Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Disbelief covered Gaibang Laoda’s face.
Whether in range or effect, King’s Way was superior to his Harmony by far more than a little!
“Wait!”
The gods hidden in the shadows spotted the discrepancy. “Zhouyou Shijie’s Talent should be called Sovereign’s Descent, not King’s Way!”
“Did you notice? The moment he used King’s Way, his speed dropped dramatically.”
“Two people’s Talents couldn’t possibly be this similar unless his Talent…”
Every clue pointed toward a single answer.
Sovereign’s Descent could copy an opponent’s Talent and strengthen it further!
Even the gods were shaken by the revelation.
They had never heard of such a Talent!
Gaibang Laoda arrived at the same conclusion. “You copied my Talent?”
“Any resemblance is purely coincidental!”
Zhou Ming stood alone before the city lord’s residence. Whenever skeleton soldiers approached, he unleashed Blazing Heaven Sword and blasted out a vast empty zone.
“That’s so goddamn broken!” Gaibang Laoer cursed.
“What are you afraid of?”
Gaibang Laoda remained calm under pressure and quickly recovered his composure. “Hardly anyone is going to help him!”
The overwhelming majority of players were hostile toward Zhouyou Shijie. That was simply reality.
In other words, even if King’s Way was stronger than Harmony, it would amount to nothing without enough contributors.
“Right! Exactly!”
Gaibang Laoer snapped out of his daze and shouted, “Anyone who refuses to help Zhouyou Shijie can claim an extra thirty-yuan subsidy from the Gaibang Guild afterward. Just bring a screenshot!”
“You can’t turn this around!”
Afraid that something might still go wrong, Gaibang Laoda immediately charged.
Zhou Ming’s expression did not change.
Just as his opponent had said, only a tiny handful of players were willing to voluntarily contribute power to him.
Clang!
Zhou Ming raised his sword to block Gaibang Laoda’s attack. The impact sent him sliding backward, numbing the web of his hand, and knocked him down from his position above.
With the power of several thousand players supporting him, Gaibang Laoda’s stats truly exceeded Zhou Ming’s by a significant margin. His maximum Attack had even reached 4,200.
“Zhouyou Shijie is still going to lose!”
After recovering from their brief shock, the players’ judgment of the battle remained unchanged.
King’s Way was certainly stronger than Harmony!
But Zhouyou Shijie was hated throughout the game. Everyone wanted him to lose. Why would they ever help him?
“You think you can raise your arm and have every player rally behind you?” Gaibang Laoda pressed his advantage, the sword in his hand shining with starlight. “Wrong. They all want nothing more than to kill you!”
As he piled on the verbal pressure, his attacks grew increasingly fierce.
[Gaibang Laoda has used Star Power. Attack +30% and Attack Speed +30% for 1 minute!]
Blazing Heaven Sword!
At a certain moment, flames gathered around Zhou Ming. The blazing phantom of a massive sword crashed toward Gaibang Laoda.
Gaibang Laoda had prepared for it. His left hand closed around the green stone Mo Yun had given him.
[Gaibang Laoda has used the Rare S-Rank item Windrider Stone. Damage Reduction +20%, Movement Speed +50%, and Attack Speed +50% for 3 minutes!]
His Movement Speed soared, and Gaibang Laoda tried to dodge to the side. Blazing Heaven Sword remained locked onto him like a shadow, giving him no chance to escape as it slammed down upon his head.
Boom!
The nearby monsters died instantly. Gaibang Laoda was smashed to his knees and Suppressed for 1.45 seconds.
-1,232!
Damage that would have been fatal to any other player shaved away only one-tenth of Gaibang Laoda’s HP.
“I can’t contribute power to you,” Qianying explained. “The rules are warning me that I cannot interfere in a battle between adventurers. The stats I would provide also exceed your character panel’s upper limit, so that isn’t permitted either.”
“It’s fine.”
Zhou Ming wasn’t surprised.
If god-tier NPCs could interfere, this move would be absurdly overpowered. Gaibang Laoda could have accepted support from the gods and become outright invincible.
Instead of attacking while his opponent was Suppressed, Zhou Ming raised his voice. “Anyone who helps me can claim a gold-coin subsidy with a screenshot!”
“A gold-coin subsidy?”
“What a load of crap! What player has gold coins at this stage?”
The players didn’t believe him at all.
