162

“The Red cloud lost a base... strange.”

Inside the base occupied by Hai Chao, Jiang Haichuan stared at the map displayed by the system, his brows furrowed.

The base that had separated from the Red cloud didn’t disappear into the thick fog again; the bright yellow stood out sharply in his eyes.

“Have we attacked this base of Shan Ze’s before?” He showed the map to the person next to him.

(Shan Ze ≠ Yu Yezhou's guild)

The person glanced at it and said, “There were some small-scale harassment attempts, but the people from Shan Ze are like mad dogs; we couldn't even break in. They couldn't even touch the crystal.”

After hearing this, Jiang Haichuan felt increasingly uneasy.

Hai Chao hadn't taken over a Red cloud base, so how did this base separate?

Suddenly, the person beside him remembered something and said, “Could it be the monsters?”

Recently, there had been a sudden increase in roaming monsters. Some of them looked very familiar, but most were lethargic and didn’t pay any attention to the passersby.

Unless there was a grudge in the dungeon, some unlucky players might be chased by monsters.

Could these monsters be taking over bases? Could they have a mission too?

A portion of the guild had already turned into monsters, so Jiang Haichuan understood some of their rules.

For instance, if they wanted to survive in this world, they also had rules they had to follow.

But...

Jiang Haichuan couldn’t shake the feeling that it didn’t seem like the monsters were behind this.

He stood up and told the people around him, “Send someone to investigate.”

He needed to get to the bottom of this.

---

Meanwhile, Gu Zhan confirmed that his plan was feasible and arranged for the people in Base Two to return to Base One.

His plan was simple: If the monsters only obeyed his commands and wouldn’t help the human factions,

then he could leave the faction, take over a base by himself, and, when the countdown for the defense-offense battle started, return with the captured base to the Red cloud.

In that case, Yu Yezhou and the others would only need to defend their current bases, relieving them of some pressure.

After occupying Base Two, Gu Zhan left Qin Yue and a few monsters to guard the base while he took the others and left to go to other unoccupied areas.

Along the way, the monsters’ presence made other players retreat on their own.

Over years of dungeon life, players’ fear of monsters had become ingrained. Unless necessary, no one wanted to confront monsters directly.

Those players who had been lingering near the base, waiting to strike, scattered at the sight of the monsters.

The less organized ones... formed teams and fled too.

Gu Zhan originally wanted to tell them that as long as they didn’t make unreasonable demands, Yu Yezhou would definitely accept them. When rewards were distributed, everyone would share equally.

But he didn’t even get a chance to say anything.

Watching the players flee, sitting on the giant monster’s shoulder, Gu Zhan couldn’t help but feel like he was the villain.

At that moment, Mo Tuo was still behind him, smiling and saying, “You’ll have to get used to this change in identity.”

Gu Zhan shot him a glare in response.

Monsters also had survival instincts. When they sensed that Gu Zhan was upset, Mo Tuo quickly kept quiet.

---

Most of the neutral third-party faction bases, which hadn’t belonged to the Red cloud or Opposing factions, were quickly taken over by Gu Zhan.

At first glance, the Red, Yellow (Gu Zhan's), and Blue (Enemy) factions seemed evenly matched. Those who didn’t know better might think the system had set up a three-faction system.

As Gu Zhan’s power grew, some more daring individuals wanted to cooperate with him.

Gu Zhan only told them to go find Yu Yezhou, not saying anything else.

Time quickly passed, and the final day of the base battle arrived.

Gu Zhan contacted Yu Yezhou, and most people had already chosen their factions.

The few who hadn’t chosen were basically giving up on the escape scroll.

Yu Yezhou also mentioned that he would publicly share the information Shan Ze had gotten, telling the players that this was the second-to-last game in this world. If they didn’t get an escape scroll in the final dungeon, they would lose their wish.

As for how the players chose, that was up to them.

After closing the system, Gu Zhan stood by the crystal in the center of the base, waiting.

The sky gradually darkened, and only a few hours remained until the end of the base battle.

The base camp was eerily quiet. However, the excessive silence and darkness only seemed to highlight the oppressive atmosphere.

Gu Zhan was not in a hurry. He stood there with many monsters around him, casually chatting with them.

Suddenly, he heard a faint movement from a distance. Gu Zhan’s expression shifted, and he summoned a ray of sunlight to shine on the source of the sound.

The Hai Chao members who came to ambush were illuminated by the sunlight, shielding their eyes from the brightness.

Gu Zhan wasn’t surprised. Aerial attacks were a favorite tactic of the Hai Chao guild.

However, once Gu Zhan noticed them, the ambush turned into an open attack.

Gu Zhan stood up and noticed that the Hai Chao members didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. The leader, in particular, looked very familiar.

Gu Zhan asked, “Have I seen him before?”

Mo Tuo wasn’t around, and the other monsters couldn’t answer his question.

Gu Zhan stayed still as the person got closer, their speed gradually slowing. He adjusted the sunlight’s brightness so it would shine without blinding them.

