Chapter 299: with translation of chapter title

Corpses poured out, a thousand cannons roared, such momentum was inevitably shocking; the sun rising in the east drew the attention of everyone inside and outside the city, even the Sheng Guang Jiao Tang locked in relentless battle fell silent for a moment.

"Lord Feather, you can fly—quickly go over there and see what's happening!"

"You don't need to trouble yourself with this, old pointy ears; if you have time, help me see what's happening over there."

The Strange Council suspected the other side had already prepared, the Sheng Guang Jiao Tang also suspected the other side still had experts; in their urgency they unexpectedly dispatched people to investigate, yet after rushing over they received only another unanimous

——"Damn it!"

The gun barrels belching rolling smoke had become scorching hot; although magical reinforcement and cooling allowed them to keep roaring nonstop, the operators inevitably lost aim, gradually expanding the bombardment from the gate itself to this entire stretch of wall.

Yet faced with this ever‑growing frenzy of bombardment, the zealots who had lost the ability to think merely carried out their orders numbly, incessantly urging the undead to surge in waves through the gate, then scoop after scoop turning into piles of black ash on the ground.

Upon reflection, the well‑traveled Feather Person and Buluowa had seen similar scenes before; those high‑rank professionals capable of razing cities with a gesture could certainly produce such an effect—worthy of awe, but certainly not of surprise.

But the humans and beastmen laughing loudly beside the iron tubes were clearly low‑rank professionals, merely smearing liquid into the tubes, stuffing things in, then lighting the fuses—nothing more.

In other words, these weapons seem utterly unrelated to anything the professionals pride themselves on, with no hereditary or numerical thresholds for use.

Then…

Since humans and beastmen can use these weapons, could elves and feather people also?

Since these weapons can pulverize the masses of undead, would elves and feather people also end up as corpses among them?

The more they had experienced, the farther they could see; as two long‑lived races, both felt their bodies alternating between chills and heat, both sensing the arrival of danger and opportunity.

But for the Feather Person, now is not the time to ponder these; even if the distant weapons are superb, they are now blasting our own side—if we don't destroy them, we will surely lose this battle!

He glanced at the old elf, then immediately planned to rush out of the Inner City while the elf was off‑guard, to let this lowly and ridiculous bunch learn what the power of a Shadow Feather Person is.

But before he could even flick his wings, a heavy shell from the Urbane Giant Cannon slammed into a shield only tens of meters away from him, instantly sending strong ripples across the entire red‑transparent barrier.

Had it not been for the city‑grade defensive formation having no shortcuts, the Feather Person might have perished here today; nevertheless, even though he escaped unharmed, he was so startled his wings twitched and he dropped several meters.

……

As everyone knows, for an excellent Strange Councilor, the top skill to learn is how to ensure one's own safety; flying out of the gate under heavy barrage is far too dangerous, so better to devise a safer, more suitable plan—for example……

For example, shut down the formation!

Let the zealots shut down the entire isolation barrier; I want to see whether, when all the undead pour out through any exit toward the outer city, their bombardment can actually cover the whole city!

Say it, do it—time brooks no delay! The Feather Person turned his body, intending to charge straight to the formation chamber in one go.

But his sudden drop had already caught Buluowa's attention, so the moment he moved, a long‑charged sword‑slash came flying at him.

Unable to dodge, the Feather Person was flung aside by the slash; as the world spun before his eyes, only one thought filled his mind.

——Damn it, why is everything concerning Sunshine City always so terrible!

However, orders of this sort don't have to be delivered in person, so after regaining his balance he immediately sent a magical communication.

"Hey! Damn it, stop raising those grubs! I order you to shut down the entire isolation barrier—shut it, shut it, you must shut it!"

Yet what came through the magical channel from the other side was not the usual frenzied low mutter with a hint of tremor, but a voice of extreme calm.

"On what grounds? Open it, open it, you must open it!"

"Open?"

Barely dodging another horizontal sweep from Buluowa, the Feather Person even lowered his head to glance, confirming whether the stone in his hand was the magic crystal that could contact the formation chamber.

