Chapter 150: Information Gap

The dart shot out, breaking the air; Ji Ming, who had been storing up power, had intended to counterattack immediately.

But the potted plant on the windowsill stood firm, using its own body to block the dart that should have pierced through.

【Don't grieve for me; it's just something within my power to do.】

Loyalty! Sincerity!

Seeing the flowerpot deliberately dropped on the ground, Ji Ming temporarily suppressed his killing intent.

Simply, he who possessed 【Precise Throwing】 could tell from the landing point that this direction couldn't hurt him.

The other party was probably just probing, or rather, threatening.

"Yo, Doctor Ji, your luck's pretty good."

The assassin broke through the window amidst the crisp shattering sound, the voice hidden beneath the mask carrying a hint of frivolity.

He looked around, even clapping his hands in a showy manner.

"The traps are set up nicely; those few idiots all got knocked down by you."

"Isn't this a bit……"

Ji Ming felt like vomiting from his oily demeanor, and could only muster his acting skills, feigning foolishness while squeezing out a smile as he spoke.

"You…… they're the ones you brought here?"

"No, a mysterious adult summoned them; as for me, I was sent to supervise them."

The assassin shook his head while shifting his gaze, meticulously, as if confirming the position.

"The facts prove they did a terrible job, so……"

Before his words finished, he threw several poison needles, which silently pierced into the bodies of the four bandits.

The poison on the needle tips was extremely potent; Ji Ming hadn't even had time to stop or rescue them before they collapsed and died on the spot while unconscious.

"Anyway, worthless trash will die sooner or later; might as well let them die comfortably."

"If this were the real world, simple theft wouldn't merit the death penalty."

"Even in Sunshine City, one could wait for the handlers to come door-to-door and let them deal with it."

"In short, as an existence on the side of order, Ji Ming may not be wholly benevolent, but he also tries to avoid killing as much as possible."

"Or put another way, even if you can't escape death, don't die in front of me."

Watching his brows gradually furrow, the assassin's words still carried undiminished amusement.

"Rest assured, I've also taken care of the one behind your house."

"I'm a professional assassin; I won't leave any leverage for my employer."

Ji Ming still didn't move, instead rubbing the handle of the shovel.

Although the assassin feigned calm, he had been suppressing his somewhat disordered breathing; he must have run all the way here.

"Indeed, Sunshine City is now in turmoil; without a strong figure to lure away the handlers, how could a few little rascals cause such a prolonged disturbance?"

At that very moment, Ji Ming noticed the assassin furtively glance behind him.

【Upper God Sir, a few more people are approaching.】

"By the way, I should still congratulate you, Doctor Ji."

The assassin slowly retreated, his speech quickening a bit.

"The adult said, as long as you can survive this ordeal, past grudges will be wiped clean; thus, he has now let you go."

"Goodbye!"

Having said that, he leapt up and swiftly departed through the broken opening.

Meanwhile, the hurried footsteps diminished at the same time as they rapidly grew louder elsewhere.

In the chaos, those were several handlers in pursuit of the assassin.

One of them noticed the gap in the glass of the Wai Shu Clinic and immediately turned, rushing over to pound on the door.

"Doctor, doctor, are you in there?"

"Damn it, he let me go; does that mean I should let him go too?"

Ji Ming let out a light sigh, walked over, and pulled open the door.

"I'm here, I'm here; for now I'm not dead……"

"One can only say the handlers live up to their name; though they lack other talents, they're swift at handling aftermath."

Thanks to their efforts, a total of five corpses inside and out were quickly placed in black bags and hauled away.

And just like in a superhero movie, the handlers who continued the pursuit unsurprisingly came up empty-handed, returning to the clinic amid muttering and complaints.

Of course, they wouldn't dare utter such nonsense to Ji Ming.

"Sorry, Doctor, his escape speed was too fast."

"Actually, it's mainly because he was too cunning; he even set up traps on the road beforehand, obstructing our actions!"

"Yeah, yeah, to be frank, my knees are all bruised."

"Oh dear, what a familiar set of lines."

"Does it hurt? If so, let me check you out."

"Uh…… no need, no need! We warrior professionals are all used to getting banged up like this, hahaha……"

"All I can say is that I happen to know their captain, and I myself have a bit of reputation."

"If I were an ordinary person, I probably wouldn't even hear these excuses."

"Expecting them to work is less hopeful than expecting Bu Long Fei Er De to do more; thus Ji Ming could only nod."

"Understood, understood, plenty of leeway……"

"Since An De Lu hasn't revealed his presence, Ji Ming is also willing to accompany him in continuing this act."

"So, when recounting the events, he deliberately concealed this aspect."

