Chapter 401: with translation of chapter title

Mu Yi sat in the camp tavern, drinking a refreshing beer-like beverage while watching mission information refresh in his retina.

Now the battle between the insect swarm and the surviving Telivar natives continues, from sunrise to sunset, without cease.

No one knows when this war will end, but it will continue.

Until the camp exhausts its last supplies.

Because the camp increased mission rewards, a large number of Zongwang Players flooded in, allowing Telivar to temporarily withstand the endless onslaught of the insect swarm.

But obviously this is drinking poison to quench thirst; the Telivar camp clearly knows this war cannot end in the short term.

When the camp's supplies are completely consumed, a large number of Zongwang Players will withdraw from the war, at which point the camp's destruction will become an inevitable reality.

However, this slow and painful process is a disaster that all sentient beings still living in Telivar must face; they bear the last spark of Telivar's civilization.

Participating in such an epic, magnificent event, Mu Yi felt a faint burning of his bloodline energy…

"Buzz—"

At that moment, Zongwang transmitted a sharp alarm, and Mu Yi's retina suddenly began refreshing a red warning message:

"The current environment has entered a lightly polluted state, and the pollution level will rise along with the increase in insect swarm numbers."

"The current environment has entered a moderately polluted state, and the pollution level will rise along with the increase in insect swarm numbers."

"The camp mission is temporarily locked; players may choose to guard nodes within the wall defense area, and successful guard yields substantial rewards."

"Please note: after selecting the guard node task, the character cannot leave via Zongwang teleport before guarding for one day."

"Warning: pollution in this area will cause substantive bodily contamination; being killed by the insect swarm will cause the character to suffer an additional soul weakness state."

"Warning: in the insect swarm concentration zone, polluted spirit light is intensified; direct irradiation by polluted spirit light requires all creatures level 20 and below to make a contamination check every hour; failure results in entering a contaminated state."

"In the contaminated state, the character will lose bodily control and undergo insectoid mutation."

"Only after choosing forced Zongwang teleport or being killed while contaminated can the character return to normal; choosing forced teleport while contaminated counts as dying in a Dungeon and incurs double soul weakness."

…………

…………

Looking at the warning message refreshing in his retina, Mu Yi fell into contemplation.

"Is the true trial finally beginning?"

At this moment, the originally bustling tavern became extremely quiet.

It seemed as if an intangible dark cloud had shrouded the area, and most people wore solemn expressions.

A large number of Zongwang Players chose to teleport away; they had no confidence of surviving a day among the insect swarm, and moreover the pollution's harm to them was somewhat heavy, so they wisely chose to leave.

Also another group intended to free‑ride on the camp's defenses, believing the camp could hold for at least a day, enough for them to reap the last benefit.

"Teacher, Mr. Creed requests you to garrison the north wall!" Huang Quan sprang from the shadows, lowered his head, and said to Mu Yi.

"I understand!" Mu Yi let out a light sigh.

"Player has accepted the mission: Defend Telivar."

"Mission: Guard Telivar's north wall

Mission requirements:

Protect Telivar's north wall from destruction within 24 hours (uncompleted)

Protect the incinerator reactor from destruction within 24 hours (uncompleted)

Mission reward: during this period, rewards for killing insect swarm are doubled in natural contribution.

Time remaining until mission completion: 23 hours 59 minutes."

……

Mu Yi stood on the north wall gazing into the distance; he could see that near a hundred li out, a large number of insect creatures were swiftly flying this way.

On the wall, aside from some energy firepower matrices, there was only a single Zongwang team stationed according to node distribution.

These nodes are all powered by the incinerator, able to resist the pollution of the breeding force to some extent.

Just as Mu Yi was estimating the swarm's arrival time, a cat‑person initiated conversation with him.

"Hey! Big guy!"

"Can we team up?"

Mu Yi curiously sized up the cat‑person and his party.

Their party consists of a cat‑person shaman, an elf mage, a gnome scout, and a dwarf warrior.

They lack front‑line strength; although the dwarf warrior looks decent, relatively speaking they are still very weak and cannot protect the back line.

This is also why they sought Mu Yi; after all, his armor makes him look like a solid front‑liner.

"Interesting!"

Mu Yi examined the cat‑person shaman, seeing on him an extremely strong aura of fortune; perhaps it is this fortune, or luck, that led him to seek Mu Yi.

"Sorry, this is our guard node; seeing you alone, I rashly approached you!"

The elf mage, seeing Mu Yi silent, politely apologized, then tugged the cat‑person to leave.

"Captain!!!"

The cat‑person was almost in tears; her ears were fluffy, covered with fur matching her coat.

At that moment she was struggling, being dragged away by the elf mage.

Yet the cat‑person struggled desperately, having a vague premonition that the area around Mu Yi was the safest, while elsewhere brimmed with danger.

Watching Mu Yi grow more distant, the cat‑person fell into despair.

Mu Yi smiled; since he wouldn't need to act at the start anyway, he might as well act with this party.

"Interesting little cat!" Mu Yi laughed, telling the elf mage, "I really have no party; may I temporarily join you?"

"Welcome aboard!"

The elf mage was somewhat surprised, but they indeed lacked a front‑line fighter, and he also knew the cat‑person's luck, so after a brief hesitation he nodded agreement.

"Can you give a brief introduction? After all, a team needs some mutual understanding!" the elf mage asked tentatively.

As a player who has been roaming the network for a long time, he could vaguely sense that Mu Yi was unusual.

"Mu Yi, a nameless fellow! Skilled in melee combat!" Mu Yi introduced himself briefly.

"Captain, just let me pair with Mu Yi! Let Ek focus on protecting you!" the catfolk declared with righteous resolve.

