"What exactly is this 'wooden house'? What's the point of us looking for it?"
The centaur spoke up, asking the others this question.
"Perhaps it is some kind of record point? A milestone? Judging from the mission description, it exists in more than one place and should have a very important function."
Polaris expressed his guess.
"You'll find out when you go and see."
Dongyang pointed to a wooden house not far away, and then called Ma Ren and Kuang Ben Kuang. The three players from the Heroic Spirit Pavilion Guild took the lead and walked towards the wooden house.
"But……"
Polaris frowned.
"As the mission reminded us, there are dangers lurking around the cabin, so we'd better be careful."
The mission rewards clearly stated that the person who made the highest contribution to the mission could choose any one of the faction's extraordinary knowledge, which made Polaris very excited.
He secretly made up his mind to strive to get the highest contribution in order to obtain that extraordinary knowledge.
Therefore, he was particularly concerned about this mission. He did not want his team members to die easily, resulting in unnecessary waste of resurrections, so as to avoid the failure of the mission in the end.
But Dongyang didn't seem to care. He stopped and said:
"This is information that must be known. Even if it is dangerous, it is worth exchanging one's life for this information."
Immediately he waved his hand and led the horseman and Kuang Ben Kuang to continue moving forward.
Chenxi felt that Dongyang's words made some sense, so he took the honey pomelo and followed the three people in front.
"Polaris, what should we do?"
Su Keying came to Polaris and asked.
Standing behind her were Weiyin, Goutoujin and Wangwangwuji.
Having experienced the journey to wonderland together during the internal beta test, they still trust Polaris's judgment ability.
"Don't walk together, or we'll be wiped out. Let's keep a distance and follow them..."
Polaris said, taking a deep breath.
These people's trust in him made him feel good.
"If there is an accident, we can provide timely rescue."
Polaris said, and walked towards the cabin.
The others nodded and followed closely.
The two groups of people were walking one in front and one behind, dozens of meters apart, getting closer and closer to the wooden house.
Dongyang turned around to look at the Polaris team, chuckled and shook his head.
But just at this moment.
Black smoke rose from behind a tree.
"Be careful! Something's happening!"
The centaurs shouted a warning.
Others took out their weapons one after another. Most of them had a pair of mechanical gloves and a musket.
The centaur himself took out the strange soup spoon-shaped object and instantly transformed it into a long "shovel" and held it in his hand.
He positioned himself as a warrior who stood in front and protected his teammates in the back row.
Amidst the black smoke, a humanoid creature whose face could not be seen clearly walked out from behind a tree.
It wore a straw hat and carried a lumberjack axe.
"Danger! This is an elite monster with a red name of 'Deadly'! Everyone focus your fire!"
Dongyang threw a probe and shouted.
He immediately raised his rifle and pulled the trigger at the lumberjack.
BANG!!
Tongues of flame spewed out, and countless tiny steel balls hit its body, splashing out tiny specks of black smoke.
"!!"
Dongyang's eyes widened.
He found that the lumberjack only paused for a moment, then started walking again towards him.
"I don't believe I can't kill you!"
Dongyang gritted his teeth and said coldly.
"Shoot!"
He reloaded and fired at the lumberjacks again.
The few people around him, except the centaur, also raised their guns and fired.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
There was a burst of dense gunfire, and the black smoke on the lumberjack's body twisted and wavered. His body was also pushed back repeatedly by the overwhelming small steel balls, and his body was tilted and deformed.
Finally, the lumberjack lost his balance and was thrown backwards by the bullet and fell to the ground.
With a thud, dust rose up.
“Well done!”
Dongyang let out a long sigh and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Vice President, something seems to be wrong."
The centaur frowned.
He tightened the long-handled spoon in his hand and stared at the humanoid monster lying on the ground not far away, which was constantly emitting black smoke.
When everyone did not receive a kill notification, they knew that the black smoke monster named "Lumberjack" was not dead yet.
