Chapter 120: Agreeing on Tactics

Chu Cheng could clearly sense that his performance had won the group over. In the battles that followed, they stopped talking as much as before, only adding input after he had finished outlining the tactics.

Relationships between "Descenders" are simple: as long as you possess the ability to command their respect, they will be obedient and cooperative.

Chu Cheng charged into the horde of the undead first, while Yao Ning and Zhou Yufeng—the two with the greatest speed—lured the surrounding undead toward them. Once Chu Cheng had pulled and held their attention, Feng Lingxing would seal off the path with a wall of fire, allowing the others to unleash a flurry of attacks.

In just two days, the number of undead they had slain surpassed ten thousand.

In total, they had collected over a hundred loot chests, ninety-nine percent of which were of white quality. While these were not valuable in terms of rarity, this dungeon produced Soul Shards and Soul Essences, and almost every white chest contained one or the other.

It is worth noting that for a party like theirs, the game’s personal interface provides a notification for every loot chest dropped. By checking the post-battle data, one can see exactly how many were produced, so no one usually risks trying to hide them during cleanup.

After spending some time opening the hundred-plus chests, they successfully obtained 225 Soul Shards, 32 Soul Essences, 48 Necrotic Essences, and one Rare-quality Soul Gem.

After a brief discussion, the group decided to distribute the loot based on individual contribution. Chu Cheng took half for himself, while the other four split the remainder.

The Soul Gem was worth far more than elemental gems of the same tier, valued at five gold coins.

Calculating the total value of all materials: the 225 Soul Shards were worth 6 gold and 75 silver; the 32 Soul Essences were worth 6 gold and 40 silver; the 48 Necrotic Essences were worth 4 gold and 80 silver. With the addition of the 5-gold Soul Gem and various common white and green equipment, the total value reached 23 gold and 50 silver, of which Chu Cheng’s share was 11 gold and 75 silver.

In the end, Chu Cheng took the Soul Gem and 6 gold and 75 silver.

"Not bad!"

Once the loot was divided, Chu Cheng said to the group, "We’ve pretty much cleared this area. Should we go ahead and clear the north side as well?"

There were three squads in total: one had gone east, the second had gone south, and they were in the west; the north remained untouched.

Having realized the extent of Chu Cheng’s strength, Feng Lingxing nodded and said, "Let’s ask the first and second squads first and see what their progress is."

"Alright."

Chu Cheng opened the team channel and posted their current situation and plan.

"So fast?"

Zhang Chaosheng, who had spent the entire morning taking down a horde of a thousand undead and was currently resting, was stunned by the message. Wang Xuan, resting beside him, asked in disbelief, "Is this for real? We’ve only killed about three thousand in two days, and they’ve already cleared over ten thousand? How are they farming? Have they been fighting non-stop all day?"

No one answered his question, and Chu Cheng’s team did not need their permission to act. They had finished their area; since the others were slow and hadn't finished yet, they were naturally free to move elsewhere. He was simply providing a notification.

The five-man squad crossed the dried-up riverbed and arrived at the north.

Just as before, the two melee fighters dashed out to lure the wandering undead in droves. Once a sufficient number was gathered and pulled back, Chu Cheng intercepted them, Feng Lingxing placed a wall of fire to cut off their retreat, and the others rained down attacks from the rear.

All five were elites, and once this tactic was used once, it became second nature. With refined coordination, they dispatched the enemies with ease.

They continued back and forth like this, clearing the undead roaming the north one by one.

Occasionally, there would be bosses among the undead, but none were strong. In this dungeon, the truly powerful undead did not roam outside, with the exception of the Scourge’s Four Horsemen, who were responsible for patrolling the perimeter.

These minor bosses were not even level forty and only possessed elite templates; they were no match for the team.

However, the rewards were not particularly high either.

By the fifth day, they had cleared the vast majority of the undead within a dozen kilometers north of the Cursed Fortress, and Chu Cheng successfully leveled up.

Because of the level gap, most of the undead only provided the minimum of one kill experience point, but the sheer volume was enough to grind him up a level, granting him 5 free attribute points and +2 to all attributes.

After tallying the loot chests post-battle, he received another share of 11 gold and 82 silver. The main reason for the slight drop was that their luck was worse this time, and they hadn't obtained a Soul Gem.

Combined, his earnings—excluding the Soul Gem—totaled 18 gold and 57 silver.

Ahead lay the Cursed Fortress, where the undead were higher-level and all of elite quality, meaning a higher probability of better loot. Plus, with the fortress’s own treasure vault, even if the total group of fifteen split the rewards, the total income would still be higher than what they had now.

With the area around the Cursed Fortress cleared, the three squads converged at the main gate, which was on the south side.

A dozen people gathered under a twisted, rotting tree. Lei Ming said in a deep voice, "Only the Cursed Fortress remains. Does anyone have any suggestions for the next phase?"

Zhang Chaosheng, who led the other squad and was eager to gain some influence in the team, spoke up: "In a situation like this, we should either find a way to lure out a portion of the undead and pick them off, or launch a direct assault. Given our strength, it seems like we could attempt a frontal attack."

He looked at Feng Lingxing and the other magic-user in the team. "I remember both of you know the Meteor spell. Could you summon meteors to smash through the fortress walls?"

Feng Lingxing shook his head immediately. "The meteor spell can be summoned, but it won't land."

The other female mage, wearing a tight-fitting robe that accentuated her slender frame, also shook her head. "There are definitely Necromancers and a large number of Liches inside the fortress, and there is a Necrotic Wizard Tower in the center. A siege spell like that would certainly be interrupted or dispelled."

"Is there any other way to open the gate or destroy the walls?"

"It’s difficult!"

"The gates have wall armor. Ordinary attacks only deal 10% damage. We can't destroy the gate under the fire of the fortress’s many ballistae and Necromancers."

Zhang Chaosheng looked at Lei Ming. "If we face war machines head-on, I can't hold them for long. How long can you hold?"

"I can't hold for long either."

The group fell silent. Lei Ming sighed and was about to propose another tactical set when Zhou Yufeng, standing beside Chu Cheng, said with a grin, "Why not ask if Chu Cheng can hold them? He performed exceptionally well this time."

Everyone turned to look at Chu Cheng, who was observing the dark, ominous Cursed Fortress in the distance. He instinctively leaned back and waved his hands. "I can't do it either."

Are you kidding me? The difficulty of this Cursed Fortress was far greater than the Orc King’s City from the joint exam.

Although the Orc King’s City was the royal capital of the Orc Kingdom and had more defenders than the Cursed Fortress, it didn't possess many war machines. There were very few ranged units among the orcs, and not a single magic-user.

But this Cursed Fortress was a key stronghold of the Undead Legion. Not only were the walls far higher than those of the Orc King’s City, but they were also bristling with various war machines.

However, the biggest threat to him was the large number of Liches and Necromancers inside. Their eerie, evil necromantic spells, bolstered by the power of the Necrotic Wizard Tower, were devastating. He couldn't tank that.

He was just here to make money. Everyone else was level thirty or forty; why would he, a level twenty-something, want to stand out?

He had shown a bit of his strength earlier just to earn some cash, but now that it was time to risk his life, he naturally had to go back to lying low.

Fortunately, the others in the team didn't dwell on it. Once he denied it, they turned their gazes back to the fortress and began discussing the lure tactics.

Chu Cheng sat quietly in the back, listening intently as they planned the assault.