156: The Year of Death Arrives Ahead of Schedule

At the same time, a scene identical to the one outside Yunlong City was unfolding outside every major main city.

A massive rift tore open in the sky, and limitless Starry Sky Zerg Hives squeezed out of the fissure, appearing in the players' line of sight.

The appearance and color of these Zerg Hives varied.

Some were red, some black, some blue, and some white... Each Zerg Hive also bore a massive Arabic numeral, ranging from 1 to 8.

And the Zerg Hive outside Yunlong City prominently displayed the large numeral "1"... Whoosh—

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

After the Starry Sky Zerg Hives appeared, the Blood Mist blocking the eight major main cities of the Divine Dragon Country suddenly began to surge without warning.

The Blood Mist violently churned, causing the surrounding world to lose color, frightening the nearby players.

After churning for a while, the Blood Mist seemed to be drawn by something, drifting away thread by thread in a single direction... The location it drifted toward was precisely the Zerg Hive itself!

The dense Blood Mist blocking the main cities visibly began to thin out.

The barriers between the main cities were also diminishing rapidly... Within the eight major main cities of the Divine Dragon Country, powerful hidden NPCs were successively awakened by the aura of the Starry Sky Zerg Hives.

The NPCs looked toward the direction where the Zerg Hives appeared, their expressions extremely solemn.

"I didn't expect this day to arrive so soon!"

"With eight Starry Sky Zerg Hives descending, we must formulate countermeasures."

"Issue a bounty; we must strive to eliminate these Starry Sky Aliens as soon as possible."

"Alright!"

...Within the territory of the Three Kingdoms, Yuan Shu received photos sent from the battlefield.

Looking at the strange purple creatures slaughtering wantonly in the photos, Yuan Shu frowned slightly, subconsciously recalling what Lin Du had just said.

[The war between the Three Kingdoms and the Peak of the Forbidden City should be temporarily halted!]

"Night Ember, he seems to know something..."

Rumble—

Rumble rumble rumble—

Just as Yuan Shu was deep in thought, countless sounds of startling thunder suddenly rang out in the sky.

The thunder shook the heavens and earth, deafening everyone, and the entire world trembled in response.

This sudden change startled many players; their movements froze, and they raised their heads to look fearfully at the anomaly in the sky.

This scene was similar to when the Year of Death One countdown began, but the thunder was much more frequent, and the entire sky was stained a chilling blood-red.

"What is going on? Why has the weather suddenly changed again!"

"Why am I suddenly feeling so uneasy? It feels like something major is about to happen!"

"Aside from the Year of Death One countdown, this kind of phenomenon has never appeared in the sky before. Why has it happened twice this year!"

"I have a very bad feeling. Could it be that something major is going to happen again..."

All players in the eight main cities of the Divine Dragon Country were shocked by this sight.

Rumble—

Crack—

The thunder continued, and streaks of blood-red lightning raged in the sky like furious dragons, as if venting something... After a full ninety-nine streaks of blood-red lightning.

The thunder gradually subsided, but by now, the sky had turned into a blood-red ocean.

The blood-red ocean descended above every player's head, creating a suffocating pressure.

Even the apocalypse wouldn't feel much worse... [The Starry Sky Zerg Hives have descended today!]

[Blood Mist concentration has decreased, the countdown until the Blood Mist disappears has been changed to 279 days...]

The indifferent system notification sounded in the sky.

Players hadn't yet figured out what exactly had happened when they heard the system changing the time until the Blood Mist vanished.

Some players hurriedly opened their system panels and found that the Year of Death One countdown displayed there had indeed changed.

However, no sooner had the 279-day mark appeared than it changed again... In the sky, the system notification sounded as if it were stuttering, quickly changing the time repeatedly.

[The countdown until the Blood Mist disappears has been changed to 259 days...]

[The countdown until the Blood Mist disappears has been changed to 210 days...]

[185 days...]

[149 days...]

[86 days...]

[58 days..]

[29 days!]

Finally, the system notification settled on 29 days!

This meant that only 29 days remained until the arrival of the Year of Death One... All players across the Divine Dragon Country were in an uproar!

"What the hell is the system doing? We clearly had over 300 days left, how did it suddenly turn into 29 days? Are we even supposed to live through this!"

"Wuwuwu~ I haven't prepared yet! With the Year of Death One arriving in 29 days, I guess I'll just wait to die."

"This game is unfair! If I had known it was this dangerous, I wouldn't have entered the game!"

"What the heck is that damned Starry Sky Zerg Hive? All of this is because of it..."

The Year of Death One is a paradise for the strong and a hell for the weak.

With the arrival time of the Year of Death One suddenly changing, some people were happy, but most were worried.

Inside the Ye Clan Merchant Guild.

Lin Du looked at the 29-day countdown on the system panel and sighed helplessly.

"Oh heavens, don't mess with me!"

"My sister is the goddess of luck..."

According to the original plan, Lin Du could easily coast to Level 499 by the time the Year of Death One arrived.

He was currently Level 255, and with the daily +1 level gain from the Qin Kings Underground Palace Instance, he only needed over 200 days to reach Level 499.

But now, the system had suddenly changed the Year of Death One countdown to 29 days. In this short span of 29 days, it was impossible for Lin Du to coast to Level 499... During the Year of Death One, every player had a mandatory online duration.

If the online duration was not met, the system would impose mandatory penalties.

This immediately eliminated the misguided notion held by countless players that they could avoid the Year of Death One by quitting the game... Naturally, Lin Du couldn't hide either.

The people he had offended were all vengeful.

People like Zhao Yunsou and Death Waltz, and even Thousand Blade Drunk just now, were not forgiving individuals.

During the Year of Death One, these people definitely wouldn't let the matter rest and would certainly use every means possible to take his life.

If he wanted to save his life during the Year of Death One, raising his level immediately became the top priority.

If his level was too low, it would be difficult to gain a foothold during the Year of Death One.

"Sigh, I can't be a slacker anymore."

"It's time to level up quickly..."

...