Chapter 61 Abyss Invasion: Players Across the Server Were Tortured by the Minions

Eight hours before the cross-server battlefield opened.

Lin Ye was sitting on the third floor of the Unscrupulous Business Center drinking tea, while Fatty Wang was calculating the supply list for the cross-server battlefield nearby. Po Jun stood at the door, motionless like a gatekeeper. Su Qinghan was leaning against the window, holding a rule document for the cross-server battlefield, reading it line by line.

Everything was quite normal.

Then, the system popped up a red announcement.

It wasn't gold; it was red. Players who had played "gods domain: origin" for three years had never seen a red system announcement. Gold announcements were for world first kills or server-first achievements. No one knew what red meant.

"Full-server Red Emergency Announcement: The Abyss Invasion version has officially begun! Abyss Rift will soon generate in major maps, and Abyss Monster will flood into the game world. All players, please prepare for defense. Repeat, all players, please prepare for defense. This is not a drill, this is not a drill."

The announcement flashed three times.

The whole server was quiet for a full ten seconds.

Then it exploded.

"world channel"

"Player 'Wocao Wuqing': Red announcement? I've played for three years and never seen a red one! What does this mean?"

"Player 'Brick-Moving Expert': Abyss Invasion? What the hell? The officials never teased this version!"

"Player 'Invincible Sword God': Wait, look at the map!"

All players opened their maps simultaneously, then were collectively dumbfounded.

On all major maps, dense black rifts were generating. Novice Village, the wild areas outside main cities, dungeon entrances, and even the edges of the Main City Square were starting to show these rifts. The things pouring out of the rifts were creatures that were pitch black all over with blood-red eyes. They were covered in black scales, and their claws shimmered with a dark purple light; just looking at them made one's scalp tingle.

The first batch of players to encounter the Abyss Monster were instantly killed.

"Battle Log"

"Abyss Minion dealt 2850 damage to you (Corrosion effect)."

"You have died."

"You lost 3421 experience points."

"Your equipment 'Fine Iron Pauldrons' is damaged."

The world channel completely exploded.

"Player 'I'm Not Targeting Anyone': Holy shit! I was one-shotted by a minion in Novice Village! I'm level 35! One-shotted in Novice Village!"

"Player 'Healing Costs Money': I'm a Knight ranked in the top 200 of the server, fully defensive state, and I was clawed to death by an Abyss Minion in two hits. Two hits!"

"Player 'Sword Comes': Pay attention to the damage type, everyone. That Corrosion effect ignores defense and directly deducts a percentage of HP."

"Player 'Yes Little Follower': Percentage damage? Isn't that the same as Brother Ye's Decay Debuff?"

"Player 'Milk Tea Without Sugar': Not the same. Brother Ye's Decay Debuff only targets bad people. This damn thing hits whoever it sees, regardless of good or bad."

In just half an hour, three secondary main cities fell.

It wasn't that players couldn't defend; it was impossible to defend at all. Abyss Monster didn't take crowd control skills, didn't take aggro transfers, and didn't take terrain positioning. They only had one logic: see a player, rush, pounce, and leave after hitting. Simple and crude, but ridiculously effective.

The NPCs in the secondary main cities were slaughtered in droves. The old blacksmith at the smithy, the proprietress at the weapon shop, the apprentice at the potion shop—all dead. Players watched those familiar NPCs fall under the claws of the Abyss Monster, and for the first time, they felt this game was a bit cruel.

"Forum Hot Post"

"OP: Three secondary main cities have fallen. All NPCs are dead. I've stayed in Ironforge City for two years, looking for the old blacksmith to repair my equipment every day. Just now I went back and saw his corpse lying next to the anvil. I don't know why, but I feel a bit sad."

"1st Floor: It's not just Ironforge City. Stormwind City has also fallen. The proprietress of the weapon shop is dead, and her daughter is squatting next to the corpse crying."

"2nd Floor: It's just a game, are you guys serious?"

"3rd Floor: Did you not stay in a secondary main city, OP? Those NPCs might just be data, but they repair gear, sell potions, and handle quests every day just like real people. The people you see every day suddenly die; tell me, is it sad or not?"

