Chapter 154: Friends, Happy New Year!

After Bai Yesheng hinted that she had gotten a new lewd image pack, Ji Ming immediately said

——"Bastard, what do you mean? I've always been the kind of good person who would stab my own ribs for a friend!"

He proactively and enthusiastically helped her load a few gunpowder cans, and also discussed which of the newly released doujins was the most appealing.

Logically they exchanged resources, and the time had reached ten p. m.

Even though the whole game showed no changes or hints, the players still simultaneously returned to Dog Village.

While discussing the battle situation, someone suggested setting up ambushes on the inevitable road the goblins would take to Dog Village.

But before the proposal could even be discussed, the local expert Ma Yi immediately vetoed it.

"There are over a thousand goblins; if we really set an ambush, sending out twenty people would already be the limit."

"Not to mention how much damage those few people could cause; if there are losses, resurrection would take forty minutes, and by then the goblins would already be at the city gates."

"We already have few people, so let's not split forces; it's too risky!"

【Laughing, slashing the family, and it's the players' favorite flexible‑difficulty time again】

The barbaric, crude weapons screeched sharply through the air, and the impact point was the three‑bow bed crossbow atop the city wall.

Since the traps are segmented, there will always be relatively simpler routes; the one Feng Wang chose was one that mostly consisted of horse‑trap pits.

Sometimes, even when clearly deep in enemy lines and able to see silhouettes on the city wall, no arrows are shot down,

Urged by Bai Yesheng, Ji Ming, who took over as the thrower, had to pull back the rubber band.

He felt his pocket and found only two Flame Explosion Scrolls, while the cans dropped from the city wall numbered at least dozens.

【Wouldn't they be able to instantly snipe from ultra‑long range, then storm the city and start a slaughter? How are we supposed to fight this, brothers?】

In fact, as a subterranean species, goblins are also excellent civil engineering units.

And also an inexplicable, yet hefty, oversized stone spear.

On the contrary, Hua Shu, while inspecting the surrounding defenses, put forward a new idea.

This is also why Qiang Zi and Ma Yi set up so many traps; they wanted to offset their disadvantage with numbers.

What's the difference between Feng Wang's brute‑force stone spear's weight‑triggered Flame Explosion Scroll blast and a fantasy‑world rocket launcher?

He later realized why Feng Wang only activated this big weapon after our side had already suffered losses.

"Is this Feng Wang's skill? Can you conjure an explosive weapon with bare hands?"

Combined with the rather unsightly yet tightly wrapped armor he wore, it vaguely gave off a hint of a "military" feel.

【They're testing us; everyone, don't panic!】

Therefore, although the pit traps were unlocked, executing dense combo attacks like the bridge‑crossing trap cluster became extremely difficult.

Seeing this, the little goblin was naturally thrilled and hurriedly urged his subordinates to keep pushing the front line.

"I suggest we light a fire every so often beneath the city; not too many, just enough to see vague silhouettes."

"Jealous!"

"Alright, family, let's give everyone a lucky start!"

Even if the power is low, the accuracy poor, or it even detonates early or simply shatters on the ground.

"What… what happened?"

The force of the stone sphere can make them wobble a bit, but the number is ultimately too few.

Yet the most skilled bed crossbow crew, along with their weapons, were wiped out, and the remaining bed crossbows positioned elsewhere were too risky to use.

Qiang Zi immediately led a few good buddies toward the nearest bed crossbow.

The little goblin nodded vigorously and led dozens of berserk goblins away from the main force.

A muffled explosion sounded, and several goblins, gray‑headed and dusty‑faced, were blown into rolling pumpkins by the blast wave.

"Two!"

Unfortunately, in their excitement, they took out all the gunpowder cans for convenience and piled them aside.

"Is it still that stone spear that's the problem, or some kind of special magical construct?"

Even if this road has pit traps or shard spikes, tossing away shovelfuls of earth eliminates everything.

Though a bit rough, it's a climbable ladder for goblins.

"It's pretty much as I imagined; let's proceed step by step."

However, beside him, Bai Yesheng didn't lift the stone sphere; instead, she took a gunpowder can and a player‑made fire fold from her backpack.

Because he had suffered several setbacks, Feng Wang didn't rashly let the goblins approach Dog Village; instead, he stopped them far away.

He stepped out, muscles bulging, and along the newly cleared road, he arrived at the defensive formation in an instant.

The little goblin Lin frowned at the sight, let out a sharp howl, and the leading big goblins, understanding, immediately raised their shields and moved to fill the breach.

