76: Chapter 76 Heading North
"What? You're going to the two cities in the fourth stage to the north?"
When Zhang Meng received Liu Xuan's message, he was immediately startled.
It was one thing that you cleared campaigns quickly before; everyone could still understand that.
But now, the campaign hasn't even started, and you're going to attack it early?
It's like everyone is still playing version 1.0 of the game, while you've already glitched into the new 2.0 map ahead of time.
Is that even how you play?
"Are you trying to exploit a bug again, you brat?!?"
You really aren't afraid of getting banned by the system, are you?
"Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean 'exploit a bug'? This is called utilizing game mechanics reasonably. It's all mechanics! Mechanics! Do you understand? Besides, the NPC even said it was okay."
Finch: I never said that!
I even tried to talk you out of it!
But Zhang Meng didn't know exactly what Finch had said; furthermore, since Liu Xuan wanted to go, he had no reason to stop him.
"I see those two places are quite far away; will you make it back in time? Don't let it happen that the Promotion Defense Battle starts here and you can't make it back."
"I should be able to make it back. If it really comes down to it, I'll leave the party to increase my movement speed."
Liu Xuan hadn't really thought about having to take both cities on this trip.
"Anyway, I'll just go over and take a look, consider it scouting. I happen to have a lead related to a class advancement, so I'll investigate it on the way. If I can't take both cities, I'll take one. If I can't take one, I'll just grind levels. The monster levels are higher over there, and no one is competing for them, so it works out perfectly."
In short, it's killing three birds with one stone; no matter what, it's not a loss.
Judging by the distance on the map, excluding the time spent fighting monsters, he should be able to reach one of the cities after traveling for a dozen or so hours straight.
There are about 60 hours left until the Promotion Defense Battle, so theoretically, there's a chance to take both cities.
Of course, it's hard to say for sure.
He needs to grind monsters on the way, and he doesn't know how long it will take to clear a city, so if he judges that there isn't enough time, Liu Xuan will temporarily disband the party and rely on [Fleet-footed] to travel.
Anyway, with over 27 times the experience bonus, in just a day or a day and a half, most people's levels should be quite high; it's not like they can't play without the effect of [Destruction Aura].
Regardless, the importance of the main campaign progress is definitely the top priority.
...
The plan was set.
Before leaving, the village chief pulled Liu Xuan aside.
Because he had been too emotional before, he hadn't had the chance to properly thank Liu Xuan.
"Warrior, thank you so much for this time; you've helped me settle a matter of great concern. This thing is useless to an old man like me, so I'll give it to you. I hope you don't mind."
As the village chief spoke, he pulled a long strip of white cloth from his sleeve.
"What is this?"
Liu Xuan took it and unfolded it to see that it was a long, narrow banner with gold trim and a tree painted in the middle.
[Banner of Life (Special Item): When this banner is planted in a location, friendly units within a 100-meter radius will gain the effect of recovering 100 HP every 2 seconds. This banner can be retrieved and reused, but while in use, it can be destroyed by enemies.]
This item wasn't of much use to Liu Xuan himself.
Recovering 100 HP every 2 seconds was just too little.
It would be okay for others to use while grinding levels.
However, looking at the item description, Liu Xuan suddenly thought of a special use for this banner.
The offensive and defensive objectives of the Promotion Defense Battle also revolve around a banner.
If the attacking side doesn't know what the banner looks like... Hehe.
...
While at the outpost, Liu Xuan took a detour to kill a nearby level 10 mob, adding another 1,300 damage to [Thunder Aura].
As for the other mobs in the Novice Village, there was no need to go out of his way to grind them.
It wasn't worth the effort.
With that time, he might as well go north to grind a few high-level monsters; it would be equivalent to dozens of these low-level ones.
After leaving the outpost, Liu Xuan crossed the river again and headed all the way to Orenburg.
The reason this city became their first target to recapture was that it was the most convenient route to go further north from here.
Along the way, Liu Xuan fought any new monsters he encountered; otherwise, he just kept his head down and traveled.
By the time he arrived at Orenburg, the damage of [Thunder Aura] had already soared to 28,000.
He snagged another [Junior Destroyer] here, and the damage jumped directly to 32,000.
Only then did he head further north, feeling satisfied.
Leaving Orenburg from the north, the gate in that direction was actually still standing.
Liu Xuan was a bit confused; he didn't know how the city had been taken in the first place. Weren't the monsters coming from the north?
How was the gate in this direction still intact, while the one in the south had been destroyed?
Liu Xuan looked back at Orenburg. It was better not to have looked, because he discovered that a section of the northern wall had actually collapsed.
It revealed a four or five-meter-wide breach; as long as one stepped on the rubble, they could go straight into the city.
In that case, during the upcoming Promotion Defense Battle, this direction might also become a target for the attacking side.
Liu Xuan pursed his lips, feeling a bit regretful: if the opponent attacked from different sides, he wouldn't be able to take them all out in one wave of [Corpse Explosion].
To the east and west of Orenburg were two mountain ranges, with the city sandwiched between them.
Heading north meant passing through the main road built between the two mountain ranges.
This road looked like it must have been very wide and flat in the past, paved with huge white stones.
However, the stones were now cracked, and weeds were growing in the gaps.
There were also some stones and piles of dirt in the middle of the road, which must have rolled down from the mountains on both sides.
But more than that, there were wrecks of various carriages and human skeletons.
Judging by the direction, they were all heading toward Orenburg; they were likely refugees, but unfortunately, they all died on the road.
Even today, this stretch of road was not peaceful, and Liu Xuan quickly encountered the first enemy after leaving the city.
[Carrion Feeder]
Level: 23
Attack: 350
HP: 3,800
Armor: 50
Magic Resistance: 45
Skill: [Bite: The Carrion Feeder tightly embraces the enemy and bites them for a long time. Deals 200 damage per second and increases its own attack power by 10 points, lasting for a maximum of 10 seconds. The duration depends on the strength of the bitten target.]
This monster looked like a moldy, bloated corpse, lying right next to those bones; although it was quite conspicuous, you couldn't see its health bar with a normal glance.
It was just like a lifeless corpse; Liu Xuan only noticed it by relying on [Eye of Insight].
As long as you get close to them, these guys will pounce on you at lightning speed and latch onto you for a bite.
Although Liu Xuan had [Thunder Aura] and zapped two of them to death, the aura only triggered once every 5 seconds, and he was in a hurry to travel, moving very fast.
He almost got hit.
Watching a [Carrion Feeder] pounce over and miss, falling behind his feet, Liu Xuan was startled but didn't stop his pace.
The monsters on this road were too sparse; there was no need to stop specifically for one or two mobs.
Besides, this [Carrion Feeder] was really a bit disgusting; it was better not to let it touch him, as it would spoil his appetite.
He would just charge through, and let [Thunder Aura] kill however many it could.