Volume 3 Containment Operation Chapter 15: The General's Evaluation
The battle went very smoothly, and there were no accidents such as the unfortunate encounter with the ground tiger. I first commanded the zombies and skeleton archers to consume a lot of the mental and physical strength of the three-headed flame wolf, and then scattered around to block its escape route. Long Xingtianxia and the other three went forward to attack and engage in close combat with it. During this period, the three-headed flame wolf tried to break through and escape several times, but was blocked by Bai Yunjian's "Thunderbolt Lightning" and my Undead Army. The most critical time was when I rode Tao Tao and collided , knocking it back a few steps, and was entangled by Long Xingtianxia and Ba Jiugaoge again. The two of them also showed superb fighting skills, with tacit cooperation between offense and defense. Almost every attack could increase the injury of the three-headed flame wolf, and the evasive action was also very effective and in place, which was completely different from our original attack method. It really deserves to be the top master of the Eastern Continent.
In the end, everyone returned with satisfaction. Long Piaopiao got the first-hand information she needed, the record of the wonderful battle between the top players of the four hidden professions and the three flame wolves of the fifth-level Warcraft, which added a bit of color to her crown of "the four famous reporters in the world"; Long Xingtianxia, Bai Yunjian and Bajiugaoge not only successfully completed the task of forming a mercenary group, but also became famous in "Tianxia" again, and their reputation became more prosperous, which was very helpful for being selected as one of the eight elite masters of the mainland; I didn't come for fame, and the most gratifying thing was that I got the first pot of gold after entering the game as I wished, and earned a little money to maintain my life. Finally, I ended my tight days and was no longer a useless "waste man". After completing the task, we went to the Beijing Restaurant in Beijing City, and Long Xingtianxia hosted us to drink and celebrate. It was really a good thing to get and eat. It was much easier to make money like this than in reality. However, this was also thanks to the fact that I chose the profession of necromancer at the beginning, otherwise I would not have the scenery now. Thinking about the hardships I had suffered before, it was all worth it. Without paying, how could I get a reward?
After leaving the Beijing Restaurant, everyone went their separate ways. I quickly went to the Mercenary Guild's financial counter to handle the money exchange business. I converted three thousand gold coins into euros at the exchange rate indicated on the ticket and transferred them to my real bank account. It's hard to make money, it's hard to make money. I'm really scared of living in poverty. I feel at ease only when I have money in my hands.
I entered old Mason's hut of the dead again, and still faced a formulaic face. However, the lesson from the last time was still fresh in my memory, so I dared not be careless again.
After verifying the identity and information, Old Mason nodded and began to arrange the tasks for this time. "The assessment task for advancing to the fourth level of the profession is 'General's Evaluation'. There is a 'General's Tomb' not far to the southeast. The owner living in it is a brave Skeleton General. The task requires the qualifiers to go deep into the General's Tomb and meet the Skeleton General himself in the shortest possible time. It will give a corresponding token as an evaluation based on the performance of each person who arrives. I will decide the strength improvement gained when advancing based on the different tokens brought back by each person."
At this point, Old Mason stopped talking, as if he had finished. I still looked at him respectfully, waiting for him to continue. Old fox, are you trying to repeat the same old trick? It was enough to be fooled once. You think I'm a fool? Unless he clearly states that he has completed the task, I will never dare to act rashly again.
As expected, Old Mason paused for a moment and continued, "The time starts from the moment you enter the general's tomb. The tomb is full of traps and ambushes. You need to break through many levels, so it's not easy to pass. In addition, this is an unlimited mission. You must meet the general himself and get an evaluation before it is completed and qualified to be promoted to a high-level necromancer. If you unfortunately die in the middle of the test, you will be resurrected in my hut and you can decide whether to continue the test. However, every time you die, your evaluation will be reduced by one point, which will affect your ability to improve after the promotion. If you want to get a better evaluation, you must strive to pass it in the shortest time."
After waiting for a long time, Old Mason did not speak again. It seemed that he had really finished explaining. I asked anxiously, "Respected Saint Mason, have you finished?"
"Well, that's the basic information about the 'General's Evaluation' mission. You can start the action now." Old Mason looked up at me. "Of course, if you still have any questions, you can ask me. I will try my best to help you within a reasonable range."
