Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 85 - 80: Group Formation (Seeking First Subscription!)

Chapter 85: Chapter 80: Group Formation (Seeking First Subscription!)

Dark clouds loomed ominously over the city, threatening to crush it.

Demons, having taken the form of the Eastern Barbarian raiders, formed into army formations and surrounded the small county town from several directions.

As the demonic army drew closer, the players could clearly see its composition.

Eastern Barbarian generals, Wandering Warriors, and shadow servants, elite raiders armed with barbarian swords, ordinary raiders wielding crude spears, and even some appearing as common peasants with pitchforks and firewood knives.

Most of these enemies had already been encountered by players within the Trial Illusion.

However, their condition now was different from that within the Trial Illusion.

All the raiders exuded a dark aura, and their eyes emitted a black light, indicating that they were all possessed by demons!

Although a single raider’s combat power definitely couldn’t compare to the Eastern Barbarian general who had invaded the historical slice before, it would still be quite a challenge.

Once possessed by the demons, these raiders would enhance in strength and speed, and more importantly, they were pain-resistant, unyielding, and had extremely strong fighting wills!

Chu Ge couldn’t help but frown slightly, "This Return Order Expedition gameplay is more difficult than I imagined!"

The official announcement had already previewed the mechanics of the "Return Order Expedition," and all players knew it would be something akin to a large-scale team instance or national warfare gameplay.

Initially, everyone was indifferent, focusing all their attention on the ultimate challenge of 100% pain sensation, desperately climbing the ranks.

As for the gameplay of the Return Order Expedition, most players thought it was just like national warfare. They had seen it in other games; such multiplayer gameplay should be relatively easier.

After all, regular instances in Trial Illusion were solo breakthroughs, which couldn’t be mixed; but with national warfare, because there were many players, mixing through might help them smoothly complete it.

But now, seeing this situation, players realized they had been overly simplistic.

What kind of game was this?

It was high difficulty throughout!

Any game mode in "Dark Sand" was never herad of to be completed just by winging it.

Obviously, the large-scale national warfare gameplay of Return Order Expedition was no different!

Judging by the current strength of the demons, if the players were disjointed and fought individually, they might not be able to defend successfully.

More and more players were gathering in the county town, but most were still in the phase of curiously watching the spectacle.

Some players climbed the city walls, curiously looking towards the distant demonic army; some strolled through the county, apparently checking whether the different areas of the town had changed from before; others, rarely encountering other players in the instance, were tempted to see if they could engage in PvP or similar activities.

It was like a group of monkeys being integrated into human society for the first time.

This was understandable, as only a few players had participated in the offline "Demon Invasion" MR activity, and for most, it was their first time seeing other players like themselves in this game, so everything felt novel, right?

But with the demonic army pressing on, being disjointed like this wouldn’t work.

What if, at that time, the demons exhibited strength far beyond the players’ expectations and caused a rout?

With this in mind, Chu Ge immediately took a high position and shouted with all his might, "Everyone quiet down and listen to me!"

Other literary player characters also helped maintain order, and soon, the players quieted down.

New players continued to be summoned, but the number of players was now basically settled.

Chu Ge stood high up and looked around; the city walls, rooftops of the houses below, and the streets were all crowded with players—a rough estimate put the number at over ten thousand.

Currently, "Dark Sand" had a total of twenty thousand beta players, but not everyone could successfully pass the four beginner’s trials or even the original basic instance.

These ten thousand plus players were likely all the elite players who had passed the basic instance "In the End, the Lid of the Coffin Must Be Closed."

Estimating the number of the demonic army, it was roughly around twenty thousand, although many were ordinary raiders with crude spears and frail peasants with pitchforks, disguising as fully-fledged fighters. From the perspective of numbers, the situation clearly held the enemy outnumbering the defenders.

If the players did not coordinate properly, there was still a great potential for failure in this Return Order Expedition!

The players recognized Chu Ge, and they respected this veteran player, who had been exploring game mechanics and leading in challenge instances since "Dark Sand" had started.

So they quickly quieted down, wanting to hear what Chu Ge had to say.

Chu Ge thought carefully about his words, then said, "Time is pressing, I’ll keep it short.

"According to the game settings, a few of us had finally done our duty successfully, corrected this historical slice, and broke through the demon’s barriers. But next, the demons are going to launch a massive attack, trying to take back this historical slice.

"Don’t take it lightly, because based on the current situation, the demons’ power is stronger than ours!

"’Dark Sand,’ no matter the mode, always has a high level of difficulty, it’s impossible to bluff our way through. If we lower our guard, we are very likely to fail this defense battle!

