Chapter 167 The Players' Suffering Journey

"So we can choose three different camps. This instance seems to have a lot of processes. Different camps mean different quests. Do we have to complete all three camps to officially clear the instance?" Feng Yue analyzed.

"Stop with the useless chatter, which one do we pick?" Sparkling Fried Rice said.

Hao Tian pondered, "This is a level 90 instance. We probably can't clear it. We just got here, let's familiarize ourselves with the instance first. It's best to choose a familiar camp, the Fugitive Mercenaries."

"Ugh, more escaping." Everyone couldn't help but complain, as chasing people was much more fun than running away.

However, most of them were professional players, and even knowing that a level 90 instance would be difficult to clear, they wouldn't back down. Although they might not be able to see the Dragon Emperor's attacks while escaping underground, just like before, Rou Bao didn't know the specifics of this instance, so he didn't say anything.

Hao Tian selected the Fugitive Mercenary camp, and the edges of everyone's vision glowed with a hazy starlight. Their field of view was pulled by an unknown force, quickly "plummeting" towards the planet. The surrounding scenery flashed by, various fleets, white clouds, and blue skies, etc., crashing head-on into the gray-black rocky ground. The next moment, their vision passed through it, falling into a dark underground space, returning to normal eyesight.

Before them was a dim, winding underground passage. Everyone shuddered, regaining control of their bodies. They looked down and checked themselves, their bodies were intact, and not a single part was missing.

At this moment, a virtual box appeared in the vision of all ten players. This was the quest list displayed at all times. Players could customize their UI to display certain panel information in front of their eyes, and now, the instance quests automatically became displayed at all times and couldn't be canceled, floating in the upper right corner of their vision.

[You are a fleeing mercenary. The underground space is filled with DarkStar hovercraft and hordes of soldiers. You know very well that if you are caught, you will face a fate worse than death. Surrounded by a net of heaven and earth, you are almost desperate, but the arrival of reinforcements has ignited your desire to survive.]

[Instance Objective: Evade pursuit until the Dragon Emperor descends. Countdown: 12 hours]

[Clearance Reward: 6,000,000 experience]

[Failure Condition: All members captured]

[Penalty: For each player captured, total rewards are reduced by 10%]

[Optional Quest 1: Kill 100 DarkStar soldiers, Reward: 400,000 experience]

[Optional Quest 2: Destroy 10 hovercraft, Reward: 700,000 experience]

[Optional Quest 3: Protect 6 mercenaries being pursued, Reward: 1,000,000 experience]

[Challenge Quest 1: Do not trigger any alarms for the entire duration, Reward: 2,000,000 experience]

[Challenge Quest 2: Successfully shake off pursuers five times without taking damage, Reward: 3,500,000 experience]

[Random Event: During the escape, you will have a chance to encounter random events. Complete two random events, Reward: 3,000,000 experience]

[The number of side quests completed affects the instance completion rating]

[Note: Contacting key characters will alter the instance objective and difficulty. When a key character is within one kilometer of you, you will be notified. Please carefully consider whether or not to change your route.]

After the quests were displayed, a twelve-hour countdown timer appeared in the upper left corner of their vision.

"That's a lot of information." Crazy Blade carefully read it for a while and said, "The ultimate goal of the Fugitive Mercenaries is to survive. If we want high rewards, we have to be reckless and cautious at the same time…"

Everyone read through it. Hao Tian frowned and analyzed:

"Twelve hours is shorter than what we actually experience. Also, if one member fails, the total rewards will decrease, so to get a high rating, we have to survive to the end as a team and cooperate. And this mechanism should mean we can sell out teammates... cough cough, but there's a price to pay. Then, the optional quests are only useful when we encounter enemies and conflict with the challenge quests. One challenge is stealth, and the other is causing trouble. Does that mean we have to choose between optional and challenge quests? Hmm, looking at the rewards, causing trouble is probably more difficult, so the random events should be unexpected factors… This instance is very well-designed. It mentioned key characters at the end, which means we won't be following Black Phantom like before, but are independent. I…"

Before he could finish his analysis, the buzzing sound of hovercraft flying sounded from ahead, and a frantic voice came through his earpiece.

"Attention all mercenaries, four hovercraft are searching this area. Do not linger, leave immediately!"

As soon as the voice fell, the light of searchlights lit up in the passage ahead. Everyone's faces changed, and without time to communicate, they hurriedly turned around and fled.

"This instance starts so quickly. The enemy came only two or three minutes after we started!" Bright Moon Long End worriedly said, "The instance pace is too fast. If the enemy density is too high, it will be very difficult to last for twelve hours!"

The group ran for a while, and the hovercraft behind them advanced slowly, seemingly not having spotted them yet, but their speed wasn't slow at all. Everyone's stamina plummeted as they ran, but they didn't gain much distance. The worst part was that this passage only had one path, and they hadn't found any forks yet.

