HPDBC Chapter 102 [Mine PvP and the Awakening of the Giant Beast]
Chapter 102 [Mine PvP and the Awakening of the Giant Beast]
A newly discovered small mine shaft became the fuse that ignited the powder keg.
This was the first clearly identified resource point discovered by the first batch of players after they entered the world of Ashem—iron ore.
The "farming faction" needs it.
Led by college student Zhang Wei, the players yearn to use iron to create more advanced agricultural tools and building implements, hoping to escape the inefficiency and hunger of the Stone Age.
They want to build a real home here.
The "fighting faction" also needs it.
The players, centered around the pro player "Lightning Blade," had long grown tired of fighting wild beasts with wooden clubs and stone axes under the brutal training of the war leader, Kahn.
They need iron to forge real weapons and armor, and to gain contribution and glory through killing.
The conflict first erupted on the official forum of "Asem Online" and then spread into the game.
When "Lightning Blade" appeared at the mine entrance with more than thirty players armed with crude weapons and fierce eyes, Zhang Wei led nearly fifty "farming" players to build a fragile defensive fortification out of wood and stone.
"Get out of the way, we've taken this place." Lightning Blade tapped his shoulder with the back of his stone axe, his gesture arrogant.
Zhang Wei responded, "We discovered the mine first. I suggest we sit down and develop a joint development plan. We can exchange food and tools for your nighttime protection of the mine."
"A plan?" Lightning Blade laughed. "My plan is to chop your heads open with an axe and then carry away all the ore. Brothers, let's do it!"
With Kahn's tacit approval, these "combat-oriented" players, who had the rules of the game ingrained in their very being, initiated the first PVP in the world of Ashem.
"Kill them!"
"For the Alliance... no, for the iron ore!"
The shouts were chaotic, and the weapons were a motley collection.
Stone axe against wooden stick, bone spear against stone hammer.
One combat-oriented player charged too aggressively, slipped, and crashed headfirst into the stone shield raised by another farming-oriented player. Both of them vanished in a flash of white light.
Lightning Blade was incredibly brave and took the lead. He chopped down a farming player with an axe. Before he could even celebrate, he was pinned to the ground by four players on the side with wooden sticks and beaten until he returned to the respawn point.
"Damn it! Who hit that black stick!" A few minutes later, Lightning Blade, wearing only a pair of animal skin shorts, roared as he charged back from the village and threw himself back into the battlefield.
The combat faction is more ferocious and has stronger individual combat capabilities.
However, the farming faction had more members, and through countless failed attempts at land reclamation, they developed greater resilience.
A player who preferred farming was killed and ran back from the village with an extra piece of wood in his hand, which he could use as a spare weapon.
A combat-oriented player was killed and ran back from the village, still cursing and complaining that the respawn point was too far from the battlefield.
The battle lasted for two full hours. After both sides had been killed dozens of times, everyone was exhausted and lay on the ground panting.
"Damn it... I'm not fighting anymore, I'm not fighting anymore..." Lightning Blade waved his hand weakly. "If we keep fighting, it'll be dark by then, and nobody will be able to mine."
Zhang Wei was also exhausted. He wiped his sweat, walked up to Lightning Blade, and extended his hand.
"Now, can we talk about joint development?"
Faced with exhaustion, the two sides reached a temporary "segmented mining agreement".
During the day, the farming faction takes over, and at night, the fighting faction takes over; both sides are jointly responsible for the safety of the mine.
That evening, on the official forum of "Asem Online", two pinned red posts were pushed to the top.
[Recruitment Post for "World Guild": A home for farming, infrastructure building, and production-oriented players! Our goal is to eliminate hunger in Ashem!]
[Spirit of Valor Recruitment: A Call to Arms for PVP and PVE Combat Maniacs! Let us forge glory from the bones of our enemies!]
……
On the other side of the continent, in that forbidden zone for mortals, at the edge of a bottomless pit.
Chen Kai read the dwarven exploration log one last time, and every detail was etched into his mind.
He turned around and nodded to his companions. "Is everything planned?"
Aija was adjusting the environmental monitoring runes on the Prospector leather armor.
"Understood. You're in charge of drawing out the target and exposing the core. I'll record the perimeter and set traps at designated locations B and C."
Wang Xuan patted his heavy armor.
The scholarly barrier made a muffled sound.
"I'll be responsible for building the final defensive position on the ground. Once you lure it out, my [Barrier] field will buy you at least ten seconds of absolute safety."
Chen Kai's gaze finally landed on Li Yao.
Li Yao's face was somewhat pale in the wind and snow, but her eyes were very firm.
"That thing's 'gaze' could very well penetrate physical distance and directly attack your mind."
"Remember, guard your own consciousness."
Li Yao nodded vigorously.
"Let's begin." Chen Kai no longer hesitated.
As bait, he followed the safety rope left by his predecessors, which was already covered by ice and snow, and was the first to leap into the darkness.
The feeling of falling lasted for less than three seconds before being replaced by a strange feeling of floating.
I saw my breath freeze into ice crystals in the air and then remain still.
Chen Kai activated the power of the [Wind Fang] spear, and a gentle airflow enveloped him, granting him valuable mobility in this complex anti-gravity zone.
Using his keen sense of airflow at the tip of his spear, he avoided areas of spatial and temporal disorder and moved at high speed toward the bottom of the pit.
He soon arrived at his destination.
Beneath our feet lay a vast expanse of black crystalline ground that stretched as far as the eye could see.
He took a deep breath, raised the [Fang of Wind], and struck the huge black crystal at his feet with the spearhead.
"Thump—"
The muffled sound traveled through the entire crystal structure, reverberating in all directions towards the abyss.
Moments later, the entire bottom of the pit came to life.
The black crystal surface beneath Chen Kai's feet shattered, and countless huge rocks rubbed against each other and rose up.
From the cracks in the rocks, countless bright red, tendon-like substances emerged, wriggling and taking root in the surrounding rock walls as they suddenly contracted.
Boom!
The entire mountain range trembled.
Large amounts of rock and ice were torn from the mountain and flowed into the central, constantly writhing and reorganizing mass.
A terrifying behemoth, formed from the mountains themselves and constantly devouring the surrounding rock walls to grow stronger, is taking shape.
It has no fixed form and changes every second, growing mountain-like limbs and then retracting them back into its body.
At the very top, like the "eye" of a white sun, it slowly opened.
The Obsidian Beast has awakened.
Wang Xuan and Ai Jia, who were far away at the edge of the pit, felt an overwhelming pressure.
Chen Kai's figure appeared as insignificant as an ant in front of the enormous beast.
That eye focused on him.
Chen Kai turned around and started climbing up the planned evacuation route.
What he had to do was lead this awakened, living natural disaster to the "graveyard" that had been carefully prepared for it on the surface.