Sword Among Us Novel - Chapter 898
Chapter 898: Ambush and Battle at the Ore Mine
‘Bastards!
“How did those jerks from Mu Clan come in?!
“Are the people at the frontlines of the branch blind? All eight of our resource points are under attack, and we actually didn’t manage to notice, especially when there are more than one thousand people who snuck into our territory?!”
After an exasperated roar, Branch Master Fate in Love Never Ends dressed himself in full gear and got up his horse. He led hundreds of Class One Hall members and went out of the branch. They then gathered with the thousands of people inside the city and the branches from nearby towns or cities who rushed over here to provide reinforcements. Once they formed a large battalion, they divided into eight groups to venture out of the city. With a fierce momentum, they charged to the resource points that were under attack.
Rumble!
The ground trembled, and this was the first time the players in Barbican saw the Class One Hall members in Barbican mobilize such a large number of troops. So they stood in the distance and started discussing with each other while gesturing at them.
“What are they doing?”
“Who provoked Class One Hall?”
Since the accident happened too suddenly, many of the members in Class One Hall did not receive the news, and there were scarcely anyone who was not part of the hall who knew what happened.
Besides, the resource points in Barbican had always been under Class One Hall’s control, which was not surprising that the bloody massacre at the second level of the ore mines was not known to many people.
The few who were in the know in the crowd began to spread the news.
“Provoke?” Those who knew what was going on said with smug looks. “I wouldn’t say it’s something as easy as provocation. This time, Class One Hall is in for something really ‘fun’.”
“What do you mean?”
There were quite a number of people in the Chinese server who loved trouble, and these people surrounded the person who was up to date with the news. Their eyes sparkled brightly while they waited for their questions to be answered.
As of now, those who were well-informed will always earn a lot of money in World of Martial Arts.
That up-to-date person felt proud of himself for a while, but when he saw the players around him fix their gazes on him, he cleared his throat and described what happened to Class One Hall.
This was the world they lived in. If someone helped an elderly woman by the road cross the road, no one will pay attention to them, but if someone caused trouble to the people at the top of a pyramid, this act will definitely catch a lot of attention, along with a large number of people watching with delight derived from the misery of the people involved. And right now, Class One Hall was, without a doubt, the strongest and most supreme force of power at the top in the north of the Chinese server.
“Heh, this time, Class One Hall is going to suffer a huge loss.”
“I just came from Guanlin Temple. Guess what I saw?”
“Stop trying to be all mysterious.”
“That’s right. Just tell us.”
“What did you see?”
“The empty ground outside Guanlin Temple is filled with Class One Hall members. There were hundreds of them, and they’re all there meditating while activating their qi cultivation techniques.”
Once those words were spoken, the players around the speaker immediately burst into commotion.
“Resource points!”
“What in the world? Someone snatch Class One Hall’s resource spots!”
“I know, right?! Bro, when I went over to their side, I was just in time to hear those Class One Hall people cursing up a storm!
“Tsk tsk, eight resource points! Eight! And all of them were attacked at the same time! The people at the second level of the ore mines all died and were sent back!”
The up-to-date player looked smug, as if he was the one who did it. It felt extremely amazing to just mention it!
The players around him sucked in sharp breaths, and they looked at each other at a loss.
Barbican was the city with the most resource points in the north, and it lived up to its name as Class One Hall money generator. Based on the information revealed by those who were informed but were not part of Class One Hall, the eight resource points in Barbican can allow Class One Hall to get ore materials worth three billion taels of silver into their account per day.
“It’s no wonder why Class One Hall mobilized all the people nearby to the mines.”
“They get nearly one million into their account in just one hour! They’ll definitely want to make sure that they can go on with their usual operations in those resource spots as soon as possible.”
There were players whose mind was already filled with the thought of money. As the game had now entered a period of stability, the ratio of silver to RMB changed, where the worth of silver dropped, and this had happened a long time ago.
“Just who will have the guts to do so?”
