Absolute Death Game

Three days later:

In front of the gates of Black Mountain Camp, Xiao Buli led all his forces to attack the last stronghold of the Black Mountain Bandits.

On the way up the mountain, all the outpost checkpoints they encountered had already been destroyed. Unlike the first time when killing them would cause them to respawn, this time the defeated bandits did not reappear. It seemed that during the campaign quest, these quest monsters were no longer protected by the system.

"Push harder, one more round!"

"Hurry up, we’re about to blow it open!" Amidst the shouts, the catapult was ready once again.

Li Shuren carefully adjusted the focus. Finding the right angle for this catapult was not easy, but his years of gaming experience had not been wasted. After three days, he had finally figured it out, and today was his time to shine. Charging head-on would still result in significant casualties due to the protection of the palisade walls and towers, and the large number of Black Mountain Archers.

No one was willing to take that risk, so they had to rely on Li Shuren’s extreme long-range firepower for the assault.

After a long aim, Li Shuren finally released the mouse button he had been pressing down hard—a whooshing sound followed as a stone projectile the size of a washbasin was launched. It drew a heavy arc and crashed into the gate with a bang. The gate, made of huge timber, looked like it was about to shatter.

Xiao Buli cast Mind’s Eye on the palisade wall; the gate’s 3000 durability was now down to less than 100 points. One more attack should break the gate open. Before Li Shuren could reload the catapult with another stone, a fireball suddenly shot out from the crowd, exploding the already battered gate into fragments and revealing the trembling bandits behind it.

It was Du Yibo who couldn’t hold back and had released a fireball.

Han Wenhuan seized the opportunity without hesitation, "Ranged professions, move forward, spread out the formation, and fire at will!"

Players skilled in long-range attacks stepped forward, raining arrows like droplets of water. The bandits defending the camp also fought back, launching a dense rain of arrows from their higher position, but their firepower was clearly weaker than that of the players. Plus, the players could also receive healing support, so neither side suffered many casualties.

Since the entrance of the stronghold was narrow, the number of archers caused them to gradually crowd together. Han Wenhuan smiled at the sight, which was exactly what he had hoped to see—the primary mission of those ranged profession players was to draw the enemies together.

By this time, Li Shuren had once again loaded the catapult, and Du Yibo had also charged his second fireball to full power.

"All AOE firepower, ready! Release!"

The fireball violently shot out, causing a violent explosion amid the crowd, and the stone projectile followed, overturning five or six Black Mountain Archers. Just one round of attack threw their formation into complete disarray.

But that was not all—suddenly, a sound of thunder boomed in the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck down, right into the dense formation by the camp’s entrance, instantly blowing numerous bandits away.

Ultimate Skills—Wind Rolls The Scattered Clouds! As soon as Xiao Buli landed, he released his second powerful ability, completely dismantling the bandits’ formation.

"Alright, all melee, charge! The rest follow!" Han Wenhuan commanded, and everyone rushed into the stronghold like a swarm.

With just one charge, the gate of the stronghold was taken down. The bandits, having lost their morale, scattered in all directions, devoid of any will to resist. Xiao Buli didn’t order a pursuit, for according to information he had from Lei Ba, as long as they took over the Hall of Righteousness, the campaign quest would be considered a success.

So, after scattering the bandits at the gate, Xiao Buli led his forces straight to the Hall of Righteousness.

Along the way, they dispatched dozens of obstructing bandits like slicing through vegetables, and soon they arrived outside the Hall of Righteousness.

The hall’s doors were also firmly closed but had much less durability—only 1000 points. The catapult was too cumbersome to be brought inside, but that was no hindrance. Without the threat of archers, the players surged forward, and with a barrage of melee weapons, they broke down the doors of the Hall of Righteousness in less than two minutes.

This was supposed to be the most challenging part of the campaign quest. The interior of the Hall of Righteousness was extremely narrow, making it impossible to use Xiao Buli’s Cloud Thunder Leap. If Xu Lie were still defending inside, it would have probably been impregnable.

But now there was no boss defending the place, only four high-level elite Black Mountain Iron Guards. They were overwhelmed by the players and hacked down in moments.

Five minutes after the Hall of Righteousness was occupied, a flash of golden light appeared on the screen.

System Notification: Congratulations to player Xiao Buli for completing the campaign quest ’Overlord of Black Mountain’. Quest completion: 87%. Your personal prestige has increased by 100 points. You may choose one of the following three rewards for your campaign quest:

1. Occupy Black Mountain Stronghold, obtain the title ’Overlord of Black Mountain’, and gain dominion over this stronghold. You will have the ability to manage the stronghold’s subsidiary capabilities and train its unique troops.

2. Destroy Black Mountain Stronghold, obtain the title ’Hero of Black Mountain’, and gain an additional 100 personal prestige points. In destroying the stronghold, you will receive a substantial amount of war resources.

