Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 139 - 134: When Did the Garrison Soldiers Have Such a Valiant Warrior?

Chapter 139: Chapter 134: When Did the Garrison Soldiers Have Such a Valiant Warrior?

Slightly earlier.

As the players were discussing their strategies, Shen Shang also secretly conveyed some information to Meng Yuan.

"I’m ready to start reversing this historical slice.

"However, there’s one thing I need to emphasize; the demons this time differ from the last and might be more troublesome.

"Because this historical slice isn’t limited to a small range but involves a vast spacetime range, so the demon’s power will inevitably be strong.

"It’s highly likely that it exists independently of any bandits, and it might even take control of any character other than General Deng; pay special attention to this."

Meng Yuan thought to himself, "Understood, just continue reversing the historical slice as usual, I and the players will handle the rest."

One reason why Meng Yuan eventually chose to play the Emperor was related to Shen Shang’s warning.

This, the other players didn’t know.

The players only knew about the gameplay differences between the common Trial Illusion and the ultimate challenge, such as the gradual unlocking of identities in the common Trial Illusion, random talents appearing, while in the ultimate challenge, identities can be chosen, with a much wider range of characters available—practically any character that has appeared is selectable, and talents are directly picked from a pool.

They didn’t know the reasons behind these mechanisms; they just thought they were special settings made by the designers to make the game more fun.

But actually, these were specific measures adopted to ideally decode the demonic encroachments on the historical slices.

The demons’ abilities also vary in strength, with the later encounters undoubtedly revealing stronger demons.

And the spacetime scope of the historical slices could also roughly determine the range of the demons’ power.

The instance "All Set and Yet to Bury" could essentially be regarded as occurring within a specific spacetime range.

All the plots happened within a small county town, and the time span did not exceed a single day and night.

Such small slices would naturally attract weaker demons, whose abilities could be somewhat limited.

But the instance "Sealing Titles Was Not My Intent" was different.

Its time span covered dozens of years, encompassing the entire southeastern robbery suppression process, and in terms of spatial scope, it included locations like the southeastern coast, the capital, and beyond the Northern Border.

Although it didn’t encompass the entire Huaxia land but only regional fragments, such a spacetime scope should not be underestimated.

With a histological slice of this magnitude, the invading demons were certainly no small fry and would undoubtedly be much stronger than the previous demons.

According to Shen Shang’s intelligence, some powerful demons could even exist without possessing barbarians or bandits.

That means, in essence, it was observing the entire historical slice from a god-like perspective.

The performances of almost all characters in the historical slice could not escape its eyes!

That’s why in this historical slice’s simulation trial rating system, the "performance" aspect was elevated to a very high position.

Because only through acting could the players sufficiently confound this demon!

If all players stopped acting, the demon could instantly determine there was something wrong with these people, therefore it wouldn’t tamper with them but rather would tamper with others. With this, the possibility of a restorer failing would greatly increase.

In other words, the ideal scenario for a restorer was: deceive the demon, letting it believe the restorers were key aboriginals in the instance, during the tampering by the demon, the restorer’s power would nullify this tampering force, then the players could successfully reenact history, decoding the demonic blockade in the historical slice.

The more a restorer was exposed, the more likely it was to arouse the demon’s suspicion, and in the most severe case, the restorers might even have to engage in direct combat with the demon before breaking through the barricades.

That possibility was low, but still something Meng Yuan and Shen Shang must try everything to avoid.

...

Shen Shang’s petite body floated in the chaotic spacetime currents, beginning to guide the restorer’s power.

After absorbing the previous historical slice, her power had grown significantly.

The powerful restorer’s force crossed through layers of chaotic spacetime, enveloping that historical slice and starting to reverse it!

Beyond the Northern Border, a sky full of flying sand.

But in the next moment, the sand flew back north, and General Deng, who was preparing to march, dismounted and returned to the camp.

Time reversed rapidly, to Nanhe City, Puning Port... characters in each scene reverted to their original states, the sacrificed soldiers revived, and the invading bandits returned to Puning Port.

Finally, a group of bandits retreated outside the garrison where General Deng was stationed, ready to attack.

The entire historical slice had come to a halt.

However, this time, the bandits did not emit any black aura from their bodies, indicating that no demons had possessed them.

Instead, a wisp of black smoke spread across the sky, almost imperceptible.

...

By the time Li Hongyun had come around, he found himself in the midst of battle.

His comrades, like him, were dressed in the standard-issue beige, crossed-collared armor of the Great Sheng Dynasty garrison soldiers.

Everything seemed to have reverted to the state when he first entered the Trial Illusion.

But he could clearly feel that this was not the simulation he had cleared numerous times, but rather a completely different place.

As for the legendary 100% pain sensation, he dared not experience it, nor did he want to.

He only wanted to apply the effectiveness he had achieved in the simulation to this situation, to clear it as smoothly as possible.

Not to mention, he was a bit nervous.

Especially when he thought about his performance being filmed and shown to countless viewers, Li Hongyun felt even more nervous.

Soon, the bandits charged with a loud shout!

Li Hongyun, of course, had witnessed such scenes many times, but the soldiers on-site were still trembling, a fearful emotion naturally spreading among them.

Some of the front-line soldiers were even retreating in fear, which likely meant they might flee without even facing the bandits.

General Deng, still riding his tall horse and pointing his long spear at the bandits, shouted loudly, "No retreat! Follow me and charge!

"No retreat!"

However, his stern reprimand did not have much effect, as many soldiers began to scatter without agreement!

General Deng’s face turned an iron blue, clearly, he had not held high expectations for these garrison soldiers, but even with such low expectations, the behavior of these soldiers still shattered his psychological threshold.

Li Hongyun was also surprised.

From his previous simulations in the Trial Illusion, although these garrison soldiers had questionable combat ability, they would at least engage the bandits and find that it was completely one-sided and hopeless before they began to flee.

What was happening now?

They had started to retreat even before confronting the enemy!

"Could this be the effect of a demon? Has the difficulty of the instance increased after multiple players have entered?" Li Hongyun conjectured.

The current situation was very critical for General Deng.

From the earlier "crumbling at a touch" to now "crumbling without a fight," he could not have imagined that these garrison soldiers had room to regress further.

How was it possible for a student who had scored zero to break the lower limit and score negative?

With no other choice, he clenched his teeth and charged alone toward the bandits!

As a general, Deng certainly could not lead a retreat; in such circumstances, he had only one choice—fight to the death!

The situation was so urgent that General Deng even began to think he might have to sacrifice his life for the country.

However, just as General Deng had rushed halfway, he was surprised to find someone suddenly beside him!

This foot soldier, relying solely on his legs, had somehow managed to keep up with his warhorse over this short distance.

Of course, General Deng had not allowed his horse to charge at full speed; he couldn’t stray too far from his line, but even so, this soldier caught his attention.

Before General Deng could think further, the soldier had already engaged with the bandits!

His left hand held a rattan shield high, and his right hand gripped a long spear, not foolishly thrusting at the first opportunity—which would have been easy to dodge, and if the spear were broken by a knife, he would be severely disadvantaged.

First observing the bandit’s movements, and only after the bandit’s knife struck, did he calmly parry with his shield, and then, the spear thrust into the bandit’s chest at a very cunning angle!

The bandits were dumbfounded, and General Deng was too.

When had such a formidable soldier emerged among the garrison soldiers?

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