Right when the person spoke in the crowd, he immediately noticed the players around turning their heads around to look at him, and their gazes were incredibly strange. His voice immediately became weaker. “I’m new here, please keep me up to date…”
The crowd rolled their eyes at the same time and spoke simultaneously, “Why’s a newbie trying to get involved in this mess? Go and train.”
The newbie said nothing.
In the end, the weak newbie just mumbled that he should safeguard his human rights and left.
*****
Rumble!
RUMBLE!
Armored hooves thundered against the ground.
A group of more than five hundred Class One Hall cavaliers charged into the forest with an astonishing and vigorous momentum with dozens of burning torches lit.
These people had joined the game for more than a year, and they had long since gained really extraordinary riding skills. They can ride up mountains, cross over hills, and move through mountains with ease and skill.
They did not waste much time before they entered the region with the ore mines.
“Brothers and sisters, later on, show your worth as Class One Hall members. When you see those Mu Clan bastards, don’t even bother about who they are! Just kill them!”
One of the branch executive officers riding at the forefront of the group stated loudly.
Even though Barbican was attacked and they suffered quite a lot of losses, Barbican was still a city that was close to Beijing, and there was a mountain behind the city. Besides, Mu Clan only attacked their resource points, and they did not dare to attack the Class One Hall players stationed outside those resources points, neither did they dare to enter the city and attack their branch. This meant that they were not confident, and there were not many of them who came over. They just came here to destroy Class One Hall’s economy.
That was why the thousands of people split into eight grounds after they were out of the city and were halfway through their journey. They were prepared to retrieve the second level of the ore mines and get rid of the Mu Clan members remaining in the area.
However, one person was hidden in the dark shrubs in the dark forest, which was located in a spot where the light from the torches did not shine upon. That person remained still while he quickly released a messenger pigeon.
*****
“Targets are here.”
At the entrance of an ore mine southeast of Barbican were a group of people in night-traveling clothes. They quickly nodded at each other before they agilely jumped into the forest nearby before they disappeared without a trace, just like phantoms.
Within fewer than twenty seconds, rumbling horse hooves arrived in a manner that Class One Hall believed was unexpected to Mu Clan.
Hundreds of Class One Hall members rushed to the entrance of the cave in a majestic wave.
“Enter!”
The Class One Hall executive officer who acted as the leader jumped down the horse. Once his feet tapped against the ground, he charged into the cave. The entire process was done in one go.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The people behind him imitated what he did. They put away their steeds and charged into the ore mine.
There were still a few players who were mining at the first level of the mines.
These were mostly the lowest ranking members of sects who had a rather good relationship with Class One Hall. They came over here to train their life skills or to mine certain ores. However, up to this point in the game, there were already very few players who will mine at the first level of any ore mine.
The situation in the ore mine could be seen clearly with just one glance.
Many of the miners were taken aback by the large number of players who surged in. They did not know what happened, and they just stopped to watch.
The executive officer serving as the leader just went to a random person and asked whether they saw any Mu Clan member heading to the second level. That person nodded and said that he saw them, but never saw them coming out.
“They’re still inside!”
“What should we do…?”
The people at the back were instantly troubled.
The second level of all ore mines were special regions. At most, only around ten people can go in one go.
“Prepare berthierites!”
The branch executive officer asked that person about the number of people who entered the second level. Once he learned of the answer, he immediately released a sigh of relief before his expression returned to normal, and he schooled his face.
“Fortunately, we do not need to face a lot of enemies. We will have no problem once we rush in and gain our footing.
“Alright! Get ready. Those with great body fortifications, we will be entering as the first batch. The second and third batch, prepare berthierites, and go in to provide reinforcements as soon as you can!”
“Roger!” the people answered him. Then, more than ten male players with great equipment and awe-inspiring presences walked out of the crowd.
Boom!
Boom!
Their qi surged. The group of people activated their qi realms, and their body fortifications were also activated to their utmost limit. They then entered the chamber nervously.
“Open!”
Thud!
Once the Dragon Breaker Stone behind them came down, the second level of the mine became clear to their view.
Whoosh!
WHOOSH!
The group of people were tense, and they accumulated their strength, ready to attack at any moment. Once the stone door opened, they rushed unhesitatingly into the cave with their weapons positioned in front of them to block whatever attack might come at them.