The person who looked familiar stopped at the front and spoke, “I suspected you weren’t a player anymore, that you’ve completely turned into a monster.”

Gu Zhan didn’t understand what the person meant, so he stayed silent.

But he did remember this person’s name: Jiang Haichuan, the leader of the Hai Chao guild.

The fact that the guild leader himself was involved surprised Gu Zhan.

Jiang Haichuan continued, “You’re taking over bases because the system released some rules that players don’t know about? How laughable. We’ve worked so hard to join this world, to stay here, but this world rejects us.”

Gu Zhan raised an eyebrow. “What you’re doing isn’t about joining the world; you’re just trying to take advantage of it for your own benefit.”

“Hahaha…” Jiang Haichuan laughed but didn’t engage in pointless banter with Gu Zhan. Instead, he said, “Let’s each get what we need. You’ve escaped from Shan Ze’s guild. They must have refused to accept monsters... And now that you’ve become a monster, you can’t gain anything from the player factions.”

“I’m different from those people in Shan Ze, as you know. I have a natural affinity for monsters. With all these bases you control, I think we can make a deal.”

“Oh?”

Gu Zhan thought Jiang Haichuan was planning to ambush him, but unexpectedly, he was trying to negotiate.

He put on a look of interest and said, “What kind of deal are you suggesting? Let’s hear it.”

Jiang Haichuan asked, “How did you become a monster?”

Gu Zhan thought about it. How did he become a monster?

When he entered the game, his wish was simply to stay in this world. The game was just a way to fulfill that wish.

Gu Zhan had guessed correctly: his identity as a player hadn’t disappeared yet because there was a prerequisite for his wish to be fulfilled. Like Yu Yezhou and the others, he needed that escape scroll.

This meant that he had to win the defense-offense battle to remain in this world as a monster.

Otherwise, when the battle was over, he would be kicked out of the game, just like the other losers.

Mo Tuo had told him many things, but he hadn’t mentioned this. It was likely because the system had deliberately constrained it. And because the monsters were so ruthless, if he couldn’t figure this out on his own, he would soon be abandoned by them.

Monsters were monsters, after all. No matter what, they wouldn’t act like humans.

They didn’t have human greed or desires.

Monsters acted purely on instinct, reckless and unrestrained.

Jiang Haichuan’s greed was too deep, and he would never understand this.

He believed that the nature of monsters was simply to be cruel to players, to kill them.

Gu Zhan wasn’t going to tell him that he had already gone down the wrong path. Instead, he casually said, “I’ll tell you how to become a monster, but what can you offer me in return?”

Jiang Haichuan asked, “What do you want?”

Gu Zhan stood surrounded by many monsters. Upon hearing Jiang Haichuan’s question and sensing the subtle shift in the atmosphere, the monsters all crowded closer to Gu Zhan, as if protecting him.

Leaning against the giant monster, Gu Zhan coldly looked at Jiang Haichuan in the sky and said, “I don’t want anything. You have nothing to offer me.”

Jiang Haichuan: “…”

With those words, the atmosphere immediately became tense.

Jiang Haichuan was first stunned, then laughed.

“Hahaha… just as I expected.”

His smile was short-lived, quickly replaced by an icy coldness deep in his eyes.

From the very beginning, he hadn’t wanted to make a deal with Gu Zhan.

He simply wanted to lower Gu Zhan’s guard and forcibly take the bases Gu Zhan controlled.

Unfortunately, Gu Zhan didn’t fall for it.

Jiang Haichuan stopped pretending and waved to the people around him. “Go!”

Gu Zhan stood up and sat on the giant monster’s arm. The creature lifted him and placed him on its shoulder.

“You’re foolish, Jiang Haichuan.”

Gu Zhan said indifferently, “You see me alone in a base, and think it’s an opportunity. But you didn’t consider that this game has so many players. Everyone wants to control the bases. Why do you think they don’t come?”

As he spoke, the monsters around him began to stir, showing their sharp teeth to the Hai Chao members in the sky.

Even the Hai Chao members were afraid of the monsters.

Or rather, they were the ones most afraid of monsters in the entire game.

It was because of this fear that they wanted to resort to underhanded means to become monsters.

By becoming monsters, they wouldn’t have to stay on the opposite side of them anymore.

How could they possibly confront monsters head-on? Before the battle even began, Gu Zhan could already see fear on many of their faces.

Jiang Haichuan hadn’t expected the shift in momentum to happen so quickly.

“What are you waiting for? This is your only chance. If you fail, you’ll remain here as players, forever stuck with these monsters!”

Gu Zhan wasn’t sure what Jiang Haichuan had said to motivate his people, but they regained their composure and charged toward the base.

At the same time, Gu Zhan received news that other bases were being attacked.

Jiang Haichuan, frustrated, shouted, “Blame Yu Yezhou! If he hadn’t kicked you out, you wouldn’t be facing this situation!”

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