Morale faltered, and even the rain of arrows from the wall became sparse.

Having a solution is better than none; one gunpowder can after another was taken from players' backpacks, replacing stone projectiles, and after lighting the fuses, they were launched from catapults.

Boom—

The fierce explosion swept across, high heat mixing with the shockwave, and the player squad operating the bed crossbow with Qiang Zi was instantly wiped out.

In an instant, arrows fell like rain, and the catapults on the wall hurled stone spheres one after another.

Although the goblins stood ready one by one, morale is like a rope; pulled for too long it inevitably slackens.

"Watch closely, not a single one of your mother's!"

And with such a grand scene, the number of projectiles surged again.

Amidst the humans' chatter, the goblins gradually entered the range of the bows and crossbows.

After bypassing the slanted giant shield, the can's explosion timing was neither early nor late, perfectly completing the fuse.

With a vigorous shout, his arm whipped out like a whip, and upon reaching the end, he released the massive projectile from his hand.

"Crap, move!"

While discussing with the core players, he also kept in contact with the company's think‑tanks.

She lit the lengthened fuse and packed the gunpowder can into a leather pouch.

But because there were many players, the gunpowder cans piled together and blew the goblins below the city into a complete mess!

The most exhilarating thing in this world is to go berserk, and even more thrilling is a crowd going berserk together.

—Looks like this is a reconnaissance squad specialized in trap exploration.

How strange, why can't I understand O. o?

"Right, last time Da Lu Ge saw Death God and the rat like a cat!"

【Grandma, this one million is really hard to earn, I'm already getting a headache】

Bai Yesheng retreated into the shelter, took another arrow from the quiver and pinched it in his hand.

"Didn't see it."

"One!"

【Besides probing our traps, they're also confirming the range of our bow and crossbow fire in the four directions】

【Finally it's here, really waiting for death!】

No, can't skimp any more!

This time, he aimed at the spot with the most players by eye.

Seeing this, the Mad King's expression remained as calm as water.

Moreover, the darkness perfectly concealed its presence; the goblins never expected anything could strike from behind.

"Playing like this, are you a tiger?"

But the more deadly thing was that the wooden bed crossbow was also burned to ruins in the chaos.

The reconnaissance squad circled Dog Village, and after confirming all trap types, they didn't leave but tried to go deeper.

However, weapons are ultimately for use; seeing this, Fu Le immediately sent out the activation of the three‑bow bed crossbow.

But an even stranger thing occurred.

"Guh!"

"Rebel son, I'll give you another chance to make a long face; pull out your message box, whatever I say you type."

"Gui Gui, so goblins have such strong learning ability?"

This time, however, Bai Yesheng stuck his head out from behind the wall, raised his hand and shot an arrow.

The huge arrow shot out without a sound, flying straight toward the goblin warrior in the center.

He frantically rubbed his face, finally loosening the stiff smile.

Even so, under the players' subsequent arrow barrage, the goblin warrior kept screaming and only escaped with his tribe's cover.

Moreover, due to its primitive principle and lack of aiming device, it couldn't concentrate fire or break through defenses.

After three days of war, this is the Mad King's first serious strike.

"Alas, not…"

"It's similar to what I guessed, so let's follow the previous plan."

"One's poetry fills the belly, making one look splendid; though the real command is still amateurish, having something in the stomach at least keeps the face from panicking."

Yet the goblins were more cunning than expected; after one unlucky soul got an arrow in the butt, they all squealed and retreated.

"Flame Explosion Scroll?"

Although Ji Ming knew that this Da Lu Pi had found this 'Survivor' in the castle's underground vault, he never expected he could devise such a use.

Wanting to open a second battlefield there are too few people; wanting to ambush but the force is too weak…

When they saw the goblins cautiously lowering themselves to feel the ground, and the leader kept drawing and scribbling on the stone slab, the think‑tanks among the players finally reached a conclusion.

Although this isn't the gunpowder can's first appearance, last time the smoke was so thick the goblins didn't even know what was hitting them, so the Mad King had no intel on this.

"Fireworks Gatling is just for fun; if you really want fun you still have to blow goblins with a gunpowder can from the city walls!"

Sometimes just taking two steps forward brings a hail of random arrows fluttering at you.

Relying only on the weapons in hand, they temporarily had no way to deal with this goblin shield formation.

In the distant darkness, the Mad King stood on the war chariot like a sentinel.