Phew, I almost got away with it again. Why not just explain all the rules at once? Why do you have to do this and let the players ask questions themselves? What if they miss something due to lack of consideration? Isn't that artificially increasing the difficulty?
"Is there any skill restriction for completing this mission? Can I use 'Summon the Undead'?" This is the question that I care about most. I don't want the skill of "Summon the Undead" to be prohibited like last time. I will feel uneasy if I can only go into the general's tomb alone without the protection of my brothers.
"In principle, there is no skill restriction. Participants can use any skills they have mastered, but..." The first two sentences made me happy, but the long "but..." made my heart tighten again. "The number of alien creatures that appear in the general's tomb is proportional to the difficulty of clearing the level. Being alone is one level of difficulty, and having pets of different levels is another level of difficulty. If you summon a large number of or powerful undead to help you in the battle, you will probably face the highest level of difficulty. The traps and ambushes will increase, and the dangers you encounter will not be much less than when you are alone. It is up to you to choose the difficulty level."
What is this? It seems fair and reasonable, but in fact, it completely cancels the skill advantages between different players. Everyone is standing on the same starting line. The stronger the challenge, the stronger it is. It is still not easy to pass. Alas, I have the most powerful skills, but every time I advance, I am subject to many restrictions and cannot use it to cheat. Can't this evil game balance setting show mercy to us "geniuses"? Let me play more easily, improve my strength faster, and better contribute to the great cause of the revival of the undead.
Although I complain in my heart, I can only accept the reality helplessly. Just as Afeng said, the game is open to all players, and it is impossible to give special care to individual players. Behind the "genius" is double the sweat and hard work, and it is definitely not obtained by taking shortcuts or getting charity from others.
"How many checkpoints are there in the general's tomb? What are the ambushes and mechanisms?" If we know the specific layout, our chances of success should be greater.
"I'm sorry, because it involves the confidentiality of the mission itself, so I can't tell you. Only the promoted can explore it by themselves."
"What species are under the Skeleton General's command? Are they skeleton soldiers, skeleton warriors, skeleton archers, or all of them included, or are there other more powerful creatures?" There are only people who dare not ask, not questions that they dare not ask. This is what Afeng said when introducing the gaming experience. At that time, I still seemed to understand it and could not fully grasp the profound meaning of this sentence. After learning from several experiences and lessons, I finally realized that I should have the courage to ask questions. This is a sacred and inalienable right enjoyed by every game player.
However, "No comment" is also the most common answer given by NPC characters to many questions from players. I was not discouraged at all and continued to ask all the questions I could think of related to the task. Anyway, the task timer only starts from the moment of entering the general's tomb. Delaying here for a while will not affect the results. In case I gain something from it, it may save a lot of trouble.
With the blessing of old Mason, "May the God of Death bless you", I came to the general's tomb. Its above-ground part is a tall semicircular building with a diameter of about 100 meters, made of gray rocks. There is a large stone door about 10 meters high and 5 meters wide, which looks heavy, but it can be easily pushed open. Above the tomb door are engraved three big characters, "Dragon Flying and Phoenix Dancing" - General's Tomb, which is Chinese characters. It seems that this brave skeleton general seemed to be my fellow tribesman when he was alive. I hope that the old man will not make it too difficult for me for this reason. The main part of the tomb is buried deep underground, and the specific layout is waiting for each participant to explore.
I thought about it again and again, and finally decided to use "Summoning of the Undead" to complete the task. This is my biggest advantage and the way of fighting I am accustomed to. Single-soldier combat is not my strong point. Instead of conservatively fighting the weak with the weak, I might as well use force to increase my chances of defeating the strong.
The General's Tomb is divided into many layers, extending deeper and deeper into the ground. The ground layer is empty and has no layout. It is a safe area. There is a hole in the middle leading to the underground. I summoned Lao Zhuang, Phosphorus, Tao Tao, more than 200 zombies and more than 100 skeleton shooters, ready to break through with the strongest lineup.
The area of the underground level is slightly larger, separated by many stone walls. When looking for the entrance to the next level, you may be attacked at any time. However, compared to such an area, the number of undead I summoned is still a little too much, and they quickly filled every corner here. I easily found the entrance, and only encountered weak resistance from dozens of skeleton soldiers, which were not a threat at all.
