Chapter 658: One Gain One Loss

With the defense of the Huan Yu base concluded.

Within "Zhu Lu", a brief calm settled.

However, only a few days passed.

The War to Stop War base was also established, ready to face a monster siege.

Su Sheng was not surprised by this.

After all, the War to Stop War alliance decree was sold by himself, and its establishment came only slightly later than Huan Yu's.

Since the Huan Yu base was held, it was normal for War to Stop War to set up its own base.

Then a group of onlookers prepared to keep on watching.

Result… the War to Stop War monster siege proceeded smoothly… no one went except War to Stop War dragged its own henchmen over to help.

Su Sheng and Yan Huang naturally were too lazy to join the fun, after all the War to Stop War alliance decree was sold by himself, and besides, they bore no grudge against War to Stop War.

When Yan Huang's base was first established, War to Stop War did not come to join the fun, and even during Huan Yu's base defense, War to Stop War retreated at a critical moment.

Perhaps because of that retreat, Yan Huang under Su Sheng lost interest in joining, and no one from Huan Yu went.

And then… no one went.

Perhaps this is why Zhi Ge Wei Wu withdrew directly at the critical moment of attacking Huan Yu's base.

Thus, the third guild base in "Zhu Lu" was calmly established.

It left the onlookers disappointed, with no melons left to eat.

After War to Stop War's base was set up, the second round of the Ding Seizure War began.

This Ding Seizure War used a different format: a stronghold battle.

The number of participants this time was also large; each Main City could field four thousand people!

It was also a sign‑up competition mode!

Each Main City had four strongholds.

The battle continued until all strongholds were occupied by a single Main City, or time ran out, in which case the Main City holding the most strongholds won.

If multiple Main Cities held the same number of strongholds, the one with the longer total occupation time won.

Players who died in the Ding Seizure War received no penalty; they would revive at their own stronghold unless all strongholds were lost.

In this Ding Seizure War, Su Sheng and Yan Huang also participated.

Unfortunately, the winner was Baihu Main City.

It couldn't be helped; it wasn't that Su Sheng was ineffective.

Indeed, in this kind of battle, Su Sheng and Yan Huang found it hard to manage both ends.

Among the participants, Zhuque Main City fielded Yan Huang, Cloud, Tian Sheng Changge, and Peak, while there were essentially no three‑person player groups.

However, Baihu Main City had a very high elite rate: Dawn, War to Stop War, Qiancheng Muxue, and the Imperial Dynasty that came from Zhuque City.

Qing Long Main City was represented by Huan Yu, Morning Star, and some solo players; Huan Yu was fierce, Morning Star strong, but the solo players couldn't keep up.

Xuanwu Main City had Hong Meng, then Greedy Wolf, followed by Chu Ge and Zong Heng.

Chu Ge and Zong Heng ultimately fell short.

Thus the final decisive battle of this format was between Zhuque Main City and Baihu Main City.

Su Sheng and Yan Huang were strong; the strongholds they attacked were hardly untaken, and the ones they defended were barely lost.

Of course, Yan Huang and Huan Yu seemed to share an unspoken understanding, and neither side met during the whole match.

But, similar to the situation with Qing Long Main City, having one strong player was of little use for Su Sheng and Yan Huang.

Cloud lagged a bit, whereas Baihu Main City itself comprised the Three Great Guilds, including the former second‑place Dawn.

Now the former fifth‑place Imperial Dynasty had also joined forcefully.

In the end, Zhuque City and Baihu Main City held the same number of strongholds, but Baihu Main City occupied them slightly longer, so Zhuque City suffered a narrow defeat.

If Cloud had been a bit more effective and captured the last stronghold just a shade faster than Imperial Dynasty, Zhuque Main City might have won.

Unfortunately, in the final Main City, Imperial Dynasty was attacking Greedy Wolf's defense, while Cloud was attacking the one defended by Morning Star.

Although Morning Star also split its forces to attack other strongholds, allowing Cloud to finally take that stronghold, Imperial Dynasty seized Greedy Wolf a step earlier.

Su Sheng felt helpless about this, but could do nothing; after all, Yan Huang's two enemies Qiancheng Muxue and Imperial Dynasty were both in Baihu Main City.

Su Sheng regretted that, had he known, he would have allied with Huan Yu and let Qing Long Main City win instead of giving it to Baihu Main City.

Unfortunately there is no "if", and this counts as Su Sheng's first miscalculation in "Zhu Lu".

"Chairman Mo Wen, sorry, it's our Cloud that lagged behind,"

A Cloud member looked at Su Sheng apologetically and said.

Su Sheng waved his hand: "No, it's my fault. If we could have helped you with this task earlier, you'd have an extra Hidden Class and the win would have been ours."

Originally, once Huan Yu's base defense was finished, we would help Cloud tackle that Dungeon… a Hidden Class instance for a Cloud member.

But due to certain reasons, it was postponed again until after the Ding Seizure War was over before there was time.

The reason for the delay was… Zhi Ge Wei Wu!

Although Zhi Ge Wei Wu had some calculations, they still weren't confident the base could be established steadily.

Thus, after the Huan Yu base's offensive‑defensive battle ended, Zhi Ge Wei Wu immediately contacted Su Sheng.

They quoted thirty million outright! Asking Yan Huang to help guard the base!

That thirty million was a labor fee, payable regardless of whether the base was held, and it was given in advance!

After finishing, each additional attack point would earn the guild extra money!

One guild's attack adds ten million!

Although Yan Huang isn't short of money now, it depends on who it's for; the recharge channel opened immediately, and Su Sheng didn't mind earning a bit more.

So, although at first glance it seemed no guild went to join the hustle and bustle of War to Stop War, actually at first all members of Yanhuang were inside the War to Stop War base.

No matter how much scheming, there's always someone scheming, but it's just because someone got wind of it—Yanhuang is there.

In the end, no one went; it just naturally went along with the trend.

But given that there's no grudge with War to Stop War, War to Stop War isn't like the cosmos, Yanhuang is still... so we won't go join the fun.

After making thirty million, I delayed Yun Duo's matter a bit.

I didn't expect that the War to Stop War base had just ended, and the Battle for the Cauldron started right away.

Then we can only keep dragging it on.

Alas, every drink and bite is fate.

For every gain there is a loss; I made thirty million, lost a victory in the Battle for the Cauldron, and even let Baihu Main City take the championship.

Of course, even if Yun Duo gains an extra Hidden Class, it doesn't necessarily mean victory, but who knows...

Alright, let's log off for now; tomorrow we'll accompany you to the dungeon.

By the way, I haven't specifically asked you yet—how's the dungeon situation?

Su Sheng only then remembered.

What stage have you guys reached? The boss mechanics and such.

Then Su Sheng saw that a hint of Yun Duo actually had a slightly flushed face.

The game 'Zhu Lu' is still a bit too realistic; these emotions can be expressed along with the player's emotional changes.

"Not to hide it from Chairman Mo Wen, we didn't see the first-stage boss in either of our two chances." Yun Duo said somewhat embarrassedly.

「........ 」

No wonder your face is red....