"If this historical slice is taken back, then all the efforts we made previously will be in vain!"

"The enemy is about to reach our gates, and we don’t have much time left. If you all trust me, let me temporarily take command and arrange the defense for this siege."

Players nodded in agreement, "Agreed! You take command!"

They were well-trained players and naturally understood the importance of good leadership in such team activities.

At the moment, Chu Ge was indeed the best candidate for command.

After a brief consideration, Chu Ge immediately outlined the arrangements he had previously planned.

"First, please form squads on your own, five people per squad, forty people per team, and twenty-five teams to a thousand-man team.

"Given our time constraints, we won’t be meticulous about the division; we’ll organize using the principle of proximity, approximately forming ten thousand-man teams.

"When organizing squads, pay attention to the professional combination, ensuring that each squad has at least one scholar and one assassin.

"I also need one thousand-man team consisting solely of ranger and assassin players.

"Four thousand-man teams will guard each of the city walls, two thousand-man teams will be reserve teams inside the city, ready to assist at a moment’s notice. The thousand-man assassin team will look for advantageous terrains within the city to prepare for ambush and assassination. The ranger thousand-man team might try to break out of the city to attack the enemy’s flanks and rear. The remaining two thousand-man teams will guard crucial areas within the county, specifically near the theater market and the county office.

"Everyone, proceed to your designated areas. Those who are ranked higher on the leaderboard and confident in their command abilities can volunteer to be squad leaders or chiliarchs!

"Remember the city defense map, do not let your defenses have any gaps!

"It’s a pity that if this game had a team UI or a mini-map..."

Standing next to Chu Ge, Meng Yuan silently nodded, "Right, makes sense..."

As soon as Chu Ge finished speaking, he found indeed a map of the county appearing in his vision!

The map was dotted with numerous lights representing players, and the colors of the lights varied according to their professional roles.

Under Chu Ge’s command, players began spontaneously gathering at different areas, key locations such as the four city walls, the market and theater, the county office, and the thousand-man teams were quickly formed.

Assassin and ranger players also spontaneously formed two thousand-man teams based on their circumstances, while other rangers and assassins were integrated into regular teams.

These top-ranked players were highlighted on the mini-map in his field of vision, and out of the fifty, even after excluding those who disliked commanding, it was sufficient to choose ten chiliarchs.

As for the squad and team leaders, it also depended on their initiative.

These players, being high-quality ones, quickly organized under Chu Ge’s command and even managed to spontaneously optimize their team configurations.

"We’re short on scholars here! Are there any extra scholar players? We need about a dozen!"

"We need more war soldier players on the east wall! At least thirty more!"

"Assassin thousand-man team, follow me! Let’s scout for suitable ambush locations!"

"Any squads still missing a scholar?"

"Scholar players, don’t waste your righteous energy just yet, wait until the battle starts to buff together!"

It was initially chaotic, but as the formations solidified, the players became orderly.

Chu Ge was surprised, "This game can even activate hidden mechanisms?

"Not only did it activate the map, showing players’ locations on the map, but now it automatically activated the chat channels for squads, teams, and thousand-man teams?"

He discovered that his own squad, team, and thousand-man team were all marked with special icons on the map, making it crystal clear.

Moreover, he could freely switch his communication among the squad, team, and thousand-man team through his thoughts, allowing him to speak a word and everyone in the team could hear it clearly, while other teams were unaffected.

It was like having a built-in voice channel.

"This game’s mechanics are quite rich?

"If it were purely realistic, it’d indeed be not very player-friendly; just organizing these people into teams would be incredibly troublesome and entirely beyond the commanding capabilities of the players. But now, with a team organizing mechanism like in a game, players could adapt quickly.

"The game design isn’t too shabby."

At that moment, Meng Yuan, standing next to Chu Ge, muttered sarcastically, "Hmm, mechanics can be added on the fly, how could it not be rich..."

After this historical juncture was breached, the power of the Return Order was unobstructed, whether it was massively teleporting players or empowering them had become possible.

With the power of the Return Order, they finally managed to suppress the players’ pain to 20%.

Adding a map and a team chat channel to their field of view was even simpler.

Meng Yuan knew very well that he had to rely on the players to repel the demonic attack, so of course, he needed to ensure logistical support as much as possible, allowing the players to fight in the manner they were most familiar with and accustomed to.

Very soon, under Chu Ge’s command, players arrived at their designated areas to defend, transforming the previously chaotic county into a well-organized and fully armed stronghold!

And the army that loomed over the city like dark clouds had finally reached the gates.

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