Holding a stone slab covered with various symbols, the Mad King pondered briefly and arrived at this answer.

It's much stronger than yesterday's prototype, a massive shield as big as a wall.

Similar doubts appeared in everyone's mind.

"There's light on the city walls but none below; the enemy's darkness and our clarity is a dangerous thing."

The players tacitly fell silent, slipping silently into combat mode.

Resulting in a cold snort from Ji Ming.

The Mad King, decisive as ever, immediately grabbed another stone spear, and after attaching the scroll, charged and threw it.

【Damn, we already have gunpowder barrels, you internal testers really going to make flintlock guns too?】

"It is impolite to come without returning!"

The little goblin seems to have become his right‑hand, with the Mad King's backing; even ordinary goblins, let alone goblin warriors, dare not defy its will.

"Yeah, we still have gunpowder cans!"

"Huh? What kind of trick are you pulling?"

The players had been waiting on the city walls for a long time; immediately, the archers and crossbowmen who could no longer hold back began to fire downwards.

Without the terrifying bed crossbow blocking them, they became even more rampant, especially after the Mad King thoughtfully dispatched a support unit, and the speed of filling earth and paving roads increased instead of decreasing.

【To watch tonight's live stream I even swapped shifts with someone else, enough said, here's a drink!】

Amid the continuous sharp explosions, the players excitedly roared and shouted.

"Isn't it just like an explosion?"

Ji Ming immediately started typing on the public screen.

"Uh… ah, right!"

One million, it's hard to earn.

The hype turned into traffic that flooded every live stream, becoming a sea of viewers and bullet comments.

The bonfire, though exposing every ambush, also let them vaguely see one trap formation after another beneath the city.

This time, instead of bravely charging forward as usual, they all stopped.

This…

Moreover, to disrupt the players' scouting, they kept destroying the bonfires along the way.

"What's up, bro? You wanna try a couple of times too?"

"Hahaha, this crackling sounds like a damn New Year celebration!"

In a blink, he suddenly found himself inside a urinal.

The strong projectile in charge of aiming and firing was still busy searching for the next target when a massive force suddenly struck his abdomen.

"Damn!"

So it was clearly tense as a drawn sword and bow, yet the city walls stayed silent for a full three minutes.

"Brothers, toss it!"

【Don't be scared, friends. If the Mad King really had many of these weapons, he'd have used them on me long ago; how could we have waited until today?】

"I think it's because the archers among them have uneven abilities, which caused this change."

【Attack!】

【Bro, I'm already ready to skip the 8 AM shift, hoping for some hardcore action】

Even without the tech level to build vehicles, the warriors could swing a giant hammer to smash doors.

He drew a winding line on it with a piece of charcoal and handed it back to the little goblin.

He let out a long sigh, then his steel‑like massive hand seized the heavy stone spear beside him.

Moreover, besides infantry, they also forged all sorts of siege engines:

But now…

The professionals' strength is incomparable to that of ordinary humans, so they quickly drew the crossbow string to its limit and mounted a modified long spear onto it.

The weed‑covered pits were triggered one by one by goblins with wooden sticks, and the ceramic shards hidden in the sand were uncovered.

"Cut the crap!"

No pain, no cruelty.

【Hehe, I can't afford the qualification anyway; whether it's Goblin‑angry Pioneers or Pioneers‑tutu Goblin, I'm happy either way!】

"Um, I'll count three, two, one, then you fire!"

After two days of warm‑up, this final showdown dominated the trending list for a full day.

Although the crudely made black powder did little damage—aside from the recent one who was blown up, the rest were only injured—but…

From players to officials, each figure on the city walls brought a long spear and a short cannon.

【Everyone be smarter; the other directions shouldn't fall into traps again—if it doesn't work, strike early or late, and give them a smoke bomb!】

After fighting for a long time, the Mad King's face finally broke into a smile.

Moreover, the goblins, besides their weapons, each carried oddly shaped stone shovels that still worked if used.

At this rate, retreat is only a matter of time.

Then another unlucky soul slipped onto a trap, getting a chilling puncture from a wooden spike at the pit's bottom.

The stone spear exploded with a roar, logically wiping out all the players in that area.

Fu Le tapped his knee with his fingers and finally made up his mind.

The wounded ones, like bratty kids who remember only the eating, not the beating, changed direction and somehow ventured deeper into similar spots.

Soon, illuminated by flickering firelight, the faint silhouettes drew near—it was the Mad King and his goblins.

"Three!"

