44: Chapter 44 The Dragon Kingdom with Absolutely No Chance of Victory

5... 4... 2... 1

The dream ended, and everyone woke up from their slumber.

Following the strategy discussed in the dream space, Zhao Hongxiu and Xiao Zhenghong, just after waking up, joined forces and led their troops straight to the bandit camp near the West Mountain Camp.

According to Zhao Hongxiu,

"Based on past experience with clearing plotlines, the further you go, the harder it is to collect [glory fragments]. Although the task of clearing out bandits was received on the first day, it is already the third day now. There is no guarantee that the difficulty of clearing the bandit camp won't increase, so it is safest for the two of us to combine our forces and lead the suppression together. We must gather ten [glory fragments] to have even a sliver of a chance to complete the entire plot..."

In the plot, both Zhao Hongxiu and Xiao Zhenghong held the status of 'miscellaneous generals,' each capable of leading one hundred soldiers. After combining their forces, a two-hundred-man army assembled outside the bandit camp.

"Draw swords, slaughter the enemy!"

Zhao Hongxiu took the lead, with Xiao Zhenghong following closely behind. The two led their troops into the bandit camp, launching a fierce battle.

The sounds of fighting, the clashing of weapons, screams...

"Watch out!"

After Xiao Zhenghong slashed down a bandit, a large hammer silently smashed toward him from behind.

"[Hold the Line]!"

Seeing that Xiao Zhenghong had nowhere to dodge, Zhao Hongxiu decisively activated a skill using the power of the 'Supervisor' [Strategist]!

White feathers fluttered, centering on Zhao Hongxiu, enveloping Xiao Zhenghong within the skill's range in a layer of pure white 'Holy Shield'!

Clang— The bandit leader's hammer smashed against the Holy Shield. Xiao Zhenghong was knocked back several steps by the immense impact, but fortunately, he was protected by the Holy Shield and remained uninjured.

After steadying his retreat, Xiao Zhenghong hunched over and charged forward.

"[Judgment]!"

The power of holy light condensed on Xiao Zhenghong's long blade. He slashed toward the bandit leader, who countered with his hammer. The collision between the blade and the hammer sparked violently.

"Fourth rank! This bandit leader is at least fourth rank!" After a solid clash, Xiao Zhenghong sensed the opponent's strength.

A powerful wave of energy spread outward from the bandit.

Xiao Zhenghong was closest to the leader. Sensing that things were going wrong, he immediately shouted to Zhao Hongxiu,

"Help me! This leader is casting an area-of-effect damage-buffing skill. If we don't take him out, our entire army will be wiped out!"

There was no need for Xiao Zhenghong's warning. As soon as the strange power began to spread from the leader, Zhao Hongxiu was already on her way to attack.

Xiao Zhenghong was third rank, and Zhao Hongxiu was third rank. The bandit leader was fourth rank. Although it was two against one, the gap in ranks made their battle extremely difficult.

On the other side, in the Imperial Palace, Fan Ling remained inside the palace under the pretext of repairing the burned-down grand hall.

"How could this be!? The First Prince, the Second Prince, the Commander of the Imperial Guard, the palace attendants... Why is it that the more clues I find, the more suspects I have? Yesterday there were ten suspects; today, after getting new clues, it has become twelve! Twelve suspects—even if I could use the [Reveal Mirror] to eliminate two, there are still ten highly suspicious people I can't distinguish! What do I do? What do I do! There is only this last day left. If I can't ferret out the 'Anomaly,' I at least need to increase the probability of guessing correctly! The number of suspects has increased instead of decreasing. How can I face everyone? How can I face the citizens of the Dragon Country? I, this Roleplayer, am truly incompetent!"

...In the real world, in the livestream room. The commentator Heller spoke eloquently. The Dragon Country's plot progression was not going smoothly; it could even be said to be a complete mess. This put the young commentator, who had made many incorrect judgments previously, in a very good mood.

"It is precisely because your Dragon Country keeps having bizarre situations that my previous commentaries were wrong so many times. Now it's good; your Dragon Country's plot progression is trapped in a desperate situation. This is simply God's best punishment for your Dragon Country!"