But the scene that entered the sight of the branch executive officer and the group of Class One Hall elites caused them to be incredibly dumbfounded.
The second level of the ore mine was empty!
There was not a single person there.
The group looked at each other at a loss for a few seconds. Then, the stone door behind them suddenly let out a loud sound. The second batch of people had also rushed in.
“What’s going on?”
The intense fight they expected did not happen.
The group was instantly baffled.
“The people from Mu Clan shouldn’t have left…”
“They must have logged off.”
“Haha! Those idiots! We’ll stay here, and once they come back, we’ll send them all back to where they came from!”
The group discussed with each other in a relaxed manner.
The Class One Hall members originally thought that they were in for a fierce fight, but they relaxed and agreed to what was suggested.
Only the branch executive officer scowled. He just kept feeling that there was something off.
Mu Clan mobilized a lot of people for the attack this time. They had been meticulous when they snuck in, investigated the area, and attacked. They had even attacked with the force of lightning.
But the strongest sect in the Chinese server will definitely not do something that will definitely guarantee loss by sending a group of elites to their deaths in exchange for the lives of hundreds of players focusing on their occupations. After all, when players focusing on occupations were killed and inflicted with the injured status, their life skills will not be affected.
But when he thought about it, he found that there were indeed a lot of strange things about this.
Around half an hour had passed since the incident.
During this period of time, the Mu Clan members absolutely had the chance to leave in a composed manner. They can leave Barbican while it was dark and hide themselves in a secluded area.
But when they were at the first level and learned that the people from Mu Clan were still at the second level, they forgot to think about it in their excitement.
When he thought about it now, the branch executive officer suddenly found himself breaking into cold sweat.
“This is bad! There’s an ambush!”
The branch executive officer’s expression changed, and he turned his head around to shout, “Hurry up and send messenger pigeons to our friends outside and tell them to be on high alert. Mu Clan might not have sent only this number of people over! There might be a large group of people outside the cave!”
At that moment, he finally thought things through.
The people from Mu Clan had intentionally stayed in the area instead of leaving, and there was no other reason for it aside from luring them into the cave so that they will be easy prey.
Even though he still found it a little unbelievable and did not know how Mu Clan had the courage to fight a large scale war in Class One Hall’s territory, he no longer had the time to consider so many things.
At that moment, the third and fourth batches of people came into the second level in succession.
Before they rushed inside, they heard the branch executive officer roar loudly, and their expressions changed.
But if they wanted to leave this place, they will have to log off.
“Log off!”
“Hurry up and log off!”
*****
The branch executive officer quickly logged off and logged in the game.
When he returned to the game, he was already in the large hall at the first level of the ore mine.
“Ambush!”
“The people from Mu Clan are outside!”
“Brothers and sisters, hurry up and charge outside! Our enemies are not at the second level, but outside!”
Right when he stepped on solid ground, the branch executive officer heard his own people shouting and screaming from the distance, and his expression instantly turned dark.
‘It’s still too late…’
There was a complete isolation of information from the first level to the second level.
During the time they used to send their messenger pigeons, Mu Clan had launched an ambush, just as he expected, because they were not expecting an attack at the back.
More than one hundred Mu Clan elites appeared from the dark, and the Class One Hall members who were left behind to guard the area outside did not even have the chance to react. They were shot to death before they can do anything.
When the people inside heard the movements outside, two batches of people went out, and they were all shot to death.
The branch executive officer rushed to the frontline, and he saw that all his friends were killed. He shouted constantly in anger to have his remaining hall members return to the cave.
But unfortunately for him, it was to no avail.
Deafening whistles and the clashes from weapons became the main melody in the area. The Mu Clan members deliberately spared a handful of Class One Hall members and had them rush out of the cave to continue fighting so that they can lure more Class One Hall members to come out from within the ore mine.
What they saw were arrow showers and dense waves of attacks.
When he saw this, the branch executive officer was covered in cold sweat.
In the blink of an eye, less than half of the five hundred people were left in the ore mine.
