Monsters Are Coming

Chapter 1448 - 374: New Objective: We Will Meet Again_5

With a wave of his hand, venomous spikes shot towards the newly spawned Guardians from the Fungus Carpet like a torrential rain.With the assistance of Eagle-headed Demon Perception, each spike precisely pierced the Fungus Monster’s head, causing a secondary explosion inside the skull.

The monstrous horde that had been brandishing their claws and fangs a moment ago was instantly reduced to a field of twitching remains.

But the battle was far from over; this Domain Node’s characteristic was its "Bursting Soldiers" ability, making it impossible to capture in a short time.

Ji Chen decisively returned to the front of the Warband, and said in a deep voice:

"Everyone, drink potions to recover. I’ll hold them off for a while."

Upon finishing, telekinetic ripples spread forward, forming an invisible telekinetic barrier.

A new round of the Node battle was about to commence.

In the following days, Ji Chen worked with the guild members at the Earth Nest Node.

Resurrecting and fighting again again, they continuously advanced toward the area where the Node Crystal was located.

The intense combat also improved Ji Chen’s coordination with the guild members.

Familiar battle environments, familiar monster types, familiar teammates... this familiarity often allowed guild members to gauge each other’s needs without verbal communication.

Over four days, the total resurrection count of the whole group surpassed 1000.

Every failure saw them regrouping at the Space Node on Earthquake Coast, replenishing potions, enhancing Body Refining, upgrading Star Vein... then returning to Earth Nest Node to continue the fight.

On the last day, two small guilds joined the Node campaign.

But Ji Chen did not drive them away.

The Node campaign was a shared goal for all players, and Node rewards are based on contributions, preventing latecomers from seizing the majority benefits.

The high-intensity battle rhythm reminded Ji Chen of the scenes of struggle in the corpse-filled Blood Sea of the otherworldly battlegrounds.

What was different was the change in mindset.

When following the Dragon Descendants, each battle struck with a foreboding of death.

Back then, the battles were fought for survival and to buy time for the brothers behind him, weighed down by negative emotions.

He did not know if he would die on the battlefield the next second or accompany the Dragon Descendants to their end.

Perhaps he, too, would be buried in the otherworldly ground like the brothers who fell along the way.

But now, death no longer signaled the end, with the white light of resurrection glowing punctually after an hour, a zero Life Value only meant returning to the Node Space.

Guild members would jokingly tease each other about who "died suddenly" due to mistakes.

This difference in mindset transformed the battle pace.

Facing the White Demon Army back then, he watched his comrades fall one by one, a bloody taste mixed with despair in his throat.

But now, seeing guild members overwhelmed by monsters, there’s only one thought in mind: time to restart again.

During this time, he never counted how many times he had died.

All he knew was whenever the battlefield was deadlocked, the guild channel always echoed with the timely call, "Gather at the Resurrection Point."

This nearly insane cycle of mortal combat finally concluded on the fourth evening.

With the last collective charge breaching the Earth Nest Node’s core defense, the light of the Domain Crystal pierced through the poisonous mist, Ji Chen transformed into a stream of light and personally touched the crystal.

Instantly, Challenger Tips echoed across the entire channel.

[Challenger Tips: Congratulations to the player group led by "Rebirth Still Can’t Win" for capturing the Level 2 Special Spirit Field Node: Earth Nest.]

...

Along with the Challenger Tips, the feature panel automatically added: Spirit Field Management.

All guild members who participated in this Node capture were assigned a special Spirit Field to plant Spirit Plants, with Poison Element plants yielding three times the output compared to ordinary Spirit Field Nodes.

With the end of the campaign, Ji Chen looked at the excitedly cheering guild members and spoke in the guild channel:

"Great work, brothers. Tonight, I’m treating everyone to Moonlight Clams at Colorful Mist Coast."

Ji Chen’s voice carried a smile, and as soon as he finished, it was drowned by cheers.

...

The nights at Colorful Mist Coast never disappoint players.

Pale blue sea mist rolled under the moonlight, on the beach after the tide has receded, Ji Chen and the guild members sat by the bonfire, some enjoying the sizzling roasted Sea Beast Leg, urging the Spirit Chef Player to go faster, even a normally silent assassin was sporting a rare smile.

Here, there were no monster roars, only the gentle lapping of waves against the shore and the occasional explosion of laughter around the bonfire.

Late into the night, Ji Chen sat on a rock, silently watching the noisy scene before him.

"Boss, not joining us for a drink?" Night Snack called, waving his cup.

Ji Chen shook his head with a smile:

"Enjoy yourselves, I’m heading out."

No one asked further questions.

The guild members all knew that their boss, though seemingly easy-going, harbored a stubbornness that couldn’t be argued with.

After ending the feast, Ji Chen bid farewell to everyone and went straight back to Imperial Tomb Village through the Teleportation Array.

With rare free time, he planned to spend the next period in the library of Imperial Tomb Village.

There’s no end to learning; the Space Science System is extraordinarily complex, and mastering any field within it requires a huge amount of time and effort.

The moonlight outside gradually slanted westward, leaving only the rustling sound of pages turning in the library.

After several hours, Ji Chen turned off Brain Overclocking, rubbing his sore temple.

Looking at the densely packed formulas on the scrap paper, he understood why the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce’s space team was only willing to experiment with small-scale Teleportation Arrays.

The more complex the Teleportation Array, the more effort it required.

And he intended to create a more intricate "Split Teleportation Array," to breach the Space Barrier in stable spatial areas.

Deciding to take a short break, Ji Chen pulled out a bottle of Spiritual Recovery Potion from the space and drank it in one go.

A cool sensation instantly traveled down his throat and spread rapidly throughout his body, the slight dizziness immediately dissipated.

At this moment, he turned to the floating Guiding Water Ball beside him, habitually asking:

"Brother Guide, how’s the situation with the Dragon Descendants?"

In Monster World, danger lurked all around, and occasionally he worried whether the Dragon Descendants faced any threats, so he would ask Brother Guide whenever he remembered.

But the reply from the Guidance left Ji Chen suddenly alert.

[The Black Domain "Ashen Soil Canyon" where the Dragon Descendants’ clan is situated was ambushed by the Devouring Clan two days ago. The entire clan is holding the core altar with heavy losses, and the war continues.]

The Guidance’s voice remained as calm as ever, as if no matter how big the issue, it wouldn’t stir its emotions at all, yet each word pierced Ji Chen’s eardrum like an ice cone.