I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 455 - 253: How to Defend a City with Less Than 500 People_2

Chapter 455: Chapter 253: How to Defend a City with Less Than 500 People_2

Li Chen left in a hurry and did not return that evening.

Gu Shanhai knew the reason—he heard the intermittent sounds of shouting and killing.

They had all guessed wrong; the barbarians didn’t launch a night raid but had attacked in the evening instead.

After resting for a day, they had regained their energy.

Thus, the four main players from the Purple Gold Club were also mobilized and were fighting fervently on the front lines.

"We should be able to hold on, but I’m puzzled. If we can hold the fort, why do they have to go out and clash directly with the enemy?" Gu Shanhai was somewhat puzzled.

Although Wulaoguan was not a strong fortress, with five thousand barbarian soldiers and one hundred Ghost Pattern Daoist Soldiers, it wouldn’t last long. However, considering the twice frustrated barbarians and with only one more day left, if they just held their ground without deploying troops, they should be able to withstand the assault.

However, Gu Shanhai also realized that maybe they weren’t eager to meet the enemy outside the city but were forced to do so.

Soon, Gu Shanhai found the reason—he discovered that there were very few arrows in the armory, which was quite strange.

Logically, a fortress should at least have arrows.

As for things like rolling logs and molten metal, such weapons weren’t developed in this world. The reason is simple: if you throw a rolling log down, the barbarian soldiers can shatter it with one punch, and even if caught off guard and hit, they wouldn’t be affected much, nor could it disturb their ranks.

Even crossbows hadn’t been developed.

The reason for not developing crossbows was similar to that for not using rolling logs. Crossbows rely on mechanical power for launching, and in a world without any transcendence, they indeed could significantly outperform bows.

In a world with transcendence, when people can shoot arrows that could blast a mountain, unless the crossbow and bolt are made from special materials combined with exceptional craftsmanship, they generally couldn’t compete.

This probably meant that while bolts have fixed damage, bows can add the user’s attributes to the arrows.

Therefore, mostly bows and arrows are used for defending. When the bow’s power rivals that of a grenade launcher, the distinction between firearms and cold weapons wasn’t significant.

It was precisely because of the lack of arrows that they couldn’t even defend the city.

More importantly, they didn’t have archers either, which indicated that the soldiers and Daoist Soldiers stationed at Wulaoguan were probably archer types.

Otherwise, if there truly was a shortage, it probably would have been of everything, not just arrows.

As for the barbarians not having archers, it’s more likely that they couldn’t train them.

The sounds of fighting outside continued until late into the night before gradually quieting down.

Clearly, they were too exhausted to continue fighting, so they sounded the retreat. It could also be due to heavy casualties, forcing them to retreat.

It wasn’t until dawn was about to break that Li Chen returned.

"Wulaoguan might not hold tomorrow," Li Chen sighed as soon as he got back. "Later, I’ll handle the refund for you, boss."

"Is it that definite?" Gu Shanhai scratched his head, thinking they had won.

Gu Shanhai hadn’t been paying much attention to the battle situation outside. To him, it really didn’t matter. If it weren’t for the Air Wall that prevented him from leaving, he wouldn’t have bothered with the mission. Instead, he had been focusing on the Goddess system during this period.

"It’s not that definite, just that the odds of holding Wulaoguan are not high, at most a 30% chance," Li Chen had been confident that morning.

But after the fight, he really lost confidence.

Now the defenders of Wulaoguan numbered fewer than five hundred. Even one of the players who came with him had died—Bai Shan, the Heavy Armor Blade Shield Hand. He had been acting as the tank and absorbing damage, but couldn’t hold on and was gone.

Fortunately, Li Chen wasn’t too concerned. In such a challenging instance, team members dying was quite normal. If they really completed the instance, compensating them afterward would suffice. After all, they were four players in the instance together, and the other party wasn’t a freeloader. So, they would have to compensate for the rewards the deceased had lost, otherwise, how could they be teammates?

Teammates shared both glory and loss—they had been cooperating for many years, and they were not merely fair-weather friends.

But this time, Li Chen didn’t know if he could clear the instance. If he couldn’t, the loss would be great: not only would there be no reward, but he would also have to refund Gu Shanhai.

Boosting services were paid for upon completion, not regardless of success; otherwise, it would be robbery.

It would damage their reputation, and although they were powerful, that was only against weaker players. For top-tier lifestyle players like Gu Shanhai, building a good relationship was vital. If losing led to gaining Gu’s friendship, then it would actually be a huge win.

"Then we’ll hold the line for now, and we’ll see if it can’t be held," Gu Shanhai wasn’t too concerned about it.

At that moment, Li Chen misunderstood Gu Shanhai’s intent, thinking Gu was considering gambling on the mission; in reality, Gu meant if it’s possible, it’s possible; if not, then let it be.

"We’ll do our best," was all Li Chen could say; otherwise, he genuinely felt helpless.

But it wasn’t that there was no solution; he had noticed Gu had a mecha. If he could borrow it, perhaps they could turn the tables; though, this was just a thought.

The equipment like mecha was extremely valuable, possibly worth more than the rewards of the mission itself—why would anyone lend it out? If it were him, he would rather forgo the rewards than lend such valuable gear to others.

Li Chen figured that Gu wasn’t using it probably because it didn’t match his attributes.

Hearing that Li Chen would give his best effort, Gu Shanhai wondered how he planned to secure a victory, having just scanned the power disparity between the two sides with his Spiritual Sense.

There were only four hundred seventy-two combatants left in Wulaoguan, all injured.

The enemy was in better shape: forty-one Ghost Pattern Daoist Soldiers and three thousand two hundred fifty-one barbarian soldiers remained. The mere existence of the Daoist Soldiers represented a massive disadvantage, not to mention the barbarian soldiers.

A thirty percent chance of victory was, in Gu’s view, a testament to Li Chen’s overconfidence; even a ten percent chance would be generous.

Gu Shanhai didn’t correct him, leaving the boosting to them, especially since he had bet two months of life span on them.

If they succeeded, he would win without cost; if they failed, he would just eat a Level 1 Life Extending Pill and get his two months back.

Li Chen chatted with Gu Shanhai more, not about anything valuable, but more to reassure Gu that they would ensure the mission was complete to the best of their ability.

Clearly, he was also worried that Gu’s impression of them would drop, impacting the overall perception of the Purple Gold Club.

To this, Gu Shanhai found himself both laughing and crying; what a situation it was.

It took a great deal of talking to finally get rid of him.

"Truly, as long as you have strength and value, you’re surrounded by people buttering you up," Gu Shanhai muttered to himself in complaint.

If it were just a regular player, why would Li Chen bother to come and offer warm greetings and arrange various benefits?

But a regular player couldn’t afford to hire top-tier players like Li Chen for boosting.

Certainly, there were levels to boosting services, and for someone like Li Chen, the cost was significant. Only someone as wealthy and bold as Gu Shanhai wouldn’t feel much about it.

"Well, it’s the third day; it should be quiet in the morning... maybe?"

Just as Gu Shanhai finished speaking, the noise outside erupted once again.

Listening carefully, it was clear: the barbarians were attacking the city once more.

"This time, they must be planning to go all out," Gu Shanhai suspected the barbarians might have received some news, such as reinforcements from Wulaoguan coming with Daoist Soldiers. If they couldn’t breach the city before the reinforcements arrived, they’d have to withdraw.

While the Ghost Pattern Daoist Soldiers were strong, without their leader and numbering barely half of what they initially did, facing reinforcements led by a commander, one Daoist Soldier of the same level could annihilate these forty-one Ghost Pattern Daoist Soldiers.