This was a level 90 instance, and the difficulty was evident everywhere. They were only level 60, and they couldn't even shake off the initial wave of enemies. The team was running too slowly and would be caught up sooner or later. Recognizing this, they discussed in the channel.

"Let's stop running and test the strength of the enemies." Crazy Blade suggested.

"Alright, adjust positions. The Mechanics stand behind to output damage, the Espers roam, and the Martial Artists go to the front."

Hao Tian decisively commanded everyone to form a simple coordinated formation. The searchlights quickly approached, and a hovercraft, only a few meters long, appeared. It spotted everyone and immediately accelerated toward them, the miniature laser cannons firing thin green lasers.

Bang bang bang—

The explosions of the laser cannons didn't create any smoke, but the rock walls and ground were blasted, sending gravel flying everywhere.

Everyone rushed forward, surrounding and attacking the hovercraft. The battle immediately began.

At the same time, the countdown timer frame in everyone's vision suddenly turned red, and a prompt popped up.

[You have triggered the first level alarm. Enemy reinforcements will arrive in ten minutes!]

"Hurry, finish the battle within ten minutes!"

With the time limit, everyone's expressions changed, their eyes focused, and they accelerated their attacks.

Bang bang bang!

Various high-powered attacks were thrown at the hovercraft, but the hovercraft's shield wasn't just for show, it withstood a massive amount of damage. The miniature lasers packed quite a punch, each shot taking away two or three hundred health points. Don't underestimate the damage, it had a fast attack speed!

If they were Grade B Supers, dealing with the hovercraft would be easier, but they were only level 60 Grade C's, and players didn't have templates, and had few specialties, so they didn't have an advantage in stats. Level 60 players were at the bottom of Grade C. Even if players reached level 90 in Version 2.0, they would only be Grade C+. The level gap between each grade increased continuously. For them, the hovercraft, which should have been an elite monster, had become a Boss.

As time passed, everyone became anxious, and when they were anxious, they were prone to making mistakes. In the end, they paid the price of three people before finally blowing up the hovercraft within ten minutes, creating a loud explosion.

The remaining people were panting, their stamina depleted by more than half.

"It's too hard! The side quest requires us to destroy ten hovercraft. Just one is this difficult. We lost three people, the level difference is too big!" Sparkling Fried Rice said.

With three people gone, the total rewards were directly reduced by 30%. This was only about ten minutes after the start, and the losses were already so great. Everyone realized that entering at their current level was just asking for abuse, and the monster strength in the instance had been adjusted and enhanced. When the hovercraft exploded just now, several DarkStar soldiers inside escaped in a hurry. They should have been ordinary people or low-level Supers, but their levels were a bunch of question marks, exceeding level 60. Fortunately, the explosion caused their health to plummet, otherwise, the players would have been wiped out.

The alarm was still going off, and everyone turned around and ran, but the reinforcements came too quickly. Everyone was exhausted from running, and had to sell out teammates to ensure that the remaining people survived. However, this was just a temporary solution. Before long, the last one, Hao Tian, was attacked by two hovercraft and beaten to near death and captured.

The entire team was wiped out, and the countdown timer stopped, only thirty minutes after the start.

Their vision blurred, and everyone was kicked out of the instance, returning to the stronghold.

"It's over in half an hour, how are we supposed to play this…" Bright Moon Long End said speechlessly.

At this time, all the other players who were in a team to clear the instance were kicked out, crying and wailing, as they were all abused and destroyed. They exchanged experiences and asked around. The camps they chose were all Fugitive Mercenaries, all trying to play it safe. The best result was Wang Hou Jiang Xiang's team, which lasted for fifty minutes. The worst was Fish-Fragrant Eggplant's team, which encountered the first wave of hovercraft and failed to defeat the enemies in ten minutes. They were surrounded by the reinforced two hovercraft, and were directly curry-gege (finished).

However, no one was discouraged. After all, the instance description stated very clearly that they were challenging enemies above their level, so they were mentally prepared. And it wouldn't be called exploring if they didn't get wiped out eight or ten times.

Professional experts always liked to challenge high difficulty, and hardcore players were never defeated by difficulties. Everyone was in high spirits and continued to enter the instance. There was a limit to the number of times they could challenge the same instance. The limit would reset every six days in the game. The players had also obtained some Sprout War instances from Han Xiao, but they decided to use up the attempts for [Battle: Dragon Emperor's Might] first.

Hao Tian and the others entered the instance again. It was still the familiar opening animation, and then they arrived at the camp selection interface. This time, Rou Bao couldn't sit still. He said, "The Fugitive Mercenaries are too difficult, we can't survive. The other camps should be easier. Chasing is easier to survive than running away. Also, the Support Force camp should be okay, right? Let's try a different camp."

During the first challenge, Rou Bao recorded the process, which could be used as footage, but what he cared about most was the scene of the Dragon Emperor's power, even if it was just a cutscene. Clearing the instance wasn't his goal, recording was. His only goal was to survive until the countdown ended and watch the cutscene.

