Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 322 - 184 Truce_2

Chapter 322: Chapter 184 Truce_2

The fog in the distance was slowly approaching, and the Hunters were getting restless, ready to enact another massacre inside the library.

...

Their landing spot was at a signal tower next to the Factory District in Sector 3, which was on the verge of collapsing. As they climbed up, the tower creaked continuously. Maya went first, carefully inspecting the main pillars and deeming the structure sound before Lin Wu carried Wai and Peanut up to the signal tower’s maintenance area.

No sooner had they settled in when the fog appeared from both the southeast and southwest directions, converging before spreading around them. Peanut broached a subject that the others were reluctant to mention, "They are probably in great danger."

Lin Wu disagreed, "The righteous will have divine protection. If they really died, I’ll tell them it was your curse that killed them when we get back."

Peanut chuckled, lightening the mood somewhat, "If the players could unite, they could resist the Hunters."

Maya said, "Unity is easy yet incredibly difficult. The players’ desire is to survive. If someone were to unite the players, then who would take the lead in facing danger? For example, if Nightmare is sniping people exiting the library from a hundred meters away, the players could rush him en masse, forcing Nightmare to flee the sniping spot."

Maya continued, "But who would lead the charge? With a hundred meters plus the obstacles in the way, Nightmare would have time to kill three to five people. In most cases, like what we encountered in the quarry, when faced with the threat of death, those in the front will frantically push towards the back. Only when they realize that not fighting back means certain death do they charge together."

Maya added, "It’s not just strangers, even asking members of a base to go to their deaths will be met with hesitation. We often see similar situations in society, where no one dares to speak out against a thief, but as soon as one person stands up, it’s very likely that others will follow. The difficult part is the first person to stand up. And those capable of uniting the players will almost certainly not be the ones to charge first."

Peanut asked, "Then is there a way around this?"

"A hefty reward is an effective method," Maya replied. "Encourage acts of bravery with material rewards, ideally demanding that recipients neither donate nor reject them. That way, you’re providing ample reason for people to act heroically. If we tell the players that anyone who charges out and dies outside the instance can get an assault rifle, I believe many would fearlessly rush out."

Of course, this would not work in practice, firstly because there weren’t enough guns, and secondly, because people wouldn’t believe it. At this point, what’s needed is an organization with financial resources and credibility to manage this affair, which isn’t something that can be resolved by a single individual rallying the troops.

They took turns eating and standing watch throughout the night.

On the fourth day of the instance, the three of them plus a dog continued to huddle on the signal tower until the morning of the fifth day, when they finally came down. They planned to return to the library to check the number of players who had survived and then devise further plans. Time waited for no one; with only three days left, confronting the Hunters was indeed dangerous, but fortune often favors the bold. With the vast number of players no longer a distraction, it was yet to be seen who would be the hunter and who the hunted.

...

There were still players in the library, but the previously crowded marketplace-like scene was gone. The remaining players were either in groups of five or seven, moving as teams and rarely communicating with outsiders. Judging from their weapons, at least half of the players were equipped with automatic rifles. Lin Wu even discovered a girl who owned a reconnaissance drone identical to his own. Upon approaching her, he learned that her drone had been crafted using Hacker Skill.

This surprised Lin Wu greatly, as he knew how many materials it took to make a single drone.

Having found a common topic, the two groups began to chat. The 5-person team came from a military legion situated 15 kilometers from Future City, under the jurisdiction of North City. The legion had 15 official members, divided into 3 bases belonging to the Red Legion, Orange Legion, and Yellow Legion, forming a large base with a triangular layout. After several days inside the instance, only five of the original 15 members had survived, having also killed three Hunters in the process.

The deputy commander of the Yellow Legion was the current leader of the team, and he sincerely invited representatives from Shadow Base to visit their base for an inspection, and to consider their proposal to establish a new legion. After listening to the other party’s explanation, Maya felt in agreement with the military group model and expressed that she would definitely consider the proposal seriously.

The threshold for the military group model: to possess a certain level of strength. There are no specific requirements for morality, but a tribunal is set up within each legion. You can be a lecher, but if you commit an act of lechery and violate the legion’s laws, you must face trial. Aside from the accusing legion and the victim legion, all other members serve as jurors, who determine whether the accused is guilty. Its structure is not that of modern law, but rather resembles a managerial system combining modern law with tribal governance.

In addition, each legion chief takes turns serving as the duty legion chief, responsible for dealing with inter-legion political affairs. Currently, three professionals within the legion are further refining the legion’s rules, hoping to build the legion into a human homestead within the game "Home".

From what the legion said, in the last two days, Hunters had become increasingly bold, shifting from stealthy assassinations to forceful firepower killings. They not only ambush players but also rely on advanced weaponry and ample ammunition to engage players in the wild. Although there are quite a few capable individuals among the players, even if they survive an attack, they use up most of their ammunition, leading to a rapid depletion of their resources.

The members of the legion each had an assault rifle, three of which were taken from their fallen comrades, and the five of them only had 40 bullets left. They were discussing how to deal with the current situation. The legion also explained that since the number of players had decreased dramatically, the remaining players were all above the average strength level, so the Hunters’ achievements were deteriorating.

There were 7,500 players still alive, and during the half-hour of communication between Shadow and the legion, only 10 players had died. Of course, this could not fully explain the situation, as it was possible that Hunters had not taken action and these 10 were just casualties of zombie attacks.

After splitting from the legion and purchasing supplies, Maya shared her plan, so the three of them left through the back door. Under Lin Wu’s reconnaissance, they took a large detour to reach a cluster of buildings about a hundred meters in front of the library. Unexpectedly, they encountered a team of players there first.

After a few shots were exchanged between the two groups, Lin Wu was ready to finish them off from behind when one of them asked, "Who are you?"

"Players," Maya also felt something was amiss, "ordinary players."

"Us too, Peanut from South City."

"North Town Shadow," Maya replied.

The other party corrected, "South City, Southward Town Peanut."

Only after the two sides met and talked did they realize that there were three player teams nearby; they had joined forces and infiltrated this cluster of buildings with the aim of ambushing Hunters. After an exchange of fire yesterday afternoon, and the opposing side’s retreat, they hadn’t discovered any trace of Hunters since.

As Maya had predicted, after several days of eliminations, the remaining players were not only capable of surviving but had also started forming groups to hunt the Hunters. The difficulty of hunting for the Hunters had suddenly increased, and the cost of their attacks compared to the gains was becoming disproportionate. Suppose originally Hunters needed to kill 10 players to recover the costs of their own death, then the last few days had obviously been highly profitable. But now, it was difficult for a Hunter to take down 10 players for one life.

The disadvantage of the Fortress Hunters was skills, whereas the advantage of the surviving players was skills. The advantage of the Fortress Hunters was weaponry and equipment, but this advantage might be significantly offset by the players’ skills.

Maya politely declined the invitation from the other team, and along with Lin Wu and Peanut, headed to the excavation site for Plan B.

But Plan B also hit a snag quickly, as there were seven player teams lying in wait for Hunters near the excavation site. They had had a shootout with Hunters two hours prior, losing two of their members, while they had killed one NPC Hunter and one player Hunter. They also shared their discovery, that the player Hunters were hard to identify when wearing protective gear, but their boots were all the same style. They were able to identify the Fortress Hunters by their boots, which is why they were able to take the initiative in this morning’s battle.

With their protection, the number of players doing tasks at the excavation site began to increase, with everyone carrying demolition crowbars to scavenge for parts within the nearby buildings. While they worked, they also served as bait to attract Hunters. The vicinity of the excavation site had become a scene of a cat-and-mouse game.