Chapter 150: A Group Quietly Returns to the City

The monster-hunting players of the Peerless Guild, as furtive as rats, had all drawn in tightly. Half of them were on defense, while the other half continued grinding monsters.

They left Zhang Shan no opening for a sneak attack at all. With the two thousand players of the Stormcloud Guild blocked off here, even Zhang Shan was at a loss for what to do.

The Stormcloud members grinding monsters inside could not charge out to support him. One man alone could do nothing against so many opponents.

At most, he could go up and harass them whenever his Berserk skill came off cooldown. The moment the skill’s duration ended, he had to flee.

Otherwise, the sheer number of control skills would stun him to death.

He had to think of something. If only he had more people working with him—not too many, just a few hundred.

With several hundred people supporting him, Zhang Shan could try to throw the two thousand Qi players into chaos. Then the Stormcloud members inside could seize the opportunity to break out.

Hmm? What if the Stormcloud members inside quietly teleported back to the city in batches, then ran back over?

As long as the groups were not too large, no one should notice. If he could get several hundred of them out to join him, he would be confident of launching a charge.

Once he had the idea, he acted at once, first contacting Stormcloud One Saber and asking him to make the arrangements.

It was not much of a solution to let the Peerless Guild keep blocking them. Although the arrangement caused the guild no real losses, it was embarrassing all the same.

After all, the Stormcloud Guild was one of the game’s ten great guilds, and the first player guild established in the New World.

Being directly barricaded in by others did not look good.

“One Saber, can you quietly send several hundred people back to the city by channeling the return spell, then have them come back in batches? I’ll lead them in a charge and throw those two thousand people into disorder. Then the people inside can break out.”

“If we start channeling the return spell, won’t the Peerless Guild notice? They must be watching us constantly.”

“Don’t send too many at once. A few hundred will do. There are so many players on the Heaven’s Gate Pass map—how could they keep an eye on everyone?”

“All right. I’ll discuss it with the boss. I’ll take five hundred warrior-class players back to the city. Then we’ll charge the hell out of them.”

“Wait, all warriors?”

“Yes. Warriors are the best for charging. They can close the distance quickly, and with all that health, they’re less likely to die. Besides, aren’t you handling the damage? We’ll scatter their formation, you’ll quickly take down a group of them, and the people inside can use the opening to rush out.”

“Fine, then. Be careful. Don’t all come running over at once. Send ten or so at a time. Even if the Peerless players notice, they probably won’t pay much attention.”

“Understood. Mark a meeting point, and we’ll gather there shortly.”

Zhang Shan glanced at the two thousand Qi players blocking the entrance.

Just wait. I’ll be back to deal with you soon.

He could not handle so many people alone, so he withdrew first, intending to regroup with the people Stormcloud One Saber brought over.

In truth, the Peerless players were unwilling to stand guard here either. No fight could actually break out, and there were no monsters for them to grind outside. They could only stand around doing nothing, which was dreadfully dull.

But they had no choice.

They had to keep blocking the entrance, partly to preserve their pride. Later, when they told the story, they could say that although they had not defeated the Stormcloud Guild, they had at least pinned all of its people inside.

What a glorious claim that would be.

There was another reason as well. If they did not keep the Stormcloud Guild trapped inside, what if its people charged out from time to time?

Then the Peerless Guild could forget about grinding monsters on the Heaven’s Gate Pass map. They might as well obediently return to their own nation’s territory.

Once the Stormcloud players broke out, it would not be mere harassment like Zhang Shan’s.

They would seize the Peerless players and wipe them out wave after wave. Who could endure that?

So they had to keep watch here until the matter blew over, or until both sides negotiated a truce and called it quits.

A truce was certainly the eventual choice. Everyone had to grind monsters and level up, after all. They could not keep fighting forever.

The only question was what form the truce would take. That depended on the balance of power between the two sides.

For the Peerless Guild, the situation was not bad at present. They could not cut down any Stormcloud players, but neither could the Stormcloud Guild kill any of theirs.

Aside from Zhang Shan, who was still wandering around outside, everyone else was trapped within.

Once enough time had passed, the Stormcloud players would return to the city, or the two sides would negotiate a truce, and the matter would be considered settled.

Any future conflict would be a separate issue.

Zhang Shan found a place far from the Qi players and waited quietly for Stormcloud One Saber to arrive.

Before long, Stormcloud One Saber brought five hundred warrior-class players over in successive groups to join him.

Because they had come in batches, the Qi players either failed to notice them or noticed them without paying much attention. The Heaven’s Gate Pass map was constantly crowded with people; a few more players from Chu were nothing unusual.

The Peerless Guild did not alter its deployment. The others continued grinding monsters, and no reinforcements were sent to the group blocking the entrance.

“Six-Tube, what’s the plan?” One Saber asked.

“I’ll charge first. I’ll activate Berserk and draw their fire. Five or six seconds after I rush in, once they’ve used their first wave of control skills, all of you charge in and throw them into chaos.”

Zhang Shan had Berserk, which made him immune to control for ten seconds. No one else possessed that skill.

Although Berserk was a universal skill, very few skill books for it had appeared. Zhang Shan’s own had come from a five-star chest.

So far, he had not heard of anyone else who possessed it.

It was an extraordinarily rare and powerful skill, useful to anyone. Immunity to control was important no matter who you were.

It was especially valuable to damage dealers. If they could not be controlled, they could continue attacking without interruption.

While the skill lasted, they were practically living artillery platforms—invincible existences.

“All right. You go first. We’ll follow behind and charge in.”

Stormcloud One Saber strongly approved of Zhang Shan’s proposal. If Zhang Shan absorbed a wave of skills at the front, fewer of them would die during the charge.

After quickly settling on their strategy, Zhang Shan led One Saber and the others toward the Qi players at full speed.

Because he had to accommodate everyone else’s pace, Zhang Shan did not ride a horse. He could only advance on foot like the others.

Before long, they arrived in front of the Qi players once more.

“Damn, that Six-Tube Bodhisattva is back again. Is this ever going to end?”

“Wait, look! There are several hundred people behind him. The Stormcloud Guild must be planning something else. Quickly call Gentleman over for reinforcements!”

Zhang Shan paid no attention to what the Qi players were thinking. He had to break apart those two thousand people as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, by the time Peerless Gentleman arrived with the main force, it would be too late.

Before Gentleman’s reinforcements arrived, they had to crush this group and free the Stormcloud players trapped inside.

Then they could repeat their previous strategy: wipe out one wave of opponents, forcing the Stormcloud players to retreat inside again.

They simply would not engage Peerless Gentleman head-on.

That would infuriate him to death. Heh.