3. Support Black Mountain Stronghold, obtain the title ’Heroes of Black Mountain’, and gain an additional 200 personal prestige points. Your reputation with the Black Mountain Bandits will increase to Revered, and your reputation with the Black Dragon Brotherhood will increase to Respected.

Xiao Buli hesitated as he looked at these three options. Up to this point, he was still unclear about the use of Prestige Points, and war resources were not of much use to him since he didn’t even have a place to settle down. Even if he plundered resources, there would be nowhere to use them, so these two options didn’t hold much significance for him. @@novelbin@@

Reaching Revered with the Black Mountain Bandits meant that they would be preserved. This option to retain the Black Mountain Stronghold likely wouldn’t yield any benefits apart from possibly unlocking hidden quests later on, which might be related to the Black Dragon Legion. The Black Dragon Brotherhood sounded like it was a remnant force of the Black Dragon Legion.

If the Black Dragon King Flag Fragment dropped by Xu Lie was in Xiao Buli’s hands, he would probably choose this. However, since the quest to collect the Black Dragon King Flag Fragments cannot be completed now, this option could be discarded. It was more reliable to manage his territory.

Having thought this through, Xiao Buli decisively selected the first option.

System Notification: You have gained dominion over Black Mountain Stronghold and obtained the title ’Overlord of Black Mountain’. Your reputation with the Black Dragon Brotherhood has decreased by 1000 points, and your reputation with the Black Dragon Brotherhood has become Hostile.

Xiao Buli didn’t pay much attention to the Black Dragon Brotherhood, considering them nothing more than remnants.

Upon opening the Lord interface, within the management options for his territory, a new icon had appeared: Black Mountain Stronghold, and he was finally not a wandering armed group without a base anymore.

Black Mountain Stronghold: Territory Category - Stronghold.

Affiliated structures:

Stronghold walls - includes log walls, gate, and arrow towers that can be upgraded.

Hall of Righteousness - for appointing individuals and managing stronghold affairs, can be upgraded.

Mountain Patrol Outpost - can train Black Mountain Scouts (a special unit adept at hiding and scouting), can be upgraded.

Stronghold Barracks - converts common civilians into Black Mountain Lackeys or trains Black Mountain Lackeys into stronger troop types, currently able to train Black Mountain Looters, Black Mountain Raiders, Black Mountain Lancers, and Black Mountain Archers, currently possesses Black Mountain Lackeys (0), can be upgraded.

Black Stone Mine - produces black iron ore, currently has (12) prisoner miners.

Black Mountain Prison - incarcerates prisoners, currently holding (one) prisoner.

Black Mountain Outposts ×12 - expands the stronghold’s scouting range and influence.

War Resources: Wood ×400, Stone ×400, Iron Ore ×400, Food ×400, Gold Coins ×0.

Xiao Buli had no experience or concept of managing a territory, so he had no idea whether the Black Mountain Stronghold was good or bad. He looked at the upgrade options; upgrading wooden walls to stone walls required 100 units of wood and 300 units of stone.

Upgrading the Hall of Righteousness to the Loyalty and Justice Hall required 50 Gold Coins, 100 units of stone, and 100 units of wood.

Upgrading the Mountain Patrol Outpost to a Mountain Patrol Camp required 100 units of wood and 100 units of stone.

Upgrading the Stronghold Barracks to a Stronghold Army Barracks required 100 Gold Coins, 400 units of wood, and 400 units of stone.

However, he didn’t know what the effects of upgrading would be, so Xiao Buli didn’t dare to order them casually; besides, these upgrades were not like in games where one could simply click to upgrade, they took a certain amount of time to complete.

The biggest problem now was the scarce number of Black Mountain Lackeys. Although the refugees from Thousand Pines Town could be converted into Black Mountain Lackeys, only less than a hundred people remained after the battle three days ago, which was really too few.

But, naturally, Xiao Buli didn’t need to worry about this kind of thing; managing a stronghold should naturally be handed over to Han Wenhuan.

"Old Han, do you have the confidence to manage this stronghold well?" Xiao Buli turned and asked.

Han Wenhuan rolled his eyes, "With or without confidence, what else can be done? Who else if not me can shoulder this task?"

Gu Shaobang snorted on the side, "Old Han, don’t play cute after getting a bargain. If you don’t want to do it, just let me. I’m actually quite keen on trying out territory cultivation."

Han Wenhuan quickly said, "No, no, no, isn’t it enough that I have confidence? But you’ll have to give me something."

Xiao Buli asked, "What thing?"

Han Wenhuan replied, "Of course, your Bandit King’s Cloak. I reckon with that item, I should be able to persuade those Black Mountain Bandits to defect."

Xiao Buli nodded, that wasn’t a big deal, so he traded the Bandit King’s Cloak to him.

"Alright, the rest is up to you. I have other things to take care of."

Han Wenhuan asked curiously, "What things?"

Xiao Buli smiled and said, "Naturally, it’s about the instance." Find adventures at NovelBin.Côm

PS: There’s another chapter tonight. (