345: Chapter 345 I didn't want it to be like this either.

Super Meng puffed out his chest proudly, his muscles tense, as if he could already see himself clearing the hidden plot and reaching the pinnacle of his life.

Zhong Bukui looked him up and down with his bell-sized eyes.

"Good, very good."

The big man nodded, his door-sized palm swinging in a wide arc through the air.

"Slap!"

A crisp, loud crack exploded outside the vast city gate.

There were no flashy skill effects, nor any earth-shattering shockwaves.

It was just a solid, resounding slap to the face.

Super Meng's two-meter-tall, burly frame toppled sideways, crashing into the ground.

Frozen soil splattered everywhere.

The scene went instantly silent.

Only a circular pit remained on the ground, with Super Meng's head stuck right at its edge, his eyes rolled back, foam bubbling from his mouth, without even a chance to utter any last words.

Zhong Bukui shook his wrist and snorted coldly, "So you're the one who likes to sing, huh?"

Fifty thousand players collectively gasped.

"Holy crap! Brother Meng got one-shot!"

"The damage calculation is wrong! I didn't even see the damage numbers just now!"

"Wait, look at this NPC's head!" a mage pointed up into the air.

The players all looked up in unison.

Zhong Bukui's head was completely blank.

There was no red hostile health bar, no yellow neutral indicator, not even a nameplate.

"Holy crap, is this Evil God a mechanic-based monster or a plot NPC?"

"How do you fight something with no health bar? Is it a forced plot kill?"

Chen You huddled in the pile of rubble, his gaze directed at the system panel in the corner.

The moment Zhong Bukui's slap landed, the stagnant progress bar on the panel suddenly jumped.

[Yellow Springs Source Condensation Progress: 1%]

Chen You narrowed his eyes.

He understood.

The Yang energy of these fifty thousand players was mixed with too much chuunibyou and fanaticism, resulting in impure energy.

And this powerful slap from Zhong Bukui had "physically purified" the Yang energy inside Super Meng.

Hitting people could increase the progress?

"Who's next?!" Zhong Bukui's voice boomed like a bell.

He raised the folding fan in his hand, pointing at the dense crowd, "Who else sang that crappy song just now? Step out!"

A commotion stirred in the crowd.

A Paladin player wearing silver armor stepped forward with large strides.

Holding a kite shield, he lifted his head, his face filled with the tragic resolve of one facing death.

"Evil God! Don't think you can make us surrender with violence!" the Paladin roared righteously.

"This song represents our determination to protect the Source Realm! You can kill one of me, but you can't kill the thousands upon thousands…"

"Slap!"

Zhong Bukui backhanded him with a slap.

A fierce wind whistled, the Paladin's voice cut off abruptly, and his entire body traced a graceful parabola in mid-air before crashing heavily into the city wall.

[Yellow Springs Source Condensation Progress: 2%]

Chen You nodded to himself.

This efficiency wasn't bad.

"Noisy." Zhong Bukui picked his ear, his bell-like eyes glaring at the remaining players.

"This True Monarch hates it most when others make noise while I'm sleeping. If I don't beat you all until you're looking for your teeth on the floor today, my name isn't Zhong Bukui!"

Tens of thousands of players looked at each other.

Retreat? That didn't exist.

In the front row of the crowd, a Curse Master wearing a pointed hat suddenly slapped his thigh, a flash of wisdom shining in his eyes.

"Brothers! I get it now!" the Curse Master shouted, his face flushed with excitement as he pointed at Zhong Bukui.

"Think carefully! Why is he so angry? Why won't he let us sing?"

The surrounding players all looked at him in unison.

The Curse Master took a deep breath, his tone firm: "Because this song is the method to suppress him! He's afraid! He's using violence to cover up the fear in his heart!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole crowd was in an uproar.

"That makes sense!"

"Holy crap, as expected of an intelligence-based class, this logic is invincible!"

"So that's it! This is a hidden mechanic! As long as we keep singing, we can completely suppress him!"

The Curse Master turned his head, his gaze crossing the crowd to look at Chen You, who was half-buried in the pile of rubble.

He didn't speak, but the meaning in his eyes was clear.

"God You! I was right, wasn't I?! Quickly, praise me!"

Chen You's eyelid twitched.

It wasn't exactly wrong either.

Anyway, it was all something you guys imagined yourselves.

Chen You took a deep breath, trying hard to make his complexion look even paler and weaker.

Meeting the mage's fanatical gaze, he nodded slightly.

Afterward, he gave the mage an extremely affirmative and encouraging look.

That look seemed to say: You can do it, the hope of the whole village rests on you.

The mage felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his whole body trembling with excitement.

"God You acknowledged me!" The mage turned around abruptly, spread his arms, and roared at the fifty thousand players at the top of his lungs.

"Brothers! For our sake, God You is bearing the backlash of the formation all by himself! Can we just watch him sacrifice himself?"

"No!" Over fifty thousand people roared in unison.

"As long as we work together, I don't believe we can't suppress this old guy!" The mage took an amplification scroll out of his backpack.

"Everyone listen to my command! Pour out your true feelings!"

"One! Two! Three! Sing!"

Not just the fifty thousand players, but even more players on the periphery took a deep breath simultaneously, their chests puffing out high.

"The Great River flows eastward—"

The deafening singing resounded through the sky once again.

This time, the players' emotions were even fuller, and their singing was filled with the tragic and resolute determination to confront the Evil God.

Zhong Bukui stood frozen on the spot, the folding fan in his hand nearly dropping to the ground.

He stared blankly at this group of weirdos howling at the top of their lungs, his brain experiencing a brief shutdown.

"Are you guys… sick in the head?" Zhong Bukui was so angry his whole body trembled, his beard standing on end.

"This True Monarch will definitely tear your mouths apart today!"

With a roar, Zhong Bukui charged straight into the player phalanx like a heavy tank.

His palm, like a cattail fan, swung left and right.

"Slap!"

"Bang!"

"Boom!"

With every swing, a dozen players were sent flying into the sky.

Zhong Bukui used pure physical attacks, creating a bloody storm in the crowd.

But these players were completely crazy; not only did they not retreat, they charged right into Zhong Bukui's slaps.

"Brothers, hold the line! His attack frequency has increased, which means he's getting desperate!"

"Healers, heal me! I can still sing one more line!"

"When it's time to act, act! Ouch, holy crap—"

A warrior had just finished half a line when he was kicked away by Zhong Bukui, leaving a long trailing sound in mid-air.

Chen You sat in the rubble, quietly watching this extremely absurd scene.

[Yellow Springs Source Condensation Progress: 15%]

[Yellow Springs Source Condensation Progress: 28%]

[Yellow Springs Source Condensation Progress: 45%]

The progress bar soared at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Big Yellow Duck squatted next to Chen You, tilting its head to watch Zhong Bukui slaughtering his way through the crowd, letting out a crisp cry.

"Quack?"

Chen You reached out to stroke Big Yellow Duck's head, sighing softly.

"I didn't want this either, but to complete the mission, there's no other way."

Big Yellow Duck tilted its head, seemingly half-understanding.