Right now, a single silver coin was worth ten yuan. A gold coin was worth well over a thousand, and even at that price, none were available for sale.
“Qianying, toss a few out!” Zhou Ming said with perfect composure.
The coins were bound and couldn’t be withdrawn, but there was no reason he couldn’t give them to other players in the game.
“All right!”
Qianying did so without hesitation.
Clink, clink, clink…
In an instant, gold coins rained down from the sky.
Everyone: “!!!!!”
[You have received assistance from Black and White. HP +3.2, Attack +0.46, Defense +0.34!]
[You have received assistance from Dao Through Poverty…]
…
It happened fast!
Almost the instant the gold coins began to fall, assistance notifications from the players flooded Zhou Ming’s message log.
Gaibang Laoda’s expression changed drastically. The moment his Suppression ended, he hurriedly attacked.
Clang!
Zhou Ming stood his ground and took the sword head-on.
-1!
The damage number popped up. The attack couldn’t even break his Defense.
“…”
The two men stared at each other without saying a word.
The scene was enough to crush a man’s spirit.
“Let’s end this!”
Zhou Ming swung his sword down.
Gaibang Laoda’s face went pale. Gritting his teeth, he declared, “Even if I die, I won’t let you walk away happy!”
[You have received assistance from Gaibang Laoda…]
Before dying, he had managed to snatch a gold coin from Zhouyou Shijie.
-14,458! (Critical Hit)
Thud!
The instant Gaibang Laoda fell dead, a green stone dropped from his body.
“Loot!”
Zhou Ming’s eyes lit up. He immediately bent down and swept the Windrider Stone into his inventory.
[Warning: Star Guardian · Mo Yun’s affinity toward you has decreased by 20. Current Affinity: 10, Mortal Enemy!]
There was no question the stone had come from Mo Yun.
“You deliberately dropped a Rare S-Rank item to make Mo Yun hate me even more!” Zhou Ming saw through Gaibang Laoda’s scheme at once. “Ruthless. Even in death, you refuse to let me live in peace!”
“I…”
Gaibang Laoda’s ghost nearly coughed up three liters of blood.
“Outrageous!”
Watching from the shadows, Mo Yun’s face turned black as coal.
This battle had been utterly ridiculous!
The situation changed so quickly that no one had time to process it.
Copying Talents, scattering money… Nothing Zhouyou Shijie did obeyed the slightest shred of reason!
With the greatest threat among the players eliminated, Zhou Ming looked toward Red Hare Among Men, who had challenged him earlier. He beckoned. “You may offer me your guidance now!”
Red Hare Among Men: “…”
[You have successfully killed Red Hare Among Men. Infamy +1!]
One sword, one instant kill!
After that, Zhou Ming showed no mercy to the Gaibang Guild members or the skeleton grunts trying to enter the mayor’s residence. He bombarded them with every skill at his disposal and ended the battle within minutes.
[Warning: The demon-lion army led by the Level 20 Silver Boss Demonized Lion King will launch the second wave of the assault!]
“ROAR!”
Vast numbers of lions poured into the city, their momentum earthshaking.
Zhou Ming charged straight into them and cut them down like vegetables.
With thousands of players contributing their power, his character panel had reached heights he had never seen before.
Whoosh!
A man’s projection abruptly appeared before Zhou Ming.
He had rough features, a towering build, and an overwhelmingly powerful aura. He roared in fury, “You! You’re the culprit who stole the gold coins!”
[Thunder Venerable · Lei Qianjue] (God-Tier Boss)
Another god-tier expert!
Zhou Ming vaguely remembered that this man had also participated in the gods’ wager.
“What gold coins?” Zhou Ming asked blankly.
“The stolen gold coins!”
“What was stolen?”
“…Stop playing dumb, you little bastard!”
Lei Qianjue ground his teeth. “If it wasn’t you, who else could it have been?”
Fengyuan Town, Zisha Town, and Yunfeng Town all fell under his jurisdiction.
More than a million stolen gold coins represented a devastating loss for him.
“Oh, I see!”
Understanding dawned on Zhou Ming’s face. “You’re saying someone stole some gold coins, and you think that someone was me?”
“Who else could it be?” Lei Qianjue glared.
“Hahahaha…”
Zhou Ming threw his head back and laughed. Then his face abruptly darkened. “If you want to accuse someone, you’ll never lack a pretext!”
…