Chapter 178 - 122: September: Invasion Month (2)
...
The atmosphere in the small group chat heated up following Ding Dong’s message. Everyone started contacting nearby lords to build rapport, preparing to team up if they faced a tough opponent.
However, this had little to do with Lin Yu. His territory was on the edge of the continent, far from everyone else.
Even the lords near his territory didn’t know its exact location, only that it was deep within a dense forest.
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Li the Great Sword Immortal, you there?"
Li Hua (Private Message): "Well, well! If it isn’t the big shot who ranked second in our legion battle. What’s up? What could you possibly need from little old me?"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "!!"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "I thought your legion was super strong. How come I didn’t see you making a push in the battles? You didn’t just send some regular troops to compete, did you? You didn’t send your Sword Immortals?"
Li Hua (Private Message): "...Are your ’Yao’ considered a unit type?"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ, I get it now!!"
The non-humanoid creatures in Lin Yu’s territory become "Yao" after passing the Transformation Tribulation. If they weren’t heroes before the tribulation, they are promoted to hero rank without any loss of quality. If they were already heroes, their rank increases by one level. Therefore, all "Yao" are heroes, just like elves.
If Li Hua’s Sword Immortal class change had the same characteristic, then all of his Sword Immortals would also be heroes and naturally couldn’t participate in the legion battle.
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Li the Great Sword Immortal, what are you planning to do about this month’s invasion?"
Li Hua (Private Message): "What else is there to do? I’m just going to go for it, of course. It’s a good chance to test the strength of my Sword Immortals."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Need my help?"
Li Hua (Private Message): "Why would I need your help?"
Li Hua (Private Message): "Oh, I get it. You’re worried about what’s going on in the public channel, aren’t you!"
Li Hua (Private Message): "Are you planning to lead people to fight the invasion?"
Li Hua (Private Message): "And you don’t want to expose your territory’s location?"
Li Hua (Private Message): "By the way, where the hell is your territory? I had my people scout in the direction your troops were advancing from, but it was all just plants. They didn’t see a single building!"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Hehehe, a secret’s a secret!"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "But you’re sharp. You figured it all out."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "With the public channel in such an uproar, I can’t just do nothing. I have to at least make a gesture."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Seeing how low your rank was in the last legion battle, I thought you didn’t care about the tournament rewards and were just focusing on your cultivation!"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "I was originally planning to use your Teleportation Array to help some people out, but it looks like I was thinking about it the wrong way!"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "How about this? I’ll have my troops lie in wait near your territory. If anyone needs help, they can pay for support. What do you think? I’ll give you ten percent of the fee as payment for using it as a temporary base?"
Li Hua (Private Message): "Playing it like that? You’d be comfortable, but wouldn’t I be in danger? What if you take the opportunity to attack me?"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "No way. We’ve cooperated so many times, and you still doubt my character?"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "How about this: you decide who we help. And I’ll give you another ten percent of the profits. How does that sound?"
...
After some back-and-forth, Lin Yu and Li Hua finally agreed. Lin Yu would send a contingent of soldiers led by a few heroes to be stationed near Li Hua’s territory.
If any nearby lords needed help, they could hire them for support by paying Ten Thousand Points.
Lin Yu also posted an advertisement in the world channel.
Lin Yu: "Coordinates (XXX, XXX, XXX). I have stationed an army here. Lords near these coordinates can request paid support if needed. For details, please contact Lord Li Hua."
With him taking the lead, most of the other lords who had made it onto the leaderboards for the legion battle also came out and made similar announcements. The gist was the same: if the randomly selected defender wasn’t too strong, they would help fight the invasion for a fee.
...
A night passed amidst the lords’ heated discussions.
Early in the morning, Lin Yu walked into the military command center.
"Phantom, why are you here so early today?" As soon as he entered Phantom’s office, Lin Yu saw her slumped over her desk.
"Master, you’re here so early! Do you have new arrangements for me?" Phantom’s eyes lit up, and she jumped up excitedly.
Lin Yu glanced at the overcoat lying to the side and smiled.
"Did you sleep in the office last night?"
"Hehehe, it’s a new month. I was afraid you might have a mission for me, so..."
"As a matter of fact, I do. Come on, let’s plan out what’s next."
Lin Yu sat on the office sofa and began discussing the upcoming arrangements with Phantom.
"First, send out a notice. The Teleportation Arrays to the Cosmic Arena and the Eternal Battlefield will be suspended today. Have the territory’s soldiers and heroes stand by! If things go smoothly, the arrays will reopen tomorrow. If not, they’ll stay closed for the rest of the month."
"Yes, I’ll send out the notice right away."
As she spoke, Phantom immediately began working at her desk.
After Phantom sent out the notice, Lin Yu continued, "Second, at ten o’clock, a Teleportation Gate will open within the territory."
"We need to send people in first to scout and confirm the enemy’s strength. Draw up a list. Besides heroes, you can also send some elites from the Shadow Reapers."
"Third, gather the people who participated in the June legion battle. This month, they’ll be acting as mercenaries outside."
"Everyone else, stand by for now. We’ll wait for the scouting party to bring back intel."
...
At ten o’clock sharp, in the central plaza of the territory beneath the World Tree, a large Teleportation Gate appeared out of thin air.
Near the Teleportation Gate, a team was already prepared. At Phantom’s command, they entered the gate in an orderly fashion.
They were the scouting party selected by Phantom, a total of 20 members, including 10 Shape-shifting Druids—5 Sharp Claw Druids skilled in stealth and 5 Fierce Raptor Druids—as well as 10 elite Shadow Reapers.
In addition to this scouting party, a large army outside the territory, in the Goblin Forest, was marching toward the distant plains.
The contingent was formed based on the final roster from the legion battle tournament.
It consisted of 1,000 Shadow Reapers, 2,000 Steel-backed Porcupines, 1,000 Corruption Spreaders, 2,000 Withered Messengers, and 4,000 Elemental Druids.
The commander of the force was Amuti Goodwin. His outstanding performance in the legion battle had earned him a large amount of military merit rewards. Combined with his previous savings, he had accumulated enough merit to exchange for a "Legendary Hero Inheritance Book (Gold)."
Now, Amuti had also been promoted to a Legendary Hero. His attributes had increased significantly, the damage and range of all his skills had been enhanced, and he had also gained new skills.
[Brush Ambush]: When in a brush, enter a stealth state. The straw on your body mimics the form of the surrounding brush. Moving without leaving the brush will not break the stealth state.
[Fear] gained a new effect, becoming:
[Fear]: The Withered Messenger’s appearance is terrifying. Seeing it triggers a fear check. Feared creatures will run around uncontrollably.
When an enemy is attacked by a Withered Messenger without seeing it, they will be forcibly feared.
Active Use: Deals 100% of Magic Power as damage to a single target and fears it.
If the target is killed during the fear duration, the cooldown of Fear is reset.
The duration of the fear is determined by the difference in Magic Power between both parties.
Additionally, after becoming a hero, he also changed his class to Druid at the Jade Sanctuary, gaining a series of Druid skills such as [Master Level Spiritual Energy (Necromancy) Manipulation], [Legendary Plant Manipulation], [Advanced Nature Magic Mastery], and [Advanced Transformation Technique].
Furthermore, within this army, there was also a Hero Squad, Squad Yuan, which included: Yuan Xiaobo, Rose, Dong Lin, Lin Yan, Mirus, Niu Armor, and Lin Kong, as well as 10 other excellent-grade heroes.
The Hero Squad was intended to counter potential decapitation strikes led by powerful enemy heroes. Of course, if the enemy had no powerful heroes, they could also carry out decapitation strikes themselves.