"Not only is it not dead, there isn't even a scratch on its body!"
The centaur said solemnly.
"Indeed...the black smoke seems to be repairing its injuries."
Chen Xi and others looked carefully and frowned.
"Is this some kind of undead monster?!"
Dongyang clenched his fists.
"Try it with fire!"
At this time, Polaris and his group came over from behind, and he spoke up to remind them.
At the same time, he activated the mechanical gloves on his hands and threw out a high-temperature fireball.
boom!!
The fireball hit the smoking lumberjack and a raging fire rose up.
Specially made fuel is applied to the surface of its body, causing the flames to burn continuously and make crackling sounds.
The lumberjack struggled violently on the ground, with black smoke billowing, and seemed to be injured.
"efficient!"
Dongyang's eyes lit up.
"All use gloves to breathe fire!"
He looked at Polaris in surprise, then called on his teammates around him and used mechanical gloves to spray flames.
boom--!!
They aimed at the lumberjacks on the ground and sprayed several jets of fire.
roar!!
In the center of the fire, black smoke filled the air and a beast-like roar could be heard.
call……!
The flames lasted for seven or eight seconds, and steam began to spew out of everyone's mechanical gloves, obviously they were overloaded.
When the flames dissipated, everyone saw a dark hole burned on the ground. The inner walls were crystalline, steaming, and the air was distorted.
But the lumberjack disappeared.
"Burned to ashes?!"
The dog-headed gold spoke.
"Impossible... because there is no kill prompt!"
Polaris said in a deep voice.
"careful!"
The centaur suddenly noticed the black smoke flashing in his peripheral vision and his face changed drastically.
When everyone heard his reminder, they became alert.
But it was still too late.
From behind the tree closest to Dongyang, a lumberjack appeared, all covered in black, and chopped him down on the head with his axe.
Woo——Puff!!
Blood splattered, Dongyang was beheaded in an instant, and suddenly turned into a white light and disappeared.
The horseman, Kuang Benkuang and others beside him were shocked.
No one expected that the lumberjack would appear from behind the tree next to them!
Woo woo!
The woodcutting axe swept across the crowd with a trail of black smoke.
Kuang Ben Kuang had just raised his rifle, but before he could pull the trigger, he was cut in half like a sapling!
His internal organs and bones shattered and flew everywhere. His eyes widened and turned into white light in mid-air.
One more player has been removed from the player team!
The centaur, who was close at hand, blocked the giant metal spoon in front of him. The next second, there was a loud bang, and the felling axe chopped on it, creating dazzling sparks.
Immediately, the centaur screamed, was blown away by the huge force, and hit a tree hard, vomiting blood and seriously injured.
"It's too brutal in close combat! Back off! Disperse!"
Polaris shouted.
After the death of Dongyang, who seemed to be the temporary captain, everyone fell into a panic.
Polaris made a prompt decision and gave the command:
"Su Keying, you and Weiyin rush forward and reach the wooden house as soon as possible to see what's inside... Dog-headed Gold and Forgotten Wuji help me cover, and be alert to the surroundings to prevent the lumberjacks from teleporting and attacking you!"
Polaris threw out a ball of fire, hitting the lumberjack right in the middle. A raging fire suddenly rose up, just like a torch being lit.
"Although I don't know how high the damage is, the flames can definitely hurt it! Chenxi and Honey Pomelo help me focus fire on it, at least to restrict its movements and buy time for Su Keying and the others!"
After hearing his words, everyone took action immediately.
After a brief hesitation, Chenxi and Honey Pomelo also chose to follow Polaris's command and sprayed fire at the lumberjacks together.
Roar…!!
The lumberjacks writhe in the black smoke and flames.
Su Keying and Weiyin, despite being delayed by Beijixing and others, successfully arrived at the door of the wooden house.
But the next second, they showed frustrated expressions.
Because the door of the wooden house can't be opened at all!
"——We can't open the door. It's like it's integrated with the house!"
Su Keying spoke in the chat room from a distance.