Amid the orderly war cries, over three hundred goblins, shielded by several massive shields, began to slowly advance toward Dog Village.

Although each one's power couldn't match his combos, the successive firelight and explosions already terrified the goblins below the city into chaos.

"Ha, Wai Shu, it's time for us to act!"

"I'm not ready yet!"

"Gua! Gua!"

If you make it too hard on your side… then they just won't come, right?

The strong projectile gave a wry smile to the camera, and Ma Yi squatted nearby with a regretful expression.

As long as you're not a fool, developments in war are bidirectional.

"Ah, folks, the trap's dead~ it flopped~"

Primitive and rugged, yet it matched the snarling little green‑skinned ones perfectly, a dark, imposing mass.

But before we could figure it out, the strange paper that stuck to him when the Mad King grabbed him flashed a red glow, and then…

Ji Ming quickly let go, sending the powder can, pulled by a rubber band, soaring toward the goblin ranks below the city.

Still puzzled, she forcibly dragged him to a catapult.

Unfortunately, after breaking the shield, the remaining force was too weak and veered off, hitting not the heart but the other side.

"Damn it…"

Magic scrolls are certainly finite consumables, so naturally you have to find ways to maximize profit, even blowing up the gear and its operator together.

"Let's see if it can act as a hindrance; if it makes the goblins' attack less smooth, that'll count as success!"

Although it was their first time throwing a gunpowder can, the coordination between the two turned out to be fairly good.

"Ha!"

Consequently, they dug and filled pits so quickly that, to the naked eye, a passage gradually emerged, allowing subsequent troops to pass through normally.

A somewhat lax goblin warrior was immediately knocked down along with his shield by a stone ball, and several goblins behind him were also shot dead by a hail of arrows.

"Did you see that? Was the arrow I just shot as a father accurate?"

Compared with yesterday, today's giant shield is thicker and sturdier, and the players' arrows can only graze a mark on its surface.

No matter how solid the giant shield is, it's still primitive craftsmanship; how can it stand against the players' meticulously prepared heavy weapons?

In an instant, the stone shield in its hand was shattered. Though the arrowhead also snapped, the remaining shaft still drove straight into its chest.

To be a good core commander, Fu Le has spent the past few days not only scouting for suitable streamers but also reading a lot of military books.

Although the number of goblins has dwindled to one‑third, their formation remains orderly, each bearing a restrained expression.

Even though I'm certain I won't be killed by this absurdly crude homemade explosive, as a modern person Ji Ming still felt a huge pressure when confronting this terrifying bomb, and he immediately stared with narrowed eyes and let out a low growl.

Thus, the little goblins on this side also noticed something very strange.

There were few people in the closed beta, so even after just showing a little skill, Ji Ming managed to become a familiar face.

Ji Ming was still watching the commotion when he saw Bai Yesheng standing up beside him.

"Look, you think you can handle it, treating the big guy like a fool, right?"

He said nothing, but directly posted a message on the public screen.

When a big boss offered analysis, the players managed to calm down a bit.

Fortunately, amidst the chaos there was always a rational voice; while Ji Ming was still pondering whether to click, he saw that Death God had already sent a message.

But how could the players know these twists and turns? They were all terrified, frozen like wooden chickens.

Darkness advanced step by step, giving a feeling akin to the lights in a horror film flickering out one by one.

【(Crying) The previous ones were easy to talk about; this wave I truly envy.】

After all, if you want to launch an island assault there's only one route, while Dog Village can be reached from all directions.

A goblin was hit in the throat and fell with a sound; the surrounding little green‑skinned ones, already extremely nervous, scattered and fled in terror.

Didn't I just give you a little blast? Why are you getting so worked up…

In fact, compared with Lake Heart Island, aside from its higher terrain, Dog Village, which lacks natural barriers everywhere, isn't very suitable for defensive warfare.

But among the players, aside from a few deliberately low‑voiced simple interactions, everything was deathly silent.

Blooming wealth: 【thumbs up】

Feng Wang took a few deep breaths to relieve his mental stress and patted the little goblin beside him on the shoulder.

"Damn, why do these goblins look so professional!"

【Why don't I have money? I really want to play too!】

After all, even though they were fully prepared, the goblins clearly came ready as well.

And as everyone knows, there is a term in this world called "Suicide Blast."

Thus, under the intense explosion caused by a chain reaction, a section of the wall collapsed.

Although it hasn't yet threatened the foundation of the entire city wall, a deep crack has already appeared.