“You’re saying someone discovered a cave on Misty Mountain in Tianlan City, and the sounds coming from inside are trying to lure people in? Alright, I’ll send people to investigate immediately.”
The Tianlan City Administration's operator received the police report and immediately reported it to their superiors, also issuing an assistance order to nearby Players to seal off the area in advance, with official personnel to follow shortly.
The Salvation Society did not directly contact the Management Bureau in the first instance, but instead subtly guided local residents to contact the police, who then investigated and reported to the Management Bureau.
Through these layers of transmission, the Salvation Society personnel had ample time to conceal themselves.
No sooner had the announcement been posted on the Players' chat forum than a group of Players responded.
〈Invincible Tyrannosaurus: Huh? The country needs us? Let’s go, brothers!〉
〈Construction Worker: I live near Misty Mountain, I’m going first.〉
〈Magical Girl Zhang Fei: Wait for me, I’m on my way to Misty Mountain for tourism and my stop is almost here.〉
Many other Players also expressed their desire to contribute and headed towards Misty Mountain.
Ji Zi was originally browsing videos on Bilibili to understand "Honkai: Star Rail" when she suddenly received a message from Qin An.
After a brief understanding, Ji Zi thought that since the other party had helped her so much, she should return the favor, so she also went to the Tianlan City Administration to join them in the operation.
Fang Xinhan was in class and, after hearing about it, also wanted to go, but after hearing that Ji Zi had gone, he no longer worried. He could focus on his class.
What was there to fear? Wasn't there still the Mechanical Ace to fall back on? If even the Mechanical Ace couldn't handle it in the end, it wouldn't be too late for him to go.
Within 5 minutes, various people dressed in different attire gathered on Misty Mountain. Looking at their outfits, some wore cosplay costumes, while others looked like workers, monks, Daoren, and so on.
If any uninformed ordinary person passed by, they would think a comic convention was being held here.
After a group of Players gathered, a Player dressed as a construction worker analyzed several entrances to Misty Mountain and suggested blocking them. Then, a Player who looked like a leader assigned Players with different abilities to form teams and stand guard.
Those Players with divination abilities began to divine about the cave, but the results all indicated danger. So, everyone kept a safe distance from the cave.
“By the way, what exactly is inside?”
A middle-aged man asked.
“Unclear. Given the official’s nature, if it were easy to handle, they wouldn’t have issued an assistance announcement. After all, posting an announcement on the instance game’s Player forum costs 100,000 gold coins.”
Another tall guy, dressed like a model, said.
“Wow, little brother, do you have a girlfriend?”
A girl with twin pigtails looked at the guy with shining eyes.
“No. By the way, I like guys.”
Twin-tailed girl: …
While they were discussing, the cave began to emit sounds. The sounds seemed to possess a bewitching ability, and some Players with low sanity values became dazed upon hearing them, let alone ordinary people.
Seeing several Players about to walk towards the cave, a Daoren immediately pinched several yellow talismans and chanted a spell.
Then, the Daoren uttered a single word, “Go,” and those yellow talismans affixed themselves to the Players.
Immediately, those Players’ eyes cleared, and after a moment of daze, they quickly moved away from the cave.
“How eerie, and thank you, Daoren.”
A young man who had a yellow talisman affixed to him expressed his gratitude to the equally young Daoren.
“No need to be polite, Benefactor. This cave is indeed quite strange. Even my master might not be able to deal with it.”
The young Daoren’s brows also furrowed, indicating his apprehension towards the cave.
“Amitabha, Daoren, you must have also felt the evil aura inside, right?”
As he spoke, a clear-faced monk in a brown meditation robe said to the young Daoren.
“Oh? How should I address you, Master?”
“Amitabha, this humble monk’s dharma name is Huikong. And Daoren…”
“Infinite Heavenly Venerable, this humble Daoren’s Daoist name is Kong Ming. Master Huikong, that evil aura is about to escape from inside.”
No sooner had Kongming Daoren finished speaking than a monster, pieced together from various biological corpses, rushed out. As soon as it appeared, the sanity values of all the Players began to drop.
“Damn it, if you can’t lure us, you’re going to use force, right? Brothers, charge with me!”
A burly middle-aged man with an authoritative aura pulled out his steel pipe weapon and charged forward.
Other Players, seeing this, showed expressions of ‘Big brother, you are truly fierce,’ and then also pulled out their weapons and charged.
Several Players used their extraordinary abilities to try and damage the fusion monster. Flames, ice, earth balls, and the like were all hurled at the monster, but to no effect.
Most of these Players were around Lv10, belonging to the lower end of the third tier. Only a few had reached Lv17, but even then, they couldn't inflict much damage on this monster. On one hand, high-level Players dared not use powerful skills for fear of accidentally harming teammates; on the other hand, they were worried that if this stitched monster was eliminated, and other monsters emerged, they wouldn't be able to hold out.
The stitched monster seemed annoyed by these Players’ attacks. It swung its tail, sending a Player who was very close flying. Upon seeing this, the Players quickly moved out of the stitched monster’s attack range.
Just then, an energy barrier appeared in the sky, enveloping the entire Misty Mountain. An invisible Chromium Chester Fighter in the sky aimed its cannon at the stitched monster and then unleashed a barrage of firepower.
Soon, the stitched monster couldn't withstand such firepower, but to avoid being destroyed, it underwent self-differentiation, turning into various anomalous monsters that scattered.
The moment the stitched monster split, members of the Night Raid Team appeared. They wore standard uniforms and carried DeWalt Handguns, submachine guns, and other firearms.
“Fire!”
After the Night Raid Team leader gave the command to fire, bullets, as if free, flew towards the differentiated anomalous creatures.
The differentiated anomalous monsters did not possess the terrifying power of the stitched monster, and DeWalt firearms were weapons used to deal with Anomalous Beasts, making them more than sufficient for these anomalous monsters.
The Night Raid Team members had clear divisions of labor, and their equipment was also localized. For example, their helmets were equipped with the function to detect magic energy.
When these anomalous monsters were scanned, they would be marked, and Night Raid Team members would shoot with precision according to the indications.
However, the appearance of the Night Raid Team left these Players stunned.
Player: What? Did I run into some special effects film set? Where did these Night Raid Team come from?
While the Players were dazed, an anomalous monster stealthily approached a twin-tailed girl from behind.
Someone with a spider-sense-like ability felt danger. Turning around, he saw a bloody lion approaching the twin-tailed girl.
“Watch out behind you, girl!”
The twin-tailed girl suddenly turned her head and saw the lion already pouncing on her. Everyone reacted too late and froze in place.
And just at this critical moment, a big sister with wine-red hair, carrying a greatsword, suddenly appeared in front of the girl. The greatsword, like a fly swatter, smacked the lion away.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Wu Liangta Himeko joined the battle.
(PS: I really want to update more for you all! But I don’t have time, why! Dark, twisted crawling .JPG)