118: Chapter 118 Who is the prey? Treating the bounty in the main city as a salary!

Boom—!!!

A violent explosion thundered over Black Wind City. The pale blue city-protecting light shield twisted frantically under the arrow's impact, looking like a piece of plastic wrap being pulled forcefully, threatening to shatter at any moment.

With every strike, visible energy ripples spread in all directions, causing the ground of the entire Black Wind City to tremble slightly.

Atop the city walls, the City Lord gripped the battlements tightly, his fingernails nearly sinking into the stone crevices. Looking down at the figure standing there like a god or demon, the fear in his eyes finally overwhelmed his reason.

"Damn it! Damn it! Is this really an attack power that a player can possess at this stage?!"

The City Lord roared hysterically, spinning around to shout at the herald behind him, "Issue an announcement! Issue it immediately! Take everything out of the warehouse! I want every Adventurer in the city to go and kill him!!"

A few seconds later, a blood-red System announcement exploded in the ears of all players in the Black Wind City region.

[Black Wind City Regional Announcement: City Lord has issued a "Kill Order"!]

[Bounty Target: Kill "Snow Emperor".]

[Task Requirement: Kill Snow Emperor once (can be completed repeatedly, up to 10 times).]

[Task Penalty: None.]

[Task Reward: For each kill, receive free attribute points +50, Level 25 Bronze Set ×1; the first three killers will receive an additional piece of Gold-Grade equipment or a Saint Grade Talent Awakening Stone!]

Whoosh—!

The crowd of players who had been watching from a distance instantly boiled over.

"Holy crap... what am I seeing? Gold weapons? Saint Grade Talent Awakening Stones? Even complete Bronze Sets? The City Lord of Black Wind City is really digging into his life savings!"

A warrior holding an iron axe stared so hard his eyes nearly popped out, his breathing becoming heavy and ragged.

Although the Free Attribute Point reward wasn't as exaggerated as last time, for most players at this stage, a Bronze Set was top-tier gear, and Gold equipment was the stuff of legendary Divine Artifacts. As for the Saint Grade Talent Awakening Stone... that was something that could change one's fate against the heavens!

"These rewards... are too insane."

In the crowd, the warrior with the ID "Dominator of All Under Heaven" tightened his grip on his greatsword, his gaze greedily fixed on Qin Ji in the distance.

"As the saying goes, wealth is sought amidst danger. The bold feast while the timid starve."

Dominator of All Under Heaven licked his parched lips, his voice raspy. "A man has to take a gamble eventually. Based on our observation, although Snow Emperor's attack is ridiculously high, his build is that of a fragile Archer after all. As long as we chain our combos well enough and keep him crowd-controlled until he's dead, it's possible to kill him."

Standing beside him, the mage "Dominator of Ambition" was also moved. He slightly raised his staff, a ball of fire element already condensing in his palm. "Big brother is right. If we offend Snow Emperor, the worst that happens is we lose a level. But if we succeed, the benefits..."

Dominator of Ambition was already beginning to fantasize about the scene where he would slaughter everyone with a Gold staff in hand.

"Big brother, third brother, have you two overlooked a very important thing?"

Just as the two were preparing to make their move, a cold voice doused them like a bucket of ice water.

The speaker was a female priest with a hot figure, ID "Dominator Yanyan." She lightly raised her hand, pointing at the solitary, proud figure in the distance, and said in a low voice:

"Why is Snow Emperor attacking Black Wind City?"

"Because of the King's ban."

"Exactly." Dominator Yanyan's expression was grave. "He didn't even give Face to the King and directly confronted the city-protecting array. Do you think a ruthless person like that will only make us lose one level?"

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the restless players around them, her lips curling into a mocking arc:

"In truth, whether we succeed or not, we'll eventually be killed by Snow Emperor until we're depressed. Don't doubt my words; for Snow Emperor to kill us, one arrow is enough. In fact... we won't even be able to see how he makes his move."

Hearing this, the heated heads of Dominator of All Under Heaven and Dominator of Ambition instantly cooled down.

Indeed, that was a monster capable of soloing Hell-grade dungeons.

"Are we just going to watch?" Dominator of All Under Heaven was still somewhat unwilling, the veins on the hand holding his greatsword bulging.

Dominator Yanyan shook her head, her eyes deep. "Not everyone will be as rational as us. Under heavy rewards, there will always be brave men. There will always be irrational people to test Snow Emperor's trump cards for us."

"We only need to sit back and reap the spoils."

...

In the center of the battlefield.

Qin Ji slowly lowered the jiu he long bow in his hand.

The toughness of the city-protecting array was higher than he had anticipated. Although it could be broken, it would consume quite a bit of time. And just now, he had keenly sensed a subtle change in the surrounding air flow.

