Chapter 867: Deadlock

“What’s going on?”

“What happened?”

Seeing their teammates suddenly turn into skeletons attacking them one by one, without even seeing who their opponent was, the members of Angel Empire panicked and retreated.

Very soon, more and more skeletons rose from the ground.

Nie Yan used a Shadow Assassin skill, immediately doubling his killing speed.

The number of skeletons kept increasing, soon surpassing a hundred and continuing to grow, and those they killed immediately revived on the spot as skeletons.

“It’s Nie Yan, boss!”

“What skill is that? So awesome!”

“Nie Yan boss can actually resurrect the dead? Isn’t that an evil-ordered magic?”

“Nie Yan boss’s undead resurrection skill is way stronger than that of a Lich’s!”

The players from Bull Player Tribe excitedly discussed. Upon hearing Nie Yan’s arrival, their morale soared, and they quickly pushed back, while Angel Empire’s players retreated step by step.

Another wave of attack was repelled, and the Bull Player Tribe players were exhilarated.

Cui Can Daoguang (Blazing Blade) and others also joined the battle. With the participation of top-tier classes, the defense of Okoren City immediately became much stronger.

“Boss Nie Yan, they have cast a forbidden spell on Okoren City!”

“Activate the city’s anti-magic barrier and use Goblin Magitech Cannons to destroy it!” Nie Yan immediately issued orders. Boom! Boom! Boom! A series of iron cannonballs were fired.

In the sky, lightning flashed and thunder roared, with dark clouds gathering. The forbidden spell was about to fall when a massive shield suddenly appeared, covering Okoren City. The defending side had an advantage—there was a large-scale anti-magic field capable of resisting forbidden spells. This large-scale anti-magic field could withstand at least six consecutive forbidden spell attacks.

But soon, the lightning and thunder in the sky disappeared.

“Aha! That guy was blown up by a single shot from the Goblin Magitech Cannon!”

“What accurate shooting!”

“Who did that? Damn, incredible!”

“Five thousand guild contribution points to whoever hit the mage, and for all those who successfully hit targets with the Goblin Magitech Cannons, their contribution points will be appropriately distributed at triple the original rate!” Nie Yan issued orders in the guild chat channel.

A player who was operating a Goblin Magitech Cannon stood there stunned. He couldn’t believe it—five thousand guild contribution points for just one shot? So awesome!

Nie Yan’s words inspired the cannon operators. It turned out that being a cannon operator could also earn so many contribution points!

The players from Angel Empire could clearly feel the Bull Player Tribe’s cannon fire had become much fiercer than before, pressing them so hard they could barely breathe.

“What’s wrong with these guys? Did they take some stimulants?”

“Damn it!”

The front line of Angel Empire had to retreat a considerable distance.

After another failed attack, Angel Empire left behind a pile of corpses and withdrew over a thousand yards away, setting up camp at the original location.

The war wouldn’t end so quickly.

“Has Angel Empire made any new moves?” Nie Yan sent a message to Guo Huai.

“It’s said they’re mobilizing over two hundred Ironclad Catapults and Ballistic Catapults,” Guo Huai replied. Angel Empire had suffered heavy losses in the first wave of attacks.

“These guys sure have gathered a lot of catapults!”

“Actually, our catapults shouldn’t be fewer than theirs, but we’ve suffered too many losses from previous battles. Earlier, Princess Ai Na of the Wandering Souls rushed into Okoren City and destroyed quite a few catapults. Otherwise, at least in terms of numbers, we wouldn’t be inferior to Angel Empire,” Guo Huai said. He wasn’t particularly impressed by Angel Empire. Unlike Bull Player Tribe which had started from scratch, Angel Empire had developed to this point with such mediocre strength, which was really not impressive.

“Besides catapults, anything else?”

“It’s said they have some secret weapon, reportedly a massive war machine that can only be manufactured once every two months. Angel Empire has only managed to produce three of them altogether.”

Nie Yan frowned. What kind of massive war machine was that? He searched his memory thoroughly, his expression suddenly turning serious. Could it be the Colossus Cannon? If that were really the case, then it would be troublesome. In his previous life, he only knew about the Colossus Cannon from a single war. It was said that Angel Empire had fought against Triumph Empire, during which Angel Empire used one Colossus Cannon to destroy more than twenty of Triumph Empire’s fortresses. Later, Triumph Empire made a desperate move, sacrificing over 300,000 troops to destroy that Colossus Cannon. That battle left Triumph Empire severely weakened. Fortunately, Triumph Empire had some backup plans and eventually repelled Angel Empire.

After that battle, the two giants remained peaceful with each other. History always seemed so magical. In this timeline, the two giants were still competing for supremacy, still preparing for an all-out war, except this time Triumph Empire’s role had been replaced by Bull Player Tribe. Nie Yan didn’t want this war to end in a stalemate. Even a draw wouldn’t be something worth celebrating.