They were quite familiar with each other. Seeing him say this, Crazy Blade and Hao Tian agreed, and the others didn't object. This time, they chose the DarkStar Pursuers camp. After being abused last time, they thought choosing the DarkStar camp would be more reliable.

This time, after entering the instance, everyone found that they had become a ground force following a hovercraft. There was still a countdown, but the DarkStar camp only had a three-hour countdown. The quests were different from the Fugitive Mercenaries. This time, they had to capture a certain number of mercenaries within the time limit. The optional quests were to protect the initial hovercraft and to help other DarkStar companions encircle the target. The challenge quests were to capture specific targets.

The DarkStar camp had one characteristic: as a ground force, they had to follow the hovercraft and couldn't leave freely. Otherwise, the instance would be considered a failure, which would definitely trigger a battle.

"We should be safe now."

Changing from the prey to the role of the hunter, everyone felt a little relieved. Following the hovercraft, they quickly discovered a group of mercenaries. The order to attack was given, and everyone immediately A-moved towards them.

Then, they discovered a sad fact…

Damn it, the mercenaries could fight back, and they were damn strong!

The hovercraft that everyone had worked so hard to destroy was dismantled into scrap in no time by this group of mercenaries whose levels were all question marks. Then, in order to eliminate the alarm, the group of mercenaries chased after them to kill them and silence them. Everyone was in danger and immediately fell from heaven to hell, feeling very devastated.

Who was the hunter!

If you guys are so strong, why are you running!

A prompt appeared, saying that reinforcements would arrive after ten minutes, and they, the pursuers, had become the ones running away. The two camps each had their own dangers. DarkStar had more reinforcements, while the mercenaries had stronger individual combat power. No matter which one they chose, they had to face the other side's advantages. However, the DarkStar camp had one benefit: as long as they escaped a certain distance, the mercenaries wouldn't dare to follow.

Rou Bao ran away with all his might, leaving everyone behind in the dust. He was very fast, and he decisively sold out his teammates. The others had no choice but to follow him and run for their lives.

After running for a while, at the cost of two lives, the mercenaries finally retreated. The remaining people survived and were gasping for breath. Rou Bao ran the fastest and was in the best condition. He didn't have any other strengths, he was just fast.

"I, I think, since the hovercraft exploded, we should just stay here and wait for the instance to end…"

Before he could finish speaking, a new order came through everyone's earpiece, ordering them to follow another hovercraft. It was still the same old story, disobeying the order would be considered a failure of the instance. There was no way to slack off.

—Slacking off was impossible.

Everyone was helpless, and just as they were about to move, a new prompt appeared.

Ding-dong, ding-dong—

The notification sound echoed in their ears, and the vision frame kept flashing red, as if it was very urgent.

[Attention! You have approached a key character within one kilometer. Please carefully decide whether or not to change your route!]

Hao Tian's eyes narrowed, and he pondered, "According to the normal route, we won't be able to complete the quest. Why don't we try contacting the key character? I guess the key characters are also divided into camps. If we can meet characters from the same camp, the instance difficulty should decrease. If we meet the enemy, it might be a compulsory kill plot. This is a gamble…"

He was experienced and analyzed logically.

Everyone thought it made sense and looked at each other. "Then let's wait."

The red light flashed more and more urgently, representing that the key character was getting closer and closer, like a death knell, a storm was brewing, and everyone's hearts were in their throats.

Rumble…

A faint vibration came from the wall, getting louder and louder, as if it was approaching.

"That sound…" Crazy Blade's eyes widened suddenly, realizing something. His expression changed, and he screamed, "Run!"

But it was too late.

Boom!!

The next moment, the rock wall beside them collapsed! A round silver ball car broke through the rock wall and rolled over, crushing them in the middle, and everyone was instantly wiped out!

Back in the stronghold, Hao Tian and the others reappeared, each with a dazed expression, as if they hadn't recovered from being instantly killed, and couldn't help but look at Crazy Blade.

Crazy Blade's face was contorted in pain.

"That's Black Phantom's vehicle. I was sitting in this ball when we escaped together. We're definitely dead if we meet him. This… we're just unlucky."

Rou Bao's cheeks twitched, wanting to cry but having no tears, his mentality collapsing. "I just wanted to record some footage! Why is this happening to me!"

…

The Black Star's players began their journey of suffering, being abused to the point of near death, but they still enjoyed it, feeling pain and happiness at the same time.

Rou Bao was the most miserable person. He didn't have the professional players' spirit of facing difficulties head-on, and he was almost mentally unstable from being abused.

But for the sake of the footage, he had to force himself to continue suffering, which was extremely tragic.

The instance that Han Xiao released was to keep the players busy for a while. The materials he ordered arrived in a day, and he locked himself in the mechanical modification room, spending all day with metal and lathes, starting to build a new generation of combat system.

Time passed day by day, and in the Faiwen Star System next door, a hidden small spaceship visited Planet Faiwen-122.