The Boss King actually disguised himself as a novice village chief?!
Chapter 601 - 466: The Terrifying Abyss "Corruption

Chapter 601: Chapter 466: The Terrifying Abyss "Corruption

Regarding the "Black Knight" plot, it suddenly became the main topic of heated discussion on the internet.

"This time, I’m really the protagonist."

Lind browsed through the posts, seeing the "Black Knight" become the most searched and well-known character in the game at the moment, without any rivals, and he felt great.

Second in search popularity to him was "Lind Armand."

The former, as the version’s boss, and the latter, recognized as the "official favorite," had, because of some of his manipulations, overlapping images which caused both of their popularities to skyrocket rapidly.

"If it weren’t for the fact that the Black Knight cover couldn’t last for long, it would be nice to create a plot that pits the Sun Knight against the Black Knight."

Now that the "Black Knight" is officially recognized as a boss, the officially recognized version protagonist wasn’t up for the officials to decide, but for the boss. Whoever the Black Knight considers his greatest enemy is the version’s protagonist.

As long as he held the protagonist status of both light and darkness, playing against himself, Lind could play however he wanted, but this was too risky. The day his identities were exposed, the plot attached to him would be hard to cleanse. Everything else was negotiable, but he had to leave himself an opportunity to clear his name. Most undead playing the game still harbored a sense of justice, and if they found out the hero they were expecting was actually a scheming disgust, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to be outraged enough to go after Lind with a knife.

However, although Lind Armand couldn’t show his face, Rania and others could still be the main characters of the plot.

Without his direction, the Undead of the Kingdom of Trees came together and started working based on the content on the wooden boards.

The entire game was very immersive, previously only the Undead associated with Lind had experienced "gamification," and people online always mocked, claiming that the Undead of the Rand Kingdom played on a private server, totally lacking in sense of engagement. But now, it was the turn of the Undead of the Kingdom of Trees, and they immediately felt spiritually refreshed.

"Before, a quest took forever to figure out by myself, and I hardly got any reward." Someone looked at two new notice boards plugged into the ground, "Now the task rewards are clearly priced, damn, this feels great!"

Playing games is about immersion, but what’s most important is the satisfaction from the rewards. If this game world weren’t real enough, with Magic Potions and monster-fighting means to quickly increase strength, the Undead would have quit playing long ago, considering it just a slow-paced life in the Magic World.

Sometimes being too real isn’t a good thing.

Without any guidance, relying entirely on one’s own "exploration," but now everything had guidance, and the style of tasks had drastically changed. Although the textual narrative had a strong sense of disconnection, having "clearly priced" tasks was a brain saver.

After receiving their tasks, the Undead quickly sprung into action.

From that day on, the Black Knight no longer frequently appeared in the sight of the Undead, and they didn’t mind, since version 2.0 had a close relationship with him; he couldn’t escape them, their current priority was to complete those crowdfunded tasks.

The tasks on the wooden board were constantly updated, personal tasks weren’t many, but "progress bar" tasks were several, all giving certain rewards upon reaching specific quantities. Although there was a hint of making the Undead eat from the communal pot, considering that this was probably still the initial phase of building momentum, and they had spent several years in the dreamworld, this was the first time they saw clearly priced tasks, they simply found it good, unable to articulate anything bad about it. If it were the experienced Undead of the Rand Kingdom, perhaps they would be choosy.

...

In the Cloud Crown Kingdom, mountains stood proudly.

Gareth, the ruler of the Cloud Crown Kingdom, looked up at the mountains ahead, which seemed to look down on him from a height, just like the legend of the Cloud Giant, which had been passed down in the Cloud Crown Kingdom since childhood.

Behind him were the Soldiers responsible for his protection. In such times, his Cloud Crown Kingdom had suffered the least from Calamity, due to its rugged terrain and minimal contact with the outside world. Moreover, the population of the Cloud Crown Kingdom had been sparse even before the apocalypse.

A land with no people naturally couldn’t birth any Calamities.

His gaze passed over the mountains and soared into the sky, his eyes blazing with firelight like a meteor streaking across the night sky.

This place was called "paradise," but only Gareth himself knew that what he wanted was for the Cloud Giant to appear again, restoring the former glory, not just hiding in the corner of the world.

"What happened in the Kingdom of Trees?" Gareth asked. He sensed the presence of Spiritual Power, that of his daughter, Karydel Cloud Crown.

She possessed a legendary gift, able to traverse space in the form of a soul.

It was natural for the neighboring Cloud Crown Kingdom to notice the significant movements in the Kingdom of Trees.

"I have not been traversing the void," stated Karydel Cloud Crown.

She was tall, always exuding a languid spirit, as if always drowsy.

"But those Undead seem to be quite aware; they only mentioned that the Black Knight from the Abyss has returned."

Because of the slow pace of life here, the Undead staying here tended towards a "life-style" gameplay.