“Let Sun and King of the World go together to scout and confirm exactly what that thing is. Let Daoguang take a thousand people to see if they can destroy their catapults. Be careful. If there’s no opportunity, retreat immediately,” Nie Yan said. If there were any developments, he and Xie Yao could arrive within minutes to assist Blazing Blade and others.

The war at Okoren City had reached a stalemate, while Angel Empire was waiting for reinforcements.

As for the Sa’thun Empire, with the Bull Player Tribe’s allied forces advancing, smoke and fire were everywhere. Angel Empire had already lost six fortresses. They had tried to encircle and annihilate Bull Player Tribe, but unexpectedly, Angel Descent had intervened. While fighting against the Tribe of Gods, Angel Descent had dispatched over 600,000 troops to tie up part of Angel Empire’s and Century Financial Group’s main forces, allowing Bull Player Tribe to advance unimpeded.

Bull Player Tribe didn’t dare to advance too quickly. They decided to consolidate their gains, capturing one fortress at a time and stopping to consolidate each one. They even recruited local Sa’thun Empire players on-site to form new units. With Nie Yan’s permission, the Heaven’s Melody Guild rapidly expanded alongside Bull Player Tribe’s advance, its numbers growing exponentially.

It was impossible to eliminate Angel Empire and Century Financial Group in a short time, so Bull Player Tribe prepared for a protracted war.

Angel Empire didn’t know what tactics they were planning to use. On their home turf of Sa’thun Empire, they were only passively defending, shifting their focus entirely to Okoren City.

For the next few days, Angel Empire’s tribe at Okoren City remained inactive. Their movements were mostly under control, so Nie Yan and others’ moods slightly relaxed.

Guo Huai distributed the compensation to the players who had died during the guild war, ensuring none of their rewards were missed. Over 3 million gold coins were spent immediately. With this money, the guild members could replenish their equipment and prepare for the upcoming war.

Indeed, war was extremely costly. Fortunately, with the support of Starry Pharmacy, Bull Player Tribe could afford the expenses.

In these days, the news that Nie Yan’s Dark Winged Dragon had been killed by Angel Empire quickly spread among players. Videos of the Dark Winged Dragon being hunted down by five Flame Birds from Angel Empire flooded the forums. After verification, these videos were confirmed as authentic.

The Dark Winged Dragon was the only level-eight flying mount, the undisputed aerial overlord. Yet even this flying mount had been defeated by Angel Empire. Players who had always believed in Nie Yan’s invincibility felt a slight doubt creeping in. After all, Nie Yan was still human. Although he had single-handedly supported the entire Bull Player Tribe like a god, individual power was ultimately limited in large-scale wars. Just like the Dark Winged Dragon, although unbeatable in one-on-one combat, it still fell under the combined assault of five Flame Birds.

Many players began seriously reevaluating this war. Perhaps Angel Empire had already found ways to counter Bull Player Tribe.

The news of the Dark Winged Dragon’s defeat significantly boosted Angel Empire’s reputation.

Discussions about this event on the forums were exploding. Everyone was waiting for Nie Yan, the person involved, to explain. However, Nie Yan completely ignored the matter, making no statements to explain or confirm its authenticity.

As players noticed the Dark Winged Dragon disappearing from the rankings, they also noticed another piece of news: Bull Player Tribe’s another top-tier player, Nie Yan’s girlfriend Yaoyao, had her Fenghuang (Phoenix) promoted to level eight almost simultaneously. This level-eight Phoenix still occupied the top ranking, which was unexpected.

Another level-eight pet! No one knew exactly how strong the level-eight Phoenix would be. Discussions about flying mounts filled the entire forum. However, most people didn’t have high expectations for Xie Yao’s Phoenix. Since Angel Empire had found a way to defeat the Dark Winged Dragon, a level-eight Phoenix wouldn’t make much of a difference. Angel Empire had an absolute advantage in aerial forces. In several encounters, they had continuously eliminated over 200 flying mounts of Bull Player Tribe. Bull Player Tribe’s high-level flying mounts had to retreat at the sight of Flame Birds, as they were helpless against their skills. To avoid becoming targets, they could only temporarily retreat.

Nie Yan and Xie Yao teleported to Carol City and headed toward the pet shop.

“Nie Yan, the forums are flooded with discussions about the Dark Winged Dragon. Aren’t you going to explain anything?” Xie Yao looked at Nie Yan and asked. If Nie Yan simply said the Dark Winged Dragon would revive, all the doubts on the forums about him would dissipate. However, Nie Yan had always been tight-lipped.

“Words won’t help. Actions speak louder. Let’s go revive the Dark Winged Dragon first. Once it’s revived, all problems will be resolved,” Nie Yan said. He had always been a man of few words.

“Alright,” Xie Yao nodded. That was just Nie Yan’s personality.

They passed through several streets, and in the distance, the pet shop on the street corner was already in sight.

Finally about to arrive, Nie Yan glanced at the Dark Winged Dragon quietly lying in his pet space. Soon, you’ll revive, Nie Yan thought to himself.