194: Chapter 194 A Frenzied Struggle

"The efficiency is alright," Lin Tian evaluated silently in his heart.

"However, if I could split my forces and attack simultaneously, that would be better..."

He thought with a hint of regret.

Unfortunately, using an attack order token to teleport and launch an attack seemed to require the Lord to be personally present to lead. At least for now, he hadn't discovered a way to delegate this to a general to execute alone.

Otherwise, with the quality of the generals under his command, he could completely open up several battlefields at once. The speed at which his points would grow then...

"Forget it, biting off more than one can chew is no good. Taking it one bite at a time is also fine."

He shook his head, dispersing that bit of greedy thought.

Continuous high-intensity combat and spatial teleportation were a significant burden even for him, let alone the soldiers under his command.

Although the combat losses were negligible, the consumption of physical and mental energy was very real.

"That's enough for today. Fall back, return to the territory to rest and reorganize."

Lin Tian issued the final order.

The crimson portal opened once again, and the army stepped through in silence, leaving behind this land that had just been shrouded in death, and leaving behind those forty "Lords" who were once alive but had now completely disappeared.

By the time they returned to the inner city of Lintian City, it was nearly late at night.

After bathing and changing into clean clothes, Lin Tian sat alone by the window of the Lords Mansion study without lighting a lamp.

The starlight outside the window and the magical lights on the distant city walls outlined his calm profile.

A strange sense of detachment and numbness lingered in his heart.

He carefully recalled this day.

From the very beginning when he dealt with Zhao Wen, a flicker of indifference regarding "Karmic retribution" would still cross his mind, but later, facing Li Wei, the Gargoyle Lord, the Swamp Giant Crocodile Lord...

One unfamiliar face after another fell before his eyes, and territories were turned into seas of fire and scorched earth, yet his heart became increasingly calm, even... devoid of any ripples.

Killing. Plundering.

These were cruel acts that he wouldn't have even dared to think about in his original world, acts enough to subvert one's entire worldview.

In this Eternal Continent, under the "attack rules" tacitly permitted and even encouraged by the Heavenly Dao, it seemed to have become as common as eating or drinking water.

Uncomfortable? A little, but it faded far faster than he had imagined.

Was it the cold-bloodedness brought by this body after being strengthened? Was it forced adaptation under the pressure of survival? Or was it that, deep down, he was never a soft-hearted person to begin with?

Perhaps, it was a bit of both.

"In less than a day, I've already adapted to this rhythm..."

Lin Tian gave a self-deprecating smile, one that held no warmth.

He tapped open the System interface and entered the [Regional Chat Channel].

This was the place where he used to frequently lurk to gather information.

The channel was still lively, filled with all sorts of information... but the number in the upper right corner stung his eyes.

[Current Number of Online Lords: 5863/10000]

He remembered very clearly that after the server merger, this number had once approached nine thousand. How many days had it been since then?

From the time the Heavenly Dao released the "Treasure List" and the attack order tokens until now, it had only been three or four days at most.

Over three thousand people had already permanently disappeared from this number.

They might have died under the claws of Polluted Monsterss, or perhaps they died during the encirclement and suppression by native forces.

But Lin Tian knew that at least a significant portion of them, like the forty people today, had died at the hands of other "Lords," turning into jumping numbers on someone else's leaderboard and cold resources in a warehouse.

"The speed is truly fast..."

Lin Tian murmured in a low voice, his gaze becoming deep.

The elimination rate was even higher than he had anticipated.

This also meant that those who could survive were either Heaven-Defyingly lucky or were truly tough nuts to crack.

The competition for the remaining points would likely become more and more intense, and the targets would become increasingly troublesome.

"I must hurry up."

A sense of urgency rose again. He needed more points to exchange for those things on the list that could truly change the tide of battle.

Troop Potential Upgrade Cards, substitute puppets, law crystals...

Every single one of them could bring a qualitative change to his strength.

"Tomorrow..."

He leaned back against the chair, closed his eyes, and began to plan tomorrow's route in his mind.

There were still nearly five hundred names on the list, but he didn't plan to blindly follow the order.

Perhaps he could first pick those whose intelligence showed their strength might be slightly greater?

Or, he could try to contact Qian Duoduo to see if he had any newer, more accurate target information...

At this time, in the late-night Regional Chat Channel.

On the ethereal blue light screen, information scrolled and refreshed like crazy, at a speed so fast it was almost impossible to see the specific content.

All that remained were countless crimson, desperate, frantic, fawning, and venomous fragments of text, interwoven into a chaotic picture of an impending doomsday.

"Demons! You god-forsaken demons! I curse you to never have a good..."

"Angel boss! I'm willing to offer all my resources and sign a Soul Contract! I only ask to be a subordinate! Don't kill me! I'm very useful!"

"Titan boss is mighty! He took in another little brother! Follow the boss and there will be meat to eat!"

[Mo Yu (Death Knight Lord)]:

"Tsk, boring. Who is the next lucky one? Let me see... Oh? This ID is quite interesting. Are you ready to welcome eternal silence, little cuties? Or, let me hear your interesting wails?"

"Don't pick me! Don't pick me! Death Knight Lord, have mercy! I'm just a farmer!"

"Damn it, let's fight these bastards! At worst, it's just death! Eighteen years later..."

Tragic, chaotic—the Law of the jungle was playing out here in the most naked and cruel way.

Angels, Titans, Death Knights... These top Lords who possessed Legendary or even higher quality troops had already begun their undisguised expansion and purging.

Fear spread among the surviving Lords like a plague, and the channel was filled with an atmosphere of despair and madness.

Lin Tian leaned half-way against the headboard, his fingers unconsciously sliding across the light screen, watching this information expressionlessly.

He saw the Death Knight Lord calling out names as if toying with prey, and saw countless IDs, either cursing or begging for mercy, quickly turn gray.

He just watched quietly, the initial ripples in his heart having long since subsided, leaving only cold evaluation and calculation.

"Death Knight... Advanced Legendary quality... Randomly calling names, enjoying fear..."

He repeated these keywords in a low voice, his eyes narrowing slightly.

This was a troublesome opponent, and his personality seemed quite twisted.

However, as long as his name wasn't called for the time being, it wasn't the most prioritized trouble.

Weariness surged again, and he prepared to close the panel, forcing himself to go to sleep to build up energy for tomorrow's hunt.

However, at the very moment his finger was about to touch the close button.

"Beep beep beep!"

The urgent notification sound for a friend message was exceptionally piercing in the silent bedroom, instantly dispelling the bit of sleepiness he had just gathered.

"Tsk..."

Lin Tian opened his eyes reluctantly, his brow furrowing slightly.

The fatigue from continuous battles and contemplation made him long for sleep.