That feeling was like a calm lake surface suddenly gaining a few swimming piranhas beneath it.

"Snow Emperor, excuse me. If you want to blame someone, blame the City Lord of Black Wind City for giving far too much."

In the Void Realm, an erratic voice drifted over.

The speaker was a short thief who had used a high-level Stealth skill, blending perfectly into the environment. After saying this, he didn't immediately launch an attack but quickly shifted his position, trying to interfere with Qin Ji's auditory judgment.

Qin Ji stood in place without even turning his head, the corners of his mouth curling up into a chilling smile.

"Too naive."

In his perception, there wasn't just this one little shorty around him.

The wind carried the faint sound of leather friction, unnatural indentations appeared in the sand on the ground, and even that faint murderous intent in the air was laid bare under his [God-Tier Perception].

"Since you want to be hunters, you must be prepared to become the prey."

Qin Ji moved.

But he didn't turn around, nor did he aim. Instead, he pulled his bowstring to the full, with five arrows notched at once.

[Multi-Shot]!

Swoosh—!!

The five arrows turned into five bolts of black lightning. They weren't fired in the same direction but in a bizarre fan-shaped trajectory, instantly plunging into the empty void beside him.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

In the originally empty wasteland, three bursts of blood mist suddenly erupted!

Three thieves who were in Stealth, preparing to move behind Qin Ji for a backstab, didn't even have time to scream before their throats were pierced by arrows. Their bodies were sent flying backward by the immense momentum and pinned ruthlessly to the ground.

"-24,500!" (Critical Hit)

"-23,800!"

"-24,100!"

Terrifying damage numbers floated up, instantly emptying their health bars.

"What?!"

The short thief who had spoken first felt his pupils contract violently, his dagger frozen mid-air as he was about to strike.

How did he find out?

A coincidence? It must be a coincidence!

However, in the next second, Qin Ji used his actions to show him what despair was.

The long bow in Qin Ji's hand seemed to turn into an afterimage, the vibration of the bowstring merging into a continuous, piercing hum.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh—!!

A hundred arrows per second!

Countless arrows poured out in all directions like a torrential storm. This wasn't random firing; the landing point of every arrow was precisely calculated—predicting movements, sealing off dead ends, and covering blind spots.

Puff puff puff—

Blood blossoms continued to bloom in the void as thieves in Stealth revealed themselves one by one like dumplings falling into a pot, then vanished into white light.

No matter how high your Stealth level was or how slick your movements were, all were equal before absolute density of fire.

Moreover, the closer to Qin Ji's area, the more terrifying the density of arrows became.

The short thief watched helplessly as an arrow grazed the tip of his nose, bringing a string of blood beads. Before he could feel lucky, a second and third arrow followed in quick succession, completely sealing off all his evasion space.

Puff!

The arrow pierced his chest, the massive impact sending him flying and crashing heavily to the ground.

In the last moment before his vision blurred, all he saw was that man's cold back and heard that light sentence:

"Is prediction that hard?"

...

In the distance.

The scouts from various guilds watched this slaughterhouse-like scene, their scalps tingling and their backs instantly soaked in cold sweat.

"Pervert!!"

Asura Yi Ze, the leader of the Asura Guild, couldn't help but swear, nearly crushing the binoculars in his hand. "Can't mess with him, can't mess with him. This guy is a freaking human mobile turret! Pass the word down: you little brats better stay steady. Without my command, no one is allowed to make a move on Snow Emperor!"

Not just Asura Yi Ze, but managers of all major guilds issued the same absolute order at this moment.

Snow Emperor was someone solo players could provoke—that was them seeking death.

But a guild couldn't. Once they offended such a monster to the death, the guild's members could forget about leveling in the wild ever again.

In just five minutes.

The area below Black Wind City was covered in corpses. Those solo players who tried to fish in troubled waters couldn't even get within fifty meters of Qin Ji under the baptism of his arrow rain.

Without systematic coordination and strong defensive skills, anyone who came was just fodder before Qin Ji's attack power of over twenty thousand.

"Scavenge."

Seeing the battle settle, Asura Yi Ze immediately ordered, "Gold-farming team go in, elite team stay put. Snow Emperor eats the meat, we can at least have some soup."

Qin Ji had killed so many players that the ground was littered with equipment and potions shimmering with enticing light.

However, just as those "scavengers" responsible for picking up leftovers cautiously approached the battlefield, Qin Ji suddenly stopped his movements.

He didn't go to pick up the equipment on the ground, nor did he even glance at the valuable drops.

At this moment, his gaze was fixed intently on the bounty mission on the System panel.

[Task Reward: For each kill, receive free attribute points +50, Level 25 Bronze Set +1...]

Qin Ji rubbed his chin, a glint flashing in his eyes.

"This City Lord of Black Wind City is a good man."