"4th Floor: Where are the officials? Can the officials come out and say something?"

"5th Floor: The officials released an announcement. They said the Abyss Invasion is a pre-embedded version and cannot be turned off. They are urgently adjusting the monster strength and asking everyone to retreat to the core main city, Dawn City."

The entire server began a large-scale retreat. The secondary main cities were no longer habitable, so they could only run towards Dawn City. The teleportation formations were crushed, and the wild maps were full of players fleeing for their lives. The Abyss Monster chased from behind; they caught one and killed one, so every one they killed was one less.

"world channel"

"Player 'Wocao Wuqing': I ran through three streets, chased by five Abyss Minion. I'm at least an Assassin ranked in the top 100 in the arena with maxed speed, but they run faster than me."

"Player 'Brick-Moving Expert': I'm hiding in a dungeon and don't dare to go out. The Abyss Rift even spawned inside the dungeon. I just entered the dungeon, and there were two Abyss Elite squatting at the entrance. I logged out directly."

"Player 'Invincible Sword God': Can Dawn City hold? Will the Abyss Monster attack inside?"

"Player 'Yes Little Follower': Where is Brother Ye? Brother Ye, come out and say something!"

"Player 'Milk Tea Without Sugar': That's right, Brother Ye's Decay Debuff is also percentage damage; maybe it can counter the Abyss Monster!"

Meanwhile, Lin Ye was standing on the top floor of the Unscrupulous Business Center, looking at the dense black rifts on the map in the distance.

Su Qinghan stood beside him, her brows furrowed: "The Corrosion effect of the Abyss Monster is very similar to your Decay Debuff. Percentage true damage, ignoring defense. The only difference is that your Decay Debuff can stack, while their Corrosion effect is fixed, deducting 5% of HP per layer."

Lin Ye nodded: "There is one more difference. My Decay Debuff can castrate attributes; their Corrosion effect doesn't have this function."

Fatty Wang leaned over, his face a bit pale: "Brother, what about our supermarket? The branches in the three secondary main cities were all smashed, several NPC clerks died, and the materials on the shelves were snatched by the Abyss Monster."

Lin Ye looked at him: "The Abyss Monster even snatches materials?"

"Yes. As long as it's something with energy, they snatch it. Abyss Crystals, epic materials, even ordinary enchantment materials, all were snatched away. Those monsters are like locusts; where they go, not a blade of grass grows."

The corner of Lin Ye's mouth curled into a smile.

Fatty Wang was stunned: "Brother, what are you smiling at?"

Lin Ye didn't answer him, but turned to look at Po Jun: "Po Jun, go count how many players' equipment has been broken by the Abyss Monster."

Po Jun nodded and turned to go downstairs.

Su Qinghan looked at Lin Ye, a flash of realization in her eyes: "You want to take this opportunity to do business?"

Lin Ye leaned against the railing, crossing his legs: "Not take this opportunity. It's going with the flow. The Abyss Monster broke the players' equipment, so they need materials to repair them. The materials were snatched by the Abyss Monster, so they can't buy materials. If they can't buy materials, they will come to me. My material supermarket is the only place on the server that still has inventory."

Su Qinghan couldn't help but laugh: "You really are a profiteer."

"Wrong. I'm a profiteer with a bottom line. Material prices remain unchanged, still half the market price. I earn the money I should, and I don't touch the money I shouldn't."

Fatty Wang gave a thumbs up: "Brother, you're truly awesome. With such a big event as the Abyss Invasion, your first reaction is to do business."

"Otherwise? Cry? If crying were useful, I would have cried long ago."

As they were speaking, the system popped up another announcement.

"Full-server Announcement: The officials have urgently adjusted the Abyss Monster strength. The Corrosion effect of the Abyss Minion has been lowered from 5% of maximum HP to 3%, and the Corrosion effect of the Abyss Elite has been lowered from 10% to 5%. At the same time, the core main city, Dawn City, has opened its highest-level defense barrier, and Abyss Rift cannot generate inside the main city. All players, please head to Dawn City for shelter."

Once the announcement came out, all players on the server breathed a sigh of relief.

