Monsters Are Coming
Chapter 58 Reverse Tide

Chapter 58: Chapter 58 Reverse Tide

Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, north of the Ancient Battlefield.

"1, 2, 3... Petrification."

As Zhou Xiao’s voice resounded, his body quickly coated with a layer of black substance. At this moment, the Blood Corpse’s sharp claws struck his shoulder, causing his body to sink slightly but inflicted no substantial damage.

Taking advantage of the lull in the Blood Corpse’s attack, Zhou Xiao decisively deactivated the Petrification Attribute, sidestepped to dodge the nearby Blood Corpse’s lunging bite, and spun around using his hips for leverage to land a heavy punch on the Blood Corpse’s neck.

"Crack!"

The crisp sound of breaking bones echoed, and the Blood Corpse collapsed thunderously to the ground.

"Success!"

At this moment, the Blood Corpse was not yet completely dead; it was just that the broken neck prevented the Corrosion Core in its brain from controlling the lower half of its body. Zhou Xiao immediately seized this time to launch a rapid-fire barrage of punches at the Blood Corpse’s head.

Minutes later, Zhou Xiao stopped, panting heavily and slumped to the ground.

At the same time, the fallen Blood Corpse had its flesh and energy absorbed and transformed into a black mist, merging with his body.

[Challenger Tips: Slaying the Evil Life Blood Corpse, you gained 118 evolution points, and received a sacrificial power reward: 23 points.]

Half a day ago, he saw a strategy post on a forum, mentioning a unique technique of the Petrification Ghost Soul: staggered output.

The video was filmed by the poster from another player’s combat perspective.

The footage showed a player in the initial stone-statue ghost form, utilizing the skill’s traits of easy retraction to stagger the Blood Corpse’s attacks and manage a Level 4 successful kill.

This video greatly shocked Zhou Xiao.

Choosing the same stone-statue ghost form, but compared to the players in the video, they didn’t seem to be playing the same game; he felt like he had a handicap.

The staggered output technique shown in the tutorial video also piqued his interest.

After repeatedly watching the video and calculating the attack intervals, he decided to personally try the staggered output combat mode.

The result was delightful.

After ten minutes of draining health and swapping between Petrification Forms, he successfully broke the Blood Corpse’s neck and achieved a solo kill at Level 2.

Looking at the remains of the Blood Corpse on the ground, Zhou Xiao felt a profound sense of achievement.

Before entering the "Dark Land," he loved soul-based games the most. Although the process of tackling challenges was painful, the joy brought by each victory made him feel elated.

The perfectly simulated "Dark Land" was even more so, the satisfaction and rewards from completing challenges were exhilarating.

After a long rest, Zhou Xiao got up and decided to seek his next hunting target.

At that moment, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path.

Staring intently, Zhou Xiao was astonished:

"God of Wealth?"

Hearing Zhou Xiao refer to himself as God of Wealth, Duan Xing was expressionless but felt immensely frustrated inside.

He couldn’t remember how many times he’d been called God of Wealth by these mysterious creatures.

Each encounter, these mysterious beings would greet him from afar, waving at him familiarly and then shouting: "God of Wealth".

After many days of observation, Duan Xing couldn’t trace any sign of the shuttle.

Today, he decided to take the initiative.

The mysterious being that he stopped in front of was his target.

"Tell me, where did the shuttle go?"

"The shuttle? What shuttle?"

In the eyes of the self-proclaimed player, the mysterious being, Duan Xing saw no trace of fear and realized that intimidation was utterly ineffective; he slightly softened his tone and continued coldly:

"The shuttle that arrived with me, where did your people hide it?"

"How would I know where it’s hidden, and besides, what does it have to do with me."

"It’s your people, of course, it has to do with you." Duan Xing continued coldly.

Hearing this response, Zhou Xiao was full of question marks:

"That’s not logical. Shouldn’t you go to whoever took it? I didn’t benefit from it, yet I have to bear joint responsibility for the wrongdoing?"

"Being a member of a race, how can you remain uninvolved."

"God of Wealth, that’s just unreasonable..." Upon hearing such bizarre remarks, Zhou Xiao rolled up his sleeves, assuming a posture that he must clarify the logic behind it.