The elf mage hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

The catfolk named Kakado was very talkative; within moments, Mu Yi learned about their party from his mouth.

There had originally been a holy knight, but he was killed while clearing the insect swarm outside the camp earlier, forcing them into the current awkward situation.

They wanted a mech, but the combined contribution of the few of them fell short, so they had to stay and fight.

For the crisp mage, a mech's assistance was still quite significant.

Although the catfolk was talking with Mu Yi, not a single one relaxed their vigilance.

As she cautiously observed the surroundings, her ears kept turning continuously.

Apparently noticing Mu Yi's stare, Kakado twitched his ears and shook his tail uncomfortably.

"Insect swarm detected approaching! Level‑1 alert!"

"Level‑1 alert! Everyone stay alert! Prepare for battle!"

Suddenly, the Tairivar patrol squad, which had been drifting like a phantom between several points on the city wall, shouted a warning.

"Bzz…"

Under the loud warning, the patrol squad quickly pressed the adjacent button to relay the situation in time to the rear Joint Command Center.

At the same time, the pager at the patrol squad's waist began to sound:

"Command Center report! No Elite Monster detected! Report complete!"

"All combat personnel, enter combat readiness!"

The patrol squad leader began issuing orders methodically, and with each command, a grim aura gradually spread.

The warriors' faces were filled with solemnity and cold killing intent, oppressive like the pressure before a storm.

The entire junction instantly fell into a death‑like silence, everyone shrouded in this dangerous, oppressive battlefield atmosphere.

The sky resembled a blood‑crying sunset, as if it harbored endless murderous intent…

…………

…………

Time remaining until mission completion: 23 hours 12 minutes.

As time passed, a massive insect swarm, like a thick black cloud, appeared in everyone's view.

Almost every insect's body flickered with a faint strange light.

Under the blood‑red sunset, they bore darkness and death, a twisted shadow looming over the crowd!

"Doo‑doo‑doo‑doo…"

The alarm buzzed, warning the warriors on the wall, cutting through the blood‑crying sky.

"Watch me! Meow!"

Kakado excitedly brandished his staff, and a flame elemental appeared within the team.

"Roar!" The flame elemental, upon appearing, launched an attack toward the distant insect swarm.

A massive explosive fireball opened the battle.

The light‑screen barrier above the camp remained, but several openings appeared in it, and countless insects surged toward the city wall through the gaps.

The people of Tairivar knew clearly that the insects could not be allowed to keep piling up; otherwise even walls like the Wall of Sighs would be breached by the swarm. Several previous camps were destroyed because they over‑relied on the Wall of Sighs' power.

So they chose this strategy of diversion rather than blockage.

The explosive fireball detonated within the swarm, turning several insects into charred corpses that fell to the ground.

If they survive this wave, the insects' corpses will become fuel for the incinerator; the energy the previous camp used came from bodies of insects eliminated in various commissioned missions.

"Wow, these insects have gotten stronger!"

The catfolk, watching the swarm, said in surprise, "Before, one explosive fireball could take out dozens; now it only blasted the central insect."

The surrounding insects, though charred, still managed a trembling flight.

"Conserve your mana, don't waste it!" the elf mage rebuked, then began chanting a spell.

A lightning chain resembling a silver snake shot from his staff, ravaging the swarm, and dozens of insects fell dead on the spot.

The battle became intense from the start, with no foreplay or preparation; everything abruptly surged into climax.

Time remaining until mission completion: 12 hours 21 minutes.

"Puff!"

Mu Yi slashed the incoming insects in half with a single stroke, summoning a few Asura warriors as summons to block the subsequent attacks of the scattered insects.

The battle lasted twelve hours; the catfolk, active at the start, now sat cross‑legged on the ground restoring mana, occasionally summoning an elemental spirit to ease the front line's pressure.

Every hour, the shield fully closed once, giving the defenders a chance to rest.

Mu Yi casually took a peach from his backpack and ate it.

"You're literally a monster!"

The dwarf warrior plopped onto the ground, staring at Mu Yi incomprehensibly.

Compared with them, who had rested many times, Mu Yi showed no sign of fatigue, like a superhuman.

In fact, for Mu Yi, this intensity wasn't even a warm‑up.

Anyway, seizing the rare lull, Mu Yi also sat down.

Although this batch of insects was considerably stronger, overall they were only at the level of Dog-Headed Humanoids and skeleton soldiers.

But they can fly, which raises their attack strength considerably.

When it surged like a tide, it inevitably reminded people of the Undead Catastrophe, the embodiment of human wave tactics.

This insect swarm tactic is even more terrifying than the Undead Catastrophe.

Especially since these insects possess many bizarre abilities; their attacks carry various vile magical effects, and some even self‑detonate.

However, if one can kill those self‑detonating insects within the swarm, it can inflict considerable damage on the swarm.

A mage's spells often bring such surprises.

But if they explode atop the city wall, they easily cause casualties in the team.

Compared with the initial wall, more than a dozen teams have already been wiped out.

The battle results forged by the many teams still look rather glorious.

A single wall may have killed tens of millions of insects.

Mu Yi could not help but sigh, "There is strength in numbers."

It was now the latter half of the night, and dawn was already near.

The insects' corpses had already piled up near the wall, and many mechanical servants were hauling the bodies away to incinerate them.

After a brief respite, the battle resumed.

Bright flames rose at the very top of the joint point, dispelling the surrounding darkness.

Meanwhile, insects kept charging nonstop from areas the flames could not cover, as endless as a tide.

"You're dead!"

The little catfolk sat cross‑legged on the ground again to recover mana, but a look of decay marred its face.

(End of chapter)