"—Have you checked the windows and everything? Is there any other way to get in?"
Polaris threw out another ball of fire, his palm became hot, and steam filled the air.
he asked in the chat room.
"——I checked everything, and the windows can't be opened. They're obviously made of wood, but they're harder than metal! And when I look in from the outside, it's just pitch black inside."
Su Keying replied.
“——Forget it, let’s retreat first. Don’t waste your chance to revive. This monster hasn’t died yet. We can’t hold out for much longer…!”
Polaris finally sent a short message in the chat room.
He immediately began to command his teammates around him and chose to fight and retreat at the same time.
But the next second, everyone's nervous hearts rose to their throats.
Because they saw black smoke slowly coming out from behind several trees around them!
"Here they come again! Five lumberjacks!"
The golden dog opened his mouth wide and counted to his companions.
"I can't beat one, now come five! Go! You go first!"
Polaris shouted.
Goutoujin and Forgotten Wuji looked at each other, said a few words of encouragement, then turned and ran away.
Su Keying and Wei Yin went too deep into the wood house and had to run through many woodcutters. Unfortunately, they were spotted by a woodcutter and killed with two axes.
The seriously injured centaur who fell to the ground was also killed by a passing lumberjack with an axe.
Chenxi and Honey Pomelo gave each other encouraging looks, put away their weapons, and prepared to evacuate.
But one of the lumberjacks raised his axe and swung it at a nearby tree.
Honey Pomelo was running away with the president when suddenly a fast-swinging axe appeared out of nowhere from the trees beside her and chopped her in half before she could even react!
Chen Xi was startled.
She took a deep breath, quickly calmed herself down, and quickened her pace.
The many lumberjacks behind them, covered in black smoke, started to chase the players.
Polaris was about to continue using the fireball to contain the enemy, but found that the fuel block of the mechanical glove had been used up. And because of frequent overload use, it was too hot to be used for a short time.
He sighed and had to take out his rifle and shoot while retreating.
But the lumberjack seemed to be walking slowly, but he could actually use trees to travel through space. After a few breaths, he came to Polaris and hacked him to death.
In the end, only three of the ten players escaped.
…
…
…
Everyone reunited at the starting point.
Seven dead players including Dongyang, Kuang Benkuang and Ma Ren were also resurrected here.
"I've read all the conversations in the chat room just now. The cabin can't be opened. We have no idea what it does."
Dongyang's face darkened.
It was really a loss to lose a life in vain and not get the information .
"Those lumberjacks are too strong. Even if we joined forces, we still couldn't kill even one..."
Goutoujin said with lingering fear.
He and Forgotten Wuji looked at each other and felt that even if they drank the Hercules potion, they would most likely not be able to defeat the lumberjack who was covered in black smoke.
After all, they seem to be immune to physical attacks!
No matter how hard the Minotaur's fist is, it's useless...
I don't buy it. No, I should say I really like it. The Minotaur is in tears!
The woodcutter was burned for a long time, but he didn't die. Coupled with its mysterious ability to shuttle through trees and its strange attack of using trees to divert its axe, it really made the players feel scared. This monster is extremely difficult to deal with!
"Staying in Wonderland will continuously deduct our sanity points. What we need to do now is to follow the mission description and explore in the opposite direction of this wooden house..."
Polaris said in a deep voice.
"We don't have much time, and we've already died once and dropped a level. We can't spend money and end up losing money!"
Dongyang glanced at him and finally nodded.
"You're right, Northstar."
It might be because of the previous support and temporary takeover of command that Dongyang looked up to this lone player.
Although I have heard the centaurs talk about this person before, it is still not as real as seeing him with my own eyes.
"Let's go."
Dongyang said.
He took one last look back at the wooden house in the distance and gritted his teeth.
The picture is distorted and fluctuating.
On the lake that the statue was gazing at, ten players appeared to be walking quickly away from the cabin.
Chen Lun leaned against the statue of Maggie and watched the scene with a smile.
