, he should have retreated swiftly to create distance, why did he stick so close? So irrational. Even as Yingzuka Yuetsuzai engaged in tactical analysis, he didn't hear a word the man said. His comrades reacted faster, rushing forward to pull them apart.

"What happened?" Mang Mang de Mang Mang asked, puzzled. The anger directed at Yingzuka Yuetsuzai was clearly not an isolated incident. The Cloud players emerging from the forest all glared at him with fury.

"Are you in cahoots with that Shui Shen guy?" someone roared.

Yingzuka Yuetsuzai was even angrier at this accusation than being knocked down, jumping up and down, shouting, "Only grandsons are with Shui Shen!!"

His loud voice acted as a map-wide area-of-effect attack. Shui Shen wasn't too far away, and many of his brothers were nearby, hearing every word. They were understandably displeased with Yingzuka Yuetsuzai's insults.

"What exactly happened?" Mang Mang de Mang Mang asked, frowning.

Beauty is a wondrous thing, capable of various effects in different situations. Sometimes a catalyst, sometimes a soothing balm. Now, after Mang Mang de Mang Mang spoke again, the man finally stopped yelling and said calmly, "We ran into an ambush on the way here." He glared at Yingzuka Yuetsuzai again.

"What ambush?" Mang Mang de Mang Mang quickly asked.

"The enemy was hiding in the trees along our path. When we passed, they unleashed a wide-range of magic attacks. No one could dodge. We all died," the player said.

"How could this..." Yingzuka Yuetsuzai was stunned. He could imagine how devastating such an ambush could be.

"You should be asking yourself that, shouldn't you?" the man said, looking at Yingzuka Yuetsuzai suspiciously.

"This has nothing to do with him," Mang Mang de Mang Mang said. "This was my idea. Starting from the moment we met that new player in the forest, it seems they intentionally designed a trap."

"..." The man looked at Yingzuka Yuetsuzai, then at Mang Mang de Mang Mang, unsure what to say.

"What exactly is going on!" A new voice roared as another figure emerged from the forest, glaring at Yingzuka Yuetsuzai, one hand gripping a man tightly – the mission's protectee, Todd. This man was none other than Boundless Ocean's guild leader, Wushi Zhi Jian.

"This...this is a trap..." Yingzuka Yuetsuzai was at a loss. Although they were unintentional, they had still made a mistake, a huge one...

"It has nothing to do with them. I was too careless and was deceived," Mang Mang de Mang Mang said, appearing more composed in comparison.

"Who are you?" Wushi Zhi Jian asked, looking at her. Dao Ying Nian Hua was in charge of contacting the mercenary groups, and Wushi Zhi Jian didn't even recognize all the guild leaders.

"Does it matter who I am? Now is not the time to investigate the issue. Shui Shen's people likely have more plans in place. We should be thinking about what to do next! You can assign blame after we get through this," Mang Mang de Mang Mang said calmly.

"That's right!" Someone agreed. Gu Xiao Shang had just emerged from the forest and overheard this. He quickly strode over, appraising Mang Mang de Mang Mang with admiration, "Sis, which mercenary group are you with? I don't think I've ever seen you before!"

"Me? I'm not with any group, just here with friends," Mang Mang de Mang Mang said.

"I'm Gu Xiao Shang, what's your name?" Gu Xiao Shang offered his hand.

"Mang Mang de Mang Mang." The two women shook hands powerfully, captivating the surrounding men. Gu Xiao Shang wondered, "Mang Mang de Mang Mang? The one from Moonlit City?"

"That's me," Mang Mang de Mang Mang nodded.

Gu Xiao Shang, Wushi Zhi Jian, and other Cloud players exchanged glances. Due to the Silver Moon incident, Mang Mang de Mang Mang had been mentioned repeatedly when describing Silver Moon's despicable actions. Yingzuka Yuetsuzai had failed to mention that she was also in the party.

In that story, Mang Mang de Mang Mang had been slandered and abandoned. Everyone assumed she must be a sorrowful woman filled with resentment, but seeing her in person, they knew this was not the case. Even in this chaotic situation, her composure surpassed most men.

The discussion was cut short as more and more players emerged from the forest, the accumulating numbers growing. Wushi Zhi Jian began organizing the troops, until finally a large group of warriors slowly approached, shaking the trees as they came.

"What are you doing?" Wushi Zhi Jian asked, surprised.