"Bastard! Now is no time for jokes—if we don't shut the isolation barrier soon, we'll lose the operation! By then the great deity will surely……"

But the other side remained utterly nonchalant, their magnetic voice even tinged with obvious amusement.

"What's this—Wendigo not skinny, shadowy apparition? Shadow Feather… oh, Moth‑man brother, next time remember to have Bloody Mary call me; I don't take calls from female ghosts."

Having said that, he could no longer hold back his laughter; a string of laughs came from the other end of the communication, filling the hall with a cheerful atmosphere.

"I…… you…… damn!"

Even in his panic, the Feather Person should have realized: the formation chamber had obviously been stolen!

"Ahhh! I'll make all of you die with me!"

Filled with fury, he shook his body, unleashing ghostly energy, raised his claws to go fight the old elf to the death—but in the next second Buluowa's shot blasted him away.

The one who had been chatting up the Feather Person on the phone was none other than the Death God, who had been in seclusion training for a long time; during this period his presence was low, as he had been busy grinding various monsters in the Underground World, and after refraining from reckless deeds for four days he finally reached around level twenty, where high‑end players usually reside.

As soon as his divine power was perfected and he descended the mountain, his first act was to lead the other immortals from the challengers into the Inner City, seizing the formation chamber according to the intel previously gathered.

For other players, this bloody, rain‑soaked journey would be a huge mental strain even if it didn't block the road—too bad, in the eyes of these maniacs who would slice themselves up for research if the system didn't stop them.

"Just this? Feels less bloody than my lab."

"The undead's combat power is pathetic; I thought the zombies of this fantasy world would be on par with Corpse Brother."

"Hey, I just found a clean‑mouthed one that bit me… don't panic, put the gun down—I haven't turned into a corpse! Guess what? Laughable, I can't change at all; it's just a lasting weakness debuff—slap on some revitalizing fluid and it's done."

Since they themselves aren't afraid of the undead, the players are utterly fearless; were it not for fear of alerting the enemies inside the formation chamber, they'd love to swagger through unopposed, reaching the chamber's exterior without breaking a sweat.

However, they didn't rush to attack; instead they cautiously tossed a poison gas grenade as a test…… the people inside didn't even utter a groan before all collapsing.

After patiently waiting ten minutes for the poison gas to take full effect, they shattered the glass here and, relying on their honed extraordinary toxin resistance, bravely charged inside.

But this band of zealots truly had strength; even the strongest among them, despite enduring horrific chemical torture, refused to pass out, though he could only lie prone on the table, clinging to life, glaring at the players with bloodshot eyes.

"Rest now."

However, when the Death God hauled him up and flung him to the ground, he discovered a peculiar purple crystal pressing beneath the man's body; even before picking it up it began to flash and vibrate, which he recognized as the so‑called communication magic stone, thus triggering the earlier conversation.

After having fun with this unknown but certainly enemy individual, whose stone bore the engraving 【Shadow Feather Person】, he also broadcast the news of having captured the formation chamber onto the public screen.

At this moment the artillery emplacement had finished its first round of bombardment; the operators, their heads buzzing from the roar, temporarily ceased firing, for otherwise continuing at such high intensity would burst these weapons despite magical and material reinforcement.

Looking ahead, the scorched, blackened gate was miserable to the extreme; where the gate once teemed with crowds, now only a few maimed undead crawled painfully, while the tens of thousands of corpses driven here by the zealots had been utterly wiped out.

But for the High Tower Community alliance, which commands thousands of elite troops……

"Just this~!? No way!? Really~ no action left!?"

The shouting players had thought this wave could withstand top‑tier intensity, but aside from a few thousand pairs of ears slightly impaired, making them speak louder, they suffered not even half a point of battle damage.

Nevertheless, they didn't believe this shoddy game developer would let them off so easily, and they began to mutter curses under their breath.

"The game developers are terrible; I bet this is just a gatekeeper checkpoint! The real challenge must be inside!"

Yes! This level can't be that simple!