"Just follow the direction I set..."
He had closed the wooden house in "Forest No. 1" at the very beginning, so these players naturally couldn't enter.
There was no plan to let them enter the wooden house, the wooden house was simply used as a save point for the players.
'Just like herding sheep, I push the players in a certain direction, explore the way for me, and find the next cabin.'
Chen Lun kept smiling.
Seven players just died at the hands of the lumberjack, providing him with 700 experience points and 3 attribute points.
"Although it's not much, it's better than nothing... At least there are still many attribute points."
…
…
…
The light in the forest was still dim, the shadows of the trees were swaying, and it looked eerie.
Ten players walked through it without communicating with each other. Apart from the rustling sound of footsteps on dead branches and leaves, there was dead silence.
"Since we didn't encounter the spider silk we encountered the first time we came to Wonderland, we can speed up a little bit... our sanity is not enough to support us staying here for a long time."
Polaris whispered.
The others exchanged glances and seemed to agree with this statement.
"good."
Dongyang nodded.
The crowd started to run instead of walking.
The surrounding woods passed by me, and the breeze towards me was somewhat cool.
After running for a few minutes, everyone soon encountered danger again.
A figure stood with his back to them, blocking the way.
It looked like a person, wearing a dirty gray cloth robe, with a hunched back, and seemed to be muttering something.
Hearing the footsteps of the crowd, it turned around suddenly.
The players were suddenly shocked because they saw a ferocious rat face!
The rat man had blood dripping from his mouth as if he was chewing something. He held a bloody piece of meat in one hand and a thigh-thick wooden stick with nails stuck in the other.
"Yes, yes..."
The rat man muttered.
"Yes, yes..."
It repeated simple words, and its cloudy eyes were filled with madness and murderous intent.
Swish!
The rat man suddenly moved.
It rushed towards the crowd suddenly, raised its mace, and smashed it on the heads.
"Yes!!"
boom!
The huge impact created a hole in the ground, and countless mud, sand and fallen leaves flew everywhere.
Polaris and others dodged and dispersed in time, but Wang Zi Wuji was a step slower and was scratched on the thigh, causing bleeding instantly.
He cried out in pain, fell to the ground, and fell into a negative state of bleeding.
"shot!"
Dongyang shouted.
Everyone surrounded the rat man and fired at it.
Bang bang bang...!!
Squeak! Squeak!
Blood splattered all over the rat man's body, and he was sprayed with countless small steel balls, and he let out a shrill scream.
After a round of shooting, it fell to the ground with its face up, and the terrifying upside-down wooden stick also rolled down beside it.
With a puff, some fallen leaves splashed up.
[Kill the polluted creature "Cave Ratman"! Gain 80 experience points! ]
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the kill notification.
"Finally I encountered a somewhat normal monster. If I can't kill this, there would be no way to play!"
Dongyang sighed.
The lumberjack he just met left him with a deep psychological trauma.
The reward for the last shot that caused death went to Chenxi, and she gained 300 experience points, while the others received 80 points.
"Keep going."
Dongyang loaded the ammunition and spoke to the others.
But he found that there was something wrong with everyone's expressions.
"Vice President, we seem to be surrounded!"
the centaur said nervously.
Dongyang turned around and couldn't help but take a deep breath.
In the surrounding woods, dense groups of ratmen began to appear, most of them were similar to the one just now, but there were also some ratmen wearing leather armor and holding huge machetes.
Dongyang even saw a rat man with two heads, dragging a huge iron hammer that looked extremely heavy.
"Yes……"
"Yes, yes..."
The dense whispers reached the ears of the players, and there was an indescribable weirdness.
"What should we do?! There are too many...!"
Goutoujin spoke anxiously.
Dongyang frowned, he looked around and found that he was surrounded. It would be extremely difficult to break out.
"I can't retreat. I don't have much sanity left anyway. I might as well go all out and kill as many monsters as possible..."
Polaris said calmly.
