City of Glory, Central Plaza.
The atmosphere was as oppressive as the sea before a storm.
Hundreds of players with "Mad Dragon" IDs above their heads surrounded the massive resurrection point, making it impenetrable. They were all clad in fine bronze equipment, wielding gleaming weapons, with grim expressions, their gazes like hawks fixed on the pristine obelisk in the center of the resurrection point.
Outside them were thousands of ordinary players who had rushed over to watch the spectacle. They crammed the surrounding streets, rooftops, and even statues, their discussions, exclamations, and schadenfreude whistles merging into a cacophony that nearly threatened to lift the dome of this grand city.
"My heavens! Is this the strength of the Mad Dragon Guild? It's terrifying! To block one person, they've mobilized over a thousand people!"
"More than that! Look at the gates in the east and west of the city; they've all been sealed off by their people! With this kind of setup, let alone a player, not even a fly could get out, right?"
"That expert named Lin Mo is too unlucky; he just reached the top and is already being targeted like this. If he gets killed, his level, equipment, reputation… tsk tsk, I can't even imagine it."
"Unlucky my ass! I think he deserves it! A solo player, too sharp, not knowing how to restrain himself, offended such a behemoth, what is that if not seeking death?"
Among the crowd, there were all sorts of opinions. But everyone's gaze, intentionally or not, drifted towards the very front of the encirclement.
There, a man in dark gold armor, wielding a flaming greatsword, with the ID "Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky," stood proudly like an Iron Tower. He was the Guild Leader of the Mad Dragon Guild, a Templar Knight ranked fourth on the level leaderboard!
At this moment, his face was so grim it looked like water could drip from it, and the venom and murderous intent in his eyes were completely undisguised.
"How is it? Still haven't found him?" Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky asked the Rogue beside him, his voice suppressing his rage.
"Reporting, Guild Leader!" The Rogue, named Fierce Dragon • Battle Blade, was one of the five who had been wiped out by Lin Mo in the swamp earlier. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and whispered, "Our people have turned the entire City of Glory upside down—the auction house, inns, general stores… every place he could possibly go has been searched, but… we just can't find a trace of him! He's as if he vanished into thin air!"
"Useless!" Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky cursed, "A Level 10 player can't just disappear into thin air, can he? Keep looking for him! Even if you have to dig three feet into this city, you must dig him out!"
The rage in his heart had already reached its peak.
First, his elite squad was wiped out by an unknown nobody in an almost humiliating manner, and then, the opponent stepped on their guild's face and topped the level leaderboard. This series of blows made the always arrogant and conceited Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky feel as if his face had been repeatedly rubbed into the ground.
He now had only one thought—kill Lin Mo!
At all costs, kill him back to Level Zero, and let him know the consequences of offending the Mad Dragon Guild!
Therefore, he mobilized all the online elite forces of his guild, setting up this inescapable net. He wanted to use this most domineering and unreasonable method to declare to all players on the server: in this epoch, who was the true master!
"Guild Leader, you think… could that kid be scared, hiding in some safe zone, not daring to come out?" Fierce Dragon • Battle Blade asked cautiously from the side.
"Hmph, can he hide forever?" Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky sneered, a cruel glint flashing in his eyes, "Pass on my order, spam the world channel! Say that Lin Mo is a coward who only hides in the gutters, a wimp who doesn't even dare to face a direct challenge! I want to see how long this so-called 'Number One in Level' can endure!"
...At the same time, in a shadowy corner of the Temple of War in the City of Glory.
Lin Mo's figure stood silently, like a statue merged with the darkness. His gaze calmly pierced through the bustling crowd, looking towards the distant Central Plaza, which was surrounded impenetrably, taking in Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky's exasperated expression.
There was no tension or fear on his face; instead, there was a faint hint of mockery, as if he were watching a comical play.
"Impossible to escape…"
Lin Mo murmured softly, a cold arc forming at the corner of his mouth.
From the moment he stepped into the City of Glory, he knew he was already caught in a vast encirclement. He had experienced the Mad Dragon Guild's modus operandi countless times in his previous Life.
But he showed no panic.
Because, this seemingly impregnable cage, in his eyes, was precisely full of loopholes.
He did not rush to find clues for a hidden class, nor did he attempt to break through the city gates or hide in a corner, as the Mad Dragon Guild had anticipated.
After entering the city, he did only one thing—chatted with NPCs.
With the initial reputation gained from the [Village Chief's Recommendation Letter] and the title of "Novice Village No. 9527 Honorary Villager," his initial favorability with the guard NPCs reached a level unattainable by ordinary players.
From a talkative guard captain, with almost no effort, he extracted several pieces of information that were crucial to him at this moment.