Then I can relax! Brothers and sisters, follow me in!

However, before officially entering the Inner City, a few enthusiastic water-system mage players still helped clear out this open-air crematorium; otherwise, this gate full of ashes wouldn't have even a few brave souls daring to go straight in, not even a Zilong reincarnation.

OK, charge!

If one says this zombie magic plague is a catastrophe for the Inner City, then the players who eagerly rush into New Paradise are the destined bane of the zombies.

Just as the unconscious wandering zombies from other areas gradually arrived here, the players, eager to interact, began passionately engaging with them—not only giving them affectionate nicknames like 'Old Brother, Old Sister, Old Younger Brother, Old Younger Sister,' but also generously letting them lie comfortably on the ground, heading to the Western Paradise to live well.

Therefore, when they were previously bombarding with cannons, they didn't notice, but after successively salvaging several unfortunate souls trapped in rotting corpses, the players happily discovered that killing these things not only grants experience, but also merit! Now they really can't avoid killing them.

Chief Agus! Chief Baptiste! The task of gradually expanding the safe zone, fortifying and clearing the area, is left to you! We'll go help you scout the route!

They tossed the thankless labor onto the innocent dungeon folk, and the players vanished like cockroaches caught in a flashlight beam, disappearing swiftly into the streets and alleys of the Inner City, leaving only cheerful laughter behind.

"???"

The others in the allied forces could not comprehend the Pioneers' excitement and madness; fearing infection and transformation into zombies, they opted for a steady, conservative tactic, intending to follow the players' suggestion to gradually expand their territory and clear out a safe zone.

At the front of the troop were fully armored shotgun-wielding minotaurs; even the toughest zombies couldn't bite through their armor, and instead would have their skulls blown apart by gunfire.

In the middle were lizardfolk guards holding rifles; their higher‑precision weapons meant they could snipe distant threats and also clean up the corners the minotaurs overlooked.

As for the armored bat‑people, they flapped their wings and flew into the sky; although they lacked sufficient firearms, their excellent newly‑made bow‑crossbows could still provide full aerial support,

Besides that, the troop also had the magical aid of cyclopes, who, equally skilled in some psychic magic, could invade the empty brains of the zombies, effectively providing a built‑in area‑wide crowd control.

Buluowa saw that what these strangers were doing counted as friendly forces, and he did his best to draw the conflict with the Feather People elsewhere, causing the players trailing behind who wanted to watch a divine showdown to shake their heads repeatedly.

"Too bad, it looks like this is an official designer's Easter egg, so we can only give it a quick glance."

Meanwhile, the players who hadn't noticed this place had already begun their own immersive zombie‑world adventure.

Four people teamed up, climbed to the apartment roof, and swept down floor by floor with their guns—clearly they were reenacting a real‑life version of Left 4 Dead.

"Really can't find a suitable shopping center, so we'll just make do here today. Fans, double‑tap and keep going!"

Those in armor, holding cold weapons and carrying shields, walking slowly across open ground, were probably trying to experience a fantasy version of Kingdom.

"Listen, our current setting is that we're the lost Han expeditionary force in Europa, so later nobody should use magic—don't ruin the immersion."

They went to a nearby club to criticize the rich, drunk, money‑obsessed guys, then brought a group of professional staff out for a night run, lamenting that the adventure king had never been chased by so many women in his life.

Wearing only a single layer, they challenged themselves to start from scratch, using only scavenged items to fight and modify, completing a night of exploration and survival as a battlefield inventor in the peril‑filled district.

There was also someone who alone stripped off all removable gear, rubbed his chilled, tightened arms in the cold wind, and prepared to challenge an extreme survival test in the zombie world.

"Friends who often take part in wilderness survival know that any edible protein must not be wasted—for example, look, there's a completely dead zombie right here."

"Oh, of course, I definitely won't eat this—it's not allowed, it's prohibited, so……"

"I'll be the one to taste the maggots on its body for everyone! Ollie, let's go, bro……

【This streamer has been banned】

Well, that stunt was too extreme—now both the account and the livestream channel have been banned together.