Chapter 82: The Signal

Once, in the annals of a certain game, there was a page that recorded such a tale...

Forbidden Powder!

Legend has it that its creator was a youth with an unattractive face and a deformed body. From an early age, he suffered rejection and humiliation from everyone, even his own kin. Unable to endure this torment, he studied necromancy, cloaking himself daily in black robes, yet he achieved little and remained the subject of ridicule and abuse.

Gradually, the youth's disappointment and resentment toward the world deepened. He developed an intense hatred and vengeful desire against all normal people. For over twenty years, he shut himself away, bitterly pondering, until he finally invented a powder that required little spiritual effort and could, in a short time, create hordes of undead.

He called it "The End of the World."

On the first day he emerged from seclusion, the aged youth coated the bodies and weapons of the dozens of skeletal warriors he summoned with this powder.

That day, he tested it in a village. Anyone whose blood was tainted by the powder, whether practitioner or commoner, would swiftly become a living corpse, endowed with the physical strength and agility of a two-star creature. They felt no pain or fatigue and were furiously aggressive.

Within hours, the entire village—thousands—were transformed into savage, violent zombies!

The thrill of revenge caused the aged youth’s vengeance to swell uncontrollably. He drove the horde of zombies toward neighboring towns and even cities.

Unprecedented panic swept across the land!

Some high-level practitioners, infected by accident, also became living corpses with equal strength. The arrival of these elite zombies caused the undead zone to expand rapidly.

Eventually...

Senior necromancers, seeing the nation on the brink of collapse, could no longer sit idle. They commanded their undead to hunt down and kill the aged youth.

Yet the zombies remained rampant!

Only then did people realize these creatures were not mindless corpses, but retained partial autonomy. Even without necromancer control, their threat persisted.

Fortunately, all necromancers could earn the zombies’ recognition... Moreover, the zombies’ combat prowess waned daily; they lacked battle skills and possessed poor self-preservation instincts. Under the coordinated direction of many necromancers, the zombies were gradually eradicated, and the protracted apocalypse came to an end.

...

In the game, some had obtained and used this forbidden powder!

Zombies devoid of pain and driven only by rapid aggression acted as legions of death warriors.

Xu Wen once used a similar item in a high-level map. Just once, his "notoriety" became legendary.

From seven-star to nine-star, without exception, all transformed into zombies in a blink. No restorative or antidote worked, nor did elixirs.

Xu Wen ordered the elite zombies to guard the entrance, while he alone summoned undead, restored his spirit, and slowly wore down the boss...

It took him over three hours to slay a group of eight-star elite monsters along with the boss, and not a single player breached the zombies’ blockade.

But!

That was within the game, where forbidden powder was merely a tool. All zombie players swiftly revived in town.

Yet in this real world, someone dared to use such a deadly, forbidden item on innocent civilians!

Thankfully, this world was filled with practitioners; had it happened on Earth, the devastation would have been catastrophic.

Xu Wen quickly relayed the threat of forbidden powder and zombies to every city guard. Helian Quan drew a cold breath and resolutely ordered, "All soldiers below four-star, hold the walls and repel the enemy with bows!"

"All four-star soldiers, led by the Snow Battle Master, purge zombies from the battlements!"

Within the city, zombies were already rampant. Masses of zombies and unknown powerful necromancers could no longer be contained by their limited numbers; a rash assault was out of the question.

Xu Wen silently praised the decision.

Now the city wall was the ideal position!

Using the eastern gate as a base, they held the high ground, with open space all around; neither zombies nor necromancers could escape their vigilance.

Even a seven-star necromancer would not dare charge into a formation of heavy crossbows!

Soon...

Two thousand troops secured the eastern gate and battlements, shooting down all zombies inside and out.

Helian Quan ordered his men to quickly gather nearby corpses and burn them in heaps, preventing their use by necromancers. He also arranged for soldiers to protect civilians fleeing from their homes, relocating them outside the city but within bow range.

All preparations were complete!

Over a thousand defenders manned the battlements, crossbows at the ready.

Helian Quan and his group of elite scanned the city from above. He drew a deep breath and issued a decisive command:

"Send the signal!"

A nearby soldier stepped forward, drew out a small flare, ignited it, and fired.

Trailing a brilliant tail, the golden flare burst into dazzling fireworks above Mus City, standing out strikingly against the darkening sky.

Xu Wen had already learned from the surrounding soldiers that this golden flare signified the arrival of reinforcements and the search for friendly forces on the battlefield.

If city guards survived within Mus City, they would try to approach or send a distress signal.

If there was no response...

It meant Mus City had fallen completely.

Once the deadline passed, Helian Quan would not hesitate to lead a full retreat, abandoning Mus City.

Of course, that was the worst outcome!

Mus City possessed ten times the troops of **** Town; a handful of necromancers could not take it so quickly, as evidenced by their use of forbidden powder.

Xu Wen’s guess proved accurate.

Barely ten seconds after the flare rose...

Five more signals shot up from various points within the city, bursting overhead.

At the same time, fierce fighting erupted in many places!

Amid muffled explosions, shadowy figures darted through zombie-infested streets, breaking through and racing toward the walls; the nearest group, over a hundred strong, was only two blocks away. After several bursts of fire blocked the pursuing zombies, they soon reached the city gates.

A soldier atop the battlements, prompted by Helian Quan, shouted to those about to climb up:

"Stop right there!"

"Identify yourselves!"

"West City Clan, Zhang Ke! These are fellow clansmen from all families. Is General Helian Quan above? I had the honor of meeting you once in **** Town," called a burly man below, surprised by the tense scene atop the wall but not daring to slacken, since the zombies posed no immediate threat.

"Are any among you colluding with the rebel clans of the Dark Empire—Ail and Salem?" Helian Quan spoke personally.

He had recognized the speaker as vaguely familiar and noted his seven-star mid-level cultivation. The group behind him ranged from four-star to seven-star; their arrival would be a great aid against the necromancers.

His question drew immediate protests from several below.

Sure enough, some rebels were among them.

Zhang Ke, though shocked by Helian Quan’s revelation, acted decisively, pointing to several panicked faces in the crowd: "Tie them up!"

With a single command, members of the West City Clan and others quickly subdued the suspects and brought them atop the battlements.

As they ascended, Xu Wen felt a cold gaze sweep across the wall. Following his intuition, he saw a group stumbling closer, fending off zombies as they made their way toward them.