The same was true on the following floors. The skeleton soldiers and skeleton warriors were not at an advantage in numbers, but the traps that occasionally spewed poison gas and the mechanisms that fired hidden arrows on the stone walls were unable to slow down my progress in the face of the human wave tactics. It was going so smoothly that I could hardly believe it. I almost suspected that old Mason was deliberately exaggerating to scare me.
But it was on the seventh underground floor that we encountered strong resistance for the first time. The area of this floor suddenly increased a lot, and there were no stone walls separating it. It was a wide open space, but it was filled with skeleton archers. The zombie troops that were exploring the way ahead were hit head-on as soon as they entered, and most of them fell in a swift rain of arrows. However, the order I gave them was to never retreat. Under the continuous impact of the follow-up troops, they finally forced back the attacking skeleton archers, freed up some space for my skeleton archers to enter and launch a counterattack against the enemy. The zombie troops, led by the old zombie, slowly approached and gradually shrank. With a two-pronged attack, they were finally killed.
Although it was just a false alarm, I was caught off guard and lost more than a hundred men. I dared not be careless anymore. I sent a few zombies to the eighth floor to observe the environment. They were still shot as soon as they showed their heads. It was the same situation as the seventh floor. It was clear that I could only fight to force my way in. I arranged the order of entry and the direction of attack, and commanded the zombies and skeleton archers to swarm in. After a melee, the enemy was eliminated, but dozens of my men fell.
Several floors in a row were filled with skeleton archers, with bows and arrows drawn, staring at the entrance. My troops would be attacked fiercely as soon as they showed their heads. The zombies were slow and there was no way to approach them quickly, so the losses were huge. If I hadn't arranged for skeleton archers to go down for support as soon as I squeezed out space, the more than 200 zombies would probably have been wiped out.
After destroying the enemies on the tenth floor, there are only a few of the three or four hundred minions left. This is too abnormal. There are so many skeleton archers on each floor. What's worse is that I don't know how many floors there are. It seems that what old Mason said is right. The general's tomb is stronger when it encounters stronger enemies. I have more subordinates, but I encountered more enemies. They are desperately guarding the entrance to the next floor. I have to kill them all before I can move forward. Alas, it is not easy to get a higher evaluation. Although there is no problem in saving my life, it is wishful thinking to speed up a little bit.
Fortunately, the long time has its advantages. At least my mental strength has recovered, and I can cast the "Summoning of the Undead" again, replenishing 400 zombies and more than 200 skeleton archers, and continue to advance to the eleventh floor.
Entering the twelfth floor, the layout changed again. There were stone walls everywhere blocking the way. Although there were no groups of skeleton archers lining the road to welcome you, there were a large number of hidden traps and ambushes. The danger level was even higher than the previous floors.
With my brothers protecting me, I didn't have to worry about the parallel traps, but I couldn't defend myself from the attacks from above and below. The green poisonous smoke suddenly shot out from the ground, and the rocks above the cave fell without any warning. There was no way to protect myself, which greatly threatened my life. I had to be alert and ready to use "One Ride Away" to dodge at any time. Even so, I couldn't avoid it completely because I was not used to it yet. I was either affected by the poisonous smoke or hit by the rocks. My health was reduced to 40% at the lowest, which really made me nervous.
After passing through the twelfth floor full of death traps, the thirteenth underground floor returned to its spacious layout and became the base camp of skeleton warriors and skeleton shooters. A large group of skeleton warriors were wandering near the entrance. As soon as my zombies entered, they encountered fierce attacks from all directions. In addition, many skeleton shooters provided long-range support. After fighting for a long time, they were unable to gain a foothold.
I had no choice but to keep my troops in place for the time being, and wait until my mental strength recovered to 80%, then I cast the third "Summoning of the Undead", and there were another 500 zombies and more than a hundred skeleton archers. I gathered the troops and rushed forward again under the leadership of Old Zombie and Phosphorus. Facing the human wave tactics, I had no choice but to fight back with a more fierce offensive. When two armies meet, the brave one wins. Now is the critical moment to test the combat effectiveness of Old Zombies and others.