Chapter 377: Chapter 320: Mr. Li Zheng, Please Be Merciful!
"How long have Ma Long and his team been inside?" Liu Qi glanced at the time, looking somewhat anxious.
Beside him, a young man with a buzz cut, standing as tall as a pine and with a resolute face, answered loudly and decisively, "Another thirty-one seconds and it’ll be exactly fifteen minutes!"
"Fifteen minutes..." Liu Qi opened the world channel, sighed with relief, but also felt his heart leap into his throat.
At least... there wasn’t any unacceptable announcement.
Hopefully, those people have given up on this activity...
Liu Qi’s eyes sunk; Kunlun had sacrificed a great deal to win this event.
If they failed, or gave up now, all the initial investments would be lost without any return.
"Major, is it necessary to go to such lengths for just one Extraordinary Artifact?" The warrior hesitated for a moment and asked Liu Qi.
"One?" Liu Qi didn’t turn his head, trying to keep his voice steady as he replied, "For a squad of five, how could the Terminal only provide one Extraordinary Artifact? That doesn’t fit the patterns we’ve summarized."
The Terminal is always fair, willing to reward those who explore earnestly, never deliberately targeting.
Conversely, those who take shortcuts, avoid exploration, and seek temporary safety are sometimes weeded out by the Terminal’s methods.
For players like Kunlun, who persist on activities, how could the Terminal only provide one Extraordinary Artifact for five players in the same squad to fight over?
"But even if it’s five Extraordinary Artifacts, I don’t think it’s worth such desperate efforts to compete for them." The warrior continued, "Now most players are starting to get Gold and Platinum level items or materials, and Platinum will soon be widespread. Our Kunlun, with all our efforts combined, has top warriors touching Diamond Level, and some even possess two Diamond Level pieces of equipment. Comparatively... mere five Extraordinary Artifacts really don’t mean much?"
As long as exploration remains stable, when Diamond level creatures are no longer a barrier to players, there’s an opportunity to encounter higher-level challenges.
Then, naturally, one can obtain Extraordinary Artifacts.
"Early action leads to lasting advantage, surely you understand." Liu Qi kept switching between chat channels in front of him, "If we touch the Extraordinary Artifacts before others, exploring a few days later will bring greater rewards."
"And don’t forget, artifacts can be traded!"
"You mean..." The warrior’s expression shifted as he realized something.
"Exactly! On the same day, let the strongest among us take turns wielding Extraordinary Artifacts, enhancing their combat capability, raising the exploration threshold, maximizing the benefits!" Liu Qi rubbed his temples, feeling his eyes dry yet afraid to close them for relief, fearing bad news once he opened them again.
"Previously, the gap was not significant between us and other organizations, making such actions meaningless."
"However, after obtaining the highest tier artifacts surpassing other organizations, Kunlun’s advantage period naturally arrives."
"As long as stable development continues, Kunlun will unquestionably become the strongest group in Matrix, no exceptions!"
"I am tired of being called a counterfeit nation!"
Increasingly agitated, Liu Qi declared, "This time, we will stand on top, making all people from other nations look up!"
With Liu Qi’s explanation, the warrior understood why Kunlun was doing all this, and instantly became excited.
"So did you start planning from the moment the event began?"
"Spread the sentiment about the event’s high difficulty, making members from other organizations hesitate, then secretly plot development, amassing Points?"
Liu Qi shook his head, "I didn’t arrange anyone to spread panic; that was merely an unexpected surprise. I didn’t expect so many players to fail the event, assisting us in secret."
Fleeting soldiers are the most stubborn, a favorite among many PR companies.
Just set the rhythm, and they’ll join in of their own accord.
The Terminal released a nationwide event once, yet these scattered soldiers rushed impulsively into the instance, only to be shattered.
Other organizations certainly wouldn’t rush to tackle the event initially; after all, it had over forty challenge targets, inherently feeling like a "trap."
When the scattered troops issued the proclamation "high difficulty; whoever participates dies," some organizations inevitably hesitated, watching others die in vain.
Others then organized their people to attempt, finding the difficulty overwhelmingly high, forcing challenges were entirely counterproductive, naturally leading to withdrawal.
For instance, Nine Heavens, after Tang Qianzang Squad finished the event and reported the difficulty, no further participation occurred.
Only Kunlun persisted, having discovered the property’s uniqueness.
The sole variable is the team led by Li Zheng.
Liu Qi couldn’t fathom how Li Zheng’s team had the courage to keep pushing forward when others had given up.
Initially, he thought perhaps they had internal information from Kunlun, thus seizing three kills along the way.
But after questioning Yu Xiaoyu, Liu Qi realized they didn’t have a clue about Kunlun’s actions.
Yet, precisely this uncertainty was most unsettling to him.
Because Li Zheng’s team might genuinely have the capability to defeat the full-strength mutant!
Just then, a system announcement appeared, and Liu Qi, having just switched to the world channel, saw it clearly.
[Congratulations to Player "Li Zheng" and their team for killing the mutant for Activity Number 33, Kill Points +2.]
"Number Thirty-Three?" Liu Qi was first taken aback and then shocked.
Afraid Li Zheng would replicate yesterday’s actions, he aimed for safety today, advancing step by step, meticulously slaying according to number from low to high.
Currently, Ma Long’s squad was battling mutant Number Thirty-Four, and the warriors responsible for weakening mutant Number Thirty-Three had yet to act!
This indicated Li Zheng’s squad was truly capable of killing the mutant in its full state!
"Major, they’ve scored eight points already and remain ahead." The warrior behind was anxious, "Even if Ma Long’s team kills mutant Number Thirty-Four, they’ll only have four points, still short half, they can’t catch up!"
"I know!" Liu Qi was equally anxious.
Warriors tasked with weakening mutants were now risking their lives just entering the room with the lowest number; this time, they had to stop at mutant Number Thirty.
In Kunlun, warriors’ lives are the most precious; unless foolproof, Liu Qi wouldn’t lightly risk their lives.
Yesterday, some ignored orders, sacrificing several warriors, leaving him heartbroken for a long time.
Now, only three mutants numbered below Thirty remained.
Unless Ma Long’s squad could bag all the kill points for the three mutants, the crown would definitely not go to Kunlun!
"If only I’d known, perhaps I should have sent Ma Long’s team to handle the mutants below Number Forty yesterday too!" Liu Qi recalled the Points divvied up by other teams yesterday, feeling pained.
"Should we... reach out to Li Zheng and ask them to forfeit the upcoming challenges?" The warrior spoke softly, as if feeling such a request was disgraceful, and dared not speak loudly.
"Perhaps... it’s the only option now." After long struggle, Liu Qi contacted two warriors watching over his cousin and sought Yu Xiaoyu for Li Zheng’s friendship slot.
Li Zheng, frustrated by the previous slander incident, priced his items in the trading hall sky-high.
Without finding another way, just contacting Li Zheng would incur a huge loss.
After promising Yu Xiaoyu she could return to Phoenix Mountain, Liu Qi convinced her to act as intermediary, successfully reaching Phoenix Mountain.