Although filled with resentment toward the Dragon Country, his face still maintained the appearance of an ostensibly impartial commentator. He analyzed for the audience in front of the screen,

"Wrong! You chose wrong! The Roleplayer in the Dragon Country identifying the 'Anomaly' in the Imperial Palace suspected the wrong target because of a different professional perspective! Judging from the footage of other countries' progression, the real 'Anomaly' is that young and beautiful concubine by the Emperor's side. And the Dragon Country's Roleplayer identifying the 'Anomaly' didn't even include this concubine in the list of suspects! This is a fatal mistake! I can't blame this Dragon Country Roleplayer; he is a [Path of the Artist] Roleplayer and doesn't have professional abilities like [Detective]. Plus, with the [Reveal Mirror] being pitifully scarce, it is understandable that he suspected the wrong target. It's just that the price of this 'understandable' mistake is simply too great..."

Heller smiled half-heartedly. The other commentator beside him, York, did not refute his statement.

Heller was right; choosing the wrong suspect was fatal, especially for the Dragon Country, which gave up using Heroic Spirits to identify the 'Anomaly' and instead chose to use Heroic Spirits to mobilize the West Mountain Camp.

Without including the real 'Anomaly' in the list of suspects, the Dragon Country didn't even have a 0.01 percent chance of completing the plot.

"Sigh~" York sighed. "Powerful nations played dirty for their vassal states. After being discovered by the will of the Game of National Destiny, it corrected things with plot tasks. In the end, the countries that got hurt actually included the Dragon Country. The Dragon Country's luck is truly terrible!"

Fearing that the audience didn't understand his words, York explained,

"The tree of eternity, the tree of dark twilight, and the tree of morning light—these three trees are the most important items in the entire Game of National Destiny. Among them, the 'tree of eternity' is the most special; it covers all the abilities of the 'tree of dark twilight' and the 'tree of morning light.' Sakura Country and the Ottoman first obtained the 'tree of dark twilight' and the 'tree of morning light,' and only later obtained the 'tree of eternity.' After having the 'tree of eternity,' the 'tree of dark twilight' and the 'tree of morning light' became completely useless to these two countries. Thus, Sakura Country and the Ottoman used the rules to hand over the 'tree of dark twilight' and the 'tree of morning light' in their possession to their vassal states. Although it is said that 'everything not prohibited by the rules is permitted,' the Starlight Game allowing countries to 'exploit bugs' using [Heroic Spirits/wonder] and 'civilization skins' does not mean the will of the stars allows important items to be given away to other countries for free! Manipulations like gifting the 'tree of dark twilight' and the 'tree of morning light' to vassal states clearly violate the spirit of the Game of National Destiny. After being discovered by the will of the stars, it naturally had to be corrected. The Game of National Destiny is dynamic. Originally, the second stage should have been a Dynamic Event that only two countries possessing the 'tree of eternity' could participate in. Because of the intentional transfer of the 'tree of dark twilight' and the 'tree of morning light,' it was expanded to include all countries possessing the 'two trees.' This is like an exam where other countries were clearly the ones cheating, while the Dragon Country squeezed into the top eight based on its own ability. Yet, because of the cheating of other countries, an extra exam was added. And this extra exam does not limit the abilities of the Roleplayer, which is disadvantageous to the Dragon Country, causing the Dragon Country to potentially lose the exam and fail to rank. Sigh, the Dragon Country is quite wronged."

York felt sorry for the Dragon Country.

If the Dragon Country ends up at the bottom, it won't just lose one Game of National Destiny, and it won't just cause the Dragon Country's national destiny to go completely bankrupt. The most critical thing is that the new [Strategist] will be erased by the rules for being at the bottom, which will destroy the hope of the Dragon Country...

"It's over! The Dragon Country is finished! The real 'Anomaly' is not even among Fan Ling's list of suspects. Even if the Dragon Country destroys the bandit camp and uses Heroic Spirits to force the West Mountain Camp to enter the capital to 'cleanse the monarch's side,' it still won't be able to 'cleanse' the real 'Anomaly.' There is no probability issue here as the Dragon Country imagined; it is absolutely, definitively impossible to select the 'Anomaly'!"

After a few helpless analyses, York stopped speaking. And the Dragon Country audience, upon hearing York's commentary, turned ashen-faced...