But Lin Ye noticed a detail. The announcement only said that Abyss Rift cannot generate inside the main city; it didn't say that the Abyss Monster outside the main city wouldn't attack.

He opened the map and zoomed in on the outskirts of Dawn City. Dense red dots were gathering. The Abyss Monster didn't disperse; they were assembling. And the direction of their assembly was exactly Dawn City.

"Qinghan, look at this."

Su Qinghan leaned over to take a look, and her face changed: "They are assembling in an organized manner. This is not the behavioral logic of ordinary monsters; this is guided."

"Abyssal Lord."

The two said in unison.

Fatty Wang swallowed: "Abyssal Lord? The kind we met last time in the Abyss Dungeon? The level of Lord of Corrosion?"

Lin Ye shook his head: "Stronger than the Lord of Corrosion. The Lord of Corrosion is just a mid-level lord of the Abyss Council. To be able to command so many Abyss Monster to act simultaneously, it's at least a high-level member of the Abyss Council, or even the level of an Abyss Council Chairman."

As soon as he finished speaking, the system popped up a third announcement.

"Full-server Red Emergency Announcement: The Abyssal Lord 'Lord of Destruction' has descended. This lord is one of the three chairmen of the Abyss Council, level 99, possessing the Domain of Destruction and infinite Corrosion effect. All players, please do not attempt to challenge it alone. Repeat, all players, please do not attempt to challenge it alone."

The whole server exploded again.

"world channel"

"Player 'Wocao Wuqing': Level 99? I'm only level 35! How do I fight?"

"Player 'Brick-Moving Expert': No need to fight. The officials already said, do not attempt to challenge it alone. That means, don't even go in a group. Going is just sending yourself to die."

"Player 'Invincible Sword God': What is the effect of the Domain of Destruction? Can any big shot explain?"

"Player 'Data Emperor': I checked the database. The effect of the Domain of Destruction is that all hostile targets within the domain lose 10% of their maximum HP per second. In other words, if you stand in the domain for ten seconds, regardless of how much HP you have, you will die."

"Player 'Yes Little Follower': Die in ten seconds? Then what's the point of fighting! Brother Ye's Decay Debuff still needs to stack, this thing directly covers the area, that's too cheap!"

"Player 'Milk Tea Without Sugar': Brother Ye, what do we do? The Abyss Monster outside Dawn City are gathering more and more. Are they going to attack the city?"

Lin Ye looked at the messages on the world channel without replying.

He was thinking about one thing.

The Lord of Destruction's Domain of Destruction deducts 10% of HP per second. His Decay Domain deducts 1% of HP per layer, which can be stacked infinitely. From the perspective of single-layer effect, the Domain of Destruction is stronger. But from the perspective of the upper limit, the Decay Domain stacked to one hundred layers is 100% damage per second, ten times higher than the Domain of Destruction.

The key is how to stack it to one hundred layers.

The Lord of Destruction won't stand there and let him stack. A level 99 Abyss Council Chairman has top-tier speed, defense, and skills. Before he even gets close, the other party will one-shot him with a Domain of Destruction.

"I need someone who can withstand the Domain of Destruction."

Po Jun returned just in time, and hearing this sentence, he spoke directly: "I'll go."

Lin Ye looked at him: "You can withstand it? The Domain of Destruction kills in ten seconds; your HP won't last ten seconds."

Po Jun nodded: "I know. But I have a skill called Indomitable Will. The effect is that when HP drops to 1%, it triggers ten seconds of invincibility. Ten seconds, is that enough for you to stack layers?"

Lin Ye's eyes lit up: "Ten seconds of invincibility? How long is the cooldown?"

"One hour."

"That's enough. Ten seconds, I can stack up to fifty layers. Fifty layers is 50% damage per second; even the Lord of Destruction itself can't withstand that."

Po Jun nodded: "When do we act?"

Lin Ye stood up and took a look out the window. On the outskirts of Dawn City, the number of Abyss Monster was already countless. The black torrent was slowly approaching the city wall, and the city wall was full of players, all waiting.

Waiting for the Lord of Destruction to launch a full-scale attack.

And waiting for someone who can stand up.

"Now."