First, within the City of Glory, malicious player-versus-player combat was strictly prohibited, except in specific arena areas. Once someone actively attacked a white name player, they would not only immediately turn red name but also be instantly attacked indiscriminately by all nearby guards.
Second, the lowest-level guards in the City of Glory were Level 50, and they were elite templates! Their AI was extremely high, and their attack power, defense, and Life were all overwhelming and irresistible to players at the current stage.
Third, and most crucially. The guards' alert range did not cover the entire city. In dark corners like the Slums and sewers, the guards' patrol strength was relatively weak, making them a haven for red name players. But in core areas like the Central Plaza, the Lord's Mansion, and various temples, the guards' patrol density reached a terrifying level of a guard every three steps and a sentry every five steps!
These three pieces of information, to ordinary players, might just be basic game knowledge.
But in the mind of Lin Mo, a master tactician, they combined to form the sharpest blade, capable of instantly tearing apart the Mad Dragon Guild's "inescapable net"!
"Time to go."
Lin Mo glanced at the system time, then looked at the distant Mad Dragon Guild members who were still futilely searching for him, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes.
He no longer hid, slowly stepping out of the shadows, taking off his worn linen clothes to reveal the simple leather armor, shimmering with a bronze luster, that he had assembled from killing the bandits.
Then, he took a step and walked unhurriedly in a direction completely opposite to all city gates and resurrection points—towards the administrative core of the City of Glory, the Lord's Mansion.
His appearance immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding players.
"Look! That person… it seems to be Lin Mo!"
"Holy crap! It really is him! He actually dares to come out?"
"Where is he going? That direction is the Lord's Mansion! Is he crazy? That's where the most guards are!"
The crowd instantly stirred like a lake into which a stone had been thrown. Countless gazes focused simultaneously on Lin Mo's solitary and proud figure.
This news, like a gust of wind, instantly reached Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky's ears.
"What?! He appeared near the Lord's Mansion?!"
Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky was stunned at first, then a ferocious, ecstatic grin spread across his face!
"You had a path to heaven but didn't take it, and you barged into the gates of hell! What a foolish idiot who doesn't know what's good for him!"
He waved his hand and let out a thundering roar: "Everyone! Abandon the blockade! Target the Lord's Mansion Avenue! Surround him for me! Today, I will make sure he has no place to be buried!"
"Roar!"
Over a thousand members of the Mad Dragon Guild, like a pack of wolves that had received orders, converged madly from all directions of the city, carrying overwhelming murderous intent, towards Lin Mo's location!
An unprecedented thousand-person siege was about to unfold on the Central Avenue of the City of Glory!
Players throughout the entire city were drawn by this huge commotion, rushing towards the Lord's Mansion, eager to witness this duel that would surely be recorded in the annals of the epoch!
Soon, Lin Mo's figure appeared on the wide avenue leading to the Lord's Mansion.
All the streets and intersections around him, front, back, left, and right, were completely blocked by dense crowds of players with "Mad Dragon" above their heads.
Impenetrable!
Impossible to escape!
"Lin Mo! You coward who only knows how to ambush! Today, I'd like to see where you can run!"
Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky parted the crowd and walked to the very front, pointing his flaming greatsword at Lin Mo from a distance, his voice like rolling thunder, echoing throughout the entire street.
Lin Mo stopped, looking at the dense crowd before him, at Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky's arrogant expression of certain victory. Far from showing any fear, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Run?" He gently shook his head, saying in a voice only he could hear, "Why should I run?"
He slowly raised his hand and, with a flick of his finger, aimed at the closest Mad Dragon Guild warrior in the crowd, who was only Level 5.
"Venom Spray!"
An imperceptible, tiny stream of dark green venom, like a mischievous prank, lightly landed on the warrior's body.
[-1]
A forced Life deduction damage number floated above the warrior's head.
The damage was negligible, almost ignorable.
But this skill carried an unmistakably clear "attack judgment"!
The Level 5 warrior didn't even react to what had happened; he instinctively raised his longsword and viciously swung it down in Lin Mo's direction!
"Seeking death!"
This was his instinctive reaction!
However, at the very moment he swung his sword, something happened that made everyone present, including Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky, tremble with fear!
"Clang!"
A crisp alarm suddenly rang out from the guards standing like statues on both sides of the street!
Immediately after, the originally calm eyes of all the guards were instantly replaced by a cold red glow!
"Warning! Malicious attack detected! Target: Mad Dragon • Novice! Crime Level: One!"
"Executor protocol initiated! Target: Clear all red name units and… fellow guild members!"
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Almost simultaneously with the system warning, twenty Level 50 elite guards, clad in silver heavy armor and wielding runic spears, transformed into twenty silver bolts of lightning on both sides of the street. With a speed exceeding the limits of players' dynamic vision, they surged into the Mad Dragon Guild's crowd!
A… one-sided slaughter had begun!