Originally, he had planned to break through Black Wind City in one go and just kill the City Lord to be done with it.

But now, he hesitated.

Black Wind City put out so many things to bounty him; did that mean other main cities might also offer very high bounties when faced with a threat?

If that were the case...

Then he could completely carry out the plan of "fleecing the sheep" to the end!

Why bother with the thankless task of conquering a city? Conquering it only gets you a fixed salary.

But if he could drive these main cities to desperation one by one, make them issue bounties, and then use a loophole in the rules to collect the bounties... this was simply a sustainable path to riches!

"Besides, these rewards can be used to raise Monkey and Fatty."

Qin Ji calculated in his mind.

Both Monkey and Fatty Zhou had Saint-Grade talents and huge potential. But early development required a massive amount of resources.

Especially Fatty Zhou; as a tank, if his HP could be stacked to a hundred thousand, he would basically walk sideways in the early to Middle Stages. And if Monkey had enough attribute points to support him, combined with his amplification talent, his output would reach a terrifying level.

Thinking of this, Qin Ji decisively put away his long bow and turned to leave.

This action left the City Lord on the wall and the players in the distance stunned.

He's leaving?

Just like that?

He looked like he was about to massacre the city just a moment ago, so why did he suddenly withdraw?

Qin Ji ignored everyone's confusion. He went to a secluded forest and sent a set of coordinates directly to Monkey.

A few minutes later, Monkey ran over, panting.

"Brother Hao, what's the rush?"

"Kill me," Qin Ji said concisely.

"What?!" Monkey's eyes widened, thinking he had misheard. "Brother Hao, what triggered you?"

"Did you take the Black Wind City bounty mission?" Qin Ji pointed to his own head.

Monkey froze, then realized, his eyes nearly popping out. "Holy crap! Brother Hao, you want to... but you'll lose a level! And you have to be killed ten times!"

"I have a Substitute Straw Man, so losing a level isn't an issue. As for experience, I can get it back by clearing two dungeons." Qin Ji casually pulled out a small figure made of straw and shook it. This was a special item he had obtained from a hidden quest earlier. Although precious, at this juncture, using it to exchange for several hundred free attribute points was an absolute profit.

More importantly, this was just the beginning.

"Hurry up, don't dawdle. After you kill me, I have to rush to the next venue."

Under Qin Ji's urging, Monkey tremblingly raised his staff.

Ten minutes later.

Monkey looked at the extra five hundred free attribute points in his backpack, ten Bronze Sets, and a ring emitting a golden light, and he was completely dazed.

Adding the eleven hundred points Qin Ji had given him before, he had actually fleeced sixteen hundred free attribute points in this Black Wind City operation!

With these attributes, who could compete at this stage besides Qin Ji?

"Awesome!"

Monkey's Face turned red with excitement.

Qin Ji was also in a great mood. Although the Substitute Straw Men were used up, his current level was already overflowing; losing one level was basically painless.

"Next, it's your turn, Ice Snow City."

Qin Ji looked toward another main city in the north of the map, a demonic smile curling on his lips.

Since Black Wind City could drop so many gold coins, then as the wealthier Ice Snow City, it shouldn't disappoint him either, right?

He opened the regional channel and directly purchased a server-wide megaphone.

[Server Megaphone (Snow Emperor): I, Snow Emperor, will attack Ice Snow City in fifteen minutes. Unrelated players in Ice Snow City, please leave on your own, otherwise, expect no mercy. Also, a reminder to the City Lord of Ice Snow City: prepare a thick bounty; I won't accept if it's too small.]

...

As soon as this megaphone message came out, the entire ragnarok world fell silent for a second.

Immediately after, the world channel completely exploded.

Crazy!

This guy is absolutely insane!

He just finished with Black Wind City, and now he's turning around to mess with Ice Snow City? Is he planning to farm every main city in rotation?

Meanwhile, in Ice Snow City, the players who were leisurely doing quests looked at the blood-red words floating above, their expressions becoming uglier than if they had eaten flies.

If watching Snow Emperor attack Black Wind City was just being a spectator...

Then now that it was their own main city's turn, the feeling was completely different.

"Damn! Snow Emperor is going to break our quest chains!"

"Too arrogant! Does he really think no one in the whole server can handle him?"

However, no matter how angry the players were, panic had already begun to spread in Ice Snow City.

As the sun set, it dyed the white walls of Ice Snow City a blood-red hue.

Qin Ji stood atop the snowy peak outside Ice Snow City, the cold wind whipping his clothes. He casually tossed a badge he had just looted from a Black Wind City assassin into the air and caught it steadily. Those purple-gold pupils gazed at the brightly lit city below, just like an ancient Vicious Beast that had just finished a meal but was hungry again, coldly examining the next main course to be served on the table.