Chapter 138: A Tiger Among the Flock

Zhang Shan led the way, and the three of them jogged along, quickly arriving at the city gates.

Not far outside the gates, a group of players from the Qi Kingdom were scattered, standing guard. Meanwhile, Heaven Slaughtering Dragon Blade and his companions lay on the ground, waiting for their teammates to come and resurrect them. Once a player reaches level 25, leveling up becomes incredibly difficult; unless absolutely necessary, no one wants to resurrect back in the city. Resurrecting in the city results in losing a level, which would then take days of grinding to regain—a massive loss.

Zhang Shan glanced at the situation outside the city but didn't pay it much mind. Although the Qi players were shouting loudly in the regional chat, there were actually fewer than three or four hundred of them. He figured they could just go around; the map of the Heaven’s Gate Pass was complex, so a small detour would suffice.

"Ignore them. Let's go, we'll head around," Zhang Shan said, intending to lead Fengyun Yidao in a quick detour along the side.

"Damn, more Chu dogs are coming! Brothers, charge! Cut them down!"

"Wait a second, that looks like Six-Barrel Bodhisattva, the one with the Divine Artifact. Should we just leave them alone?"

"To hell with the Divine Artifact! There are only three of them, and we have hundreds. Are we really going to be afraid of them? Attack together and kill them!"

Zhang Shan hadn't intended to cross swords with them. While killing players could potentially cause them to drop items, to be honest, he didn't really care about their gear. Unless it was red-tier equipment, everything else was worth at most a few thousand gold coins—a negligible amount that wouldn't make any difference.

However, since they weren't going to let him pass, Zhang Shan decided not to be polite. Besides, this would be his first time killing players from another kingdom. Seeing the Qi players charging toward them and abandoning their guard over the bodies of the Heaven Slaughtering Dragon Blade team, Zhang Shan turned to his companions.

"Get ready. Brother Yidao, just stay by my side and focus on protecting me. No need to charge in."

"That goes without saying. There are hundreds of them! I wouldn't dare charge; one hit from each of them would grind me to dust."

Originally, Zhang Shan had planned to bypass them, but since the Chu players wouldn't let him leave, clearing them out was just as good. Without waiting for them to reach him, Zhang Shan led Fengyun Yidao and the others in a direct charge. A head-on clash—who was afraid of whom?

Soon, the Qi players were within Zhang Shan’s firing range. He stopped and began unleashing bullets from his firearm. The Qi players in the front were mostly warriors, but facing Zhang Shan’s attack power of over nine thousand, they were dropped in two or three shots. Before Zhang Shan, there was no such thing as a "meat shield"—everyone was just fodder.

"What the hell? I have over twenty thousand HP, how did I go down in three shots?"

"The attack power of that Divine Artifact is insane! The damage is terrifying—thousands per shot!"

"Don't be afraid! Keep charging! No matter how strong Six-Barrel Bodhisattva is, there are only three of them. We have hundreds! Even if we just stand there and let him hit us, it would take him minutes to kill us all!"

"Brothers, don't stop! Keep charging!"

As more and more Qi players surged forward, even the ranged classes began to reach them with their attacks. Zhang Shan realized that if he didn't show them some real power, they would never learn. He activated his "Frenzy" skill, increasing his attack speed by 100% for six seconds.

With Frenzy active, his firearm turned into a machine gun, spraying a barrage of bullets. In an instant, a large swath of the leading Qi players was cut down. His attack speed was already high—normally firing three shots every two seconds—but with Frenzy, he was even faster. The momentum of the Qi players' charge was stopped dead in its tracks.

After charging twice and losing dozens of men to Zhang Shan, the Qi players began to falter. They weren't from a single guild; they were just a disorganized crowd temporarily gathered at Heaven’s Gate Pass. There was no unity to speak of; they were fine in a winning battle, but as soon as the tide turned, they became scattered sand.

Before the Qi players could even decide whether to continue the charge, Zhang Shan gave them no time to think. He charged forward with his Panda Baby, with Fengyun Yidao and Boss Wu following closely. Since the fight had already started, there was no need for restraint; he would scatter this group of Qi players once and for all.

Zhang Shan dove into the crowd like a tiger among sheep, his gun firing incessantly.

"Damn you, Six-Barrel Bodhisattva! Don't push your luck!"

"You're allowed to kill others, but I'm not allowed to kill you?"

Zhang Shan didn't care. Seizing the chaos in their formation, he kept firing. Since they weren't in the same faction, he wouldn't even turn red-named no matter how many he killed.

As Zhang Shan rampaged through the crowd, the tide turned instantly. The previously arrogant Qi players began to flee in all directions. Fengyun Yidao no longer felt the need to guard Zhang Shan, as the opposition could no longer organize any decent offensive. They were scurrying like rabbits, and Fengyun Yidao wasn't about to pass up such a good opportunity to hunt. He caught up to a player, used a charge, and with a flurry of double-blade strikes, took them down.

Zhang Shan continued to hunt them down, taking out every purple-named player he saw. He even accidentally killed a few passersby from other kingdoms, but he had no time to distinguish between them. In the Heaven’s Gate Pass, anyone who wasn't from the Chu Kingdom was an enemy; killing them was never a mistake.

After two or three minutes of chasing, the only ones left standing were the three of them, with a field of corpses left in their wake. Zhang Shan didn't know exactly how many he had killed, but it was at least a hundred. He didn't bother chasing those who had fled too far; the terrain in Heaven’s Gate Pass was complex, filled with peaks and forests, making it easy for people to vanish after a quick turn.

Fengyun Yidao ran over, still feeling the adrenaline. "It’s so satisfying to be a ranged fighter. As a warrior, once my charge skill is on cooldown, I can’t catch anyone. They all run too damn fast!"

"How many did you get?" Zhang Shan asked.

"Not many. The cooldown on Charge is a minute, and I only used it three times, so I only took down three people."

"Not bad, Brother Yidao. One charge, one kill."

"It’s not satisfying at all. These players just rely on numbers, but their gear is trash. They can't take a hit; I cut them down in a few swings."

"You're a beast."

"Damn, Brother Six-Barrel, don't tease me. You took down over a hundred by yourself, and I only got three. My gear isn't even that bad, so why do I still feel so weak?"

"You'll get stronger once you hit level thirty."

"Getting to thirty is still a long way off. Anyway, let's pick up the loot. Even if it's mostly garbage, it's still worth some money."

They spread out to collect the items dropped on the ground. The Qi players who had dropped the loot lay on the ground, watching them pick it up, cursing incessantly. Zhang Shan ignored them. They had brought this upon themselves—he had tried to go around, but they hadn't let him. He didn't camp their bodies, which was already an act of mercy.