"Although there are no clues, we will still work hard to hunt, so please await good news!"

After a round of platitudes, they sent off the handlers streaming out like fish, and Ji Ming locked the door from the inside.

Sani, bandit, assassin…

Since An De Lu has already visited my home three times, as a friendly good neighbor, shouldn't I also take some time to return the favor?

That is also the fundamental reason he didn't rashly strike and leave the assassin; as an harmless innocent doctor, if he wants to maximize profit, he must not startle the grass and scare the snake.

Knocking on the Mysterious Merchant's question‑mark mask, Ji Ming placed it together with a breath‑stopping talisman.

Coincidentally the internal test still needs a huge expense, so I should solicit sponsorship; after this busy period passes, I'll go do a home visit.

Moreover, according to Director An's temperament, the first two should already have been silenced, but this flamboyant assassin is not necessarily.

As a kind and good person, it is still necessary to send society's care into his five organs and six viscera.

Heh, although all this might be a deliberately fabricated persona, it doesn't hurt to have someone inquire and investigate.

"Flashy package, you really have to bump into me, huh?"

After roughly tidying up the Clinic, he returned to the Dungeon.

He opened the map and saw that he had been absent for an hour; why can't he understand this situation?

The huge training ground was filled with wandering blue dots everywhere, perpetually hovering near and far from the red dots.

Moreover, shortly after contacting and eliminating the opponent, they reappear elsewhere.

Ji Ming had to open the public screen and scroll through it, finally grasping the players' strategic intent.

What is called warfare is really a fight for initiative and advantage.

After the initiative was seized and the advantage shrank infinitely, the players stuck in passivity grew anxious for a moment, then found a new starting point

— intelligence and information.

For the players, what is called a team battle is essentially an RTS game.

Under the premise that everyone enables shared vision, any player placed on the map becomes an eye.

Even without Ji Ming's thoroughness and audacity, at least one can see a rough battlefield situation.

Moreover, the game provides a public screen and image‑upload feature, allowing them to maintain continuous real‑time intelligence exchange.

In a sense, it is already more powerful than modern digital battlefields.

But on the other side, Mad King's information network is a complete mess.

Real‑time information acquisition is limited to one's own eyes, and although there are many, their per‑capita astonishing wisdom cannot even build a qualified intelligence transmission system.

When Mad King sits on the war chariot, he's essentially blind; to learn about the dispatched troops, he relies on a warrior who suddenly remembers by slapping his forehead, sending a foolish goblin back to sketch things for him.

Even after laboriously sketching for ages, Mad King might still interpret it as going north while the carriage heads south.

"Uh… what do you mean you found a tomato tree in the wilderness?"

Moreover, the players have an advantage: they can instantly activate teleportation as soon as they disengage.

Although the teleport destination is fixed, the mobility can already fling the two‑legged goblins several streets away.

Thus, under Uncle Hua's command, the players launched a battle that could be called insane.

First they pretended to rest in the grass shed, but actually teleported outside.

Then, at top speed, they located the nearest goblin battalion and did everything possible to interfere and inflict damage.

After the next wave of teammates arrives to support, they quickly disengage and return to Lake Heart Island to recuperate.

To the discerning, this is nothing but a hybrid of guerrilla tactics mixed with a revolving‑door battle variant.

As long as Mad King steadies his footing and mindset, maintaining his numerical superiority, the players' efforts become meaningless.

But under a network that can be called a mess…

"Crazy, how are there so many humans?"

Every battalion sent back reported that they encountered human ambushes on their side.

The invading enemies came in wave after wave, suddenly surging, making it impossible to defend against.

Mad King initially considered whether this was a human trick from across the lake.

But every human who entered the grass hut to rest quickly walked out again; theoretically there is never enough time to act.

And it's not that he hasn't tried a raid, but the defensive works on the bridge are simply too complex.

Before the team had gone halfway, over a hundred humans were already waiting in strict formation by the lake.

Could it be my misjudgment? Actually, there are far more than a hundred humans here.

Or perhaps their delay yesterday was to await today's reinforcements?

He couldn't help but glance back; the Dungeon's gloom was terrifying like never before.

This situation increasingly feels beyond his control, which is extremely irritating!

Repeated setbacks and fruitless returns also made Mad King seethe with anger.

But whether recalling the goblin battalion outside or sending another battalion to reinforce, neither seems a good solution.

Now that things have come to this, it seems the only hope lies in the five dispatched goblin battalions opening a breakthrough.

But if Mad King could see the players' map, he would know this is pure wishful thinking.

Guided by the players, all five battalions marched proudly toward the wrong direction.

