Chapter 86: Cross-server access opens; overseas guilds mock Chinese players.

On the fifth day of the Lord of the Abyss mining, the game officials released an announcement that stunned all players on the server. It wasn't a gray maintenance announcement, but a golden update announcement. All players stared at the announcement for several times before they were sure the officials hadn't been driven silly by Lin Ye.

"The cross-server battlefield, War of the Gods, has officially begun. Players from various servers can enter the cross-server channel through the Main City teleportation array to engage in friendly sparring on other servers. There is no level loss or gear drop upon death within the cross-server battlefield. Please enjoy the fun of cross-server competition."

When the announcement was first released, the world channel was quite calm.

"Invincible Sword God: Friendly sparring? Are the officials trying to make our grudge with the overseas servers even deeper?"

"Brick-Moving Expert: If there's no level loss or gear drop in the cross-server battlefield, isn't that just letting overseas players come here to practice on us?"

"Data Emperor analyzed it: After the cross-server channel opens, the wild maps and main cities of all servers will be open to the public. The 'no level loss or gear drop' rule only applies inside the battlefield; outside the battlefield, things remain as they were."

"Wocao Wuqing pointed it out directly: That means overseas players can come to the Chinese Server main city to stroll around?"

As soon as the message was sent, the teleportation array in Dawn City lit up with a light never seen before. It wasn't the blue teleportation light commonly used by Chinese Server players, but a dark red cross-server teleportation light. After the light faded, dozens of players with Korean IDs appeared on the teleportation array. The leader had the Goryeo War God Temple guild emblem hanging behind his ID; it was none other than Kim Hyun-tae.

Kim Hyun-tae stood on the Dawn City teleportation array, looking around the Main City Square. The square was full of casual players from the Chinese Server, some setting up stalls, others chatting, and no one noticed the group of uninvited guests on the teleportation array. Kim Hyun-tae curled his lips into a sneer and opened the cross-server channel to send a message.

"Listen up, players of the Chinese Server. You rely on Lin Ye for support to act arrogant on the cross-server channel every day. Now that the cross-server channel is open, can Lin Ye still guard every one of you twenty-four hours a day? From today on, the Chinese Server's Novice Village, wild maps, and dungeon entrances are our hunting grounds. If you're not convinced, come to the cross-server battlefield and have a go."

As soon as the message was sent, Kim Hyun-tae took those dozens of Korean Server players and teleported directly to the Chinese Server's Novice Village. The Novice Village was full of novice players under level ten, honestly grinding wild rabbits to level up. Kim Hyun-tae and his group rushed in, snatching monsters and killing people on sight. The novice players couldn't even withstand a single move against them and were instantly cleared back to the safe zone.

The Novice Village rescue channel exploded.

"Is there any big shot who can handle this! People from the Korean Server are killing people in the Novice Village!"

"I've been killed three times! I can't even touch a wild rabbit!"

"Brother Ye, help! The Korean Server people said they want to slaughter the entire Chinese Server Novice Village!"

Before the news could spread, the Sakura Shrine from the Japanese Server arrived as well. Yamada Ichiro took over fifty Japanese Server players and teleported to a Chinese Server wild map, specifically targeting the monster-grinding spots of casual players. The Chinese Server casual players were farming materials when they were suddenly surrounded by a group of Japanese Server players and were killed back to the safe zone before they could react. William from the US Server's Freedom Alliance blocked the entrances to several popular dungeons in the Chinese Server, rushing to harass any Chinese Server guild teams he saw, focusing on killing players rather than fighting the BOSS.

In just half an hour, from the Novice Village to the Main City wild areas, and from material points to dungeon entrances, the figures of overseas players could be seen everywhere in the Chinese Server. The cross-server channel was flooded with mockery from overseas players.

Kim Hyun-tae took the lead in mocking: "Chinese Server players are just sheep waiting to be slaughtered without Lin Ye."

Yamada Ichiro followed up: "The dungeon entrances are full of Chinese Server players' corpses; it's hilarious."

William was even more arrogant: "The US Server's Freedom Alliance officially announces that the Chinese Server's wild maps are our colony."

Chinese Server players had been suppressed for a full half hour. It wasn't that they couldn't win, but that people were too scattered. Overseas players teleported in an organized manner, hitting and running, and the Chinese Server guilds couldn't assemble in time. The forums were full of rescue posts, the world channel was full of curses, and the cross-server channel was full of mockery from the other side.

At this moment, Lin Ye was sitting by the window on the third floor of the Unscrupulous Business Center, drinking tea. Fatty Wang stood beside him holding a tablet, with reports of attacks on various maps refreshing in real-time on the screen. Su Qinghan sat opposite him, also holding a tablet, which displayed a summary of the overseas guilds' comments on the cross-server channel. Po Jun leaned against the door, silent as always.

Fatty Wang couldn't help it: "Brother, the overseas players have slaughtered the Novice Village three times. The novice players can't even get out of the door."

Lin Ye took a sip of tea: "The Novice Village has a safe zone; they can resurrect."

Fatty Wang was anxious: "They can resurrect, sure, but the feeling of being slaughtered doesn't feel good. The forums are full of rescue posts, and our casual brothers are about to collapse."

Lin Ye put down his teacup: "How many people did Kim Hyun-tae bring?"