"If we stop shaking the trees together, won't the enemy attack again?" a warrior replied.

"Alright, if there were still people here, would we be standing here unscathed?" Wushi Zhi Jian said.

The warriors realized his point and finally stopped shaking the trees. Everyone was a little on edge.

"Is everyone out?" Wushi Zhi Jian asked. In theory, these warriors should have been the last to retreat. He had even thought that they might not survive, because as soon as they stopped shaking the trees, an attack would have immediately started. Unexpectedly, they had thought of gradually ceasing the shaking, until they left the enemy's attack range.

"People from Gongzi Elite Team are at the rear, providing cover," a warrior replied.

"Cover? The enemy is coming?" Wushi Zhi Jian said tensely, and he quickly organized defenses.

"It's fine, we've already taken care of them, just a few lurking thieves," the six members of the Gongzi Elite Team appeared, arrogant and imposing.

"This time, I'll waive the fees for this small job!" Han Jia Gongzi said magnanimously to Wushi Zhi Jian.

Wushi Zhi Jian didn't want to haggle over trivial matters, he turned back to the team and shouted, "Mercenary groups, count your members. Boundless Ocean, those still alive, stand by the wall."

The guild leaders immediately busied themselves, calling their members to gather around. The Boundless Ocean players walked toward the wall, all looking dejected. In addition, there were a considerable number of players who were at a loss, Wushi Zhi Jian asked and found they were from mercenary groups whose leaders had died. Wushi Zhi Jian then asked Feng Xing to temporarily command these leaderless people.

The headcount was only conducted roughly. When this massive team departed from Cloudend City, the total number was close to 1300. Only in the fierce battle with the mountain bandits at Wulong Mountain and the cowardly retreat over the cliff did they lose about a hundred people. There had been no major losses since then, until they entered this forest, constantly experiencing ambushes and counter-ambushes. This large-scale ambush had brought the casualties to nearly 600. Of the nearly 1300 people, it was roughly estimated that only 600 remained.

Everyone was in a heavy mood. Because everyone had lost partners in this process. Except for the Gongzi Elite Team, these six had been safe and sound all the way, constantly filling their pockets. While everyone else had mournful expressions, the six felt it inappropriate to spoil the mood.

However, taking a peek, the Rebirth Purple Crystal girls also looked especially tragic. Yu Tian Shen Ming couldn't help but ask, "Hey, you guys haven't had any losses, right?" During the ambush, the Rebirth Purple Crystal girls were lucky enough to be with the stragglers, avoiding the disaster.

"Who said that? We lost the most people at Wulong Mountain!" A girl rolled her eyes at Yu Tian Shen Ming.

Yu Tian Shen Ming was speechless... During that test of courage at Wulong Mountain, many of the Rebirth Purple Crystal girls had retreated, including Grape, whom Yu Tian Shen Ming admired. He had originally thought that there would be many opportunities to get closer! Alas, fate plays tricks on people! Yu Tian Shen Ming thought, and his mood also became heavy.

Gu Fei's expression was the most somber of the six. After feeling the gloomy atmosphere for a while, he finally couldn't help but say, "Can I log off?"

"Will you die from logging off a little later?" Han Jia Gongzi rolled his eyes.

"I have class tomorrow!" Gu Fei said.

"Bullshit, I haven't heard of a PE class early in the morning," Han Jia Gongzi said. When they first met, Gu Fei had told Yu Tian Shen Ming that he was a teacher. Later, as they became more familiar, they asked Gu Fei what he taught, and they all knew that he was a PE teacher.

"There's morning exercises, have you ever gone to school?" Gu Fei said.

"I went to school, but I never did exercises," Han Jia Gongzi said calmly.

The silence continued around them, no one spoke. Everyone was waiting for Wushi Zhi Jian, the leader, to speak. As for Wushi Zhi Jian, he was actually organizing the situation of their guild. To be honest, he didn't care how many people were lost in total. He was more concerned about whether Todd was dead, and how many people Boundless Ocean had lost. Obviously, he wasn't very good at this task. A pile of Boundless Ocean players were by the wall, and he still hadn't finished counting them.

Just as one wave subsided, another rose. Wushi Zhi Jian hadn't finished counting the number of people he was concerned about when a mercenary group proactively approached him, "Guild Leader Wushi, we want to withdraw from this mission!"

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