The cannibal tribe approaching Dog Village behaved similarly; the players, acting as bait, lured them gradually off course.

Naturally, this includes…

Everyone quickly shed the pursuing cannibals behind them, completed disengagement, and teleported back to Lake Heart Island to rest.

But to the northwest of Dog Village, a solitary little dot kept running endlessly.

【Yo, which performance is this again, "After I Gender‑Swap into a Human, the Tsundere Childhood Sweetheart Chases Her Husband to the Crematorium?"】

Bai Yesheng has already lost three souls and seven spirits from running, and upon seeing Ji Ming's cold remark, immediately opened his mouth to scold.

"You're still watching jokes, huh? Hurry up and come save me!"

"No, don't even mention the next wave; by the wave after that everyone's done and gone. How come you're still running here?"

"It's because I'm not good at running; I can't shake off that ogre no matter how I try."

Good news: the ogre chasing her has already broken away from the Tribe's formation.

Bad news: it keeps its eyes on Bai Yesheng, pursuing her relentlessly.

Having no choice, Ji Ming teleported near her, pretended to have just arrived, and charged forward holding a long spear.

"Rebel son, your father is here!"

Although ogres are a steel race a tier above most humans, this famished, whimpering beast is a relatively small female, only level eight, so taking her one‑on‑one is fairly easy.

Combining Cramp Technique and Fart Technique, Ji Ming twirled his spear and wrestled with it wildly.

In fact, ogres have rather simple attacks; besides brute force, they don't even have a decent weapon.

So after giving it ten rounds of face, Ji Ming seized the moment when its foot suddenly gave way, a stumble error, and thrust a spear through its throat.

"Is that all?"

Looking at Bai Yesheng, lying on the ground, barely breathing, as if she could be sent to the urinal at any moment.

He pulled a square towel from his chest and, with a sorrowful face, covered it over her.

"Wuwu, that's a bit of a flop, huh? Even fighting this thing makes you sweat profusely, bro."

"Grass mud horse!"

Bai Yesheng, on the brink of death, startled upright, opened her game panel and stuck it to Ji Ming's face.

He peeled off the blue square that had clipped into his head and glanced at her battle report.

"Goblins, kobolds, slimes… Hey, why did you also kill an ogre?"

"If it weren't to kill that thing, how could I possibly have the energy to run away!"

Although she died three times during the day, Bai Yesheng is at most level six, so this is definitely an over‑level kill.

"Then how did you do it?"

"Skill!"

Without her saying, Ji Ming could guess the exact method.

It's simply about holding a bow, keeping distance, bullying the slow, bulky ogre, and constantly kite‑flying it.

In theory it's simple, but actually putting it into practice is rather hard,

after all, "reality" isn't a "game"; you can't just wiggle the mouse, charge power, and fire an arrow.

With such a massive beast ferociously chasing from behind, how many have the nerve to stay put, and how many can calmly nock an arrow and hit precisely at that moment?

"It's possible, with skill."

Like a disheveled female ghost reflecting light, Bai Yesheng floated up and pressed Ji Ming's shoulder.

"Of course! Once dad re‑levels, I'll boost you right away!"

"…I'm going to— you!"

After Ji Ming pushed her away, Bai Yesheng kept lying flat on the ground, but this time she took out a notebook and began writing.

"What's up, still planning revenge?"

"Tch, grudges are kept in the heart, who writes them in a book…"

She filled an entire page, checked it once more, and slid it in front of Ji Ming.

This time it was…

"My god! Can't you use this sneaky, ruthless move with your own account?"

"Can't, I'm beautiful and kind‑hearted, so I don't pretend to be a master when I speak."

Ji Ming had no choice but to copy‑paste the plan into his input box and send it to the public chat.

Wai Bozi Shu: 【Friends, I have a win‑win strategy here, please help me plan.】

【Whoa, Wai Bozi Shu is talking again, and it's a long paragraph. Let me see what it is…】

【I'll copy it, there's also this kind of…】

Zhao Jun turned the plan over and over, feeling a surge of excitement, but he dared not make a judgment, only rubbing his chin.

"Uncle Hua, is this plan feasible?"

"To put it bluntly, it's just a 'kill with a borrowed knife' move."

Being old, Fu Le could no longer stand long, so he sat on a wooden bench.

"This operation is a bit more complex, but speed is prized, and efficiency improves…"

He opened the square before him, gazing at the goblin army on the lake's opposite shore, like a green low wall.

"Give it a try, even if it's a burden, it's better than everyone scrambling all night long!"

Thus the plan was quickly refined and assigned, hanging in the players' own quest log.