Zhou Xiao and Duan Xing eventually sat on the ground, starting a debate over a wild plain covered with white plants.

The ideologies of the two worlds collided in the debate.

Unlike Earth, in the world where Duan Xing comes from, the tribe is a unit as a whole, with the interests of the tribe closely linked to all its members.

But the thinking of players is different.

In the debate, neither could convince the other, and eventually, Duan Xing interrupted Zhou Xiao’s speech, pulling out a purple crystal stone from his embrace and handing it over to Zhou Xiao:

"Find me a shuttle; I can offer you a satisfying reward."

From communicating with Zhou Xiao, Duan Xing realized that this tribe was not united internally; its members did not care about the benefits of others in the tribe.

This was something he had noticed earlier; this group of self-proclaimed players often experienced internal conflicts, fighting bitterly, striking their own without mercy, every hit lethal.

He didn’t want to argue with Zhou Xiao about this anymore; he just wanted to find a shuttle and leave this place as soon as possible.

Zhou Xiao looked down at the purple crystal stone, and information analysis emerged:

[Name: Purple Soul]

Spirit Mine Level: 7

Description: A crystal stone containing concentrated Soul Power, usable in sacrifices, armed vehicle creation, etc., or directly consumed to gain Body Refining Level growth experience.

...

Seeing that the God of Wealth held a level 7 Spirit Mine in his hand, Zhou Xiao’s eyes widened.

Since the beginning of service in the Dark Land, the highest level of Spirit Ore accessed by players was level 5, which had triggered the first massive conflict among players.

But unexpectedly, the God of Wealth casually displayed a level 7 Spirit Ore.

However, Zhou Xiao did not reach out to take it.

Though it was just a game world, where even if he took it and then reneged, he would not suffer any loss.

But his principle of playing games wasn’t driven by interest; he preferred to treat the game world as a real world, adhering to his own principles and worldviews.

A level 7 Spirit Ore wasn’t enough to break his own principles.

Thinking this over, Zhou Xiao shook his head:

"Sorry, I can’t do it."

"The price is not enough?" Duan Xing frowned slightly.

"You misunderstood; it’s not about the price being insufficient, but no matter how much you offer, I can’t do it... If I’m not mistaken, the shuttle you mentioned has already been sacrificed by other players... that is, my tribe members to Emperor Zhao."

"Sacrificed to Emperor Zhao?" Hearing the word Emperor Zhao, disbelief filled Duan Xing’s eyes.

"Your tribe still believes in Emperor Zhao?"

"Is there a problem?" Zhou Xiao turned his head to look at Duan Xing.

"Emperor Zhao has disappeared for ten thousand years; although He was once the sole faith in the hearts of countless racial forces in the Monster World, in today’s era, it’s rare to find a racial force that still believes in Emperor Zhao."

Realizing that his conversation with Duan Xing could reveal parts of the worldview, Zhou Xiao suddenly became interested:

"Since you don’t believe in Emperor Zhao, whom do you pledge allegiance to?"

"Reverse Tide."

"Who is that?"

Facing the inquiry, Duan Xing instinctively recalled the memory images left by the Ancestor Warriors he viewed before joining the reserves.

In the images, a majestic figure sat on the blood throne, his face obscured by the shroud of bloody energy.

Below the throne were countless solemnly standing soldiers of the Reverse Tide Army.

This is the Reverse Tide, and also his belief.

Although he never saw Reverse Tide’s face clearly in the memory fragments, Reverse Tide’s voice was always etched in Duan Xing’s mind:

"Emperor Zhao dissolved, the Four Gods fell, we completely lost the hope to reignite the Emperor’s Fire; but I haven’t given up, I will lead you to continue conquering the Black Tide, and reclaim our homeland... I, do not need to succeed Emperor Zhao, I will transcend Emperor Zhao!"

The domineering war oath elicited a tsunami-like response from the soldiers below.

This is how the Reverse Tide Army was born.

The era belonging to Emperor Zhao came to an end, and ever since, the Reverse Tide became the sole belief in the hearts of countless races across the Pale Continent, becoming a Reverse Tide Warrior was also his dream in his heart.

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