496: Chapter 496 The Trainee Army?

"Regional Announcement (Cangxing City): An unknown mutation has occurred at Cangxing Bay, and the Star Sea King has initiated "Star Source Assimilation.""

"All Adventurers are requested to head to Cangxing Bay and eliminate the fanatic army controlled by the Star Sea King! Generous rewards will be distributed based on kill contribution!"

The blood-red announcement scrolled across the sky three times.

The dark purple light above Cangxing Bay grew increasingly intense.

Sander stood at the very front of the one hundred thousand hostile NPCs.

Her two-meter-tall, burly frame was tightly wrapped in black overalls, and eerie purple patterns emerged on the surface of the "basketball" in her hands.

Her crimson eyes were fixed intently on Chen You, who was on the back of the Nine Nether Heaven-Devouring Kun.

"What are you doing~"

A low, hoarse roar, laced with electronic distortion, squeezed from Sander's throat.

This should have been an interactive line from a talent show stage, but at this moment, it had turned into a bone-chilling battle cry.

Following this roar, Sander slammed the purple-patterned basketball in her hand.

"Bang!"

The basketball hit the reef in the bay, stirring up a ring of visible purple sound waves.

Using the recoil, Sander's massive body vaulted into the air, her shoulders dropping as she struck that pose Chen You knew all too well.

Sonic Vibration · Iron Mountain Lean!

Taking the lead, Sander turned into a black cannonball, hurtling straight toward Chen You.

Behind her, the one hundred thousand hostile NPCs erupted into a frenzy.

"Do it again! We want to do it again!"

"Rigged! It's all rigged!"

The murloc girl Bobo opened her fang-filled mouth, letting out a piercing death roar.

The goblin merchant brandished a cane embedded with cheap gems, summoning a sky full of gold coin darts.

The centaur warriors galloped on all fours, their thundering hooves causing the water surface to rumble.

Countless bizarre skill effects rained down upon the Nine Nether Heaven-Devouring Kun.

"Captain Chen, let's retreat! There are too many of them!" Lin Miao shouted anxiously over the team voice chat.

"Retreat?" Chen You sneered.

He looked at the system announcement in his field of view and clenched his fists.

Previously in Cangxing City, he had desperately searched for the "Monster Siege" event to complete the acting city lord quest.

He had asked Sander and Hill, but he hadn't even seen a single hair of a monster.

At the time, he thought the system rollback had glitched the quest out of existence.

Now, looking at the one hundred thousand murderous, hostile NPCs covering the mountains and plains, Chen You understood everything.

The Monster Siege hadn't disappeared at all!

It had just been "snatched away" by the Voice of Star Source talent show he had organized himself!

The Star Sea King had used the fervor of the talent show to assimilate the NPCs into an army of monsters.

This wasn't a zombie siege; it was clearly the hidden quest he had been yearning for!

"Lin Miao, find a blind spot and hide! No one is leaving today." Chen You's gaze hardened.

With a wave of his hand, the nine hundred and ninety-nine Fine-grade arrow towers on the back of the Nine Nether Heaven-Devouring Kun stopped firing instantly.

The skill effect of "True Feelings and Real Intentions" had already ended.

Without the boost of true damage, these low-level arrow towers were no longer of any use.

Facing the overwhelming attacks, Chen You stepped forward instead of retreating.

"If you want to fight, let's fight. Do you think I'm afraid of you trainees?"

Chen You quickly formed hand seals with both hands.

The Nine Revolutions Primordial Chaos Art within him operated frantically, and his spirit power value dropped at a visible rate.

The three yuhuang swords hovering in mid-air erupted with dazzling purple lightning.

"Heaven-Breaking Sword Technique — Chaotic Stars!"

Chen You pressed his fingers together to form a sword shape and slammed them downward.

The three yuhuang swords instantly disassembled, turning into thousands of tiny flying swords.

These flying swords intertwined and circled in the air, forming three massive sword-qi vortexes in the blink of an eye.

At the center of the vortexes, thunder roared.

"Go!"

Carrying an aura of destruction, the three sword-qi vortexes crashed directly into the army of NPCs charging at the front.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft!"

The sound of sharp blades cutting through flesh rang out densely.

The dozens of goblins and Slimes charging at the front didn't even have time to scream before they were shredded into white light by the sword-qi vortexes.

"[Killed Assimilated Goblin Fanatic, gained 9000 EXP.]"

"[Killed Assimilated Slime Fan, gained 8800 EXP.]"

System notifications flooded Chen You's ears frantically.

The EXP provided was exceptionally generous.

After these NPCs were assimilated by the Star Sea King, they had all turned into elite monsters or even boss monsters.

"Good grief, this isn't a Monster Siege; this is a buffet the system is serving me!" Chen You's eyes lit up.

At this moment, Sander's "Iron Mountain Lean" had already crashed into the head of the Nine Nether Heaven-Devouring Kun.

"Boom!"

The giant Kun's massive body swayed slightly.

"Mentor... I... I can't control it..." Sander's crimson eyes stared at Chen You, her mouth emitting intermittent roars.

She raised the purple-patterned basketball in her hands again, preparing to launch a second attack.

Chen You looked at this "great demon king" he had packaged with his own hands and sighed.

"Sander, the entertainment industry is too deep; you can't handle it."

"Today, your mentor will teach you one last lesson."

Chen You beckoned with one hand.

One of the sword-qi vortexes suddenly changed direction, pulling Sander straight into it.

"This is what absolute numerical crushing means!"

In the vortex, countless tiny flying swords continuously cut into Sander's muscles.

Sander let out a painful roar, and damage numbers in the millions kept floating above her head.

But she was a boss-level monster after all, with extremely high HP, so she endured the sword-qi vortex and took step after step toward Chen You.

"Art... isn't like this!" Sander roared, leaping up, clutching the ball with both hands, and smashing toward Chen You like Mount Tai crushing down.

"Sonic Vibration · Big Windmill!"

Chen You shook his head: "Your movements are too stiff; go back and practice for another two and a half years."

He didn't even dodge, the Nine Revolutions Primordial Chaos Art within him running frantically, forming a tangible golden light shield on his body surface with protective true qi.

"Bang!"

Sander's basketball slammed hard against the light shield.

"[-1!]"

An eye-catching number floated above Chen You's head.

Sander froze, a flash of confusion appearing in her crimson eyes.

"With just this much strength, you want to debut in the C position?" Chen You sneered, clenched his right fist, and slammed it into Sander's chest.

"Boom!"

Sander's massive body flew backward for hundreds of meters like a cannonball exiting the chamber.

Her health bar was down to its very last sliver.

"City Lord!" A guard NPC in the distance with bloodshot eyes raised his longsword and shouted, "For the glory of Cangxing City! Charge!"

However, all that awaited him was an endless sword-qi vortex.

Sander landed on the edge of the Kun's back and stood up again.

"What are you doing~"

She roared and charged into the sword-blade storm, attempting to withstand it with her tough physical body.

"Pfft!"

Sander's chest was pierced through by a dozen sword-qi beams, and her body slammed heavily onto the ground, unable to get up again.

The crimson light in her eyes gradually faded, and a trace of clarity returned.

"Mentor... can... can I debut now..." Sander looked at Chen You weakly.

Chen You walked up to Sander and sighed.

"You've debuted; you are now the most popular NPC in the entire server."

Sander pulled a hideous smile from the corner of her mouth, turned into white light, and dissipated.