Almost simultaneously, goblins and ogres spotted the attacking humans, and their escape direction changed.

But this had happened many times before, so it wasn't surprising.

Without hesitation, they kept pursuing along the humans' fleeing path.

If they had a map, they'd see that each squad was gradually converging, and the gathering point was the Little Training Stage the players know best.

Ji Ming kept watching, waiting for the drama, when he heard a voice beside him.

"Help me up…"

"You're almost dead and still joining the group?"

"Fully revived, alright, this is my plan!"

So he and Bai Yesheng joined the monster‑pulling line, tasked with steering the third enemy battalion toward the arena.

Gua—, gagaga!

Having hundreds of goblins waving clubs behind you in pursuit is indeed thrilling, especially when they all have blood‑red eyes.

But as we kept running…

"Wai Shu, there are clearly several players, why are all these goblins staring at you?"

Ji Ming's expression turned sour, because he, having noticed the situation earlier, just checked the goblins' status panels,

and found that regardless of gender, the status bar was uniformly marked 'Seeking Mate'.

Damn it, my 23 points of charm aren't meant for this kind of thing!

He could only stammer out a sentence.

"Maybe it's because I… run so stylishly…"

In any case, with Ji Ming on this route, the monster‑pulling efficiency is top‑notch.

Other directions might waste time due to relay mistakes, but here it will only be…

【Third Route Squad, please loop around a bit; the ogre needs more time to reach the target point】

【Can we delay a bit more? They messed up over there】

【Please…】

Ji Ming had no choice but to voluntarily request a team swap.

Starting from the First Squad, he worked overtime at high intensity all the way to Ogre Squad Six, finally barely finishing the monster‑pull task.

Such a high success rate naturally sparked players' curiosity, and they began debating on the public screen.

【Weird, how does Wai Shu manage such steady monster pulling?】

【Big boss, teach me, I can do anything】

Aurora Dance: 【Obviously, because he is a male succubus who can kill goblins of either gender】

?

Amid a flood of 【I see】【So fitting】【Tail big, no need to say more】, Ji Ming sent a private message.

【Who said they wanted to pretend to be a master and refuse to speak on the public screen?】

【I don't know】

Nevertheless, this is a complex plan that requires dividing forces into six locations.

Players can no longer maintain the steady rhythm of a constant headcount as before.

So the Mad King, sitting on the throne and anxious as fire, quickly sensed the human side's deviation.

"Hey, why does it feel like there are far fewer of them?"

Unwilling to give up, he again led his subordinates to launch an attack.

This time, indeed, there weren't a full hundred humans waiting in formation; delighted, he instantly summoned another hundred reserve squads onto the battlefield.

But how much skill is involved in monster pulling? Hence those remaining on the island are the elite among the players.

The goblins had barely crossed half the bridge when they were met with a head‑on strike.

A chaotic rain of arrows mixed with stone projectiles hammered their shields and flesh with a crackle.

Swinging his shield, the Mad King originally intended to clear the path himself, but his peripheral vision caught a familiar figure.

It was the assassin from before, who, noticing his gaze, also waved the broom in his hand.

"Yi‑ya!"

The Mad King let out a startled scream like a little girl who saw a bug, instantly retreating three steps and scrambling back to the rear of the formation.

"Uhh?"

Three warriors, bewildered, were shielded by their chief in front, and had no choice but to raise their shields and keep moving.

Under the Mad King's urging, the goblins' resolve to attack was strong; merely with bows, crossbows, and catapults, they might not be suppressed.

Fu Le knit his brows and waved at Qiangzi beside the Bed Crossbow.

"Can't go on, the pressure's too great, we have to use the backhand!"

"Got it!"

Qiangzi had been itching to act for a while, and immediately shouted for a few players to help turn the winch.

A thick crossbow bolt, twisted from several beast tendons, was gradually tightened, and a massive bolt fashioned from a long spear was readied.

"Attention!"

Qiangzi raised his pitch, letting his voice sweep across the entire battlefield.

Although the Mad King couldn't tell what it was, the chattering of players surely signaled trouble.

"Stop, all raise shields! Damn it, raise them!"

The warriors quickly slammed their massive shields onto the ground, forming a moving wall.

On the other side, Qiangzi also aimed at the thickest part of the goblin horde.

"Fire the arrow!"

Amid a sour‑tinged clang, the trigger was pulled, and the lethal weapon shot through the air.

The bridge was too narrow, stretching the goblin line far.

Although the Mad King shouted the order in time, the front‑line goblins still busy dodging or leaping over obstacles had no defense at all.

The Bed Crossbow's bolt was like a launched battering ram, intent on crushing everything that blocked it.