Building houses, catching bugs, cultivating mutant plants, and visiting friends in small groups; they led quite a pleasant life together with the NPCs of the Cloud Crown Kingdom.

As for those Undead who wanted to participate in wars, they went to the surrounding countries and regions.

Kingdom of Trees, Salt Alkali Plain, Raven’s Nest Cliff.

People came and went, and at the beginning, they had tried to stop this from happening, but when they realized it was impossible to kill the Undead, Gareth no longer interfered.

With his daughter’s help, he had discovered the working style and characteristics of the Undead. Those formidable Undead were actually strong allies, and everyone coveted such a force. But even after promising great rewards, they found that the Undead might not truly swear loyalty. Only by making them stay and become part of the country did Gareth manage to successfully employ the Undead for his own purposes.

Knowing that his military power couldn’t compete with the three powerful neighboring kingdoms, Gareth changed his strategy and attracted many Undead by promoting "freedom" and "ease."

With his daughter, Karydel Cloud Crown’s ability to traverse the void and occasionally eavesdrop on important information, and by exploiting the hidden "expectations" of the Undead, Gareth gradually changed his development strategy and surprisingly turned his kingdom into the most leisurely "farm country."

Later the Abyssal Great Rift Calamity erupted, and the Great Rift appeared right in the mountains. Gareth was initially terrified, but unexpectedly, the Undead, while shouting strange phrases like "exploiting terrain bugs," dropped their fishing rods, hoes, and kitchen knives, and rushed forward en masse, successfully suppressing the invading Abyss.

The Undead disappeared and then reappeared.

Gareth felt uneasy. Based on his experience with the Undead, their appearance always brought new calamities.

Indeed, the great turmoil in the Kingdom of Trees also reached his ears. He wasn’t clear about what exactly had happened. There were only a few who had luckily escaped, and they were also confused about the details, only knowing that the Kingdom of Trees had been destroyed.

Now, learning that the "Black Knight of the Abyss has returned," though he did not know who the Black Knight was, he had already encountered the horror of the Abyss.

Even the initial Great Rift had not managed to destroy the Kingdom of Trees, but now it had been destroyed, and it was uncertain whether the Undead could withstand it this time.

Unlike others, Gareth truly did not have much power to use. He could only rely on the Undead. His working style, in a sense, was similar to Lind’s. Both defined themselves as service providers but differed; the ultimate goal of Lind’s services was to harvest, whereas Gareth simply wanted to serve and take good care of them.

Gareth looked at his daughter, and though he did not speak, the meaning in his gaze was very clear.

"I’ll try traversing the void again."

Karydel Cloud Crown sat on a stone nearby and closed her eyes.

Traversing the void, her consciousness left her body, she quickly ascended until the mountains were beneath her gaze, then she turned and flew towards the other end, feeling an absolute freedom unbound by physical constraints.

No need for oxygen, no burden, her spirit was her everything.

The sun hung overhead, the thick clouds like a woolen blanket spread beneath her. Karydel spread her arms, greedily relishing in it, then realized that now was not the time to enjoy these, indulging too much in traversing the void could lead to ultimate death.

Finally, at the border of Cloud Crown Kingdom and the Kingdom of Trees, she saw a large gathering of Undead.

Their spiritual flames flickered, small and sparse like embers splashed from smashing coal on the ground.

Yet, these seemingly weak souls possessed incredibly powerful bodies.

The ground rushed towards her at high speed.

Karydel Cloud Crown landed and looked toward the loudly speaking figure.

"I want to join the Abyss. I want to follow Lord Black Knight, ah!! I have been corrupted by the Abyss!"

She shuddered at the thought. Join the Abyss, corrupted?

"Let me tell you about the benefits of joining the Black Knight Army!" someone loudly exclaimed. "Join us, and when the total population reaches 30,000, we can unlock the Abyss Prize Pool!"

"When the total population of the Undead reaches 50,000, we can unlock the promotion channel, which includes upgrading the legion rating... that means, everyone can later hire low-level Undead using high-level Undead, and be their own boss!"

"When the total population of the Undead reaches 100,000, we will open up the Magic Land Store, where you can buy high-level gear for high-level maps!"

"When the total population of the Undead reaches 200,000, we will open the Magic Land Dungeon channel, and you can choose to go to Magic Land!"

Karydel listened to those words she completely did not understand, not seeing how this related to the Abyss.

Yet, the scene that unfolded next baffled her even more. The Undead were actually shouting about being corrupted and then walked over with grinning faces.

Some even said they needed to go home and pack up before joining the Black Knight.

"These words, how exactly do they corrupt the Undead?" she could feel the change in the spiritual flames of the Undead once they declared themselves corrupted—their friendly nature warped into hostility.

The terrifying corruption, many times more horrific than the initial Great Rift, was the most alarming because she was entirely unaffected after hearing it, but none of the Undead were spared.

This growingly specific corruption was terrifying!

She immediately flew towards the mountains, having to prepare early.