He loaded his mechanical gloves with a brand new fuel block and flexed his fingers.
"These are all experience points, and they will also drop extraordinary materials... We must at least make up for the losses from the two deaths, and clear the obstacles for the next resurrection!"
After he said that, he threw a high-temperature fireball at the nearest ratman.
boom!!
The rat man tried to jump away with the stick in his hand, but he was a step too late. He was stained by the exploding flames, and half of his body was engulfed in flames.
Squeak——!
A burning smell came, and the rat man screamed in pain, falling to the ground and rolling around.
Boom boom...
Many ratmen rushed towards the players, repeatedly muttering the word "yes", raising their weapons with bloodthirsty faces.
The players raised their hands and fired, knocking down the gray-robed ratmen one after another. But the ratmen behind them stepped on their companions' bodies and rushed forward.
Before the players could even reload their muskets, they were already approached by them!
Woo——Boom!
A wooden stick with nails stuck in it hit Goutoujin's forehead hard, blowing his head off.
【You are dead! 】
The next second after the Dog-Head Gold turned into white light and disappeared, Forgotten Wuji, who was sitting next to him, was not spared and was taken away by a stick.
"Don't fire at the same time! There will be gaps in firepower! Su Keying, you and Weiyin, wait until we are reloading before filling in the gaps!"
Polaris yelled.
He ducked to avoid the attack from the rat man in front of him, then blew out a stream of fire close to his body.
boom!
Although he ignited it, the distance was too close and some of the flames got on his body.
Polaris endured the burning pain, rolled over and fell to the ground, using the mud and sand on the ground to put out the flames on his body with great difficulty.
But there were too many ratmen, estimated to be twenty or thirty.
It was a brutal battle after all. In the following less than two minutes of fighting, only Dongyang, Centaur and Polaris were left in the player team.
"Don't fight anymore, pick up the loot first! They will disappear after the time limit is over, try to pick up as much as possible with this life, so that you won't lose out!"
Polaris spat out a mouthful of blood and spoke to the other two.
He opened the panel and took a quick look, and found that his accumulated experience points had reached 500+, which was enough to make up for the losses from the two deaths.
"Okay! Centaur, cover me!"
Dongyang said.
"Vice President, please hurry up. I can't hold on for much longer!"
The centaur put away his musket, swung the long spoon in his hand, and started fighting with the ratman in front of him.
His opponent was a leather-armored ratman holding a machete, who was obviously much stronger than the ordinary gray-robed ratman.
The horse man threw several spoons in succession and smashed them on the rat man's head, making a banging sound, but it only injured him but did not kill him.
This behavior instead angered the rat man. He squeaked strangely, raised his machete, and split the centaur in half!
Bloody!
“Yes, yes…!”
The bloodthirsty rat-man muttered like a madman.
There were more than a dozen ratmen corpses lying on the ground, killed by the players. They quickly disintegrated into small particles and sank into the ground, leaving behind some extraordinary materials such as rat fangs, rat tails, claws, eyes and internal organs.
There are even a few very rare transparent balls [pure matter]!
Unfortunately, there were too many rat people around, and the horse man also died heroically.
Polaris and Dongyang only had time to pick up two or three items before they were brutally killed by the rats.
Before he died, he watched those extraordinary materials gradually become transparent until they disappeared.
Both of them had blood in their hearts!
This is all their blood, sweat and hard work!
Just like that... it evaporated!
What they didn't know was that, by the lake somewhere in Wonderland, the familiar young man in the black hat was whistling and counting the spoils at his feet.
"No problem, I got another nine extraordinary materials... well, there are also 1,000 experience points and 2 attribute points."
Chen Lun smiled and talked to himself.
Then he rested his chin on his elbow, looking thoughtful.
"Speaking of which, the attribute point benefits are gradually decreasing... It seems that only the first kill of the players will get the highest rewards?"
Chen Lun looked at the lake again and raised his eyebrows.
"This North Star is quite interesting..."