Su Qinghan flipped through the data: "Goryeo War God Temple has one hundred and twenty people, Sakura Shrine has ninety people, and the Freedom Alliance has one hundred and fifty people. That's less than four hundred in total. But they are operating in a scattered manner, in groups of ten, guerrillas everywhere. Although the Chinese Server guilds have many people, their assembly speed can't keep up."

Lin Ye nodded: "Tell War Soul Hall and Divine Punishment Pavilion not to make a move yet."

Fatty Wang was stunned: "Don't make a move?"

Lin Ye stood up and walked to the window, looking at the bustling crowd in Dawn City Square. No overseas players dared to come to the square yet, but the light of the teleportation array kept flashing, and each flash meant another batch of overseas players had entered the Chinese Server.

"Kim Hyun-tae dares to be so arrogant because he thinks I only know how to harvest in the cross-server battlefield. He is now operating in scattered guerrilla groups of ten, hitting and running. If the Chinese Server guilds assemble on a large scale now, they will be led by the nose by them."

Su Qinghan understood: "You want to wait for them to show their flaws?"

Lin Ye curled his lips: "Not wait. It's to make them deliver themselves to our door. They are arrogant now because they haven't encountered resistance. Slaughtering the Novice Village, snatching grinding spots, blocking dungeon entrances—these things are going too smoothly. So smoothly that they will develop a misconception that Lin Ye is nothing special."

He turned to look at Su Qinghan: "Go to the cross-server channel and post a message. Just say that the Unscrupulous Business Center is launching a cross-server protection package today. Players who purchase the package will automatically apply a cross-server Decay Debuff to the killer if they are killed by overseas players in the wild."

Su Qinghan frowned slightly: "Cross-server Decay Debuff? Your Talent's cross-server effect has been tested, but the cross-server automatic trigger hasn't been tried yet."

Lin Ye opened his inventory and took out the Abyss Decay Longsword. The black-purple light on the sword was a bit deeper than it had been a few days ago.

"The Abyss Origin Mine vein mined by the Lord of the Abyss can strengthen the cross-dimensional contagion chain. The cross-dimensional Decay backlash mechanism on those twelve employment contracts from the Test Server can also be adapted for use. Automatic triggering is not a problem."

Fatty Wang's eyes lit up: "Brother, are you trying to trap the overseas players with the package?"

Lin Ye sent a message on the cross-server channel. It wasn't a reply to Kim Hyun-tae's mockery, but a pinned announcement.

"Cross-server protection package launched. Basic version: 10,000 gold coins per week; automatically reflects a cross-server Decay Debuff when killed by overseas players in the wild. Advanced version: 50,000 gold coins per week; Debuff effect doubled, with an additional property Decay effect. Top-tier version: 100,000 gold coins per week; purchase comes with one escort by a Lord of the Abyss clone. Packages are limited in quantity, first come, first served."

As soon as the message was sent, the Chinese Server world channel exploded. Not an angry explosion, but a celebratory one.

"Cross-server protection package! Brother Ye has taken action!"

"The basic version is only 10,000 gold coins! Cheaper than the Abyss protection package!"

"The top-tier version comes with a Lord of the Abyss clone escort! The overseas players are going to cry!"

Kim Hyun-tae saw this message on the cross-server channel, and his face turned green. He immediately shouted for his guerrilla teams to stop in the alliance channel and ordered everyone to retreat to the entrance of the cross-server channel to assemble. Chinese Server casual players frantically snapped up the cross-server protection packages, causing the server to crash twice, and GM Xiao Zhou was scolded by his superiors again and again. By the time the server recovered, the first batch of Chinese Server players who bought the packages had already rushed out of the safe zone.

One of Kim Hyun-tae's guerrilla squads was chasing two Chinese Server casual players in the wild map. Those two casual players had just bought the cross-server protection package. The moment the squad members rushed up, a black-purple light flashed from both casual players simultaneously. As the light flashed, a debuff icon appeared above the heads of the five Korean Server players who were chasing them.

Cross-server Decay Debuff, one hundred stacks, losing two percent of HP per second, lasting fifty seconds. Before the five Korean Server players could react, their HP bars dropped like a leaking bucket. Fifty seconds later, all five of them fell to the ground. Although death outside the cross-server battlefield results in level loss, when the five Korean Server players came out of the resurrection point, their faces were pale; they had lost two levels, and their equipment durability had dropped by half.

Similar scenes played out simultaneously in every corner of the Chinese Server. Wherever the casual players who purchased the cross-server protection package went, the overseas players chasing them fell. The reflected debuff stacks would also spread; once an overseas player was tagged with the debuff, their teammates nearby would also be infected. In less than ten minutes, more than half of Kim Hyun-tae's guerrilla squads were lost, and the remaining people all retreated to the entrance of the cross-server channel.

Kim Hyun-tae watched his team members run back one by one with the debuff, the expression on his face as ugly as if he had eaten a fly. Beside the entrance of the cross-server channel, Yamada Ichiro also retreated with his remnants, and William's face was also bruised. They weren't beaten by players; they were bounced by the debuff.

Lin Ye's message popped up again, not on the cross-server channel, but as a private message to Kim Hyun-tae.

"Guild Leader Kim, the cross-server channel is open, welcome to the Chinese Server for some sparring. However, your soldiers don't seem to be up to the task. They fall after being bounced a few times."